Although many states have previously required a medical examiner to be at the scene of a fatal vehicle accident, Utah has previously not required one, which is likely to change reports KSL News. “The cause of death is not always apparent,” tell Utah Highway Patrol Maj. Michael Rapich.

Having a medical examiner on the scene of the accident helps Utahns in more than one way. First, they can help put the correct causation to the death, i.e. a toxicology report can help pinpoint whether the death was caused by chemical or natural causes. Second, it can help the family and relatives speed up the legal process. Getting a death certificate and an insurance payout can be a cumbersome process, especially if trying to get the necessary paperwork from a hospital emergency room, which are usually too busy with patients who have not already passed. Having a medical examiner present helps prevent the “legal limbo” that is created with a situation where the proper documentation wasn’t done soon enough, and also helps free up “time and resources at the hospital.”

Utah accident Victims can now order their accident reports online. Utahans, who have a history of being tech-savvy, have kept with this trend reports the Standard-Examiner. Utah Highway Patrol reports over 56,000 accidents annually, and are “very excited to offer this valuable service to our citizens,” said Commissioner Davenport of the Utah Department of Public Safety.

In the past, an accident victim has had to personally visit the law enforcement station in order to get a copy of their accident report. Now, after a few simple verifying steps, it can easily be accessed and printed online. Currently, all state-level accident reports are available at http://crashreport.utah.gov, but U.H.P. is hoping (and encouraging) county-level law enforcement agencies to join.

Kramer Law Group, is a personal injury firm who specializes in helping accident victims receive a fair amount of compensation from insurance companies. We offer free consultations to anyone with questions about their accident, and have also made available a free copy of The Utah Accident Book.

An Experienced Orem Utah Personal Injury Attorney Can Help You From Getting Injured Again — This Time by the Big Insurance Companies

The most experienced Orem, Utah car accident lawyers know that dealing with insurance companies can be treacherous. There are many traps just waiting to catch the uninitiated – including those accident victims who decide to go it alone. Those that drive in the Orem metro area know that accidents out there are just waiting to happen. Statistically, Orem is the sixth largest city in Utah and home to many college-age students. On any given day, there are auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, scooter accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, drunk driving accidents and text messaging accidents that injure people and send them to the hospital, and sometimes to the morgue.

Getting What is Fair Can Be Difficult and Trying for the Uninitiated

Sadly, when someone is involved in a Orem, Utah car accident, either as a driver, motorist, or pedestrian, obtaining just compensation can be extremely trying. Sometimes the claim needs to be brought against a Utah governmental agency, such as UTA. Agencies such as this are not accustomed to giving injured victims the time of day, let alone justice. Getting fair compensation from these agencies and the big insurance companies takes real experience and dogged persistence. A knowledgeable Orem accident lawyer will tell you that big insurance, companies and governmental agencies just won’t pay over the compensation you may be deserving if they happened to have been negligent. So, unless there is a Utah advocate holding them accountable, they are likely to deny or severely minimize your valid injury claim.

The Secret Way Insurance Companies Make Their Millions

Let’s face it, the insurance industry is a highly-competitive industry. Every day, we hear and see countless commercials in Utah from car insurance companies that want us to switch over to them for our car insurance needs. Despite their insistence that we all become their customers and pay them premiums however, the insurance companies make most of their profit when they deny or minimize otherwise valid claims. What skilled Salt Lake City accident attorneys know is that as long as the insurance companies bring in more in premium dollars than they pay out, they are profitable. However, if the insurance companies can avoid paying out on valid claims, or only pays pennies on the dollar, the amount they avoid paying out is pure profit to them. So, for example, if they paid out $10,000 less than they should of on your claim, that is an extra $10,000 of pure profit to that insurance company. That’s where the BIG money is for them. This is the area that they really focus their business attention on.

Fight Fire With Fire:  Get a Good Lawyer!

Insurance companies hire the best lawyers to defend them so they can limit their payouts to the bare minimum. This is why you need to fight fire with fire by consulting with the best Orem accident and injury lawyer you can find. Such a lawyer will not bow to the manipulative games that these insurance companies play. They have trial experience and take cases to trial when necessary. They stand firm in the face of their claims that your case is worth less because you have “degenerative disc disease,” that you were in a car accident 10 years ago, that your accident was too minor to have caused you injury, etc. Since almost all accident and injury lawyers will offer a free consultation, make sure you consult with one who can explain what your rights are and what you can expect on your claim. Remember that it costs NOTHING to meet with an experienced lawyer. If you were seriously injured, you will be miles ahead if you do.

Learn All You Can To Get the Best Possible Outcome on Your Case

Finally, you should take the time to educate yourself as to what you are in for when you have been involved in a Orem accident and what mistakes you must avoid to get full and fair compensation for your case. Ron Kramer wrote the Utah Accident Book to give Utah consumers this very direction. This book is free to those who have been injured in a Utah accident. You can get one by calling our office or clicking here: http://www.MyAccidentBook.com.

If you have been injured because of someone’s neglect, we would love to meet with you or a family member. You can visit us in our office conveniently located in Provo:

Kramer Law Group
495 North University Ave., Suite 100
Provo, Utah 84601
801-374-7445

On July 28, 2009, Kristen Kenny was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk in Salt Lake City, Utah, when a Utah Transit Authority “UTA” bus driver made a left-hand turn into her. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Kristen Kenny, now 25 years old, was a Salt Lake Community College student at the time that this Utah bus-pedestrian accident almost ended her life. Among her injuries were a broken femur, fractured jaw, lacerated kidney and spleen, broken ribs, and the worst of the lot, a subdural hematoma, which later required a craniotomy, presumptively to relieve internal pressure caused by swelling. Because of her injuries, doctors induced coma. They did not expect her to live. Miraculously, she did. Things, however, are far from being back to normal for her and her family.

The lasting injury for Kristen is her brain injury. She reportedly has trouble with memory and her recall. Her ability to multi task has been compromised. Another common, lasting problem for brain injury survivors, is a change in personality. Prior to this accident, she was said to be mild mannered. She is now reported to be “feisty” and gets frustrated easily. She may have other brain injury “sequelae” common to brain injury survivors. These can include: cognitive deficits, mood disorders, major depression, mania, anxiety disorder, psychosis, apathy, behavior or dyscontrol disorder, sleep disturbances and lingering headaches.

Kristen’s medical bills at this point are huge: a reported $420,000, not including expected future surgeries and procedures that she will need. According to Utah Administrative Code R37-4-2, liability against UTA, a Utah governmental entity, is capped at $620,700 for incidents occurring after July 1, 2008. Under this cap, the amount of available money given Kristen’s injuries is nowhere near where it needs to be to fully compensate her for the injury that has been forced upon her. While her lawyers are expected to challenge this cap, they face a difficult road since the cap against UTA was upheld by the Utah Supreme Court in the 2002 case of Parks v. Utah Transit Auth., 2002 UT 55.

Finally, I want to say that I’m disgusted by the failure of the Salt Lake City Police Department to issue a citation to this UTA bus driver. Ms. Kenny was hit in a crosswalk, where she presumptively had a legal right to be. The bus driver was turning on a green light (not a green arrow) when she struck this pedestrian. Under the Utah Code, section 41-6a-1008: “The operator of a vehicle crossing a sidewalk shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and all other traffic on the sidewalk.” Clearly, this bus driver failed in her duty to “yield the right-of-way” to Ms. Kenny.  I think the only reason this bus operator didn’t get a ticket was because she happened to work for UTA.

I offer my best wishes to Ms. Kenny and her Utah bus accident attorneys as they deal with the aftermath of this terrible bus-pedestrian crosswalk accident.

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after she drove into an oncoming UTA bus on Wednesday, December 16, 2009. The Utah drunken driving accident happened near 800 West and 750 North, Salt Lake City, Utah, around 6 a.m. KSL news reports that the woman wanted to make a right-hand turn. She instead crossed the double yellow line and tried to go southbound in the northbound lanes, hitting the front of a UTA bus.

No one was injured on the bus, and the woman who hit the bus had no serious injuries. The bus driver tried to swerve but there wasn’t much he could do besides slow down. The woman was given a field sobriety test and officers report that she “did poorly”. She was transported to be processed of driving under the influence.

People, when you drive, lay off the alcohol. The life you save may be your own.

Reduce the Number of Utah Injury Accidents, Obey Utah’s DUI Laws

According to alcoholalert.com, approximately 20% of the fatalities are attributed to alcohol. In 2008, there were 55 alcohol related fatalities.

According to the law in Utah, those driving with a blood alcohol level above .08 are arrested for DUI. After you are charged, your license is confiscated by the arresting officer and replaced with a temporary licence. You’ll be taken to the police station and your car may be impounded. You will most likely spend the night in jail and face more severe penalties if convicted. You may serve a 48-hour jail sentence, be subject to a series of fines, have your license suspended or be required to seek treatment for alcohol or drug abuse.

A woman who was crossing the street in Salt Lake City, Utah, at 300 West and 300 South on July 28, 2009, was hit by a UTA bus which was making a left-hand turn. According to the Deseret News, the woman, who has not been identified, was said to be in her 20′s and was knocked unconscious after she was hit. She was transferred via ambulance in critical condition.

Officers are not saying who is at fault. The driver, however, is undergoing drug and alcohol testing as part of UTA’s normal procedure. It is presently unknown if she was in a crosswalk at the time the bus hit her. However, Salt Lake City police Sgt. Robin Snyder did take the time to tell the press that vehicles making a left turn on a green light still have the duty to yield to pedestrians.

My best wishes for a prompt recovery goes out to the victim on the UTA bus accident. This bus-pedestrian accident, unfortunately, is very similar to one that happened in November of 2008 when only one block away from this intersection, a UTA bus making a left-hand turn struck a gentleman crossing the street in a crosswalk. That man has was also knocked unconscious and was taken in critical condition to a local hospital.

In commenting on the November UTA bus accident, I counseled the injured survivor that he would need to file a document called a notice of claim with the appropriate authorities no more than 12 months after the accident happened, pursuant to Utah Code section 63-30d-401. This “notice” is required when bringing a claim against a Utah government entity. The UTA agency then has 60 days to accept or reject the claim. Silence after the notice has been filed basically means that the claim has been denied. Suit can then be instituted against the bus agency. If it looks like the UTA bus driver’s actions contributed to this woman’s serious injury, then my opinion on this case would probably be the same.

Ron Kramer is Salt Lake City accident and injury lawyer who currently has cases pending against UTA.