Car Accident Lawyer
There is practically no such thing as a minor car accident injury. Any harm will cost you in terms of medical bills, pain and inconvenience to your life. While there is little good news associated with a car accident, you can take comfort in the fact that the driver responsible for your accident has a legal obligation to pay you full damages once you can prove that they were to blame. The car accident attorneys at the Howard Stallings Law Firm will work for you to make sure you receive compensation for your injuries.
Types of Car Accidents
In 2021, there were just over 276,000 car crashes in North Carolina. These accidents break down into the following categories:
One car strikes the car in front of them, usually because they did not see a stopped car, or they could not slow down in time. Rear-end car accidents are the most common form of crash, and they can cause serious whiplash injuries. The presumption is that the driver of the rear car is to blame for the accident.
These are the most dangerous types of car accident, and head-on crashes have the highest fatality rate. Usually, one driver is entirely where they are not supposed to be, either because of their inattention or recklessness. The severe injuries are caused by the tremendous amount of force that is unleashed by the accident.
These types of crashes, also known as intersection accidents, often occur at stop signs and red lights. One driver has failed to yield the right-of-way when they were required to by law, causing the front of one vehicle to strike the broad side of another.
accidents
Drivers must check their blindspots before they change lanes or make a turn. Sometimes, they may fail to see that there is another driver where they are trying to get, and they could sideswipe the car. These accidents are dangerous because they could cause the other driver to lose control of their vehicle.
Causes of Car Accidents
All it takes is a brief moment of carelessness from someone else to change your life forever or even take a loved one from you. Some of the common causes of car accidents in North Carolina include:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Reckless driving
- Tailgating
- Failure to check blindspots
- Illegal turns
- Drunk driving
- Inexperienced drivers
When you know the cause of the car accident, you would then need to come up with the evidence that proves exactly what happened. The insurance company always wants to see compelling evidence before they are willing to write you a check. They may be even tougher to satisfy than a jury, so you need an experienced car accident lawyer to help make your case.
Negligence is the legal standard that you need to meet to win your car accident case. Here, you must prove that the driver did something that an average motorist would not have done under the circumstances, such as making an illegal turn or hitting the car in front of them because they could not slow down in time to avoid a crash.
Damages in a Car Accident Legal Case
Once you prove negligence, you would have established your entitlement to money. Then your legal process shifts to the amount of your settlement and the actual compensation that you deserve. Your car accident compensation should include the following:
- Medical bills
- Property damages
- Lost wages (or a reduction in your earnings capacity)
- Pain and suffering
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Embarrassment and humiliation
You are entitled to money for both the past harm you have suffered and for what you will endure in the future. It is not always easy to quantify your damages, and that is where our lawyers help you
Getting money and deserving it are two different things when there is an insurance company involved in your case. In the end, the amount of your compensation depends on how much insurance coverage there is and the settlement agreement that you can negotiate with the insurance company. It is up to you to fight for every dollar because the insurance company will never simply give you everything at the outset of your case.
How Insurance Companies Make Your Life More Difficult
Insurance companies are for-profit businesses at their core. When they need to pay your claim, it comes from their bottom line. Their profits are the premiums they receive, plus their investment earnings minus their expenses and the claims that they pay. Therefore, insurance companies will do everything in their power to minimize the amount that they have to pay you or even avoid paying you at all.
Some common tactics that insurance companies may use include:
- Pressuring you to speak on the record when you do not have a personal injury attorney, so they can use your own words against you in any way that they can
- Delaying their response to your claim as long as they can to make your own financial situation more precarious and to keep their money for as long as possible
- Making you lowball settlement offers to catch you unaware of the value of your claim or to get you to accept less money than you deserve
- Blaming you for the accident in whole or in part to avoid paying you entirely (North Carolina is a pure contributory negligence state, and you will receive nothing, even if you were just 1% to blame for the accident)
How the Howard Stallings Law Firm Can Help You
It is crucial that you reach out to a car accident lawyer right after your crash. Delaying this call can put your ability to receive compensation at risk, especially when liability is in question, or the insurance company is trying to blame you for the accident.
When you hire the tough personal injury lawyers at the Howard Stallings Law Firm, we will do the following for your case:
- Aggressively investigate your accident to both learn the cause and gather evidence that can prove liability
- Help you determine how much you should seek in compensation from the responsible driver
- Handle all the communications with the insurance company, keeping them from rushing or pressuring you into giving a statement or agreeing to a settlement
- Draft a claim or lawsuit to file with the insurance company or in court
- Negotiate a settlement agreement with the insurance company after you have filed a claim or lawsuit
- Continue to build your case through the litigation process, trying your case in front of a jury if you cannot settle
All of these tasks require a personal injury lawyer with the experience and toughness to represent your legal interests, and that is exactly what you will find at the Howard Stallings Law Firm.
Contact a Raleigh Car Accident Lawyer Today
If you have been involved in a car accident, you simply cannot delay a phone call to a lawyer – the stakes are far too high. The personal injury attorneys at Howard Stallings Law know how to fight for our clients’ legal rights, while we provide diligent and attentive service to you. To speak with one of our dedicated car accident attorneys, you can message us through our website, or you can call us today at 919-821-7700. There is no fee unless you receive a settlement or award for your injuries.
Meet Our Attorneys
