FAQ: Should I Sign the Forms?

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Probably not. Typically insurance adjusters and companies will want you to sign releases so they can get your medical records. However, some don't stop with getting just your medical records related to the car accident, they get releases for your entire medical history. Why would you want some unknown insurance adjuster or insurance company combing through all of your medical history? Additionally, be leery of signing releases of your employment records.

Instead, request your own medical records. Be sure to get all of the records related to the injuries from the car accident. Also, be sure to request itemized statements of your medical expenses with the medical coding on the statement.

Requesting medical records is one of the services our firm routinely handles for our clients. However, if you have limited medical treatment, you may be able to handle this step on your own. To find out how, request our free guide below. Otherwise, please call our team at 888-510-9359 or use the contact form below. 

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Mr. Murphy was very professional and helpful. He promptly returned calls and answered questions. He was friendly and we were extremely pleased with the services he provided to us.

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FAQ: Who Pays My Medical Bills After a Car Accident

Who pays my Medical Bills after a South Carolina Car Accident?

South Carolina law requires a person who causes a car accident to pay the medical bills of the person the wrongdoer injured. Typical medical bills for an auto accident injury may include emergency room and hospital treatment, the emergency room doctors, a family doctor, perhaps an orthopedist, a chiropractor, or physical therapy. More serious injuries could include treatment by a neurosurgeon or pain management doctor.

However, your medical providers will bill you directly and you or your lawyer will need to submit the bills to the insurance company. The at-fault driver’s insurance company will review your medical expenses and analyze if they believe the expense is “reasonable and necessary.” In other words, medical treatment must be reasonably necessary and related to the injuries a person suffered from in a car accident. Additionally, an insurance company may question the reasonableness of the charges that a medical provider bills you.

The insurance company is not going to pay until your case is resolved through settlement or trial. This means your medical bills remain outstanding and unpaid until you receive the money from the insurance company. For this reason, it makes sense to get your health insurance company involved. There is plenty of information available on this site for dealing with your health insurance company. However, an injured person may have to negotiate with their medical providers or get financial assistance in paying current medical bills. Additionally, an injured person may need financial assistance to even get the medical treatment they need if they do not have medical insurance.

For more information, please:

• Explore the Answers section.
• Request my Free Guide, South Carolina Car Accident Claims Guide in Plain English, by clicking here.
• Call at 888-510-9359 or contact me for a free consultation. There is no obligation.

Reckless Driving in South Carolina?

Traffic Tip Tuesday! Is Texting While Driving Reckless Driving in South Carolina?

In today’s traffic tip, I ask you to consider whether texting and driving is reckless under the law.

South Carolina Law says that “Any person who drives any vehicle in such a manner as to indicate either a wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.” South Carolina Code Section 56-5-2920. The reason I’m bring up reckless driving is to advocate for an alternative to prosecuting texting while driving.

Although multiple bills are pending in the South Carolina Legislature, it looks like all will either die in committee or impose only a limited fine for distracted driving. I believe a limited fine for distracted driving will be worthless for improving the safety of our community.

Perhaps we can use South Carolina’s reckless driving law to prosecute those who continue to put us all in harm’s way by texting while driving. Certainly we can agree that drinking while driving is at minimum reckless driving. In light of studies and research that indicate that distracted driving is at least as dangerous as impaired driving, how can we not say that it is not reckless driving? A distracted driver may be 6 times more likely to cause a crash and can double stopping distance. Certainly those statistics indicate a wilful or wanton disregard for other’s safety.

However, only our community can determine what is reckless or not. My question to you today is whether you believe that distracted driving is reckless or not. Please post your comments and answers.

Recognize Teen Driver Risk Factors

Traffic Tip Tuesday! Recognize Teen Driver Risk Factors and Solutions.

In today’s traffic tip, I review several risk factors teen drivers. Pay special attention to these risk factors so you can address them with your teenage drivers.

Unfortunately, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens. Males are most at risk, followed by teens driving with teenage passengers, and finally teen drivers who just received their licenses.

Counsel young drivers to recognize dangerous situations, drive at a safe speed, avoid distractions such as cell phones, and increase the distance they follow other cars. Consider not allowing newly licensed drivers to have teenage passengers until they gain some experience behind the wheel.

For more information on safe driving please visit the following links:

http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html

http://www.cdc.gov/parentsarethekey/

http://www.thecommunityguide.org/mvoi/index.html

The Ultimate Traffic Safety Tip

Traffic Tip Tuesday!  The Ultimate Traffic Safety Tip.

Today, I wanted to share my Ultimate Traffic Safety Tip with you all. Its not a tip for specific situations and its not a tip you will find in South Carolina Law. However, this tip has the power to completely align your driving toward safety.

As I spent time in church this Sunday and enjoyed a family meal with my mother, my grandmothers, and my Wife, the mother of our children, I realized what the Ultimate Traffic Safety Tip was. This Tip recognizes the sacred bond between mother and child. It is rooted in the loving embrace and sacrifice that all Mothers offer their babies. It acknowledges the special respect that we hold for our mothers. It affirms our desire to please and never disappoint our mothers.

Here it is, drive as if your mother is sitting in the passenger seat.

Its as simple as that. With this easy tip, you can completely align your driving toward safety and please your mother at the same time.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Yielding The Right Of Way.

Traffic Tip Tuesday!  Yielding The Right Of Way.

Failure to yield right of way.Failing to yield the right of way is the second largest driving violation leading to injuries in South Carolina (2009 Fact Book). Yielding the right of way means understanding when to let another driver go before you (56-5-580). Most situations involve intersections. Remember this rule when at an intersection with another vehicle, yield the Right-of-way to the driver on the Right.

End Distracted Driving

Traffic Tip Tuesday!  Help End Distracted Driving in South Carolina.

Distracted driving bills have been introduced in South Carolina General Assembly every year since at least 2007. To date, the General Assembly has failed to pass any bills regulating distracted driving.

Three bills have been introduced to the General Assembly for the current session that ends in June, 2014. H.3317 prohibits all drivers from using a cell phone while driving and imposes a fine of up to $500. Usage of a hands-free devise is exempt. However, S.459 has made the most traction, and has passed the Senate. This proposed bill prohibits drivers with a beginner’s permit, conditional driver’s license, or special restricted driver’s license from using mobile devises while driving and imposes a $100.00 fine. S.459 is now in the House Committee on Education and Public Works.

Is there any reason why South Carolina should not adopt a texting ban? Call your South Carolina State Legislators and tell them you want a distracted driving ban.

Distracted Driving Kills

Distracted Driving Kills.

Drivers who use cell phones while behind the wheel are a menace to South Carolina and are causing blood and carnage on our public streets and highways. Don’t think it’s that big of a deal? A recent survey found that 25% of car cashes involve cell phone use. Additionally, a study out of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute concludes that texting while driving doubles a drivers’ reaction time. The increased reaction time can lengthen a car’s stopping distance by half a football field at 60 miles per hour. Distracted driving may contribute up to 20 percent of all fatal crashes and cell phones are the primary distraction. Distracted driving causes over 330,000 injuries every year.

Mandated Backup Cameras

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued regulations this week requiring all new vehicles to have backup cameras by 2018. The NHTSA says this will help prevent some of the 210 deaths and 15,000 injures per year related to backup incidents.

Do you have a backup camera? What are your thoughts on the requirement? If you don’t have one on your car, are you considering an aftermarket camera for safety reasons?

See more about the regulations here, http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/03/31/nhtsa-rear-view-cameras/7114531/.

Speed Kills! Slow Down in the Rain.

Traffic Tip Tuesday. Speed Kills! Slow Down in the Rain.

For most of us, this Tuesday is a gloomy, cold, and rainy day. Please know that rainy, wet road conditions factor into a safe top driving speed. The posted speed limit does not provide an absolute right to travel that fast. Driving too fast for conditions is the largest traffic violation leading to injuries in South Carolina.