Vegas Personal Injury Law Blog

1. In order to maximize your recovery on any auto accident personal injury case you must seek appropriate medical attention immediately after an accident. A delay of only a few days in obtaining medical treatment will reduce the value of your claim by insurance company standards.

2. In the event that event you are not at fault for an accident, insist that a law enforcement be called to the accident scene.

3. In any event that you are at fault for an accident, it makes sense to a try to negotiate with the other driver to determine if he wants to handle the claim outside of auto insurance. This can be helpful in minor accidents, because even minor accidents are considered at fault accidents by your insurance company. These small accidents will add up and will eventually affect your insurance rates. If you can work with the other driver on property damage, assuming that there is no injury from the accident, this can save you the expense of increased insurance rates and can expedite the repair of the other driver’s vehicle.

4. Especially in any questionable liability situation, do not admit fault for the accident. This can be considered an admission. Your statements can be admitted into evidence in any legal proceedings as an exception to hearsay.

5. If you do not obtain follow-up medical treatment after your emergent treatment, this is a red flag to an insurance company.

6. You must cooperate with your own insurance company. You are required, as a condition of coverage, to answer their questions about the accident. You’re not required to answer any questions from the other side’s insurance company. If you have an attorney, do not give any statements to the adverse insurance company or sign any forms without the approval of your attorney.

7. Do not attempt to settle your case until all necessary medical expenses past and future have been determined. I had a consultation recently involving a auto accident injury claim, where a lady settled her injury claim with the adverse carrier for $1000, despite the fact that she had continuing low back pain and pain radiating down into her lower extremity. Then, a few weeks after the first accident she was involved in a second motor vehicle accident. Obviously, this decision to settle the first accident claim was not well thought out.

8. Keep track of all of your medical expenses. Ask your health-care providers for copies of your bills so that you can determine the costs of medical treatment for your auto accident. You may be surprised to learn to how much things like MRIs, CT scans and pain management procedures cost.

9. In the event you receive a traffic citation as a result of an accident do not pay the fine. Try to get an attorney to handle the ticket for you. In most cases the ticket can be reduced to a parking ticket and nolo plea can be entered. With this plea the ticket cannot be used to determine liability in a civil proceeding.

Did you ever ask yourself the question, what is my responsibility for a motor vehicle  accident involving family members that lives in my household? 

Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 41.440 states as follows:

Any liability imposed upon a wife, husband, son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister or other immediate member of a family arising out of his or her driving and operating a motor vehicle upon a highway with the permission, express or implied, of such owner is hereby imposed upon the owner of the motor vehicle, and such owner shall be jointly and severally liable with his or her wife, husband, son, daughter, father, mother, bother, sister or other immediate member of family for any damages proximately resulting from such negligence or willful misconduct, and such negligent or willful misconduct shall be imputed to the owner of the motor vehicle for all purposed of civil damages.

Generally, a vehicle owner is not vicariously liable for accidents involving vehicle  loaned to another person under circumstances of permissive use, absent a familial relationship or other theory imputed liability.

Vicarious liability means that a person who is not present at an accident scene can be held responsible for the negligent or willful operation of a motor vehicle.  NRS 41.440 imposes vicarious liability for negligent operation by an immediate member of the family.  

This statute imposes vicarious liability on motor vehicle owners who allow family owned vehicles to be driven by immediate family members.  The Nevada Supreme Court has even suggested that  a stepfather can be an immediate family member of his wife’s an adult son. 

This doctrine represents a social policy generated in response to problems involving the by widespread use of automobiles.  Specifically, the increasing number of automobile collisions lead to more frequent situations in which the negligent driver was found to be judgment proof.  The Family Purpose Statute, enacted in 1957, expanded on the case law imposing vicarious liability upon a vehicle owner. Although there is no legislative history indicating the Legislature’s actual purpose for enacting NRS 41.440, one can surmise that the policy considerations for its adoption was  to allow  an injured party, who is free of negligence, to maintain a cause of action against a financially responsible defendant, so that the injured party can be made whole and doesn’t have to rely on public assistance for his support and for payment of his medical bills.  

Insurance policies provide coverage for any person using the insured motor vehicle with the express or implied permission of the named insured.  Where damages caused a negligent driver exceed the limits of the owner’s liability policy, NRS 41.440 provides an additional means to make an injured party whole.  (2) To encourage the owners of vehicles to exercise a greater degree of care when deciding whether to permit a financially irresponsible family member to use a family car.  A family member is generally in a far better position than a  mere acquaintance to determine whether another family member is competent to drove the vehicle. One thing to consider about this statute is that it makes no distinction between dependent and emancipated children, adult of otherwise. Because the statute refers to “other immediate members of a family”, the Nevada Supreme Court has concluded that a stepfather can be an “immediate member of a family”.  On the other hand the Nevada Supreme court did not impose liability on brother-in law who was residing in a household because, although the brother-in-law shared the household expenses, he was not supporting the family.  The court stated the at the brother-in-law was not a family member because the other members of the were not wholly or partially dependent upon him for financial support.

As a practical matter I know that through my experience in trying cases involving the Family Purpose Doctrine that judges do not like to apply this statute in situations where the limits of available liability insurance are sufficient to cover the injured party’s damages. The naming of other family members as defendants in a lawsuit involves injecting unnecessary extra parties. Although judges have expressed distaste for this law (probably because they have family members that drive their vehicles), they must still give credence to Family Purpose Statute, because it is the law in the State of Nevada.

Let’s now look at how automobile liability insurance practically applies to NRS 41.440.  

If you have a child living in your household  that drives a vehicle that is either owned by him or by you, you as a parent have vicarious liability for any accident involving that vehicle. Most parents, who are faced with the extremely high  cost of auto insurance for teenagers or persons under the age of 25, will opt to place minimum 15/30 liability coverage on the child’s vehicle. However, they do opt to carry higher limits on their own vehicles.  Their rationale for this disparity in coverage is that parents are under the mistaken belief that, if their child is involved in an accident, that their own liability coverage will provide a secondary layer of protection.  Insurance companies will not stretch liability coverage to provide the parents with protection under their own liability policies in this situation.  So, the parents are on the hook personally for any damages above the child’s liability coverage.  This is shocking to most parents, who are sued under these circumstances.  Oftentimes, parents are given erroneous information from their insurance agents.  The only way for parents to protect themselves is to take out enough liability coverage on the child’s car (or other vehicles available for family use)  to protect their personal assets, even if this means higher premiums.

 If you want to absolve yourself from vicarious liability on your children’s vehicles, the vehicle title should be put  into the child’s name, and they must be emancipated and  not residing  in your household.

Between the years of 2000 and 2005 there were over 6 million auto accidents in the United States. In each of those years approximately 2.9 million people were injured and over 42,000 people were killed. About 115 people are killed every day in vehicle crashes in the United States. In 2007 there were approximately 300 million people in the United States. Of the people killed in automobile accidents in 2007 approximately 20% were passengers. In 2007 approximately 5,000 people were killed in motorcycle accidents. Also, in 2007 approximately 4,600 pedestrians were killed in accidents involving motor vehicles. There were 255 million vehicles registered and approximately 200 million licensed drivers.

As far as Nevada motor vehicle accident deaths are concerned, about 51% were due to roadway departures, 25% were intersection accidents, 9% of the fatalities involved large trucks, And there were 77 non-motorist and bicyclist fatalities. Over 400 people are killed in motor-vehicle crashes in Nevada each year. 37% are passenger car occupants, and 32% were light truck occupants. 33% of the fatalities involved accidents were the blood alcohol level of the driver was 0.08 % or higher.

The motorists advocacy group AAA reports that accidents cost $162 billion each year. The cost of auto accidents to each American is more than $1,000 a year. Also, according to AAA car accidents involving drivers 15 to 17 years of age cost society more than 34 billion in medical expenses, property damage and related costs in the year 2006. 15-18 year old drivers were involved in 974,000 crashes that injured 406,427 people and killed 2,541. According to the Center for Disease Control motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among U.S. teens, accounting for 36% of all deaths in this age group.

So, what can be done to protect motorists from injury and death caused by motor vehicle accidents? The answers to this question are as follows:

1. Don’t’ drink and drive. Don’t ride in a car when the driver has been drinking.
2. Require your teenagers to enroll in driver safety programs.
3. Drive large vehicles. Full sized passenger cars weighing over 4000 pounds have a lower injury and fatality rates.
4. Lower your speed. Speed kills.
5. Practice defensive driving.
6. Stricter enforcement of traffic laws.
7. Make drivers who cause accidents criminally and civilly responsible.
8. Lower the center of gravity on Vans, SUVs, and pick-ups to prevent roll over accidents.
9. Incorporate some form of roll cages in vehicles.
10. Incorporation of more safety glass in vehicles.
11. Restricted licenses for the elderly and those with poor vision.
12. Better highway design. Fix the bad roads before we build new ones.
13. Raise insurance rates for at-fault drivers and lower them for safe drivers.
14. Better DMV reporting of traffic infractions to insurance companies.
15. Use of and incorporation of safety equipment such as seat belts, air bags, side curtain air bags, crumple zones and energy absorbing bumpers.
16. Don’t drive if you’re tired.
17. Raise the driving age to 19.
18. Require drug and alcohol testing for all traffic infractions.

I’d appreciate any comments you have on this important issue.

Rental car coverage is a fairly inexpensive coverage which you can add to your auto insurance policy. Generally, this coverage will provide you with a finite sum of rental car coverage in the event your vehicle is involved in an accident and it needs repair or if it is a total loss. The upper limit on this coverage is generally less than $1,000.00. There is also a limit on the daily cost of the rental car. Generally speaking, most policies will pay up to $30.00 per day and will provide a maximum of $500.00 – $800.00 of coverage.

Another inexpensive coverage is towing coverage. In the event your vehicle breaks down, or if it is involved in an accident and needs towing, this coverage will pay your towing bill.

In the event you are involved in an accident, it is comforting to know you can have your vehicle towed to a repair shop, and that you can obtain a rental car without the detriment and delay involved with relying on the adverse driver’s insurance to pay for your towing and rental car expenses. Oftentimes, your carrier will arrange a direct billing with the rental car company. When they do allow for direct billing, the rental car company bills your insurance carrier directly instead of you. Most first-party and third-party carriers have this arrangement with Enterprise Rental Car.

In the event your auto insurance company pays under your collision coverage, rental car coverage, and towing coverage, they have the ability to subrogate against the at-fault party’s insurance company. They can be paid by the adverse carrier up to the limits of the adverse driver’s property damage liability limits. Many of the insurance companies have agreements under which they resolve these disputes outside of the court system.

Wage loss coverage is available on most auto policies. It will provide you with a finite sum of wage loss coverage. Each insurance company is different regarding the amount of wage loss coverage that they offer. In most cases, it can be as little as $1,000.00 or as high as $10,000.00. The premium for this coverage is reasonable. In most cases, there usually is a ten (10) day or two (2) week period that must elapse before this coverage becomes effective. Wage loss coverage pays only a portion of your wage loss, such as 2/3’s of the actual wages, and will only pay up to the limit of your coverage.

Once again, you should check your policy or consult your agent to determine the costs of these coverages and the terms and conditions associated with them.