Pedestrian injury is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 5 to 14, claiming the lives of about 600 children annually, according to a recent report. This same report also indicated that more than 38,400 children were treated in emergency rooms for pedestrian-related injuries. Although pedestrian injuries are not as common as motor vehicle occupant injuries, a disproportionate number of the injuries sustained by child pedestrians are severe. External circumstances can increase the chances of child pedestrian accidents, but more often it is their innocence that makes them vulnerable to dangers on the road. Child pedestrians can be killed for a variety of reasons, including high traffic volume, high posted speed limits, absence of a divided highway, few pedestrian control devices, lack of alternative play areas like parks and irresponsible driver behavior. However, children are particularly at-risk pedestrians because they are exposed to traffic threats that exceed their cognitive, developmental, behavioral, physical and sensory abilities.
Your child’s involvement in an accident is a traumatic experience, for your child, as well as you as a parent. On top of worrying about your child’s physical pain from injuries sustained, there’s the emotional turmoil that inevitably arises—the fear from not knowing what will happen and the confusion from not knowing what to do for them. In working with clients, I’ve seen that the sense of fear that parents feel about their child’s future can easily become overwhelming.
A pedestrian accident is a traumatic experience. On top of the physical pain from injuries sustained, there’s the emotional turmoil that inevitably arises—the fear from not knowing what will happen and the confusion from not knowing what to do. In working with clients, I’ve seen that the sense of having lost control over one’s life can easily become overwhelming.
Personal injuries can happen when you least expect them, creating strain on your personal finances and making life difficult. After you have been injured, you can seek compensation for the damages you endured. Damages can include medical costs, burial and funeral expenses, pain and suffering, and income loss. You can speak with your personal injury attorney to discover which damages you are eligible for. Medical Costs, Wage Loss, Pain and Suffering, Funeral Expenses.
You probably have an intuitive understanding of what insurance is and how it works. You may even have had extensive experience in buying insurance and in dealing with insurance companies. But few people-expert or novice-stop to ask themselves what insurance actually is. So what does it mean to buy insurance, really?
Buying insurance is paying someone to assume risk for you.
Risk is… well, risky. Everyone is willing to assume some risk in their lives. After all, it’s difficult to imagine life without a little risk. But some risk is too great to bear. Insurance is a way to manage these types of risk by shifting the burden to somebody else in exchange for money. This may sound a bit abstract, but understanding how insurance works at this level gives us a solid foundation for addressing the issues and answering the questions that we’ve laid out for ourselves in this chapter.
Key Terms
Before we proceed, let’s review some key insurance lingo that will help us make sense of the different types of car insurance and the way they differ.
Policy: Your policy is the legal contract you sign with the insurance company. In exchange for premium payments, the insurance company promises to pay for claims that fall within the terms of the contract.
Policy limit: Your policy limit is the maximum amount that the insurance company is obligated to pay under your policy.
Premium: Your premium, in short, is the cost of a policy, which is usually specified in a certain dollar amount over a given period of time. As you might expect, purchasing a policy with a higher limit will mean paying a higher premium.
Coverage: Coverage guarantees that the insurance company will pay for a certain type of claim. Any given policy usually contains multiple coverages, e.g., Theft, liability, fire. If you are “covered” for it, you can expect the insurance company to pay if it were to happen.
Policyholder: The policyholder is the person who purchased the policy.
Insured: The insured is the individual or individuals who are covered under a particular insurance policy contract. The insured is in many cases the policyholder, but others-the policyholder’s family, for example-may also be the insured under the terms of the policy.
Deductible: With certain types of insurance, the policyholder-that’s you-will have to pay a certain amount before your insurance will pay the rest. This amount is referred to as a “deductible.” High deductible policies are less expensive because you’re assuming more financial risk. Likewise, low deductible policies will mean higher premiums as a way of compensating for the fact that the insurance company is promising to pay a greater amount of money in the event of a claim.
Claim: A claim is a demand that a policyholder makes to the insurance company for payment. The payment must be for expenses or losses that fall within the terms of the policy, resulting from something for which the policyholder is covered.
WHY BUY CAR INSURANCE?
There are three reasons. The first is that a minimum amount of insurance is required by New Jersey law, and in virtually all other states. The second is buying insurance is smart. For most of us, our car is the single greatest source of risk in our lives. Because driving is such an integral part of our day-to-day experience, it’s easy to forget what driving actually entails: conveying a steel box at high speeds filled with explosive liquid, and on roads filled with other such vehicles operated by other very, very fallible human beings.
More than anything else you own, your car is by far the most likely cause of significant injury to yourself or others, and the most likely reason why you’d be sued for significant sums of money-in most cases far more than you’d be able to afford. A sound principle to abide by is to only risk what you can afford to lose. For the vast majority of people, the type of losses that are commonly the results of car accidents represent risks that are too great to assume themselves. Nobody wants to be a victim, and buying insurance soundly is one of the best means of ensuring that this doesn’t happen.
The third reason is a matter of our duty as responsible citizens. Insurance isn’t just about protecting ourselves. It’s also about protecting others from us. We all make mistakes, but, unfortunately, driving means that seemingly minor errors-momentary lapses in judgment and attention-can irreversibly alter another’s life, and even end it. I believe that we must be responsible for our actions and accountable for our mistakes. Buying insurance is the best means of ensuring that we are able to take full responsibility for any mistakes we make on the road.
Slip and fall accidents can take place at any time and anywhere. In some cases, a slip and fall accident may be caused by a person’s own clumsiness or negligence. In other cases, the owner or manager of a property may be responsible for an accident.
If a person injures themselves due to the negligence of a business or homeowner, they will file an insurance claim with the owner’s insurance company. The amount of time it takes to receive a settlement will depend on when the insurance claim is filed, the amount of time it will take for an insurance company to get back to you with an offer, and whether or not you find that offer acceptable.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO BEFORE YOU CONTACT THE OWNER’S INSURANCE COMPANY
If you fall at a business or residence, you should look around and see what caused you to take a tumble. Was there anything lying in your path that you could not reasonably be expected to see? Were they performing maintenance and did they put up signs around the area to alert you to this fact? Was there a slippery substance on the floor, that they could have cleaned up in a reasonable amount of time?
Insurance companies claim they want to help you save money. While the savings they suggest may sound ideal, the insurance company may be suggesting cutting corners on protections to “save” you money. One solution the insurance company may suggest is to elect your health insurance as PIP primary. If you have health insurance, it may seem like a good idea to select your health insurance as PIP primary, but in the event of an accident, you may be limiting your options in terms of healthcare.
By selecting your health insurance as PIP primary, you may be responsible for high co-pays and deductibles, which would be normally covered by your auto insurance. If you are involved in an accident and use auto insurance, you will be responsible for the copay and deductible amounts you selected when you signed up for auto insurance. Typically, auto insurance copays and deductibles are significantly lower than your health insurance co-pay and deductible.
Having your health insurance as PIP primary, may also limit the facilities you are allowed to treat with as you will have to go to places in-network with your health insurance. You are often forced to go to places in-network or you will be charged penalties or the service may not be covered.
If you are ever involved in a car accident, having the right insurance could be critical to surviving the financial hardships that an auto accident could bring to you and your family. Having the right insurance will protect your property, help with the repair or replacement of your car, and protect your well-being by assuring that you get the best and immediate medical care for your injuries. When it comes t auto insurance coverage, what you elect is important.
Choosing the right auto insurance could be confusing and difficult. You may be left wondering: What coverage selections should you elect? Should you have excess coverage? The answer to these questions ultimately depends on your total amount of assets and how much you can afford to pay for insurance.Your policy should cover you in the event that you are involved in an accident. If you select a low policy, your medical bills could cost more than your elected policy coverage and you could be on the hook for expensive medical bills. You also want to protect your assets in the event if you were to be sued. Having a policy that falls short on coverage could leave your home, business, or other assets in financial trouble.
Seek medical treatment—this is one of the most significant recommendations we can offer, not only for your well being, but also for the value of your case. If you do not seek treatment, your condition can get worse and cause more permanent damage if not appropriately treated. It is important to visit a doctor after an injury to treat and prevent any additional worsening of a condition.
While scrapes and bruises usually show up shortly after the accident, other wounds may need more time to appear and can take hours or days for the injuries to become symptomatic. Tissue can be delicate and although you may not feel physical pain for quite a while, there can still be an underlying issue that can have long-term effects. That is the reason it’s so critical to see a specialist quickly, and face to face. That way, the doctor can give you a full assessment and report your wounds as the symptoms arise. It will make your case stronger and provide background on how your injuries and treatment have progressed.
It’s imperative that you communicate with your doctor. Tell them all your complaints no matter how little they may seem; you never know if there could be an underlying issue. Also, listen to your doctor. Your doctor will make a treatment plan based on the symptoms and severity of your injuries. It is important you stick with the plan the doctor has made for you so your injuries will heal properly.
Considering the stressful nature of an accident, unwinding may sound incomprehensible. You may be facing serious injury, a mountain of medical bills and an uncertain future. Although the healing process will take time, healing will happen. It’s important to try to find some relief in a stressful situation. Pursuing a personal injury claim can require a lot of time and energy and trying to find some time to relax will help the healing process.
By visiting the doctor and completing your treatment, you have done everything you could do to ensure the best recovery. Your next step should be retaining an attorney who specializes in your type of accident. Though you should provide whatever assistance and information you’re asked for, your most important job is to take care of you.
Rest assured that, having hired a qualified attorney, you’re in good hands. When things go wrong, there’s great value in knowing that you have an experienced, professional advocate on your side. It’s your attorney’s job to fight for and protect your interests. Although the recuperating process will require some serious energy, things will get easier.
Contact Joseph M. Ghabour & Associates LLC today to handle you case so you can relax knowing you are in good hands and you have the right personal injury attorney on your side.
What medical costs are included under PIP coverage?
Personal Injury Protection Coverage (PIP) is insurance coverage for injuries sustained by you or other persons covered by your policy. It covers what insurance companies call “reasonable and customary” medical services for injuries you sustain in an accident, up to the limit of your PIP coverage. The standard policy provides for up to $250,000 PIP coverage and provides for underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage. Under New Jersey’s Standard policy, your PIP coverage is $250,000, although you can (but never should) opt for lesser coverage for a reduction in premium. The savings are not substantial. Under the Basic Policy, PIP coverage is $15,000, but you can (and always should) opt for more coverage for an additional premium.
PIP coverage provides benefits to cover medical expenses and sometimes lost wages and other damages. In New Jersey law, the following services are eligible for a PIP claim:
- Medical Services and Surgeries
- Medication
- Hospital Expenses
- Rehabilitation Treatment
- Diagnostic Procedures
- Ambulatory Services