If you were hurt in a car crash, you might now be dealing with the repercussions. If the other driver caused the crash and left you with injuries, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages, you should not be the one to face those consequences – especially not without help. In fact, the driver who hurt you should be the one footing the bill and compensating you for these damages.
Our lawyers can fight to get you compensation through insurance claims and lawsuits targeting the driver who caused your crash. As the innocent victim, you should not be left to pay the bills and deal with your pain and suffering without substantial financial compensation.
For a free review of your case, call our Atlanta car accident lawyers today at Howe Law by dialing (844) 876-4357.
Elements of a Car Accident Case in Norcross, GA
To have grounds for a car accident claim or lawsuit, you must have a case that meets all four elements of what is legally known as “negligence.” Most car crashes are not intentional, so we do not sue the other driver for hurting you on purpose. Instead, we have to show that they owed you a duty, that they breached that duty, and that the breach of duty was what caused your injuries. We also have to prove what the injuries and damages were.
Duty
In most cases, the duty in question will be an explicit traffic law to follow. These rules say what other drivers on the road legally have to do, and they are put in place to keep other people safe.
Aside from these rules, drivers also have a duty to drive as a “reasonably prudent” driver would. This includes things like keeping both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road – the kind of standards that do not need to be explicitly written down in the law.
Breach
A violation of a traffic law often satisfies the breach element. If a law is in place to keep people safe, and someone violates it, then that breach often satisfies this element of a negligence case.
Alternatively, driving that is patently unsafe or objectively unreasonable in the given situation would also breach the reasonableness duty discussed above.
Some accidents involve a breach of both duties. For example, driving 80 mph in a 25-mph zone would be objectively dangerous, but it also violates the speed limit – an explicit law on point.
Causation
A breach or violation must actually be what caused your crash for it to work as grounds for a lawsuit.
If the driver did something wrong but it happened earlier or did not actually cause the crash, it might be dangerous but not actually harmful. For example, imagine a driver was tailgating you a few minutes ago, then passed you legally, stayed under the speed limit, and was T-boned in front of you by a driver running a red light. The first driver would likely not be liable for the crash if he spun into you. Instead, you would both be victims of the driver who ran the red light.
Similarly, if a driver did something wrong but the crash was unavoidable, their violation would not be the legal cause. For example, if a driver was making a left turn across your lane without a turn signal but had a heart attack, swerved, and crashed into you, proper turn signal usage would probably not have made a difference.
Damages
You have to actually prove that you suffered damages to sue for them. For example, you have to have been hurt or suffered vehicle damage in order to sue for a car accident. A violation on its own without a crash cannot result in a personal injury case. Besides, there would be nothing the court could reimburse you for if you suffered no damages.
Some damages are for physical injuries, but our car accident lawyers can also help you get compensation for emotional distress and other non-physical damages.
How Long Does a Car Accident Claim Take in Norcross, GA?
A car accident case can take several months on average, with some cases taking years and a minority of cases taking only a few weeks. Your case will usually begin with an insurance claim, which might result in an offer quite quickly. However, these initial settlement offers are typically too low, and you should contact our lawyers to help you understand what your case is truly worth so we can negotiate with insurance or take the case to a lawsuit in court if needed.
Insurance Claims and Negotiations
When negotiating with insurance companies, it often takes overwhelming evidence of their driver’s fault as well as detailed records of your damages to convince them to pay up in a fair settlement. Our lawyers can negotiate with them, present them with evidence of your damages, and seek to negotiate a fair settlement all before ever going to court. However, with the added pressure of a lawsuit on the horizon, insurance companies are often willing to settle faster.
Filing a Lawsuit
It would mean a bigger delay in your case to wait until negotiations fail before filing a lawsuit, so instead, we can often speed things up by pursuing both paths at once. This means potentially filing your lawsuit in court before even hearing back from the insurance company.
Stages of Trial
Once the case is in court, it can take weeks for each submission and reply in the initial filings and responses in your case. From there, a month or two is often required for discovery – the evidence-exchange and deposition-taking stage of your case.
When discovery is over, both sides have all the evidence and information in their grasp and can make informed decisions about whether to settle the case now or try their luck at trial. Insurance companies often give in at this stage, but if they do take the case to trial, that will usually mean a few more days to a couple of weeks for the trial itself. If the courthouse is busy, the case could be scheduled anywhere from weeks to months down the road.
Call Our Norcross, GA Car Accident Lawyers Today for a Free Case Review
For help with your injury case, contact our car accident lawyers today at Howe Law at (844) 876-4357.
