The Car Accident

The one type of car accident our law office handles that causes the most severe injuries is the head-on collision. That is the type of crash that occurred in this case. On a nice and otherwise normal June evening in 2020, our client, a woman in her 60s, finished her day at work and went right home to Framingham, Massachusetts.  While she was getting dinner ready for herself and her husband, she discovered that she needed some things from the grocery store. So, she got in her car and went to the store. 

On her way back home, driving on the street she lives on, another car was driving in the opposite direction. Unexpectedly, the other distracted driver crossed over the double yellow line at nearly twice the speed limit and struck our client’s vehicle head on.

The car crash was so severe that our client was unable to recall anything beyond seeing the other car coming head on. The noise from the collision was so loud, neighbors came running out of their homes.  The police were called and responded immediately. The other driver, miraculously, was unharmed.  Our client, however, suffered serious injuries.  Her injures were so severe that she had to be transported by MedFlight to a Boston emergency department.

The local police officers who responded to the crash were very diligent in investigating and documenting the crash, including the skid marks and final positions of the vehicles and debris. It was indisputable that the other driver was 100% at fault for the crash.

Summary of Injuries

Our client suffered severe injuries in this crash. The most serious included displaced fractures of her pelvis bones, cervical vertebrae fractures, herniated discs in her cervical spine, a scalp laceration and a concussion.

Her fractured pelvis required a surgery called open reduction internal fixation (ORIF). She spent several weeks in the hospital due to the severity of her injuries and was then discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility for another few weeks. Fortunately, our client was then able to go home to her husband.

She spent the next few months working with therapists to rehabilitate her injuries. This was one tough client, and she made a great recovery, all things considered.

The Injury Claims Processes

Our office was hired soon after the accident because our client’s husband was under a lot of stress.  He was, obviously, extremely concerned for his wife and was being bombarded with phone calls from insurance companies and doctors.  He also began receiving medical bills in the mail and did not know how to handle them.

We acted right away and handled all of the insurance and medical bill matters so the husband could focus on being there for his wife at that difficult time. We filed a Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claim that addressed some of the medical bills due. Since our client’s injuries prevented her from returning to work, we were also able to obtain a substantial amount of the PIP benefits to cover a portion of her lost wages very soon after the accident.

We also filed a bodily injury claim with the other driver’s auto insurance carrier as well as put our client’s own auto insurance carrier on notice of a potential underinsured motorist claim. We discovered that the other driver had $100,000 in bodily injury limits, but otherwise did not have any other assets. We then strategically moved quickly to recovery the $100,000 and minimized the health insurance lien on the injury claim.

Fortunately, our client had the maximum underinsured motorist coverage as part of her own auto insurance policy. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage in Massachusetts provides additional insurance coverage for compensation of personal injuries and death from a motor vehicle accident caused by someone else's negligence and insufficient bodily injury insurance to fulfill the value of the claim. Presently, the maximum UIM coverage is $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident. Following thorough negotiations, our office was able to recover the maximum $150,000 from our client’s underinsured motorist coverage. The recovery of $150,000 from the UIM policy was due to the offset of the $100,000 recovered from the other driver’s bodily injury policy.

Our team here at Mahaney & Pappas, LLP focused great efforts in thoroughly and promptly obtaining maximum compensation for our client while strategically avoiding any significant reductions in the compensation.  Please know that if you have any questions regarding a motor vehicle accident in Massachusetts or an injury claim, you may contact us for answers. We are always here to help.

$250,000.00

Joseph M. Mahaney
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Injury lawyer serving car, truck, and motorcycle accident victims in Webster and Framingham, Massachusetts.