Craig Murphy, “Las Vegas accident lawyer and injury trial attorney” here. Today I ask, why won’t people accept personal responsibility these days? I see it all the time. Someone crashes into a car and causes significant injuries and damages. Does the negligent driver accept responsibility for causing the crash? Most times no! They turn it over to their insurance company and the insurance adjuster refuses to even pay the medical expenses the injured person has had to pay. The insurance adjuster argues that the bills are too high or that there was too much treatment. How does the insurance adjuster know? The insurance adjuster was not in the crash. The insurance adjuster was not the person who was injured. The insurance adjuster does not know. It is just the insurance company’s way of not accepting personal responsibility for the injuries and damages caused.

As a result of the insurance company refusing to accept personal responsibility for the injury and damages, a lawsuit has to be filed. The lawsuit is turned over to an insurance defense attorney. The insurance defense attorney, an attorney hired and paid for by the insurance company, denies liability. Throughout the litigation, the insurance defense attorney refuses to admit the driver’s fault for causing the collision. At trial the insurance defense attorney acts as though the negligent driver is the victim because he or she has been sued. However, the negligent driver is not the victim. He or she was not injured. They hit the injured person from behind and caused injuries and damages. The negligent driver on the other hand was not injured because he or she was fully protected by the seat and airbags. It is the person who is hit from behind that has no protection. Yet the negligent driver refuses to accept personal responsibility for the harms and losses caused by his or her negligence.

We now see a situation where someone refuses to accept personal responsibility being played out in the national press. Actress Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 90 days in rehab for failing to comply with the orders of her parole imposed for DUI charges. Lindsay Lohan failed to comply with the terms and conditions of her parole. Instead of complying, Lindsay Lohan went to the French Riviera for a film festival. She claimed to lose her passport and could not attend a scheduled court hearing. Her alcohol monitoring bracelet went off on more than one occasion indicating further failures to comply with the terms and conditions of her parole. As a result, she was sentenced to 90 days in jail for her failure to comply.

Lindsay Lohan had every opportunity to comply with the terms and conditions of her parole. She chose not to comply. Yet does she accept personal responsibility for the DUI charges? Her behavior shows that she does not. Does she accept personal responsibility for her failure to comply with the terms and conditions of her parole? No. Today in the press her mother is quoted as saying that the sentence is too harsh. Her mother says that Lindsay Lohan did not receive fair justice. She says that Lindsay Lohan is scared to death of going to jail. That is a refusal to accept personal responsibility by Lindsay Lohan and her mother. There is a saying, “Do the crime, do the time.” Lindsay Lohan should have thought about the consequences of her actions or failure to act before she did it. She should have thought about the consequences of failing to comply with the terms and conditions of her parole. She should accept the penalty for her decision not to comply. Her mother should accept the fact that Lindsay Lohan’s choices are what caused the 90 day jail sentence. Lindsay Lohan and Lindsay Lohan alone is to blame.

The same should hold true in an automobile accident. The at fault driver should admit fault and accept his or her responsibility. Since that rarely happens, it is up to the jury to impose responsibility. In these hard economic times, it is a burden on many people to serve on a jury. The insurance companies know it. Yet they force many cases that should be settled into court and pretend that it is the injured person who is abusing the system. Unfortunately, the court rules forbid any mention of the fact that there is any insurance company involved. The court rules give the insurance defense lawyers a veil to hide behind. The court rules allow the insurance defense lawyer to hide behind the at fault driver and make it appear that he or she is going to have to pay any verdict that is rendered. In fact, the at fault driver does not have to pay anything. His or her insurance is responsible and it is his or her insurance company that has refused to settle the claim. As jurors, you must know that the injured person is the victim of the injury and the victim of an insurance company bent on taking advantage of the system. It is only the jury in such a case that can impose responsibility. That is why at Murphy & Murphy Law Offices, we only accept a limited number of legitimate, worthy cases. We anticipate that it may be necessary to take your case to court and try it before a jury. We will do that so that you can be compensated for your injuries and damages and so the jury can impose personal responsibility even if the insurance companies continue to refuse to accept it.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Auto Accidents, Impaired-Distracted Drivers, Motorcycle Crashes, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.