Car accidents should be taken very seriously. One driver’s mistake or bad decision can very quickly lead to catastrophe. Car accidents can cause serious injuries, including broken bones, blunt trauma, and cognitive injuries. They can also potentially result in the deaths of people involved. You might be unable to work because of your injuries. You might also be unable to continue to do some of the things in life you enjoy. With medical bills that could easily reach hundreds of thousands of dollars and the effort it takes to recover from injuries, you need all the help you can get after a car accident.
If you got injured in a car accident near Smyrna, our lawyers can help. We can negotiate with insurance companies, gather evidence and information about your accident, and take the right people to court so you can get the financial compensation you deserve for your injuries.
Call Howe Law’s Atlanta car accident lawyers for free case reviews at (844) 876-4357.
Types of Car Accidents in Smyrna, GA
Car accidents take many different forms. While it may seem like the type of car accident you got into is not particularly important legally, it is actually incredibly helpful to our car accident lawyers in determining who was at fault and who should be held accountable in court for your injuries. We will go over some common types of car accidents around Smyrna below.
Head-On Collisions
A head-on collision is when the front ends of two cars traveling in parallel lanes hit each other. Many modern cars are designed to have a “crumple zone” that is designed to absorb the impact of a frontal collision. However, older cars are much more likely to injure their occupants, as their safety features are less developed than those of modern cars. Moreover, an impact with sufficient force or speed will still cause severe injuries, even to the passenger of a modern vehicle with state-of-the-art safety features.
Rear-End Accidents
A rear-end accident is when the front of one vehicle impacts the rear of another vehicle from behind. Although the rear area of modern vehicles does have a crumple zone like the front, the trunk and rear area of many vehicles tend to be smaller than the front, so there is less surface area to absorb the impact. Moreover, a sudden strong force striking the rear of a vehicle could send objects contained in the hit car flying forward, potentially seriously injuring or killing the occupants.
Conceivably, a rear end could also involve two vehicles impacting each other with their bumpers, but that is unlikely to happen outside of a parking lot or similar setting. However, that should not discourage you from considering filing a car accident lawsuit should that happen to you.
T-Bone Accidents
A T-bone accident is when one vehicle impacts another perpendicularly in the side, creating a “T” shape when the two cars meet. T-bone accidents are particularly dangerous because the sides of most motor vehicles are not necessarily as effective at stopping impacts as the front and back. Occupants are also likely to get injured in T-bone accidents because they are physically situated closer to the point of impact than in a head-on collision or a rear-end accident.
Stationary Vehicle Accidents
Many accidents happen when one car is parked or only just beginning to pull away. These accidents often happen when a driver is not paying attention to their surroundings or turns a corner too quickly for them to react to a parked vehicle they were not expecting. If you were in the parked car or getting out of it, you could be seriously injured.
Hit-and-Run Accidents
Hit-and-run accidents happen when the driver who hit you does not stick around after the accident and instead chooses to drive away in their vehicle. Drivers have obligations to exchange insurance information and other things after a car accident. When one party flees the scene, that cannot happen. For that reason, criminal penalties are attached to defendants in hit-and-run accidents in addition to any civil lawsuit that could arise.
Dealing with Insurance After a Smyrna, GA Car Accident
Georgia, like most states, requires the liable party’s insurance to cover the injured party’s damages. Understandably, insurance companies do not like to pay out their policies. If that were the case, most insurance companies would very quickly become insolvent. For that reason, an adverse party’s insurance company will try and make it look like the accident was at least partially your fault in order to try and avoid paying out.
Many pieces of evidence or information can be used to help establish that an accident was in no way your fault and get insurance companies to cover your injuries. First, statements from you and the other driver right after the accident can indicate which party was at fault. If the driver who hit you admits to their mistake, their insurance will be more likely to cover your injuries. Second, investigation and analysis of the accident scene can indicate the fault of another party. Details such as the location of the impact on your vehicle, tire marks, and debris can all be assessed to help determine who is at fault for the accident. Finally, police reports can hold information that makes another party liable for your injuries.
In some cases, the driver who hit you might not have auto insurance. While it is a crime to drive while uninsured in Georgia, a criminal conviction of the other driver does not help get you compensation to cover your injuries. In those instances, our lawyers will need to negotiate with your insurance company and utilize any uninsured motorist policies you have.
Call our Smyrna, GA, Car Accident Lawyers Today
Reach out to Howe Law’s car accident lawyers by calling (844) 876-4357.
