Car Accidents Law Simplified

By Author: Nick
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Understanding car accident law can be confusing. Who’s at fault? What caused the accident? What are the legal rights of the person injured? Which damages are covered? Here’s everything you need to know about car accidents law.

An area of law under the wider category of personal injury law is car accidents law. The law seeks to determine the party responsible for the property or personal injury damages sustained from a car crash.

This article deals with car accident laws and what you should do after experiencing a car accident.

Understanding car accidents law

The legal rules that determine the responsible party for the personal and property damage resulting from a traffic collision are car accidents law. Car accidents law is the area of the law that comprises negligence principles, as applicable to this category of personal injury cases. Car accident litigations are governed almost entirely by state law like other cases in which the negligence law applies.

In order to recover compensation for the injuries suffered and damages incurred, car accident victims in each state must prove the same ...
... basic four elements. The elements are:

Duty
Breach
Causation
Harm
Car drivers have the legal obligation to obey road rules by reasonably operating their vehicles.
As per the car accidents law, drivers cannot drive rashly, jump signals, and drive on footpaths.

The driver’s duty includes driving at a safe speed, exercising awareness, maintaining control of the vehicle, using blinkers and headlights, observing traffic signals, respecting other people’s rights on the road, etc.

The existence of the duty is pretty straightforward and typically accepted without any argument. The plaintiff must prove that the defendant breached the duty by providing evidence. Evidence such as eyewitness testimony, admission of fault, or a traffic surveillance video is enough to establish a breach.

The court will not assume that the accident resulted from the driver’s negligent acts just because the defendant must operate his vehicle in a particular manner but did not, which resulted in the breach of duty.

The driver can be 30 feet away from the accident and still cause a breach of duty by using their mobile phone while driving the vehicle.

The plaintiff must prove the element of causation to recover the compensation for the losses. The plaintiff can prove causation through medical testimony demonstrating that the injuries result from the accident. But, the damages should not have existed before the accident happened.

The fourth and last element of negligence under vehicle accidents law requires the plaintiff to prove harm.

No matter how rashly the driver was driving their vehicle, the plaintiff cannot file a negligence claim unless the driver’s actions caused damage to the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s property.

Once harm gets proved, the plaintiff will be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, loss of wages, pain and grief, etc.

It is important to note that “Near Miss” cases do not qualify under the car accidents law. Click here to know more about the car accidents laws in your case on getlegal.com.

Steps to take following a car accident

Pull Your Vehicle Over to a Safe Place

After experiencing a car crash, the first thing is to pull over your car to a safe and well-lit place nearby if possible. Try to pull over your car in a public place where people present around can see your vehicle, you, and another driver.

Pulling your car over in a public place is very beneficial when you are bumped from behind by another vehicle and when you feel you might be the intended victim of a staged accident. You would also want to move your car away, even to a sidewalk, if your vehicle may cause a hazard on the street.

It is essential to keep yourself calm in such a situation. It is easier said than done. However, staying calm when you have suffered auto injuries after an accident is not impossible, and keeping your cool will help you in your car accidents law claim.

Even if you are unstable and disoriented, it is essential to consider the after-accident situation to preserve your rights in a potential claim.

If you can’t move your vehicle to a safe place, get yourself and passengers to a safe place and away from the place where the accident occurred. However, make sure not to leave the scene of the accident.
Secure Other Passenger in the Vehicle

It is common for your mind not to think clearly and make mistakes. You might come out of the vehicle, leaving your loved ones and pets inside, out of range, with anger and frustration. Leaving your loved ones and pets in the vehicle might increase the chances of additional auto injuries to them.

No matter what type of car accident or an automobile accident you have experienced, do not leave children, pets, non-ambulatory elders, or disabled adults in a locked hot car after the accident.

Calling an ambulance and a Law Enforcement Officer

After you, other passengers, and your vehicle are in a safe place, check to see if you and the others in the vehicles at the time of the accident have suffered auto injuries.

Call an ambulance immediately if someone affected by an accident shows even minor auto injuries. Also, do not fail to call the fire and rescue team if the situation demands.

You would want to get medical help for yourself and all those injured in the accident, especially if the injured person is a child, elder, or incapacitated individual.

When making a 911 call, get someone nearby to give you the accurate location of the accident if you are unsure of the exact location of the crash.

Besides your name and number, the law enforcement officer on the 911 call will ask for the city name, street name, and house number you are closest to. The team on 911 call would also ask for traffic signs and signals, mile markings, travel direction, and everything else that will help them find you easily and quickly. Do not hang up before the officer on the other end asks you to do so.

Collecting Important Information

Use a camera to take pictures to document the event that leads to accidents and auto injuries. Get the name, address, phone number, and driver’s license number of every person involved in the accident. Document the details of every person who has suffered injuries in the car accident.

While collecting the data, if you find that the driver’s details do not match up with the car details, then determine the person’s relationship to the vehicle owner.

Once all the above things are covered, gather all the vehicle information possible, including year, model, color, and vehicle identification number. Get the insurance policy details that the other driver has and the company’s phone number if the other person involved in the accident does not report the accident.

Also, try to convince people around the accident scene to witness your car accidents law claim for the injuries suffered. Collect the information of such witnesses and try to get an idea of what they saw. Having witnessed your claim helps you in recovery from losses in a car accident.

Call your Insurance Company

It may be tempting at the moment to cut a deal with the other driver to avoid making an insurance claim and going through the hectic process of the same for the auto injuries suffered and damages incurred. However, not notifying your insurance company about the crash can leave you liable for damages stemming from the accident and can result in an obstruction to recover money motor vehicle accident.

Seeing a Doctor

You may feel fine right after experiencing an accident, but some auto injuries become apparent only after a while. There are chances that you may have suffered head or spinal injuries due to an auto accident, so visit your doctor if you experience pain or unusual symptoms that may be auto injuries.

Auto injuries usually get included in your car insurance claim, so it is essential to document any physical harm stemming from the crash or accident.

Contact an Attorney

After suffering auto injuries in an automobile crash, do not make any delays in contacting an attorney. Having an attorney in your corner can help you immensely. A car accident attorney knows the legal language and has the skills and resources required to deserve the compensation.

Car accident law attorneys work day in and day out on similar cases. With the help of an attorney, you can concentrate on recovering while being assured that qualified and experienced personnel are out there fighting for your rights.

Click here to contact an experienced car accidents law attorney for your case on getlegal.com.

The five common types of car accidents one can experience in car collision:

1. Single car accident

It is a car accident in which only one car is involved. Most of these accidents are run-off-road collisions, rollovers, collisions with fallen debris, and collisions with animals.

2. Rollover

Vehicle rollover crashes are violent and complex. Rollover reflects the interaction of driver, vehicle, road, and environmental factors. Other factors included in a rollover crash are overspeeding, driving under the influence, and location.

3. Rear-end collision

This type of collision happens due to the driver's inattention or distraction, panic stops, reduced traction due to road conditions, and tailgating. In this type of collision, a vehicle crashed into the other vehicle in front of it.

4. Head-on collision

This type of collision happens when the front part of two vehicles crashes into each other in opposite directions. These types of collisions often result in fatal road traffic accidents. These accidents can be avoided by following traffic signs, staying in one’s lane, knowing the street conditions, etc.

5. Side-impact collision

As the name suggests, the vehicle suffers a crash from the side in this type of collision. These crashes are also called T-bone collisions or broadside collisions.

Side-impact collisions commonly occur at an intersection, parking lots, etc.

Legal action to recover compensation for losses

You can file a lawsuit as per car accidents law yourself after suffering injuries in a vehicle accident case.

However, filing a lawsuit sounds easy, but it is not. There are dozens of small things that move together in a car accidents lawsuit, and you cannot afford to miss furnishing a single document that can change the outcome of your suit.

It is in your best interest to seek the help of an experienced car accidents attorney who works day in and day out on car accidents law cases.

The attorney can help protect your right while ensuring that you get adequately compensated for the injuries you have suffered.

An experienced car accident attorney knows the legal language and has the skills and resources to achieve the desired outcome. You can give yourself enough time to recover and concentrate on becoming whole again while the attorney is out there fighting for your rights.

The car accidents law attorney can also negotiate with the insurance companies and represent you in the courtroom if the case goes to court—the odds of the desired outcome increase when you have a skilled and resourceful attorney in your corner.

Different types of compensation that can get recovered in a car accident claim

Pain

The first thing that a person experience after going through a car accident is pain. In fatal accidents, the injury suffered by a person can be excruciating.

The person might have trouble doing daily chores such as walking, sleeping, etc. The physical pain after the accident can be a nightmare that won’t allow the person to enjoy simple things in life.

Under the law, the person can get compensated for all the pain they undergo after
being in an accident.

Loss of enjoyment

Some injuries that result from an accident are so horrible that one can lose any sense of enjoyment in life. The damage won’t allow the person to participate in games, play with kids, etc.

For such loss of enjoyment in a person’s life, the court can order the defendant or
the insurance company to pay fair compensation.

Hospital bills

Anyone who suffers injury in an accident will likely have a pile of medical bills, resulting in added stress on the person.

The law, therefore, provides for legal provisions to receive compensation for all the hospital expenses incurred. The car accidents law makes it mandatory for the other party to pay the payment if the court asks to, no matter how expensive the hospital stay is.

Loss of income
A serious accident can put you out of work for days or even weeks; it can also lead to permanent loss of working capability. You would not be able to work, hence won’t receive any salary.

Along with medical costs, no income can put you in a difficult financial situation. Hence, in the court of law, the person injured in an accident can seek compensation for loss of income. The compensation amount increases if the person can never work again due to the injuries suffered in the accident.

Punitive Damages
In some situations, the victim can claim punitive damages from the accused. For example, if the accused rode the motorcycle over you after a motorcycle accident even while bleeding after the first crash.

The court will consider this behavior unruly and find such actions entirely unacceptable. The court demands the accused pay punitive damages as prescribed in law.

Emotional sufferings

An accident does not only harm you physically but also puts you in extreme emotional distress. Many people go into depression after experiencing an accident, have nightmares, anxiety, etc. These minor issues can make it very difficult for the person to live normally.

Out-of-pocket costs

In addition to medical bills, there are many expenses that a person suffers after getting victimized in an accident. Expenses like travel expenses, renting a new vehicle, buying a new phone, etc., can take a toll on the victim’s financial situation; the victim comes under
out-of-pocket. So, has a provision of compensation under car accidents law.

The victim can make a complete list of such costs and present it to the court. If the court is convinced, the court can order the accused to pay the victim in full for such out-of-pocket expenses.

To conclude –

It might be a sensible move to handle your car accident claim by yourself in an infrequent circumstance. However, in most instances, having a lawyer who understands and works on car accident law cases day in and day out on your side is crucial to fighting for your rights and getting the justice you deserve. Make no delays in seeking the legal help of an attorney after experiencing a car accident.
https://www.getlegal.com/legal-info-center/personal-injuries-law/car-accidents/