Seattle Personal Injury Blog

You probably already think of your smartphone as an extension of yourself. After all, you carry it everywhere, and it is always present in your vehicle.

Innovators constantly come up with new apps for drivers. Now you can use one to help you weather a crash and another to collect data on your driving skills, information that is much sought after by your insurance company.

Your car accident in Seattle can leave you facing an inordinate amount of unplanned expenses. While you likely do not want to seem as though you are attempting to punish the driver responsible for your collision, circumstances may make it necessary for you to hold them legally liable. Yet what happens when you discover that the car they were driving was not there's, and that the reason they were not in their own vehicle is because their past conduct behind the wheel kept them from being licensed or carrying insurance. Your understanding may quickly turn to anger towards whoever entrusted them with their vehicle. 

The legal principle of negligent entrustment may allow you to extend liability for your accident to the party the loaned the driver their vehicle. Negligent entrustment is based on the assumption that those who loan their vehicles to other drivers should know whether those drivers are competent behind the wheel, and if there are reasons to believe that they are not, then the vehicle owners should not give them their vehicles. If they do so, they assume the responsibility for any accidents and/or damages the drivers cause. 

Part of the thrill that comes with riding your motorcycle in and around Seattle is the freedom that it provides. Traditional vehicles can often seem to restricting given the limitations that their size imposes. You, on the other hand, have the freedom to negotiate traffic in in a much easier manner. Yet exactly how far does that freedom extend? the topic of lane-splitting is often a controversial one. While the distance separating two vehicles traveling in adjacent lanes may offer you ample room to pass between them, what does the law say about it? 

Section 46.61.608(3) of the Revised Code of Washington clearly states that lane-splitting is in fact illegal. Indeed, the statutes goes on to say that you cannot overtake a vehicle that is traveling in your same lane. A common complaint heard from motorists involved in motorcycle accidents is that they could not the approaching motorcyclist before they struck them. Given the already limited perception that many motorists admit to having of motorcyclists traveling on the roads alongside them, attempting to lane-split can be seen as potentially adding more danger to an already risky situation. 

Motorcycle accidents have many causes, whether they happen because someone driving a passenger vehicle was ignoring the speed limit or a motorcyclist was struggling to operate their motorcycle properly due to inexperience. Fatigue plays a major role in traffic collisions, and the consequences of driver fatigue can be especially dangerous when it comes to motorcycle wrecks. Drivers who are tired may have difficulty noticing motorcyclists and they may collide with them after veering into oncoming traffic or failing to switch lanes properly. Sadly, this has led to the loss of many lives, and countless injuries.

As a motorcyclist, it can be difficult to tell when drivers are behaving erratically. Moreover, someone driving a truck or passenger vehicle may seem to be in control of their vehicle and driving responsibly, but they may be intoxicated or too tired to drive safely. Drivers who are suffering from fatigue pose a threat to everyone on the road, and they might cause an accident in many different ways. Whether they have a sleep disorder, did not sleep very well the night before because they were partying or have worked for too many hours, there are a variety of reasons why drivers may be fatigued.