Archive for the ‘ Court Radio ’ Category

Maryland became the 18^th state to repeal its death penalty on May 2, after Gov. Martin O’Malley signed a long-awaited bill to rid its criminal code of capital punishment, according to a story in The Baltimore Sun.

O’Malley had supported the repeal since 2007 and failed in a previous attempt to overturn the law in 2009. This time, though, state legislators backed the measure and passed it in both the state Senate and House before sending it on to the governor for his signature. The new law goes into effect on Oct. 1.

“With the legislation signed today, Maryland has effectively eliminated a policy that is proven not to work,” the governor’s office said in a statement following the signing. “Evidence shows that the death penalty is not a deterrent, it cannot be administered without racial bias, and it costs three times as much as life in prison without parole. Furthermore, there is no way to reverse a mistake if an innocent person is put to death.”

Justice sign on a courthouse. Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/hatman12

Instead, “working together with law enforcement partners, Maryland has driven down violent crime and homicides to three decade lows,” the statement continued. “The Administration will continue to move forward with the things that work to save lives – more effective policing, better technology, information sharing and coordination, and smarter strategies to reduce crime.”

We here at MyPhillyLawyer applaud Maryland’s courageous repeal of this barbaric old law, which has been on the books there for more than 300 years. Maryland’s toughest punishment on crimes will now be a sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole.

The problem with the death penalty is that its finality is truly its major flaw. While its supporters may think that it brings justice in the aftermath of a hideous crime, the problem is that sometimes justice doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to work. Sometimes, people who are innocent of crimes are found guilty of offenses and are sentenced to death or life in prison. And that’s one of the key reasons that the death penalty today is outmoded, unreasonable and unsupportable by a nation of laws based on personal freedom, due process and justice. If executions take place, there is simply no going back in the event or legal errors, omissions or false testimony.

Supporters argue that the death penalty is an important deterrent against crime. They often also argue that it has always been justly handed down and that never has an innocent person been put to death.

The latter may not be true, however.

In Texas in 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed after he was convicted of setting a fire in his home that killed his three young daughters in 1991. He continuously maintained that he had not committed the crime, according to The Innocence Project, a group that works to assist prisoners who can be exonerated of charges through DNA testing. A 17-page analysis of the case, published in The New Yorker in 2009, detailed how many of the arson analysis methods used to convict Willingham were later found to be flawed.

The Willingham case continues to haunt death penalty opponents.

Only 18 of the 50 U.S. states – now including Maryland – forbid executions. That leaves the 32 remaining states, including Pennsylvania, which still allow the death penalty, according to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), a group that opposes the death penalty. There is also no death penalty in the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico.

Since 1976, according to the DPIC, 1,330 prisoners have been executed in the U.S., including 10 so far this year.

In Maryland, there still is a slight catch. The newly-signed death penalty repeal could be subject to repeal if supporters of the death penalty carry out their threats and seek to overturn the state’s action through a referendum, according to The Baltimore Sun story.

“If opponents of repeal can gather 55,736 valid signatures by June 30 — the first third are due May 31 — the law would go to voters to decide in the November 2014 election,” reported The Sun.

One man who witnessed the signing of the bill in Maryland was Kirk Bloodsworth, who was convicted of the murder of a 9-year-old girl in Baltimore County but later exonerated by DNA evidence, according to the story. “Twenty-eight years ago I was sitting in a death row cell, and it became clear to me we could execute an innocent man,” Bloodsworth said. “No innocent person will ever be executed in this state ever again.”

In September 2011, Georgia prison inmate Troy Davis was put to death by lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request for a last-minute stay of execution. Davis had been convicted in the 1989 slaying of an off-duty police officer but right up until he was put to death, he insisted that he was innocent of the crime. Sure, that’s what suspects usually say after they are apprehended, but in this case, many thousands of people questioned the accuracy of the case against Davis, according to a story in The Washington Post.

“But his conviction was based on eye witness accounts and no physical evidence,” reports a blog post on the NPR.org website. “Through the years, some of the witnesses have walked back their testimony and doubts have emerged about the case. So much so that the Supreme Court gave Davis a chance to prove his innocence. The AP reports that was the ‘first time it had done so for a death row inmate in at least 50 years, but he couldn’t convince a judge to grant him a new trial.’”

Here at MyPhillyLawyer, we wrote on this very blog back in December 2009 about the terrifying case of James Bain, who spent 35 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.  Bain was freed after DNA testing determined that he was not the man who kidnapped and raped a nine-year-old boy in Florida back in 1974.

At the time of his release from prison, Bain was the 248th person exonerated of crimes due to DNA testing in our nation, according to The Innocence Project.  Today, that number stands at 306 former prisoners who have been freed.

“No one can give James Bain those 35 years back, but his experience underscores again that our system of law is not without flaws and can allow innocent people to be imprisoned for decades,” we wrote in this blog at that time.

The horrific reality, though, is that had Bain’s alleged crime been subject to a death penalty, he could have been wrongly executed before his ultimate release.

That would have meant that an innocent man would have been put to death for a crime he didn’t commit.

And that is why we do not support the death penalty in the United States. Despite all the emotional reasons and excuses supporters voice, from providing a real punishment for cop-killers and horrific murders, terrorism and the like, there is no way to bring an executed prisoner back to life in the event of a mistake by the criminal justice system.

Justice is more important in our free nation than vengeance.

In March 2011, the state of Illinois repealed its death penalty. In a MyPhillyLawyer blog post at the time, we wrote that “Gov.  Pat Quinn of Illinois said so eloquently when he signed the bill, “We cannot have a death penalty in our state that kills innocent people.  If the system cannot be guaranteed 100 percent error free, then we cannot have the system.  It cannot stand.  It just is not right.”

There are no easy answers on these issues. But putting innocent people to death – or even allowing the possibility of innocent people being put to death – goes against everything in our laws and way of life in this country. We as a nation need to continue to discuss this issue rationally, intelligently and openly.

If even one innocent person is wrongly executed in this country, that is too many. We hope that the remaining 32 states that still have these archaic and inhumane punishments on their books, including our great state of Pennsylvania, will soon follow suit.

Hello Friends,

Rarely do I personally engage in promotion of myself or my enterprises. Those of you who know me personally know that I am somewhat private and am uncomfortable in the spotlight I often find myself in. Despite all of that I must urge each of you to rise early this Sunday morning and perhaps for your first time listen in to the Court Radio broadcast that I host every Sunday with my suave co-host David Rapoport on Philadelphia’s WRNB 100.3 FM.

I’m personally inviting you to listen in to this special broadcast this Sunday, April 7, for an important reason. I have been hosting Court Radio for over three years and this Sunday may be the most poignant show I’ve done to date.  I recently watched an amazing documentary entitled, “The House I Live In,” which was produced by a talented director named Eugene Jarecki. In essence, Eugene lays bare the notion that the “War on Drugs” is not really even about drugs at all, but about the “war on people.”  This alleged war should be more accurately entitled the war of the powerful on the powerless.

Dean I. Weitzman

Here’s an amazing fact about America: As a society, we have incarcerated more of our own people, than any society in the world. Period. It’s true. More people are behind bars in America than any country on the planet.  How’s that for a fine distinction?

What has caused this crisis is that without so much as any empirical data or assistance from the intellectuals who actually study crime and punishment, our enlightened Congress has enacted federal sentencing guidelines that are completely ridiculous, just so they can look like they are “tough on crime.” Those outrageous guidelines originally sentenced drug defendants who are caught with crack cocaine to sentences that are 100 times longer than sentences meted out to drug defendants who are caught with the exact same amount of powder cocaine. That means the people caught for using small amounts of drugs were sentenced to exponentially longer prison sentences than the bad guys who are distributing and selling large amounts of drugs.  Only recently, that particular sentencing guideline has been reduced to give crack cocaine defendants sentences that are “only” 18 times longer than those for powder cocaine defendants. As a result, with only 5 percent of the world’s population, America now houses 25 percent of the world’s prison population.

It’s time to stop the dodos in Washington from destroying the very fabric of America. We may be an imperfect people but should the solution to imperfection be the incarceration of generation after generation? This issue is what Jarecki’s moving film, “The House We Live In,” is all about. The film won the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and his film should be seen by all. It’s currently available via cable television networks On Demand and I urge you to view it before Sunday’s show.

This is important enough to me that I am writing this personal invitation to each of you to ask you to listen to Sunday’s Court Radio presentation and learn more about this staggering issue for yourself. And please take a moment and pass the word to those of your friends and loved ones to listen as well.

Court Radio airs Sunday at 7am on WRNB 100.3 FM.  In the event that you either do not have a radio, or live in an area that does not receive the signal, then you can tune into our show by going to the website www.rnbphilly.com and clicking on the link in the upper right hand corner to listen live to the show.

Thank you, and best wishes,

Dean I. Weitzman

MyPhillyLawyer managing partner

Silvers, Langsam & Weitzman, P.C.

Every year, thousands of women undergo surgery to correct a medical condition known as pelvic organ prolapse (POP) – when the cervix, uterus, bladder or other reproductive organs slip down into the vagina due to the weakening of pelvic muscles.

To treat such patients, surgeons often have turned to surgical mesh products that allow the reconstruction of the pelvic walls. The surgical mesh is designed to keep the organs in place and resolve the painful and debilitating medical complications caused by POP.

Instead, however, many women who undergo the surgery have been finding out that the supposed “cure” is as bad or worse than the condition they were suffering in the first place.  The use of the surgical mesh products have often caused higher rates of pain, bleeding and infection than surgery involving traditional stitches, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report.

A medical team conducts a surgical procedure in this stock photo. Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/uchar

In 2010, there were at least 100,000 POP repairs that used surgical mesh, according to statistics from the FDA. About 75,000 of these were transvaginal procedures, or surgeries that were performed through the vagina.

Thousands of lawsuits have been filed across the nation on behalf of women who were seriously injured due to complications from the surgical mesh. In February, a South Dakota woman, a former nurse who endured multiple vaginal mesh implant surgeries which left her with serious pain and ongoing health problems for years, received $11.1 million in damages for her injuries. The jury in the case awarded Linda Gross, 47, of Watertown, S.D., $3.35 million to compensate her for her injuries and another $7.76 million in punitive damages to further punish Johnson & Johnson, the makers of the vaginal mesh products that were used in her surgeries.

The attorneys here at MyPhillyLawyer regularly handle vaginal mesh surgical cases on behalf of women who have been injured by the material.

Dr. Randy Weiss, D.O., who is on the staff of MyPhillyLawyer, is available to speak with female victims who are considering legal action in connection with their vaginal mesh surgeries. Among the topics that can be discussed are post-surgical conditions that can be evidence of serious problems from the implanted mesh, as well as advice for what victims can do to work on recovering their health.

“If a patient has had vaginal mesh surgery, probably the most common symptom of a problem with the surgery is experiencing painful intercourse,” said Weiss. Vaginal or pelvic pains are also related conditions.  ”Also frequently patients can experience vaginal infections and discharge or blood from the vagina that are not caused by other conditions.”

For women who have not had vaginal mesh surgery, any of those kinds of conditions should immediately be examined and treated by a doctor, said Weiss.

If a woman has had any one or several of these symptoms in the years after having vaginal mesh surgery, then “there’s a good chance that there is a connection,” said Weiss.

Women who experience any of these issues after vaginal mesh surgeries should quickly see their OB-GYN physician for a complete examination so that corrective measures can be taken, said Weiss.

It also would be appropriate, he said, to contact a lawyer to determine if you wish to pursue a legal case against the manufacturers of the vaginal mesh products that were used in the surgery.

“The most important thing is to do is to see your doctor to find out what’s going on,” said Weiss.  “If you are experiencing problems after surgery, you should go to see a different doctor for a second opinion,” rather than only the surgeon who performed the operation.

“When talking to victims of vaginal mesh surgery, I discuss with them the reasons that the mesh was used in the first place and that it’s most likely that their doctor had no idea that there were going to be these terrible consequences when the surgery was performed,” said Weiss. “It’s really a product-liability issue that we’re dealing with here. It’s the manufacturers of the mesh that we pursue.”

The case involving the South Dakota victim was the first jury verdict in a backlog of several thousand such vaginal mesh injury cases across the United States. The case is also the first verdict in about 4,000 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs against Johnson & Johnson, which is one of the makers of surgical vaginal mesh.

Vaginal mesh implants have been a popular alternative to traditional hysterectomies in patients in recent years for the treatment of POP.

This is an injury that has been becoming all too common in the last few years, and it has led to an increasing number of lawsuits against the makers of other such devices, including C.R. Bard Inc. of Murray Hill, N.J., and Endo Health Solutions Inc. of Chadds Ford, Pa.

In June of 2012, Johnson & Johnson announced that it would stop selling four types of surgical mesh implant products. The mesh products had been linked to injuries and triggered about 600 lawsuits against the company at that time. J&J said the products were safe and that its action wasn’t a recall of the products, but just an end to their sales.

Serious injuries due to defective vaginal mesh products are a real health problem for a growing number of women across the United States. Patients who suffer from the crippling injuries caused by these defective mesh devices need skilled, compassionate and dedicated legal teams to help them recover damages for their injuries, pain and suffering.

Women have been injured through these kinds of surgeries because the vaginal mesh manufacturers released and sold products which continue to be problematic for thousands of patients. Instead of being led by concerns over clear patterns of serious medical problems from these products, the manufacturers continue to be motivated only by profit and sales, harming the patients who are being victimized by vaginal mesh implants.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a case involving vaginal mesh devices and products anywhere in the United States. We represent the families of victims as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-920-0352 anytime and our experienced, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

When Winning Matters Most, Call MyPhillyLawyer.

The case is the first jury verdict in a backlog of several thousand such vaginal mesh injury cases across the United States.

A former nurse who endured multiple vaginal mesh implant surgeries which left her with serious pain and ongoing health problems for years has been awarded $11.1 million in damages for her injuries.

That was the decision of a New Jersey jury which awarded Linda Gross, 47, of Watertown, S.D., $3.35 million to compensate her for her injuries and another $7.76 million in punitive damages to further punish Johnson & Johnson, the makers of the vaginal mesh products that were used in her surgeries, according to an Associated Press (AP) story.

The financial awards were reached in two separate deliberations by the jury in the case. The woman told the court that her vaginal mesh implants gave her years of “living hell” despite unsuccessful repair surgeries, according to AP.

The case is the first verdict in about 4,000 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs against Johnson & Johnson.

A medical team conducts a surgical procedure in this stock photo. Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/uchar

The jury ruled that while the product used in Gross’ surgeries was not defectively designed, “the company did not give surgeons adequate warnings about risks of the product and that a misrepresentation was made to Gross,” reported the AP.

Johnson & Johnson said it will appeal the verdicts.

Vaginal mesh implants, which were a popular alternative to traditional hysterectomies in patients in recent years, are used to treat pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs in women when the cervix, uterus, bladder or other reproductive organs slip down into the vagina due to the weakening of pelvic muscles.

Gross underwent “18 revision surgeries — all without success — since having J&J’s Prolift vaginal mesh device implanted in 2006,” the AP reported. “Severe pain and other complications forced the hospital hospice nurse to stop working”.

“Linda Gross cannot turn back the clock and make her misery and pain disappear,” her lead attorney said in a statement reported by the AP. “But she and countless victims like her can take some comfort in knowing that a jury … decided … that the corporation responsible for their suffering should be severely punished financially.”

This is an injury that has been becoming all too common in the last few years, and it has led to an increasing number of lawsuits against the makers of other such devices, including C.R. Bard Inc. of Murray Hill, N.J., and Endo Health Solutions Inc. of Chadds Ford, Pa.

In June of 2012, Johnson & Johnson announced that it would stop selling four types of surgical mesh implant products. The mesh products had been linked to injuries and triggered about 600 lawsuits against the company at that time. J&J said the products were safe and that its action wasn’t a recall of the products, but just an end to their sales.

In November 2012, a Texas woman sued another vaginal mesh manufacturer for causing serious injuries after her procedures.

Serious injuries due to defective vaginal mesh products are a real health problem for a growing number of women across the United States. Patients who suffer from the crippling injuries caused by these defective mesh devices need skilled, compassionate and dedicated legal teams to help them recover damages for their injuries, pain and suffering.

Women have been injured through these kinds of surgeries because the vaginal mesh manufacturers released and sold products which continue to be problematic for thousands of patients. Instead of being led by concerns over clear patterns of serious medical problems from these products, the manufacturers continue to be motivated only by profit and sales, harming the patients who are being victimized by vaginal mesh implants.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a case involving vaginal mesh devices and products anywhere in the United States. We represent the families of victims as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-920-0352 anytime and our experienced, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

When Winning Matters Most, Call MyPhillyLawyer.

The recent mass killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., both rattled the senses of America in 2012.

Twenty-six people – 20 first-graders and six teachers and school officials in Newtown, were murdered in the elementary school on Dec. 14 when a troubled 20-year-old man shot his way into the building and systematically blasted students and staff with an assault rifle.

In Aurora, 12 people were murdered and 58 others were wounded last July 20 when a 25-year-old former doctoral student armed with a shotgun, pistol and semi-automatic rifle entered a movie theater during a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie and randomly shot innocent movie-goers inside the theater.

As always after such tragedies, there has been a public outcry about gun violence, particularly involving assault weapons that are often involved in these kinds of mass killing incidents.

After the murders at the elementary school in Connecticut, President Barack Obama said that it is truly time to do something to stop these tragedies.

This is an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle, which shoots a large number of bullets in a very brief span of time. Such weapons have been used in many of the mass killings that have occurred in the U.S. over the last few years. Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/gsagi

Vice President Joe Biden is now at work holding a series of meetings to explore the issue so that he can put some serious proposals for action on the president’s desk soon.

The National Rifle Association, meanwhile, already has shared its views that the guns are not the problem in this country. Part of the problem, says the NRA, lies in our inadequate mental health system which allows dangerous people who need treatment to be out on the streets. To prevent school shootings, the NRA reports, we need to arm our teachers and train them about how to use guns to protect themselves and their students in their buildings, according to a story on CNN.com.

That’s just preposterous.

Instead, it all starts with the U.S. Constitution, which includes the Second Amendment, the one that says that Americans shall have the right to own and bear arms.

Here’s what the Second Amendment says:

“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

And therein is the problem.

Many people say that the Second Amendment is simply a broad right that allows unrestricted gun ownership with no other caveats.

But we disagree.

The right to bear arms is not absolute. The right to bear arms does not universally and automatically mean that someone can have as many assault weapons and hollow point bullets as they want to own. The Second Amendment says no such thing, and obviously, such weapons of immense power didn’t exist when the Constitution was written and adopted.

Those who refer to the Constitution to support this idea or “right” are just not correct.

This idea that the Constitution is some sacred document that was written long ago and does not adapt to changing times is ridiculous.

The idea from some that owning assault weapons is a “right” because of the Second Amendment is inaccurate. Such ownership is not a God-given right. Guns are not a God-given right in any way.

The Constitution is a living document for this nation, and when its wording needs to be changed to meet new challenges and times we should consider making changes as part of the evolution of that sacred document.

On the issue of gun ownership and the Second Amendment, we are long overdue to finally take a look at what it means in 21^st century America. We are not the same nation where citizens needed to be armed for a militia every day.

Instead we are a nation where people have the right to walk down their streets and in their neighborhoods and in their schools without fear of being shot or murdered.

This country is the most violent developed country in the world. No other country has the high number of deaths by handgun that we have here.

A major part of the reason for such gun violence is that guns are so prevalent and available in our nation. Criminals can easily get them. And yes, mentally-deranged people can get them, too, and use them to kill.

But if guns weren’t so easily available, such assaults, where dozens of people are killed in seconds by bad guys with rapid-fire weapons that blast out dozens of rounds very quickly, couldn’t happen.

It’s time for this nation to re-evaluate this difficult issue deeply and make needed changes. The mere fact that we have more gun-related deaths as a developed country than anywhere else in the world cries out that we need to take some steps to stop the carnage.

The Sandy Hook school shootings really hit the nation hard due to the ages of the student victims, first-graders, whose young lives were cut so short. Some states are looking at stricter gun laws in reaction to the killings at the school, according to a report in the Whittier Daily News.

New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo “isn’t waiting for a presidential task force on gun control to make its recommendations before making his case that New York should take strong action on its own,” the paper reported. “In a fiery annual State of the State address, the New York Democrat called on the legislature to enact tough restrictions on semiautomatic weapons. ‘No one hunts with an assault rifle,’” said Cuomo, according to the story. “No one needs 10 bullets to kill a deer. End the madness now.”

Similar sentiments are being heard around the country since the shootings. In Maryland, Gov. Martin O’Malley recently “predicted his state would ban assault weapons and argued they are not the types of guns used for hunting animals, but to ‘kill human beings,’” the paper reported.

In Newtown, where the school shootings took place, a group of local residents is preparing to launch a national grass-roots initiative that will fight to reduce gun violence and to work to prevent more tragedies like the one that tore the small town apart, according to a story in The Hartford (Conn.) Courant.

There is no question that this is an emotional, difficult, tough issue for us all to discuss in order to eventually reach some consensus about what to do.

But discuss it we must. We cannot stand by and do nothing any longer.

Yes, people kill people, but whether gun advocates like it or not, guns kill people.

And it’s time that high-performance killing machines such as assault weapons should no longer be freely allowed to be sold and owned in the United States. There is no defensible argument for their existence.

We need a civil, open, involved and honest discourse on this issue and we need it today.

Sadly, the tragedies of Sandy Hook Elementary and the Aurora movie theater killings give us the opportunity and the platform to have these discussions today.

Our thoughts and prayers will be with all of the families and loved ones of the victims of these crimes for years to come.

May we somehow be brave enough in this nation to find ways to prevent similar horrors while maintaining our freedoms and our way of life in this great country.

God Bless the United States of America.

Car crashes happen every day when drivers least expect them.

But knowing what to do if you, your passengers and your vehicle are struck by a distracted, drunk, inattentive or dangerous driver piloting another vehicle is critical.

Just last week, five people were injured, including three seriously, when a speeding car ran through a stop sign in Des Moines, Wash., and plowed into another car, according to a story by KOMO News.

“All five occupants of the car that was hit were injured, including the 25-year-old female driver, who sustained potential life-threatening injuries,” the story reported. Two others in the car, a 14-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, also sustained very serious injuries and were rushed to a local hospital.  The 19-year-old driver of the car that ran the stop sign sustained minor injuries and was taken into police custody and booked with four counts of vehicular assault.

A smashed windshield after a serious motor vehicle accident. Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/Svenler

In Chico, Calif., an 18-year-old driver was “looking at another car crash, saw the small car in front of him too late, and couldn’t stop before he allegedly rammed into it, causing major injuries to two teen passengers,” according to a story in the Chico Enterprise-Record. One of the passengers suffered a broken jaw.

And in Janesville, Wis., a woman was arrested on a tentative charge of causing injury by drunken driving after she crashed into a bridge early Sunday morning, injuring herself and a passenger, according to a story in The Wisconsin State Journal.

The driver’s vehicle “was traveling at high speed on West Milwaukee Street when she jumped the south side curb, went into the sidewalk and struck the bridge railing,” according to the story. “The vehicle then spun around with the rear striking the railing before it came to rest facing northbound on the sidewalk. The vehicle and railing were severely damaged.”

If you are involved in a vehicle crash like these, caused by another driver whose vehicle strikes your vehicle while you are operating it, then there are several things for you to keep in mind while you wait for law enforcement officials to respond to the crash.

Staying calm and aware of the situation is one of the best steps you can take, according to a list of tips provided by the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Drivers should follow some basic procedures after an accident, Dr. William Van Tassel, manager of AAA Driver Training Programs, said in a statement. “It does not matter who is at fault, the most important thing to do first is make sure everyone is OK, then seek medical and law enforcement help and know what to do to protect yourself from legal or financial problems down the road.”

First, be prepared by having a pen and paper, disposable camera or cell phone camera, and a copy of your insurance card easily accessible to minimize your stress if an accident occurs, according to AAA.

If anyone is injured due to the crash, you should call 9-1-1 immediately. If medical attention is not needed, make sure your vehicle and any other vehicles are out of the way or are moved out of the way of other motorists who are driving nearby to prevent other vehicles from being involved in the crash.

Use your vehicle’s hazard lights and set out warning flares or reflective triangles to let other drivers know to use caution near the scene. Wait in a safe area until police arrive.

Definitely call the police and file a report, regardless of what other drivers say, according to AAA. “If the police do not come to the scene to open an investigation, you can file a report by visiting a local police department or automobile insurance agency in the days after a crash,” AAA recommends. “Having a report on file may help later if a liability claim is filed.”

Be sure to exchange and write down all identifying information for all other drivers, as well as from any witnesses. This information will be needed for insurance claims and any legal actions. Make sure you write down all names, addresses, email addresses, vehicle information including makes, models and years for all cars involved, vehicle identification and license plate numbers for all vehicles and the driver’s license numbers for all involved operators. Also be sure to get the names of all insurance companies of other drivers, as well as their insurance policy numbers. It’s also important to use your cellphone camera or another camera to take photos of the location, people involved and of the damaged vehicles to document the crash, if you are able to do so.

After the accident has been documented with police and you have recorded information for other drivers, be sure to report the incident to your insurance company to begin a claim. Many insurance companies today have staff available 24/7 and can assist immediately. Have your agent’s phone number in your cellphone for such emergencies.

Obviously, if you have been seriously injured you won’t be able to take the steps listed above. Most of that information will be available later through police reports and insurance documents.

Knowing what to do ahead of time, however, can make the post-crash process simpler later.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in a vehicle accident caused by another driver anywhere in the United States. We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-920-0352 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

When Winning Matters Most, Call MyPhillyLawyer.