Personal Injury Claims Among Friends & Family: A Delicate Situation
Posted in: Ohio Personal Injury
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An accident involving two passenger vehicles is fairly straightforward. Generally, the at-fault party will take care of the other driver’s vehicle damage and medical bills by filing a claim with their private car insurance. But when the accident involves a United States Postal Service (USPS) mail truck, the process is a bit different. If a letter carrier hits your car, it’s a good idea to talk to our postal vehicle accident lawyers about how to proceed with a claim.
At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, our Ohio injury lawyers have significant experience with these claims and can help you through every step of your case. For a free case consultation, contact us today at 1-800-HURT-NOW.
The mail truck most familiar to people is the Long Life Vehicle (LLV). This is the boxy mail truck with the steering wheel on the right side that you most often see stopping in front of mailboxes. Those trucks don’t ever seem to drive too quickly – can they cause accidents?
It seems unusual, but mail truck accidents do occur. Drivers may pass by a parked car too closely and bump into it. Letter carriers can get distracted by their job tasks and accidentally rear-end you or even neglect to stop at a stop sign. Although we don’t see them travel very fast, LLVs can travel at speeds above 25 miles per hour, and their rugged metal exterior can do significant damage. Contact our postal vehicle accident lawyers today if you have questions about your legal options following a collision with a mail truck.
An accident that involves a mail truck is different than a typical car accident because the U.S. Postal Service is a government organization. As such, the letter carrier driving the mail truck is a federal employee acting on behalf of their employer, and they do not have private car insurance on the LLV (or other mail truck) they are driving.
Mail trucks are uninsured because the government, their agents, and employees have immunity from certain liabilities. When a postal truck hits your car, you usually can’t file a third-party insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit in court.
Your case will need to be filed according to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA).
The FTCA is intended to waive some of the government’s immunity and allow citizens to hold the government accountable for their lack of oversight, or the negligent actions of their employees. The FTCA operates similarly to a regular personal injury lawsuit. When filing, you should show that:
Our statewide practice is designed to make going through a claim or lawsuit involving a postal vehicle more convenient and accessible. With 12 Ohio locations, KNR is a call or click away.
*KNR also serves Ohio’s rural counties & conducts consultations via Zoom.
Unlike privately owned cars and trucks, the United States Postal Service is self-insured. They do not carry typical insurance on their vehicles because they are exempt from state vehicle insurance laws.
As a federal government agency, the USPS requires customers to follow a different legal procedure for filing an accident claim. You can report incidents that cause injuries at the nearest post office or at 1-800-275-8777.
Mail carriers are protected by sovereign immunity, but if there’s evidence of negligence, you can still file a claim under the FTCA. The legal procedure is a little different than other personal injury claims but still requires supporting documentation demonstrating that the driver owed you a duty of care, it was breached, and that you suffered damages as a result. This included medical reports, witness statements, police reports, and other evidence.
Once a claim is submitted to the United States Postal Service, it investigate and determines if it’s valid within ten days. But the time to process a valid claim and secure compensation depend on various factors, including the extent of loss or damage.
Mail trucks must follow the normal rules of the road. If the postal vehicle is stopped at a mailbox, you can pass it on the left, so long as you’re following traffic laws and not crossing the double line.
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Fight for Everything You’re Owed
While the government does enjoy some immunity, that does not mean you aren’t entitled to anything when you’re the victim of a negligent mail truck driver. Rather, it means you have to follow a different process to collect damages.
You will likely need to show a dollar figure that covers your damages, such as your medical bills or the cost of your car repair. The government has six months to review your claim, after which time it will decide whether or not to “admit” it. If your claim is admitted, you will receive some form of compensation. The amount of compensation depends on what the government decides. The amount may be anywhere from the full amount you requested to a fraction of the sum.
You may be able to recover compensation for your:
If you’ve filed an FTCA claim and are unhappy with the results, contact the postal vehicle accident lawyers at Kisling, Nestico & Redick today. We can review your situation and advise you on the best legal options moving forward.
KNR was able to obtain a 1.8 million dollar settlement in a wrongful death case against The Greater…
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The government can claim immunity in certain circumstances but is not above the law. From time to time, it recognizes that its employees may make negligent decisions that hurt private citizens while acting within the scope of their job. Nobody should be forced to suffer the financial ramifications of an accident that wasn’t their fault.
While it may be a bit more difficult to get damages awarded by the federal government, it’s not impossible. Contact an attorney if you’re concerned about filing an FTCA claim and are worried it be rejected. The postal vehicle accident lawyers at Kisling, Nestico & Redick have helped numerous Ohio citizens file claims against the government. We are familiar with the process and know how to collect information that will satisfy all four points of an FTCA claim.
Expect More from Your Lawyer
Our Ohio attorneys want you to keep more of the compensation you’re entitled to, so you can move on after being injured through no fault of your own. At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, we will use every available resource so you recover physically and financially. 1-800-HURT-NOW
