Do you ever have one of those days where everything is going PERFECT? No melt-downs during breakfast (from the toddler or the husband), two hour nap (for the toddler and the husband) and an early evening of shopping for the mommy! A few Saturday's ago, this was my perfect day, of course until we got to the shopping part.
You see, just as we were coming off the interstate ramp pulling onto a main street, we were rear-ended. Call me what you want but I will admit when I got out of my car to assess the situation, I felt better that I was hit by an older lady who was driving a Saab. She was instantly apologetic, claimed full responsibility and once she found out I had my 19-month old daughter in the car, became even more concerned about our well-being.

What I've learned when getting hit on an exit ramp is you have to be very specific as to where the accident occurred when talking with 911. If you are hit on the actual interstate ramp, then state highway patrol is responsible for making the call. Had it been on the actual main road, the county policy would have responsibility. If I had my choice, I would have asked who would respond faster as it took forever for state highway patrol to get there. OK, maybe it just seemed like forever when you're trying to entertain a 19-month old in the backseat of a non-moving car.

This was over a week ago and the car is back, in better condition than before the accident. I have a new and improved car seat because car seats are only guaranteed for one accident. I also have 15 new people trying to be my friend. You see, in the state of North Carolina, when an accident is reported its common practice for personal injury attorneys to solicit your business. Not only do they solicit you, they solicit your husband and heck, they even address their solicitations to the parents of {insert child's name}. After all, she was listed on the police report as a passenger.
How is this allowed and why is it legal? In my research I came across this ethics opinion article from the North Carolina State Bar Journal. There is a lot of detail and information in this article that I'll let you read for yourself but basically its legal. So to all those personal injury lawyers who have provided me with warnings on how I'll never get my claims paid without their representation or provided me with a list of glowing references with only first names, thank you for the extra work you have caused me. As many of these ambulance chasers (yeah, I went there) included a copy of the police report which lists my name, address, daughter's name, date of birth, etc. Now instead of just throwing them in the recycle bin, I need to open each one and determine what needs to be shred. One firm was "nice" enough to include a DVD. Real nice, thank you for more recycling.

The North Carolina Bar Association needs to revisit the language that allows for attorneys to solicit accident victims. It degrades the profession and causes more mistrust of the legal community. It floods my mailbox with unwanted, unecessary and annoying information. NC needs to follow suit of their big sister state Georgia. Sometimes is not a bad thing to be a follower.