Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Potholes’

Westlake Village Auto Accident Lawyer’s Top Ten Things on the Highway That Can Cause an Auto Accident

March 14th, 2011 No comments

1. Furniture.

 

2. Bad drivers.

 

3. Police chases.

 

4. Tornados.

 

5. UFOs.

 

6. Parades.

 

7. Pedestrians.

 

8. Drunks.

 

9. Potholes the size of Montana.

 

10. Confusing signs.

 

Now here are ten useful tips of advice from an auto accident lawyer to follow if you have been in an accident. You can also learn more about how to handle an auto accident in Westlake Village, or any city, by calling the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson at any of the numbers which can be found on our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learning how we can assist you.

 

Obviously, if you have had an accident, and you are reading all of this advice, it’s probably been at least a few days since the accident. However, if it’s only been a few hours or if you ever have another accident, here’s what you should do the next time from the start.

 

First, take a look around and determine if you or anyone, are hurt. If so, taking steps like trying to prevent further injury or loss of blood are the most important thing you can do. Even if some other driver caused you to be injured, it’s just good manners to help the other driver if they are hurt. They may even be so thankful that they admit their fault to you. The worst thing you can do is get angry or start a fight.

 

Second, make sure everyone is safe from being injured further. If you are in the middle of traffic, and you are dizzy, sit down away from traffic. If your vehicle is a traffic hazard and you have accident warning devices like flares or triangles, put them out on the road to warn other drivers and get away from the car. Let the police an other emergency personnel investigate the scene with the vehicles in place and move them more safely at a later point.

 

Third, call the police. Accident reports are extremely helpful if the police will do such a report. Let the police know you are injured immediately. Answer the police questions honestly. But if you are dazed or confused, let them know you need medical treatment and answer only what you feel sure about. Remember, your statements can and will be used against you if you admit fault, and it will be too late and too fishy to later say you didn’t know what you were saying at the scene. Police know that your best recollection is immediately after an accident.

 

Fourth, get the other driver’s information including their names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, make and model of their vehicles, license plate numbers, and their insurance company name and policy number. If there are witnesses, get their names, addresses and telephone numbers as well. If the other driver makes any admissions of fault, write those down as well.

 

Fifth, if you have a camera on your cell phone or in the car and you aren’t too injured, take some photos of the vehicles and the scene. If you can’t do it right away, do it after you are released from the hospital.

Sixth, if you are hurt, obtain medical treatment. Don’t decline the ambulance or hospital examination to save your insurance company money or to be stoic. Take your valuables out of your car if you can and get checked out at the hospital. If you are not hurt, don’t get treatment you don’t need. However, remember, after an accident, you may feel a rush of adrenaline that causes you to only start feeling symptoms of pain a few hours later. If you have a health plan that requires you to obtain permission first, call them and find out where you are allowed to seek treatment.

 

Seventh, call a good auto accident lawyer as soon as you have had your initial treatment, so the attorney can gather other important evidence and prevent the insurance company from taking advantage of you and obtaining such things as recorded statements that you feel fine, when many of your symptoms have yet to manifest themselves. A good auto accident lawyer can save you from making a great deal of mistakes and can shoulder much of the hassle of knowing what to do about car repairs, car rentals, medical treatment, witness statements and the like. If you think you will save money by not having an attorney, think again. A good auto accident lawyer can almost always obtain much higher settlements, obtain reductions of medical bills and insurance liens and prevent you from making costly mistakes. Also, most auto accident attorneys advance costs of obtaining police reports, medical records and the like and are paid and reimbursed for these costs only out of any settlement.

 

Eight, you will need to report the accident to your insurance company, but since they will want to take a recorded statement from you, just like any other driver’s insurance company, it’s good advice to retain an attorney first. And if the other driver did not have insurance, remember that it is your own insurance company that will be your adversary. You will also need to report the accident to the Department of Motor Vehicles and your lawyer can give you the form for this.

 

Ninth, do not agree to settle your claim privately with the person at fault for the accident. This almost never works out to your advantage. Don’t agree not to call the police. Police reports that determine the fault for an accident are golden. Your agreement to not involve the police only affords an opportunity for the other driver to change his story and blame you when the police will no longer investigate the accident.

 

Tenth, don’t pay a traffic ticket without a fight if you weren’t at fault or agree to accept a small payment for your vehicle repairs without knowing that the amount will in fact cover the cost of all the repairs.

 

If you’ve had an auto accident in Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Torrance, Carson, Brentwood, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Oxnard, Cambria or San Luis Obispo, or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Westlake Village Auto Accident Lawyer and your Ventura Auto Accident Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with auto, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, pedestrian, car, bus, train, boat and airplane accident experience, wrongful death experience and insurance law expertise who can ensure you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.

 

If you have a personal injury legal matter, a dog bite or if you’ve lost a loved one in a wrongful death accident, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.

R. Sebastian Gibson

Why should Sarah Palin get a free ride from media and public scrutiny?

March 16th, 2010 13 comments

She’s got an abysmal voting record, particularly when it comes to the enviroment and alternative fuel debates. (She supports shooting wolves and bears from the air, an illegal act since the Airborne Hunting act of 1972 – Alaska is currently gunning down wolves in planes and helicopters, claiming ‘population control’ when there is no scientific basis to support it. She also threatened to sue the US congress to remove the Polar Bear’s new status as "threatened" because it infringed upon her plans for pipelines and drilling. The BUSH administration gave the Polar Bear that status!)

She supported the "bridge to nowhere" then withdrew her support- but accepted 25 million dollars partially to build a road that leads to the site of the bridge to nowhere.

She attends a church that recently featured a public speaker that said "God delivers judgment in the form of terrorists" claiming that Israelis deserve to be killed.

She claims to be against special interests and lobbyists and earmarks yet campaigned vigorously for a 6,000 person town to get 27 million in earmarks. My own town has 4X this many people and some wicked vicious potholes that could easily be plugged with oh, 10 million, BTW.

She decries ALL abortions. Even those in the cases of rape, possible death to the mother, and pregnancy resulting from incest. So if you’re a 12 year old who was raped by your father and might die, oh well!

Sarah Palin entered politics as her profession. Why does she now think that all the aspects of her political person should be off limits?

If she’s going to be the VP to a candidate that very well might die in office due to his age and questionable health, I as a voter, feel like I have the right to damn well know EVERYTHING I can about her before she is in control of what happens in my child’s life.

Your thoughts?
EDIT: The media has been focusing on the pregnant daughter. I’ve heard stories that Palin’s infant is actually her grandchild. BUT- no one is grilling her about why she didn’t chastise her kid for not practicing abstinance- or asking her views on birth control for teens. They just keep saying "her family is off limits" which of course just keeps creating more wild rumors…
EDIT: SEXIST. HA! Didn’t work for Hillary, did it? What’s good for the goose should be good for another goose.
Ice T: Wanna see a video of an Alaska Fish and Game agent killing a wolf from a plane? Want Sarah Palin’s voting record- I’ll get you the link. Want the script of her bit ching to remove the Polar Bear? Get you that. Want clips of her saying she "hasn’t paid attention" to Iraq?

All those clips are lies? God damn, that’s a big padded box you live in.
Margaret: Obama hasn’t been in the Senate for 8 years. Also, Jeremiah Wright’s worst statement didn’t come close to: "The Jews are reaping God’s wrath in the form of Terrorists."
And for the record, I have asked plenty of questions about Obama and was never 100% in his court anyway. I used to call McCain "the only Republican I’d consider voting for" and was proud of him when he, along with 6 other Repubs voted against Bush/Cheney to open ANWAR to drilling.

Palin wants to drill ANWAR tomorrow. How long before McCain agrees? Drilling is not, will not, will never be the answer. Oil is over. McCain and Palin are misleading the public into thinking there is independence in oil so that they can continue to support oil companies that give them huge donations.

Obama has at least sketched out a plan to go against oil and to put USA on the cutting edge of alternative fuels.

Unless you’d like to CONTINUE paying the Japanese for everything new and advanced and LOGICAL…
EDIT AGAIN: Oh, that bit I just said about being proud of McCain and considering voting for him? That was before he crawled up to George Bush and licked his boots like a bad dog looking for a biscuit.

The real "Maverick" McCain, the real fighter, the real visionary, is gone. The Bush/Cheney Machine ground him up and spit him out like so much byproduct. Now he is hazardous waste.
EDIT: NO Chetco, I don’t. And I’ll support my statements with voting records and video statements, if you like

She shouldn’t get a free ride.She’s some kind of ultra – conservative nutcase if you ask me,after seeing footage from her church.She is anti – Israel,anti- everything,and she’s a danger to the environment and the animals that live in it.And you’re right about John McCain.I really didn’t mind him before,but now it’s like SHE’S the one running for president and he is just following her.It really scares me that if he dies,we are stuck with her!! And she doesn’t like cats,either! Never trust anyone who doesn’t like cats!!