Holland & Usry, PA - January 2023

Check out our January newsletter!

Raising Teen Driving Awareness LET’S MAKE 2023 A SAFE YEAR

January is Teen Driving Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness for the new drivers learning the ins and outs of sharing our roads and how to best promote safety for everyone. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 1,885 teens ages 15–20 lost their lives in 2020 due to traffic accidents. This number was up 17% since 2019. The moment your child passes their driver’s test and hits the road can be a terrifying time. Sure, you’re excited for your child — and you want to see them grow and experience new things — but you may also worry for their safety and the safety of others, too. Statistics don’t lie: Young and inexperienced drivers are more likely to have an accident. After all, we’ve each been that age and made our fair share of mistakes, too. To keep your teens and other drivers safe, here are some tips and suggestions to share with your teen driver. Wear a Seatbelt It’s not just click-it-or-ticket. Seatbelts save lives. According to the NHTSA, in 2017 seatbelts saved roughly 14,955 lives. This number is predicted to have been 2,549 people higher if they had

buckled up too. Your first rule when handing over the keys to your child must be to wear a seatbelt before starting up the engine. Limit All Distractions Cellphones, GPS, radios, and iPods are great tools and features, but they can also be extremely distracting. The NHTSA states that distracted driving took the lives of 3,142 individuals in the year 2020. Even if your child is using Bluetooth to talk on the phone while driving, their mind may still be elsewhere. It’s important to discuss the impact that other passengers, electronics, or even a sandwich can have on their driving ability. Limit Passengers Speaking of distractions, passengers fall into this category. It may be a great idea to set a passenger limit for your new driver. Having a car full of teenagers can pose a greater risk for your child to be involved in an accident. Create Curfews According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2019, 40% of teenage driver deaths took place between the hours of 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. This means that your teenager is more likely to be in a fatal accident at

night, underscoring the importance of discussing these things with your child and working out time restrictions for getting behind the wheel. No Speeding This may seem extremely obvious, but it’s worth having more than one conversation with your teen driver about speeding. According to Teen Driver Source, 21% of serious accidents involving teen drivers took place as a result of speeding. When you go too fast, it’s easy to lose control and become reckless. Speeding will not just incur a ticket — it can claim lives. When your child hits the road, parental involvement becomes crucial to keep them and other drivers safe. We want each and every teenager to be safe and smart on the road — spread awareness and safety!

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11 MINUTES OF MOVEMENT A DAY

Can Help Keep Depression Away

According to the Hope for Depression Research Foundation, depression affects 10% of Americans annually. And since the disorder doesn’t pick favorites, anyone can suffer from its melancholy grasp. But there are things people can do to help. In fact, exercise has been known to help, but what if people are limited on time or motivation? New research by JAMA Psychiatry shows that completing just half of your recommended daily exercise (only 11 minutes!) can lower your risk of experiencing depression. So, when battling the blues, some exercise is always better than none. Here’s how to squeeze that movement into your schedule. Increased Walking Time If you’re not exercising already, you don’t need to start running a 5K tomorrow. Take it slow before building on the activity that’s already in your routine. The easiest way to hit that exercise mark is by slowly increasing the time you spend walking each day. If you work from home and never leave the couch, consider taking a lap around your house every 30 minutes. If you need to go grocery

shopping, make yourself walk through every aisle or park your car farther away so you have a longer distance to walk. Get those steps in however you feel comfortable, but the goal is to walk for at least 11 minutes a day. Workout Videos When you’re depressed or feeling down, following a peppy exercise influencer in a 35-minute YouTube video is probably the last thing you want to do. But remember, you only need to start with 11 minutes a day. Simply choose a video and plan to only complete a portion of it. You can even choose to follow the easy parts, but set your timer for 11 minutes and follow along the best you can. Once your alarm goes off, reward yourself for getting that movement in.! The Benefits of Dancing Any movement counts, even dancing. And you don’t need to be good at it to participate, either. To meet your 11 minutes, simply put on four of your favorite dance songs — and bust a move! Even if it takes months to get there, moving your body a little each day will help. So, push that cart, pop on that video, or pull out your best dance moves to fight depression.

Amazing Service

“Rob and Rose were amazing! They made me feel like I was somebody and not just another possible paycheck. Rob sent out monthly articles on different things to expect and what to plan for. Rose called to check on me very often. It may have taken a good amount of time, but Rob handled my case with the most professionalism — that’s hard to find this day and age.”

–M. Jennifer C.

www.bhollandlawfirm.com

HIT AND RUN RESULTS IN TWO SETTLEMENTS

One ordinary day, our client, Rod, was walking into work from an office parking area, minding his own business, when a vehicle slammed into him and bolted, never to be seen again. The impact broke Rod’s right arm and wrist. His surgeon called these injuries “significant” and “complicated.” It took four operations to put him back together again, and it remains an imperfect fix. In court, he represented himself for a while, but when he needed professional representation, he turned to us, Spartanburg workers’ compensation and car accident attorneys. Following his injuries, Rod got some good news: Since he was injured on the job, his treatment was covered by workers’ compensation — and because he also had a car accident case, his case was stronger but posed other dangers. Because he got hit by someone who wasn’t a coworker, his case became a “third-party action.” While a third-party action offers a potentially larger settlement, it does create more complexity and huge risks:

You lose your workers’ compensation rights if you incorrectly settle the third- party action. You must repay the workers’ compensation insurance company when you settle the third-party action.

Because he hired us, Rod didn’t have to worry about the complexities or the risks. He just let us handle them. The car accident case was finding insurance coverage to get Rod a settlement. Fortunately, Rod had uninsurance coverage (UM), which pays in these situations, even though he was a pedestrian when he got hit. While the workers’ compensation insurance company expected repayment from the third- party settlement, it never once volunteered the supreme fact about Rod’s case: The law says workers’ compensation gets no repayment for third-party settlements involving UM. Luckily, Rod had me. I pointed out the law to the insurance company attorney, humbly asserting Rod would repay nothing.

And that’s precisely what happened. As a result, he received way more money from his wreck settlement. I’m thankful Rod came to us for help. While he might’ve initially been a little skeptical of lawyers, he made it clear that our communication with him, hard work on his case, and knowledge of the law won him over. In the end, that’s what good lawyers are for — we do hard things for folks they can’t do for themselves.

Past outcomes don’t guarantee future results. Every case is different, and all cases depend on unique facts and laws.

Good News

Easy Cherry Cobbler

“Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.” –Isaiah 1:16 “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” –Proverbs 27:19

Inspired by Life-In-The-Lofthouse.com

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup salted butter, melted • 1 cup cake flour or all- purpose flour • 1 cup granulated sugar

• • •

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 21-oz can cherry pie filling

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. In the bottom of a 2.5-qt baking dish, pour melted butter. 3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and milk until combined. 4. In the baking dish, pour batter over the butter, and don’t stir. Then, pour the cherry pie filling over the batter, and don’t stir. 5. Bake 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

864.582.0416

* This newsletter is intended to educate the public about personal injury, workers’ compensation, criminal defense, and family law issues. You can copy and distribute it as long as you copy the entire newsletter. But the newsletter is not intended to be legal advice; you should ask a lawyer about your specific case. Every case is different, and all case outcomes depend on unique facts and laws.

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

101 W. St. John St. Suite 206 Spartanburg, SC 29306

INSIDE this issue

1

1. Teen Driving Awareness Month

2. 3 Easy Ways to Exercise

2

2. Testimonial

3

3. Hit and Run Results in Two Settlements

3. Easy Cherry Cobbler

4

4. How an Uber Driver Became a Hero

If you no longer want to receive this newsletter, call Pam at 864.582.0416 or email Rob@bhollandlawfirm.com .

PROVIDING RIDES AND SAVING LIVES

Meet an Uber Driver Turned Hometown Hero

We all like to imagine we would do whatever it takes to help others if we witnessed a tragedy, such as a house fire or car accident. We see it all the time when watching our favorite shows and movies, but these random heroic acts rarely happen in real life. When they do, they’re awe-inspiring. One New York City man was faced with one of

He approached a group of bystanders, yelling for people to get out of the residence. As people fled the building, Sam asked if everyone was out. Someone said there were still people inside. Without hesitation, Sam ran through the building and found a woman who was hesitant about leaving. He convinced her to go and brought her to safety, and then he returned to help another man get out of the building. Once he saw firefighters on the scene, Sam returned to his vehicle and proceeded to drop his passenger off at the airport. She still made her flight, even with their impromptu stop. In a statement to “TODAY,” Uber said, “We’re incredibly grateful to have such a heroic and thoughtful member of our community in Fritz. He went above and beyond to keep his neighbors in New York safe — and still managed to get his rider to the airport on time.” When talking to “TODAY,” Sam stated, “You’d be surprised what little things we do that can be impactful. Because, trust me, those little things are going to make a big difference for somebody.”

these harrowing situations and showed tremendous courage when he helped save lives, all while on the clock. Fritz Sam works as an Uber driver in New York City. He had just picked up a passenger and was taking her to LaGuardia Airport when he noticed a hectic scene in a Brooklyn neighborhood. He soon saw flames and dark smoke emerging from a second-story window of an apartment

building. He asked his passenger if he could pull over to offer help.

It’s safe to say that very few people consider Sam’s actions a “little thing.” He acted heroically and is an inspiration to many.

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