That Time I Rear-Ended a Sheriff

Posted on by Horman Nichols, LLC

What to do after getting into a car accident, even a fender bender with a Deputy Sheriff.

Written By: Andy Nichols

If you’ve been involved in a car accident, even a minor one, you know it’s a bad experience.  You know what makes a bad experience worse?  When you rear-end a car in traffic and a police officer in uniform steps out of the car you just hit.  Your stress level goes through the roof.  You begin to wonder if you paid that last parking ticket you got downtown, you hope your headlights are all working correctly and you begin to think who your one phone call from jail will be.  

This happened to me.  We were in bumper-to-bumper traffic and I looked down at the radio display, looked up and traffic was stopped.  I couldn’t stop in time and I bumped the Toyota in front of me.  Imagine my response when a deputy sheriff stepped out of the Toyota.  Thankfully, the deputy I hit could not have been nicer.  We pulled over into a parking lot, made sure everyone was okay, exchanged information and went our respective ways.  

It is worth noting that in Maryland, if you get into a car accident and your vehicles are able to be driven, you can move them off the roadway.  If you need to take pictures to memorialize where the vehicles were respective to road signs, lanes of travel, etc., do so, but once you’ve done that, you can move your vehicles.  Not only will your fellow commuters and drivers thank you, for obvious reasons, it’s the safe thing to do.  

While even minor accidents are stressful, here are a few tips to help reduce that stress.  

If you think you may be at fault:

(1) take pictures of the other vehicle(s) to document property damage, particularly if it’s minor.  

(2) Call your insurance company on the spot if you can.  This allows the insurance company the opportunity to speak with the other driver and document any injuries they may be claiming and whether or not they were alone in the vehicle or had passengers.  

(3) Don’t admit fault.  Even if you think you’re at fault, there may be circumstances you’re not aware of at that time that may shift some or all of the liability to another person. 

If you believe the other party is at fault:

(1) Take pictures of the other driver’s license plate, vehicle, driver’s license and insurance card.  Call the other driver’s cell phone immediately and make sure it rings to the phone they have.  This a is great way to make sure you’ve got the number stored. 

 (2) Call their insurance company on the spot because this allows you to confirm they have insurance coverage.  

(3) Even if you’re not feeling any injuries, be very careful how you word a response if someone asks you if you’re injured.  Don’t lie, but consider saying, “I’m not feeling anything right now.”  

Be safe and don’t drive distracted!

Can an Attorney Help Me Get More Money for My Injuries?

Posted on by Horman Nichols, LLC

If you’ve ever been home sick on a Wednesday morning and spent some time watching the TV, you’ve seen the commercials – “Have you or someone you love been hurt in a car accident?” and the tag line is that “If you don’t get paid, we don’t get paid.”

Remove the cheesy and sometimes slimy nature of some of these commercials and you’ll see the message is that if you have been injured through no fault of your own, you should get a lawyer.  It’s also true that for the vast majority of personal injury cases, attorneys work on a contingency basis, which means they get paid a percentage of what they recover on your behalf.

Retaining an attorney will usually lead to a higher recovery on your personal injury case. There are several reasons for this, but here are a few primary ones:

1.  An attorney can assess the strength of your case and potential value.

2.  Hiring an attorney lets the insurance company know you’re not afraid to take your case to trial.  If you negotiate the claim yourself, the insurance adjuster knows you likely don’t want to go to trial.

3.  Hiring an attorney allows the attorney to become involved in communicating with the insurance adjuster earlier on in the process.  This can help you avoid any potential missteps in what you say to the insurance company or what personal information you authorize the insurance company to obtain about you.

4.  An attorney can advise you on ensuring that your medical records and treatment notes are properly documented to assist you in maximizing your recovery.

Consulting with an attorney for a personal injury case is almost always free with no risk to you. Trust your gut – if you feel uncomfortable with the attorney you’ve consulted with, speak to another attorney or firm.  Do your research and find attorneys that get consistently good reviews online (i.e., Yelp, Google and Facebook).