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Car and Vehicle Accident Attorneys
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York
More than 40,000 people are killed each year in car, truck, bus and motorcycle accidents in the United States. 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.
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Automobile accident lawsuits handled by Kline & Specter, P.C. in the Philadelphia region 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 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) (See Toyota recall)
In some cases it is the type of vehicle itself that can be problematic. For instance, motorcycles and scooters have increased in popularity in recent years and traffic accidents involving the two wheelers has risen with sales. The number of motorcycle riders killed on U.S roadways reached 5,154 in 2007, an all-time high.
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 handles cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. For cases outside those states, Kline & Specter works with local attorneys in each state as applicable. Contact an auto accident lawyer today.
Kline & Specter cases
- Pennsbury bus crash news coverage 3/13/3007
- Tom Kline interview on SEPTA bus injury case, Fox News 11/28/06
- Jury awards $1.2 million in Chester County case
Click here to see more Kline & Specter Auto Cases in the News
Breaking News
- A jury awards nearly $4.4 million to family of a man who died in an auto accident. The jury found the state Department of Transportation failed to post appropriate signs warning motorists about traffic delays due to construction work. As the man went over the crest of a hill, the driver ahead of him saw stopped cars and slammed on his brakes. The man tried to swerve but crashed and later died. The amount will be reduced by almost $2 million partly because of a law that caps damages against the state. (Full story)
- Government research shows that chatting on cell phones, whether drivers held them in their hand or not, slows reaction time and causes inattention that leads to auto accidents. Consumer groups made National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents public, and charged that the government has not been upfront about distractions by cell phones. (Full story)
- A city and county in Oregon must pay a total of $550,000 to two men and the family of a third who died when a police officer ran a stop sign and crashed into them. The officer was driving more than 60 mph to help another officer, but failed to turn on his siren and flashing lights. A couple whose home is at the auto accident scene will pay $150,000 for allowing tree branches to obscure the stop sign. (Full story)
- A Boston restaurant is ordered to pay $5 million to a woman who lost her right arm in a drunken driving auto accident. (Full story)
- German automaker BMW announces 200,000 recalls because front passenger airbags may not deploy in auto accidents. (Full story)
- Legal experts predict that state laws against driving while using hand-held cellphones -- such as those in New Jersey and California -- may result in much more than fines. (Full story)
- A California jury awards $6.9 million to a woman who suffered brain damage as a result of getting struck by a speeding police vehicle. (Full story)
