Personal Injury Protection for Automobile Injuries

When an individual is injured resulting from improper maintenance or use of a motor vehicle, Personal Injury Protection acts to cover potential medical expenses that may have been involved. This is a mandatory charge on car insurance that takes precedence over health insurance to ensure that victims are granted the appropriate coverage for medical treatments and other rehabilitations.

Additionally, Pennsylvania law requires that every personal injury protection policy have no fault benefits (medical bills are to be paid by car insurance regardless of who is at fault). This is to ensure that even if the fault of the accident was on the injured party, they will still seek out medical treatment.

The minimum amount of medical benefits provided in Pennsylvania automobile insurance policies is $5,000 and Astor Weiss Kaplan & Mandel, LLP lawyers can help set up any injury claim to make sure these benefits can be used.

Victims who are injured in car accidents can also be compensated for the damages and/or loss based on a number of different factors like pain and suffering. In addition, lawyers from Astor Weiss Kaplan & Mandel also work to make sure medical bills which are not paid and other out-of-pocket expenses become part of the overall claim.

Astor Weiss Kaplan & Mandel, LLP has made strong, longstanding relationships with a large network of doctors across the Philadelphia area and can help you find the right doctor who will give you the treatment you need. Furthermore, our lawyers will try to make sure that the insurance company will be the only one paying.

Injuries sustained from an automobile accident can make life difficult for the injured party. If you have experienced a personal injury sustained during an automobile accident, you may need a lawyer to ensure you receive proper compensation from your or third party’s insurance company. Personal injury lawyers at Astor Weiss Kaplan & Mandel, LLP have much experience handling cases for individuals with automobile injuries from automobile accidents. Contact a lawyer at 215-790-0100 to ensure you receive any compensation you may be owed. Astor Weiss Kaplan & Mandel, LLP lawyers have also addressed what to do if you, your family member, or your friend is ever involved in an automobile accident.

Important Steps to Take if Involved in a Car Crash

Important Steps to Take if Involved in a Car Crash

If you are involved in a car crash, there are several important steps that you should take to best protect yourself, both medically and legally:

Step 1: Contact the police – By contacting the police, you will ensure that a record of the incident is made and that the proper information is exchanged between you and the other driver(s). The police may also be of assistance in making sure you receive immediate emergency medical care. If the police will not come to the scene, make sure to document the other driver’s license plate, make/model of their vehicle, and their car insurance information. The more information you obtain at the scene, the less risk you run in failing to obtain a crucial piece of information which may be difficult to obtain at a later date.

Step 2: Take photographs – Photograph all of the vehicles involved which were damaged as a result of the crash. Additionally, if you have cuts or bruises as a result of the crash, it is important to take photographs so that your condition is documented.

Step 3: Seek medical attention – Often after a motor vehicle crash, victims feel overwhelmed with emotion and are generally shaken up. Pain due to injuries suffered from the crash can set in immediately or may take several days to begin negatively affecting you. It is always better to err on the side of caution and to visit the nearest emergency room or to see your family doctor as soon as possible for an evaluation of any part of your body which was affected from the crash. It is additionally important that you express to the doctor who examines you that your symptoms began or worsened as a result of the crash.

Step 4: Contact an attorney – The quicker you contact an attorney, the better off you will be. By contacting an attorney, you can ensure that your rights are protected, as there are many circumstances for which your failure to act timely may cause you to be without any recourse. Additionally, contacting an attorney will ensure that you will not have to deal with any of the insurance companies involved and that all necessary steps are taken to make sure that your vehicle is fixed or replaced and that you receive necessary medical care.

Philadelphia’s Astor Weiss Kaplan & Mandel, LLP law firm is composed of lawyers who genuinely care about their clients. Consequently, our personal injury department focuseson ways to legally help anyone who has recently been hurt through no part of their own.

Traumatic Brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of injury-related death and disability in the United States. TBI is an injury that can change the way your brain normally works and is caused by an external force to the head. Fortunately, TBI is a completely preventable public health issue.

The severity of TBI may range from “mild” (i.e. a brief change in mental status or consciousness) to “sever” (i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after an injury). Mild TBI accounts for nearly 75% of all TBIʼs. Health care professionals may describe a concussion as a “mild” brain injury because most concussion symptoms typically resolve in days to weeks, but all TBIʼs – mild, moderate or severe -are serious injuries and have the potential for ling-term consequences.

What Can TBI Potentially Affect?

– Cognitive function (e.g. impaired attention or memory); – Motor function (e.g., extremity weakness or poor coordination and balance); – Sensation (e.g, loss of hearing, vision, perception or touch); and – Emotion (e.g, depression, anxiety, aggression, loss if impulse control, or personality changes).

What Are Some of the Causes of TBI?

Falls, motor vehicle crashes, being struck by or against an object, and assaults are four commonly reported causes of TBI:

Falls: Falls are the leading cause of TBI in the United States. They cause more than half of all TBIʼs among children aged 0-14 years old and over 80 percent of all TBIʼs among adults aged 65 years and older.

Being Struck by or Against an Object or Person: This type of TBI occurs after being struck (hit) or crushed, or colliding with a moving or stationary object or person. These events account for roughly 16% of all TBIʼs and are the second leading cause of TBI among children aged 0-14 years (25%). Sports-related TBIʼs are one type of TBI that are the result of being struck by or against an object or person.

Motor Vehicle Traffic Incidents: Among all age groups, motor vehicle crashes and traffic -related incidents are the 3rd leading cause of TBI and result in the largest percentage of TBI-related deaths.

Assault: Assaults are the cause if 10 percent of TBIʼs in the general population; they account for 3 percent of all TBIʼs among children aged 0-14 years and 1% among adults 65 years and older. Assaults include injuries inflicted by another person with intent to injure or kill, such as fights, child maltreatment (e.g., shaken baby or abusive head trauma), and intimate partner violence or elder abuse.

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It is critically important to trust a lawyer who understands and has experience with TBI. Fortunately, Astor Weiss Kaplan & Mandel, LLP’s David Woloshin is the personal injury lawyer Philadelphia residents can depend on because he is the only lawyer that sits on the Board of the Brain Injury Association of Philadelphia (BIAPA).

In a case involving wrongful death, someone – usually a family member – has died as a result of someone else’s negligence. When this occurs, the family is entitled to certain damages determined by the Pennsylvania Wrongful Death Act.

According to Pennsylvania’s Wrongful Death Act, individuals (usually family members) are able to, “recover damages for the death of an individual caused by wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence of another.” 42 Pa. C.S. Section 8301 (a).

There are certain damages that the decedent’s family members are entitled to including:

• Compensation for hospital, medical, funeral/burial, and estate administration expenses. Sometimes a pecuniary loss may also be granted to the decedent’s family.

• The contribution of the decedent to the family or household, from the date of death to the date of the trial. The amount that is granted is determined by several different factors such as what the deceased would have contributed to the household if they lived out to their full life expectancy.

In addition, there are also a number of benefits that the family is entitled to:

• Guidance

• Tutelage

• Moral upbringing

• Monetary contributions for medical bills, entertainment, gifts, recreation, and education

Personal injury lawyers from Astor Weiss Kaplan & Mandel, LLP are equipped to help clients deal with a wide range of legal services, including wrongful death cases. Likewise, our estates department can work with the family to set up an estate and walk you through that process during a difficult time. Astor Weiss lawyers deal with these difficult situations and help on all aspects whether raising an estate, administration of an estate, and help with a claim against the tort feasor, who is responsible for compensating the decedent’s family.

For information regarding our personal injury practice, contact the office of Astor Weiss Kaplan & Mandel, LLP at 215-790-0100