Negligence is one of the most common causes of car accidents. If another driver’s negligence leaves you injured in a car accident, obtaining fair compensation that addresses your complete losses is critical to your ability to recover fully, and an experienced car accident lawyer can help.
Your First Steps Forward
Even if the accident that leaves you injured is relatively minor and you do not think you were seriously injured, it is in the best interest of your health and of your car accident claim to get checked out by a medical professional.
The impact of even a seemingly minor car crash can lead to serious injuries that you may not recognize in the aftermath of an accident – when the adrenaline and shock you experience can mask pain and other symptoms.
Early diagnosis can make a significant difference in terms of regaining your health and well-being, and seeking the medical care you need demonstrates that you take your injuries seriously, which the involved insurance company should also do.
To ensure you cover all necessary procedures right after the crash, you may want to review this checklist on what to do after a car accident.
Proving Negligence
Your car accident claim will hinge on proving the other driver’s negligence in the matter and effectively assessing your related physical, financial, and emotional losses. The matter of proving the other driver’s negligence comes down to the following kinds of evidence:
- The police report
- The testimony of eyewitnesses
- Your own account of what happened
- Footage from relevant security cameras and dashcams
- Any photos and videos captured before, during, or after the accident
- Physical evidence gathered at the accident scene
Your seasoned Texas car accident attorney will ensure that this evidence is carefully compiled and well represented. Additionally, he or she may commission accident reconstruction models to represent the mechanics of the accident better and may hire expert witnesses with relevant expertise to bolster your claim that the other driver’s negligence caused the injury that left you injured.
Sometimes, negligence in a car accident is clear, such as when an at-fault driver runs a red light, slams into a forward car while texting behind the wheel, or loses control of a vehicle due to impairment. At other times, negligence must be proven, and your trusted car crash lawyer is up to the task.
Impairment
Impaired drivers put everyone else on the road at considerable risk. As blood alcohol concentration (BAC) increases, drivers experience the following effects that can interfere with driving ability:
- Altered mood and increased relaxation
- Some loss of judgment
- Exaggerated behaviors
- Losses related to control of small muscles, such as problems with visual focus
- Loss of alertness
- Poor muscle coordination, which can lead to problems with speech, vision, balance, hearing, and reaction times
- Difficulty detecting danger
- Compromised control and reaction times
- Loss of muscle control
No one doubts the risk associated with driving drunk, but too many motorists continue to engage in the practice.
Exhaustion
Drowsy drivers tend to experience impairments that are not dissimilar from those that drunk drivers experience. Exhaustion behind the wheel is generating increased scrutiny as the associated risk becomes better understood. Because identifying exhaustion often relies on self-reporting, experts believe that the dangers of drowsy driving are underrepresented in the statistics.
Distraction
To drive safely, motorists must focus on the road ahead, the traffic all around, the rules of the road, and any factors, such as bad weather, that could have a detrimental effect. All told, it’s a lot.
A motorist who is distracted behind the wheel is far more likely to cause an accident. Some of the most common distraction-related accidents include sideswipe and rear-end accidents, although distraction is closely associated with a variety of other dangerous crash types.
The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that texting is the most serious of all the dangerous distractions that can grab a driver’s attention. In the five seconds or so that it takes to send off or read a text, a motorist who is traveling at highway speeds can travel the distance of a football field, which is nothing short of alarming.
Speed
Speed is overrepresented in fatal traffic accident statistics. The faster motorists travel, the more likely they are to cause accidents, and the more likely those accidents are to leave someone dead. Speed has been identified as a major risk factor on our roads for decades, but this fact has not done much to slow drivers down.
Failure to Follow the Rules of the Road
Traffic lights, signs, and signals are put in place to help guide the safe flow of traffic, and motorists who do not feel the need to obey them greatly increase the chances that accidents will occur.
Because traffic signs are especially critical at intersections and because intersections represent the spot where traffic traveling in every direction converges, this form of negligence makes intersections that much more dangerous.
While distraction, impairment, exhaustion, and excess speed can all contribute to failing to follow the rules of the road, some drivers simply choose not to obey the traffic requirements imposed upon them.
Aggression
Aggressive drivers have a bone to pick, and in the process, they become some of the most dangerous drivers out there. Aggressive drivers are more interested in making a point than in driving safely, and the tools they turn to time and time again include all the following behaviors:
- Tailgating
- Flying in and out of traffic – excessive speeding is a hallmark of aggressive driving
- Refusing to yield the right-of-way as required
- Calling out other drivers through obscene hand gestures, taunts, and more
- Cutting off other drivers
- Passing illegally
Some aggressive drivers will take things so far that they purposefully bump or tap other drivers and may attempt to drive them off the road. Steering clear of aggressive drivers is always in your best interest.
Identifying Your Legal Damages
As mentioned, identifying your legal damages – or losses – is a key element of your car accident claim. In addition to property damage to your vehicle and any of its contents, there are three main categories of loss to consider.
Your Medical Bills
The medical bills you incur in the immediate aftermath of the car accident in question can be considerable, but they may not stop there. If the injuries you suffer are very serious, lead to complications, or require ongoing care, you can expect your medical costs to increase exponentially.
All of the following serious injuries are closely associated with car accidents:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Spinal cord injuries
- Serious cuts, burns, and abrasions
- Broken bones
- Internal injuries
- Limb loss or injuries that require amputation
- Permanent disfigurement
The following medical expenses commonly apply to injuries arising from car accidents:
- Emergency medical care at the scene of the accident and transportation to a medical facility
- Surgery and follow-up care
- Hospital stays and services
- Medical tests, procedures, and treatments
- Care from doctors and medical specialists
- Physical therapy and occupational therapy
- Pain management
- Rehabilitation
- Adaptive physical devices and home modifications
- Home health care
Your Lost Wages
If you have been injured because of another driver’s negligence, it can mean lost hours on the job, which translates to lost income. The matter becomes even more serious if your ability to do your job, advance your career, or earn a living is negatively affected.
Losses of this nature can also lead to emotional pain and suffering that is based on how closely we associate our identities with our careers.
Your Physical and Emotional Pain and Suffering
It can be difficult to differentiate your physical and emotional pain and suffering from the financial losses you suffer, due to the way emotional pain colors other experiences. Many victims of violent car accidents experience symptoms that are similar to PTSD and can include all the following issues:
- Low mood that includes mood swings
- Increased anxiety
- The inability to take pleasure in former pastimes
- Terrifying accident flashbacks
- A tendency to self-isolate and push one’s support system away
- Difficulty concentrating
- Sleep disturbances
- Fear of getting back behind the wheel
Effectively addressing your pain and suffering is critical to your overall recovery.
Your Car Accident Attorney’s Role
Having a practiced car accident attorney in your corner can be the deciding factor in your claim, and your attorney will skillfully take on a range of primary roles that include all the following responsibilities:
- Helping you carefully navigate the claims process – avoiding the common errors that too many claimants make
- Building your strongest claim, which includes gathering all the available evidence and knowledgeably compiling it into a claim that’s difficult to refute
- Skillfully negotiating with the involved insurance company for a settlement that adequately addresses your full range of losses
- Fiercely advocating for your rights every step of the way
- Being well prepared to file a lawsuit and take your case to court if the insurance company is more interested in minimizing your settlement than it is in negotiating fairly
The benefits of having a focused car accident attorney on your side are difficult to overstate.
FAQ About Car Accident Claims
The answers to the following frequently asked questions regarding car accident claims may provide you with a better handle on your own concerns.
Can I Trust the Insurance Company to Settle My Claim Fairly?
The fact is that insurance companies – like all businesses – are motivated by profits, and while they face legal requirements, most aren’t above doing everything in their power to keep settlements low. Insurance companies will often resort to the following common practices:
- Calling their policyholder’s negligence into question
- Casting doubt on the true extent of your legal damages
- Refusing to engage in straightforward negotiations
- Stalling or overly complicating the claims process – hoping claimants will accept less than the amount to which they’re entitled out of desperation
- Making lowball early settlement offers to unsuspecting claimants
While you’ll need to negotiate with the insurance company, it’s naive to think that they will deal with you fairly if you don’t have legal representation on your side.
Is a Car Crash Lawyer Really Necessary?
If your goal is to obtain just compensation that covers your complete losses, working closely with an accomplished car accident attorney from the start is always advised.
How Do I Prove the Other Driver’s Negligence?
You can leave proving the other driver’s negligence in the car accident that leaves you injured to your savvy car accident attorney, who will leave no stone unturned in the focused pursuit of your claim’s best possible resolution.
The Insurance Company Made an Early Settlement Offer. Should I Accept?
If you accept a settlement offer from the insurance company without first consulting with a respected car accident attorney who knows your case well, there’s a good chance your losses won’t be fully covered.
What Happens If I Share Fault for the Accident that Left Me Injured?
As long as your level of responsibility is determined to be 50 percent or less, you can seek compensation for the percentage of your losses that the other driver is responsible for.