It’s December 20, 2017. We are in the thick of the Holiday Season. Brian Goldfinger, on behalf of Goldfinger Injury Lawyers PC wants to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a Happy and Safe Holiday Season.
Brian Goldfinger would be lying if he told you that things slow down at Goldfinger Injury Lawyers PC around this time. That’s not a true statement.
We see a lot of insurers and defence lawyers alike looking to close their files. Our law firm also receives a lot of call and inquires through the holidays from prospective clients regarding serious car accident cases, slip and fall cases, motorcycle accidents and long term disability claims.
Just because the Courts close for a few days for the Holidays doesn’t mean that the world of personal injury law slows down. In fact, lots seems to happen for whatever reason one the Holidays. If Brian Goldfinger could give a good explanation as to why this happens, he would.
Brian Goldfinger and Goldfinger Injury Lawyers PC want to ensure that your holidays are pleasant and safe. It bears repeating that we share with you some safety tips for the holiday season to ensure that your family, friends and loved ones are not put in to harms way. So, without further a due, here are a few safety tips from Brian Goldfinger and Goldfinger Injury Lawyers PC:
- Winter Tires save lives! We can’t repeat this enough. Invest in a set of good winter tires. It could mean the difference between being involved in a fatal or catastrophic collision, or not. In fact, one of Brian Goldfinger’s cyclist lawyer colleagues mentioned that he changed his bike tires over the winter so that his winter biking would be safer. He simply could not bike properly in even minor slow, sleet or slush with his regular tires. The winter bike tires gripped better, and are designed to better activate in cold temperatures. The difference between the regular tires and the snow tires was remarkable. The same applies to snow tires for motor vehicles. If you haven’t looked in to getting winter tires, then it’s time you did. Take that advice to heart from a personal injury lawyer who knows, and who has seen seriously injured accident victims on account of poor winter road conditions. These sort of accidents could have been prevented had winter tires been applied to the vehicles involved in the car collision.
- Don’t drink and drive. We can’t repeat this enough. Our personal injury lawyers know that the holidays season is time for celebration and fun. But it’s important to celebrate responsibly and not drink and drive. Ride programs will be out in full force to make sure that our roads are safe, but there is only so much ground which they can cover. Ultimately, drink and driving is a conscious decision. The drinker makes the conscious decision to drink; often to excess. Then the drinker makes the decision to drive. Nobody is forcing that person to both drink, and then drive. It’s a deliberate act, with unintentional, but life altering and sometimes fatal consequences. Don’t become another statistic. Use a taxi or ride sharing service such as Uber or Lyft. Have a designated driver. The risks don’t outweigh the life altering consequences.
- Salt can be your friend! If you’re hosting a Holiday Party, it’s important and the right thing to do to salt your exterior steps and walkway. That way, your guests will have safe passage to your home, with less exposure to icy walking conditions. It’s around this time of year our personal injury lawyers see a lot of slip and fall claims on icy walkways or stairs. Nobody wants to get sued. The feeling isn’t a good one. But personal injury litigation happens when premises go unmaintained for snow, sleet, ice and slush. Ultimately, the property owner’s home insurance will account for the claim. But, it’s still an unfortunate set of circumstances when one of your party guests has to be taken away from the outside of your home in an ambulance with a fractured ankle because they slipped and fell on ice on account of a poorly maintained walkway. Don’t be that guy.
- Get proper winter boots! Winter boots help prevent slip and fall accidents. Think of them as snow tires for your shoes. Would a judge and jury deem high heels or running shoes to be appropriate footwear for icy and winter conditions? Probably not. What about if you slipped and fell while wearing proper winter boots? A Judge and Jury hearing that case would really find that the conditions were icy if, while wearing winter boots, you still slipped and fell. That would mean that the conditions must have been very icy such that the grips on the winter boots weren’t enough to prevent the slip and fall. Safety aside, winter boots are also pretty fashionable this time of year….
- Look over your social media privacy settings if you’re involved in a personal injury claim! This is the time for Holiday Parties and gatherings of many kinds. If you’re at such a party, it’s not unreasonable for a friend or family member to take a picture of you and then post it on to social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram). Once that pic goes up, it’s fair game for an insurer to use it against you in a personal injury or long term disability case. This can ruin, or damage an otherwise valid personal injury or long term disability case. Our advice is to shut down all social media accounts while litigation is on going. If you cannot live without your social media accounts, then reviewing those privacy settings around this time is always a good idea. Ensuring that you can’t get tagged or added to a photo, or that your wall on Facebook is set to private, or that your tweets are blocked and private is a good idea.
Goldfinger Injury Lawyers will be closed December 25 and 26, 2017, but re-opening December 27-29. We look forward to serving you as best we can. Happy and Safe Holidays!