Car accidents can be very stressful for everyone who is involved. You may be dealing with injuries, being forced to take time off of work, and physical damage to your vehicle. It can be particularly frustrating when the accident was not even your fault.
If you have recently been in a car accident, it would be a good idea to talk to an auto accident law practitioner. In some cases, you might feel that your injury is so minor that an attorney would not take it seriously, and maybe it would be a good idea for you to go to an accident attorney no injury is too small for. Even if you do not plan on taking the case to court, it would be good just to get some accident lawyer advice. If you want to know which car accident lawyer you should work with, you should look up the best car injury lawyers in your area. Here, you will find a list of car accident and personal injury lawyers, and you can look at the records of all of these individuals to see what types of cases they have participated in and how successful they have been in getting justice for people.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are injured while working on the job. While an on the job injury looks entirely different depending on the situation and work environment, the employer is usually the one that is responsible for compensation. Employees are protected from injuries on the job and employers carry insurance for this exact purpose. However, the workers compensation claims are not often as simple as it sounds.
Blurred employment lines
One of the biggest debates against workers compensation is that the employee was not actually on work time. This is a common concern with salaried employees. Salaried workers work times often get blurred. Do you count the time they were driving to work? What if they were driving from work to another work related task? It can often be difficult to prove that the accident occurred during work and that workers compensation should be responsible for it. These types of cases usually require the services of an attorney.
Was the employee engaging in any illegal activities?
Workers compensation cases can also be more difficult when illegal activities are involved. This does not always have to be something as serious as drinking and driving, which could also result in criminal charges, and potential job loss. It could also be from texting and driving, which is not illegal in many states. At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving. This line, however, can also get blurred. What if the employee is manipulating a GPS device that is needed to deliver an item? What if the employee is taking a phone call from their superior?
The drivers current license and registration status
For some jobs, it is the employer?s responsibility to check for up to date license and registration, before allowing the employee to drive for work. However, some positions do not check this information and yet, still require employees to drive around for work tasks. If the employee is involved in an auto accident on work time and does not have up to date insurance or legally registered tabs, this could complicate the workers compensation process and an experienced law firm is often needed.
The presence of preexisting conditions
Workers compensation generally pays for all costs associated with the accident, including medical costs. However, a medical provider usually has to testify that the injury was caused by the auto accident. If a preexisting condition was made worse by an auto accident, this can also complicate things. Those with preexisting conditions are likely to have a harder time in court when fighting for their disability benefits. This is a problem, as a lot of people are injured when involved in an auto accident. In 2013, 3,154 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers, and about 424,000 people were injured.
How a car accident attorney can help
What do you do if you are an employee involved in an auto accident on work time, but fall into one of the blurred situations? These tricky situations call for the expertise of a car accident attorney, one that is familiar with workers compensation and filing for disability benefits. Do not simply give up your rights because you were denied for disability benefits the first time. Applying for social security disability benefits is often a long process that can take the knowledge of a car accident attorney.
There were 21,132 passenger vehicle occupants who lost their lives in traffic crashes in 2013 and an estimated 2.05 million passenger vehicle occupants who were injured. A good percentage of these auto accidents occur during work hours and become a workers compensation case. Tricky situations can make workers compensation cases harder and they often require the representation of an experienced car accident attorney.