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The Stutzman Law Firm, PLLC The Stutzman Law Firm is located in Flowood, Mississippi and specializes in personal injury.

Every ride at the Mississippi State Fair is supposed to have a state permit decal on it. Most people walk right past it....
10/07/2026

Every ride at the Mississippi State Fair is supposed to have a state permit decal on it. Most people walk right past it. 🎡

Here’s what that sticker means, and what else to know if you or your kid gets hurt at the fair this week:

🎟️ Rides are regulated. Since 2021, a carnival ride can’t legally operate in Mississippi without a Department of Revenue decal. To get one, the operator has to carry at least $1,000,000 in insurance and pass an annual independent safety inspection. No decal is a red flag.

🚨 If someone is seriously hurt on a ride, the operator is required to shut it down, preserve it exactly as it is, and report the injury to the State within 72 hours. If you see them keep running it, say something to fairgrounds security and write down the time.

📸 The midway leaves town October 19. The ride companies and most vendors are traveling outfits headed to the next state. Report any injury to fairgrounds security that night, get the operator’s name, get witness names, and take photos before it’s all packed up.

⏱️ The clock is different here. The fairgrounds belong to the State of Mississippi. A claim against the State runs on a one-year clock with a written notice requirement first, not the three years most people assume. A claim against a private ride company or vendor still gets three.

Go. Eat the funnel cake. Just know who’s responsible for what.

Have you ever noticed the inspection decals on fair rides, or is this the first you’ve heard of it?

My Mississippi friends, if you’re driving for Uber, DoorDash, Spark, etc., this is an important read. I’ve posted a blog...
10/03/2026

My Mississippi friends, if you’re driving for Uber, DoorDash, Spark, etc., this is an important read. I’ve posted a blog on our website that goes into more detail.

Missouri friends, I have not researched Missouri law on this topic. If someone needs that information, send me a message, and I’ll look into it for you.

Here’s the overview:

🚗 Uber drivers and Spark drivers are treated differently under Mississippi insurance law, and most don’t know which side they’re on.

Here’s the short version. In 2016, Mississippi passed a rideshare law for companies like Uber and Lyft. Two things in it matter to drivers. First, the law lets your personal auto insurer exclude coverage, including uninsured motorist coverage, while you’re logged on to the app or carrying a passenger (Miss. Code Ann. § 77-8-19). Second, the law makes the rideshare company carry its own insurance during those windows, including uninsured motorist coverage (Miss. Code Ann. § 77-8-15). So for a passenger driver, the company’s insurance policy is supposed to cover you when yours drops off.

📦 Now the delivery side. Spark, DoorDash, Instacart, Uber Eats. The rideshare law is written entirely around passengers and “prearranged rides.” Mississippi has no statute at all for people delivering goods in their own cars. That means there’s no law telling your insurer that it can exclude you, and no law telling the delivery company that it has to cover you. It comes down to the words in your policy and whatever the app company chose to provide.

✅ Either way, the fix is the same: read the exclusions in your policy, ask your agent in writing whether you need a rideshare or delivery endorsement, and get a copy of what the app company’s coverage actually says.

💬 Do you or someone in your family drive for an app? Has anyone ever asked your insurance company whether you’re covered?

🦌 Deer season opens next week across most of Mississippi, and insurance companies know it before most hunters do.Mississ...
09/27/2026

🦌 Deer season opens next week across most of Mississippi, and insurance companies know it before most hunters do.

Mississippi ranks 8th in the country for the odds of hitting an animal with your car (about 1 in 77), and October through December is when most deer strikes happen. Roughly 4 in 10 animal-collision claims nationwide occur in those three months.

Here’s what almost no one thinks about until it happens: hitting a deer and swerving to miss one are NOT the same type of insurance claim.

🚗 Hit the deer? That’s usually your comprehensive coverage, and it’s typically not treated like an at-fault wreck. But comprehensive insurance coverage is optional. If you only carry liability, your own car likely will not be covered at all.

⚠️ Swerve and hit a guardrail, a tree, or another car instead? Now it’s a collision claim. And if someone else gets hurt, the question becomes whether your swerve was what a reasonable driver would have done. If it wasn’t, you can be found at fault, even though you never touched the deer.

The safer move when a deer steps out: brake firmly, stay in your lane, and let the deer go. A dented bumper beats a rollover every time.

Have you had a close call with a deer on a Mississippi road? Tell us what happened.

Everyone who knows me knows that I absolutely adore my fur babies. 🐕 I think Nyx is the bestest girl and Mack is the bes...
09/21/2026

Everyone who knows me knows that I absolutely adore my fur babies. 🐕 I think Nyx is the bestest girl and Mack is the bestest boy. Unfortunately, not all pups are well-behaved, and dog bites happen. Sometimes, they are very serious.

I get a lot of questions on this topic, and Mississippi’s law is a little different than most. We are one of sixteen states that follow the one-bite rule. I’ve covered this topic before, but it’s worth discussing again. A new blog post that goes further in-depth is available on our website if you want to learn more. Now, down to business:

🐾 If a dog bites you in Mississippi, is the owner automatically on the hook? Not necessarily, and that surprises a lot of people.

Mississippi follows what’s called the “one-bite rule.” Unlike states with strict dog-bite statutes, our courts (going back to a 1973 Mississippi Supreme Court case) require an injured person to show the owner knew, or should have known, the dog had dangerous tendencies before it bit. A growl at guests, a prior nip, and aggressive lunging at the fence can all be evidence that supports a claim.

There are important exceptions, though 🚫: most cities and counties have their own leash or “at-large” ordinances, and some areas of our state have breed-specific bans. While no Mississippi appellate court has ruled directly on whether a violation of these ordinances bypasses our one-bite rule, such violations provide very compelling evidence.

So if you’re ever bitten, don’t assume it’s a dead end. Ask about the dog’s history, check the local leash ordinance, and see if there is a breed-specific ban that may apply. These claims are tough to litigate in Mississippi; they are very fact-specific, but they are not an automatic free pass for the owner.

Ever dealt with a neighbor’s dog getting loose, or wondered how this would play out where you live?

The phone rings two days after your wreck. It’s the other driver’s insurance company, and the adjuster is so nice. 📞 “Ju...
09/12/2026

The phone rings two days after your wreck. It’s the other driver’s insurance company, and the adjuster is so nice. 📞 “Just need a quick recorded statement to get things moving.”

Here’s what they don’t say: you don’t have to give them one.

In Mississippi, the other driver’s insurer isn’t your insurer. There’s no contract between you two, and no law requiring you to answer their recorded questions — especially before you know the full extent of your injuries or have talked to a lawyer. ⚖️

Here’s what most people don’t know: your OWN insurance policy usually requires you to cooperate with their investigation of the claim (this matters most in uninsured/underinsured motorist claims). But the friendly voice calling from the other side’s insurance company? That’s a courtesy call for them, not a requirement for you.

Adjusters are trained to lock in a statement fast. This often happens before you’ve seen a doctor and before you know how you’ll feel the next day. Mississippi is also a pure comparative fault state. This means that whatever percentage of blame gets pinned on you comes straight off your recovery. An offhand guess about your speed or the light color can end up costing you.

You can be polite, give basic facts (yes, there was an accident, here’s my contact info), and still decline a formal recorded statement.

Has an insurance adjuster ever called you faster than you expected after an accident? Tell us about it below. 👇

The first hour after a wreck can shape your whole claim, and adrenaline is not exactly a reliable narrator. 🚗 Here’s wha...
09/07/2026

The first hour after a wreck can shape your whole claim, and adrenaline is not exactly a reliable narrator. 🚗 Here’s what actually matters before you leave the scene.

Mississippi law requires more than most people realize right after a crash: stop, check on everyone involved, and exchange your name, address, license, and insurance info with the other driver. Leaving before doing that isn’t just bad manners; it’s also a crime.

If there’s an injury or the damage looks like $500 or more, it needs to get reported to police. If officers don’t come out, it becomes your job.
Here’s where people trip up: don’t guess out loud about who caused it. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t even see you” sounds human, but it can follow you into your claim later. ⚖️

So, what actually helps?

📸 Photos of both vehicles, the road, and anything relevant. Names and numbers of anyone who saw it happen. Witnesses have a way of disappearing once tow trucks show up. Also, get checked out medically, even if you feel fine. Adrenaline is a great painkiller for about 24 hours.

What’s the one thing you’d tell a friend to do first after a wreck?

It’s the best time of the year (though baseball and basketball are both close). Welcome back football season, you’ve bee...
09/07/2026

It’s the best time of the year (though baseball and basketball are both close). Welcome back football season, you’ve been missed.

🍹 Labor Day weekend means cookouts, boat days, and full patios all over the Jackson metro. Unfortunately, it’s also one ...
08/30/2026

🍹 Labor Day weekend means cookouts, boat days, and full patios all over the Jackson metro. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the deadliest weekends of the year on Mississippi roads, with alcohol involved in more fatal crashes than almost any other holiday.

Most people assume that if a drunk driver hits you, the driver is the only one who can be held responsible. In Mississippi, that’s not always true.

Under Mississippi’s dram shop law, a bar, restaurant, or casino can lose its legal immunity and be held liable if it serves alcohol to someone who is visibly intoxicated — not just “had a few,” but obviously, visibly drunk — and that person then causes a wreck.

In one Mississippi case, a casino was found liable after a patron who’d been drinking there for 16 hours left and was clocked driving nearly 100 mph before causing a fatal crash. ⚖️

Here’s the catch: this is one of the tougher standards to prove in the country. The bar has to have actually served someone who looked drunk in the moment. This is not just someone who drank a lot over the course of the night. That’s why what happened in the hours before a crash can matter just as much as the crash itself.

Please watch out for each other this Labor Day weekend. If someone’s had too much, don’t let them get behind the wheel. 🚗

Do you think a bar should share responsibility when it keeps serving someone who’s obviously drunk? We’d like to hear your take.👇

Your car’s back from the shop. Paint matches, everything runs — it looks perfect. 🔧 But if you tried to sell it tomorrow...
08/24/2026

Your car’s back from the shop. Paint matches, everything runs — it looks perfect. 🔧 But if you tried to sell it tomorrow, it’s worth less than an identical car that’s never been wrecked. Most people never think to ask for that difference back.

That gap has a name: diminished value. Even a flawless repair can’t erase a car’s accident history. CarFax and AutoCheck keep it on record for good, and buyers (and dealers) price accordingly. 📉

Mississippi law has recognized this loss for decades: the at-fault driver’s insurance company can be on the hook for it, not just your repair bill. ⚖️ One thing you should know: some insurers try to lowball this using a generic industry formula that Mississippi doesn’t actually follow. The real number comes from comparing your car’s value to similar cars without an accident on record.

One catch: this works most cleanly against the other driver’s insurer. If it’s your own uninsured motorist coverage paying out instead, your policy may exclude this loss, so it pays to know which insurer you’re dealing with. 🚗

Takeaway: get an independent appraisal after repairs, keep your paperwork, and don’t assume “it’s fixed” means “it’s whole.”

Ever had a car repaired after a wreck and it just didn’t feel — or sell — quite the same? Tell us below. 👇

Your medical bills don’t wait for your case to settle. 🏥 Here’s who actually pays them in the meantime, and the part alm...
08/15/2026

Your medical bills don’t wait for your case to settle. 🏥 Here’s who actually pays them in the meantime, and the part almost nobody explains up front.

Most people assume the at-fault driver’s insurance company starts covering medical bills as they come in. It doesn’t work that way. Liability claims get resolved at the end, either through a settlement or a verdict, and that can take months, or even years if the claim is litigated. So who pays while you’re still treating?

Usually one of three ways: your own health insurance (filed like any other claim), MedPay coverage if you carry it on your auto policy (optional coverage that often pays regardless of fault), or a letter of protection, where a provider agrees to treat you now and gets paid out of the eventual settlement or recovery after a verdict.

Here’s the part that surprises people: whoever fronts the cost, whether that is your health insurer, your MedPay carrier, Medicaid, or Medicare, usually has a right to be paid back out of your settlement. 📋 That’s called subrogation, and it’s real money that comes off the top, so it is important for claimants to know that it’s coming and to understand this process.

Mississippi is also a pure comparative fault state (Miss. Code § 11-7-15). That means your percentage of blame reduces your recovery. This is one more reason these numbers matter long before a case ever settles. ⚖️

Bottom line: don’t put off treatment waiting on the other driver’s insurance to pay. Use what you have, keep every bill, and know that reimbursement is part of the math at the end.

Did you know part of your settlement might go toward paying back your own health insurer? Have you dealt with this after a wreck? 👇

Address

106 Luckney Station Road, Suite B
Flowood, MS
39232

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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