CAN A 5 MILE PER HOUR CAR ACCIDENT CAUSE INJURIES—YES

5 mile per hour car accident--UtahA major defense the insurance companies will use is that you couldn’t possible have been hurt in that 5 mile per hour car accident.

Yet, time after time, people are in my office complaining of physical injuries from an alleged low-speed car collision.  The chances of all my clients making these injuries up just for a settlement and aggravation seems odd and unlikely.

The Low Speed.  Low Impact Defense. Car Accident Insurance Defenses

 The defense tactics all amount to the following.

(A).  The plaintiff could not have been injured, the crash speed was only 5 mile per hour.  Therefore plaintiff has to be making this up.

(B).  The plaintiff could not have been injured, there was no property damage on their car or any cars involved. Therefore being injured is impossible.  Plaintiff is not credible.

The Vehicle Damage Is Not Relevant

Modern cars are designed to absorb low-speed impacts.  Low-speed collision property damage can be inexpensive to repair and shows up as only $600.   If you are asking for $25,000 on a smaller injury case but all the jury trial is anchoring to is a $600 fender replacement bill, this can be hard to overcome with the jury.

The defense attorneys will early and often display pictures of the cars where no damage has occurred or can be scene.  In jury questioning (called Void Dire) the topic of low speed will be addressed early.  If all that has fallen off the car was the license plate, the actual license plate will be sitting as an exhibit on defense counsel’s table in the courtroom.  You get the idea.

The Biomechanical Engineer Defense Testimony.Auto Accident Lawyer Jake Gunter

The biomechanical engineer that always seemed to previously work at NASA will testify in the following ways:

(1).  Sound extremely scientific and have discussed the exact weights of the vehicles from the manufacture.   Will made attempts at speed calculations based on subjective inputs.

(2).  Have a Ph. D. in some science, even though testifying in court about how people couldn’t possibly be injured is no science at all or professional field.

(3).  Talk about “g” and the impact of “delta V (velocity)” is like a cough, sneeze or slapping down in your favorite lazy chair at home.

MIST Car Accident Cases.

Sometimes your case can be labeled a MIST case.  Standing for Mild Impact Soft Tissue case.  The insurance carriers have different names for these cases, but are defended in the same manner.  Th essence of the defense is the low speed, limited property damage defense.

The Importance of Hiring a Utah Jury Trial Lawyer.

If you have a lower speed collision with less visible property damage your case will especially be devalued if you hire an injury who doesn’t know how, or will not take cases all the way to a jury trial.  Insurance companies know your lawyer.  If your attorney always settles, you will receive a lower settlement.  If your injury lawyer is willing to go to a jury trial, win or lose, your chances for a fair and adequate settlement just went up.

Utah Car Accident Attorney Jake Gunter has been trying lawsuits to juries for nearly 20 years.   He has won some and lost some, but is always able to litigate a car accident claim when needed to obtain fair compensation.  Call/TXT (801) 373-6345 for a free consultation.