Los Angeles Injury Lawyer Blog

It has been a couple of weeks of heavy rain in Los Angeles. Here in the San Fernando Valley, we had days of wet weather. Although the sun is finally shining, there was a significant increase in the number of car accidents as a result of the weather.

If you are involved in a collision, you should remember a few simple things to do:

First, after the collision, move you car off the road to safety. You should not be walking around on the road in traffic.

If someone is injured, call the police or the highway patrol.

Exchange information with the other people involved. Try to get the following information: License plate numbers; make and model of each car; driver’ s license numbers; insurance identification, including name of insurance company, broker or agent, and policy number; names, addresses and phone numbers of witnesses and names and badge numbers of police officers or other emergency personnel.

Take some notes at the scene of how the collision happened. If you have a camera take some pictures of the area where the collision occurred, the damage to the cars, and the people who were involved.

In Los Angeles, there are many things that can cause a car accident. It is particularly distressing when you are injured because of a drunk driver. At Rice & Bloomfield, it is our job to ensure that you are properly compensated if you are injured by another driver. A problem which can often arise is when the person that hit you does not have enough insurance, or sufficient assets to pay a settlement.

A case just settled where a restaurant agreed to pay for injuries caused from a drunk driver, who was served too much alcohol. The attorneys argued that the restaurant sold alcohol to the patron when they should have known she was already drunk. After getting drunk in the restaurant, the patron got in her car and ran head-on into on-coming traffic killing an innocent person driving the other direction.

Although the drunk driver was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, the settlement helps to provide compensation to the family that was otherwise not available.

It was because of a careful and tenacious lawyer that the family got some justice, and restaurants were sent a clear signal about their responsibilities.