Automobile Accidents

From our office in Santa Barbara, the personal injury attorneys at Pulverman & Pulverman, LLP represent people who have been seriously injured in automobile accidents throughout Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties.

Negligence and Products Liability

Some lawyers only consider the fault of the other driver and spend their time proving the other driver's negligence and defending their client against claims of comparative fault (see our Personal Injury Overview). As civil trial attorneys with decades of experience handling all types of accidents and injury claims, we understand that other factors may be at play besides the negligence of the other driver. A defect in either automobile, from a design defect that causes a vehicle to rollover or explode when it shouldn't, to manufacturing defects in the brakes, tires, seats, or airbags which fail at a critical moment, can cause an accident or turn an otherwise minor incident into a major catastrophe with serious injuries or wrongful death.

Uninsured Motorists and Underinsured Motorists

California law requires every driver to carry liability insurance with minimum amounts of $5,000 for property damage, $15,000 for injury or death to one person, and $30,000 for injuries to multiple people arising out of a single automobile accident. Notwithstanding that these amounts are nearly always inadequate in any type of serious injury, around 17% of the drivers on the road in Southern California at any given moment are not carrying any insurance at all. In these cases, if you have Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage, then your own insurance company may be liable to compensate you. Similarly, if your damages exceed the other driver's policy limits, your Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage may apply. Legal representation is highly recommended even when dealing with your own insurance company, however, because in a UM/UIM situation, your interests are not necessarily in line with the interests of your insurance company, and insurance carriers have been known to act in bad faith when dealing with claims of their insureds.

Among the verdicts and settlements we have achieved for our clients in automobile accidents are:

• $1,000,000 mediated settlement with a driver carrying minimum limits of coverage ($15,000). An employer paid an additional $735,000 for a total policy limit of $750,000. An additional $250,000 in underinsured motorist benefits was recovered (policy limits).

• $1,100,000 settlement for a man who was rear-ended by an underinsured motorist with a $25,000 liability policy. An additional $1,075,000 was recovered under the underinsured motorist policy.

• $815,000 settlement for a man who suffered a herniated disc with an underinsured drunk driver who paid $15,000. An additional $800,000 was recovered under an underinsured motorist policy.

We conduct a thorough investigation of every crash and identify all of the responsible parties, in order to hold them accountable and achieve the best possible recovery for our clients. We try cases against negligent defendants and their insurance company lawyers, against major automotive manufacturers, state and county governments who fail to maintain the roads properly, or our clients' own insurance company if necessary. We do not rest until we have recovered every penny available for our client. If you or someone you love has been injured in an automobile accident in Santa Barbara or surrounding areas, contact Pulverman & Pulverman, LLP for a free consultation.