California Vehicle Accident Lawyers
- What Should I Do After a Vehicle Accident?
- Do I Have to See a Doctor After an Accident?
- When Should I Contact a Car Accident Lawyer?
- How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Vehicle Accident Lawyer?
- How Do I Find the Right Injury Lawyer For My Car Accident Case?
- What If I Was Partly At Fault For the Accident?
- Who Decides Fault for an Accident?
- What If I Wasn’t Wearing a Seatbelt or Helmet?
- How Long Will It Take to Resolve My Case?
- How Do Insurance Companies Value Auto Accident Injury Claims?
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Settlement in a motor vehicle accident involving a ride share company; client suffered spinal injuries.– JUDD ROSS ALLEN
What Should I Do After a Vehicle Accident?
In the chaos and confusion of an accident scene, it can be difficult to know what to do. Your priority should always be the health and safety of everyone on the scene. Get out of your vehicle and move away from oncoming traffic. Accidents often result in secondary accidents from “rubberneckers,” so it is important not to be in your car when this happens. Find a safe place to shelter on the side of the road.
Help anyone who needs assistance getting safely away from the path of oncoming traffic. If you are unsure whether you can safely move someone, call 911 right away and let the dispatcher know about the situation. The 911 operator will help you determine whether to move the person or wait for the first responders to arrive.
Your safety is always the priority after a car accident. If you need to leave the accident scene in an ambulance, the police will find you to get the information they need. Do not hesitate to get any emergency medical care you need. If you do not need to leave in an ambulance right away, the police will help you exchange insurance information with the other driver and take your statement about what happened.
These statements are often critical evidence that will help you file a personal injury claim later. Obtaining evidence like witness statements is just one reason it is important to call the police to the scene of an accident. You should always call 911 after an accident, even if you are unsure whether you need medical attention and even if the other driver asks you to “take care of it” without police involvement.
Do I Have to See a Doctor After an Accident?
Even if you do not feel hurt, it is still important to see a doctor soon after an auto accident. The most important reason is that you could have latent injuries which do not show up right away. Some of these are life-threatening: if, for example, you are bleeding internally, you might not show symptoms until your blood pressure has already dropped dangerously low. By this point, it could be too late for doctors to stop the bleeding. But suppose you were to get checked out right away. In that case, emergency medical technicians or emergency department staff might notice a small drop in blood pressure before it becomes a life-or-death situation.
The other reason it is important to see a doctor is to protect your legal rights. If you delay treatment, the insurance company could say that you made your injuries worse by not seeing a doctor right away. They could also claim that medical care you received later (such as physical therapy or chiropractic services) is suspicious if you were not injured right away. By seeing a doctor right away, you can find any medical problems as soon as possible and protect your right to compensation for any medical care you require later.
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When Should I Contact a Car Accident Lawyer?
As soon as you have seen a doctor and taken care of your immediate medical needs, it is time to look for a personal injury lawyer. You can start by searching online for a California “vehicle accident lawyers near me.” You can check online reviews, the lawyers’ experience with car accident cases, and you can even check with the State Bar to make sure these attorneys are licensed to practice law and in good standing with the State of California. You also don’t have to go far to find the very best vehicle accident lawyers in the state.
Our dedicated attorneys serve clients throughout California. They have experience handling many different types of car accident cases. This fact means that they understand the specific issues that are likely to come up in your case and know how to fight for fair compensation in your unique circumstances. Schedule your free consultation as soon as possible after being involved in an auto accident.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Vehicle Accident Lawyer?
The biggest concern many injury victims have about lawyers is the cost. Luckily, most personal injury lawyers charge no upfront fees. Instead, they work “on contingency.” Working on contingency means that lawyers agree to work on your case in exchange for an agreed percentage of the money they can get you.
If the lawyer is unable to get you money, then he or she is not paid. This system ensures that all injury victims have access to legal representation without paying attorney’s fees upfront. Many personal injury lawyers offer a free consultation with no obligation to hire them, ensuring that you can get the legal advice you need to protect your right to compensation.
How Do I Find the Right Injury Lawyer For My Car Accident Case?
The right attorney for your particular accident case will be the one who has experience handling similar cases. Look for attorneys who have handled similar auto accident cases in the past: for example, if you suffered injuries in an Uber, ask your attorney if he or she has filed claims against Uber before. Suppose someone hit you while you were on a bicycle. In this case, you should ask how many bicycle injury cases your lawyer has handled.
Different types of cases create different legal issues. The more experience your attorney has handling your particular type of case, the better he or she will be able to protect your legal rights. The same rule applies to your specific injuries. The type of injuries you suffer determines the compensation to which the law entitles you. Because of this, it is important to find an attorney who understands your specific injuries and knows how much compensation you should recover for them. For example:
if you suffered a mild traumatic brain injury, ask if your lawyer has handled TBI cases before. What does he or she know about brain injuries? Have they worked with medical experts before? Do they know a neurologist who can testify in your case, if necessary? If the attorney cannot answer these questions or seems unsure of handling your case, they might not be the right lawyer for your particular case.
What If I Was Partly At Fault For the Accident?
In many car accidents, more than one person at fault. Sometimes a company is found at fault. Sometimes a third party who wasn’t even involved in the accident is found at fault. In all these cases, California law allows an injury victim to hold each defendant accountable for his or her portion of negligence.
You can recover compensation even if you have some negligence as well. So long as a defendant was partly at fault, he or she has a legal obligation to pay you for whatever portion of damages they caused. That said, your compensation will be reduced in proportion to your percentage of fault.
So if, for example, your injury claim was worth $10,000 and you and the other driver were each fifty percent at fault, you would only be able to recover $5000 in compensation from the other driver. Your negligence can significantly reduce the compensation you can recover.
As a result, insurance companies like to try to shift the blame to injury victims and say that the victim was partly at fault to reduce their compensation. You should never just take the insurance company’s word for it when they say you were partly at fault. They do not get to make that decision on their own.
Who Decides Fault for an Accident?
So who does decide who was at fault (“liable”) for causing a car accident? If the insurance company and your attorney can agree on liability, then this issue is resolved. But if the insurance company persists in trying to shift the blame to you, your attorney might have to file a lawsuit to force them to prove these allegations.
Sometimes the mere act of filing a lawsuit is enough to get the insurance company to admit their driver was at fault. Other times, the parties must exchange evidence through the discovery process or even engage in mediation to resolve liability.
If none of these steps are successful, you have the right to take your case to trial and let a jury decide who was at fault. You can see that there are many ways to fight back when the insurance company claims you are partly at fault. The issue might be up for discussion, but you should never take the word of someone on the other side. Only your injury lawyer can give you a fair opinion on whether you were partly at fault for causing an accident.
What If I Wasn’t Wearing a Seatbelt or Helmet?
In some cases, victims make their injuries worse if they are not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. Those who ride motorcycles or bicycles might experience worse injuries if they are not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Situations like these do not automatically mean that these victims are at fault for causing their injuries. Insurance companies often claim that an injury victim must be partly at fault if they weren’t taking all available safety precautions.
But this does not mean that the negligent driver is not at fault. Though seatbelt or helmet use might be a small contributing factor to a portion of your losses, the vast majority of your damages are a direct result of the other driver’s negligence.
For this reason, it is important to protect your right to compensation with an injury lawyer who knows how to prove fault. The record-breaking California vehicle accident lawyers at Arash Law led by Arash Khorsand have handled many different types of liability issues. When an insurance company tries to blame you for causing the accident, or claim that your injuries were worse because you didn’t wear a seatbelt, or even denies liability altogether, our aggressive accident lawyers know how to fight back.
How Long Will It Take to Resolve My Case?
Some cases are very simple. If the insurance company accepts liability and makes a fair settlement offer, they could resolve your claim in a few short weeks. That said, uncertainty about who was at fault for the accident can delay your case by weeks – or even months. Some auto accident cases take years to go to trial. Auto accident cases might also have to go to trial when the insurance company accepts liability but refuses to make a fair settlement offer.
Your attorney might spend months working with expert witnesses to prove how much your case is worth. These steps take longer, but they might be necessary to get you a fair settlement offer. If you are impatient to settle, you might miss out on thousands of dollars. Taking the time to prove your losses will ensure that you don’t miss out on the compensation you deserve.
When you meet with one of our injury lawyers for your free consultation, they will be able to give you a better idea of how long it might take to resolve your case. Of course, a lot of this depends on the other driver’s insurance company and how reasonable their claims adjusters are willing to be. These are factors that your attorney won’t know about until they start communicating with the insurance company.
How Do Insurance Companies Value Auto Accident Injury Claims?
Insurance companies often use a very simple mathematical formula to determine what your claim is worth. They start by adding up your medical bills, lost wages, and other losses you have documented with receipts (such as a wheelchair or crutches). Then, to determine the value of your pain and suffering, they multiply the total of your medical bills by a small number (usually between one and three, depending on the severity of your injuries).
These numbers are compiled by a computer and read back by a claims adjuster. As you can imagine, this system does not come up with fair valuations that account for your pain and suffering. You are entitled to compensation for these losses. Vehicle accident lawyers work to prove the specific losses you suffered due to your injuries. Perhaps you were unable to sleep because your pain was so bad.
Or maybe you could not hold your children because an arm injury made it difficult to bear any weight. These are very real, emotional losses. A computer cannot understand these losses, but a jury certainly can. Our car crash attorneys work hard to ensure that you receive fair compensation for all the physical pain and emotional suffering you endure after a vehicle accident.
Call us Today to Speak with a RECORD-BREAKING California Vehicle Accident Lawyer
The best vehicle accident lawyers in California are right here at Arash Law. Our skilled injury attorneys have decades of experience, and we have collected over $500 million dollars for clients across the state. You don’t have to spend hours searching online for a “vehicle accident lawyer near me.” Our skilled legal team serves clients in San Francisco, Riverside, San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento, Sherman Oaks, and throughout California.
Call (888) 488-1391 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation with an attorney. Accident victims throughout California trust Arash Law to protect their legal rights. We will fight hard for you, too, to protect your right to fair compensation for all your injuries and losses. Let our experienced team defend your legal rights so that you can focus on making the best recovery possible from your injuries.
