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What Causes An Accident And What Happens Next?
Car accidents can be caused by many factors, but they usually fall into two main categories: driver error and vehicle defect. Pursuing compensation for our clients is our primary focus at our auto accident law firm. Over the years, we have assisted numerous injured victims in California, particularly those in San Francisco, Riverside, Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sherman Oaks. Contact us to begin learning about your rights and potential legal options.
This article describes the causes of car crashes and their effects on an accident victim’s everyday life. A car accident has the potential to change how you live your life, regardless of the reason. Let’s look at the common causes and effects of car accidents.
Major Causes Of Car Crashes
You may have heard that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. That sentiment rings true in many of our daily activities, including driving. However, many factors contribute to car accidents.
Sometimes, car crashes can be avoided, but at other times, they cannot. Often, car crashes are caused by human error. When you are in an accident, consider having an attorney on your side. The attorneys at our law firm will use their knowledge and skill in personal injury law to help you identify the potentially responsible party in the accident and pursue compensation for your injuries. Call our law firm and we’ll help explain your legal rights.
The major categories of human-caused car accidents include:
- Drunk driving
- Driving while tired
- Distracted driving
Drunk Driving Is A Major Cause Of Car Crashes
As you may imagine, drinking and driving are significant causes of many car crashes. Thousands of people die each year because of car accidents caused by drunk driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2019, 10,142 people died in a car accident because of a drunk driving incident.
It is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or over in every state across the country. Alcohol consumption impairs your brain’s ability to think. Every brain function is weakened when you drink alcohol. Any amount of alcohol changes the way that you think.
Whether you are just one beer closer to blacking out, your inhibitions are lowered, and you are more likely to make reckless choices. The increase in irresponsible decisions, combined with a decline in brain function, raises the risk of impaired drivers causing serious car crashes.
Drunk driving has many consequences, including imprisonment and death. Fortunately, the instances of drunk driving can be reduced because of the popularity of ridesharing apps. Additionally, having an old-fashioned designated driver is still a responsible and reliable option for getting home safely.
Can I Drive While On Prescription Medication?
Some prescription medications can have the same effect as being under the influence of alcohol. A common question is whether you can be liable for a car accident because you take prescription drugs. The answer to the liability question is fact-dependent. Tell us your story. Our team is here to help you understand the potential legal aftermath of a car accident.
Can I Sue A Bar That Overserved A Driver?
As an advocate for your rights, we work to pursue compensation from whoever may have caused your injury. In some cases, you can sue both the bar and the establishment that served the alcohol. The laws that allow this kind of lawsuit are called dram shop laws. Historically, a “dram shop” is what bars and taverns were called, and that is why we call this body of law dram shop laws.
Third parties are not usually involved in personal injury cases. However, California law allows for dram shops to be named in a defendant’s personal injury lawsuit if it is found that the bar, tavern, or social host was negligent. A high bar has been set by the courts in California to determine if a social host is liable for a car accident.
The person served must be a minor for social host liability. Two types of servers can be found liable for overserving a minor. First, if a guest is underage, drinks in an adult’s home, and the adult knows or should have known that the minor was not old enough to drink alcohol. Second, if a bar, restaurant, or liquor store continues to serve an obviously intoxicated underage person.
In those specific cases, you may be able to sue a third party. The team at Arash Law understands that accident victims may find it difficult to identify who is at fault. We want to help. If you have been injured in an accident, contact us, and our experienced attorneys will offer legal assistance.
What Are The Dangers Of Driving While Tired?
You may not think driving while you are tired or downright exhausted is dangerous. However, the truth is that driving while you are tired can be as dangerous as driving while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Driving while tired decreases your reaction time. You may not be able to stop quickly when necessary, or you may not be able to remember to check your blind spots. It is never a good idea to drive while you are sleepy.
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving includes anything that takes your attention away from the road. Many different things can take your attention away from the road and potentially cause a car accident. Distracted driving includes:
- Texting while driving
- Eating
- Music
- Passengers
- Taking a pet to the vet
- Being sick
- Being in a hurry or speeding
What If A Defect Caused My Car Accident?
It is a reality that sometimes car accidents are out of our control. Sometimes our vehicles have a manufacturing defect that we know about before the accident happens. In such a case, it may be challenging to know who is liable for the damage that has occurred.
In these cases, you can consider consulting an attorney after an accident. As a law firm with decades of collective experience, we are committed to learning all the facts about your case. We know how important it is to have a clear picture of your case to represent your interests. A dedicated car accident law firm will work to recreate the scene to get every relevant detail and evidence and commit to seeking compensation on your behalf.
Whether it is another driver at fault or the car manufacturer, a skilled car accident attorney with years of experience representing clients in California can help you navigate the claims process.
Environmental Causes Of Accidents
Factors in the environment can cause a car accident. There can be neglect of the roadways, faulty traffic lights, stop signs, or other missing traffic signs. Neighborhood residents can leave their animals out, and you may have an accident as you try to avoid hitting them. Below are some examples of environmental causes of car accidents:
Negligent Care Of Public Roadways
Our neighborhood streets are maintained by the cities where we live. We have all experienced times when the roads in our cities are not in good condition. Whether there are potholes that haven’t been filled or some other maintenance issue, lack of care can not only cause damage to our vehicles, but it can also cause accidents.
Different states have their own laws about suing the city, county, or state. If you are injured in an accident resulting from the negligent care of roadways, contact our firm. The attorneys at our law firm will listen to your story and evaluate whether pursuing a lawsuit is a viable option for you.
Construction Sites
It may seem like there is always some construction taking place. Due to the construction, many people have found themselves with a flat tire after running over a stray nail. In addition to that unlucky circumstance, road closures due to construction can also cause a backup in traffic.
People tend to get impatient, and there may be fender benders or worse. No matter the cause of the accident, our team at Arash Law is prepared to offer legal guidance. Contact a car accident law firm in California after having an accident.
Hazardous Weather Conditions
Try as we might, we can’t control the weather. Some mornings, we wake up and look out of the window and see that it’s raining or that it snowed a couple of inches overnight, but we still have to endure the traffic and head into work.
The weather may be why an otherwise careful driver causes an accident. However, there is still someone responsible for the harm caused. We are committed to identifying those potentially responsible for your injury and pursuing compensation on your behalf.
Effects Of Car Accidents
The aftermath of car accidents can take various forms. Wrecks can do anything from causing you physical, emotional, and financial trauma to adverse effects on the environment to raising your car insurance rates.
How Can An Injury Affect My Life?
There are three major categories of hardships that a person injured in an accident can experience. You may need to file a case seeking damages to recover from your injuries, no matter what type of hardship you have faced. An established car accident law firm in California can help you pursue compensation for your accident-related losses.
The three major categories of hardships are financial hardships, emotional hardships, and physical hardships.
Financial Hardships
Financial hardships can include anything that affects your bank account after the accident. These damages can have a monetary value attached to them. Financial hardships include:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Lost earning ability
- Lost business or economic opportunity
- Loss of companionship (if you were married at the time of the accident)
- Punitive damages
- Property damage
Drunk driving has terrible consequences. If a person decides to drive drunk, they may damage their vehicle or other property. The accident could cause someone’s death. An additional effect is a criminal record. The punishment for driving drunk varies from state to state. If you are stopped for drunk driving in California, expect a court date and possibly some jail time.)
Emotional Hardships
Emotional hardships are struggles that occur because of the impact of a car crash. These types of damages are often not as apparent as the physical or financial trauma that you may endure. Emotional trauma may arise after a car accident when individuals sustain a concussion. Types of emotional hardships an accident victim may face can include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Fear
- Mental anguish and distress
- Insomnia
- Emotional distress to loved ones and family
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
Emotional damages may not be as obvious as physical or financial damages. You may start to experience emotional triggers after your accident. An emotional trigger is anything that causes you to relive some part of your car accident and causes you emotional pain. Emotional triggers can bring back memories and events, and for some people, these memories can cause significant distress.
Physical Hardships
Physical hardships are among the most apparent hardships from an accident. Treatment for physical hardships determines the number of damages that you can seek. Examples of physical hardships that accident victims may experience include:
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord damage
- Broken bones
- Cuts and bruises
- Whiplash
- Burns
- Disfigurement
- Paralysis
- Permanent or temporary impairment
- Death
Contact Our Experienced Car Accident Lawyers In California
Let our team use their skill and experience to help you. Call us to consult with a California accident attorney. We have helped numerous clients seek compensation for their accident-related injuries and losses in San Francisco, Riverside, Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sherman Oaks, and throughout the rest of California. We are committed to advocating for your rights and representing your case. Whenever you are injured in a car accident in California, call Arash Law for legal assistance. We are here to help.
