Ndamukong Suh Tackles Motor Vehicle Collision 101

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Trey Mills

The popular Detroit Lions football player was enjoying some "off" time during his recent two (2) game suspension for allegedly kicking a player while he was down and now has jumped right into personal injury law.

Apparently this past weekend in Portland, Oregon, a boy named "Suh" was driving his 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle muscle car when suddenly and without warning he lost control and ran into an inanimate object.  Several reports are now indicating that Mr. Suh had two passengers in the car that incurred injuries as a result of the motor vehicle collision. 

As I tell my clients, there are always two (2) hurdles to jump in any personal injury case: 1) Who is at fault? and 2) How much is it worth? There are many other factors in summing up those two items and the more information that can be garnered by other parties, ie witnesses, medical professionals, responding police officers, video footage, and pictures, to strengthen your case.

Some reports have Mr. Suh indicating all parties are fine, while other reports have the two female passengers saying they have lacerations, contusions, and other such upper and lower extremity complaints. Mr. Suh says he was trying to pass a taxi and the passengers' version says he was just driving too fast for conditions.

The first hurdle is most likely an easy hurdle in the above story. Mr. Suh was the driver of the car and through his driving it ended up colliding with a stationary object not in the roadway.

Hurdle #1 check.

The second hurdle is going to be harder because of the general nature of the parties, popularity of the driver, and social bias thanks to mass insurance and chamber marketing.

  • You will have those naysayers that will refute those women were ever even in the car regardless of what facts come out;
  • You will have others say, the female passengers are just trying to get money because they were in the car with a professional athlete; and
  • You will have those others that believe those two women were in the car at the time, probably got banged up from the impact of an old 1970 Chevrolet with little safety features but will minimize their injuries because they believe the women should not have been out past midnight and/or should not have fled the scene without seeking assistance.

See how quickly one simple set of facts that only three (3) potential people know the real truth to can get twisted? Mr. Suh's will be more memorialized because of his 911 recorded statement. The other passengers have no record other then what they say that they were at the scene. Just because this case has become famous for the party that wrecked, don't think this scenario doesn't happen every weekend in your own county.

Be smart if you are in a collision and/or harmed by the negligence, ignorance, and/or omissions of others. Don't think some insurance adjuster for the at fault party is going to believe you because you are you. They don't care. Frankly neither does that jury of your peers. They care when they realize it could have just as easily happened to them. 

Don't say it, show it. Document it. Picture it. Text it. Friend it. Tweet it. Email it. Link it in.

 

RELATED STORIES:

Single Car Accidents Leave Drivers and Passengers with Few Options

Cops: Suh car crash passenger fears retaliation

Ndamukong Suh reportedly lied to police about accident

Portland police: 2 passengers contradict Ndamukong Suh’s crash report

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Injured at Work in South Carolina? What you need to know. (Part 2)

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Trey Mills

This is the second of a series of blogs written to tell workers in South Carolina what they need to do if they suffer a work-related injury.  

2.    Tell the treating doctor that you got hurt at work!

In my previous blog, I stressed the importance of reporting your work injury immediately to your employer.  Today, I stress the importance of telling your doctor that you got hurt at work and how you got hurt at work.

In many denied workers’ compensation claims, there is, for lack of a better word, a swearing match going on between the injured worker and the employer.  The worker claims to have been injured on the job.  The employer denies that the worker got injured on the job or claims that the injured worker did not properly report his injury to the employer.  The workers’ compensation commissioner is charged with the responsibility of finding the truth and, therefore, must decide which one to believe.  

In my experience, the commissioner often relies on the medical records to break the tie.  He discounts the injured worker’s testimony as well as the employer’s denial because they are both taking self-serving positions.  Then, he especially looks at the initial medical record of treatment of the injured worker to find the truth because he assumes that the initial treating doctor does not “have a dog in the fight.”  If the initial medical record documents that the employee was being treated due to an injury that the employee contends occurred at work, and especially if the record describes how the injury occurred, the commissioner will view that record as giving credibility to the injured worker’s claim.  On the other hand, if the injured worker does not mention anything about the work injury to the initial treating doctor, the commissioner will likely view that record as giving credibility to the employer’s defense that the employee did not get hurt at work.

Therefore, if you were injured at work, it is imperative that you document that you are at the doctor’s office seeking treatment for an injury that occurred at work on all of the forms that the doctor’s staff may ask you to complete prior to your examination and then you must describe the injury to the doctor when he examines you so that he will include it in your medical record.  

As a general rule, the more details that you can give to the doctor, the more believable your claim will be to a commissioner.  For example:

  • know the exact date of your injury before you go into the doctor’s office.  Do not guess at your date of injury because it will come back to haunt you if your claim is contested and the date of injury that you give the doctor is wrong.  I have seen situations where the injured worker haphazardly reports to the doctor that he got hurt at work on Wednesday about two weeks ago and then prior to the workers’ compensation hearing we learn from  reviewing his time cards that the worker did not even work on that Wednesday.  At that point after closer examination, we realized that the injury actually occurred on Wednesday, but it was three weeks ago rather than two weeks ago as reported to the doctor.  That is an error that can be explained and corrected, but it could have been avoided all together if the worker had been prepared when he initially went to the doctor.

  • be specific in your description of the injury to the doctor.  Which is more believable?

    • “I hurt my back at work last Wednesday just doing my job;” or
    • “Last Wednesday afternoon at work, I injured my back lifting a 75 pound box  off of the floor.  I was going to put the box on my work table.  As I twisted while lifting up the box, I felt a sharp pain in my lower back and pain even went down my left leg.  I had to put the box back down on the floor and was never able to lift it up to the table.”

In conclusion, it is imperative that you give your doctor specific details about your work-related injury during your first medical appointment after the injury.  If you do so, the employer and insurance carrier will likely admit that you got hurt at work and will provide you with workers’ compensation coverage without unnecessary delay.

My next blog will be about the fact that you can suffer a work injury without being required to suffer trauma.


 

(Ernie Trammell is the author of this blog post and subsequent posts on Workers' Compensation in South Carolina. Mr. Trammell has been a Workers' Compensation attorney in South Carolina for 29 years, primarily in the Upstate encompassing the counties of Anderson, Abbeville, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg.) 

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South Carolina Free Medical and Dental Clinics

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Trey Mills

If you do not have any other resource to seek treatment for your injuries, ailments, disease, or disorder please use this resource to find medical and dental assistance.

We hope this helps you get the medical and/or dental treatment you need. No one should go without care in the United States. Additionally, those that are able should donate to ensure these facilities remain open.

http://www.freemedicalsearch.org/sta/south_carolina

For more specific local areas, please see below:

ANDERSON:  Anderson Free Clinic

GREENVILLE: Greenville Free Medical Clinic, New Horizon Family Health Services, New Horizon Family Dental Care, and West End Medical Family Alliance

PICKENS: Clemson Free Clinic

 

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If You Are Injured After a Wreck, Dog Bite, Slip & Fall or _______:Seek Medical Attention

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Trey Mills

It sounds so simple but so many people I interact with from Greenville, Anderson, Oconee, Seneca, Clemson, and the remainder of South Carolina, have a hard time understanding that lawyers are not doctors. 

If you are hurt, hurting, in pain, or otherwise not in the same physical, mental, or emotional state you were in prior to some traumatic injury, or incident, then you should seek medical advice.  Doing this simple act can help you on several fronts:

  1. This helps diagnose and assess your problems;
  2. This helps you get better; and
  3. This helps objectify and validate the change(s) in your condition.

Having grown up in the rural area of Prosperity, South Carolina and now working for people from similar areas of the state, the comment:

"I dont like going to the doctor. They are just going to give me medication and run up a lot of bills."

is a comment I hear all too often. However, try telling that evil insurance company that you are hurt, hurting, in pain, or otherwise not in the same mental, physical, or emotional condition you were in before ____________. (fill in the blank-wreck, slip & fall, dog bite, injury at work, and/or negligent product).

Try figuring out a reasonable and fair amount to be compensated for your injury when you are the only voice or piece of evidence in your favor. Think that evil insurance company will believe you more or a disinterested third party that has no interest in the outcome?

I know, most times the evil insurance adjusters wouldn't believe they were on fire if they saw their skin melting but you can only do your part as a reasonable person. Leave the insurance fighting to those that do it all the time and fight for your rights--trial lawyers, aka Trey Mills.

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