Denver Personal Injury Law Blog

Can more be done to stop car accidents due to distracted driving?

On behalf of Tomazin, Hillyard & Clor, LLP on Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Car crashes happen for a variety of reasons. When that reason is something preventable, it only exacerbates the tragedy of the event. Families of victims may struggle to understand the reasoning behind a negligent driver causing a crash that injures or even kills someone. One common and preventable cause of car accidents is distracted driving.

Though most people understand why distracted driving is dangerous, and many states have implemented laws to stop people from doing it, it still happens every single day. Here in Colorado, there are laws to discourage people from using cell phones while driving, but if you or a loved one has ever been in this kind of crash, you may wonder if those laws go far enough. The issue is more complex than you may realize.

Steps to take after your car accident

On behalf of Tomazin, Hillyard & Clor, LLP on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.

A car accident can be a disorienting and confusing experience. You could be facing painful injuries, medical bills and other accident-related complications that are difficult to navigate. It's normal to find this experience overwhelming, but there are things you can do that will help you walk through the entire post-accident process.

Through specific steps at the scene of the accident and in the days and weeks after, you can work to protect your interests and secure what you need for recovery. When you know what to do and what to expect, you will have a better chance of successfully getting what you deserve from the insurance company or from filing a civil claim. Even with these steps, however, many accident victims find it beneficial to secure legal counsel after a motor vehicle accident.

Car safety standards may be due for an upgrade

On behalf of Tomazin, Hillyard & Clor, LLP posted in auto accidents on Monday, February 10, 2020.

Safety rankings play a key role in helping buyers in Colorado and throughout the country determine if a vehicle meets their needs. As buyers tend to purchase vehicles that have higher ratings, it has encouraged automakers to create products that have a greater number of safety features. However, some believe that the system that is in use today is outdated and should be changed. For instance, it could be beneficial to test pedestrian detection systems before a car is sold to consumers.

However, there is no such test that is widely conducted in the United States. The federal government has also said that it will create crash test dummies that are more representative of those who drive or ride in newer vehicles. There is also a call to use available data to determine how safe a car is on the road.

Understanding motorcycle accident statistics

On behalf of Tomazin, Hillyard & Clor, LLP on Tuesday, February 4, 2020.

Motorcycle accidents often result in serious injuries, even when it is a low-speed impact. Despite helmets and other types of protective gear, the impact of the large and heavy steel frame of a passenger vehicle is no match for a person on a bike. This is why it is particularly crucial for drivers to know how to share the road safely with bikers.

There are other factors that could also affect the likelihood of a motorcycle accident. For example, motorcycles may be less visible to other drivers, which may increase the chance of a driver coming too close, side-swiping the bike or hitting it directly. Often, collisions involving bikes and larger vehicles are the result of driver error or reckless actions, such as speeding or following too closely.

Medical mistakes continue to threaten patient health

On behalf of Tomazin, Hillyard & Clor, LLP posted in malpractice on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.

People in Colorado expect to receive a correct diagnosis and proper treatment when they go to the doctor's office or the hospital with a medical problem. However, medical errors can pose a serious risk to patients' health; people who are misdiagnosed may face a worsened health condition or incorrect treatments that actually undermine their well-being. In the late 1990s, studies estimated that around 98,000 people lose their lives each year across the United States due to medical mistakes, sparking media reports and official hearings about the problem.

Medical technology has improved a great deal in 20 years, but doctor errors continue to pose a risk to patients' health. Some estimates indicate that the annual death toll linked to medical mistakes is twice the number it was two decades ago, making medical mistakes the third leading cause of death nationwide. Around 1 in every 20 patients is exposed to some kind of harm that could have been prevented. Of those, 12% lead to death or lifelong disabilities. However, medical error often flies under the radar of health priorities, research funding and media attention.

Car accident settlements do not have to be a mystery

On behalf of Tomazin, Hillyard & Clor, LLP on Thursday, January 23, 2020.

No one really expects to be in a car accident, so figuring out what to do next can be hard. Some drivers are not sure if they even need to file reports. However, to get the compensation you need for your injuries, you should do your best to learn about the process for car accident settlements.

Although insurance companies like to make it seem easy, it rarely is. The process involves much more than just submitting a claim and waiting for an insurer to pay out. You can probably expect pushback from the insurance company no matter what the situation.

The research on teen drivers may make you wary while driving

On behalf of Tomazin, Hillyard & Clor, LLP on Friday, January 17, 2020.

The fact of the matter is that teenage drivers lack experience. It isn't their fault since most of them haven't been driving long. The only way to gain the experience they need is to get out on the road.

However, this puts teen drivers and those they share the road with at risk. If you keep a closer eye on a vehicle you see is driven by a teenager, the research backs up your instinct to be wary.

Some painful women's health conditions go undiagnosed

On behalf of Tomazin, Hillyard & Clor, LLP posted in malpractice on Tuesday, January 14, 2020.

Many Colorado women have noted that they struggle with receiving a correct diagnosis for medical problems, especially those that concern the female reproductive system. For years, they have shared their stories of doctors dismissing their pain and discomfort or focusing only on fertility. However, more attention has been drawn recently to disorders like endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and fibroids. Not only can these conditions contribute to infertility, they can also lead to serious pain or other physical symptoms.

While some gynecological conditions may be correctly diagnosed more frequently, others remain obscure despite affecting many women. Adenomyosis is one such disorder. While some experts estimate that 10% of women may be affected by the condition, it is rarely diagnosed quickly or correctly. Instead, women may suffer from a misdiagnosis for years. Adenomyosis is a condition in which the lining of the uterus grows in the uterine muscle instead. It is similar to endometriosis, in which the uterine lining grows outside the uterus altogether. The condition can lead to debilitating pain that makes some sufferers unable to work on a regular basis. It can also cause persistent infertility. However, many women receive improper or mistaken treatments that fail to resolve the problem.

Sex bias delays treatment of women's heart attacks and strokes

On behalf of Tomazin, Hillyard & Clor, LLP posted in malpractice on Tuesday, December 31, 2019.

Symptoms of heart attacks and strokes often differ for men and women in Colorado. Because the bulk of medical research has traditionally focused on men, health care workers routinely fail to recognize heart attacks and strokes in women compared to men. They sometimes take more time to diagnose these conditions in women, which delays treatment and deprives some female patients the chance for a full recovery.

According to a study from 2014, emergency room workers misdiagnosed women presenting with stroke symptoms more often than men with strokes. Failures to recognize female stroke symptoms, like nausea, seizures and breathing difficulty, could account for the fact that men presenting with ischemic strokes receive a clot-breaking drug more often than women.

Dangerous behaviors that contribute to car accidents

On behalf of Tomazin, Hillyard & Clor, LLP on Friday, December 20, 2019.

Most people think that they are safe drivers, but how many actually follow the rules of the road? You probably see dangerous drivers every time you get behind the wheel. Guessing at least some of the behaviors that most frequently contribute to car accidents might even seem easy enough, but it also helps to fully understand which dangerous driving habits to watch out for.

Newer technology makes it easy to pinpoint the cause of a car wreck. This means that you and other drivers have more information about safe driving than past generations ever did. However, it seems as if many drivers in Denver either did not get the memo or simply do not care.