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More than 40,000 people are killed in car, truck, bus and motorcylce accidents each year in the United States and nearly three million suffer injuries. Auto accidents account for among the most serious injuries, including brain damage and spinal cord injury. For instance, 45 percent of all spinal cord injuries in the United States -- or roughly 5,000 annually -- are the result of car and truck accidents.
If you or someone you know was killed or seriously injured in a truck or car accident, you may want to contact an auto accident attorney for a free evaluation of your case. Automobile accident lawsuits handled by Kline & Specter, P.C. in the region including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware have resulted in large verdicts and settlements (see below), including the $19.1 million Luzerne County verdict for a roadside worker struck by a vehicle (see McManamon) and the $38.2 million verdict for a girl injured in an accident at a dangerous intersection (Robley). But some cases have brought more than money. In one case in which a speeding police car struck and killed a man and his infant son (The Gillyard/Rich Case), Shanin Specter won not only a total $2.45 million settlement but also an agreement by City Police to make changes. After Specter investigated and pointed out that Philadelphia police vehicles were involved in more than 3,800 collisions over a nearly five-year period, Police Commissioner John Timoney issued a number of reforms to improve safety. In other cases, Tom Kline won a $4.5 million verdict on behalf of an elderly couple killed in a car accident (see Carter) and a $3.375 million settlement in the case of Fidel Hernandez, a seasonal laborer from El Salvador and the father of six, who was killed in a roadside mishap. In January 2006, Kline was retained to represent Ashley Zauflik, the teenager seriously injured in a school bus accident at Pennsbury High School. (See news stories.) See our Auto Cases in the News (click here) While many auto accidents occur because of human error, many also can be caused or worsened by defective products or inadequate safety mechanisms. Among these problems are vehicles that are prone to rollovers, especially increasingly popular sport utility vehicles, or SUVs. Rollover accidents are responsible for an estimated 24,000 injuries and 10,000 deaths annually in the United States. A number of the vehicles have also been found to have roofs that cannot withstand rollover accidents, with drivers and passengers injured and killed. Federal officials, seeking to reduce the number of so-called roof crush accidents, have proposed toughening the current 30-year-old standard to mandate stronger auto roofs. Airbags can cause severe injuries in auto accidents. Sometimes the devices deploy when they should not, or open with too much force or too slowly. In some cases airbags fail to deploy at all to protect drivers and passengers. Other devices have also caused injury and death, such as lap belts found in older vehicles and defective parking brakes. (See White v. Ford.) In some cases it is the type of vehicle itself that can be problematic. Tractor trailers, large trucks and buses are involved in accidents that account for roughly 5,000 fatalities each year in the United States. Fifteen-passenger vans often used by daycare centers, business commuters, sports teams, senior citizen groups and others are also considered dangerous because they are prone to rollovers. Also, school bus accidents account for an average 17,000 emergency-room injuries and 20 deaths each year in the United States. Kline & Specter has some 30 attorneys, including a team of several doctors, to help evaluate potential lawsuits. The firm litigates auto accident cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and nationwide. Contact an auto accident lawyer today.
Kline & Specter cases:
Click here to view Major Verdicts won by Kline & Specter auto accident attorneys. Kline & Specter handles cases in the areas:
In Pennsylvania: Allentown, Altoona, Bethlehem, Doylestown, Erie, Franklin, Gettysburg, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Hershey, Johnstown, Lancaster, Media, Norristown, Pittsburgh, Pottstown, Reading, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, State College, Sunbury, West Chester, Williamsport, York.
. In New Jersey: Atlantic City, Cape May, Cherry Hill, Hackensack, Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, New Brunswick, Montclair, Newark, New Brunswick, Trenton, Union City, Voorhees. In Delaware: Dover and Newark regions. *** Kline & Specter handles major cases throughout the United States. Select a state: Alabama AL, Alaska AK, Arizona AZ, Arkansas AR, California CA, Colorado CO, Connecticut CT, Delaware DE, District of Columbia DC, Florida FL, Georgia GA, Hawaii HI, Idaho ID, Illinois IL, Indiana IN, Iowa IA, Kansas KS, Kentucky KY, Louisiana LA, Maine ME, Maryland MD, Massachusetts MA, Michigan MI, Minnesota MN, Mississippi MS, Missouri MO, Montana MT, Nebraska NE, Nevada NV, New Hampshire NH, New Jersey NJ, New Mexico NM, New York NY, North Carolina NC, North Dakota ND, Ohio OH, Oklahoma OK, Oregon OR, Pennsylvania PA, Rhode Island RI, South Carolina SC, South Dakota SD, Tennessee TN, Texas TX, Utah UT, Vermont VT, Virginia VA, Washington WA, West Virginia WV, Wisconsin WI, Wyoming WY Disclaimer: Kline & Specter, P.C. only provides legal advice after having entered into an attorney client relationship, which our website specifically does not create. It is imperative that any action taken be done on advice of counsel. Because every case is different, the description of awards and cases previously handled do not guarantee a similar outcome in current or future cases. The firm practices law in New Jersey as Kline & Specter. Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America and other organizations that rate attorneys are not designations that have been approved by the State Supreme Courts or the American Bar Association. |Home|
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