Many different scenarios might lead to injury. Sometimes, injury is accidental and unavoidable. Other times, negligent parties make poor choices or nefarious types may even intentionally cause harm to another person. Some individuals might suffer an injury after slipping and falling at their local grocery store; others might be involved in a car accident on the way to work. Employees, especially those with dangerous professions, risk injury each time they go to work, and motorcyclists and pedestrians can be struck by other drivers and suffer severe injuries or even die.
A severe injury can be a traumatic event that has the potential to change a victim’s life. In addition to the physical pain of injury, victims and their families face added emotional stress and financial pressure. After an injury, some victims cannot return to their jobs, losing income just as bills for medical treatment start to roll in. The fact that another party caused the injury with their negligent actions (or intentional harm) compounds the trauma.
Fortunately, Kentucky law allows individuals injured in such circumstances to seek compensation for damages related to their injuries by bringing a lawsuit against the party who caused the harm. If you’ve been injured, money won’t erase the physical pain you’ve gone through, but it can help ease some of the financial pressure and stress that you’re likely experiencing in the wake of your injury.
Personal Injury Cases Handled by Flora Templeton Stuart
The experienced legal team at Flora Templeton Stuart Accident Injury Lawyers is qualified to handle all types of personal injury cases. However, we do handle some types of cases more frequently than others. Below are some of the most common practice areas in which we advocate for injured clients:
Car Accidents
According to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s most recent data, approximately 160,000 traffic accidents occur on Kentucky’s roads and highways each year. Many of these accidents only lead to property damage, but tens of thousands lead to injury and hundreds to death.
Car accidents occur for many reasons, but most are preventable. Negligent drivers who don’t follow traffic laws, drive under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, and succumb to common driving distractions put others with whom they share the road at risk. Drowsy driving can also cause a driver to nod off or fall asleep at the wheel, potentially leading to a treacherous car accident. Our firm helps car accident injury victims hold negligent drivers accountable and get the compensation that they deserve.
Contact our experienced Kentucky car accident lawyers for a free case review.
Semi Truck Accidents
A fully-loaded semi-truck weighs up to 80,000 pounds, causing massive amounts of property damage and injuries if it collides with another vehicle. More than 10,000 trucks were involved in crashes on Kentucky roads in one recent year, which included about 1,600 crashes resulting in injuries and more than 100 fatal collisions. Almost 40 percent of truck accidents in Kentucky resulted from inattentive driving, and in 30 percent of crashes, drivers didn’t have adequate control of their trucks.
When negligent truck drivers cause accidents, they often walk away while those in the other vehicles suffer life-threatening injuries. The weight of a semi-truck causes a forceful impact, which typically results in far more serious injuries than a collision between two cars. Additionally, truck accidents or bus accidents are more likely to lead to death than other motor vehicle collisions.
If you’ve recently been involved in a semi-truck accident, it’s crucial to have an experienced Kentucky truck accident lawyer by your side.
Motorcycle Accidents
Several hundred motorcycle collisions occur on Kentucky roads and highways each year. Bikers, especially those who have been riding for a long time, are typically safe riders who know how to drive defensively. Many motorists don’t pay close enough attention to motorcycles on the road, which sometimes leads to serious accidents. Even the safest drivers don’t always check their blind spots and look for motorcycles in their mirrors.
Negligent drivers who get behind the wheel without enough rest or after they have been drinking alcohol put other drivers at risk for dangerous crashes. Bikers aren’t afforded the same protection as those who are riding in cars, so these types of traffic accidents are often treacherous. When another vehicle strikes a motorcycle, bikers are at risk for catastrophic injuries, such as brain injuries and spinal cord injuries.
Bikers in traffic accidents are also at risk for road rash, which can leave permanent scars. Flora Templeton Stuart, a Kentucky motorcycle accident lawyer, assists bikers in holding negligent drivers responsible for causing motorcycle accidents.
Bicycle Accidents
Cyclists injured in collisions with motor vehicles in and around Kentucky often sustain severe, life-threatening injuries. After all, unlike motorists, cyclists have almost nothing protecting their bodies from the impact of a crash. Collisions typically knock riders from their bicycles, making them vulnerable to violent impacts with the road surface, other vehicles, or roadside objects. The consequences can be physically, emotionally, and financially catastrophic.
Kentucky has escaped the ultimate tragedy of cycling accidents two years in a row. However, the unfortunate reality is that collisions between bicycles and motor vehicles often end in fatality. With the exception of a helmet (which a cyclist should always wear), cyclists are greatly unprotected. The lack of protection leaves riders vulnerable to a violent impact with a road surface, vehicle, or roadside object.
Victims deserve compensation after a bicycle traffic accident causes catastrophic injuries and their families deserve recompense after a tragic loss of life. For decades, Flora Templeton Stuart and her team have fought to make sure that injured Kentuckians are fully compensated for the damages they sustained.
Dog Bites
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, around 38% of US households are estimated to have one or more dogs, with a total of almost 90 million dogs in the United States.
Kentucky operates under “strict liability” laws when it comes to dog bites. This means that the owner of a dog is responsible when their animal injures a person. Negligence on behalf of the owner does not have to be proven by the victim. Even when reasonable care is taken by the owner or if the dog has no history of aggression, the dog’s owner is still liable.
However, when it comes to obtaining a financial award, Kentucky’s law of comparative negligence will still apply. Under this principle, the damages the owner owes will be reduced by the victim’s percentage of fault. At Flora Templeton Stuart Accident Injury Lawyers, we work with our clients who’ve suffered dog bite injuries to get them. maximum settlement.
Child Injuries
Children will get hurt; it’s just a fact of life. A lack of experience encourages children to take risks adults would never dream of taking. Children fail to perceive dangers that any adult would see. The curiosity and fearlessness of childhood, while beautiful, increases children’s risk of injury. Adults have a special responsibility to protect children. Obviously, they must protect them from the dangers of our environment, but also from the naïve decisions children make every day.
Unfortunately, adults are not always able to supervise or impact their children’s daily decision-making. Consequently, foreseeable and preventable accidents cause children serious injuries. Children commonly endure many more injuries than adults, and as any parent knows, children have an innate talent for finding danger. What parent hasn’t asked, “how on earth did that happen?” We cannot anticipate every conceivable way a child can sustain an injury. However, we can take steps to hold adults and companies accountable when their actions put children in harm’s way. At Flora Templeton Stuart, we work to get children the essential care they need to get better, and work to set up annuities set children up for the future.
Pedestrian Accidents
Kentucky’s small towns and large cities are full of pedestrians. Some might be taking a leisurely walk or run, and others walking to or from work or school. Pedestrians don’t have protection when inattentive or reckless drivers strike them in a crosswalk or on the side of the road. This leads to severe, sometimes fatal, injuries.
If a pedestrian strikes his or her head on the pavement, a traumatic brain injury can occur, leaving the victim to cope with lifelong difficulties. Pedestrians might also experience multiple fractures, back injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other potentially catastrophic and life-altering injuries.
In severe cases, pedestrians can suffer some of the most costly injuries, easily exceeding any health insurance policy, especially if victims have injuries that require amputation or confine them to a wheelchair. Victims need to consult with a Kentucky pedestrian injury attorney to seek compensation for damages to ensure that they have the money they need (and will need in the future) for medical expenses.
Premises Liability Accidents
Kentucky property owners have a legal duty to maintain a safe environment for visitors. This means that they must warn visitors of hazards on their properties and fix any known issues to prevent accidents from occurring. Visitors can suffer severe injuries when property owners don’t comply with the law.
Slip and fall accidents are the most common premises liability accidents that lead to injury. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 20 percent of all slip and fall accidents result in serious injuries, such as broken bones and head traumas. Slip and fall accidents might occur in old and unkempt buildings with loose steps and flooring or when a business fails to clean up a wet or dry spill. Uncleared ice and snow can also lead to serious slip and fall accidents.
Other types of premises liability accidents include swimming pool accidents, theme park accidents, horseback riding accidents, and elevator accidents.
Nursing Home Abuse
In 2019, there were a reported 4,594 violations or deficiencies in Kentucky Nursing Homes. It is important for all nursing home residents and their loved ones to know how to protect their legal rights and how a Kentucky nursing home abuse lawyer can help them recover.
All too often, victims do not report nursing home abuse or neglect for fear of retaliation. Many times, a loved one must act on behalf of an elderly nursing home resident to demand change and accountability.
If your instincts tell you that your loved one may be the victim of nursing home neglect or abuse, don’t dismiss them, and don’t accept the nursing home’s explanation that a condition was unavoidable. Contact Kentucky nursing home abuse attorney Flora Templeton Stuart for a free case evaluation.
Workplace Injuries
Most employees spend a third or more of each day at their jobs, making it highly likely that they will suffer some kind of injury at work during their lives. Many workplace injuries are minor and might only require missing a day or two of work for recovery.
Others who get injured on the job aren’t as fortunate. Severe injuries in the workplace can be monumental life events that devastate victims and their families. Work environments vary greatly, but some examples of scenarios that might cause a workplace injury include exposure to dangerous substances, equipment failure, and falling tools or objects.
Even when employees work in obviously hazardous positions, they are still entitled to workers’ compensation if they’re injured on the job. Workers’ compensation doesn’t cover all lost wages, and injuries can still leave employees with a pile of medical bills. In these cases, a Kentucky worker’s compensation attorney can help navigate the claims process and possibly seek damages from a third party.
Wrongful Death
If you lost a loved one as a result of life-threatening injuries from any of the previously listed types of accidents or injuries, Kentucky law generally allows you to seek compensation for damages related to your loss from the at-fault party. A personal representative of the estate of the decedent must bring the suit. Any settlement or court-awarded damages are distributed to eligible surviving family members in accordance with Kentucky law.
If you are an eligible family member, you may receive compensation for unpaid medical expenses and lost wages until the time of death, pain and suffering until the time of death, loss of consortium with a spouse, funeral expenses, and burial or cremation costs. Parents who lose a minor child can also receive compensation for their losses.
Each wrongful death case is different, so consult with an experienced wrongful death attorney in Kentucky as soon as possible to determine the right course of action for you and your family.
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