Posted on October 31,2018 in Car Accident

A recent two-car crash in Lakewood resulted in severe injuries to a 19-year-old driver, as well as the death of the other driver involved. While the ultimate cause of the accident is still under investigation, according to Colorado state police, “speed was a factor.” 

Every year, thousands of Americans are killed due to drivers traveling at excessive speeds. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), speeding resulted in the deaths of over 10,000 Americans throughout 2016 alone. In all, speeding accounted for 27% of traffic fatalities nationwide. If you or a loved one have been injured in a motor vehicle collision, it is likely that driver negligence was involved. 

Why Speeding Increases Risk 

We all understand the reasons behind speeding, since hectic work schedules and constant familial obligations leave most of us in a never-ending rush. Still, it is important to understand how speeding can impact one’s vehicle’s ability to operate at peak capacity. Speeding can reduce the effectiveness of safety restraint systems and limit the control one has over their vehicle’s steering and braking systems, while also increasing the ferocity of collisions. 

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 Posted on October 24,2018 in Car Accident

A few short weeks ago, the negligence of a drunk driver led to a two-vehicle car crash near Colorado Springs. The accident occurred when the 44-year-old drunk driver drifted off the road and collided with a parked car. The driver only suffered minor injuries, but a 21-month-old was ejected out of the other vehicle and narrowly avoided fatal injuries. After attempting to flee from the scene on foot, the drunk driver was ultimately caught by several witnesses and was later taken into police custody. 

While the accident did not result in any fatal injuries, it was a sobering reminder of the terrible impact of drunk driving. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 10,497 Americans were killed due to drunk drivers in 2016 alone. If you or a loved one are injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver, finding quality legal representation can make all the difference in ensuring a healthy financial future for your family. 

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 Posted on October 17,2018 in Car Accident

On Wednesday, October 10th, 2018, a number of car accidents occurred throughout the state of Colorado. One accident involving a semi-truck occurred near Haswell, another collision happened outside of Lone Tree, and a third took place near Aspen Park. The one common denominator? All the accidents were at least partially caused by icy roadways. 

With winter arriving quickly, it is important to begin practicing appropriate winter driving habits. The Colorado State Patrol was vocal about the recklessness of many drivers, stating that some accidents were caused by “people traveling too fast for conditions.” If a member of your family is injured in a motor vehicle collision this winter, you should contact a personal injury attorney that will represent your best interests and help you pursue compensation from any negligent parties. 

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 Posted on October 10,2018 in Car Accident

Every year, thousands of motorcyclists throughout the United States suffer fatal injuries in accidents. Here in northern Colorado, we witness far too many fatal motorcycle accidents on an annual basis. Recently, a 37-year-old woman was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident in Fort Collins. The motorcycle was a two-person Harley Davidson, and when it collided with another vehicle, both motorcycle passengers were severely hurt, and the female passenger ultimately died. The accident reminded every Colorado native of the dangers that motorcyclists face when sharing the road with other vehicles. If you or a loved one have been injured in a motorcycle accident, you should take steps to understand your options for pursuing financial compensation. 

Motorcycle Accidents Nationwide 

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), approximately 5,000 American motorcyclists died in 2017. While this statistic marks a slight decrease in motorcycle fatalities on a national scale, motorcyclists are still much more likely to suffer fatal injuries than drivers or passengers of automobiles. In fact, motorcyclists are 28% more likely to be killed in a motor vehicle collision than those traveling in a standard motor vehicle. Despite the fact that motorcyclists make up a small number of all highway users, they accounted for approximately 14% of all traffic fatalities in 2017. Next time you ride a motorcycle, ride with caution. 

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 Posted on September 21,2018 in Car Accident

If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, you may not know what to do in either the immediate aftermath of the collision or the days following. Whether you were seriously injured and required emergency medical care or were able to safely leave the scene of the accident, you should take the following steps to protect yourself: 

Step 1 - Ensure Safety 

The first thing that should always be done following an accident is to calm down and ensure that everyone is okay. Unless you are severely injured and cannot move, it is a good idea to help others out of harm’s way and note the physical condition of each person and vehicle immediately following the accident. While making a mental note of all parties’ damages and injuries may is a good start, writing down detailed notes or taking pictures on a smartphone will ensure that this information is preserved. 

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 Posted on September 12,2018 in Car Accident

No matter how large or small, being in a car crash can be overwhelming, to say the least. Choosing the best personal injury lawyer after your car accident can be one of the most important, yet difficult, choices you’ll have to make during this process. You must decide if you need medical treatment and if so, where should you go and who will pay for it? You must figure out how to get a rental car and where to get your car fixed and who will pay for that? You might also deal with a wage loss that puts great financial strain on you and your family, not to mention facing all the things you were able to do before you were injured that you can no longer do. You also have the insurance company telling you that you don’t need a lawyer, your friends telling you that you do, and tons of TV commercials telling you where to go!

We’d like to help make at least a part of this process a little easier for you. Choosing the right personal injury lawyer can make all the difference when it comes to how stressful this process will be for you and how happy you will be with the outcome. Therefore, we are providing you with our top five tips to consider when choosing a car accident lawyer:

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 Posted on September 12,2018 in Personal Injury

When you’ve been injured in a car accident, it can be difficult to find a good lawyer. Sometimes people sign up with an auto accident attorney who they think is good, but months down the road find themselves wondering if they are getting the best representation they could be. For the people wondering if they’ve hired the best auto accident lawyer for their case, we have put together a list of some of the ways you can tell if you have a good car accident lawyer who is working for you and your best interests. We hope you will find it helpful.

#1. How do you feel when you think about calling your attorney’s office?

Nobody really looks forward to calling their lawyer, and we get that. However, if the thought of calling your lawyer’s office fills you with dread, annoyance, or frustration, you may not be in the right place. If you call during normal office hours, there should always be a friendly voice on the other end to take your call. If the person you need to speak to is not available, you should still feel like your call is important to the person taking the message and you should definitely get a return call within 24 hours.

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 Posted on September 12,2018 in Workplace Injury

How you handle a work-related injury or illness from the beginning will substantially increase the likelihood that the insurance company will cover your claim, pay for your medical treatment, and compensate you for any lost wages. Many people have never been through something like this before and don’t realize they may be making critical errors even within the first hour of sustaining an injury at work. We want you to be prepared and have the information you need right from the beginning so we have summarized for you five simple steps to follow when you’ve experienced a workplace injury:

1) REPORT TO YOUR SUPERVISOR:

Immediately after sustaining a work injury, you should inform your supervisor. This begins with verbally reporting the circumstances to your supervisor. When doing so, make sure you explain how you were injured (mechanism of injury), how it was within the course and scope of your employment (what work related activity you were doing at the time), and which body parts you injured. It is essential that you report every single body part that is hurting, even if one is minor compared to another.

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 Posted on September 12,2018 in Car Accident

When people come to us seeking car accident legal advice, one of the first questions we ask is, “when did you first seek medical treatment for your injuries?” We often meet potential clients who were injured in a car accident but waited several weeks before seeking medical treatment, which can be detrimental to a claim.

One of the best pieces of personal injury lawyer advice I can offer is do not hesitate to seek medical treatment immediately following a car crash, even for the most minor symptoms. If your symptoms resolve and your claim settles quickly, then at least you will have peace of mind from being checked out and knowing you are ok. If your symptoms don’t resolve, become worse, or end up more severe than you thought, you will be very glad you got medical evidence and a doctor’s opinion right from the start.

Often times people don’t want to go through the hassle and hope the injury will resolve on its own. Sometimes people don’t get treatment because they don’t have the time or the money. We also frequently meet people whose symptoms didn’t begin right away or didn’t become severe until several weeks after the crash.

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 Posted on September 12,2018 in Car Accident

What do the different types of coverages offered by insurance companies actually mean?

At the Hoggatt Law Office, we see people come in all the time who either don’t know what is covered under their type of car insurance, or have waived certain portions of their offered coverage not fully understanding what that is. We will attempt to explain several different types and aspects of automobile insurance coverage, and why certain aspects can be helpful if you’re involved in an accident.

Unfortunately, despite its common use, the term ‘full coverage’ does not have any accepted standard meaning. Many different insurance companies offer ‘full coverage,’ but what is included varies from company to company. While the below list is not exhaustive of all types of coverage that can be offered, and it does not fully explain the intricacies of the different types of coverage, it will hopefully give you an understanding of what these different types of coverage actually mean to you as an insured driver.

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