The-Cruel-Angel
Member
What is the name of your state? The Lone Star State...a/k/a Texas!
Here is my dilemma....
1) I was driving my school bus (small bus)in the twilight hours of March 27, 2007 in Dallas. It was dark and drizzling rain.
2) I was proceeding southbound on a street in the left lane. There was a car a little ways ahead of me (not even 50 feet) in the right lane traveling southbound as well. The car started to swerve, but still stayed in its respective lane. Wisely, I backed off another few feet.
3) Suddenly, this car makes an illegal U-turn. This car is in my lane of traffic now and I tried to get out of the way. However the car kept coming, thus forcing me into a collision. This happened at 6:30 a.m.
4) A sheriff happened by about fifteen seconds later to protect the scene. He asked me if was I fine. After talking to the other driver of the car, he called on his radio to instruct his dispatcher to call 911.
5) At the same time, I called my dispatcher to tell him to call 911 as well. One of my co-workers happened by as well. She also told my dispatcher to call 911.
6) The passenger got out of the car, came to my bus, and went inside. I had the passenger door opened to check for damages, but I was still seated. She kept yelling profanities about 'it was my fault' and kept putting her hands on my right arm and shoulder, when I had asked her to stop. She smelled of booze.
7) The driver never got out of the car. She stayed there until the paramedics arrived.
8) The firemen came first. With the assistance of the sheriff, they got me out of the bus to walk, which I could not. They then helped me back in the bus.
9) The paramedics arrived at 6:42 a.m., 12 minutes after the accident. I was then put into the ambulance. I told them I need to wait until the Dallas police officer came on to the scene so I could tell them to give that driver and passenger sobriety tests, as the passenger was smelling of booze and the driver drove erractically before the collision. The paramedics said they didn't have time and took me to Baylor Med. Ctr. I arrived in the ER at 7:00 a.m.
10) When DPD finally saw me in the ER. it was 8:30 a.m., two hours after the accident. I told the officer everything...and repeated it at least three times. The officer never tested the women for booze.
11) I had been out on WC from March 27 to this day. I am seeing a medical doctor, a chiropractor, an orthopaedist and a neurologist.
12) The driver was ticketed for FMFR (no insurance) and no licnese. The car was towed from the scene and my bus was driven back to the bus lot by one of my other co-workers.
13) From the PR, the car that the woman was driving was not hers.
14) Here's the sticky part...the guy who was on the PR as the owner said that the car was no longer his.
15) My doctor (chiropractor) did a little digging on Public Data.com and found that the guy was still the owner. He contacted the lienholder. The lienholder told us to call another lienholder (I guess they bought to car at auction or something). The 2nd lienholder only gave me the name of another man that they say is the owner of the car that hit me.
16) I looked up that 2nd man's # and left a message. He never returned a phone call.
17) Man #1 is still listed as the owner, but Man #2 owns the car, according to the 2nd lienholder.
18) I do not have UM, UIM or PIP on my car...I only had liability. An atty. told me to see if I could collect from the UM/UIM coverage from the school bus I was driving. I called their ins. co. and the guy that handles that said the only thing that all the buses have are liability fleet coverage.
19) I have a bulging disc (C7-T1), misaligned vertebrae (T1-T5). Those vertebrae are pushed over slightly to the left nearing my left shoulder blade. I also am aving problems with my neck, shuolders, chest, and left arm (which could be from nerve compression due to the heriantion and the misaligned vertebrae). There are times that it hurts so badly that I can't go to sleep at all on some nights. Then on occasion I would have what I call "freeze spells", meaning that my neck and left arm would lock up on me and I can't move my head, jaws to open my mouth, or move my left arm. The pain during these spells are horrible. Also, I have them in the thoracic spine where the vertebrae are misaligned, causing bad chest pains. When the pain in the back goes away, or lets up some, the chest pain goes away and I could function enough. I also have pain in the right knee where i really can't walk on it at times, requiring me to use a cane or an electric shoppping cart when out shopping. I got a handicapped placard as well.
20) I am a single parent and I feel my 10 year old son suffers emotionally because he sees his mom laying in bed, not driving unless it was really necessary, and he cries when he hears me screaming in pain because of those freeze spells. I am still in therapy, but I have little improvement.
There are the following factors involved:
*There is the matter of the unlicensed driver driving an uninsured car
*There is the matter of the intoxicated passenger that kept putting her hands on me...she didn't slug me or anything, but she wouldn't stop touching me, especiall when I made repeatesd requests to stop
*There is the matter of owner #1 who says the car is not his, but his name is still on the title
*There is the matter of owner #2 who is said to be the owner, according to lienholder #2, but owner #1's name is still on the title
*Lastly, there is the matter of the Dallas Police that didn't arrive on the scene until 7:38 a.m...over one hour after the accident and over thirty minutes after I was taken from the scene via ambulance (who, according to the PR was notified of the accident at 6:13 and came to the scene at 6:42). The officer did not talk to me personally until 8:30...TWO HOURS AFTER THE ACCIDENT and I find that unacceptable!
My questions are these:
*Which one do I sue? The driver, the passenger, the legal owner, the supposed owne...or all of them?
*What do I sue for?
*Due to the unacceptable delay in response time by the DPD, do I sue the PD or the City? Or both of them?
*What are the basis someone can sue for what is termed "loss of parental consortium"?
************************************************************************
I called to the US District Court and I was told that if my damages exceed $100K, then I can file in Federal court.
I know about subrogation, as I have dealt with WC five times in the ten years I had been with this company.
I also know about the classic "well, if they don't have insurance...how do you expect them to pay you" line.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Here is my dilemma....
1) I was driving my school bus (small bus)in the twilight hours of March 27, 2007 in Dallas. It was dark and drizzling rain.
2) I was proceeding southbound on a street in the left lane. There was a car a little ways ahead of me (not even 50 feet) in the right lane traveling southbound as well. The car started to swerve, but still stayed in its respective lane. Wisely, I backed off another few feet.
3) Suddenly, this car makes an illegal U-turn. This car is in my lane of traffic now and I tried to get out of the way. However the car kept coming, thus forcing me into a collision. This happened at 6:30 a.m.
4) A sheriff happened by about fifteen seconds later to protect the scene. He asked me if was I fine. After talking to the other driver of the car, he called on his radio to instruct his dispatcher to call 911.
5) At the same time, I called my dispatcher to tell him to call 911 as well. One of my co-workers happened by as well. She also told my dispatcher to call 911.
6) The passenger got out of the car, came to my bus, and went inside. I had the passenger door opened to check for damages, but I was still seated. She kept yelling profanities about 'it was my fault' and kept putting her hands on my right arm and shoulder, when I had asked her to stop. She smelled of booze.
7) The driver never got out of the car. She stayed there until the paramedics arrived.
8) The firemen came first. With the assistance of the sheriff, they got me out of the bus to walk, which I could not. They then helped me back in the bus.
9) The paramedics arrived at 6:42 a.m., 12 minutes after the accident. I was then put into the ambulance. I told them I need to wait until the Dallas police officer came on to the scene so I could tell them to give that driver and passenger sobriety tests, as the passenger was smelling of booze and the driver drove erractically before the collision. The paramedics said they didn't have time and took me to Baylor Med. Ctr. I arrived in the ER at 7:00 a.m.
10) When DPD finally saw me in the ER. it was 8:30 a.m., two hours after the accident. I told the officer everything...and repeated it at least three times. The officer never tested the women for booze.
11) I had been out on WC from March 27 to this day. I am seeing a medical doctor, a chiropractor, an orthopaedist and a neurologist.
12) The driver was ticketed for FMFR (no insurance) and no licnese. The car was towed from the scene and my bus was driven back to the bus lot by one of my other co-workers.
13) From the PR, the car that the woman was driving was not hers.
14) Here's the sticky part...the guy who was on the PR as the owner said that the car was no longer his.
15) My doctor (chiropractor) did a little digging on Public Data.com and found that the guy was still the owner. He contacted the lienholder. The lienholder told us to call another lienholder (I guess they bought to car at auction or something). The 2nd lienholder only gave me the name of another man that they say is the owner of the car that hit me.
16) I looked up that 2nd man's # and left a message. He never returned a phone call.
17) Man #1 is still listed as the owner, but Man #2 owns the car, according to the 2nd lienholder.
18) I do not have UM, UIM or PIP on my car...I only had liability. An atty. told me to see if I could collect from the UM/UIM coverage from the school bus I was driving. I called their ins. co. and the guy that handles that said the only thing that all the buses have are liability fleet coverage.
19) I have a bulging disc (C7-T1), misaligned vertebrae (T1-T5). Those vertebrae are pushed over slightly to the left nearing my left shoulder blade. I also am aving problems with my neck, shuolders, chest, and left arm (which could be from nerve compression due to the heriantion and the misaligned vertebrae). There are times that it hurts so badly that I can't go to sleep at all on some nights. Then on occasion I would have what I call "freeze spells", meaning that my neck and left arm would lock up on me and I can't move my head, jaws to open my mouth, or move my left arm. The pain during these spells are horrible. Also, I have them in the thoracic spine where the vertebrae are misaligned, causing bad chest pains. When the pain in the back goes away, or lets up some, the chest pain goes away and I could function enough. I also have pain in the right knee where i really can't walk on it at times, requiring me to use a cane or an electric shoppping cart when out shopping. I got a handicapped placard as well.
20) I am a single parent and I feel my 10 year old son suffers emotionally because he sees his mom laying in bed, not driving unless it was really necessary, and he cries when he hears me screaming in pain because of those freeze spells. I am still in therapy, but I have little improvement.
There are the following factors involved:
*There is the matter of the unlicensed driver driving an uninsured car
*There is the matter of the intoxicated passenger that kept putting her hands on me...she didn't slug me or anything, but she wouldn't stop touching me, especiall when I made repeatesd requests to stop
*There is the matter of owner #1 who says the car is not his, but his name is still on the title
*There is the matter of owner #2 who is said to be the owner, according to lienholder #2, but owner #1's name is still on the title
*Lastly, there is the matter of the Dallas Police that didn't arrive on the scene until 7:38 a.m...over one hour after the accident and over thirty minutes after I was taken from the scene via ambulance (who, according to the PR was notified of the accident at 6:13 and came to the scene at 6:42). The officer did not talk to me personally until 8:30...TWO HOURS AFTER THE ACCIDENT and I find that unacceptable!
My questions are these:
*Which one do I sue? The driver, the passenger, the legal owner, the supposed owne...or all of them?
*What do I sue for?
*Due to the unacceptable delay in response time by the DPD, do I sue the PD or the City? Or both of them?
*What are the basis someone can sue for what is termed "loss of parental consortium"?
************************************************************************
I called to the US District Court and I was told that if my damages exceed $100K, then I can file in Federal court.
I know about subrogation, as I have dealt with WC five times in the ten years I had been with this company.
I also know about the classic "well, if they don't have insurance...how do you expect them to pay you" line.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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