Important Car Seat Safety Information

The facts:

*Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in children ages 5 to 14.

*Children riding in the back seat of a vehicle reduce their risk of a fatal injury by 30% in cars that do not have passenger front seat airbags.

*Children riding in the back seat of a vehicle reduce their risk of fatal injury by 46% reduction in cars that have a front seat airbag.

*The use of a booster seat for children ages 4-7 reduces the risk of injury from a car accident by 59% compared to children using a seat belt without a booster seat.

What you need to do:

1) Always have your child ride in the back seat of the car and the child must be properly restrained (belted).

2) Always have your child use both the shoulder and lap straps of the seat belt. Do not let your child remove the shoulder strap because it is uncomfortable. Make sure the belt fits property or it will not work.

3) Infants should ride in a rear-facing car seat, according to the American Association of Pediatrics, until the age of 2 years old.

4) Never put an infant in a rear-facing child seat in the front of the car. The force of the airbag will cause serious injury or death.

5) Car seats should not be used as a place for infants to sleep or sit while not in transit.

6) Make sure the child seat fits both the child and the car. It is estimated that 80-90% of car seats are installed and used improperly.

7) In Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia, By Law, from birth until age 4, children must be in a car seat. By Law, from ages 4-8 children must be in a booster seat.

To ensure that your child’s car seat/booster seat is properly installed you may call the following government numbers and set up a time to have your car seat inspected:

1) Maryland: 800-370-SEAT (800-370-7982) or 410-767-6016.

2) Virginia: 1-800-732-8333

3) District of Columbia: 202-645-4300 or you may visit The Vehicle Inspection Station at 1001 Half Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024 on Tuesday/Wednesday from 7 am to 3 pm.

Reasons I have a Job

Today's "Reason I Have a Job"

#1 Insurance company and body shop agree to repair price. Additional work needs to be done after repair begins (called a supplemental). Body shop contacts insurance company adjuster. Adjuster agrees that additional work needs to be done. Body shop completes work and contacts insurance adjuster for check for all the work performed. Adjuster, after agreeing to repairs, now decides NOT to pay for supplemental. Current status:

1. Car still in shop, repaired, but will not be released until payment is made.
2. Insurance company not paying for car.
3. Insurance company now cuts off rental.
4. Client has no car, no rental, and a bill for damages insurance company already agreed were necessary.

5. Client, who had no intention of calling a lawyer, now calls Lewis & Tompkins, P.C., D.C.'s car accident legal specialists, to fix this situation. Who needs to advertise when you have insurance adjusters making work for you.

Bad Faith Bill Will Check Insurance Industry Behavior in D.C.

D.C. Council Member Mary Cheh has sponsored a bill which would, finally, begin to hold insurance companies responsible to their own policy holders. You can see the bill here.

This bill would require insurance companies to pay claims when it becomes clear they have an obligation to pay. Read that sentence again, and think about it for a second. The bill requires insurance companies to pay claims when it becomes clear they have an obligation to pay.

In our fascinating system of insurance laws, right now, there is NO penalty for insurance companies when they do not pay claims. As a trial lawyer, I know there is a recourse -- sue them! This simple idea, however, denies the very real difference between what your rights are -- in theory -- and what your rights are in reality.

To get paid -- by your own insurance company -- you have to take them to D.C. Superior Court. The filing fee alone is $120.00. Serving the insurance company (delivering the papers to the correct legal recipient) will cost you another $50 to $100. You'll need an attorney, there goes 1/3 of your claim, and you have to wait for 12 months, average, to get your case to trial.

See the problem? The current insurance industry regime tilts unfairly to the insurance company benefit. Allstate, State Farm, Nationwide, GEICO... these companies have all the money in the world (and now maybe new TARP money). All of these property casualty companies have "staff counsel" offices, meaning their legal costs are fixed. Your claim does not cost them a nickel more to defend than what they already pay.

This bill would shift some of these costs to the insurance industry, and give them an incentive to start paying claims more promptly. Allstate devised a program, the Claims Core Process Redesign, to expolit this economic imbalance to even greater effect -- and I saw first hand how effective it was.

Please give Ms. Cheh's office all the support they can use in getting this important legislation passed.

D.C. Personal Injury Protection Laws Stink!

Back in the 1980's, the D.C. government bought the insurance industry nonsense that so-called No-Fault laws would lower insurance premiums and make life grand for everyone. Of course, with everything the insurance industry proposes, it was all a lie. Insurance premiums went up, not down. The D.C. government took some steps to fix it. But rather than repeal no-fault, the D.C. Council enacted the current PIP statute.

In short, D.C. Personal Injury Protection coverage is a disaster.

Here's why D.C. PIP is terrible:

1. Election. You have to "elect" whether you will use PIP, or whether you will make a third party ("the other guy's" insurance) claim. Most people would much rather have "the other guy's" insurance pay the claim. Election, then, becomes confusing. Should I use my PIP or use the other guy's insurance? Can I do both?
2. Time limits. You have to "elect" within 60 days of a car accident if you want to use your PIP. This seems like a long time, but many times this deadlines passes without notice.
3. Coverage. PIP is required to be "offered" but not a required coverage. What does that mean? Well, your agent has to offer you coverage, but does not have to add it to your policy. "Well, my agent told me I have full coverage!" Maybe you have PIP, maybe you don't. Oh yes, and PIP covers different things - Medical expenses, lost wages, and funeral expenses, all at different levels. So you're a friend of a friend's car, hit by a dump truck. Do you know what your PIP benefits are? Nope, and good luck finding out.
4. Health Insurance. PIP is secondary to health insurance. What the h**l does that mean? If you have health insurance, PIP only covers only what health insurance does not cover (think co-pays and deductibles.) Well, why do I need PIP then? Good question, you don't. But if you lose your health insurance, you should have PIP. ** Oh yeah, by the way, the D.C. Court of Appeals has ruled that if you have health insurance and don't treat with a doctor within that plan, PIP does not have to pay at all. What?!

What the insurance industry has done here is a fantastic job of making PIP unintelligible to anyone, including most attorneys. Sharon Tompkins, at our firm, is about the only attorney who knows D.C. PIP law well.

If you don't know the law very well, you can waive important rights, and end up stuck with the bills from an accident that wasn't your fault. You should contact an attorney (they are always free to consult with for car accidents) immediately after an accident to discuss your rights. You don't even need to hire the lawyer. Just make sure you are not making a mistake.