The field of personal injury law encompasses a great number of events that occur in daily life. So much of what we do as humans is imperfect. That is ok; we come to expect that from others to a certain degree. When people are careless around us, we know it is an accident. There is usually no criminal penalty for carelessness. However, when another person’s carelessness injures us, that is a problem. This is not necessarily a problem that requires criminal prosecution from the state. Generally, there is no need to punish someone for an accident. This would not serve a purpose. People would not be deterred from committing another accident in the future as they never meant to do it in the first place.
However, if someone’s accident injures us, causing us to spend our own money on medical bills, miss time from work, and experience a worse quality of life, we are entitled to compensation. Money damages are an imperfect solution to an injury. If we could choose, most of us would choose never to suffer the injury in the first place. However, a civil court cannot retroactively prevent your injury from occurring. Thus, our only solution in a civil society is to pay compensatory damages for damages resulting from a negligent act. This is when the field of personal injury law takes shape. Personal injury law has existed for several hundreds of years in its current form, only evolving as the world has evolved.
It is a system based on compensation. This field aims to bring an accident victim back to whole, or the place they were in before the accident. While this is impossible, the idea is that enough money can accomplish the next best thing.
Types of Personal Injury Cases
Any injury you suffer because of the negligence of a third party may entitle you to a personal injury claim. Below, we discuss the most common personal injury cases in Washington, DC, and Maryland.
Car Accidents
Car accidents occur in DC and Maryland with unfortunate regularity. The typical car accident case is relatively easy to understand because almost everyone has been in a car at some point. If you are driving down the road and are coming to a stop at a red light, you have a reasonable expectation that you will not be hit by another vehicle. However, if the driver behind you is texting, they are not looking at the road. This may lead to a careless error, such as rear-ending your vehicle. When this happens, suddenly, several things happen. First and sometimes most obviously, you have to get your car repaired. There is no civilized world where you should be responsible for paying the property damage to your car for an accident you did not cause.
In a low-speed collision, you may not immediately notice soreness in your lower back and neck. Your adrenaline may mask the stiffness from an accident, and the inflammation may not yet build up. However, after a day or so, the soreness may be so unbearable that you cannot go to your construction job the next day and perform to the best of your ability. You may be unable to sleep. As a solution, you opt to go to physical therapy to rehabilitate your injury and get back to health as soon as possible.
Truck Accidents
A truck accident can be a similar endeavor. The key difference in a truck accident is that there is often more compensation to compensate you for your damages. Much of the field of personal injury law revolves around how much money is available to compensate you for your damages. Auto accidents statutorily must offer auto insurance. In practice, many drivers still operate their vehicles without insurance. They are willing to pay a criminal fine and move on, knowing that the accident victim will not sue a driver with no assets. However, this leaves an accident victim with fewer options.
For truck accidents, accident victims tend to be in luck. Most trucking companies, whether Amazon, Giant Food Stores, or some other large corporation, tend to have sufficient auto insurance to cover your damages. And given the size and weight differential between a semi-truck and the typical car, this is a good thing.
Pedestrian Accidents
A pedestrian accident is also among the most common personal injury cases. While far less common than a car or truck accident, a pedestrian accident can introduce challenges you will not encounter with the former two case types. Firstly, drivers may be more likely to flee the scene after a pedestrian accident. They know a pedestrian cannot chase them down the way another vehicle could. Secondly, if the driver does not have insurance, you may be out of luck for a source of recovery as you cannot make an uninsured motorist claim as a pedestrian not operating your vehicle. To make matters worse, injuries in pedestrian accidents tend to be severe due to essentially zero safety technology being available to a pedestrian.
Slip and Falls
A slip and fall may be against a grocery store or a restaurant. To establish liability against the business, you must prove that the business either knew or should have known of the dangerous condition prior to your injury. A personal injury lawyer at Gelb & Gelb can help you collect the necessary evidence and build your case.
Key Elements in Personal Injury Claims
The following four elements must be proven in every personal injury case rooted in negligence. Of course, if your injury case is for an assault, battery, statutory offense, or another intentional tort, the elements may differ. But if you are pursuing an injury claim against a tortfeasor for negligence or carelessness, you must prove the following elements by a preponderance of the evidence. This is the standard in a civil case. The standard requires that you demonstrate to a jury that it is more likely than not that the facts you allege occurred.
Duty of Care
The injured party must show that the defendant owed them a duty of care. This means that the defendant had a legal obligation to act reasonably safely.
Breach of Duty
The plaintiff must prove the defendant breached that duty owed by either act or omission.
Causation
You must prove that the breach of duty has a causal relationship with the damages you suffered.
Damages
There is no presumption of damages. If you have a $50,000 hospital bill from your accident, you must prove that. This harm can include physical injuries, emotional distress, medical expenses, lost wages, or property damage.
Time Limits for Filing a Personal Injury Claim
The statutory time limit to file a personal injury claim is three years in Maryland and Washington, D.C. However, it may be longer, depending on where the injury happened. Moreover, there are likely other deadlines you should adhere to if you wish to maximize compensation in your case.
Importance of Hiring an Experienced Lawyer
The personal injury attorneys at Gelb & Gelb will do several things to make this process as seamless as possible. Our attorneys work to give you the best possible chance of maximum compensation to accurately reflect the severity of your injury.
Call our office today for a free consultation and case evaluation at (202) 331-7227.
