West Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog

Starting in the middle of May, West Virginia towns all across the state began enforcing strict "Click It or Ticket" campaigns to crack down on drivers and passengers who don't wear seat belts. In Beckley, for instance, police began their campaign on May 17, 2010 and it will last through the end of the month. Local law enforcement will be setting up checkpoints and watching vehicles vigilantly to ensure that drivers, passengers and children are all buckled in properly.

Statewide, police hope to help save lives this Memorial Day weekend. According to Sgt. Paul Blume of the Beckley Police Department, "About 15,000 lives are saved each year by simply wearing seat belts." In addition, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) warns that air bags are not enough to save you, and that without a seat belt, you can actually be harmed more severely by being thrown into a deployed air bag.

In addition to your own driving safety, wearing a seat belt can also help you safeguard against drunk drivers who may be traveling the roadways over the holiday weekend. AAA estimates that approximately 32.1 million people will take trips over the Memorial Day holiday. Many of those people will be driving on the roadways and others will be traveling on buses, boats, trains and other modes of transportation.

The Click It or Ticket campaign is an annual event around holiday time. The program has helped increase seat belt usage from 48 to 90 percent in West Virginia. A seat belt can truly save your life you're involved in an auto accident, so wear one every time you get in a car. If you are involved in an accident, be sure to contact a West Virginia personal injury lawyer right away to ensure your rights.

If you're like more than a quarter of your fellow West Virginians, you've more than likely logged onto a social networking site in the last month or so, perhaps even today already. Sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter connect users from all over the world instantly through personalized web profiles. Facebook alone claims to have more than 400 million active users worldwide--which is an astonishing segment of the computer-savvy market.

Although these sites are handy for connecting with friends, they are also causing quite a number of problems for personal injury victims who post about their recovery process. Even if you've "protected" your profile from outside visitors, insurance companies are finding ways to infiltrate your profile to check up on you. In turn, they can use personal information against you to deny your insurance claim or stop long-term payments.

For example, if you're injured in an auto accident in West Virginia and you post a status update that says you're "recovering just fine" on your Facebook page, an insurance adjustor may be able to use this as evidence against paying for your claim. Similarly, if you brag about how you scammed the insurance company or lied in your testimony to an adjustor, this can also be used against you. Even posting pictures of physical activities can harm your case if you've claimed that you're disabled. In extreme cases involving brain injury and the like, the mere frequency of your Facebook use can send a red flag up to insurance companies, so personal injury attorneys advise that you simply stay off the computer and keep your mouth shut about a case, even after it's closed.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the most common serious injuries related to car accidents in West Virginia. The range of TBI injuries can make them not only difficult to diagnose accurately, but also tough to defend in personal injury cases. If you or someone you love has been injured in a car accident, slip and fall or other type of personal injury case, it is imperative that you contact a reliable attorney in West Virginia to represent your rights.

The Effects of TBI
When TBI occurs, the brain is shifted within the skull, causing it to collide with the hard bone surrounding your brain. This can cause temporary or permanent damage, ranging from a mild temporary concussion to severe permanent brain damage. The effects of these injuries, then, can also be highly diverse.

In general, though, about half of severely injured TBI patients need surgery to remove or repair ruptured blood vessels (called hematomas) or bruised brain tissue (contusions). Disabilities as a result of TBI are dependant on the injury and severity of the injury, but can include problems with memory, reasoning and thinking; problems with speech and understanding; sensory problems such as poor eyesight, smell or taste; behavioral issues and mental disabilities.

Some TBI patients also suffer from really vague symptoms that can be hard to diagnose, including anger issues, aggression, acting out and social inappropriateness. Because doctors only have access to a limited number of scans and tests for TBI victims, these effects of brain injury can be tough to attribute to particular accidents. This, in turn, can result in insurance claim underpayment or denials in personal injury cases. So, recovering damages for your TBI injury requires a professional personal injury attorney who knows how to prove these types of cases with varied legal techniques.

A West Virginia motorcycle safety course is helping to decrease accident rates statewide, according to a recent article on the News and Sentinel.com. On May 19, 2010, the news outlet reported that a non-profit motorcycle safety and training course called The West Virginia Motorcycle Safety Program is offering free weekend classes for beginners and experienced riders from now until October.

Funded by the Department of Motor Vehicles, the program includes classes such as a Basic Rider Course and an Experienced Rider Course. Each class is taught at one of seven sites throughout the state, including a 24,200 square-foot outdoor site on the campus of West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

Motorcycle drivers will learn safety techniques, riding skills and defensive driving methods through a combination of outdoor drills, exercises and indoor classroom work. Courses are taught either over one day (Experienced Course) or over the course of two days (Basic Course), and always over the weekend.

Those who complete the coursework will receive completion cards. These cards can then be used at the DMV in order to waive the mandatory skills test required to obtain a motorcycle license.

The need to reduce motorcycle accidents in West Virginia is being addressed by not only the DMV, but also by the staff at the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, who actually developed the curriculum for both courses. The foundation has been around for more than three decades and is committed to reducing the number of motorcycle accidents and fatalities in the state every year.

Even with efforts like this, sadly, accidents still happen. If you or someone you love has been injured in a motorcycle accident, contact a West Virginia personal injury lawyer to help you fight for your rights.

If you've been injured in a car accident in West Virginia, you understand the dangers involved in such an incident. Each year, there are approximately 12,000 new spinal cord injuries in the United States. Of these, more than 40% are caused by motor vehicle accidents, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC). Although anyone can be injured in this way, young men ages 16-24 are at the greatest risk.

One of the repercussions of spinal cord injuries is loss of employment due to permanent disability from this type of injury. Although paralysis is a possibility, even cases in which paralysis isn't a factor can cause people to lose their abilities to function normally. In turn, this forces many spinal cord injury victims to stop working, which causes great financial strain on families. Particularly in the case of families sustained by a single parent or families whose sole breadwinner is injured, loss of employment due to a permanent disability can be financially and emotionally devastating.

The NSCISC reports that, since 2005, 57.5% of people who suffered spinal cord injuries were employed full or part-time at the time of their injuries. Of those, only about 11% were back to work after one year of recovery. After 20 years, a full 20% were permanently disabled and never able to work again.

These types of injuries are life changing. If you or someone you love has been gravely hurt in a motor vehicle accident, slip and fall or other type of personal injury, contact a West Virginia lawyer who can fight for you. A lawyer can help you get the money you will need to take care of yourself and your family after a serious spinal cord injury.

According to Bridgeport CBS-affiliate WDTV, West Virginia has the most ATV accidents of any other state in the country. On April 27, 2010, the station featured a story about two West Virginia University graduate students who visited middle school students to teach them about ATV safety. They showed the students how to wear goggles and helmets, and how to pay attention to their surroundings as they drive.

As summer approaches in West Virginia and the weather gets warmer every day, it's important to remember to practice ATV safety on recreational rides. Helmets are a must, especially for underage drivers, who make up 70% of ATV accidents.

It's also important to know and obey the local laws regarding ATVs in West Virginia. For example, it's illegal to ride with another person on your ATV. This dangerous activity is responsible for 10% of serious injuries sustained during ATV accidents. Additional passengers can create distractions and can also prohibit the driver from handling the ATV in a safe way. It's also illegal to drive ATVs on highways and main roads unless you're simply crossing over to another path.

Injuries from ATV accidents can range from minor cuts and bruises to major catastrophic injures and even death. Victims of these accidents have been reported in Upshur County, Harrison County and all throughout the state, so no one is immune.

If you or someone you love has been injured in an ATV accident in West Virginia, you need a reliable lawyer on your side. Particularly in the case of unsupervised minors, a personal injury lawyer can help you sort out fault and damages for injuries incurred.