Car Insurance

Zavala v. Burlington Motor Carriers, Inc., Tex., Webb County 111th Jud. Dist. Ct., No. 98-CVE-01174-D2, Jan. 24,2000.

Zavala, 23, her sister, 16, and her sister’s friend, 20, were passengers in a car traveling on a highway. The driver reportedly had poor visibility due to heavy fog. The car collided with a truck that had jackknifed and blocked all lanes of traffic after attempting to back up to a missed exit. The driver of the car suffered fatal injuries.

Zavala suffered severe traumatic brain injury, including a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a right frontal contusion, and an open skull fracture. She has permanent brain damage resulting in loss of motor and cognitive functions. Her medical expenses totaled approximately $137,800. She had been a student and has been unable to return to school. She also had been bilingual before the accident, but can now speak only Spanish.

Her sister suffered fractures of her cheekbones, nose, and orbital floor, requiring extensive plastic surgery. Her medical expenses totaled about $63,900. A high school student, she was able to earn her diploma following the accident. The friend suffered a lacerated elbow and scalp, fractures to his right hand and left thumb, and herniated disks. His medical expenses totaled approximately $45,700. He had been a delivery driver earning $8.50 per hour. He has not returned to work.

The passengers sued the owner of the truck and the driver, alleging negligence in backing up a truck on a highway. Plaintiffs also claimed the driver was inadequately trained and that the owner of the truck should have had a policy requiring a supervising driver to stay awake and provide actual supervision for trainee drivers. At the time of the accident, the driver’s supervisor was asleep in the truck.

The parties settled for $11.5 million. The apportionment among plaintiffs is undisclosed.

Plaintiffs’ experts included Bill Greenlees, accident reconstruction, San Antonio, Tex.; Pamela Lewis, vocational rehabilitation, Houston, Tex.; and Aaron Lloyd, pain management; Leora Peiser, psychiatry; and Jerold Lancourt, orthopedics, all of Dallas, Tex.

Defendants’ experts were Kenneth A. Thompson, truck safety, Louisburg, Kan.; and A.O. Pipkin, accident reconstruction, Dallas, Tex.

FTER THE 2002 WINSTON CUP season began with two different reactions to late-race crashes–officials waved the red flag in Daytona but allowed the next week’s race, in Rockingham, to end under a yellow flag–controversy overtook safety as the series buzzword.

Controversy is nothing new in Winston Cup, but in this case it was perpetuated, if not created, by the series’ inconsistencies and willingness to bend, if not break, its laws whenever it sees fit.

To be fair, in one case the crash affected the outcome more than race officials could have known. Daytona’s late crash offered then-leader Sterling Marlin the opportunity to make a mistake–exiting and working on his car during the delay–that forced officials to banish him to the back of the pack.

Possibly because of that fallout, in Rockingham there was no red flag, and fans yawned as Matt Kenseth sailed across the finish–in front of Marlin.

Further exposing NASCAR’s ineffectiveness regarding the interpretation of the rulebook, in the season’s third race in Las Vegas, a penalty was enforced on every driver–except Marlin, who apparently had already reached his season quota of bad breaks. Unfortunately, instead of embracing consistency, NASCAR seemingly prefers leaving its drivers shrugging their shoulders and having to find consolation that these sorts of things will even themselves out over the course of the season

After the Rockingham race, there inexplicably were calls for more racing instead of more consistency. Obscuring its own errors with potential rule changes, NASCAR officials were swayed to consider adopting some form of overtime for Winston Cup races, most likely similar to the “green-flag rule.” That rule–used, among other circuits, by NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series–dictates that a race must end with at least two laps of green-flag racing. This ignores that an overtime period is enacted to break deadlocks when an athletic contest has no winner. This is not the case in Winston Cup races–the outcome is not in doubt–and giving drivers the chance to make up for caution flags at the end of a race but at no other time makes little sense.

Even worse, it could prove dangerous. Purposefully causing a crash in order to buy time for a hard-charging teammate should hardly be a worry–drivers are competitive, not stupid–but bunching cars up at the end of the race with the results on the line can create some needlessly aggressive driving. NASCAR is considering trading a potentially drab finish for a potentially dangerous scrum. This does not seem smart.

Plus, drivers are making late-race decisions–most importantly, when to refuel–on the basis of running a set number of miles. The best drivers are squeezing everything they can out of their car within a set number of miles. Some elements of strategy, not to mention talent, would be threatened by running unscheduled laps.

The series can’t be accused of not giving the people what they want, but more racing would change the entire rhythm of a race–and may punish drivers more than reward fans.

Keep Your Truck Insurance Costs in Line

As you have probably noticed, read, or experienced by now - insurance rates are on the rise. The main reason for the increase is due to the increasing costs of claim settlements. We live in a litigious society and trucking companies, as of late, seem to be the target of choice for personal injury law firms. The reason law firms are focusing on claims involving commercial vehicles is that they know that with them come high auto liability limits. The minimum liability limit for an interstate motor carrier is $750,000 Combined Single Limit (CSL) and most trucking firms are carrying at least $1,000,000 CSL to satisfy shippers and afford additional protection of assets. A standard personal auto liability limit is usually as low as $30,000 to $50,000, so why mess around with a little money when you can go after the big bucks.

Personal injury law firms are not only searching out clients involved in accidents with commercial vehicles, but they are also becoming savy in their understanding of statutory and federal regulations (including hours of service violations, DOT inspection violations, and other truck related violations). These violations allow the plaintiff attorney additional ammunition in making their claim that this 80,000 lb rig caused their client injury due to driver error. A driver’s motor vehicle record can be one of the most damning pieces of evidence in a bodily injury claim, showing a track record of “reckless” driving habits (speeds, DUI’S, failure to yield, and even equipment violations). This is the main reason that insurance companies are now insisting the trucking firms hire only drivers and owner operators with good driving records and clean accident history. The job to defend a trucker has become tough enough without throwing a poor driving record on the table.

Along with the increased settlements, including repair and part’s costs, come increased premiums to help make up for the shortage of claims funds, as well as stringent driver, equipment, and procedural guidelines. However, there is a brighter side to this story. To control insurance costs companies and individuals can make sure they are taking the proper risk management steps to minimize their exposure to a serious claim or claim frequency. Some of these steps would include:

Hire good drivers. These are drivers with good driving records, good experience, and professional attitude

Train the drivers and educate and reeducate them. Thoroughly train and retrain your drivers in proper handling and securement of freight and familiarize them with your various traffic lanes. Educate them on the hazards of the increased speed limits and increased traffic on our roads and highways as being the major contributing factor to accidents. Get them involved in defensive driving courses!

Create a driver award and incentive program. Everyone likes to know when they are doing a good job and truck drivers are no different. Set up a driver award program, which we offer you help in implementing at no cost to you, and an incentive program. Give your drivers something to strive for and to be proud of.

Make drivers aware of losses. Discussing claims by committee or individually can help educate the drivers on how to avoid similar type claim situations in the future. Also, show the drivers and your insurance carrier that at fault claims will not be tolerated in your company by setting up your own minimum driver guidelines for violations and claims.

Review your insurance deductibles and equipment values. Taking on higher insurance deductibles will not only lower your premium, but will also make drivers more cautious if in your contract you are making them - particularly owner operators - responsible for claims deductibles. Also, review your equipment values as not to over insure your equipment.

Finally, sell all personnel on the fact that you want to be a safe company. When we shop your insurance the greatest selling item that we have is your loss ratio. (Loss Ratio = Premium Dollars Paid by you to the insurance carrier divided by Claims Costs Incurred). Insurance companies are looking for loss ratios of 50% - 70% or less, which means that they would make .30 - .50 cents on the dollar. This might seem like a lot, but insurance companies know that eventually the large claim will happen and the personal injury lawyers are banking on it.

* insurance is required by federal regulations. Every carrier must carry liability insurance on every rig even on leased units. Liability insurance protects you when a third party is injured in an accident. Owner-operators should ask when leasing onto a company who will pay for their insurance - the company or from driver weekly settlements.
* General Liability insurance protects the business for any property damage or bodily injury that might occur which does not involve a truck. Typical examples of this would include the slip and fall exposure at your place of business, advertising related exposures, and/or contractual exposures you may get involved in.
* Non-Trucking Liability insurance pays for an accident when the driver/truck is not under dispatch. The coverage is sometimes referred to as deadhead coverage or bobtail liability.
* Non-Owned Trailer Liability coverage protects the trailer you are pulling for someone else.
* Non-Owned Trailer Physical Damage coverage insures the trailer you are pulling for someone else in the event of loss. $20,000 is somewhat standard for trailers.
* Trailer-Interchange Liability coverage protects a trailer you are pulling when there is a interchange agreement in force. For example with a steamship line.
* Cargo Insurance covers damage/loss to freight in transit. This coverage can have many exclusions such as unattended vehicle, maximum theft limitations on target commodities such as garments, liquor, electronics and a whole host of others. It is very important to read this policy closely in the event you think you may be covered for something and you are not.
* Terminal Coverage protects freight located at specified terminals in the event of loss. Usually there are time limitations related to this coverage. For example: 72 hours maximum per specified load. If the goods are stored longer than the terminal time you would most likely want to purchase Warehouse Legal coverage. Again very important to read your policy. This amount of coverage is dependent on the total amount of goods stored/docked/off-loaded at any one time.
* Warehouse Legal coverage protects goods stored at specified locations in the event of loss. For example as relates to theft, fire, sprinkler damage. This amount of coverage is dependent on the total amount of goods stored at the location at any one time.

Once you have determined what insurance coverages you desire or need then you can rate shop. It is essential to work with an insurance brokerage, like Western Truck Insurance Services, who understands the trucking industry so that you purchase the right insurance with the best company at the lowest price.

insurance is coverage for your truck and trailer. Your premium is based on the value of your equipment. Usually a percentage of the value. This coverage is not required by law but if you finance your vehicle the lienholder will require it. It is important to insure your vehicle for the real value. Not over or under value the vehicle as the insurance company will only pay market value at the time of the loss.