QuestionMy daughter, her friend and I were involved in a hit and run accident while driving on a road trip vacation from WA to CA on my daughter's 15 birthday, in July. We observed the other party swerving in front of us for several miles before they pulled over to the side of the road. As we attempted to pass, the other party attempted to make a U turn across a 4 lane road and hit us on the front passenger side of our rental car. We were all taken to the hospital by ambulance that was about 45 minutes away and later learned that the other party fled the scene and was picked up by her mother. The friend and I were examined and released but my daughter seemed to be fine. We were stranded in Oregon for almost 2 days but continued on our vacation after that.
Due to ongoing back and neck pain, my daughter and I sought chiropractic treatment in November and I expect us to be released from treatment very soon. Our friend has not sought any additional treatment.
We have since learned that the hit and run driver was arrested and convicted of DUI and Failure to Take Care by leaving an accident scene with injured people. She did not have insurance or a license so this is all falling on my insurance.
Currently, our medical bills are being paid under my $10000 PIP (my medical bills are about 7700 now and daughter is about 3500 now), the rental car was a total loss of $13000 and I have been told that everything else will be paid under my 25/50/25 UIM.
As a single mother, I can't afford to miss time from work so that has been very minimal. I had a previous back and knee surgery which have been aggravated as a result of this accident.
It was a blessing that we weren't hurt more seriously but the emotional rollercoaster has been rough. We have had bad dreams and have pretty severe anxiety when it comes to driving under similar conditions(road trips used to be our fav form of vacation). I hope that I haven't rambled on too much but here are my questions: Since we live in WA but the accident happened in OR which will dictate the outcome? Since the friend hasn't sought treatment, how do we determine the extent of her injuries? How do we determine the pain and suffering?
Thank you for your time.
AnswerThe location of the accident is the venue, so Oregon is the venue where a lawsuit would be tried if necessary. In determining the value, you would look to Oregon for similar cases. But the Washington policy coverages apply, unless there is some law in Oregon that over-rules this. (I am not familiar with the law in either state).
The value of an injury claim is very subjective. The insurer will try to estimate what a judge or jury would award if the case went to trial and they will then create a settlement range. Their offers will start at the low end of this range and then increase as negotiations proceed.
There are a couple problems with your case. It sounds like there was a large gap in medical treatment between July and Nov. And you were able to proceed with your vacation. So they will question the severity of your injury. The prior back surgery is also relevant, but they must take you as you were when the loss occurred, meaning aggravation of a prior condition counts. But a jury will often give less weight to an aggravated prior injury than a brand new one. Finally, chiropractic care is given less credibility than medical care by most juries. The $7700 in medical bills sounds a bit high to me. There are chiropracters who specialize in auto accidents and run "mill" operations that do not garner much respect. I don't know if this applies to your chiro.
The insurer will look at your med bills and determine if any seems unnecessary or overpriced. They will then determine an amount they believe a jury would accept for medical bills and pain/suffering/inconvenience. In this case, I'd say about $2000 each for pain/suffering sounds reasonable, plus necessary medical bills. But this also depends on the types of awards that are given in this part of Oregon, which may differ.
