Cheap Gas, More Driving Make 2016 An Especially Deadly Year For Crashes

Every year the government keeps track of the amount of fatal car and truck crashes.  As you can imagine, the number rises and falls year to year.  But you might be surprised as to why the number fluctuates:  gas prices.  When gas is cheap, more people are on the roads which leads to more crashes, thus more automobile related deaths.

The number of traffic deaths in America each year is so staggering, it almost defies comprehension — about 35,000 lives lost is the norm. But 2016 is shaping up to be even worse.  The fatality rate rose 9% in the first half of 2016, as per data outlined in StreetsBlog Network:  "At this rate, 2016 is shaping up to be the deadliest year for driving since 2007. This Labor Day weekend is on track to be the nation’s deadliest since 2008, with 438 fatalities projected over the three-day period.  The jump in traffic fatalities coincides with sinking gas prices and an uptick in driving. During the first half of 2016, U.S. motorists collectively drove 3.3 percent more compared to last year, reaching 1.58 trillion miles traveled. The recent upswing in miles driven has been linked to the availability of cheap gas and a sharp increase in traffic deaths.  Pedestrians and bicyclists already account for more than one in four traffic deaths in New York and New Jersey, and fifteen percent in Connecticut. In New Jersey alone, traffic deaths surged 12 percent during the first half of 2016. The number of bicyclists killed in New York City so far in 2016 has already exceeded the total number of fatalities in 2015."

This is just a reminder for all of our readers:  drive slow, drive defensively, don't text and drive.  Don't be one of these statistics.

If you or a friend has been injured in a car or truck crash, please call the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. at (215) 953-8955.

From One Second To The Next

"Over 100,000 accidents a year involve drivers who are texting.  The numbers are climbing sharply."

These are the first lines of the documentary by iconic filmmaker Werner Herzog.  The project was initially supposed to be 4 commercials; however, Mr. Herzog believed that he had to delve into this tragic topic in more detail.  The result is a 30 minute long documentary on the affects of distracted driving.  It is quite the powerful piece of film and everyone should watch it.

You can find it here on youtube.

Child Support and Personal Injury Settlements

The law provides that if you have a personal injury settlement and you have back-due child support, you have to pay some of your settlement money to the child support arrears.

The law provides that the amount of any award or settlement that is over $5,000 shall be subject to a lien from the domestic relations office for any past due child support arrears.  Therefore, before you settle your case, you'll have to determine how much child support your owe and how much of any settlement would be taken by domestic relations.

Further, the amount that can be attached is the net proceeds above $5,000.00.  "Net" has been defined to mean the amount left over above $5,000.00, but only after attorney fees and costs are taken out of the total proceeds.

It sounds complicated, but it's pretty simple.  The first $5,000.00 is free of any lien from domestic relations.  Anything above $5,000 is subject to a lien but only after the attorney fee and costs are taken out.

As always, should you have any legal questions, please do not hesitate to contact the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. at (215) 953-8955.

Be Careful Who You Text-- It Might Get You Sued

I'm sure we've all done this before.  Have you ever texted a friend or family member whom you knew to be driving a car at the time?  What if that text you sent caused the person to read it, be distracted and cause a car crash?  Do you think YOU should be responsible for sending the text knowing that the recipient was driving at the time?   A recent Court of Common Pleas decision in Lawrence County Pennsylvania suggests that perhaps you should be held responsible.

This case is another example of the evolving law of distracted driving-- or texting while driving.  In Gallatin v. Gargiulo, the Court of Common Pleas Judge overruled preliminary objections and allowed negligence and wrongful death claims to proceed against two defendants on the basis that they had been texting a driver as the driver crashed into a motorcyclist, resulting in the motorcyclist’s death.  The judge relied upon a 2013 decision out of the State of New Jersey, Kubert v. Best, wherein an appellate level court specifically allowed such a cause of action to proceed.

In the New Jersey case, the appellate court held that in order to proceed with a claim against the sender of a text message a plaintiff must prove that the sender of the text knew, or had special reason to know, that the recipient was driving and would view the text while driving and be distracted by it.  The Pennsylvania judge specifically relied upon the New Jersey case in allowing the Pennsylvania action to move forward.

It remains to be seen how the law will evolve in Pennsylvania and whether or not this type of claim will withstand scrutiny in the appeal courts.  The bottom line is that you should not text and drive or text someone you know is driving and might read your texts.  Distracted driving is the cause of a significant amount of injuries on Bucks County and Pennsylvania roads.

If you or a loved one was injured in car or truck accident, please call the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. at (215) 953-8955.

Time Limits on Personal Injury Lawsuits in Pennsylvania

All states have limits on the amount of time you have to go to file a lawsuit after you have suffered some type of injury.  The deadlines vary per state and on what type of case you want to file.  This time frame to file a lawsuit is called a "statute of limitations."

In Pennsylvania, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two years from the date of the injury.  Therefore, in order to have a successful lawsuit, documents must be filed at the courthouse within 2 years of you getting hurt.  This time frame applies to all types of personal injury claims including, but not limited to, motor vehicle accidents, defective products, slip and falls and premise liability cases.

It is very important to understand and follow this rule. If you fail to get your lawsuit filed before the two-year window closes, the Pennsylvania civil court system will likely refuse to hear your case at any time in the future, and your right to compensation will be lost.  The best practice is to contact a lawyer as soon as you are injured to see if you have a valid case that should be pursued.

If you have any questions about a personal injury case in Bucks County, please feel free to contact the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. at (215) 953-8955.

Montgomery County Jury Convicts Attorney General

The courthouse in Montgomery County has been pretty busy lately.  With the Cosby trial and the prosecution of Attorney General Kathleen Kane, they need a break.  Well, as of yesterday, there will be one less important matter on the court's plate.  A jury convicted Attorney General Kathleen Kane of all charges.

Four years after Kane's election in a landslide as the first Democrat and first woman elected attorney general, a jury of six men and six women found her guilty of all charges: two counts of perjury and seven misdemeanor counts of abusing the powers of her office.  Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele persuaded jurors that Kane orchestrated the illegal leak of secret grand jury documents to plant a June 2014 story critical of her nemesis, former state prosecutor Frank Fina. Kane then lied about her actions under oath, the jury found.  Kane, 50, who rose from a hardscrabble upbringing in Scranton to win a statewide post in her first bid for office, was stoic as the verdict was read. Her twin sister, Ellen Granahan, a prosecutor on her staff, was with her in court.

See more details from this article at Philly.com.  This is a big win for our friends at the Montgomery County DA's office.                      

Bill Cosby Loses Another Battle

This post is a bit off from our normal posts about personal injury and motor vehicle accident cases.  But it's an interesting twist from a famous local case.  The Bill Cosby criminal matter is being prosecuted by our friends from the Montgomery County DA's office.  Recently, a Federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled that deposition testimony could remain "unsealed" during the criminal case.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit declared moot the question over the documents' release, which reignited controversy about the 79-year-old entertainer's alleged sexual misconduct and led in part to the criminal charges filed against him last year in Montgomery County.  "The contents of the documents are a matter of public knowledge," Circuit Judge Thomas L. Ambro wrote on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel. "We cannot pretend that we could change that fact by ordering them resealed."  Cosby's had requested that the court overturn an earlier decision by U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno that opened up several previously sealed court filings from a 2005 sexual battery lawsuit filed against him by accuser Andrea Constand.

See the full article in Philly.com here.

This is a perfect example of a deposition in a civil case being used for purposes of criminal prosecution.  Often times it can come back to haunt the defendant, as it is dong to Mr. Cosby.