Car accidents happen with unfortunate regularity in College Park. Accidents can only sometimes be avoided, whether a student at the University of Maryland or a more permanent resident. If you are injured due to someone else’s negligent or reckless driving, contact a College Park car accident lawyer to determine your rights for your unique facts. While this article will give you the essential information for what to do in case of a car accident, every case is different. It is up to you to get the counsel you need.
The first step to protect your rights is hiring a skilled and experienced College Park car accident lawyer. While you may receive sound advice from friends and relatives, there is no replacement for having an attorney fighting for you. We handle your insurance company and ensure you get the maximum compensation you deserve.
Car accidents are frustrating and intimidating, especially if you are unsure what to do. We aim to make this as straightforward of a process as possible for you.
Car accidents can lead to serious and life-threatening injuries. If your injuries are severe enough, seek immediate medical attention. There is nothing more important than getting yourself out of harm’s way. So, pull over to the side of the road and call an ambulance if necessary. It may be beneficial to skip step two and drive yourself to the hospital. But of course, this depends on whether your car is drivable and if you are safe to drive.
If you go to the hospital and are not at fault in the accident, you will likely not ultimately be responsible for the medical expenses. As we’ll discuss, medical expenses due to a car accident where another party is at fault are compensable under tort law.
This step is almost just as important. While there is a lot your College Park, MD, accident lawyers can do after the fact, some information must be collected on the day of the accident. Most importantly, we need information about the adverse driver. At the very least, could you take a picture of the license plate of the driver’s car? This can at least tell us who owns the car. If the police arrive, they can assist with this. But if they do not come to the scene, try to get the name, insurance information, and license plate number from the tortfeasor. If the tortfeasor successfully hits and runs, we may still be able to claim with your insurance. Sometimes, there is only as much coverage, but this option is acceptable as a last resort.
Taking pictures of the scene is also helpful. Documenting the condition of your car at the scene of the accident is something we use in trial and even settlement negotiations.
Documenting records is an important step you should maintain throughout your medical treatment. First, you should update your attorney on changes in your treatment plan. Whether you go to a new medical provider or stop going to one, we need to know these things. Just to remind you, medical expenses related to your car accident are compensable. However, we need to know about the appointments to include them in your case. We’ll remind you about this as your case progresses, but unfortunately, you are the only one who can tell us.
Consulting with an attorney will ultimately be your best bet in understanding the value of your case. While our College Park, MD legal team cannot predict or promise you a dollar amount, we can explain step-by-step how we evaluate your claim and seek to maximize your recovery.
Four core elements must be met to determine if you have a negligence case. Once these elements are met, we know whether the other party acted negligently. However, there are still questions about who to sue, where to sue, how much to sue for, etc. So, you’ll need to contact a College Park car accident lawyer regarding your facts.
The four elements that must be satisfied for a valid negligence claim are duty, breach, causation, and damages. To flesh this out, the defendant must have owed a duty of care to a reasonably prudent person in similar circumstances to a foreseeable plaintiff. What is a reasonably prudent person? This is the idea that the defendant should act like any other careful driver. This includes taking precautions against creating unpredictable or risky situations. The second element, breach, can be satisfied if the defendant is shown to have strayed from the duty of care owed to the plaintiff.
While causation can be tricky, the fourth element, damages, is more self-explanatory. Damages refer to personal injury suffered by you in the context of personal injury. Of course, damages can also be lost wages, medical expenses, pain and suffering, damage to your car, and anything related to the accident. To prove causation, there is a two-step process. We must prove actual and legal causation. If you would like more information on any of these four elements and how they apply to the facts of your case, please reach out for a free consultation with a veteran College Park car accident lawyer.
We often receive calls from car accident victims in College Park who are unsure whether it is beneficial for them to hire a lawyer. One of the primary reasons they cite is that they can have their insurance company handle it for them. And this may be fine if you caused the accident. However, if you were injured and must sue the adverse driver, you must hire a competent College Park car accident lawyer.
First, studies show you are likely to recover three and a half to four times as much with an attorney than without. Moreover, your attorney can provide compassionate representation and peace of mind. Why would this be? Car accident lawyers spend countless hours negotiating with insurance companies in Maryland. Additionally, they understand who to sue, how much your case is worth, and how to obtain maximum compensation based on your insurance coverage, the adverse driver’s coverage, and any assets owned by the negative and any other parties involved.
There are two broad categories under which a car accident victim may recover in College Park. Of course, these umbrella categories contain subsets of damages you can recover following your accident. You can now apply for damages to your unique case; you can contact a College Park car accident lawyer today.
These damages are easy to calculate. They are damages that you suffer due to your accident and are quantifiable. You may have even received a bill stating the exact damage you incurred. You will receive precise compensation for these damages by what your bill says. For example, if your medical expenses from your car accident are $12,000, you will recover exactly $12,000 in compensation. Naturally, that is just one piece of economic damage, but the example paints a picture of how a court handles monetary damages.
A defendant’s insurance company or other legal counsel may try to devalue these damages. They may try to argue that the medical treatment is unnecessary and excessive given the extent of your injuries. However, that is different from how the law is written. This is a big reason why having a good accident lawyer in your corner is valuable. We can significantly enhance your ultimate recovery. If you have more questions, please call a College Park car accident lawyer now.
As discussed above, the most common examples of economic damages in car accident expense cases are medical expenses and lost wages. You would have earned lost wages from work but for the car accident. So that you know, the injuries must prohibit you from being able to work. I just wanted to let you know that you need a note from a doctor excusing you in writing. A third typical example of economic damage is property damage. This is a broader category and encompasses, in general, the damage to your car. But, it can also cover property in the trunk of your vehicle at the time of the accident. The recovery for this damage is the cost of repair. Or, if it is destroyed or irreparable, the value for compensation is the fair market value at the time of destruction. Unfortunately, the law does not account for emotional attachment to property.
Noneconomic damages are more complicated to pinpoint the value of. Unsurprisingly, there is more discrepancy between the plaintiff’s counsel and the defense over the value of this category. Elements we take into account include mainly how long you treat your injuries. The label for this category is pain and suffering. So, the longer you need to treat injuries, presumably, the longer you are in pain and suffering due to the accident. The amount you recover also depends on the severity of your injuries. For example, suppose it only takes you eight weeks to recover, but you are suffering from three broken bones. In that case, you will receive much more compensation for pain and suffering than if you go to physical therapy for an intangible soft tissue injury.
Unlike the other two categories of damages, punitive damages are not available in all cases. But if they are, they can dramatically increase the value of your claim. The defendant must act with malice to get punitive damages in a Maryland car accident case. This is a more demanding standard than mere negligence. And it is a higher standard for punitive damages than in most other states. Punitive damages will only be available in car accident cases when the defendant acts intentionally or knowingly. While the standard is technically for conduct that meets the standard of knowing, that only presents itself in intentional acts such as vehicular assault.
If you can win punitive damages, they act as a multiple of your compensatory damages. Compensatory damages are your economic damages plus your noneconomic damages. So, if your compensatory damages are $10,000, your punitive damages may be anywhere from an additional $10,000 to an additional $90,000. The highest multiple punitive damages will go for is nine times the amount of punitive damages. If you have questions on whether your case qualifies for punitive damages, you can contact Gelb & Gelb, P.C. to speak with a College Park car accident lawyer.
Generally, we will take any car accident case in College Park where you are injured due to someone else’s conduct. Below is a list of the most common car accident types. Having handled thousands of car accident cases in our nearly 70 years in business, we know exactly what you will likely encounter on the road. So, as you know, the law that governs these accidents is civil negligence law. While criminal law may also play a role in your accident, that is separate from the civil side.
Car accidents are an unfortunate reality of life in College Park. Give yourself peace of mind to focus on school and getting healthy. Call a veteran College Park car accident lawyer. We will take care of the rest. You can call today for a free consultation.