Category: Personal Injury

Emotional Distress Damages in Personal Injury Cases

by John McKiggan

In law, damages “. . . are
meant to put an injured person in as good a position as he or she would have
been in had those injuries never occurred”. Personal injury lawsuits
following an accident usually include compensation for what lawyers refer to as
“non-pecuniary damages” and what most people call “pain and suffering”.

In cases where someone has suffered
a physical injury, like a broken leg, it is easier to show the nature of the
injury and the harm it has caused. But what about where the primary injury is
related to the psychological distress of the traumatic accident?

Damages for emotional distress can
be difficult to determine and will greatly depend on the nature of your
injuries and the specifics of your case.

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Posted in: Personal Injury

Five Tips for Negotiating the Best Personal Injury Settlement Possible

by John McKiggan

If you have been hurt in a car collision or any type of accident that resulted in injuries requiring medical treatment, you probably have a lot of questions pertaining to your potential personal injury claim’s inevitable settlement negotiations. Any injured person will want to obtain the very best settlement possible to help support their rehabilitation process, but accident victims must always consider their full settlement value throughout the entirety of the settlement process.

There are countless instances in which injuries prevent an accident victim from being able to work, which can make the overall physical pain of the injuries be exacerbated by the stress of wondering how bills and ubiquitous expenses will be paid.

At McKiggan Hebert, we want the process of filing a personal injury claim to be as stress-free as possible for all of our clients. We believe that innocent victims of serious accidents should be fully compensated for their injuries and all subsequent damages, and through our legal advice and strategies, we’ll be more than capable of successfully guiding your or your loved one past an insurance company’s first offer to a fair settlement agreement that fully reimburses you for your medical expenses, as well as all incurred economic and non-economic damages. 

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Posted in: Personal Injury

Understanding Whiplash in Nova Scotia Car Accidents

by John McKiggan

No matter how severe a car accident may seem in the initial follow-up moments, suffering from whiplash and whiplash associated disorders (WAD) can quickly escalate what appears at first to be a minor incident into a serious medical emergency. 

“Whiplash” is the common term for an injury resulting from an abrupt back-and-forth flexing of the neck. This type of neck pain can vary tremendously individually, but in some severe cases the symptoms of whiplash can include things like harsh back pain, neck sprains, muscle spasms, shoulder pain, concussions, neck stiffness, chronic pain and much more.

These very painful and disruptive symptoms can greatly affect a car accident or sports injury victim’s quality of life, overall ability to provide an income for one’s self and family, and can even lead to emotional injuries like depression and social isolation in some extreme cases. No one should ever have to live with this kind of pain and suffering that can result from a whiplash injury — especially when the injury is caused directly by someone else’s negligent actions.

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Posted in: Car Accidents, Concussions, Distracted Driving, Head Injuries, Personal Injury, Uncategorized

“Oh No – Is that Snow?!” – Safe Driving Tips for the Winter Season

by Mark Raftus

November 16th marked the first substantial winter snow fall in the Halifax area for the 2018 winter season.  I awoke, looked out my front window and sadly noted snow covered streets with heavy, wet snowflakes falling. The radio forecast called for the snow to turn into ice pellets and later into rain. A very greasy day awaited and I suspected the roads would be very slippery.

As I set out for the drive to the office I prepared mentally for the trek ahead reminding myself to drive cautiously,  approach intersections a bit slower than normal, pump my brakes if I started to slide and to make sure I looked twice at every car around me before proceeding into an intersection.

I still knew, however, that despite all of my caution it was going to be “the other guy” I had to be mindful of… the guy who would make no mental driving precautions, who would approach every intersection as if the pavement was bare, who would tailgate me and perhaps even try to pass me on a two lane street if he perceived I was driving too slowly.

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Posted in: Car Accidents, Distracted Driving, Personal Injury

Autumn Changes – Advanced Pedestrian Lights and the new Traffic Safety Act

by Mark Raftus

As summer moves into fall, many seasonal changes take place. Children return to school, days are not as warm or long, leaves change color and we prepare for the long winter ahead.

Change is a constant and quite often, is for the good. The positive aspect of change can be seen in recent developments implemented by HRM and the Provincial government aimed at protecting pedestrians and motorists in Nova Scotia.

HRM statistics reveal in the first eight months of 2018 there were 120 vehicle-pedestrian collisions in HRM with 61 percent of them happening in a crosswalk. In an effort to improve safety for these pedestrians, HRM has installed what they refer to as “advanced pedestrian lights” at six high-pedestrian traffic intersections in the City – five in Halifax and one in Dartmouth.
Allowing Pedestrians a Head Start
These new lights came into effect on Thursday, October 11, 2018. How they work is the green pedestrian “walking man” signal comes on for several seconds before the green traffic light changes permitting vehicle traffic to proceed ahead through an intersection or turn. In this way, pedestrians are given a head start to proceed forward into the crosswalk and establish their presence. Vehicle drivers will see the pedestrians more readily and allow them to complete their right-of-way crossing. HRM advises they will monitor this initiative and if it works to reduce collisions HRM will add more of these advanced pedestrian lights at other intersections in the City.

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Posted in: Bicycle safety, Car Accidents, Distracted Driving, Pedestrian accidents, Personal Injury

Happy Crosswalk Safety Awareness Day!

by John McKiggan

(By Mark Raftus)

Did you know that today, Wednesday, November 4, 2015 marks the second annual Crosswalk Safety Awareness Day?

red hand-thumbI have been following the issue of pedestrian collisions and traffic safety for some time. For example, on December 23, 2014 I posted PEDESTRIAN – CAR COLLISIONS: AN EPIDEMIC IN NOVA SCOTIA.  A few months later after we started getting socked by some nasty winter weather I posted WEATHER WATCH – WINTER WALKING AND DRIVING IN NOVA SCOTIA.

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Posted in: Car Accidents, Pedestrian accidents, Personal Injury, Uncategorized

New Limitation of Actions Act in Nova Scotia will impact victim’s rights!

by John McKiggan

As of September 1, 2015, Nova Scotia has a new Limitation of Actions Act.  This law creates time limits for how long injured victims have to sue for compensation. The time limits are different depending on the type of claim.

There are some important changes in the new Act that injury victims need to be aware of. The one that may have the greatest impact on personal injury claims is the new rule that establishes a two year time limit for many claims.

Exceptions to the two year time limit

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Posted in: Car Accidents, Personal Injury, Statute of limitations, Uncategorized

Air Canada 624 Crash: Is a Class Action the Right Approach?

by John McKiggan

Over the last 72 hours new coverage in Nova Scotia has been dominated by stories involving the crash (or “hard landing” as Air Canada prefers to describe it ) of Air Canada flight 624.

Most of the coverage has revolved around how the crash happened, why it happened, and concerns about the delayed response to passengers who had to wait on the tarmac for rescue.

Class action being filed?

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Posted in: Class Actions, Personal Injury, Uncategorized