Iowa Accidents

FAQ Glossary Guides Writers

English Espanol

Search results for “liens”

20 results

Everybody wants a cut of your crash settlement in Waterloo

A Waterloo farm worker on a motorcycle gets rear-ended at a light, the city points at the road defect, and the money fight turns into who grabs the settlement first.

ARTICLE by Keith Haroldson

my car disappeared in a dust storm near Cedar Rapids and now everyone wants proof

After a highway dust storm crash near Cedar Rapids, the evidence disappears fast, and that matters even more when a health insurer starts claiming your whole settlement.

ARTICLE by Gary Johannsen

Second busted-up shoulder in Dubuque, and now a crosswalk apparently needs a seatbelt?

A Dubuque construction worker hit in a crosswalk may hear all kinds of garbage from insurance, including blame that makes no sense, even when the driver is facing criminal charges.

ARTICLE by Angela Washington

Eight months after an Iowa City shoulder crash, your Instagram can still blow up the claim

A pregnant Iowa City business owner got rear-ended on the highway shoulder, can't work normally, and now the trucking insurer is using social media to argue she and the baby are fine.

ARTICLE by Wayne Recker

sentencing guidelines DUI

Rules and typical penalty ranges a judge uses after a drunk-driving conviction. "Sentencing guidelines" means the framework for punishment: what penalties are allowed, what...

guilty plea vs no contest

Get this wrong, and a quick decision in criminal court can follow someone into a civil case, a job problem, or an insurance fight. A guilty plea is a direct admission of the...

You'll usually see it in a court notice, charging papers, or hear, "Your arraignment is set for next week." That is the first formal court appearance where a judge tells the...

Like haggling over the final price before you walk out of a store, a plea bargain is a negotiated deal: the accused agrees to plead guilty, or sometimes no contest where...

search warrant requirements

Like a foreman who cannot just send a crew onto private land without the right address, reason, and limits on the job, police usually cannot search a person, home, car, phone,...

Suing after a two-hit crash in Iowa City can feel ugly - waiting is still smarter

Two impacts in one crash can leave you arguing with two insurers while your income drops fast, and a quick settlement can wreck the rest of the claim.

ARTICLE by Keith Haroldson

Electronic Logging Device

Think of it like a truck driver's built-in timecard and GPS trail rolled into one. The part that catches people off guard is this: after a semi crash, that data can disappear...

Iowa Dog Bite Claim and Landlord Liability

Iowa does not give dog owners one free bite, and a landlord usually is not automatically on the hook just because they knew the dog was a problem.

ARTICLE by Angela Washington

rear ended in a Cedar Rapids construction zone and insurance denied everything now what

An EMT in Cedar Rapids got rear-ended in a sudden-stop construction zone while on the clock, and the denial may involve a government road claim, a commercial auto policy, and workers' comp all at once.

ARTICLE by Linda VanDerPol

I was on the clock and maybe not paying full attention - can I still go after the driver with bad brakes?

A Sioux City office worker can have a workers' comp claim and a separate injury case at the same time, and being a little distracted does not automatically wipe either one out.

ARTICLE by Wayne Recker

Preserving Truck Data After a Des Moines Pedestrian Crash

A Des Moines nurse hit by a speeding company truck needs to move fast because the electronic crash data can disappear long before the injury picture is fully clear.

ARTICLE by Hieu Nguyen

Not the same thing as a trial jury, and not a group that decides whether someone is guilty. A grand jury is a panel of citizens asked to review evidence presented by a...

probation vs parole

Not two words for the same kind of release, and not interchangeable. Probation is a court-ordered sentence or sentencing alternative that lets a person remain in the community...

felony vs misdemeanor

You'll usually see this in a charging document, police paperwork, a court notice, or a lawyer's quick explanation: the case is being filed as a misdemeanor or a felony. That...

The difference can determine whether a person gets out of jail quickly, how much cash is tied up, and whether missing court creates a larger financial loss. In practice, the...

My sister got hurt in an Uber near a Davenport school zone, what deadline matters?

Miss the government-claim timeline and the case can be thrown out before fault is ever decided. What should have happened right away was figuring out who controlled the road or...