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The most common injury caused by a car accident is a neck pain.  Since rear-end car accidents top the list of vehicular impact types, the neck and spine are usually what is injured.  However a close second to spine trauma is injury to the knees.  Even when you are wearing a seatbelt, your knees can impact other parts of the interior of the car, causing deep bruising, or what physicians like to call "hematoma."  In addition to deep bruising and laceration, the soft-tissues of the knee can be strained and even torn.  Ligaments and meniscus of the knee can be damaged, requiring surgery.  Along with any other type of surgery, this can present certain dangers to the victim of the car crash.

The anatomy of the knee is fairly basic.  There is a lateral and medial meniscus that acts as a cushion between the bones of the knee.  The lateral and medial ligaments work like rubber bands on each side of the knee that connect the upper and lower leg bones and permit us to bend and stoop.  The patella, or knee cap, is front and center and can be broken if it hits the dashboard of an automobile during a collision.  The articular cartilage is just behind the knee cap and consists of the soft tissues that wrap around the front of the knee.  Our knees are not designed to take on the blunt force trauma caused in a car crash. 

Often times victims of a knee injury will report that the knee feels "weird" in the days following the collision.  Our lawyers have heard clients say that the knee felt bruised at the scene, but that they didn't think a whole lot about it.  Certainly it wasn't fractured, but something was definitely "off."  Clients often report the knee "giving out" after long walks or after standing for an extended period of time.  People who have injured their knee in a car accident need to have two types of diagnostic imaging done to determine what, if any, real damage was caused to the knee in the crash.  First, get an x-ray to determine if there are any fractures in the knee.  Second, get an MRI of the knee to find out where the soft-tissues (ligaments, meniscus, cartilage) of the knee has been damaged.  The structure itself may still be intact, but that doesn't mean you haven't sustained a serious knee injury.

If you believe you have injured your knees in a car accident or motorcycle accident, seek medical attention immediately and demand the diagnostic imaging we discussed earlier in this article.  Then contact a car accident knee lawyer to discuss how to handle your case against the at-fault party and their car insurance company.  Demanding a fair settlement for a knee injury is complex, especially when the claim is for a soft-tissue knee injury.  Those types of claims are aggressively defended by car insurance companies. 

Schultz Legal Group was founded by Stephen Schultz, and well-respected injury attorney with law offices in Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas.  Schultz is an AV-Preeminent Rated attorney and member of several exclusive organizations that are reserved for the top 1% of trial lawyers in the country.  His law firm exclusively handles injury claims for persons injury in auto accidents are who are looking to obtain fair compensation and justice for their injuries.

 

Car accidents cause damage both to people and property.  The property can be repaired or replaced fairly simply.  However, damage to people, even if minor, can take a lifetime to heal.  Unfortunately many injuries caused in an automobile collision cause permanent, irreparable harm.  Certain types of impacts cause certain forms of injuries to the human body.  Even minor, slow impact collisions can cause serious damage to the soft-tissues of the body.  These cases, often referred to as MIST (minor impact soft tissue) cases, are fought hard by the nation's largest car insurance companies. 

Spine injury from a car accident is the most common form of damage caused to the body in a collision.  The soft tissues (discs) in the spine are not equipped to handle the jarring of a collision, even at low speeds.  Automotive safety technology has come a long way with absorbant crunch zones and bumpers, but spine injuries still occur in most accidents.  Trauma to the spine can result in herniated discs (a.k.a. "blown discs" or "slipped discs") that can require physical therapy, epidural steroid injection, and even surgery to repair.  In the event of a spine injury, it is best to get the right diagnostic imaging to determine the extent of the damage.  X-rays are commonly performed at the hospital, but without MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) the nature of a disc problem cannot be fully understood.

Car accident brain injury commonly results from head-on and broadside auto accidents.  A brain injury can occur without loss of consciousness.  Sometimes people refer to a "closed head injury" as one where the head is not visibly damaged, but there is brain damage of some sort.  A closed head injury can cause all kinds of cognitive issues, including problems with balance, memory, everyday functioning.  Brain damage needs to be diagnosed early and treated carefully by a specialist, usually a team of neurologists and neurosurgeons.

Other forms of catastrophic injury can result from almost any type of impact from a wreck.  Aside from traumatic brain injury (TBI), other serious injuries can cause degloving of the skin, loss of limbs, or shattering of bone.  Catastrophic injuries can require a lifetime of expensive medical care, including modifications to your home and nursing care.  Economic recovery for future medical care is tricky, since most courts will not permit compensation for speculative future damages.  It will take experienced legal representation to assist in obtaining this type of monetary compensation.

Obtaining compensation for all forms of injury caused by a car accident will be the job of your legal team.  Believe it or not, it will also be part of the job of your treating doctors, who will have to back you up when it comes time to filing an insurance claim or injury lawsuit.  Doctors must make a medical opinion as to whether the injuries you are claiming were caused, or contributed to be caused, by the auto accident.  This is a determination that some doctors are not comfortable making.  Make sure your treating physician is not scared of courtroom testimony.    

 

Illinois troopers were called to a major semi-truck crash that took place in Johnson County Illinois just before rush hour this morning.  Responders report that the collision occurred on Interstate 57 just south of the town of Goreville.   22 year-old Christopher Tracy was operating his light blue brand new Freightliner tractor-trailer southbound on I-57.  Tracy's truck collided with another semi-truck that was parked on the shoulder of the road.  Tracy, of the state of Missouri, did not report any personal injuries at the scene. 

64 year-old Patrick McDaniel was in his parked 2006 tractor-trailer on the shoulder when it was struck from behind.  The left rear corner of his truck sustained the majority of the impact, as Tracy's truck slammed into it, and then slid down a hill on the side of southbound I-57.  Tracy was issued a traffic ticket by Illinois State Police for improper lane usage.  Coincidentally, a conviction for improper lane usage is a "serious safety violation" according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.  Tracy will be required to disclose this conviction to his employer.  If he is an independent contractor or "owner operator", he is still required to disclose this violation in the annual driving record review as required by federal safety regulations.

Trucking accidents often involve two or three tractor-trailers and no passenger vehicles.  Drivers can still sustain serious injuries, although statistically, truck drivers are less likely to sustain the severity of injury often incurred by drivers/passengers of smaller vehicles.  Take for example this crash on I-57 which involved a high rate of speed and violent impact.  Both truck drivers refused medical attention at the scene.  That does not mean they are not seriously hurt however.  Most soft-tissue injuries, which can end up requiring surgery, do not manifest themselves for hours or days after a collision.

A tractor-trailer accident lawyer can provide victims of a commercial motor vehicle crash with helpful advice on how to file claims with an insurance company for property damage, personal injury, lost wages, and other harms caused by a collision.  Truck crash litigation can be complex, expensive, and time-consuming.  Because federal and state law both apply to these case types, many lawyers are not fully capable of providing the experienced legal representation necessary to ensure a favorable result.  As such, it is recommended that victims research the credentials of their lawyer or law firm to determine whether they have the specific knowledge necessary to win your case.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has reviewed the data and heard the arguments on both sides of the fence.  On one hand, truckers claim that they live in their cabs and they must be permitted to use a cellphone to stay in contact with friends, family, and their employer during those 10+ hours of driving each day.  Safety experts, on the other hand, claim that truck drivers who use a cellphone present a clear and present danger to everyone else on the road.  Judging by the numbers, there is truth to their position.  Just in the past couple of years in Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas, there have been reports of several fatal semi-truck accidents where law enforcement determined that a truck driver was using a cellphone just moments before the collision.  In Missouri alone, there were 21 fatal and 558 serious car accidents where cell phone use was a contributing factor to the crash.

So as early 2012, Federal Safety Regulations will ban cellphone use by truck drivers while they are on-duty, behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer.  And while there is no specific enforcement plan, the government has recommended that local police pull over semi-trucks and passenger buses where a driver is witnessed using his/her cellphone.  The Missouri Highway Patrol commented on the measure and indicated that it would pull commercial motor vehicle operators over if they are using a cellphone.  The fine for a truck driver or bus driver convicted of using a cellphone while driving include up to a $2,750 penalty for the driver and $11,000 penalty for the employer. 

The American Trucking Association actually supports the new trucking safety law.  However, a coalition representing independent operators does not.  All in all, this new regulation should be welcomed by anyone concerned with the safety of truck drivers, other motorists, and delivery of undamaged freight.  Many states have already introduced, or are considering, laws that ban cellphone for motorists.  Some states have made it illegal to use the text messaging feature on a cellphone.  Others have ban hand-held cellular devices all together unless the driver is using bluetooth, a headset, or some other form of wireless connectivity that permits the driver to keep both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

As a truck accident injury lawyer, one of the first things we do in complex semi-truck injury litigation is subpoena the cellphone carrier records of our client and the driver of the tractor-trailer to determine if cell phone use could have played a contributing factor in the collision.  Juries get upset with distracted drivers, largely because the resulting accident could have been preventable.  As an experienced truck accident attorney, it is not uncommon for us to claim punitive damages in a case involving distracted truck driving.  These collisions cause bad injuries and our attorneys represent each of these victims with special care.  It is important for all drivers, both truck and passenger care, to realize the danger posed by cell phone distraction.     

Folks injured in automobile accidents, by defective products, or at work have a right to fair compensation if someone else is legally responsible for causing those injuries.  That is where the role of a Missouri injury lawyer comes into play.  A lawyer can help maximize your compensation from a claim by providing a variety of services, which include 1) help obtaining the best medical treatment possible, even if you do not have health insurance 2) investigating and discovering all forms of compensation and insurance applicable to your injury 3) maintaining your right of privacy from probing insurance questions, and 4) negotiating an injury settlement that is satisfactory to your case.

Medical treatment is one of the most important aspects of any injury claim.  And breaking that down further into two components, 1) quality and 2) timeframe.  If you don't obtain the right type of treatment it can be just as damaging to your case as not getting treatment at all.  So if you have a spine injury, go see an orthopedist or neurologist that specializes in spine trauma.  Just like the law, medicine is broken into many, many specialties.  Second, getting the right treatment in the right timeframe is critical.  If you wait too long to get medical care, or have long "gaps in treatment" the insurance adjuster will likely lowball your case or deny it all together.  A personal injury lawyer can offer more advice on this important aspect of your case.

Investigating and discovering all insurance policies that apply your case is vital to maximizing settlement value.  Claims adjusters do their best to conceal available coverage, or mislead as to the 'policy limits' available to compensate an injury victim.  An injury attorney ends these games and ascertains all available insurance coverage, and determines what applies and what doesn't.  Sometimes insurance can be "stacked" to provide even additional compensation.  This aspect of the law is evolving in Missouri and predominantly determined by caselaw and policy language. 

Insurance companies love to uncover all your prior medical history, even if it bears no relevance to the case at hand.  They do this through the use of unrestricted medical record release authorizations that they will demand that you sign in order to present a claim for injury.  An accident injury lawyer would never permit this type of invasion of privacy to take place.   Prior health history can devalue your claim and ultimately lead to poor compensation when it comes time to negotiation of a settlement.  Rely on your lawyer to present only the evidence necessary to prevail in your accident injury claim, nothing more.  For more information, contact Missouri injury lawyer Stephen Schultz.  Mr. Schultz is AV-Rated and a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in Missouri for the 4th consecutive year.  He can be reached at (866) 840-3636 or locally at (314) 448-0934


  

When you are involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer, the damage to your vehicle and injuries to your body can be overwhelming.  As an 18-wheeler truck accident lawyer, I can tell you that the road to recovery, both physically and economically, can take a long, long time.  Insurance companies that insure large commercial trucking companies now that time is on their side, not the injury victim or surviving family members.  The longer they make someone hold out for compensation, the more likely the victim is to accept a grossly unfair amount of money.  Its extremely unfair and people in this situation are definitely taken advantage of. 

A Missouri truck accident lawyer can even the playing field.  Lawyers are familiar with the complexity of the laws that govern the commercial trucking industry.  They know what to look for when investigating a case and prosecuting it to a successful outcome.  Insurance companies have high-paid legal defense teams on retainer that work behind the scenes from the start to undermine the credibility of any tractor-trailer accident claim.  Its only fair that the victim have an attorney on their side to balance the scales.

Stephen Schultz has been representing trucking accident victims for years.  He is a member of APITLA, a highly respected organization dedicated to protecting the rights of persons injured in truck accidents.  Mr. Schultz only represents plaintiffs, and does so with the same conviction he wish he had when he was seriously injured in an automobile collision prior to enrolling in law school.  He knows, from personal experience, what it feels like to be badly injured in a crash and not knowing who to turn to for compassionate legal representation and what to expect from a lawsuit or settlement.

For more information, truck accident lawyer Stephen Schultz can be reached by visiting his website, SchultzLegalGroup.com, or by calling toll-free (866) 840-3636.

This is a common question that many people ask after they are involved in a car accident or other incident in Missouri.  Its hard to say with certainly whether you need an accident injury lawyer unless you weigh your chances of obtaining a fair settlement from an insurance company.  There are studies and statistical data indicating that having legal representation on your side increases your chances of a fair shake at compensation by over 300%.  You have to look at it this way:  the insurance company is a well-funded, well-represented giant that does not have a personal interest or duty to treat you with respect or fairness.  Insurance companies are in business to generate huge profits.  They keep profits up and shareholders happy by minimizing payouts on PI claims, plain and simple.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is just not being truthful or realistic.

There are instances in which you can settle a case on your own without hiring a lawyer.  Those situations include cases where there is little to no property damage and your injuries are minimal.  By minimal I mean that you saw your primary care doctor, got checked out, and everything is clear and you are feeling fine.  One important piece of advice though:  Never, ever settle your case, even if your injuries are very minor, until you give your body at least 60 days to show any signs of lingering symptoms.  This most commonly comes up in whiplash cases or soft tissue car accidents.  Soft tissue injuries can be sneaky.  You can appear sore for a few days, then fine for a few days, and then things can deteriorate quickly.  In some events, victims experience "radicular" symptoms, which are radiating pains down the arms and legs.  This is a sign of a very serious disc problem.

As an experienced Missouri lawyer with an AV-Preeminent peer review rating from Martindale Hubbell, I can tell you that there will be times that we will turn down potential clients.  We feel that unless we can add value to a client's case by aggressive legal representation, that we would rather explain the process to the caller and advise them to handle the case without a lawyer.  This is something that not all lawyers will do.  There are some personal injury attorneys that will accept every case that walks in the door, even if the injured client could have settled the case without legal representation and therefore avoid paying attorneys' fees.

If you ever need to discuss your case and whether hiring a lawyer is in your best interests, contact a St. Louis personal injury lawyer at Schultz Legal Group law firm by calling toll-free (866) 840-3636.  Schultz Legal Group has offices in Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas and will come to clients locations whenever necessary to consult on a one-on-one basis.

A driver of a dump truck on Missouri Highway 150 in Greenwood, Missouri collided in to the rear of a Greenwood School District school bus carrying 37 students and 13 adults on a class field trip.  Our Missouri bus accident lawyers have learned that the school bus was completely stopped at an intersection when the dump truck attempted to veer off the roadway to avoid striking the bus, but rather crashed in to the rear right end of the school bus before going in to a ditch.  The Greenwood Elementary students were traveling the 25 miles to Kansas City for a field trip, in which they never made. 

 Jackson County Sheriff's Department  were on site to investigate the incident.  Six of the students were rushed to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City where they were treated for injuries sustained. The driver of the Greenwood School District school bus was also transported to area hospital.  The dump truck driver is reportedly uninjured.  Our Missouri bus crash experts continue to look in to this matter.

Traffic crashes involving school buses  have sadly become more and more common.  Ensuring the safety of our children and students remains a priority for all, and this responsibility is passed on to our school bus drivers as they transport children daily.  Our attorneys have worked countless crashes involving school buses, school bus drivers,  students, and school districts - ranging from minor injuries to fatalities.  It is our responsibility in an adverse event such as a crash while on a school bus, that those liable for injuries on children while under the care of a school bus driver and/or school district are provided with the best assistance in navigating through the process of recovery.

To learn more about recovery in a Missouri school bus crash, contact a Missouri personal injury lawyer by calling toll-free (866) 840-3636.

So you have been injured and you think the hard part is over.  You have received medical treatment and doctors and the hospital want to be paid.  Your health insurance covered part of the bills, but there are co-pays, deductibles and other expenses that need to be paid out of your pocket.  To make matters more complicated, the ambulance service that took you to the hospital has decided not to submit your bill to health insurance.  Instead, the ambulance service decided to put a lien on your settlement directly with the car insurance company for the negligent driver that caused the crash.  The insurance claims adjuster tells you that no settlement can be paid to your directly...and that the ambulance service will be written a check directly from the insurance claims adjuster. 

So now you think it is time to negotiate an injury settlement with the insurance claims adjuster.  After presenting your evidence and  reasonable settlement demand, the claims adjuster comes back with a lowball offer.  It isn't fair.  Maybe your initial decision not to hire a Missouri personal injury lawyer was a poor choice.  You know start calling around and finally locate a quality St. Louis semi-truck accident lawyer. 

Insurance claims adjusters are highly skilled in negotiation.  Unfortunately, they are not highly trained in Missouri law and jury verdict trends.  A lawyer on your side is able to negotiate a fair settlement for any injury claim.  Many, many factors determine the value of a personal injury claim.  From venue to the judge, there are many considerations that injury victims and claims adjusters just don't appreciate.  It takes a lawyer who has experience in litigating cases to fully understand the accurate settlement value of an case.

Contact Missouri personal injury lawyer Stephen Schultz and get advice from an expert in handling injury cases throughout the state.  Mr. Schultz can be reached at (866) 840-3636 or by email. 

Unanswered questions remain after 6 year-old Hunter Pitt was killed as he exited a school bus in front of his house around 4:00pm this afternoon.  Pitt was exiting the bus and walking around the front of the 2006 Freightliner when it rolled over the young boy.  Pitt was pronounced dead at the scene.  77 year-old Willie Loenberger was driving the bus and it remains unclear how or why Loenberger allowed the bus to move before Pitt was clear of the "zone of danger" typically referred to as the front of a school bus. 

An accident reconstruction team will be used to investigate the Callaway County fatal bus accident that claimed the life of this innocent victim.  Accident reconstructions are complex investigations that involve statistical data and applied physics.  Depending on testimony from eye witnesses, most of the findings contained in a fatal crash investigation report will be based upon scientific data.  This includes information from the black box of the school bus, the electronic control module (ECM). 

The Callaway County Bus Accident Lawyers at Schultz & Myers conduct independent accident reconstruction in all personal injury cases involving a commercial motor vehicle, which includes school buses.  Conducting a thorough independent reconstruction is critical in ascertaining what contributing factors could have caused an accident.  Our law firm retains engineers, certified accident reconstruction experts, safety experts, and other specialists to aid in a reconstruction.  Filing protective orders with the local Circuit Court is critical in aiding to preserve evidence that will be relevant to a reconstruction investigation down the line.

Another useful tool in assisting the jury in understanding what happened in a school bus accident is to use reconstruction animation.  Animation reconstruction videos require enough factual data to provide a fair and accurate depiction of what actually happened in the accident.  If the animation video is not based on enough tangible evidence, it will be stricken and not able to be used as evidence in a personal injury claim against the negligent driver.  Our Callaway County wrongful death lawyers find animation to be particular effective in providing a visual understanding of what caused an accident and who was to blame.

Our Missouri personal injury lawyers are standing by to answer your questions.  Call our toll-free hotline (866) 840-3636 to speak with an attorney immediately.  An aggressive and experienced Missouri lawyer may be exactly what is needed to seek justice in a case, especially when the complexities of a commercial motor vehicle are involved.  Without representation, evidence can be lost, altered, or destroyed.