Category: Personal Injuries
Dealing with a Car Accident – What Happens Now?
January 3, 2013 | Adriel B. VillarrealSince there are hundreds of vehicle collisions in Minnesota every single day, the odds of being in some sort of traffic incident during your lifetime are pretty high. Even a minor accident can leave you feeling scared, panicked and worried. If you don’t know what to do following an accident you can end up carrying a heavier financial and legal burden than you should. Know How to Handle It As soon as your car makes impact with another car, person or object, you need to immediately react with the future in mind. If you know that you are responsible for the car accident, you may feel like you must apologize to the other driver or victim. However, you should remain calm and be careful with your words. It is fine to check on the other driver and ensure that they are injured but you should not say anything that admits fault. You should immediately contact the authorities so that a police report can be taken. However, if you have suffered a personal injury, 911 should be called and an ambulance will also be dispatched. When the police arrive, assuming that you are not severely injured, they will talk to everyone involved in the car accident along with witnesses. When you are describing the…
Read MoreBuckle Up – It Can Save Lives.
November 12, 2012 | Jon P. EricksonOnce again I am compelled to blog about the importance of fastening our seat belts. Again today in the StarTribune there was a report on a car accident up north. This was a single car accident, and both of the occupants, a husband and wife, were killed. Click on the link to see the article: Itasca County Rollover Accident Neither the husband and nor the wife were wearing seat belts. It is described as an airborne rollover accident. A few years ago I witnessed just such an accident on Highway 35 coming into the metro area up near Forest Lake. The car in front of me over corrected on a snowy evening and hit the ditch causing it to go airborne. I immediately stopped, and ran to the upside down car while dialing 911. When I got to the car, I saw the driver hanging upside down with her seat belt on, holding her in place. I saw no blood, and asked her if she was all right. She said “I think so”; and once the first responders arrived it was determined she had no injuries. What would have happened to her if she did not have her seat belt on? BUCKLE UP. IT SAVES LIVES!
Read MoreBuckle Up Campaign
November 8, 2012 | Jon P. EricksonWe at BGS are again asking all our clients and blog followers to Buckle Up. Two recent articles in the StarTribune discussed the issues of motor vehicle deaths, and how seat belt use is so instrumental in preventing those deaths. October Deadliest Month 2012 for Unbelted Fatalities Seat Belt Use Reaches Record High The good news is that seat belt use in Minnesota is at a record 93.6{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3} for drivers and passengers. The two main reasons for increased use appears to be the primary seat belt law, and the “Click it or Ticket” campaign. The one thing that is troubling is that drivers and passengers between 11 and 15 only have an 84{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3} compliance rate. This suggests that we as parents and family members must continue to show and remind our young people to “buckle up” whenever we get the opportunity. The bad news is that October was the deadliest month this year for deaths in accidents where the deceased did no buckle up. The last number was 15. So far this year, 87 vehicle occupants have died where they had not buckled up. In the full year of 2011 there were 120 deaths of motorists who were not buckled up, and 231 severely injured. Use of a seat belt could prevent the majority of those death…
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