Colorado Trial Practice Blog : Colorado Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Mac Hester : Personal Injury, Auto Accident, Medical Malpractice : Serving Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora

42-4-1412. Operation of bicycles and other human-powered vehicles.

(1) Every person riding a bicycle shall have all of the rights and duties applicable to the driver of any other vehicle under this article, except as to special regulations in this article and except as to those provisions which by their nature can have no application. Said riders shall comply with the rules set forth in this section and section 42-4-221, and, when using streets and highways within incorporated cities and towns, shall be subject to local ordinances regulating the operation of bicycles as provided in section 42-4-111.

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Automobile drivers don't pay much attention to bicyclists and the result can be devastating to the bicyclist, as bicycles and helmets provide very limited protection against injury in an automobile/bicycle accident.

There are many ways that bicyclists get whacked by inattentive or rude motorists, including:

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Q.  What is a wrongful death action?

A.  A wrongful death action is a lawsuit for damages filed by the spouse (not ex-spouse) and/or heirs of a deceased adult or by the parent(s) of a deceased unmarried adult who had no children or by the parent(s) of a deceased unmarried minor who had no children against the person or entity that wrongfully killed the deceased.

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Q.  If I am injured while skiing or at a ski resort, can I recover for my injuries and damages?

A.  Yes, depending upon the situation. You cannot recover if you are injured as a result of an "inherent risk" of skiing. An example of an inherent risk of skiing is that skis will slide on snow and you could lose your balance and fall down and get hurt. On the other hand, a skiier slamming into your back is not, by the express terms of the Colorado Ski Safety Act, an inherent risk of skiing - otherwise, skier collisions could arguably be considered an inherent risk of skiing.

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Automobile collisions, falls, and other traumatic events can cause injury to the spine. Injury can be caused by blunt force trauma (e.g., parts of the body striking the interior of the car) and/or by abnormal movement of the spine caused by collision forces. The spine is referred to in three segments: cervical (neck); lumbar (low back); and thoracic (between the cervical and lumbar).

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Q.  I didn't hit my head on anything inside the car. Can I have a brain injury?

A.  Yes. A car collision or any other traumatic event that causes rapid movement of the head can cause your brain to slam into the interior wall of your skull causing bruising and/or bleeding and/or swelling. Also, the brain is held in place by bony ridges on the interior of your skull. Sudden movement against these bony ridges can cause micro abrasions and tears. And, because the brain sits atop the brain stem, sudden movement can cause the brain to rotate on the brain stem causing injury.

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An automobile collision with a semi-truck and trailer, even at low speed, generates many times the injury producing forces that are generated in a similar car to car crash - because of the much greater mass (weight) of the semi-truck/trailer (Physics geeks: See Newton's Laws of Motion - especially the 2nd Law). The collision may not have caused signigicant visible damage to the car, but there is often damage under the surface: a bent frame or bent or broken bumper supports. The collision forces that are not absorbed by the vehicle are transferred to the vehicle occupant - who is instantly propelled by the force of the collision until stopped by the seat belt or interior of the car. This instant acceleration/deceleration of the body can, and usually does, cause injury - because the crash forces cause parts of the body, usually the spine, and especially the cervical spine (neck), to move in abnormal ways and beyond the usual ranges of movement.

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Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas usually produced by combustion (the burning of fuel; e.g., gasoline, natural gas, oil, wood).

The most common sources of carbon monoxide are motor vehicles, furnaces, water heaters, fireplaces, woodstoves and various internal combustion engines.

Carbon monoxide is dangerous when inhaled because carbon monoxide molecules bond with hemoglobin in the blood over 200 times more easily than oxygen molecules. Oxygen is vital to proper functioning of the major organs and muscles of the body. When carbon monoxide replaces oxygen in the blood, the body is deprived of oxygen. Oxygen deprivation can cause alteration or loss of consciousness, organ damage, brain damage, coma and death.

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 My Triumph Bonneville T100

Fort Collins Colorado Motorcyle Accident Injury Lawyer Mac Hester

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In a rear end auto collision case, the Defendant is presumed by law to be at fault. The Defendant can overcome that presumption by proving, for example, that the Plaintiff slammed on the brakes and the Defendant couldn't stop in time.

However, in the case where the Plaintff was at a complete stop and the Defendant rear-ended the Plaintiff, the Defendant will not be able to overcome the presumption of liability. Nevertheless, Defendants rarely admit liability in litigation. They, or rather their attorneys - puppets of the insurance company, file an Answer admitting that the front of the Defendant's car struck the rear of the Plaintiff's car but they deny that the Defendant was at fault. After a year or more of litigation the case goes to trial. The Defendant has denied liability the entire way. Then, on the first day of trial the Defendant admits liability, says he's sorry, and says that he will be happy to pay what's reasonable.

The judge will not allow the Plaintiff to tell the jury that the Defendant has been denying liability from the start all the way to trial.

Q. Why would the Defendant deny liability all the way to trial and then admit liability?

A. (1) To punish the Plaintiff for filing a lawsuit by causing the Plaintiff to incur litigation expenses, delay, and frustration (Remember, the insurance company is paying for the attorney and litigation expenses, not the Defendant); (2) To teach the Plaintiff's attorney a lesson (If you file lawsuits you will be punished); (3) To advance the insurance industry agenda of punishing and preventing people from trying to recover for their injuries and damages; and (4) so that when the case goes to trial they can portrary the Plaintiff as greedy and the Defendant as magnanimous - admitting fault and being willing to pay a fair amount of damages (hoping of course that the jury is going to punish the Plaintiff by awarding little or no money damages - or at least not enought to have made the litigation economically productive).

Fort Collins Colorado Auto Accident Attorney Mac Hester

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The Defendant has insurance and his or her insurance company is paying for the defense attorney and all litigation expenses.

The Defendant is not going to have to pay the verdict out of his or her own pocket.

The Defendant's insurance company will pay the verdict up to the amount of the Defendant's insurance coverage.

If the verdict exceeds the insurance coverage, then it is possible - but still unlikely - that the Defendant will have to pay some of the verdict out of his or her own pocket. It is unlikely because the insurance company will often pay the entire verdict to avoid being sued by its own insured (Defendant) for failing to settle the case for an amount equal to or less than the insurance coverage. That lawsuit by the insured against his own insurance company is called "Bad Faith Failure to Settle."

If the Plaintiff loses (verdict for the Defendant) then the Plaintiff gets nothing and is responsible for paying his or her own litigation expenses - which, in an average auto collision injury case, will be in the range of $20,000 to $40,000. AND, the Plaintiff will have to pay the litigation expenses of the Defendant - which may also be in the range of $20,000 to $40,000.

Fort Collins Auto Accident Lawyer Mac Hester 

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It sure would be neat if the State had a web page that listed all the statutes of limitations and notice provisions in one convenient list, but since it doesn't - at least to my knowledge - (and if I'm wrong about this then I'd love for somebody to direct me to it), I have decided to list some selected statutes of limitations and notice provisions subject, of course, to

CAVEATS AND WARNINGS: Do not rely upon this list. Consult a Colorado attorney. There are way too many variables to determine the correct statute or statutes of limitations and/or notice or notices that may apply to your claim or claims from this or any other list (I have seen far too many websites incorrectly list Colorado statutes of limitations because they didn't consider special  circumstances). And, you definitely should not rely upon my paraphrasing of the title of the statutes; you must read the actual language of the statutes - and oftentimes the interpretive cases (for example: There is almost no way possible to figure out the statute of limitations for underinsured motorist claims from my paraphrasing below; you must read the interpretative cases. Even then, it's still confusing.).

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Most people don't know what a lawsuit looks like, and that may be a good thing. But for those curious to see what a lawsuit (the complaint)  actually looks like,  I decided to post an example here. It's a simple auto accident injury form complaint for Colorado District Court (The caption in this example form is different from an actual complaint caption; it has been simplified). Of course, this is just an illustrative  form and should not be used "as is" in any particular case. This complaint involves one Plaintiff and only two Defendants and only three claims for relief, so it's pretty simple. But don't let the simplicity fool you, seemingly simple cases can involve complex legal considerations that are not necessarily visible in the complaint. An attorney should still be retained to draft a complaint specifically tailored to the individual case.

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Med-Pay insurance pays for medical expenses incurred as a result of auto accidents. Your Med-Pay insurance covers the driver and passengers in your covered vehicle but does not cover the occupants of the at fault driver’s vehicle. Med-Pay coverage is essential if you do not have health insurance. Med-Pay is highly beneficial even if you do have health insurance, as Med pay covers medical expenses that are often not covered by health insurance and also may be used to pay health insurance co-pays and deductibles.

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An oft stated maxim in litigation is, “Relevance for purposes of discovery (e.g., interrogatories, requests for production) is different from relevance regarding admissibility of evidence at trial.” And sometimes the proponent of that maxim also adds that the admissibility of the requested evidence is not a consideration in discovery. That is where the proponent would be wrong.

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Fort Collins Colorado Personal Injury Lawyer and Attorney Mac Hester offering representation in auto accident injury, automobile accident injury, car accident injury, truck accident injury, semi-truck accident injury, trailer accident injury, motorcycle accident injury, bicycle accident injury, bike accident injury, motor vehicle accident injury, uninsured motorist (UM) claims,  underinsured motorist (UIM) claims, traumatic brain injury, closed head injury, spine and spinal injury, whiplash injury, carbon monoxide injury and death, burn injury, ski injury, skier injury, recreational injury, dog bite injury, animal inflicted injury, and personal injury and wrongful death claims serving Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor, Wellington, Estes Park, Greeley, Boulder, Louisville, Longmont, Brighton, Thornton, Northglenn, Westminster, Aurora, Arvada, and Denver.

Ring & Associates, P.C. - Colorado Injury Lawyers

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