What to Do After a Car Accident
If you have been recently involved in a serious car accident in Los Angeles, prioritize safety by checking for injuries and calling 911 if needed. Take photos of the damage to vehicles, the surrounding area, and any skid marks or other relevant details. Do not admit fault or discuss blame with anyone, including the other driver or insurance companies. It is also important to get medical care for your injuries as soon as you can.
Insurance companies and opposing attorneys may use a delay in seeking medical treatment to argue that your injuries were not serious or were not caused by the accident, potentially impacting your ability to receive compensation. If you wait too long and get later medical treatment after an auto accident, this can lead to worsening of your injuries, plus longer recovery times, and potentially long-term complications.
If you believe someone else’s negligence caused the car collision, consider consulting with our Los Angeles attorney immediately to protect your right to compensation. An attorney could work to uncover the chain of events that led to the accident and identify what person is legally responsible for compensation.
Causes of Car Crashes
The cause of a Los Angeles motor collision plays an important role in your claim, as it helps your attorney identify who is to blame and who should be responsible for covering your losses. The following are some common causes of preventable collisions.
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving is a consistent problem on the roads, with drivers often texting, checking emails, programming the GPS, changing a podcast, or doing anything else on their phones. Drivers continue to use their phones while driving despite clear laws against doing so. Other distractions include eating, reaching into the backseat, and daydreaming. All of these could distract you enough to cause a crash.
If you are driving, any distraction could stop you concentrating on the road. Loss of focus, for even a second, is a common cause of devastating crashes, injuries, and, too often, fatalities.
Speeding
Speeding is another all-too-common cause of car accidents. When driving, you may feel pressured to keep up with fast-paced traffic in a fast-paced city, leading you and other drivers to exceed the speed limit. You may also find yourself driving too fast for the weather or road conditions, such as by failing to adjust your speed appropriately for fog, rain, or traffic. Excessive speed can also escalate minor crashes into catastrophic or fatal collisions.
Aggressive Driving
Most road users, like you, must deal with traffic and related delays, and it is only natural that you can become frustrated and impatient. However, some drivers allow their emotions to influence their driving, leading them to engage in aggressive tactics or even road rage. Aggressive driving might include weaving through lanes, passing on the shoulder, tailgating, and excessive speeding. Road rage can lead to intentional collisions, confrontations, and criminal assault by angry drivers.
Impaired Driving
While California Vehicle Code § 23152 makes driving under the influence illegal, and every driver should recognize the extreme dangers of this behavior, drugs and alcohol impair many people’s driving. This type of impairment can significantly affect driving abilities and judgment, increasing the risk of collisions.
Our attorneys regularly hold drunk drivers accountable for the harm they have caused our clients, and we take on these important cases to try to curb this intolerable behavior.
Failure To Yield
Laws regarding proper yielding keep order on the roads. When drivers fail to yield at four-way stops or when making turns, merging, or at any other necessary time, a collision is possible. Failing to yield can lead to T-bones, rear-end crashes, or even pedestrians being hit. We can determine whether another driver failed to yield and, therefore, hit your car and caused your injuries.
Violating Traffic Laws
The first duty of every driver is to follow all state and local traffic laws. When you receive your license, you agree to adhere to these laws, though some drivers do not take this responsibility seriously. They think they can cut corners and get places faster by speeding, skipping stop signs, improperly passing, and more. Any traffic law violation can lead to liability for a car crash, and our firm could uncover whether a driver was cited for a violation in your accident.
Knowing the common causes of car accidents can help keep you safe, but you cannot control the behavior of other drivers. If you are in a crash, we could use our resources to thoroughly investigate the cause of your accident and determine who should be liable.
How Car Accident Liability Works
You might not realize that different states have different systems for handling the legal aftermath of a car accident. Some states are no-fault states, which means each driver’s insurance covers their own injuries, regardless of who was to blame. California, on the other hand, is a fault-based state.
In our fault-based state, the at-fault driver’s auto insurance should cover any losses resulting from your collision. This means you must file a claim to seek compensation from the other driver’s insurer. You can file multiple insurance claims if more than one party shares liability.
An auto insurance company will not pay a settlement unless a claimant sufficiently proves the liability of the other driver. This is the first necessary step in the claim process, and insurers do not make it easy. Adjusters often fight against liability or attempt to reduce liability by fully or partially blaming you for the crash. Our Los Angeles attorneys know how to challenge insurance companies’ unfair accusations of blame and prove who is liable for your car crash.
Evidence To Prove Car Accident Claims
After a car accident, you need solid evidence to build a strong case and increase your chances of a successful claim. Our Los Angeles lawyers begin gathering evidence about your road collision as soon as you hire us, as we know evidence can quickly fade or disappear.
Some common evidence we might use to prove liability in a car accident claim includes:
- The police report
- Any traffic citations or criminal convictions for DUI
- Available surveillance footage showing the accident
- Dashcam footage
- Witness testimony
- Photos of the vehicles and accident scene
- Expert accident reconstruction and analysis
We do everything possible to clearly show adjusters who the liable party is. If the insurer tries to wrongfully blame you, we could challenge these allegations to ensure your settlement is not unfairly reduced.
What About Uninsured Motorists?
While the law requires every driver to carry minimum auto insurance, we all know that many people fail to comply with the law. Since accidents involving uninsured drivers are a common concern, you might wonder if it is possible to recover any compensation if the at-fault driver has no coverage.
If you have uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, you can seek compensation from your own provider. However, never assume the claim process will be simple just because it involves your insurer. You can face the same obstacles with a UM claim as you would with an at-fault claim, making legal representation just as necessary.
The reality is that many drivers are not adequately insured in Los Angeles, which could complicate matters if you are involved in a car wreck and seek an attorney’s help. However, you could still protect yourself and your future with our car accident legal team.
Potential Car Accident Damages
To establish negligence in a car accident and recover damages, the injured party must prove that the responsible party had a duty of care, breached that duty, and that the breach caused the subsequent injuries.
In car accident cases, damages are often divided into two categories. The first are economic damages, which include quantifiable losses like medical bills and lost wages. Compensation for medical expenses can include all past and future medical treatments related to the accident, such as surgeries, hospital bills, physical therapy, and medications.
The second form of damages are non-economic or intangible losses, such as pain and suffering. Our Los Angeles attorney could also help you recover auto accident damages for income lost during recovery and potential future lost earnings if injuries prevent you from returning to full capacity at work. Our attorneys could evaluate what economic and non-economic losses may be recoverable in your claim. Victims of car accidents must file their personal injury lawsuits within two years of the date of the accident.
Why Should I Hire a Lawyer?
After an auto accident you may be unsure what to do next, and dealing with insurance companies on your own can be overwhelming. The insurance company may pressure you to try to settle early on in your case, even if you have not completed treatment. This means that you could end up accepting a settlement that is far below what your actual case is worth.
Hiring our auto accident attorneys in Los Angeles can be beneficial because they have the in-depth legal knowledge that is required to navigate complex claims, negotiate with insurance companies, and ensure you receive fair compensation for your injuries and damages. Our lawyers could also advocate on your behalf, handling all communications with the insurance company so you can focus on getting well again.
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