070 Rear-End Accidents

VERONICA: Hey friends, welcome to the House Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB. I’m Veronica Waters here with you.

JOEL: Hey, how you doing? Doing OK.

VERONICA: So, if I remember correctly, Joel, you are a New York native. Is that right?

JOEL: That is correct, yes. Yes. Born in the Bronx, grew up and lived a good part of my life in Yonkers until I relocated to Atlanta in 2001.

VERONICA: What in the heck brought you to Atlanta?

JOEL: My wife. Yes. She was originally from New York too.

VERONICA: I love that. And it was love at first sight.

JOEL: Yes. Yes.

VERONICA: Was it really?

JOEL: I thought so, yes.

VERONICA: Aw, that’s so romantic. Now, you went to school at Manhattan College, right? Benjamin Cordozo?

JOEL: Manhattan College undergraduate and Benjamin N. Cardozo, which is part of Yeshiva University School of Law, which is in the Granite Village section of Manhattan. VERONICA: Now, do you want to tell us how long ago that was?

VERONICA: Now, one of the things that I know about you, and I think it’s actually kind of something that you and our other guests share in common, there is a familial reason that you were inspired into law, in part?

JOEL: That is correct. My uncle Arnold Becker was an attorney. He primarily practiced either as a partnership or as a single practitioner.

VERONICA: And that’s really the motivation behind me becoming an attorney. You knew it when you were just a kid.

JOEL: Yes. Yeah, that’s fantastic. I want to ask you about what I have learned is one of your daily motivations. This quote by Casey Kasem.

JOEL: Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. You have to look at everything in life like that.

VERONICA: Beautifully. Beautifully said. And sitting next to Joel is, like I said, another one of my favorite attorneys from Montlick. He is Michael Rubin. I always call him Michael. Never give up Rubin.

MICHAEL: Thanks.

VERONICA: The N stands for Ruben. How is it going? I haven’t seen you in a month of Sundays either, it seems like.

VERONICA: Steering clear of people’s rears?

MICHAEL: Yeah.

VERONICA: Yeah, I mean, there’s probably about 50 to 100 jokes. We won’t make them, but they are called rear-end crashes, and that lends itself to some comical.

MICHAEL: Oh, well, I mean, my grandfather was the main person who practiced law in Charleston, South Carolina for like 55, 60 years. But I mean, my uncle practiced with him. My aunt practiced in New York City forever. She was a divorce attorney. But she also, before that, worked for many public organizations that would help people, such as like an Anti-Defamation League, American Association for Justice.

VERONICA: By the time you went to University of Maryland and New England law, did you know that personal injury was going to be where you wanted to be?

MICHAEL: No, not necessarily.

VERONICA: Collar would be buttoned.

MICHAEL: Oh, yeah. The haircut. I’d probably bathe or shower within the few days prior.

VERONICA: Is that what that smell is?

MICHAEL: Yeah, no, that’s not me.

VERONICA: Kidding. Thank you so much, Michael Rubin. And we know that you have been very successful, both of you, in your career.

MICHAEL: Yeah, I think I would probably think that number is low.

VERONICA: Really?

VERONICA: Because in metro Atlanta, don’t we see that people are so often following too closely?

VERONICA: So you’re supposed to leave that gap between you and the next car. And how often do you see that on the interstates here?

MICHAEL:  I’ll give people the benefit of the doubt. 10%. 10% of the time.

VERONICA: OK, that means nine of us.

MICHAEL: Not on 400, though. Uh-uh. Nine of us are not doing what we’re supposed to do.

VERONICA: So Joel and Michael, do you think that you see more rear-end crashes than anything else in your practice?

JOEL: That would be a correct conclusion, Veronica.

VERONICA: Yeah, I would love to get into that because I’m wondering how often maybe I can ask you guys later down the road. Is it always the person’s fault who’s in the back?

MICHAEL: No.

VERONICA: See, that sounds that sounds intriguing to me. So what causes these rear-end crashes? Following too closely, as you said, that’s one of the things. What else do we have?

MICHAEL: Yeah, weather.

VERONICA: Weather.

MICHAEL: Sure. I mean, that one car length, ten miles for every one car length. If it’s raining and especially, I don’t know how many people know this. And but when it first starts to rain is the most dangerous time because that’s when the water hits the pavement, and it doesn’t mix with oil. So, the oil will rise to the top.

VERONICA: Yeah. What about brake checking? Somebody’s trying to teach you a lesson because they think you’re too close. And then they boom, slam on the brakes and try to get you to hit the back.

MICHAEL: Happens all the time. Happens to me. I mean, it just that’s what’s so scary in driving in Atlanta.

JOEL: Well, that’s definitely the case in both situations, although the majority of people that call are the ones that are actually hit, not the ones that are doing the hitting.

JOEL: Yes. Essentially, when you have a rear-end collision, the force from the rear-end collision will initially cause the occupant of the vehicle, whether it be a driver or passenger to move actually backward. And then they go forward and then they go backward.

VERONICA: But why do you guys hate the word whiplash?

JOEL: Whiplash throughout history has had a negative connotation. It really has. And I’ll use an example. Way back when I was a kid, there was an animated cartoon called Dudley Do-Right. And Dudley Do-Right, the villain, was Snidely Whiplash.

VERONICA: Insurers try to say, oh, it’s just whiplash. They don’t need a big they don’t need a big check from us. Yes.

MICHAEL: Whiplash just it’s like a catch-all term. I mean, what is it? It’s not is it really a medical term?

VERONICA: Again, the importance of seeking medical treatment and don’t let anybody minimize your injuries by telling you it’s just a little whiplash. Coming up next on Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB Fact versus Fiction when it comes to rear end crashes. I’m Veronica Waters. Stay with us.

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JOEL: You’re exactly right about that, Veronica.

MICHAEL: I mean, you think about how a car is structured, the back bumper is probably going to be the most secure place in the car. It’s the trunks back there. It’s flat. So, when if cars hit, let’s say it’s a flush hit between the rear car and the front car, it may not leave that much damage.

VERONICA: And the car is designed to absorb the impact.

MICHAEL: It crumples zones, everything. Yes. And the crumple zones are front and back as opposed to on the sides. Now they do have different protections and things. But yeah, they’re designed to absorb the impacts. But that doesn’t mean that it takes away the impact from the driver.

MICHAEL: Right. And one would imagine that we’ve come a long way. But again, one of the reasons that we’ve come a long way is attorneys like Ralph Nader and people a long time ago, if they didn’t hold people accountable, they would put profits. How much does it cost us to pay the lawsuits if we don’t fix this? Oh, that’s less than if we fix it. And that type of decision, corporate decision doesn’t take into account the real people who are using their products.

MICHAEL:  I mean, I think that for the biggest rumor or biggest thing would be medical attention.

VERONICA: Because you were trying to wave it off and say, this isn’t a big deal.

MICHAEL: Right.

VERONIA: Joel, do you have any cases like this that sort of have stuck with you over the years?

JOEL: Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I do.

VERONICA: Wow. So once again, the importance of now in that case, nobody’s going to be avoiding medical treatment for that because they’re not trying to wave off that kind of pain.

VERONICA: Yeah, because I think so many of us are, you know, we’re busy. We don’t want to take the time. We don’t want to worry somebody. We don’t want to whatever, whatever it is. We don’t want to pay the copay. I don’t know what it is. But we’re like, oh, I’m sure it’ll go away. But your back is a major thing. Your neck is a major thing. Your brain’s and you can’t dismiss these headaches, these backaches, this strain. You know Sometimes if you have whiplash, you can’t even move your neck from side to side. And I know it’s not a medical diagnosis. Forgive me for saying whiplash.

VERONICA: Yeah. What story jumps out at you? What case jumps out at you, Michael, when we talk about these?

MICHAEL: Well, it’s more of a this is one of the rear-end kind of crashes that you might not necessarily think of. Okay. So, a good Samaritan stops on the side of the highway to help somebody.

VERONICA: Oh, no.

MICHAEL: And he did not survive because of the fact that it’s such a major impact. It’s heartbreaking. It’s horrible.

VERONICA: Don’t rubber neck.

MICHAEL: How many people were on their cell phones? How many? It’ll be way more than you think.

VERONICA: Yeah. Not too long ago I had a story. AAA was talking about the risk to roadside workers actually is much higher than what’s actually first recorded. They said it’s the number of roadside workers who are killed in crashes is 200% higher than first reported.

MICAHEL: It’s a hazard.

VERONICA: It’s so dangerous over there. So, and this wasn’t even a guy who was really necessarily working over there. He’s just on the side of the road, but it shows you how much dangerous that that space is in in that arena. Do your airbags go off if you’re hit from the back?

MICHAEL: They can. It just depends on the vehicle. Most of the time, the airbags have different sensors that will have them release, but they can.

VERONICA: Yeah.

JOEL: Most of the time, the front airbags would not go off, but you have now some cars have side airbags. I mean, they’ve improved the technology where more and more of the vehicle, more and more of the passengers would be covered potentially by airbags.

VERONICA: And then I could get injured from the airbags.

JOEL: Oh, yes. Right. Definitely.

MICHAEL: And you’ll be burned. Like these airbags explode. That’s how they inflate so quickly is it’s an explosion. So with any explosion, there’s got to be a mechanism to make that happen. People more often than not will be burned. Now, these burns usually are not severe, but they can they can be burned.

VERONICA: Yeah, a lot less dangerous than the attorney. Not to mention the dust and stuff that you’re that you’re breathing in from there. Yeah, that’s that can’t be. That’s got to be super gross. You know, my very dear friend, Jenny Harty, whom, as you guys know, directs the public service program that Montlick has about driver safety called I Ride Safe. And if you haven’t seen it, make sure you check it out online at iRideSafe.com.

ANNOUCNER: You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick.

VERONICA: You are back in the house. Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB. I’m Veronica Waters here with attorneys Joel Roth and Michael Rubin. It is time for the Montlick closing argument. We’re talking about rear end crashes today. And guys, the floor is yours. The closing argument today essentially is safe, safe on the road.

MICHAEL: And it’s important that you do get a consultation because you never know what someone’s going to do. A lot of times crashes like this can be he said, she said.

VERONICA: Yeah, I think it’s also important that we think about, as we sit here, we’re speaking in Georgia.

VERONICA: It is not.

MICHAEL: Slow down people around. Everybody is a first responder.

VERONICA: Here’s what I believe is happening. You know I think a lot of times, I think I did something on this about when people are impaired because a lot of times the people who are hurt on the side of the roads, it’s by an impaired driver. Also, distraction, also speed. But a lot of times people go, their car goes where they’re looking. So, they’re rubbernecking yeah and then they end up crashing into somebody who stopped on the side of the road.

VERONICA:  It has nothing to do with them.

JOEL: Human nature. Nothing more. Right.

VERONICA: Stay keep eyes forward, people. Eyes front. Thank you guys so much. Thank you for having us. And you know what? One last thing.

ANNOUNCER: You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick.