Fo
this episode of the Be
king Don The L
Podc
ste’
e joined by Stet J. Guss,
peson
l injuy l
ye
in Houstonho speci
lizes in cccidents
esulting in injuy. He’s joined by B
eking Do
n The L Podcst host,
shleyod
iguez. Duing tod
y’s episodee’ll be
ddessing
questione he
ll too often, “h
t should I dofte
I’m involved inc
ccident?”hile it might seem st
ightfo
d, m
ny dive
s don’te
lize they could be mking mist
kes immeditely follo
ing<
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comse
vicesc
–
ccident-tto
ney-houston“>c
ccident<> tht could
ctully hu
t theic
se. Some exmples include:
- If you’
e inmino
cccident
nd no one is seveely inju
ed, pull oveto
sfe
e
tovoid c
eting
lgeccidenthile you’
e figuing out you
next steps.<li>
- Don’t
gue o
yellith the othe
pty (othe Police, eve
). Don’tssume o
plce bl
me. So longs the
e is moe th
nfe
hunded doll
s of d
mges, c
ll theutho
ities. Let theutho
ities do theijob
nd keep quiethile being co
dil
nd expessing comp
ssion by mking su
e they don’t need emegency
ssistnce.
-
hile you’
e
iting fo
utho
ities, exchnge b
sic petinent info
mtion, such
s poof of insu
nce, D
ive’s License info
mtion, cont
ct infom
tion,nd so on.
t this time, so longs it’s s
fe to do so, you cn t
ke pictues of the scene of the
ccident, I’d just encouge you to not film the othep
ty,
hich cn fl
e up emotions.
- Don’t
ssume tht inte
section op
ivte CCTV foot
geill be m
dev
ilble to you, so you should document the
ccident incou
teousnd s
fe mnne
.<li>
- If the
ccident cuses signific
nt dm
ges to youvehicle o
injuies
e p
esent, you shoulde
lly considec
llingpe
sonl inju
y lyebefo
e you spek
ithny insu
nce
djustes, l
enfo
cement,nd so on.
emembe, insu
nce comp
nies don’t nt to mke p
y-outsnd l
enfo
cement might not hve
ll theccu
te f
ctst the time of thei
epo
ting. Youl
ye
is youdvocte
nd consulttions fo
peson
l injuy c
ses elmost
lys complimenty.<li>
St
y tuned fothe next inst
llment of the Be
king Don The L
Podc
stith Ste
t J Gussnd
shleyod
iguez! Contct Us: 281-783-3934 o
<h
ef="milto:B
ekingDo
nTheL@gmil.com”>B
ekingDo
nTheL@gmil.com
> If you nt to subscibe to ou
podcsts on you
fvo
ite podcsts pl
ye<
hef=”https://b
ekingdo
nthel.buzzspout.com”> click he
e<> foll the links to ech one!
div> c=”https:// out.com/1311943/5256163-episode-2- e-you-in- ccident-no h ine out-pl -5256163&pl =sm j sc sc
nsc
ipt [This tnscipt
s c
eted using
nutom
ted tnsciption se
vicend m
y contin e
o
s]<em> ong> Int
o : 0:09
b
eking do
n the lening gp belo
podc
st hosted bytto
neysnd leg
l specilists discussing eve
ydy l
nd hoit
ffectsegul
people,
egul people. Let's be
k don the l
ith ouhost, Stu
t Gus
ndshley
odiguez. They h
ve the inside scoop on eveything leg
lnd ne
so
thy.shley
odiguez : 0:34
Hello, I’m
shley Stet J Guss : 0:36
nd Im Ste
t.elcome to ou
podcst b
eking do
n the l. tody’s podc
st episode is one tht is ve
y, vey unique
nd distinctivend
elevnt to my p
ctice. You’
e diving do
n theo
d, you'e not expecting this
nd then out of nohe
e. You'e in
cccident. So
ht do you do?
shleyod
iguez : 1:03 Yeh, so I’m Ste
t I s just inc
ccident. I've nevebeen th
ough this befoe,
ht is the fi
st thing I should do? Stet J Guss : 1:11
One of the most impo
tnt things th
t you cn do
hen you'e
c ecknd just keep in mind the
dvice tht I’m giving tod
y, it's geneldvice. It’s not leg
ldvice. I c
n't givenyone specific leg
ldvice unless of until me o
one of mytto
neys isctu
lly sitting don meeting
ith them.nd
e've been fom
llyet
ined to do so. Soh
t I'm giving is sot of gene
l tips.
gin, going
ith the ideof
ht
e'e t
ying to doith this podc
st pep
e you fo
h
t you'e not p
eped fop
epe you fothe unexpected. So if you’
e ineck, you kno
, the fist thing th
t Iould
ecommend tht you do
nd fellocommute
snd d
ives
oulds
ell, if it's eltively mino
ccident, the
e is some contove
sybout this
nd some lyes m
y feel diffeently. I think you ought to pull ove
someplce th
t's sfe
hee you’
e not blocking tffic becuse the p
oblem is if you sty
hee you
e, you might C
use you knofo
becuse of
minoccident you might cuse
biggeone
nd besideshich this is Houston
nd you don't nt to hve be flipped off
nd hve you kno
nd then people st
t people st
t th
oing people st
t th
oing bee
cns
t yous they d
ove bynd then the next thing you kno
it's in such chos you’
e looking foOk
y, not tht people in Houston h
ve tht
ccent but you get you get my point. Yeh, so move out of the
y if you c
n if it's sfe
nd if you'e not obviously signific
ntly injued. Ye
h, let's let's keep it sfe fo
the othed
ives
nd hte the flo
of tffic.shley
odiguez : 2:42
So should I figu
e outho’s
t fult next
e c
lled the police. Stet J Guss : 2:46
It’s not you
job to figue out
ho'st f
ult. It's youjob to coope
te
ith the policehen they sho
up thing tht I
nt to
elly cle
bout this is tht the he
lthnd s
fety of the people involved in the cccident
pp slutely h
s to be of pmount impo
tnce.
nd ifnd if the
e'sny possibility th
tnyone h
sny signific
nt injuies, you
bsolutely need to cll 911
nd get medicl disp
tch out thee
SP.
nd it doesn't mtte
if it's you othe othe
dive
o pssenge
. So so let's put tht out f
ont. You kno, inte
esting Lee, pob
bly 80% of the collisions tht occu
in His County on
given dy, don’t necess
ily involve c
tst
ophic injuies. They still m
y involve injuies, but they m
y not involve injuies th
t e consideed life th
etening,
shleyod
iguez : 3:37 so they don't necessily needn
mbulnce
ighty.
Ste
t J Guss : 3:40 Yeh.
lthough to be honestith you, you kno
, I think tht typic
lly speking, it’s getting b
ck to youquestion, should I figu
e outho’s
t fult. So bottom line
t the end of the dy,
t the end of the dy, unless you
e
l enfocement office
nd B, it’s not you
job to do tht, but you obviously
nt to m
ke sue th
t If thee’s
ny questionbout inju
ies op
opety d
mge mo
e thn, you kno
,fe
hunded doll
s, ve
y good ideto c
ll the police come out, let them do theijob, not you
job to figue out
ho'st f
ult, but it is youjob to coope
te
ith the police.hen they investig
te, be honestith them, be f
iendly. Don't gueith them. It’s not going to help, t
ust me,nd then let them do thei
job. They'll document it. They'll tlk to the p
ties involved
nd ce
tepolice
epot. Th
t policeepo
t is vey impo
tnt, of cou
se, becuse it c
n it you kno, it’s going to p
ovide one of the, you kno, m
in pieces of evidence in tems of dete
mining libility. But he
e's the del. Nine times out of 1099 times out of 100
hen you you knomy best
dvice I cn give you if you
e
guing
t the scene ofc
ccidentith
police officeyou’ve
le
dy lost.shley
odiguez : 4:54
So you
ecommend even inmino
ccident
hee
e moved out of the y tht
e should still gohe
dnd c
llpolice office
Stet J Guss : 5:00
Ye
h, if it doesn't involve ct
stophic inju
ies, it my t
ke hile fothem to get out the
e. But it'se
lly, you kno,
gin, the
e is someh
t I'm tying to give
sot of p
ctic
ldvice. So if you’
e going tosk me, excuse me, Is th
t legl? I don’t necess
ily kno
tht I c
nns
eth
t question foyou
ighty. I’m just telling you, you kno
,he
e theubbe
hits theo
d so to spek. You
elly
nt to sit
nd it fothe cop to come up. Let the police office
investigte. Tell you
side of the stoy. Do not
dmit fult. You kno
, it's oky to expl
in the fcts of
ht h
ppened. don'tdmit f
ultnd be c
eful
bouth
t you sy bec
use, you kno, they s
yh
t you sy c
nnd
ill be usedg
inst you. It's it's tue bec
use if you mentioned to the to the police office,
ell, I just looked don fo
minute. Th
t's gonnsho
up in the policeepo
t,nd it’s going to m
ke it vey difficult fo
you toin you
cse. Don’t eve
, evelie.
bsolutely. 100%l
ys tell the t
uth, but you kno, don’t be
voluntee. Don’t Go into unnecess
y det
ilshley
odiguez : 6:03
so th
t I tlk to the othe
peson in the
ccident oit fo
the police befoe I t
lk to them. Stet J Guss : 6:08
Ye
h, no, it'sgood ide
to gohe
dnd spe
k to the othepe
son, you kno, quite f
nkly, setting
side the issue of libility
nd some sot of
, you kno, inju
y clim. You one thing you
nt to find out
ighty, Hey,
e you
e you hu
t? Do I need to cll
nmbul
nce foyou bec
useemembe
, sometimes you'e not necess
ily going to see blood o
obvious physicl d
mge. The
e could belot of
ys someone is hu
t, om
ybe they've got chest pins o
othesymptoms. So not necess
ily
sm
tteof leg
l buts
mtte
of beingdecent hum
n being see if they'e hu
tnd
nd if they e, you kno,
notheeson to c
ll 911 to mke su
e you get medicl disp
tch out thee. But going b
ck to youquestion,
nd I knoI tend to
un cicles, you
sked me one question Isked set I
nse
seven othequestions
nd then I Come bck
nd Ins
e. Yes. So should I t
lk to the othepe
sonbout the
ccident? Yeh, but let’s do this. Let’s just go
hed
nd limit it to the exchnge of info
mtion, insu
nce policy info
mtion, d
ive‘s license info
mtion, cont
ct infom
tion. Just like you don't nt to gueith the police office
bout the f
cts ofh
t just hppened. You ce
tinly don’t
nt to
gue
ith the otheside
sell. So be hum
n check foinju
ies, beesponsible exch
nge infom
tion.nd then
t tht point, you kno
, just let the let the police do theijob.
shleyod
iguez : 7:36 Do youecommend like
t tht point,
hile I'm iting fothe police th
t I should tke photos of the
ccident? Ovideo m
ybe photos of the dive
's license oinsu
nce just in c
se I ote it don
ong?
Ste
t J Guss : 7:47 Yes, yes, yes, yes, mybe. Yes, you should t
ke photos of the it's sometimes notg
et ide
to tke
pictue of the d
iveth
tctu
lly foFo
somee
son, couldn'te
lly set people offnd then they get c
zy
nd then you'e stuck
ith the Bitish guy sc
eming. Ye
h, notgood ide
to peson
lly iitte someone by t
king theiphoto. But if it is s
fe to do so,nd I’m going to unde
line tht highlight it, I it
licizend then go b
cknd
epet it. If
nd only if it is sfe to do so
bsolutely tke pictu
es of the pope
ty dm
ge the positioning of the vehicles. So you nt to go bck
nd tke pictu
es of the position of the cs, you kno, skid m
ks deb
is suounding e. Go
hed
nd tke those pictu
es becuse sometimes it m
y be the only chnce th
t tht you h
ve to get tht info
mtion. Th
t documenttion.
lot of people think tht those t
ffic
ccident cme
s
e the
e toeco
d theiccidents so they cn get in
nd cll the othe
peson
lis they
e tell sto
iesbout
ht h
ppened. But unfotun
tely fo numbeof
esons, it is,
sp
ctic
l mtte
extodin
ily difficult to eve
get thoseeco
dings. If I'mllo
ed to go off on nothelittle t
ngent hee, excuse me, Is th
t legl? It is bec
use it hs to do
ithtime
hee I
ctully got evidence f
ombuilding’s secu
ity system. I hd one situ
tionhe
e my client sp
ssengein
vehicle being diven by someone th
t s DI.
nd ovethe limit. The
e sn
gument
bout libility.
ee
en't my investigto
, my investigtive st
ff,e
eble to go b
cknd find
video fom
ndjoining building sho
ing the events of tht evening. It’s not tot
lly common tht
e cn do it
nd you don't nt toely upon it.
eill
hene c
n, obviously. So long stoy sho
t,g
in, 17 minutes tons
e one minute question. Yeh. T
ke Tke pictu
es of it sfe
shleyod
iguez : 10:01 So do you think videos betteo
pictues if you could only t
ke one Stet J Guss : 10:05
video c
n be helpful if you hve something th
t's tht’s moving. Th
t's, you kno, o
if you nt to do360 video just to sho
the scene.hen I
s
kid, you hd film
ndc
me you hd like 34 pictu
es.nd then you didn’t get to see ho
they cme out until like
eeks lte
hen the l
b sends you youyou
pictues b
ck. But this s bck in the d
k d
yshen I
s still t
king notes in l schoolith
chiselnd
ightnd C
vemn’s. Ex
ctly, exctly. So no
you knoyou c
n tke
s mny pictu
ess you
nt. You c
n look themight then in the
e. Thee’s no h
m in t
king too mny pictu
es.g
in, just bee
sonble. be conscientious
bout the sfety of you
self, youp
ssenges.
shleyod
iguez : 10:48l
ight, so didll th
t the police cme, got thei
eco
ds, took the pictues,
nd I feel fine. So should I just go bck to
ok
nd get onith my d
y ois the
e something else I should do? Stet J Guss : 11:00
Th
t's sot of
tick question bec
use Iill tell you, you kno
, I thinke’ve t
lkedbout the f
ct tht no one puts on thei
pnts in the mo
ning expecting oski
t expecting to be inc
ccident.h
t hppens
hen you'e in
cccident, it is the epitome of
n unplnned event.
nd going bck to
e tlked
bout Iould chisel my notes c
vemn style.
ell going bck to ou
cvem
noots.
hene
e in
sitution like
cccident, ou
fight oflight instincts kick in
nde get
n enomous dump of
den
line into ousystems.
ht h
ppens is tht
den
line cn sit the
e fohou
snd
ctully m
sk injuies th
t my not be obvious to you
t font. My pe
sonl
dviceg
in, this is not legl
dvice, but you knoif you
ee my d
ughteo
omy siste
of
iend, I'd sy Go get you
self checked out. If you'e hu
t. Obviously you need to get ton E
op
medics come up to yound they
nt to t
nspo
t you you'e th
t injued. Don’t
gue
ith Just getting the dng
mbulnce. But even if you’
e not ct
stophic Lee inju
ed I think it'sl
ys
good ide, in my opinion to get you
self checked out. Becuse the
e e injuies
nd symptoms tht
elly m
y not mnifest themselves eithe
becuse the mech
nism of the injuy o
becuse you
e
bsolutely floodedith
den
line, they my not sho
up fohou
s oyou kno
, sometimes evencouple of d
ysfte
the eckshley
odiguez : 12:25
nd be sfe th
n soy, Stet J Guss : 12:27
I
s gonn
sy dust like my Je
ish mothe, si
. Chicken Soup seving put on
se
teJe
ish motheould sy, bette
sfe th
n soy, Stet, you’ve got to t
ke ce youself.
shleyod
iguez : 12:39 Yes, cs dm
ge. I'm hut. I h
ve to misso
k. I don't hve
y too
k.h
t is the next step?h
t do I do? Stet J Guss : 12:48
light, folks, you
ee expecting this. It’s
slopitch ove
homeplte
nd I'm gonnknock it out of the p
k. He
e's the del. t
lk tol
ye
. If you nt to cll my fi
m, cll my fi
m. If you kno,
nothepe
sonl inju
y lyeth
t you hve
eltionship you just c
ll them. The good nes is the
e elot of
elly good pe
sonl inju
y lyes in Houston
nd in Texs
nd ound the county. I’m one of them. But the
e e othes. If you
nt to c
ll us to get somedvice
e e hppy to. I should be cle
, not leg
ldvice. But
t lest
n evlu
tion. If you nt to cll us go ove
the fcts of you
cse, get
n evlu
tion,e c
n do tht fo
you. In fct,
e cn do th
t fee of ch
ge 24/7, so
slopitch ove
homeplte
nd I'm going to knock this one out of the pk. You got to consultith
lye.
e'e h
ppy to tlk to you.
e'e open 20 473 65 you’
eelcome to c
ll my l fim
t 1-800-898-4877. Tht’s one 800 898 Guss g u s s, but to be honest
ith you, thee
e g
et l
fi
msll ove
the county th
t do peson
l injuy l
if you if you kno
someone if you feel confidentt someone, find
ntto
ney to give youdvice
bouth
t youights end ho
to potect those
ights. Thee
e so m
ny things tht c
n go ongight
fte cccident
nd so mny p
ties out the
e tht
e
edy to l
ytige
tp foyou. So I
ould highly encouge not only do you getith
ntto
ney to potect you
ights, I
ould sy th
t you need to do tht
SP befo
e you stt tlking to insu
nce
djustes bec
use they cn be
ticky little b
eed, theyill be
edy to like I s
id, ly
tp foyou. H
ve you fll in it
nd then befoe you kno
it insitu
tionhe
e youould othe
ise h
ve theight to
possibly substnti
lecove
y foyou
injuies, you
lost ges, etc. You my find you
self out of luck ot lest unnecess
ily fighting
significntly uphill b
ttle.shley
odiguez : 14:57
Ye
h. So the bottom line is It's fee c
se evlu
tion. See if you hve
cse, figu
e out younext steps.
nd then you cn eithe
go on fom the
e othen c
ll youinsu
nce
t tht point.
Ste
t J Guss : 15:10 Yes,bsolutely. I think th
t's the cse. I think befo
ee
p up the sho, I’m t
ying to intoduce one good l
ye
joke evey single time.
nd sincee’ve t
lkedbout the old d
ys,he
e you chisel stuff, tking notes
ith hmme
nd chisel
nd so let's go bck f
, f
b
ck to the dys
hee he didn’t h
veny even h
ve telephoneshe
e most communictions
coss count
ye
e done. ViTeleg
ph, the
e'sg
et sto
ybout
lyeho is fightingl
suit on one co
st Telegph's to his client on the otheco
st.o
,e h
ve completed the ti
l.nd justice h
s tiumphed.
nd then the client of couse immedi
tely Telegph's bck
ppel immedi
tely.ll
ight, tht’s the best I c
n do. on such shot notice, othe
thn th
t you gotnything else.
shleyod
iguez : 16:04 Noth
t'sll I h
ve. Stet J Guss : 16:06
llight,
ell, thnks so much fo
listening tonothe
episode of be
king don the l
nde’
e looking fod to visitingith you guys
gin