Billings Personal Injury Law Blog

It was driving safety week at a local Catholic high school in Montana. The principal of the school had a wrecked vehicle placed at the entrance to the school parking lot that students use. She said she wanted to car to be near the road so that student drivers would see it as they arrived for school each day. The display is meant to raise awareness of the need for driving safety, which will, in turn, hopefully help reduce the number of car accidents in the area.

In 58% of fatal car accidents involving teenagers, those fatally injured were not wearing proper seat restraint when their collisions occurred. A woman who was age 15 in 2006 recounted how she and a friend, who was 17 at the time, decided to travel without wearing seat belts one day. The 17-year-old was behind the wheel and was reportedly speeding. She lost control, wrecked the car, and both girls were ejected from the vehicle.

In Montana and throughout the United States, many people reside full-time in nursing homes. A majority of residents are elderly, while some have perhaps never fully recovered from car accident injuries or other adverse health situations, thus prompting a need for assisted-living care. Regardless of exact events that lead a person to transition to nursing home residence, every patient currently residing in such facilities deserves high quality care. In short, there is no excuse for medical negligence.

A medical journal reported that a key factor toward substandard care is overworked nurses. Many facilities are apparently short-staffed, thus placing the burden of duty that numerous nurses would typically carry on fewer employees. A 2018 study states that ample evidence shows a 30% to 40% increase in adverse patient outcomes due to understaffed health care environments.

While it is unfortunate, fact is that you will probably not find any of the responsible parties leaping out of their seats to fully compensate you for your injuries after a truck accident in Montana. Yes: You may receive offers that seem reasonable at first. You may even receive pressure to accept those offers from family, friends and the parties involved in your incident.

At Edmiston & Colton Law Firm, we understand that the stress surrounding catastrophic truck accident injuries is enormous. It may not be your first or even second thought to fight for maximum possible compensation. You may just want it all to be settled and squared away. Many of our clients feel this way at first, but soon realize that the initial offers with which they were provided would not have completely covered their losses.

Bicyclists who are struck by vehicles may suffer a number of injuries in the wreck, such as a broken neck or deep lacerations. However, brain injuries are especially common and concerning for various reasons. For one, these injuries can be tough to detect, since symptoms may not appear until later on. Second, these injuries can completely derail a person's life, leaving them mentally incapacitated and unable to take care of themselves. Even when people can continue on with their lives, the damage they have sustained may affect their personality, their relationships and many other facets of their lives.

It is important for bicyclists to wear helmets since they can protect a biker's head in the event of an accident. However, helmets do not always prevent brain trauma, and many bicyclists do not wear helmets, either. With so many negligent drivers on the road, it is inevitable that some will collide with bicyclists and cause their lives to change in an instant. Brain damage can prevent someone from continuing in their career, derail one's academic progress and lead to various short-term and long-term challenges that will be hard to handle.