Car accidents happen when vehicles collide with one another or with other objects, such as pedestrians, road debris, buildings or trees. Duluth Car Accident statistics cite driver error as the leading cause of most crashes.
If you are able, take pictures of the accident scene and your car’s damage. This information will come in handy if you need to file an insurance claim.
A car accident can cause damage that goes well beyond the physical injuries of those involved. It can also have a major impact on financial health in the form of medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and more.
When pursuing compensation for these costs, it is essential to understand the different types of damages available and how they work in a legal claim. These damages are meant to provide compensation for the loss caused by another party’s negligence.
Economic damages cover the monetary value of any losses you experienced as a result of the accident. These include things like lost wages, medical treatment, property damage, vehicle repair, childcare expenses, transportation costs for doctors’ appointments, and other related costs.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are meant to compensate for your psychological or emotional injury. These may include the effects of the crash on your quality of life, including anxiety, stress, and depression. They can also encompass things that cannot be monetized, such as pain and suffering, punitive damages for especially egregious acts of negligence, or funeral expenses in the event of a fatal crash.
Before submitting any claims to your insurance company or the at-fault driver’s insurance company, you should carefully inspect and measure the damage to your vehicle, taking note of any parts that have been damaged or destroyed. This should be done with the assistance of a qualified mechanic, and the evidence should be recorded on video to make the record more thorough.
Any evidence gathered should also be inspected by law enforcement officers or sheriff’s deputies. This will help to prevent anyone from altering or moving any items that could be used as proof of the accident’s cause. A police report will be filed, which is a key piece of evidence that you will need to submit when seeking compensation for your damages.
It is important to file a police report even if the accident seems minor and you believe you will not be filing an insurance claim for any damages. This will serve as a vital document that will support your claim, and can be useful in proving negligence on the part of both drivers.
Injuries
Car accident injuries can be severe, causing significant health problems for those involved. Symptoms may not show up right away, and some injuries can take years to heal completely. These health problems can make it difficult or impossible to return to work, affecting income.
Injuries caused by a car accident are varied and can include abrasions, broken bones, spinal cord damage and head trauma. These injuries can lead to permanent disabilities, making it hard for victims to live independently and enjoy the normal activities of everyday life. They can also impact a person’s emotional well-being, resulting in serious depression and anxiety that interferes with sleep.
Spinal cord injuries, if sustained, can change the course of an individual’s life forever. They can cause paralysis, which can turn everyday tasks like walking, eating, and bathing into challenging challenges. They can also impair a victim’s memory and ability to concentrate. They can also impact a victim’s quality of life by making it hard or impossible to participate in the hobbies and recreational activities they used to love.
Frequently, victims suffer neck and chest injuries as a result of being thrown forward by the force of the accident. They can also sustain fractured ribs and pulmonary contusions, which are bruises on the lungs. If an occupant is not wearing their seatbelt, they can sustain these injuries even more severely.
Internal organ damage is another common injury from car accidents, primarily because of the violent forces involved in most crashes. These injuries can affect the spleen, kidneys and liver. They can also cause blood clots and severe internal bleeding.
Other common injuries from car accidents include broken fingers and toes, hip fractures, shoulder injuries, leg and foot injuries, arm fractures and wrist injuries. Typically, these injuries occur when the driver or passengers attempt to brace themselves against a crash with their hands or feet. Wrists, in particular, have a lot of fragile bones, so they are particularly prone to fracture in the event of a car accident. These injuries can be very serious and require surgery to recover from, preventing the injured party from engaging in many everyday activities.
Insurance
A car accident, also known as a traffic collision, is a type of personal injury case that involves two or more motor vehicles. These crashes could be with other vehicles, stationary objects such as trees or buildings, or pedestrians. In the days following a crash, drivers should always make sure they report their car accident to the insurance company. The longer a driver waits to file an insurance claim, the more difficult it may be to receive compensation for their damages.
Traditional car insurance provides several types of coverage to help pay for the damages a driver can incur as a result of a collision. These include liability, medical payments, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Most states require that drivers carry a minimum amount of liability coverage to drive on the road. Many lenders will require borrowers to carry collision and comprehensive coverage until the loan is paid off.
Liability coverage pays out to third parties for injuries and property damage caused by the policyholder’s negligence behind the wheel. The limit on this type of coverage can be adjusted to suit the needs of the policyholder.
For example, if the driver has a family, a high limit would be more suitable. Generally, the more a driver pays for their liability coverage, the higher their premium will be.
Medical payments coverage, often referred to as MedPay, covers medical expenses for the driver and passengers in their vehicle, regardless of who is at fault for the accident. Depending on the state, this type of coverage can be increased to include additional costs such as mileage to recurring therapy appointments.
Finally, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) is optional but important. This protects you if the driver who hit you has no insurance or their insurance coverage is insufficient to cover your damages.
For a monthly fee, an accident insurance plan can provide funds to help the policyholder with expenses incurred as a result of an accidental injury. This may include covering the cost of alternative transportation while a patient recovers, paying the rent while a person is out of work, and even helping with day-to-day living expenses such as food delivery and cleaning services.
Legal Issues
Car accidents are often traumatic, physically and emotionally devastating experiences. They also have financial consequences that are often serious and long-lasting. It is important for victims and their loved ones to understand the legal implications of car accidents so that they can protect themselves from further harm and losses.
The legal definition of a car accident is a crash between two or more vehicles, including passengers and drivers. A car accident can also involve other objects, such as animals and buildings. The damages that a victim can recover from a car accident are generally divided into two categories: economic and non-economic. Economic damages include medical bills and lost income. Non-economic damages are meant to compensate the victim for the less tangible effects of a car accident, such as emotional distress and pain and suffering.
An experienced attorney can help a plaintiff determine the full value of his or her injuries and damages. This involves collecting all available evidence, including eyewitness testimony, police body cam footage, witness statements and accident reports. The lawyer can also consult with experts such as vocational rehabilitation specialists and life care planners to paint a complete picture of a victim’s future losses.
Depending on the laws in your state, you may be entitled to compensation for both economic and non-economic damages. However, you must prove that the damages you suffered meet the legal standard for your claim by a preponderance of the evidence. This is a relatively low burden of proof, compared to other requirements, such as clear and convincing evidence or beyond a reasonable doubt.
It is also important for a car accident victim to know how long he or she has to file a lawsuit. In most cases, there is a deadline, called the statute of limitations, that must be met in order to bring a lawsuit.
In some states, the law requires a jury to decide fault for a car accident. Others use a system of comparative negligence that allows a plaintiff to recover some damages even if he or she is more than 50 percent at fault for the accident. However, the plaintiff’s total compensation will be reduced by the percentage of fault he or she is deemed to have.