Phoenix Criminal Lawyer Blog

In a recent story in KPHO Channel 5 Phoenix "Some Harley Motorcycles Plagued By 'Death Wobble'- Riders Blame Design Of Certain Models", some local riders are complaining of a design flaw in Harley Davidson Motorcycles. They call it, ominously, the "death wobble".  It is also known as rear steer and tank slap. 

Harley-Davidson does acknowledge that its bikes are susceptible to a weave or wobble -- depending on the bike's speed. But they said that this does not cause accidents, and that weave or wobble happens to other bike manufacturers, regardless if it is a Harley or not. Harley also said the wobble problem is worsened when riders add on certain parts and suggests people follow the owner's manual.

In 2002, 30-year-old [police officer] Charles Paul was thrown from his Harley Electra Glide after it began to wobble. He died, and his family later settled a wrongful death suit with Harley-Davidson in 2008.

If you have the right to file a lawsuit and sue someone for a personal injury claim, for example a car accident or motorcycle accident, but you are also short of cash, what will happen if you file bankruptcy in Arizona? Do you get to keep the money from your personal injury settlement if you are in bankruptcy? Does the bankruptcy trustee take over the claim and you lose all the money you would get from the insurance company? What if you don't tell the bankruptcy court about your personal injury claim?

The short answer is in Arizona you can lose all your non-exempt property in a Arizona chapter 7 bankruptcy. That could include things like a car that has value over the exemption amount, stocks, and cash. And yes, for the most part, the right to sue someone and collect money is generally non-exempt. In the personal injury context, with some minor exceptions like worker's compensation claims, a personal injury claim is personal property and non-exempt. That is found in Federal law under 11 USC 541(a).

That means if you have a pending personal injury claim for an accident and you file bankruptcy under chapter 7, the bankruptcy trustee, who represents the unsecured creditors has the right, but not the obligation, to take over the claim and settle it on behalf of the creditors. That usually means the trustee will take the first reasonable offer available even if a little bit of work would get more money. You, the debtor and victim, will usually get nothing.

If you have a personal injury claim and do not tell the bankruptcy court or trustee, other than getting in trouble with the bankruptcy court, it could also cost you your personal injury claim. That is because a personal injury defendant, and the insurance company representing him, can assert "claim preclusion". That is just a fancy word for the simple concept that because you told the bankruptcy court that you did not have a personal injury claim when you filed bankruptcy, you have now lost your right to sue.

The Ministry of Environment launched an investigation yesterday, after a news report this week said the U.S. military allegedly buried highly toxic Agent Orange - used as a defoliant during the Vietnam War - at one of its camps in Korea. 

The tide of progress is inevitable if erratic. One more milestone on that path is a motorcycle even more economical and cleaner than the average motorcycle: the electric motorcycle. And fortunately for us motorcycle fans, they are getting faster as well.  

In a recent story in the Los Angeles Times regarding the TTXGP North American Championship: 

Electric motorcycles are closing the speed gap on internal combustion bikes. Brammo won the kickoff to this year's TTXGP North American Championship series Sunday, clocking the fastest-ever lap speed at Infineon Raceway for an electric motorcycle with its Empulse RR -- and showing the quick evolution of a sport that didn't even exist until 2009.

Its average lap speed was within 20 seconds of the fastest qualifying lap time of a 1,000cc internal combustion superbike on the same track. Its average lap speed was within 20 seconds of the fastest qualifying lap time of a 1,000cc internal combustion superbike on the same track.

TTXGP, the eGrandPrix is an international race series providing a high profile platform for the development of electric vehicles.  Using motorcycles as a resource effective development platform, TTXGP enables the futuristic technology behind them to be tested in an exciting and challenging way. TTXGP aims to drive low carbon technological innovation forward, to demonstrate that clean-emission transport technologies have matured and can be fun, fast and exciting.

Randall Bjerken, 51, and his wife, Doris Bjerken, 50, of Palmer, Alaska, were hit by a burgundy GMC sport-utility vehicle that jumped the sidewalk and struck them before crashing into a power pole, Scottsdale police said.

Scottsdale police Officer David Pubins said the 23-year-old male driver of the SUV was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The man lives in Scottsdale.

The Essex District Attorney has charged Aaron Deveau, 17, of Haverhill with motor-vehicle homicide, texting while operating a motor vehicle negligently and causing injury in connection with a crash. The auto accident killed a passenger in the other vehicle.

One of the things that catches people off guard is the fact the federal government will want reimbursement if they paid for your medical treatment and you recovered from insurance benefits.  For example, if you receive Medicare benefits, you are over the age of 55 or qualify otherwise for Medicare benefits, and Medicare pays part of you health care expenses as a result of an accident, Medicare will want reimbursement for what it paid out.

Many private insurance companies will want reimbursement as well, but private insurers are not usually entitled to reimbursement.  As you may imagine, Medicare being a federal government program, is different.   Medicare has what is called a "super lien".   That means that Medicare can collect against 3rd party liability insurance settlement, directly against the liability insurance company even if they have already paid settlement, 1st party insurance settlement, and they can even go directly go into the victim's attorney's bank account and take the money out his or her bank account. 

How much of your settlement will Medicare want?  They won't take all of it, or will they?  Medicare will sometimes seek 100 % reimbursement.  But in Bradley v. Sebelius, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the agency's claim for 100% lien reimbursement in a wrongful death case.   No one from Medicare offered to negotiate the lien yet it demanded a full recovery.   In that particular case, the settlement was $52,000 and Medicare wanted full reimbursement of $38,000. The Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed and award Medicare only $800.