Welcome to Wednesday’s Inside Look by Brooks! Steve Brooks of Brooks Law Group here. Hope everybody had a great Easter. It is absolutely gorgeous outside. The weather is low humidity and cool, so I’ve been going on bike rides in the afternoons. It’s been fantastic.
So, we’re gonna shift it up a little today. Instead of talking about a specific topic, we had some people submit some questions last week. And if you want to submit questions, feel free to do that now. Or you can email them to me, [email protected], and I can answer them next week.
The first question was:
I didn’t have insurance at the time of my accident. What are my options?
If you were in an accident caused by another person, a third party, then you can look to their insurance to try to make you whole. You definitely want to buy uninsured motorist coverage to cover you in the event that a person who collides with you or causes an accident with you. If they don’t have insurance, you want to make sure your insurance covers that. But hopefully in your case, Kim, the other party has insurance. We’ll be glad to talk with you about your options. Feel free to give me a call or send me an email.
The next question:
Steve, what is your favorite thing to do on the weekend?
Well I just mentioned bike riding—I love to ride bikes. I love to work out, and I love movies. Movies are one of the few places I can go and actually turn off my brain from thinking about the lawyer stuff and just relax. So that’s one way I definitely can kind of escape. Exercise also is an escape for me, and I like to listen to podcasts while I’m exercising. So I kind of learn, and you’re exercising your brain and your body at the same time.
This is a question I get asked a lot:
What do I do if I don’t want to sue someone—someone that causes an accident—but I really don’t want to sue that person?
Because maybe she was a nice older lady. You know, a lot of times you may end up bringing a claim against that old lady’s insurance company, but you’re not actually going to sue her. Because most places settle. And it’s not her that’s paying, it’s her insurance company that’s paying. If you do have to sue her—if we can’t reach a settlement—you do have to name her in a lawsuit. But it’s her insurance company who steps in and defends her, and ultimately pays that settlement. So even though you “sue her” in name, you look to her insurance company for the money. So you’re not really taking it out of her pocket.
That’s the thing that, as an attorney, if “Mary Smith” hits you and we have to sue Mary Smith, when I’m in front of a jury, I can’t mention that we’re not actually going after Mary Smith’s pocketbook. It’s State Farm or Allstate that’s covering her and they’re the one paying the bill. But I can’t mention that; I can’t bring that up to the jury. So that’s kind of a disadvantage we have.
The next question from Kenny:
If someone hits my car and then makes me hit someone else, am I at fault? Will I have to pay for the car I hit?
That is going to be a factually intense question. I would say, in general, no. If you’re traveling at the proper speed, and you were doing what you should do as that second car. And all that happened was you were forced into the car in front of you, I would say no. For instance, if your brake lights weren’t working, and the person who hit you couldn’t see that you were braking, and because of that you cause the person in your rear to hit you and then you hit the person in front, that would be a case where you would be at fault. Because you had faulty brake lights.
So it’s going to be factually unique depending on the set of facts. Again, those kind of cases, Kenny, feel free to reach out to us, and we’ll be glad to answer.
If I don’t have any more questions, I think that’s all I have. So please shoot Connor or I an email ([email protected]) and she can put your questions on next week’s Facebook Live. And if you have something you want to chat with me about, [email protected], I’ll be glad to chat with you. Hopefully I’ll have more of my voice back next week! Until next Wednesday, thanks for joining me and we’ll see you next week!
Contact Brooks Law Group Today
Have a question about your own car accident claim? Be sure to call Brooks Law Group today so that we can start your case as soon as possible. Contact us online or call 1-800-LAW-3030 (1-800-529-3030) for your free consultation.
