I was driving home from work the other night heading north up Six Forks Road. As I was approaching the intersection of Six Forks and Strickland, I noticed a disabled vehicle in the middle turn lane. And I use the term "notice" loosely. I actually did not see the vehicle until I was probably a car length away from it. It had no lights on and I caught a fleeting glimpse of movement at the rear of the vehicle which I immediately realized was a person. I thought to myself, had I needed to turn left onto Strickland and needed to merge over into that turn lane, I probably would not have been able to stop in time from hitting that vehicle (and even worse, the person that was standing to the rear). It immediately brought to mind a case I handled several years ago when we represented a young man who was tragically killed in just the same circumstances. His car had become disabled at night while in the roadway. He called the police and stood at the rear of his vehicle waiting for help to arrive. Another motorist coming along did not see the young man and hit him, crushing him between both of the vehicles. Mercifully, he had a quick death but that did not do much to allevaite the suffering left behind to his family and friends. We toiled and fought to get a decent settlement for the young man's estate, but that is not the purpose of this post. The purpose is to remind everyone that you are still in danger after you have been in an accident. Take these steps to ensure your safety continues:
1. If you can, get your vehicle safely off the roadway and as far away from traffic as possible. Stay inside your vehicle. It will at least add some protection to you should another vehicle veer off the roadway and hit you.
2. Call for help as soon as possible.
3. If it is nighttime, immediately active your emergency flashers to warn oncoming motorists. It helps to put your flashers on in the day too, but it is imperative you do so at night.
4. If your vehicle is stuck in a travel lane and you cannot remove it from traffic, do NOT stay in the vehicle and do NOT stand near the vehicle. Get as far away from traffic as possible and wait for help to arrive.
Hopefully following these few tips will help you if you should be in an accident that strands your vehicle. Stay safe!!!
Monday, March 8, 2010
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very well written, intriguing and helpful post, thanks author. i would like to say something on Accident Compensation claims, There are legalities which have to be checked and evidence will be sought by the claims court or tribunal. If you are going to be successful at securing a financial settlement then you will need to establish the total blame of the defendant or your complete innocence as the plaintiff. You can only do this by collecting enough evidence and without a compensation lawyer this would be nigh on impossible.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking for a legal representative you should choose a firm that is located within visiting distance to make meetings easier. Make sure that they do not make grand promises which seem impossible to keep because they probably are and before you hire a lawyer make sure that you like them because it will be difficult o work with someone you are hostile to.