A previous post here discussed how, in most cases, when a motorcyclist gets hit by another vehicle, the responsibility lies with the driver of the other vehicle. Unfortunately, there is still a common stigma that motorcyclists in Reno, Nevada, who get hurt in an accident may have to just “deal with it.” Specifically, many people who don’t routinely ride motorcycles, including some police officers and even judges, may have an impression that motorcycle riders have a tendency to be thoughtless or even reckless on the road and, thus, are usually responsible for their own accidents.

While such is clearly not the case, it may be hard for injured motorcyclists to know how to stand up for their rights and make sure that they get to tell their side of the story. This is why many injured motorcyclists in the Reno area have trusted our law office to help them with their personal injury claims after they have suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident.

One of our first tasks is to make sure our clients both understand their legal rights and options and have a realistic outlook on the possible results of their cases. The reason we emphasize this is that it helps our clients work toward getting decisions at the outset of their cases, saving them a lot of time and emotional stress.

After reviewing our clients’ legal options, we work hard to conduct a thorough investigation so as to gather all the facts surrounding the accident. This process may be necessary to establish that another motorist, and not the motorcyclist, was responsible for the accident. After that, we consider it our main task to get our clients the compensation that they will need in order to get the necessary treatment they need and move on with their lives as best as they possibly can.

According to a recent report, a man is facing felony charges on account of his involvement in a hit and run accident in Reno. The accident left a pedestrian dead. Allegedly, the driver who was recently arrested struck the pedestrian with his car and then left the scene of the incident.

Police indicated that even though the man has been charged with a felony related to his leaving the scene of the fatal accident, they also indicated that they did not suspect that drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash. Police said that when they arrested the man, they discovered some evidence that the man was in fact the person who fatally injured the pedestrian.

Hit and run car accidents present some special challenges to victims who need to obtain compensation. For instance, while one always hopes that, as was the case here, authorities eventually locate the driver who was responsible for the accident, sometimes this just does not happen.

When the responsible driver is located, then the victim or the victim’s family can pursue compensation against the driver. If this does not happen, the victim may still have some opportunity to get compensation through an uninsured motorist claim, assuming, of course, that this type of insurance coverage was purchased.

No matter the circumstances, it is important to remember that drivers in Nevada have an obligation to look out for pedestrians and to use caution when around them. When drivers fail to do so, pedestrians often get hurt. Should this happen, they may be able to seek compensation with help from an experienced attorney.

Source:  Reno Gazette Journal, ” Reno police arrest man in connection with fatal hit and run ,” Jenny Kane, March 11, 2018

When someone has been hurt or, for that matter, was expecting their insurance company to cover them if they accidentally hurt someone else, it can seem in some situations that the insurance company has all the power. Because they have to be well-financed in order to conduct their business, it means that insurance companies have a lot of bargaining power. Moreover, it is a simple fact that insurance companies make money by not paying claims or paying as little as possible. As such, it can be tempting, and easy, for an insurer to take advantage of a legitimate victim.

If you feel like that has happened in your insurance claim, legal help with getting the playing field levelled and getting the insurance company to do what they already have a responsibility to do is available to Reno residents. For example, our law office can help people in this situation by reviewing their case and, if appropriate, filing a lawsuit alleging that the insurance company has acted in bad faith, a legal option that can mean additional compensation for a victim and, at a minimum, can get the insurance company to act better.

There are many ways in which an insurance company can violate Nevada’s laws requiring that insurance companies treat those making a claim fairly and even-handedly. With our firm’s 50 years of experience, we are familiar with these rules and how unscrupulous companies or even individual adjusters may try to get around these rules.

We have successfully represented people in a wide variety of insurance claim denials or disputes over the years, and we work hard to get the best possible result in the cases we take on.

A woman died at the scene of a car accident in the Reno area after another vehicle hit her in a “t-bone” fashion as she was attempting to make a left turn. The woman was 73 years old.

According to police who were investigating the accident, the woman had just turned left in an intersection when a car, which was being driven by someone under the age of 18, ran in to the side of the vehicle. Apparently, the other car entered the intersection while the woman was already attempting to make a turn.

Police are still investigating the accident and are trying to locate witnesses, as they say that several people who saw the accident but were not involved directly did not remain at the scene to give statements. Police have indicated that they are not yet sure what role, if any, drugs and alcohol played in this tragedy.

Still, even at this early stage, the circumstances of this accident serve to remind Nevada residents of a couple of items with respect to car accidents. The first is that, even if there is no traffic light, there are still rules governing who gets to go through an intersection first. A failure to yield the right-of-way can lead to a serious or even deadly accident, particularly when a driver blows through an intersection at a high speed without slowing down to check for cross traffic.

Second, given their lack of experience, it is even more important for young drivers who have just gotten their licenses to make sure they are driving carefully and staying alert behind the wheel. When they do not do so, even despite their young age, they and their parents can still be held financially accountable for causing an accident. In this case, depending on the outcome of the police investigation, the family of the victim will want to explore this option.

Source:  Reno Gazette Journal, ” Woman dies in south Reno crash ,” Feb. 16, 2018.

A previous post on this blog talked about the most common types of spinal cord injuries. The common theme is that no matter the cause, these sorts of injuries can leave a Reno, Nevada resident unable to walk or, in the worst cases, even move his or her arms.

Dealing with the aftermath of these sorts of injuries is a complicated business on all fronts. For instance, on the legal front, even if it is clear that someone else is at fault and should pay the victim compensation, how much should be paid is often a subject of hot debate and can be hard to calculate.

In these sorts of situations, it is important for a spinal cord injury victim to have the help of an experienced advocate who can make sure they get all of the compensation they deserve. In this respect, our law office has five decades of experience with handling accident cases, including those involving spinal cord and other serious injuries.

Because we limit our practice to these types of personal injury cases, we’ve been able to hone our negotiation and trial skills. We understand how the other side might try to defeat a valid claim or, at least, try to pay less than what they really should. We work hard to locate and preserve the medical, financial and other evidence we need to support our client’s claims.

Although we consider ourselves skilled and shrewd negotiators, we also understand that sometimes, it is just not possible to secure a deal for our clients that will compensate them adequately. That is why we always prepare each and every case as if it were going to be tried before a judge or jury.

As this blog has discussed on previous occasions, even relatively minor spinal cord injuries have serious and lifelong consequences for their victims. An injury to the spinal cord will generally mean a Reno, Nevada resident will need medical care and therapy, as well as help covering their lost income if they are no longer able to work.

There are many different cause s of spinal cord injuries and paralysis. However, the most common cause is vehicle accidents. Among all spine injuries that occur each year, accidents involving cars, motorcycles or other motor vehicles account for over half of them.

It is also significant that alcohol is frequently a contributing factor to accidents ending in spinal cord injuries, with alcohol playing a part in one out of four such accidents. This number would include those accidents in which a drunk driver injures a person severely.

There are other common causes of injuries to the spine. For instance, particularly among those who are older, falling down is a common cause of spinal cord injuries. Collectively, falls account for about one in six of all new injuries to the spinal cord each year.

Rounding out the common causes of spinal cord injuries are injuries related to sports accounting for about 10 percent of injuries, with intentional violence, like shootings and stabbings, accounting for about 12 percent of injuries.

Whether related to a car accident or not, a Nevada resident who has suffered a spinal cord injury will likely need financial help both for immediate expenses and to cover the years of recovery ahead of them. They may be able to do so via a personal injury lawsuit filed against the responsible parties.

There is nothing quite like the feeling that one gets when riding their motorcycle. The wind in your hair, the freedom of the open road – it’s all very poetic. However, motorcyclists can be affected by a less-than-poetic event if they are involved in a motorcycle accident. Often, other drivers are to blame either partially or completely for the motorcycle accident and the resulting injuries.

There are lots of motorcyclists located in the Reno area, which isn’t surprising since the weather is fair enough most of the year to utilize and ride motorcycle. If you or your loved one has been impacted by a motorcycle accident injury, you may or may not be aware of just how severe they can be. Beyond the immediate medical expenses and medical care needed – it can turn a person’s life completely upside-down. An inability to work isn’t uncommon after suffering injury in a motorcycle accident. Even the health status of permanent disability can set in, causing a person to frame their whole life differently.

At Bradley Drendel & Jeanney, we have seen the horrors that are associated with motorcycle accident injuries and how it impacts people in our community including the injured and their families. Oftentimes a passenger vehicle, or any type of larger vehicle, makes a mistake on the road that causes the motorcycle accident and injury. It could have been carelessness or even more serious behaviors, like intoxicated driving, that could lead to this result. This is what, in the legal world, is often known as negligence. Even more serious behaviors like DUI can result in not only civil issues for the accused, but criminal as well.

While criminal charges in a motorcycle accident will not determine the civil outcome – it can help with the proceedings. For example, if the party suspected of DUI is convicted, that bodes well for the negligence case as they have a lower standard of proof than do criminal cases. This means that, most likely, the case would decide in favor of the injured when, in a criminal case, the person accused of DUI was convicted. However, in the opposite situation, if a person is not convicted of a drinking and driving related crime, the lower threshold of proof could still find negligence with a preponderance of the evidence.