Do I have any legal recourse after an auto accident if I was not seriously injured?
Question: Do I have any legal recourse in an auto accident if I was not injured? I am a truck driver involved in an accident in a company truck. The other driver admitted to being at fault along with two witnesses that stated it was his fault. He had minor injuries and was taken to the hospital. I had a stiff neck for a few days, but did not seek medical attention. I was laid off a week later. I had a clean driving record until this happened. Now I'm having a hard time getting driving jobs because of this accident. Do I have any legal recourse against the other driver from this accident?
Human Capital Wears Out
Too long; the higher the benefit award the longer the insurance industry will fight through the layers of appellate review available to challenge the result.
Hancock County, Iowa - I’ve been reading about these accidents and one guy has a blog dedicated to accidents where trailers become unhitched and crash into other cars, trucks or motorcycles. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one in Iowa, right up until this week, that is. It happened on December 5, 2011 at around 5:58 a.m. on Highway 18 about 2 miles west of Garner. A 2000 Peterbuilt semitruck pulling a trailer (driver shown on police report as being from Garner, Iowa – 38 years old) was westbound on Highway 18 when as the officer describes it, “VEHICLE 1 (THE SEMI ) WAS WESTBOUND ON HWY 18 WHEN ITS TRAILER BECAME DETACHED FROM THE TRACTOR THE TRAILER THEN SLID ACROSS THE CENTER LINE AND STRUCK THE EASTBOUND VEHICLE 2 HEAD ON.”
To answer that question let’s look at some of the recent accidental deaths while on the job.
Question: How do we get a personal injury settlement from the employer? My sister was hit by a truck while taking out the trash for a fast food restaurant. It was in their parking lot when the truck struck my sister, breaking her hip. Now it is a year later and we are trying to figure out what to expect and the kind of process.
I ran across several articles posted on the Insurance Journal’s website. One title was 
A recent article I read interested me from a professional standpoint towards workplace safety but I thought it missed a major point about litigation. This article of interest explores the dangers of being a farmer, but ignores the contribution of civil trial lawyers. With this I take exception.
Can you sue for bad faith failure to pay benefits while your workers' compensation case progresses through the Industrial Commission?
For today’s article we have several real life rollover accidents. The 
Here is a trial tip: The lawyer with an intersection collision case should get a copy of the video from the intersection traffic camera. Which means we have to learn where these cameras are located. As for clients who are in an intersection collision it’s better to get a lawyer onboard sooner rather than later. This is also a reason for the lawyers to get out to visit the accident scene. You just never know where a camera may be recording the events. The camera may be on a nearby building used as a security camera.
An Iowa man working in Massachusetts fell from a 500 foot tower and died. We’ve covered fall arrest protection gear previously and can’t stress enough the importance of knowing why workers need it as an essential tool in their tool chest. The question isn’t whether you can prevent a fall by tempting fate, the question is when you fall will the fall be arrested. It’s really that simple.
Rollover protection is what keeps the driver safe when the tractor rolls over usually when riding along an incline, such as a terrace or ditch. There are two parts of safety equipment that keeps a rider alive. The first is the ROPs and the second a seat belt being worn at the time of the rollover. None of us are safe without both. Here is a recent story where ROPs are important to maintaining a safe tractor driving/working experience.
Radio Iowa reported “
Before we get to today’s topic in Iowa workers’ compensation law let’s talk a little bit about a recent case that has a question being raised about fault or if being negligent prohibits the injured worker from recovering. The short answer is no, fault doesn’t preclude recovery under the workers’ compensation act. Being drunk at work can preclude recovery (or exclude it) but being negligent won’t stop you from being eligible for benefits.
A case mis-manager is a high-priced spy the workers’ compensation insurance programs hire to say they are there to help and all they do is twist the facts in order to persuade the doctor to release the employee so the employer’s can terminate an injured worker’s benefits. Some have fancy initials after their names and some don't. Now not all case managers are mis-managers, but most see their jobs as exactly that.
When 
The answer isn’t as simple as one may hope it would be; sometimes it's yes and sometimes no. It depends on several factors one of which is whether or not you were covered under workers’ compensation at the time of the injury and whether the accident occured within the scope of your employment. Also if not covered under workers’ compensation then do you have a short term disability policy that covers you? If neither of these apply then probably not unless the insurance company providing liability coverage sees some benefit in doing so. But don’t hold your breath waiting for insurance companies to pay because that would require some adjuster to grow a heart; an event not likely to occur before you starve to death. So cut down on your bills, get the spouse out of the house to work and plan ahead, because it's going to get a lot harder before the lawyer can settle your case. 
Iowa Workers’ Compensation Accidents of Interest
Once again I’m asked a question I find an interesting one about worker’s compensation. In this instance it has to do with a worker from California that welded for a living, now is older and having medical problems. It’s a difficult question to answer because at this point in the man’s life I’m not sure any legal solution will be adequate. Perhaps that is why this question needs to be considered; so that younger workers realize the dangers of breathing the fumes from your work as a welder.
Iowa takes great pride in calling itself a “right to work state”. That means simply you can’t be forced to join a union. Most people that call our office asking about their rights after an injury don't get the gist of really what that means. There are benefits and there are drawbacks to being a right to work state. I get that there are benefits to employers, but what I don’t get is why as an at-will state, workers don’t have more protections in the event of an injury or ill and have to miss work. That I clearly don’t get. I'm not saying pay them while off, but I am saying save their J-O-B.
We’ve all read the stories where someone says no-way to a would-be robber and gets on the news. The reaction is “Yeah chalk one up for the little guy! Horray!” But is it one for the little guy, the working stiff? Or could it be one way to get fired for violating company policy that says, just give the robber the dough and let's not place the corporate assets at risk.
This is a question I’m regularly requested to answer. The trouble is it can’t be answered. In fact the question indicates a clear misunderstanding of personal injury claims and the desire to avoid the process of law. The process of law isn't like removing a bandaid; it can't be quickly done. It's more like a splinter, requiring fine attention to detail, and yes it's going to hurt, but like removing a splinter, once it's out it's over with. Here is how I answered the question.
If you attend a work sponsored activity, like bowling, are you covered under workers' compensation if you get hurt? In this case the answer was no.
Since 2004 the American Postal Workers Union has been complaining to the PTB that while wind and hail don't stop the mail, electrical shock can. (PTB = Powers that be.) Their complaints about electrical hazards were falling on deaf ears so OSHA got involved about the bulk mail centers. These BMC's are no small operation. There are 350 bulk mail centers in the lower 48. And the size of each can be enormous.
Some would-be 
Today is one of those very busy days in the practice of law and nothing is really catching my attention to write about. It looks like a good day for a compilation of personal injury news. Let us see the various ways people are becoming injured or killed from accidents and other mishaps around the State of Iowa. Every so often on The Iowa Edict we will provide a mini compendium of current Iowa personal injury and property damage news of recent events. The idea is to provide a shorter version of available stories to personal injury lawyers, adjusters, those engaged in a law suit involving personal injury or workers’ compensation or those folks just plain interested in PI News. Or in some instances stuff we find curiously interesting. This is one of those days. 
An Iowa worker died at Eaton's shop in Belmond. Death in the workplace is never a good thing, but we need not condemned the employer; they simply need to heed this call to action. Here is the news story.
At the University of Iowa a staff person was injured when eight balloons exploded during transport. The worker filled what is reported as 
For my east coast friends who remain geographically challenged Missouri is a state, a part of the United States and just south, that’s down, of Iowa. Missouri is the “Show Me State” which once again Iowans are stuck showing them the errors of their ways. Missouri’s elected officials are picking on exotic dancers a-g-a-i-n. If Missourians are going to pick on exotic dancers then we may as well debate the merits of that age old tradition, the demolition derby. Boiled down to its essence, assuming there is an essence, the demolition derby is a contest that seeks to find several people dumb enough for a small cash prize, to climb into a car or truck and ram other contestants until you’re the last fool moving. Sounds a little like some marriages, but let’s leave that comparison for another day. In the derby the cash prize comes from a promoter who sells beer, pretzels, popcorn, hotdogs and maybe a t-shirt or two. Exotic dancers on the other hand are usually young woman dancing on a stage or in someone’s lap for tip money. The promoter is a bar owner who charges an entry fee and gets paid handsomely for selling inebriated patrons watered down drinks containing a small portion of alcohol. They aren’t selling t-shirts; in fact clothing is optional, well … at least it is for the dancers. 