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Seattle software developer was walking to his job, when a driver hit him with their car near the Fremont Bridge. He lost weeks of work and time to enjoy with his family for the entire summer and fall of 2019.

After the injured pedestrian was taken to the hospital, his family contacted Catherine Fleming to represent him. Although prepared to go to trial, the driver’s insurance settled for $490,000. The settlement covered his $34K in medical bills and also compensated him for his pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment with his family. He is fully recovered physically, but will always relive the trauma whenever he walks near the site where he was injured.

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My favorite is the interactive map that allows multiple folks to comment on known and hazardous road conditions.

Try it! Document issues about problem spots with SDOT.

The post SDOT wants to engage! first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

In her mild mannered way, she’s successfully pushed for safer roads, rail and communities. Sure, AOC has a flashier way that grabs people’s attention. Maybe Maria Cantwell is too busy for social media as Chair of the Committee of Science, Commerce and Transportation. (Hey, I caught you snoring.) Not a super sexy topic? It is to me. And Sen. Cantwell holds significant power in her role. Let’s talk more about how she’s helped and, more importantly, how else we want her to help us make our communities safer.

Love her or hate her, Washington Senator Maria Cantwell is more than a figurehead for Washingtonians.  Personally, I appreciate her softer spoken style. Most of my career, people point out that I’m not as loud as my male counterparts. Is that so wrong? Sen. Cantwell’s results is proof that one doesn’t need to speak loudly to make a big difference. #QuietIsBetter #SaferRoads

The post Who needs AOC? WA senator for safer roads and rails first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

If you ride your bike anywhere in Seattle, you know about road hazards. Potholes, major elevation changes, and streetcar tracks are all bad news. These road hazards cause bicyclists to fall before they can do anything to stop it.

Aside from a stream of buses that often share bike paths, Seattle bicyclists must contend with drivers turning in front of them, drivers pulling into park in curb lanes, and maneuvering in spaces that don’t offer much separation from pedestrians. On top of this, Seattle bicyclists must avoid altogether or cross over streetcar and railroad tracks at the precisely correct angle. One might wonder how this is bike friendly. We do. We have for years and are constantly working to improve safety for everyone who travels these roads.

But the fact remains that Seattle roads with streetcar tracks create dangerous conditions for bicyclists and people who use wheelchairs, walkers, canes, or strollers.

Is this a new development? Not unless you consider something more than 10 years old “new”. Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) knew about this extreme danger as far at least as far back as 2007, years before it began construction of its First Hill Streetcar line. SDOT engineers, planners, and consultants emailed and discussed the issue they faced as the number of crashes and injuries grew resulting from bike tires getting trapped in streetcar tracks for the South Lake Union Trolley (SLUT… yes, that’s what we called it before “SLU Streetcar”) tracks.

By 2010 a number of bicyclists hired attorneys and sued the City of Seattle. These cases were consolidated  (often done to streamline the court’s packed docket) and were set for trial in Seattle.

Fast forward a few years later. The attorneys for the injured bicyclists thought that the internal memos and emails from SDOT planners and engineers sufficed to establish the City’s negligence because the City had known that the tracks were dangerous. This is where the SLUT cases fell apart for the injured bicyclists.

In response to those attorneys’ argument, the City attorneys countered convincingly before King County Superior Court Judge McCarthy:

“We never disputed the tracks were a hazard,” said Rebecca Boatright, assistant city attorney who handled the case. “The legal question was whether we fell short of any engineering standard in designing a road with a streetcar.” (Seattle Times)

Judge McCarthy‘s ruling, dismissing the case, sent a chilling message: The City did nothing wrong and did not fall short of engineering standards despite its knowledge that placement of SLUT tracks on the curbside lane was dangerous for bicyclists. The dismissal of SLUT cases was a death knell for bike vs. streetcar tracks cases in Seattle. For over a decade, bicyclists who wanted to fight the City for injuries sustained because of streetcar tracks were out of luck, on their own with piles of medical bills and doctor’s visits for months or longer. No attorney was willing to take these types of cases. Bicyclists and road safety advocates knew that the dismissal of the SLUT cases was a huge setback for any other bicyclist who might want to sue the City for similar reasons.

Why did Judge McCarthy rule against the injured bicyclists who suffered only because of the unsafe road design around South Lake Union?  We’ll discuss that in another blog post.

Thankfully, one attorney did not give up. Catherine Fleming advocated for years on behalf of bicyclists injured after streetcar tracks trapped their bike tires. Catherine’s hard work led a heightened recognition of the serious dangers that the City’s design created. She also obtained a record award, requiring the City to study and rethink modifications to improve safety in some of the most troublesome spots with streetcar tracks.  She’s not done, though, and is more passionate than ever about advocating for safer streets, not just for her clients but for everyone.

Check back and learn more about the ongoing dangers that Seattle streetcars pose for bicyclists and pedestrians.

If you want to learn more about a different road safety issue in Seattle, let us know on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!

The post Part 1: Seattle street cars and bicyclists first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

For years, the folks who aren’t crazy about bike commuters have complained about Seattle spending too much money, space and resources to its Bicycle Master Plan (BMP). The BMP has served as the main reference for SDOT to plan and design bike projects in the City. The goals were great and lofty. Let’s reduce greenhouse emissions, make it safer for people to get around on their bikes, and make the City more livable.

SDOT has not executed its plan perfectly. Alarm bells go off when the same problems leading to serious bicyclist and pedestrian accidents persist. However, my friends at Seattle Greenway, Cascade Bicycle Club, Seattle Bike Blog, and I  (among many other concerned advocates) are now sounding alarms in a big way. This is because the new Seattle Transportation Plan (STP) is developing with lightening speed (hard to imagine, I know) without prioritizing bicyclist safety as follows:*

• No real transparency – public engagement/outreach should have occurred at the earliest stages. Now, as it’s poised for final approval, we still don’t know enough details.
• Priority is given to freight, transit, and pedestrians –   Hey, these are all important. We are all pedestrians. But walking isn’t practical to get from Magnolia to Capitol Hill for a meeting (especially on a super soggy day). But what about all the years SDOT has devoted to its BMP?
• This means –>STP does NOT include planning to move more people on bikes through the City, leaving gaps between bike paths so that people must find their way to the next bike path.–> Not safe and not consistent with the City’s promise and goal of Vision Zero and Safer Streets.
• Drivers. STP is all about the drivers.  Again, I get it! I drive a lot too. But that’s because my work involves representing injured bicyclists and pedestrians along with injured drivers. So, I have a keen awareness of how unsafe many spots are in the City for bicyclists.
• What about the two E’s…Emissions and Equity?  As it stands today, the STP sidesteps multimodal conflict by removing the BMP! Say what? People from less well off communities in the City and their transportation needs are not figured into the equation. And Seattle now wants to whistle by the graveyard and avoid the issue of how freight, transit and drivers will contribute to great emissions for all.

The above is the reality right now and are precisely why advocates like Clara Cantor and Gordon Padelford (and me) are very concerned. Recall that SDOT has talked about its vision for a safe, connected, more bike-friendly roads. But with its new STP, SDOT’s silence to the BMP is deafening. This matters, especially now as companies are opening up their offices and workers are hitting the road in droves. Seattle Bike Blog​‘s latest post beautifully explains why this matters…now.

What can you do? Speak up! Tomorrow’s Seattle City Council Transportation Committee begins at 9:30 am\ Sign Up to give a verbal public comment here. Sign-up opens at 7:30 am. 

• Meeting Details and Link to agenda
• Watch the meeting live via the Seattle Channel (no opportunity to give public comment)
• **Thanks to Clara Cantor, Executive Director of Seattle Greenways, for sharing essentially all of the key points in this blog post!! ❤️👏👏

The post Seattle’s latest transportation plan, “STP3” first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.

UPDATE: In February 2022, Ms. Fleming’s client,  who sustained a broken neck among other injuries in a car crash, testified at the legislative hearings in support of SB 5947. The current bill would exempt personal injury settlements over $20,000  (Aimee’s was a confidential 6-figure settlement, read below for some details) from the reach of debt collection agencies and other debtors.  She will continue to inspire others as she serves as a spokesperson to lobby for the passage of this important bill, to help many other struggling Washingtonians who’ve also been injured.  

Aimee Luzier was injured in a four car crash. On her way back home after a weekend meditation retreat, she was driving north on I-5 just past the James Street exit. Up ahead, she had noticed a lot of red lights that told her that she need to slow down. She pumped her brakes to come to a speed more common in a school zone. Then, she noticed the car in front of her reversing in her lane. She laid on her horn, but there was no stopping the driver ahead.

Apparently, the Reverse Driver had panicked after crashing into the car ahead of him. He wanted to get to the shoulder, but was in one of the far left lanes. Without checking to see that Aimee was right behind him, he slammed on his accelerator and crashed into the front of her RAV4. The airbags deployed and Aimee was in shock. On top of the fact that she already suffered from MS, this crash left her with serious injuries that included a neck fracture.

Her own insurer did not want to accept her set of facts. But her attorney, Catherine Fleming, rolled up her sleeves and researched all of the details of the crashes, including what the driver ahead of Mr. Reverse Driver had experienced and what the officer recounted at the crash site. Their accounts all supported Aimee’s version. In the end, Aimee was compensated for her damages accordingly.

Despite the common assumption that the driver in the back of a car crash is the one at fault, Aimee was clearly not liable at all. Focused on getting her car crash injury bills along with her pain and suffering, Ms. Fleming made sure that Aimee’s version was the one that the mediator accepted as most plausible, thereby persuading Aimee’s insurer to concur.

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When this articulate, bright, and warm woman first contacted Fleming Law about her car accident injuries, she worried about the fact that she was the driver who was behind the negligent driver.  Everyone knows that the driver in a motor vehicle collision who is in the rear is immediately determined at fault. Do you think that’s how attorney Catherine Fleming let her client’s case proceed?

Aimee Luzier was the driver in the last car of a four-car collision. She suffered from MS at the time of the car crash. Reasonable and intelligent, Aimee was doubtful that a personal injury attorney would do anything but end an initial consultation abruptly based on these facts alone. But, this is what separates Catherine Fleming from the many other car accident attorney, looking for “easy” cases.  

After a lengthy initial meeting, Catherine explained to Aimee why she believed in her case and would confidently take on the driver who rammed his car into the front of hers when he reversed twice on I-5* in stop and go traffic. On a tiny fixed income due to her disability as an MS patient, she could not afford to pay all of her medical bills and avoid bankruptcy. This all changed after Fleming Law agreed to represent her.  Aimee obtained a confidential six-figure settlement. Catherine also asked Leah Snyder to assist due to a couple medical emergencies. 

The initial reactions, including her own claims adjuster, were to blame Aimee and ask her to move on. This was an uphill climb, but Catherine parsed out the sequence of events relating to the crashes causing Aimee’s broke neck and other serious injuries.  Visit this site again for more details. 

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When we make regular payments for our insurance premium, we believe that  our insurance company will be there for us when we need them most.  Right?  After all, isn’t that why we spend thousands of dollars every year on insurance? Like a friend, we expect our insurance company to respond in good faith.

Unfortunately, when clients call me about their initial experiences after a serious car crash or bike crash (yes, car insurance often covers your accidents on a bicycle), they are confused and disappointed. They ask me why their insurance company of many years is suddenly acting like a stranger, refusing to pay medical bills or is delaying an investigation about their accident. These actions often are considered “bad faith” because insurers are supposed to act in their insureds’ best interest. The issue is that these insurance companies are usually multi-billion dollar companies that need to show impressive numbers to their shareholders. Sadly, insurance companies are more interested in making and keeping money rather than paying it out in the case of legitimate insurance claims.

Fortunately for policyholders, Washington has some of the strongest laws in place to protect against insurance bad faith. As a brief introduction, we have the Washington State Insurance Fair Conduct Act (“IFCA”) and the Consumer Protection Act (CPA). Most of the issues people have with their insurance companies arise from an insurance company’s:

1. Failure to Investigate the Claim: Insurers in Washington  have a duty to investigate claims in a detailed manner to make an evaluation.  If an insurer refuses or delays for over a month its investigation, then denying coverage this is typical conduct of bad faith .
2. Persistent Lack of Communication: Insurers should communicate with policyholder in a prompt manner. If you were just involved in a bad accident, and you already called your insurer, your insurance company should contact you within a day or so to provide you with guidance on how to recover. If you find yourself calling and leaving voicemail with no response or unhelpful responses, this also is a sign that your insurance company is handling your claim in bad faith.
3. Unreasonably Delays in Processing: As mentioned above, your insurance company should process your claim without unneeded delay. After all, you need to put the matter behind you and get the claim resolved ASAP. If an insurance company drags out the process for months on end, this is yet another sign of insurance bad faith.
4. Outrageously Low  Settlement Offer: Most Insurance claims are resolved through settlements. Insurance companies notoriously offer a lowball number because many policyholders do not know better to retain an attorney because they are concerned that hiring one will lose them money. In fact, insurance companies routinely shift the settlement amount to a higher range as soon as they are dealing with an insured’s attorney. If you were badly injured in a car accident, had to take time off from work , and needed to buy a new car or pay a large bill for repairs, you are better off having your attorney represent you in order to get the best result.
5. Refusal to Pay a Valid Insurance Claim:  When an insurance company flat out refuses to pay a valid claim, this Is bad faith. With enough evidence of IFCA violations, your attorney can obtain additional damages on your behalf under IFCA and the CPA.

There is a reason why we hear the term “ bad faith” in the context of insurance companies. Even highly educated and sophisticated individuals do not realize that their own insurance companies are not looking out for their policyholders but are focused on increasing their profits and revenues.  Please remember this if you or anyone you know is ever in a situation that requires making an insurance claim.

If you have questions, please feel free to reach me via email at cf@sbxcleminglaw.local.

A Korean version of this appeared in SeattleNon 12.30.2021. 

The post Is your insurance company acting in bad faith? first appeared on FLEMING LAW | Top Personal Injury Attorney: Seattle Bike | Pedestrian | Road Crashes.