#3 How do I know if my patient has a personal injury claim due to a car accident?

PREGUNTA: How do I know if my patient has a personal injury claim due to a car accident?​

RESPUESTA: The way to assess if your patient has a personal injury claim in Oregon, is to evaluate if the other driver’s actions violated traffic laws or if the other driver was driving unsafely. Oregon statutes and personal injury claims can be complicated and there are situations and circumstances where fault is not straight-forward to determine. Advising your patient to consult with a personal injury attorney if they’ve been injured in an accident can be invaluable. The lawyer will provide a no-fee, no obligation initial consultation and will help your patient determine if they do have a claim and advise them on how the personal injury claims process works and how to protect themselves.

How do I know if my patient has a personal injury claim due to a car accident? 

In Oregon, fortunately, that’s a fairly simple question to answer.

The standard is, “Did the other person who hit your patient’s car drive the way a reasonably prudent person would drive?”

A less “lawyerly” way of saying that is “Was the person driving the other car, doing so in a safe manner?” A reasonably prudent person doesn’t run red lights, doesn’t blow through stop signs, doesn’t drive intoxicated or on drugs, doesn’t drive if they’re too sleepy, or goes 50 miles an hour in a 30-mile-an-hour speed zone.  

That’s pretty simple standards to help understand whether the other person is in fact at fault for causing a car accident. The standard is the same when looking at how your patient was driving their car. Even if the other person blew a stop sign a jury will also look at the conduct of your patient. Were they going 45 miles an hour in a 30-mile-an-hour speed zone when the other person ran the stop sign? Your patient may be held partially at fault for causing the collision because they were not driving safely either.

If you have questions about your patient’s car accident, we’re happy to talk with you to determine if your patient potentially has a personal injury claim. We also offer a no-fee, no-obligation, claim evaluations for folks who have been injured in a car accident. During an initial consultation, we’ll ask a variety of questions about the details surrounding their accident and their injuries from the accident. This will help us determine if your patient does have a personal injury claim or not.

If they do have a claim, we’ll advise them on the personal injury claim process and what their options are. If it is not in their best interest to file a claim, we’ll explain to them what their rights are and how to protect themselves when communicating with the insurance company.

We’re here to be a bridge of support for you and your patients.

We have developed a robust library of information for your patients who have been injured in an accident, which can be found in the INJURED? START HERE portal on our website.

There are 40 topic-focused articles, with accompanying videos, organized into the four categories that include the personal injury claim-related questions we’re asked most often, which include:

• Los 10 Principales Errores En Lesiones Personales Que Debe Evitar
• Lo Que Necesita Saber Sobre Su Reclamo
• ¿Cómo Se Pagan Mis Facturas Médicas y la Pérdida de Salario?
• Cómo Prepararse para Su Examen Médico Independiente

Each article provides advice and guidelines to help your patients navigate each phase of the personal injury claims process. Whether we represent your patient or not, we are passionate about them knowing how to protect their rights, get the medical care they need, and avoid the mistakes that can harm their personal injury claim.

Each article provides advice and guidelines to help your patients navigate each phase of the personal injury claims process. Whether we represent your patient or not, we are passionate about them knowing how to protect their rights, get the medical care they need, and avoid the mistakes that can harm their personal injury claim.

Additionally, if it would be helpful to have the information we feature on our website available in your office to pass along to your patients, we’ve developed brochures for each of the four article series -- in both English and Spanish that we’re happy to send to your office. Please complete the form below and we’ll get them out to you promptly.