If you or a loved one was injured in a car accident, it is important to get the help you need. In the immediate aftermath of the crash, that will mean calling the police to make a report and an ambulance to get you the care you need. In the days and months after a crash, that will mean calling a lawyer to help you get you much-needed compensation for your injuries.
You could be entitled to high-dollar compensation for medical expenses, wages you lost because of the injuries, and the pain and suffering the accident caused you. But getting this compensation from the insurance companies and drivers involved can be difficult without an attorney on your side.
Call Howe Law today at (844) 876-4357 for a free case review with our car accident lawyers.
What to Do After a Car Crash in Smyrna, TN
After a car accident, it is important to collect evidence of what happened to begin building your case. Without evidence showing that the other driver was the one who hit you and that the crash resulted in serious injuries, you will be unable to make out the elements of your injury claim.
Our car accident lawyers recommend staying at the scene to collect evidence yourself if you can. If you are seriously injured or unconscious and need to go straight to the hospital, focus on your health and safety over staying to collect evidence. In many cases, the responding officers will collect some of the basic information you need as part of the process of writing a police report, so you will be able to access some of this same information by obtaining a copy of the police report.
If you can stay at the crash scene, get the name, contact info, and insurance info for all drivers involved. Also take pictures of the scene, vehicles, and injuries if you have a working cell phone or camera. Take note of the conditions at the scene, such as lighting, weather, and road conditions, as these could play an important role in determining who was responsible for the crash and whether any steps could have been taken to avoid crashing.
You should also get information from any witnesses who saw the accident so that you can contact them later to have them testify on your behalf. If you noticed any traffic cameras, security cameras, or dashcams that might have captured the accident, try to get a copy of the footage from the camera’s owner.
If you need it afterward, seek medical attention, then call a lawyer.
Working with a Lawyer for Car Accident Damages in Smyrna, TN
Our lawyers can work with you to try to get you the damages you need. When you pursue damages on your own, you are often left to the whims of whatever decisions the insurance company makes about how much your case is worth and whether you even deserve damages in the first place. When you work with a lawyer, we can advocate on your behalf against the insurance companies and at-fault drivers and seek to get you the damages you deserve.
When filing an insurance claim, it is vital that you do not accept the settlement offer from insurance without having a lawyer review it. It could be that the insurance company wants to settle cheaply, and their initial offer could leave off huge areas of damages that you deserve. The right move is often to reject this settlement and negotiate through your attorney to improve the settlement offer.
If the insurance company will not raise the offer and you are still going to miss out on damages you deserve, we might need to file the case in court. With a pending lawsuit, the insurance companies might be more willing to negotiate in good faith. If they are not, we can take the case before a jury to get your case compensated.
Compensation Available in a Smyrna, TN Car Accident Case
When you file an insurance claim or lawsuit against the at-fault driver or their insurance company, you can claim any and all damages that resulted from the crash. This can include damages that pay you back for expenses, such as compensation for medical bills and car repairs. It can also include money to pay you back for income and other money you did not receive because of the injuries, such as wages from missed work. Lastly, it can include compensation for intangible damages such as physical pain and mental suffering.
Understanding what damages are available in your specific case often means having a lawyer review your financial situation, your injuries, and the extent of the other harms you suffered so damages can be properly calculated. Insurance settlements that fall below this calculated value should be rejected and renegotiated.
Proof Needed in a Smyrna Car Accident Lawsuit
To win your injury case for a car accident, you need to show that the crash was the other driver’s fault. In most cases, this means producing testimony about what happened leading up to the accident and photos of the resulting damage and injuries. To win your case, you need to prove your claim “by a preponderance of the evidence,” which is lower than the criminal law requirement of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
It is the plaintiff’s – the victim’s – burden to produce evidence and meet this “burden of proof.” That means our lawyers will need to help you gather and present evidence to the jury that is sufficient for them to decide the case in your favor. Your evidence also needs to overcome any defenses the defendant raises, such as counteraccusations that you were really at fault.
Call Our Smyrna Car Accident and Injury Attorneys Today
To get help with your car accident case, call the car accident lawyers at Howe Law by dialing (844) 876-4357.
