Car Accidents Blog Category

Who Could be at Fault for a Crash That Occurs When a Vehicle is Backing Up?

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers on January 20, 2022 in Car Accidents

There are many types of accidents that happen on our nation’s roads every year. However, you might be surprised at how many crashes occur while backing up. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates there are about 30,000 accidents per year that involve one or more vehicles backing up. You may be thinking this […]

Strategies for Avoiding Aggressive Driving While You are on the Road

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers on January 17, 2022 in Car Accidents

It may come as little surprise that aggressive driving is a factor in many serious or life-threatening crashes. Aggressive driving increases the risk of a crash because it puts the aggressive driver and others in dangerous situations. While there is no foolproof way to avoid all aggressive drivers, there are strategies for lowering your risk […]

How Accident Reconstruction Could Benefit Your Car Crash Claim

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers on December 30, 2021 in Car Accidents

Sometimes an attorney can validate a claim with a police report, pictures of the damaged vehicles and the victim’s medical records. In more complicated cases, an attorney may need to gather additional evidence to validate a claim. One example of when this may happen is if the claim could cost the insurance company a lot […]

When Should You Consider Hiring a Lawyer for Your Car Accident Claim?

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers on December 21, 2021 in Car Accidents

Many times, car crash victims are unsure if they need a lawyer to help them pursue compensation. They may think their injuries are not that severe or it cannot be that hard to recover compensation. In Pennsylvania, crash victims deal with their own insurance companies, not the at-fault driver’s insurer. This may give victims a […]

Can a Private Property Owner be Held Liable for a Car Crash?

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers on December 03, 2021 in Car Accidents

Many car crashes happen on public roads, like interstates and highways, but a significant number happen on private property as well. Some examples of car accidents that occur on private property include parking lot crashes that happen outside of shopping malls, hotels and restaurants. While many car crashes are the result of negligent driving, property […]

What if You Get Injured in a Crash While Driving with an Expired License?

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers on November 30, 2021 in Car Accidents

It is illegal to operate a motor vehicle in Pennsylvania or any other state with an expired driver’s license. If you get injured in an accident, you may be unsure about your options for seeking compensation and have a variety of questions about what to do. The experienced attorneys at Schmidt Kramer are here to […]

How Dash Camera Footage Could Impact a Car Crash Claim

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers on November 29, 2021 in Car Accidents

Sometimes the police report, statements from those involved and medical records are enough to establish fault for a crash. However, sometimes victims need more evidence, particularly when the insurance company attempts to deny or underpay the claim. In these situations, footage from a dashboard camera could be a big help. Our experienced Harrisburg-based vehicle accident attorneys discuss […]

Can You Recover More Than Your Car Insurance Policy Limits?

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers on November 19, 2021 in Car Accidents

Car crashes can be incredibly dangerous, resulting in life-changing injuries for those involved. If this happens to you, the personal injury protection (PIP) coverage in your car insurance may be worth far less than the value of all your damages. The question becomes: what do you do? You do not want to try to pay […]

Challenges of Linking Back Pain to a Car Crash Injury

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers on November 17, 2021 in Car Accidents

Car crash victims often suffer back injuries ranging from sprains and strains to herniated discs, fractured vertebrae and paralysis. When an injury shows up on an X-ray, it is usually pretty easy to link to the crash. However, what if it is a soft-tissue injury and not visible on an imaging test? Even though Pennsylvania […]

Pennsylvania Ranked Fifth-Most Dangerous State for Winter Driving

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyers on November 09, 2021 in Car Accidents

Driving in snowy or icy conditions can be incredibly dangerous, as nearly 40 percent of weather-related crashes happen in these conditions. Unfortunately, more than 70 percent of U.S. roads are in areas that see more than five inches of snow each year. That may be one of the reasons why 100,000 people get injured and […]

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Recent Results

$10,043,952.13 Personal Injury

Schmidt Kramer, P.C.partner Gerard C. Kramer won a personal injury action for $10,043,952.13 in Northumberland County on behalf of a volunteer firefighter who was the victim of Intentional Tort. The 50-year-old volunteer firefighter was seriously injured when a barn collapsed, causing a spinal injury which left him a paraplegic. The claim was brought against the arsonist who intentionally started the fire. It is believed that the verdict is the highest ever in Northumberland County.

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$4,034,000.00 Personal Injury

Yesterday a Judge in Union County (Lewisburg, PA) awarded a couple from New Berlin, Pennsylvania, over $4,000,000 because the husband was shot while turkey hunting. You might ask yourself, how does a turkey hunting accident end up with that type of verdict? In order to understand the verdict you would have to know our clients. They are good people who had their life wrecked. Plus, you would have to know the defendant, who should not have been hunting with a gun because he was prohibited after a previous criminal conviction. It is a good verdict, because the Judge was able to do two things with his decision. First, he communicated to two very good people that their losses were something that those of us on the outside could appreciate and value. Mike Hobbins (our client) is a 51 year old guy who lost his sight because a convicted felon --who should not have even possessed a gun-- went hunting illegally, and broke with impunity the most fundamental rule in hunting: identify your target before you pull the trigger. The Judge accepted the financial loss Mr. Hobbins' suffered, but listened closely to the evidence of less tangible losses. When Mike broke down on the stand, because his daughter would end up walking him down the aisle at her wedding, as opposed to how it was supposed to go, the Judge was listening. When Mike could not keep it together, because of how emasculating it was for him not to be able to provide financially for his family, the Judge was listening. It was facts like these that the Judge cited to support the $2,000,000 award for non-economic damages. Second, the Judge wanted to send a message. Union County is a hunting county. Many of the residents hunt there, and people from outside the area come to Union County to hunt. It was my impression, from the Judge's statements as he rendered his decision, that he wanted to send a message to the people in Union County to protect them in their sport. The rules in place to restrict people convicted of crimes not to have a gun are not to be broken. Hunting is serious and you have to identify your target before you shoot. When you turn your back on the rules that are set to provide safety in a sport, you risk being an example. Here, the $1,000,000 punitive damage award sends that message loud and clear. When it really comes down to brass tacks, the right action was taken against a Defendant who may never truly appreciate what kind of impact his reckless choices caused. At Schmidt Kramer, we are injury lawyers. That means we work with people who were hurt in car accidents, who were hurt by the neglect of nursing homes, or those that were seriously injured because of the reckless, thoughtless acts of others. If you or a loved one have been injured in Pennsylvania, we may be able to help. While the verdict yesterday is not one that is representative of every case we do, it does show that serious and dedicated representation can bring good results. Joe Chapman January 18, 2013

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$2,200,000.00 Auto Accidents

On Monday, January 6, 2014, Schmidt Kramer accident lawyer Scott Cooper obtained a verdict on behalf of his client who is the widow of a man who died in a fiery crash on Interstate 78 in Lebanon County. The awarded verdict of $2.2 million was in a nonjury proceeding before a federal judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. That verdict includes $100,000 in punitive damages assessed against the owner of the trucking company. Kamilah Claxton won summary judgment in November after the defendants, Sukhwinder Singh and the trucking company for which he worked, failed to file a brief in opposition to Claxton's motion, which was made in September. The verdict in Claxton v. Singh was issued after the court held a non-jury assessment of damages earlier this month. "Mr. Sukhchan Singh, the employer, is liable on the basis of respondent superior, but was also grossly negligent in failing to maintain his vehicle in compliance with state and federal law, particularly with regard to having required safety inspections and correcting defects in its braking equipment," said U.S. District Judge William W. Caldwell of the Middle District of Pennsylvania in his opinion accompanying the verdict. "He was also grossly negligent in entrusting his vehicle to Sukhwinder Singh, an inexperienced truck driver who had failed the written test and driving test multiple times before finally earning his commercial driving license," Caldwell said.

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$1,200,000.00 Personal Injury

A Dauphin County jury has awarded a $1.2 million verdict to the parents of a 5-year-old who had an anoxic brain injury and stopped breathing after he had a tonsillectomy. 2012-06-26 10:00:00 AM Date of Verdict: June 19. 2012 Court and Case No.: C.P. Dauphin County No. 2009-CV-14003-MM Judge: Scott Evans Type of Action: Medical malpractice Injuries: Anoxic brain injury Plaintiffs Counsel: Terry S. Hyman, Schmidt Kramer, Harrisburg Plaintiffs Experts: Dr. Anna H. Messner, liability; Lucille Packer, Pediatric Otolaryngology, Palo Alto, Calif.; Terry P. Leslie, vocations and earning capacity, Lancaster; Dr. Hilary B. Berlin, pediatric psychiatry, Great Neck, N.Y. Defense Counsel: Andrew H. Foulkrod, Darlene K. King, Foulkrod Ellis, Camp Hill, PA Defense Experts: James C. Reilly, Pediatric Otolaryngology, Wilmington, DE Comment: A Dauphin County jury has awarded a $1.2 million verdict to the parents of a 5-year-old who had an anoxic brain injury and stopped breathing after he had a tonsillectomy. The entire verdict came against Dr. Andrew M. Shapiro, the doctor who plaintiffs Reginald Graham and Tykeisha Metz alleged chose to have the boy monitored at a pediatric ward. The plaintiffs argued Shapiro failed to tell nurses caring for the baby about, and how to care for, the boy's enhanced risk for respiratory failure. The jury came back on June 19 and awarded Reginald Graham and Tykeisha Mets $500,000 in non-economic damages and $686,170 in loss of future earning capacity, according to the plaintiffs counsel. According to the statement, the baby's mother brought him to Shapiro because she was "'afraid that he might stop breathing during his sleep,'" the plaintiffs' pretrial statement said. Shapiro performed a sleep study and observed the baby's Apnea Hypopnea Index to be 43 — four times higher than what's considered severe. A tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy were performed. According to the plaintiffs, the baby's sleep study results put him at an increased risk for post-operative respiratory complications. Despite this, they argued in the statement, Shapiro ordered the pediatric nurses at the Harrisburg Hospital general pediatric ward to observe the boy as they would any other patients — about once every four hours. The pretrial statement said that one in four children who have an AHI in the 40s and oxygen desaturation below 80 have some type of respiratory problem. The younger the child, the greater the risk of a respiratory problem, the statement said. According to the statement, Shapiro took off the child's pulse oximeter, the finger-mounted device used to measure blood oxygen, and ordered a heart and respiratory rate monitor. The child was 11 months old at the time. The plaintiffs pled that the baby was last seen at 4 a.m. There was no record of his oxygen saturation for the next hour and 45 minutes. He stopped breathing a 6:40 a.m., and his brain was without oxygen long enough to cause demonstrable injury on an MRI. "Immediately prior to his surgery, [the child] was a normal child, who could say mama, eat finger foods, and was just on the verge of walking," the statement said. "After his code, [he] was like a newborn. He could not lift his head or sit up. He could not talk. He could not move." In his pretrial statement, Shapiro argued that he recognized the child's pre-operative sleep study showed he was driven to breath by decreased blood oxygen saturation, which he said was typical in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. He argued the American Academy of Otolaryngology dictates that admission to the intensive care unit is not the standard of care. In the statement, he said nurses did not observe signs of respiratory distress. No alarms sounded until the child arrested, the statement said. He said the baby likely arrested as a result of hypoglycemia and/or an acute aspiration, which he argued would not have been identified by blood oxygen saturation. — Ben Present, of the Law Weekly

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$1,024,040.80 Auto Accidents

Scott Cooper settled a wrongful death case on behalf of the widow of a police office who was killed in a car accident in the line of duty for $1,024,040.80. The claim against the other driver was amicably resolved before suit was filed for the entire available policy limits for the other driver. The case took place in Adams County, PA.

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Testimonials

Dennis Kergick helped me with my Workers' Compensation case. He was never intimidated by my employer and their unlawful tactics. He explained my options and how moving forward will affect me and my employment with my employer. He made himself available to answer any questions I had concerning my case, sometimes after regular business hours. Concerned about my wellbeing, Dennis followed up with me after surgeries and doctor visits and discussed prescribed plans of actions. Understanding just how important it is to have a steady income during such trying times, he kept the weekly benefits coming and on a regular basis. His personal level of compassion by itself made my recovery much easier. I can't imagine how difficult it would have been trying to navigate my case without him. I will recommend Schmidt Kramer to my friends and family or anyone facing a work-related injury. Thank You.
Jeff K., Workers' Compensation Client of Dennis Kergick from McClure, PA
Abbie was amazing. This was my first accident and she helped me feel less stressed because she handled everything. I would recommend her to any of my friends or family.
Michelle R., Auto Accident Client of Abbie Trone from New Cumberland, PA
I would highly recommend Dennis. He was very patient and very understanding with me, which meant a lot. Thanks for everything. I couldn't have gotten through this without you.
Melissa D., Workers' Compensation Client of Dennis Kergick from Chambersburg, PA
Scott Cooper has great interpersonal and communication skills. It was a pleasure working with him. The paralegals had everything ready for Scott, error-free. They were very polite and responsive. A great team to work with.
John P., Auto Accident Client of Scott Cooper from Halifax, PA
Michael did an excellent job. I was really satisfied with the way he handled my case.
Clarence L., Auto Accident Client of Mike Kosik from Harrisburg, PA