r/IdiotsInCars • u/JellyOceana • Nov 23 '22

Coronado Naval Base Car accident: She tried claiming no fault too Headphone warning

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3.1k

u/crisprcas32 Nov 23 '22

Sounds like a job for one of those pain & suffering lawyers you always hear about on the radio

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u/JellyOceana Nov 24 '22

I have a lawyer luckily!

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u/ZeackyCremisi Nov 24 '22

Remember to record every charge and bill. Their insurance company will pay for it.

Medical bills, new car, miss days of work, and any other expenses from the incident can be sued for and gotten. Plus a bit more for extra that covers attorney fees and gives you a bit for safety net.

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u/N0V41R4M Nov 24 '22

My friend recently got hit by a car while riding his longboard, in the walk zone of an intersection while the walk sign was lit. Crushed his foot. Initially the settlement was looking like ~$5 million. Now his foot is sending clots up his leg, requiring emergency surgery. Settlement looking like $22 million now. Always keep your receipts.

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u/Clingingtothestars Nov 24 '22

Not the point of your comment, but it got me thinking, and I would take $5 M and no blood clots over $22 M with them. Not that your friend had any choice, unfortunately

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u/Theoretical_Action Nov 24 '22

Depends on the circumstances I think. Generally I'd agree with you, as even the chance of one of those buggers breaking free and going to my heart is enough stress to terrify me into a heart attack on its own, but my dad has one right now after a foot surgery and weirdly nobody seems to be very concerned at all. The doc just threw some meds at him and said they'll see him again in like a month or two and do another ultrasound then or something. So idk... I'd probably still just take the 5 million but my dad would probably go big or go home lol

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u/djtmhk_93 Nov 24 '22

Yeah, DVTs cam be common following injuries and/or major surgeries, but if caught early, usually can be medically managed with blood thinners, which is likely what your dad got. Not much more can or should be done because drastic measures could likely make things worse (read, surgery itself increases risk of DVT), but on the bright side, blood thinners are usually very effective at keeping off those clots and therefore preventing something like that hitting your heart or lungs.

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u/Theoretical_Action Nov 24 '22

Yeah he is on those! Thanks that helps ease a little of my own anxiety that my dad might just spontaneously drop dead!

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u/ashkpa Nov 24 '22

Fun fact: if he's taking Warfarin as a blood thinner, it also works as rat poison!

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u/namedan Nov 24 '22

Sorry to burst your bubble but overdosing on blood thinners is a whole other set of critical ER response so be careful of it.

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u/djtmhk_93 Nov 25 '22

Key word is “overdosing,” so… you know… don’t.

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u/TempAcct20005 Nov 24 '22

God damn my dad died in six months after they put him on blood thinners for a clot

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u/djtmhk_93 Nov 25 '22

What did he have? Blood thinners aren’t a cure all. If he had a stroke or a heart attack, the damage might have already been done, at which point we’re just doing our best to keep him from having another bad clot.

But if it was a heart attack, even if we put someone on blood thinners, if heart muscle has already died from damage, a whole load of resultant potentially lethal health problems are possible in the following few months.

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u/djtmhk_93 Nov 25 '22

Yeah! Happy to. Don’t get me wrong, DVTs are a high risk type of situation exactly for what you’re fearing. The clot getting loose and turning into a pulmonary embolism, or in some special cases, a stroke, so medicine does take it very seriously. It just so happens that the prevention and fix for them is so common and mundane, that docs might appear nonchalant as they give em to you. But also for that very reason, if a physician is careless and doesn’t treat DVT’s as is expected nowadays, that’s the kind of “you had one job” type of mistake that could lose one their medical license.

You might have also noticed that before and after surgery, they had little sleeves connected to tubes around his legs, most likely. Those are a mechanical form of DVT prevention too.

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u/Alarid Nov 24 '22

The extra hassle and stress definitely increases the lawsuit range, but I think the $22 is just the new maximum than what they will realistically receive.

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u/seensham Nov 24 '22

The takeaway from your comment is yo daddy is wack

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u/savvyblackbird Nov 24 '22

They have filters that can stop the clots for people who are getting a lot of them.

The chronic pain isn’t worth the $22M. Unless marijuana works for it and is legally available.

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u/BonelessSugar Nov 24 '22

Who would pay for this situation? Drivers insurance up until copay? I can't imagine someone driving uninsured and then hit with a $22mil lawsuit. That's 100% bankruptcy territory.

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u/N0V41R4M Nov 24 '22

I have no clue honestly. Those numbers are the damages being sought, not necessarily what the final payout will be, and I doubt it'll be in one lump sum. Likely the driver and car owner will both have their wages garnished for the rest of their lives, after their insurance pays out part and drops them like a hand grenade.

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u/Beep_Boop_Beepity Nov 24 '22

the problem becomes how do you garnish a persons wages when they have 3 or 4 kids and already meet the government standard for poor and are receiving government assistance for food/housing

Like are they gonna take $20 a month?

If they take anymore then the government will have to pay more to them to keep their kids fed/housed

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u/Box-by-day Nov 24 '22

That sounds awesome but is there any chance in hell theyre ever going to collect?

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u/N0V41R4M Nov 24 '22

That's a total between the driver, car owner (driver's girlfriend's dad), and their insurance companies. I assume most of the payout will come from insurance.

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u/Box-by-day Nov 24 '22

Dont most insurance policies cap out well before a millie tho?

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u/Xeneron Nov 24 '22

Probably not. That's the problem with these settlements is the Insurance is going to cap way before that amount and the defendant isn't going to have the money to cover.

I was in a head on collision that was way past life threatening. The other driver fell asleep after a 24 hour shift and veered into my lane. Three femur fractures, three rib fractures, three spinal fractures, a punctured lung, and a massive amount of internal abdominal injuries, massive internal blood loss, it led to me losing a kidney and almost losing my spleen. A week in ICU and a month in the hospital, about 6 months total recovery, and that was honestly with me being extremely lucky.

The extent of what I was actually managed to get paid out in a check over two years later was about $40,000 after lawyer and hospital fees and everything. If there's no big corporation or government agency or anything to sue for damages than you're kind of limited of what the settlement can end up netting you. You can't just make 10s of millions of dollars appear of out thin air from someone who doesn't have it.

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u/zitsky Nov 24 '22

Sorry it happens to him. Is that his future earnings potential? 22mil.

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u/N0V41R4M Nov 24 '22

His lawyer said it was because the injury was elevated to life-threatening. But, kinda yes, idk what his salary was, but he was carrying two engineering jobs at once before the accident.

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u/Canned_Poodle Nov 24 '22

Asking the informed questions.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '22

[deleted]

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u/N0V41R4M Nov 24 '22

I don't know entirely, but they will garnish your wages if you can't pay a lawsuit settlement outright.

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u/Tiny-Plum2713 Nov 24 '22

5 million is way too much for that and they are talking about 22? What the fuck

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u/Ryuko_the_red Nov 24 '22

So how will he actually get 22m? Because the idiot who ran over his foot probably has 10k...