Title: January 25, 2006
Q. As I was driving my car this past weekend, it was very slippery and in applying my brakes too quickly, my car slid across the road on some black ice and slipped right into someone’s fence. Unfortunately, I severely damaged the fence, in addition to some damage to my car. I rang the bell at the front door, but no one answered. So, I left. What is my liability?
A. You are liable for the repairs to the fence. Your car insurance can take care of the damage. You should return to that residence in the evening or on the weekend when there is a good chance that someone will be home and tell the owner that you damaged his/her fence and give your insurance information. The owner will make a claim with your insurance. You should also call your insurance company and report the accident as soon as possible, if you have not already done so.
Q. I work for a small company in Bakersfield where the employees are all in the same room with no privacy whatsoever. My 14-year old son called me to tell me that he had been arrested by the police after shoplifting at a mall. The police let him make one phone call. I had to leave work to go pick him up. The next day, when I arrived at work, my boss told me I was fired for leaving the day before. What can I do?
A. You are not giving me enough information to give you advice one way or another. What are this employer’s policies as far as emergencies that may arise? Did you have vacation time, personal time, sick leave that could have been used to take care of your son’s problem? How long have you been working there? If you have been working there only for a few days, your employer’s attitude is understandable. It is possible that other employees overhead your telephone conversation and told your boss why you left. Unless you had an employment contract, a typical employer-employee relationship is “at will”. You can get fired anytime or you can quit anytime.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She practices law from her Tehachapi office as well as her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers to the best of her abilities. Email your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax to (661)825-8880.
Showing posts with label car insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label car insurance. Show all posts
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Legal Eaze #28 Evil Children/ Speeding Ticket
Title: August 10, 2005
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax them to (661)825-8880.
Q. There are two twin children living in the house right next door to us. They appear to be around 7 or 8 years old. On a couple of occasions, I saw them torture an adult cat and her kittens. The last time I saw them, they were busy cutting the kittens’ whiskers off. I don’t know where mommy cat was. I was horrified and screamed at them to stop immediately both times. Apparently, a screaming neighbor does not seem to bother these kids at all, since they did it again. The parents never seem to be at home when these children are committing their atrocities. What should we do?
A. The first thing you need to do is to talk to the parents and let them know what their children are doing in their absence. These children are too young to be left alone at home. Children Protective Services should be warned that young children are left alone at home next door to commit atrocities on animals. You also need to call animal regulation and report the animal abuse. Calling the police might help too. These neighbors of yours should not be allowed to have animals around to be tortured. There is something very wrong with these kids. There may be something very wrong with their parents too. Sometimes, children like these grow up to be criminals of the first order. Thank you for being an animal lover.
Q. I got a speeding ticket on Highway 58 the other day for going at 98 miles an hour. I truly do not believe that I was going that fast. How can I fight this speeding ticket? I do not want my car insurance premiums to go up and they will if this ticket sticks.
A. If you did not attend traffic school in the past 18 months, you will have the opportunity to attend an eight-hour class in order not to get a point on your driving record. Just because you do not believe you were going that fast does not mean that the CHP officer is wrong. As I am sure you know, the speed of a vehicle is usually measured with an instrument used by the CHP which is quite accurate, and that measurement, plus the officer’s testimony will be sufficient to get you convicted. Your feeling that you were not going so fast will be insufficient to prove your innocence. I advise you to concentrate on driving slower next time and attending driving school to avoid the bad mark on your driving record.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax them to (661)825-8880.
Q. There are two twin children living in the house right next door to us. They appear to be around 7 or 8 years old. On a couple of occasions, I saw them torture an adult cat and her kittens. The last time I saw them, they were busy cutting the kittens’ whiskers off. I don’t know where mommy cat was. I was horrified and screamed at them to stop immediately both times. Apparently, a screaming neighbor does not seem to bother these kids at all, since they did it again. The parents never seem to be at home when these children are committing their atrocities. What should we do?
A. The first thing you need to do is to talk to the parents and let them know what their children are doing in their absence. These children are too young to be left alone at home. Children Protective Services should be warned that young children are left alone at home next door to commit atrocities on animals. You also need to call animal regulation and report the animal abuse. Calling the police might help too. These neighbors of yours should not be allowed to have animals around to be tortured. There is something very wrong with these kids. There may be something very wrong with their parents too. Sometimes, children like these grow up to be criminals of the first order. Thank you for being an animal lover.
Q. I got a speeding ticket on Highway 58 the other day for going at 98 miles an hour. I truly do not believe that I was going that fast. How can I fight this speeding ticket? I do not want my car insurance premiums to go up and they will if this ticket sticks.
A. If you did not attend traffic school in the past 18 months, you will have the opportunity to attend an eight-hour class in order not to get a point on your driving record. Just because you do not believe you were going that fast does not mean that the CHP officer is wrong. As I am sure you know, the speed of a vehicle is usually measured with an instrument used by the CHP which is quite accurate, and that measurement, plus the officer’s testimony will be sufficient to get you convicted. Your feeling that you were not going so fast will be insufficient to prove your innocence. I advise you to concentrate on driving slower next time and attending driving school to avoid the bad mark on your driving record.
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