Personal injuries can disrupt your comfort, daily activities and ability to earn a living. When the carelessness of others produce these problems, your options include attempting to settle or sue the party—or responsible party at fault—who injured you. Here, we introduce some basic principles of personal injury claims by focusing especially on the most common ones.
Car Accidents
Personal injury cases arise often from another person or company’s carelessness. The scenarios run the gamut, from unsafe property conditions to faulty construction or manufacturing that injures another person.
However, you most likely associate personal injury cases with car crashes. In 2016, drivers logged 3,220,677,000 miles in the United States. Approximately 34,639 crashes resulted in fatalities that totaled 37,461 in 2016. The number of vehicles sharing the road and potential distractions for drivers result in good chances that you may find yourself injured or somehow involved in a motor vehicle crash.
Speeding, disobeying stop lights and signs, and other instances of unsafe driving such as texting while driving, intoxication, lack of sleep or inattention contribute to collisions. Fog, snow, heavy rain and darkness often increase the risk of car accidents.
What Qualifies as a Personal Injury Case?
In a personal injury case, you must prove that the other driver or actor was negligent. Traffic laws and other rules of the road establish the standard for careful driving. For instance, those who run red lights, exceed the posted speed, drive too fast for the weather or other road conditions, or fail to yield the right of way fail to meet the standard of care for drivers. Normally, the fact of a rear-end collision affords evidence that the driver who hit you failed to look out for your vehicle.
The carelessness of the other driver must also represent a foreseeable and otherwise legally recognizable cause of your injury. That is, the mere fact that the other driver would not have been at the place of the wreck except for speeding does not qualify for a lawsuit. However, a speeding driver who can’t stop in time to avoid rear-ending you may incur responsibility for the damages to you.
The extent of your injuries and losses also factor into the merits of your personal injury case. Recoverable damages include expenses for hospital or doctor visits, surgeries, prescriptions, rehabilitation and other medical treatments, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. Minor or minimal damage may not justify the commitment of time and expense needed in litigating an automobile wreck claim. If you are unsure about your case, consult an attorney like The Law Offices of Michael Alan Siddons or one in your area.
What Are My Best Options If I Am in a Wreck?
Contact a lawyer as soon as your physical condition reasonably allows it. After the consultation and an initial assessment, the lawyer will obtain your medical records and bills, employment information, police reports, witness statements, and other evidence. Photographs or videos you take of the scene and your vehicle could also help present the case for settlement or trial.
As final thoughts, avoid giving recorded and other statements to the driver’s insurer. Accepting a check from the driver’s insurer normally means you give up your right to pursue. If you receive a settlement offer or check, don’t accept it until you have a chance for a lawyer to review your case and the offer to make sure it’s fair. Doing so without counsel can keep you from adequate compensation for your losses.
This article was written by Dixie Somers, a freelance writer who loves to write for business, finance, and family issues. She lives in Arizona with her husband and three beautiful daughters. You can find Dixie on Facebook.
