If you are in an accident on I-495, speak with a Beltway accident lawyer to discuss your options. Anyone who drives on the Beltway knows it can be stressful. The I-495 Beltway curves around Washington, DC. It stretches 64 miles long and has existed for 74 years. It allows anyone residing outside of the beltway access to downtown Washington. Thus, it is a commuter hub and an intersection of dozens of counties. It encircles Washington, DC, through Northern Virginia, Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland.
If you take the Beltway to get to work, your daily commute may be like this: You slowly merge onto the Beltway. When speed starts to pick up, you proceed around a corner. However, unbeknownst to the driver behind you, traffic up ahead is at a standstill. The corners and blind spots up ahead on the Beltway account for a large number of motor vehicle collisions every year. Moreover, one must also account for the stress of commuting and the traffic during rush hour. These factors are present on many highways across Maryland. However, local Maryland residents understand just how bad it can get on the beltway, despite there being up to eight lanes in one direction.
Whether it is a rear-end accident, a sideswipe, a speeding accident, or any other possibility, you should protect your rights. At highway speeds, injuries can be catastrophic. Especially given how many drivers operate on I-495, accidents are often unavoidable, even through no fault of your own. At Gelb & Gelb, P.C., we have spent over 71 years fighting for accident victims in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. We understand the complexities of highway collisions and the challenges of dealing with insurance companies. One common nuance of beltway accidents is the number of parties involved.
Particularly if it is a semi-truck, or even some reckless driver of a sedan, multiple cars may be involved, meaning several claimants. This can quickly tap into the limits of standard insurance policies. However, there may still be steps we can take to maximize your compensation and ensure you get what you deserve out of your case.
Contact our office today for a free case consultation at (202) 331-7227.
I-495, also known as the Capital Beltway, is one of the busiest highways in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. While it is associated with DC, it actually spans through Maryland and Virginia. In our experience, three factors make the beltway so dangerous.
The Beltway carries hundreds of thousands of vehicles daily, making traffic congestion a constant issue. Despite eight lanes going in one direction at times, it is not always enough for the inflated demand. More cars on the road always mean more chances to collide with another vehicle. It means there are more obstacles to avoid, more negligence to be aware of and avoid, and less space to evade when avoiding an accident.
While congestion exists on many Maryland highways, our attorneys observe that sudden slowdowns occur more frequently on the beltway than on most other roads. The reason for this is the highway’s curvature. Some parts of the highway curve so much that drivers must slow down to avoid overturning. Moreover, drivers will speed up, believing they have adequate space ahead of them. Unfortunately, the curves in the road hide that there is another slowdown ahead.
The beltway is notorious for aggressive and reckless driving. With so many lanes, some will inevitably be faster than others. This is when aggressive drivers take it upon themselves to cut off the slower drivers to make a point. This is reckless behavior and leads to accidents. If you are the victim of such aggressive driving on the beltway, contact a beltway accident lawyer immediately.
Anyone in the D.C. or Maryland area knows driving on the beltway involves dealing with some of the most unpredictable drivers. Thus, the list of causes for a vehicle accident is endless. Here, we list the most common causes of beltway accidents that can result in a viable claim for a plaintiff.
With over 70 years of experience handling beltway accident cases, we understand the precise law applicable in any highway case. While the law is ever-changing, we stay current with every change handed down by the Washington, D.C., Maryland court system and beyond. This allows us to always be ready when we take cases to trial. A thorough understanding of the law involves knowing the tort cases starting over 200 years ago. But, it also involves a thorough knowledge of the civil procedure that goes into a case. Some deadlines apply only in some instances. Meeting these deadlines is crucial to the ultimate recovery in your case.
Understanding the legal aspects of your case includes understanding the various insurance implications. For example, you may have personal injury protection (“PIP”). This collateral source of recovery should not diminish your recovery from the tortfeasor. However, it can be a way to pay your medical providers or other expenses before obtaining your money via settlement or judgment. Our attorneys have handled these various insurance aspects since our founding in 1954. We know how to navigate through it, and we can help you as we maximize your recovery.
This is a crucial part of any case. Many firms throughout D.C. and Maryland prioritize client communication, but in our view, none do it as effectively or consistently as we do. We know we are working for you when we take on your case. If you have any questions or concerns, a lawyer should respond quickly. Failure by an attorney to respond quickly can make a difference. As mentioned above, some deadlines require careful consideration. But beyond that, your attorney’s understanding of what you are going through in your case impacts the amount you recover. For example, if you can no longer perform your favorite hobbies, you deserve compensation for this loss of enjoyment of life. Having a responsive attorney means he is more likely to pay attention to the minor details of your case.
In addition to the likelihood of a better recovery, you will have a more satisfactory experience with a responsive attorney. You will not have to go through the frustrating experience of repeatedly calling a law office and being unable to contact your lawyer during your case. As a future client of a personal injury lawyer with a case, you must be informed. When you have questions, you should not have to call your attorney’s office several times just to get a response to a simple question.
With over 70 years of experience practicing injury law, we have a reputation for effectively handling beltway accidents. This reputation serves us and our clients in several meaningful ways. First, it gives you a reason to have confidence in our ability to handle your case. A reputation takes decades to build. You know that, by hearing about ours, it represents a group of lawyers and staff caring about each client. Secondly, our reputation has credibility in the legal community. This gives our clients and us better relationships with judges, opposing counsel, and other professionals, such as insurance adjusters, who may control how much the tortfeasor’s insurer will hand out on a claim.
Our strong reputation as excellent litigators serves us by generally allowing us to skip the preliminary phases of weaker settlement offers. Insurance companies often make inadequate settlement offers if they are unfamiliar with a law firm, in case the lawyer needs to understand how much the case is worth. However, due to our reputation as a competent law firm, we can skip this part and expedite your claims process.
The trial process in a Beltway accident case is the same as that of any other car accident in Maryland. However, it starts before the trial can begin.
Filing a lawsuit is seldom the first step we take in a case. There are a few reasons for that. First, filing a lawsuit is more expensive. It is also undoubtedly more time-consuming. However, this is the case for both parties to an accident. The defendant and their insurer do not want to pay those expenses just to lose at trial. Thus, there is an opportunity for both sides to resolve the case amicably. We can discuss the case’s merits over the phone to settle most cases. However, in cases where the damages are extensive, it is more difficult to know precisely what a case is worth. This is when having a mediator or arbitrator can be beneficial and expedite the process. We are finding that mediation is more common in 2023.
Mediation involves both parties, the legal counsel for each party, and a third-party mediator who will try to push both sides into meeting somewhere in the middle and coming to terms for a settlement. This process works because both sides generally prefer to settle. However, it can take the entire day and can be somewhat expensive. The cost is low in cases where hundreds of thousands, millions, or dollars are at stake. Therefore, you would want to mediate only in some instances.
If we file suit on your claim, getting into court can be a lengthy process. The court system in Maryland could be better. It can take several months to over a year to get into court. Once in court, the trial ranges from a few hours to a couple of days. Depending on the nature of your accident, we may have to bring in expert witnesses or other eyewitnesses to testify and examine on the witness stand. The fortunate part of going to trial is that if we win, your recovery may be closer to what it is worth. Of course, going to court technically includes the risk of not winning at trial on liability. This is in addition to the associated time costs and court filing fees. For these reasons, we try to settle a case where that option is available.
Managing Partner Roger Gelb leads our legal team in our D.C. and Maryland offices. Licensed to practice in both jurisdictions, he has been practicing personal injury law for over 30 years and has personally handled thousands of cases. Our style of counsel for our clients involves a client-centric approach. If you have any questions during your case, you are encouraged to ask away. Our fee structure is on a contingent basis. You will not have to pay extra to call and ask questions. If you do have questions, you can always speak to your attorney. At many firms, clients are delegated to paralegals to answer any questions. Communication between the client and attorney is a top priority.
Determining what your beltway accident case is worth depends on a multitude of factors. A judge or jury will consider these factors almost like a formula. However, the core factors are not the only ones to consider. For example, when we are settling your case, we must consider the probability of being able to prove liability should we go to trial. We can negotiate more aggressively for a case where liability is clear, and the insurance company knows it.
Determining liability is sometimes simple. Proving liability can be more complex. Sometimes, how paint is scratched on two collided vehicles can tell a story. Other times, a rear-end collision might indicate that the driver behind the rear-ended car is at fault. However, this is only sometimes the case. We must look at where on the rear bumper the dent is and what any witnesses say. For example, the car that got rear-ended may have cut out in front of the second car, leaving that car no time to adjust and slow down. In such a case, liability is more complex to prove.
In tort law, we have a basic formula to calculate what a case is worth. However, the worse the injury is, the more room for speculation about the exact amount. To be clear, we calculate total damages by adding medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. A lot goes into each category, but these are the three broad starting points for compensatory damages. Medical expenses are a compensable financial injury after a beltway accident where someone else is at fault. If you have $15,000 in medical expenses, you should be able to recover $15,000 for that part of your damages. The same goes for missed wages.
However, the critical bit to remember regarding lost wages is that a doctor must excuse you for the time you miss from work. Otherwise, we cannot successfully make that claim in court, and the insurance companies know this during settlement negotiations. You must also adhere to other rules, such as the duty to mitigate your damages. The third umbrella category is pain and suffering. This category is meant to compensate you for the pain and suffering you had to undergo throughout your injury. This includes the lost time related to the accident. But it also provides for the grind of attending physical therapy daily, sitting in traffic, and working hard to recover. You should not have to deal with this, as you did not cause the collision on the beltway, and the law compensates you for your time.
If we do not win your case, we do not cost you a dime. This is known as a contingency fee.
This means your legal fee is contingent on us winning. So, if we do not win your case, there is no fee. No strings are attached; we make it very clear in your retainer agreement. This works to the benefit of the client for countless reasons. First, if you cannot afford an attorney but have a great case entitling you to significant compensation, you can still afford excellent legal counsel. Additionally, if you have mounting medical bills, you can pay those while your attorney works hard behind the scenes to get you compensated.
You do not have to pay anything for your consultation. Your Beltway accident attorney will advance these costs for you upfront. Also, as noted above, you can ask for as much legal counsel as possible. This is a significant benefit not afforded to many firms. And our phone lines are available 24/7, giving you quick access if you have any questions.
Roger Gelb and our legal team are available to discuss your options following a car accident on I-495. Our consultations are free if you have any questions or a viable claim. We are excited to speak with you.
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