UIM and UM Auto Insurance

It is important in today's economy to pay attention to your own insurance plans.  Especially when it comes to automobile liability insurance. Our office has seen a large increase of car accidents involving negligent uninsured or under-insured drivers over the past few years, leaving very little money for victims to recover if they have been severely injured due to another driver's negligence.

The California state mandated insurance liability minimums is 15/30/5.  Let's say for example, you are driving around (with this minimum insurance) and (for example) another car (also with the minimum insurance) t-bones your vehicle when they run a red light.  You end up in the hospital with severe injuries in excess of $100k, you miss a month of work and your car was totaled. You hire our law firm to help you put your life back together while you continue to recover from your physical injuries. Our firm can negotiate with your doctors' liens and work our hardest to find you the maximum recovery for your case, but in many situations we are limited to the maximum liability of both parties' insurance policies.

There have been a number of instances where we have been able to recover more for our clients. However, it is important to educate our clients (and future clients).  You always need to assume the worst about the "other driver."  You should assume they will be uninsured.  You should also assume that if they are insured, they have the most skeletal coverage.  We strongly suggest you protect yourself just in case you (God forbid) ever find yourself staring at the ceiling of a hospital room because of someone else's careless driving.  Contact your insurance agent today and ask them for a detail of your policy.  Make sure you have both "UM" and "UIM" protection.

More information from Lawyers.com

Danger of a Vehicle's A-Pillar

Ever make a safe left hand turn over a crosswalk and "out of nowhere" a pedestrian appears? The person seemed to have been blocked from your view? The issue is more common these days, and you're not alone. Cars have various pillars which obstruct a drivers view, and the a-pillars are contributing to more and more car accidents and/or personal injuries to pedestrians. An a-pillar is the "bar" that runs down the side of the front windshield, from the roof to the dash/hood. If you're sitting at the wheel, it's the bar that runs down in front of your left hand. It is a blind spot in most cars. A few articles and websites discuss the a-pillar (listed below). As the construction of cars becomes safer and sturdier, the a-pillar becomes larger and wider, and so does the blind spot.

Woods Law Group would like to bring awareness to the community, and hopefully prevent even one accident or injury in the world caused by this blind spot.

Drive safe.

Google Findings

University of Michigan Research

Proposed Further Investigations

Gorski Consulting