Washington Injury Law Blog

While walking home from work I stopped at a crosswalk before crossing the street. The way was clear so I started walking across the street when a car suddenly turned right in front of me and ran over my right foot. As a result my foot was broken and now I have permanent nerve damage that makes it so the bottom of my foot under my toes is always numb. This is the story of one of my client’s told during our first meeting, let’s call him Bruno.

Bruno was lucky that the car that ran over his foot had Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance, which pays for the medical bills of pedestrians injured in a Washington car accident. In most cases PIP pays for your injuries that you suffer when in a car accident. Only those in your car are covered. But when you hit a pedestrian your PIP insurance also pays for the pedestrians medical bills.

Washington voters recently approved R-67 (aka Fair Insurance Conduct Act), which is a new law aimed at holding insurance companies accountable for their bad faith practices in handling PIP claims. The Fair Insurance Conduct Act took effect December 6, 2007.  Bruno has had first hand experience with the insurance company handling his PIP claim wrongfully.

In Bruno’s case the PIP insurance adjuster is only paying a portion of each bill submitted by some of Bruno’s doctors. Washington law does not allow this kind of off the top discounting on the opinion of an insurance adjuster. When this happens a bad faith claim arises against the insurance company. The Fair Insurance Conduct Act established an advance notice procedure prior to filing a lawsuit to collect the PIP insurance benefits owed. Notice is sent to the insurance company and Office of the Insurance Commissioner for Washington (OIC) 20-days before a lawsuit is to be filed, giving the insurance company one last opportunity to resolve the dispute.

During the battle over R-67 the insurance industry claimed PIP bad faith was not a big problem. It appears as usual the insurance companies were lying to us consumers. There were about 56 notices sent to the OIC from Dec. 6 to Dec. 31, and about 11 more in the first week of January. Prior to the new law taking effect from May 2007 to the end of November 2007 there were about 78 consumer notices of bad faith conduct by insurance companies.

That’s a lot of lawsuits that are about to be filed against insurance companies because they’re treating their own customers wrongfully. If you are dealing with a PIP claim and the insurance company is refusing to pay your medical bills, it’s important that you speak with an attorney experienced in handling Washington injury cases. You paid for the PIP insurance and it should be available when you need it after a car accident.

Washington residents may need think twice before lighting up that cigarette, cigar, or pipe while driving if their kids are in the car. Bills making it illegal to smoke in a vehicle with children present is making their way through the Washington legislature.

The law would be similar to the cell phone ban. Police will not be able to pull you over for a smoking offense alone. You would need to break another traffic law that police can pull you over for, then police can add a smoking while children are present ticket.

Supporters of the law claim they are protecting kids not telling people how to live. I for one believe this is a good idea. Secondhand smoke has been linked to heart disease, ear infection, lung cancer and emphysema. Kids can’t protect themselves from their parents deadly habits. I believe we should do everything we can to discourage parents from smoking in the presence of their kids. A child’s health is more important than a parent’s freedom to engage in self-destructive behavior.

No texting while driving!

Drivers are banned from text messaging while driving starting in 2008. Police say they are going to put special emphasis on this new law. So beware! It’s at least $101 fine if caught. However, the police have to stop you for some other traffic law violation before you can get the texting ticket.

What about banning cell phones while driving?

Ask and you shall receive. As of July 1, 2008 cell phones are banned while driving unless used with a hands free device. So those of you who have been salivating over a new blue tooth headset its time to buy. I for one am counting down the days until this law takes effect. As a lawyer I use my cell as much as the next guy, but people need both hands while driving. How many times have you been following someone and they’re swerving all over the road, speeding up then slowing down, and you’ve thought they must be drunk, only to pull along side and see a cell phone glued to one ear with the driver oblivious to any traffic around them. It drives me crazy! Plus there’s at least one study that states driving while using a cell phone distracts people as much as if the were actually driving drunk. That’s just scary to me. Be safe, hung up the phone and just drive!

Boat license anyone!

Starting in 2008 anyone under 20 years old will have to take a boating safety class before they can obtain a boat license. After 2008 the age increases by 5 each year thereafter. So by 2018 anyone under the age of 70 will have to take a safety class to get a boat license. The good news is that taking such a class often gets you cheaper insurance and the class can be done online.  Also, if you’re born before 1955 you’re grandfathered in and never have to take the class. Call it an early senior discount!

Have a safe and happy New Year!

An argument is being floated that bicyclists should pay for the bike lanes, paths or trials they use. I think this is just plain crazy. Some people believe bicyclist should pay a license to use the lanes, paths and trials. The license fees could then be used to pay for, build and maintain dedicated bike lanes, paths or trials. The Seattle Post-Intellegencer ran an article about this today.

Do we charge a fee to those who walk on the sidewalks? Of course not! Charging a license fee to bicyclists would act as a barrier to people ditching their car for a bicycle. We ought to encourage people to ride bicycles and save our environment from another car on the road. I don’t believe we should do anything that discourages anyone from seeking alternatives to gas burning vehicles. Plus, I could use the exercise!

Till next time happy pedaling!!