Multiple-car accidents, which involve three or more vehicles, can lead to complicated legal cases and a variety of insurance issues. Think of multi-car accidents this way: It’s easy to split a pizza when there are only two people dining, but when you add a third person, splitting the pie equitably can be tricky — especially when the pie only has eight slices!

The Most Common Type of Multi-Car Accident

The most common example of a multiple-car accident is the three-car rear-end collision. This is when a car hits another car from behind and pushes the rear-ended car forward, into the car in front of it.

To illustrate, let’s imagine this example with color-coded cars. A red car causes the whole accident by running into a green car from behind. The impact then smashes the green car into the back bumper of the blue car. Is the red car responsible to the green and blue cars for any damages caused? Yes.

Let’s try a slightly different example: What if the driver of the blue car says she felt two impacts? In other words, what if the driver of the blue car says she was hit by the green car and then hit again when the red car hit the green car and pushed the green car into the blue car? This scenario is quite a bit more complicated. Is the red car responsible to both the green and blue cars — or just one of them? Is the green car responsible to the blue car as well? How does that work?

This simple example illustrates how quickly multiple-car accidents can become challenging to navigate. Multi-car accident cases are very different from your traditional two-car accident claims. For this reason, it’s important to work with an attorney who has experience with multiple-car accidents.

Multiple-Car Accident Insurance Issues Faced by Drivers

What are the most typical multiple car accident insurance issues faced by drivers?

By their very nature, multiple-car accidents involve multiple insurance companies, multiple insurance policies, and multiple attorneys. Finger pointing is often the result.

What’s more, when one of the vehicles involved doesn’t have insurance, or what if there isn’t enough coverage to fully compensate everybody involved, the tension between parties may only increase.

As you pursue your multi-car accident case, be wary of getting fooled by your own insurance company. Claims adjusters may speak with you informally and try to make you comfortable as they collect information about your case. They might give you the impression that they are going to take care of you. But the contrary is often true: Your insurance company will only look out for itself, by paying out as little in damages as possible.

Hiring an Attorney with Multiple-Car Accident Experience

How important is it for a personal injury lawyer to have experience handling multi-car accident cases, compared with typical two-car accidents?

An experienced attorney will investigate your multiple-car accident to collect evidence that will help determine who is at fault. Evidence can come from police reports, body camera footage, witness statements, surveillance videos, and even experts like an accident reconstructionist.

A personal injury lawyer who has experience in multiple-car accidents will make sure you are covered throughout your case.

An attorney will establish a roadmap of what you can expect as your case is processed, protect your legal rights, ensure that you get appropriate medical treatment, construct a case value, manage all the paperwork that needs to be executed related to your case, and — if necessary — file a lawsuit and go to trial.

Remember, the earlier you involve an experienced car accident attorney with your case, the better. This is because evidence is perishable and insurance policies can be exhausted.

If you wait too long to get a lawyer involved, you could miss out on your slice of the pie!

Call Negretti & Associates with Your Multi-Car Accident Questions

If you’ve been involved in a multi-car accident in Arizona, California, or Colorado, Negretti & Associates will be happy to explore your legal options with you.

Call us at (602) 531-3911 in Arizona, (619) 777-3370 in California, or (720) 636-3444 in Colorado. You can also contact us online or send us a text

Personal injuries can come on all shapes and sizes. While car accidents get the most attention, the second most common type of personal injury claim is the slip and fall accident. Also referred to as “trip and fall” accidents, slips and falls fall under the umbrella of premise liability claims.

Considering how common slips and falls are, it’s surprising how poorly they’re understood. For this reason, Negretti & Associates would like to answer the most common slip and fall accident questions. We hope that people might gain a better understanding of what they are, what to do if you think that you have been injured in a slip and fall, and how a law firm can help pursue such an accident case. If you have additional questions, we’d be happy to hear from you.

What Are Slip and Fall Accidents?

Slip and fall accidents occur when a person slips and falls on someone else’s property and gets injured. While this might seem like an obvious way to define an accident, the second and third elements of this definition are vitally important.

A slip and fall accident must happen on someone else’s property. In a very rare situation, a slip and fall accident could occur on your own property. But this is the exception, not the rule.

Additionally, there needs to be an injury. This, too, might sound obvious, but our law firm has received many calls from people who have slipped and fallen, but didn’t actually get hurt. We typically tell them that they are among the fortunate ones and send them on their way. Put simply, if there’s no injury, there is no slip and fall accident claim.

What Should You Do If You Are Involved in a Slip and Fall Accident?

What should you be thinking about if you are involved in a slip and fall accident? This is perhaps the most common of all slip and fall accident questions.

First, get the medical attention you need. A medical doctor can evaluate your injuries, so that you can begin your healing process. What’s more, a doctor will create a medical record that documents the severity of your injuries — evidence that can be used in your case.

Second, turn yourself into a private investigator. Think about what you would want to see if you were on a jury for a slip and fall accident case.

• You would probably want to see photos or videos of the condition of the area where you fell.
• You would want to know what substance or object caused the slip and fall.
• You would want to know whether other customers had slipped and fallen in this same area of the business — or on the same substance or object that caused your slip and fall.
• You would want to talk to any witnesses that may have seen the slip and fall accident and get their statements.
• You would want to know if the business had any policies or procedures in place to avoid slips and falls on their property. This investigation could be done by you, a family or friend, or even with the assistance of your attorney.

Third, don’t “do nothing.” So-called “he-said-she-said” claims never turn out in your favor and won’t go very far. If you are involved in a slip and fall accident and don’t have any evidence — as outlined above — you are going to have a tough time proving that the business did something wrong.

What Are Some “Real-World” Examples of Slip and Fall Accidents?

Slip and fall accidents are rather unique. No one fall is like another. Negretti & Associates has handled a wide variety of slip and fall accident cases, each with their own unique slip and fall accident questions.

To illustrate some of the uniqueness inherent in slip and fall accidents, here are some examples of real claims that our firm has handled.

Customer slips and falls in front of a drink machine at a fast-casual restaurant. This client hired us to assist them in pursuing a claim that occurred at a local restaurant. The client went to the soda machine to refill their drink. As they approached, they slipped on a piece of ice and broke their hand. The restaurant did not have a slip mat in front of the soda machine and had been told by other customers that there was ice on the floor.

Customer slips and falls at an amusement park. This client was at an amusement park with their family. The client attended one of the entertainment shows that the park schedules throughout the day. The weather turned and it began to rain. As the client made their way out of the arena, the client slipped and fell on some steps. There was no handrail or slip-resistant surface to make the walkway safe.

Customer slips and falls at a grocery store. This client was headed to the checkout when they slipped and fell on a substance on the ground. This client learned that the substance was a spill — and that the store knew about the spill. In fact, the store employees were on their way to get a mop when the slip and fall accident occurred. The store had a policy in place that required one employee to stay as the spill site while another employee went to get a mop, to ensure that no customers fell. The policy was not followed properly.

Customer slips and falls on a boat ramp. This client was at a lake. When the client docked their boat, they made their way off of the boat ramp to go retrieve their vehicle. The client slipped and fell on a wet surface on the ramp. The client understood that people were using the boat ramp after coming off of the lake and that the surface of the ramp might be wet. However, the boat ramp was made of metal and was extremely slippery without any slip-resistant traction. Furthermore, the ambulance that responded to the scene said that this was the fifth time they had responded to that same boat ramp and they had informed the business to take safety precautions to avoid future incidents. The business did not do anything to prevent future slip and fall accidents.

How Are Slip and Fall Cases Resolved?

Most slip and fall accidents end up in litigation. They typically go to court. This is not to say that cases can’t be settled prior to filing a lawsuit. However, in our experience, the injured party might be taking a significant discount if they settled early. There are rare cases when the business owner or insurance company does the right thing and offers a reasonable settlement ahead of trial. But these instances are few and far between.

Keep in mind that liability — or what we all call “fault” — is never guaranteed in a slip and fall accident. For this reason, pursuing these cases can be quite tricky.

Just because you have slipped and fallen doesn’t mean you automatically have a claim or that the business where this occurred is automatically at fault for what happened.

As the plaintiff, you have the burden of proof. You have to prove that the business did something wrong. It’s not enough to simply say that you fell, and the accident should not have happened. The law requires you to prove that the business violated a standard of care or did something that caused your fall.

Fault means that someone else is responsible for your slip and fall accident. You could be partially at fault and still recover for your injuries. In other words, you could have paid better attention when you were walking to avoid the slip and fall accident. Still, you could be entitled to compensation.

• In Arizona and California, you can be up to 99% at fault and still recover for the 1% that you weren’t at fault. Your compensation would be reduced by your percentage of fault.
• In Colorado, if you are more that 50% at fault for your slip and fall accident, you cannot recover anything.

This is an important distinction in the law that should be considered. The most common defense in slip and fall accidents is something called “personal responsibility.” The defense — collectively, the business owner, insurance company, and defense attorney — will argue that you should have watched where you are going. Had you done that, the slip and fall accident would not have occurred. While this may not necessarily be true, the business will make this argument to buy down some of their responsibility in slip and fall accident claims.

How Do Slip and Fall Accidents Differ in Various States?

At Negretti & Associates, we practice in Arizona, California, and Colorado. While laws aren’t necessarily different in these three states, the types of claims that we see certainly are. For example:

• In Denver, Colorado, where it often snows, businesses are held to a certain standard to clear sidewalks from snow and ice to allow for safe passage into one’s business.
• In California, where businesses share boundaries with beaches, store owners are held to a certain standard to clear entrances and aisle ways of sand that may be tracked inside.
• In Arizona, where resorts are plentiful, pool surfaces need to be designed with traction to avoid creating a slippery surface for pool goers.

Slip and fall accidents represent a very common type of personal injury. Slip and fall accidents are very difficult to pursue. Slip and fall accidents require a very thorough investigation to prove that the business did something wrong.

If you find yourself involved in a slip and fall accident in Arizona, California, or Colorado, Negretti & Associates would be happy to discuss your slip and fall accident questions and see if we can help with your case.

For a free consultation, call us at (602) 531-3911 in Arizona, (619) 777-3370 in California, or (720) 636-3444 in Colorado. You can also contact us online or send us a text.

Dog bite claims are some of the most painful personal injury claims that we handle at Negretti & Associates. Our clients not only suffer physical injuries, but they also endure psychological trauma. There is a real mental component to being bitten by a dog. A bite will rattle most people and make them hesitant around dogs for the rest of their lives.

As we work with clients, we’re often asked questions about dog bite injury compensation amounts. With hopes that we can offer some insight into dog bite compensation and help you be better informed going forward, we have compiled answers to this list of commonly asked questions.

That said, if you have been involved in a dog bite and you don’t find the answer to your question, don’t hesitate to reach out to us to have a one-on-one conversation about your dog bite. You can contact us online, call us at 1-833-827-3535, or send us a text. We can ensure that you are taking all the necessary steps toward getting the compensation you deserve.

What Is the Average Compensation for a Dog Bite?

Let’s debunk a myth about dog bite injury compensation amounts.

There is no “average compensation” for a dog bite claim. There is no such thing as a settlement calculator for a dog bite claim.

Saying that there is an average dog bite is like saying every dog bite is the same. It not only minimizes the bite itself, but it also puts compensation in a box. This is factually flawed logic — a way of thinking that the insurance industry would love for you to subscribe to.

You see, if you believe there is an “average,” then insurance can convince you to resolve your case for an average, which may equate to pennies on the dollar.

Remember, your dog bite is not like any other. The bite you suffered is unique. It is personal. Your compensation should be, as well.

If an attorney gives you an average, consider them average and find another one!

How Much Do Insurance Companies Pay for Dog Bites?

Rather than ask the question How much do insurance companies pay for dog bites? recast the question as How much should I be compensated in order to resolve my claim? By flipping the script, you’re putting yourself in a much stronger position.

After all, you were the one who has been bitten. You are the one who decides whether the insurance company is offering you proper compensation.

The obvious question that follows is What is proper compensation? This is where a good, experienced attorney can be an incredible resource. A good attorney will summon his or her professional experience and past successes to arrive at an idea of proper compensation.

Understanding and advising on proper dog bite injury compensation amounts is exactly what the attorneys at Negretti & Associates excel in. We have handled a lot of different types of dog bite claims. When you hire Negretti & Associates, you automatically have a competitive advantage over an insurance company. We don’t advise clients to settle a claim if we wouldn’t take the settlement ourselves.

How Likely Is It for a Dog Bite Case to Go to Trial?

Dog bite cases, and frankly all personal injury cases, are unpredictable. When you initiate a claim, there is always a possibility of trial. It would be disingenuous to tell you that there is no way your case is going to trial.

How likely is it for a dog bite case to go to trial? The likelihood is greater than zero percent. But it’s a slight number — less than 5 percent.

The important thing to remember is that, as a client of a law firm, you are in control. You have the final say in how far your case goes.

As your dog bite case develops, up until you file a lawsuit, you are in the proverbial “driver’s seat.” However, once you file a lawsuit, you lose what we call total control and you become only partially in control. That’s because you have now engaged in a legal proceeding with another party. The court oversees that proceeding and has a say in what happens with your case.

How Long Will a Dog Bite Trial Last?

If your case were to end up in trial, the complexity of your case would be one factor in determining how long your trial would last. The more complex your case is, the longer the trial might be.

However, the court has the final say on the length of your trial and will shepherd things along to ensure that both parties get equal time to present their respective cases.

How Long Does It Take to Settle a Dog Bite Claim?

As discussed above, you should settle your claim when the insurance company offers you proper compensation for your dog bite. Until that time, you should not settle your claim.

In order to achieve proper a dog bite injury compensation amount, you need to offer the insurance company documented evidence of your dog bite. You have to offer the insurance company a comprehensive package of information to convince them to resolve your claim for proper compensation.

A comprehensive package is not limited solely to medical bills. It is also not just limited to photographs of your injuries.

Just as you wouldn’t make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the bread, don’t settle your claim without fully understanding what ingredients you need to send the insurance company.

A trusted advisory board like the attorneys at Negretti & Associates can help you put together that package of information to ensure that when you decide to settle your dog bite claim, you are doing so for proper compensation.

Contact Negretti & Associates with Your Dog Bite Questions

If you have been bitten by a dog, it’s important to get medical treatment right away. After that, you’ll need to begin collecting evidence as quickly as possible.

Negretti & Associates offers a team of experienced dog bite lawyers in Arizona, California, and Colorado. Contact us so that we can evaluate your situation and help you determine if your case is worth pursuing. Call us at (602) 531-3911 in Arizona, (619) 777-3370 in California, or (720) 636-3444 in Colorado. You can also contact us online or send us a text.

Above: The corner of Lincoln Blvd. and Marco Court in Venice, California, where an elderly man was recently killed by an intoxicated scooter rider. The red circle indicates how electric scooters are staged at this corner — just beyond the parking lot of Superba Food + Bread, a popular bakery and restaurant that serves wine, beer, and cocktails.

Can you get a DUI on a scooter?

The short answer is yes. Just as you can be charged with criminal misconduct for riding a bike while intoxicated, you can be charged for riding an electric scooter while intoxicated.

However, there’s a longer answer that’s a bit more complicated.

Let’s put it this way: You can get far more than a DUI on a scooter. You can literally kill someone while riding a scooter while intoxicated.

Recently, an elderly man in Venice, California was struck and killed by an intoxicated scooter driver, who was also carrying a passenger. The crash occurred late on a Saturday night in an area of Los Angeles filled with bars and restaurants.

When you rent a scooter, the terms and conditions hidden found in the rental contract state that 1) you are to not operate the scooter while drunk and 2) you’re to ride the scooter alone, with no passengers. It’s a matter of common sense, but carrying a passenger can make an electric scooter far more difficult to steer and stop.

Unfortunately, drinking and common sense do not overlap.

Scooter Companies Share Blame for Scooter DUIs

As an attorney, having studied so many tragic scooter accidents such as these, I have come to strongly believe that the blame for scooter DUI’s extends beyond intoxicated scooter riders. Just as individuals need to be held responsible for riding scooters when drunk, scooter companies should be viewed as enablers of a greater danger to the public.

Why are electric scooters placed outside of bars and restaurants, available to be ridden late at night when intoxication is more likely?

This is an honest question that the electric scooter industry doesn’t want to talk about.

Granted, all of companies that “stage” electric scooters along city sidewalks have disclaimers in their user agreements that strictly forbid riders from using their equipment while intoxicated.

However, the actions of these companies seem to contradict their messaging.

Are these companies really trying to be informative, or are they simply seeking to escape legal liability?

I believe the answer is definitely the latter. If electric scooter companies were truly interested in safety, then they would put safeguards in place to prevent riders from activating scooters while intoxicated. At the very least, they could take preventative measures by not making scooters available for rent outside of bars, clubs, and restaurants.

At a certain point, the general welfare of our fellow humans should outweigh the profit centers that these scooters have turned into for the companies that produce them.

Have a Scooter Accident Question? Contact Us

Negretti & Associates Attorneys at Law handles electric scooter accident cases in California, Arizona, and Colorado. If you have been involved in an electric scooter accident and you have questions about your case, feel free to contact us online, call us at 1-833-827-3535, or send us a text. We can ensure that you are taking all the necessary steps toward getting the compensation you deserve.

The evolution of self-driving vehicles has gone into warp speed over the past decade. In fact, most vehicles on the road today have some form of automation.

Depending on where you live, fully automated self-driving vehicles are either an everyday sight or not-too-far-off reality. Google’s autonomous Waymo vehicles have been cruising up and down the streets of Phoenix since early 2017.

As we navigate forward into a world that looks more like the Jetsons and less like the Flintstones, it’s important to understand the pros and cons of self-driving vehicles.

Of course, it can be quite difficult to predict the future, but we know this for certain about self-driving cars: pros and cons can be debated at great length.

Self-Driving Cars: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Reduced vehicle crashes
• More efficient travel
• Decreased traffic flow
• Easier access for the disabled and elderly

Cons

• Wide adoption is necessary to make it work
• Massive job loss in the transportation sector
• Hackers and cyber threats
• Moral dilemma

Pro #1: Reduced Vehicle Crashes

The vast majority of motor vehicle crashes are due to human error. It is estimated that fully automated vehicles can reduce vehicle crashes by 90%.

One thing that is certain about any assessment of self-driving cars: pros and cons must take into account how self-driving vehicles can curb — and potentially eliminate — accidents caused by driver fatigue, inattention and distracted driving, and alcohol-related impairment.

Pro #2: More Efficient Travel

Fully automated vehicles are able to communicate with each other through a network of computers. This communication allows for real-time analysis which can help determine best routes of travel, as well as calculate appropriate speeds and distances between vehicles during rush-hour bottlenecks.

Pro #3: Decreased Traffic Flow

Since self-driving vehicles are communicating in real time, travel distances between vehicles can be improved. This can help reduce common traffic concerns.

Pro #4: Easier Access for the Elderly and Disabled

Self-driving vehicles could be a safer, more accessible alternative for persons with disabilities and the elderly alike. A 2017 study by Ruderman Family Foundation observes, “Mitigating transportation-related obstacles for individuals with disabilities would enable new employment opportunities for approximately 2 million individuals with disabilities, and save $19 billion annually in healthcare expenditures from missed medical appointments. This is in the context of the anticipated broader impacts of autonomous vehicles: $1.3 trillion in savings from productivity gains, fuel costs, accident prevention, among other sources.”

Con #1: Wide Adoption Is Necessary

It has been argued that for any of the pros listed above, the only way a fully autonomous system can works is if all vehicles are self-driving. The problem with this concept is that it would essentially strip people of their independent ability to drive.

Con #2: Massive Job Losses in Certain Economic Sectors

A sizeable portion of the population is wholly dependent on the automotive industry for their livelihoods. Many of those working in trucking, public transit, and delivery services would find their roles obsolete in a fully self-driving future.

Although Goldman Sachs has estimated that automation will shed 300,000 transportation-related jobs each year, new employment opportunities will be created in other ways.

Con #3: Hackers and Cyber-Security Threats

Security issues are a very real con of self-driving vehicles. When vehicles rely on computers to function, they are susceptible to cyber threats. If an entire system is comprised, so would society’s ability to remain connected and provide basic resources to the masses.

We’ve seen what kinds of disruptions that the recent Colonial Pipeline hack caused. The severity of a breach of an autonomous vehicle network would be incalculable by comparison.

Con #4: The Moral Dilemma

One very important theme that may not get the attention it deserves in discussions of self-driving cars: pros and cons do not always consider questions of morality.

The moral dilemma hinges on the idea that the artificial intelligence in self-driving vehicles lacks the ability to make judgments between multiple favorable outcomes — or “least bad” outcomes, for that matter. A classic example would be an autonomous vehicle choosing to run off the road, possibly killing the driver inside, in an attempt to avoid hitting a school bus filled with children.

Keep Thinking Ahead

The debate on self-driving vehicles and the use of fully autonomous technology rages on. The reality is that we will continue to see advancements in this technology. We need to be thinking ahead on how to incorporate these advancements into our daily lives.

If you have been injured in a self-driving car accident, do not hesitate to give Negretti & Associates a call. Your recovery can hinge on whether or not you have an experienced accident lawyer on your side. For a free consultation with our legal team, contact us online, call us at 1-833-827-3535, or send us a text.