Motor Vehicle Accidents

Motor Vehicle Accidents and Automobile Collisions are a fact of every day life in our society. Statistics show that you are likely to be involved in at least one auto accident in your lifetime. The consequences of these collisions can be far reaching. You will be faced with many important decisions. Know where to turn for help before the need arises.

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According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, every 10 seconds someone in the United States is involved in a car accident. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of thirty-four. Auto accidents are responsible for over 40,000 deaths per year in our country. This averages out to 115 fatalities per day. When you are injured in an accident your focus should be on the healing process. Let our office guide you through the legal process.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN INJURED IN AN ACCIDENT?
First, you must assess yourself, your passengers, and any other persons involved to determine if anyone is injured. If there are any injuries you must call for or otherwise seek medical attention right away. Second, especially in accidents involving injury to person or property, you must call the police. Third, if you have been injured in a motor vehicle collision, you need to speak with a lawyer. Do not go it alone. You will be required to deal with people who are much more familiar with the process, and whose interests will not likely be consistent with yours.

HOW DOES THE LEGAL PROCESS WORK?
On our Personal Injury Page we discussed in detail the general considerations in every personal injury case of Liability and Damages. Briefly, Liability is the question of who is right and who is wrong under the law. Damages is the question of how badly you were hurt by the defendant's conduct. All car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, and other motor vehicle accidents require the same analysis of Liability and Damages present in all personal injury cases.

Liability issues in motor vehicle cases often arise when vehicles are operated: at an excessive rate of speed; without exercising proper and adequate control; without giving proper and sufficient warning of the drivers intentions; without regard to the rights, safety, and position of others; without yielding the right of way; without keeping a proper lookout ahead; without properly signaling, otherwise warning, or improperly executing a stop, turn, or change of direction; by intoxicated drivers, and otherwise in violation of the law.

HOW MUCH IS MY CASE WORTH?
Every case is as unique as the person bringing the claim. The value of each case is fact driven and no case is truly like any other case. Damages vary dramatically between individuals, and therefore each case requires special attention of our skilled trial counsel to maximize the recovery. However, before an accident ever occurs, the amount and type of Damages that you can recover may already have been determined when you or someone you live with bought your personal automobile insurance. See Below.

MOTOR VEHICLE INSURANCE
In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, your own Motor Vehicle Insurance Policy is very important. The ultimate outcome of your motor vehicle claim will be directly influenced by the choices that you, or the relatives that you live with, made when the insurance policy was issued. In other words, you may have already lost your ability to fully recover your losses even though you have not yet been in a motor vehicle accident.

Learn more about selecting insurance for your personal automobile.

TORT OPTIONS
Perhaps the most importance choice in an automobile insurance policy is the selection of a "Tort Option." In Pennsylvania, the choices are called "Full Tort" and "Limited Tort." In New Jersey, the choices are called "Zero Threshold" and "Verbal Threshold". You may also see the choices labeled as "No Threshold" and "Lawsuit Threshold." We always recommend against selecting "Limited Tort", "Verbal Threshold" or "Lawsuit Threshold".

We recommend that you select only the "Full Tort" Option in Pennsylvania and the "Zero Threshold" Option or "No Threshold" Option in New Jersey. People who chose "Full Tort," "Zero Threshold," and "No Threshold" have retained their traditional legal rights to recover for the types of damages that can commonly result from a motor vehicle collision.

Unfortunately, people who chose "Limited Tort," "Verbal Threshold," and "Lawsuit Threshold" have given up the right to recover for their bodily injuries unless they fit into specific categories of injury defined by the Legislatures of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey. Worse yet, your choices can also prevent the relatives that live with you from making a recovery for their bodily injuries even though they are not involved in paying for the insurance policy at issue.

UNINSURED MOTORIST ("UM"), UNDERINSURED MOTORIST ("UIM") & STACKING
You are also empowered with the option to protect yourself and your family members from injuries caused by persons who drive without any insurance or with minimal insurance. Every private passenger automobile insurance policy issued in Pennsylvania and New Jersey comes with the opportunity to purchase Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured Motorist coverage.

Uninsured Motorist coverage protects against injuries caused by someone without automobile insurance and is often called "UM" Coverage.

Underinsured Motorist coverage protects against injuries caused by someone without enough automobile coverage and is often called "UIM" Coverage.

We recommend that you obtain the same amount of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage as you purchased for bodily injury coverage. UM and UIM are quite cheap to purchase.

In Pennsylvania, (but not in New Jersey), your UM and UIM Benefits automatically provide Stacking. Stacking increases coverage by the number of qualifying vehicles. In other words, if you are eligible for UM or UIM of $50,000.00, and there are three vehicles which may be Stacked, your coverage actually $150,000.00. We recommend that you keep Stacking on your policies.

If you, or someone important to you, has been involved in a motor vehicle accident you should call Mr. Fenerty right away so that you can be certain that everything that can be done for you is being done.

Our Motor Vehicle Accident Personal Injury Law Offices are conveniently located in suburban Northeast Philadelphia and in Southern New Jersey. We are a Philadelphia Personal Injury Law Firm with suburban convenience. If you have been injured in a car accident you need a lawyer.