An accident in Beverly Hills can happen anytime, anywhere, resulting in serious and sometimes fatal injuries. If an accident has happened to you or a loved one, an accident lawyer can explain your rights and any potential liability for those involved. Many questions may be running through your mind, such as: Who is at fault? What if it was a family member in the accident? What about accident insurance?
If you have been injured in a Beverly Hills Accident, please call us today at (800) 466-3279 for a free, confidential consultation with an experienced Beverly Hills Accident Injury attorney.
Should I contact a Beverly Hills accident lawyer?
If you or a loved one was in an accident, one of the main things you will need to establish is who was at fault for the accident. The degree of fault for each party involved in the accident is THE most critical element in any accident claim. This determination will vary depending upon the state you are in and that state’s laws on negligence. The degree of negligence of each part in an accident will determine who was at fault and who will be responsible for any accident injuries or wrongful death claims. Generally, a state will follow one of the following negligence theories, which an accident attorney can explain further: comparative negligence, pure comparative fault, or proportional comparative fault.
Why Should I Hire a Beverly Hills Accident Lawyer?
An accident attorney will be able to help you through your difficult time, providing support by dealing with insurance companies and other accident parties or companies, so you can take the time to focus on healing. After an accident you will likely have several questions and concerns. Sometimes the accident laws of your state can be confusing. An accident lawyer will help explain the accident laws and accident reports to you so you know and understand your rights. An accident attorney will be part of an accident law firm that will be able to give you valuable viewpoints about your case and information on how to handle your injury. The accident law firm will gather information about your accident needed to build a successful case and obtain compensation for your injuries. In addition, a large part of accident cases will involve communication with insurance companies, other attorneys, and other parties. Often, when an accident lawyer is the one communicating with the company or other attorney, they will receive more serious and thorough responses than if you were contacting them. Working with a Beverly Hills Accident lawyer can help resolve your accident case faster, with less stress and anxiety.
If you have been injured in a Beverly Hills Accident, please call us today at (800) 466-3279 for a free, confidential consultation with an experienced Beverly Hills Accident Injury attorney.
Car Accidents Overview – Attorneys and Law
Almost everyone will be involved in a car accident at some point in their lives. While hopefully your auto accident won’t cause serious car accident injuries, car accidents can have potentially serious and even fatal consequences. An auto accident can also give rise to liability – you may be able to sue the driver who caused the accident. As such, it is useful to learn more about motor vehicle accidents, vehicle accident lawsuits and how an accident attorney can help.
If you have been injured in a Beverly Hills Accident, please call us today at (800) 466-3279 for a free, confidential consultation with an experienced Beverly Hills Accident Injury attorney.
How Common Are Car Accidents?
The statistics governing car accidents are somewhat alarming:
- More than 6 million motor vehicle accidents occur in the U.S. every year.
- Car accidents kill one person every 12 minutes, and injure someone every 14 seconds in the U.S. – many of these cases give rise to car accident claims either for wrongful death or car accident injuries
- Motor vehicle accidents kill over 40,000 people every year in U.S., and they are the primary cause of death for people from ages 2 to 34
- About 2,000 children die as a result of car accidents every year, and over 250,000 are injured in accidents
Types of Car Accident Injuries
There are many different causes for car accidents, each of which are likely to lead to a variety of injuries. Some of the most common car accidents that occur include:
- Rear Impact: If you hit someone from behind, or are hit from behind, you have been involved in a rear impact accident. Most often this occurs because someone has failed to brake in time, resulting in either a tap or a more significant rear impact accident. Nearly 30 percent of all car accidents in the U.S. are rear-impact collisions. When a rear impact collision occurs, the car owner in the back is usually responsible because laws mandate that you drive a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you.
- Side Impact: If you are hit on the side of your vehicle, you have experienced a side impact crash. Side impact accidents can happen when you “T-bone” another vehicle, meaning the front of your vehicle crashes into the side of another. You can also sideswipe another car by bumping into its side while changing lanes. Nearly 29 percent of all U.S. accidents are side-impact collisions. Proving fault often becomes an issue here- it can be hard to know which motorist was in the wrong. A good car accident lawyer can help you collect photographic evidence of the scene or will hire an expert in accident reconstruction to act as your witness and to help you show the fault of the other party.
- Head-on Collision: If you hit another car front first, or if you hit a non-moving object with the front of your car, you have been involved in a head-on collision. Head-on collisions happen often when a motorist falls asleep and slips into oncoming traffic. Other ways head-on collisions occur are where the motorist is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, gets on to a freeway or a one-way street in the wrong direction, or loses control of their vehicle and skids into an oncoming lane. These accidents account for 2 percent of all U.S. collisions. The car owner who was going the wrong way or who was drunk or asleep is generally at fault.
- Rollover: If your car flips over in any way, or lands on its side, you have been involved in a rollover. Taller vehicles, like SUV’s and trucks, are more likely to experience rollovers than smaller cars. Nearly 2 percent of all accidents in the U.S. are rollovers. In some rollover accidents, you may be able to hold the manufacturer of the car responsible for a poor design or defects.
- Runoff: These accidents usually involve only one car running off the road. This can happen when a person is not paying attention, or swerves to avoid another vehicle or animal in the road. Runoffs account for 16 percent of all U.S. accidents. If you run off the road, you usually have no one to blame but yourself – unless another vehicle illegally got in your way or there was a problem with the road itself.
How a Beverly Hills Auto Accident Attorney Can Help
If you have been injured in a Beverly Hills Accident, please call us today at (800) 466-3279 for a free, confidential consultation with an experienced Beverly Hills Accident Injury attorney.
No matter the specific cause of your car accident injuries, a car accident attorney can help you show fault and collect the damages you deserve.
Attorneys can be particularly helpful when injuries like whiplash or injuries involving hospitalization are involved. Car insurance companies will try to pay as little as possible, and an attorney can help you gather evidence and protect your rights by dealing directly with your insurer or by helping you to file a car accident lawsuit.
Car Accidents – Who is at Fault?
Fault is one of the biggest, if not THE most critical element, in any car accident claim. The person at fault is the person whose negligence caused the accident, and that is the person who typically must pay for the damage caused by his or her negligence. If the circumstances surrounding your accident make it clear that one person was clearly at fault, then read no further! One of the related articles listed below should be your next stop. If, however, liability is not entirely clear or if there is shared fault, then fault is apportioned between the persons determined by the specifics of the law in your state (see below) on comparative or contributory negligence. When liability is shared in an auto accident, it is the insurer’s turn to determine the relative percentages of fault of the parties involved.
What is Comparative or Contributory Negligence?
Historically, if two people were involved in an accident and the injured party was even the slightest bit at fault, he or she would not be entitled to recover anything for his/her injuries or losses. This way of determining damages is known in legal circles as pure contributory negligence. For example, say Luke and Martin were involved in an accident. Luke hit Martin’s car while making a left turn onto a 2-lane street at night. Luke didn’t see Martin’s car because (blank) it was night time (and a dark one at that); Martin was not driving with his headlights on. Under a pure contributory negligence theory, Martin could not recover damages for his injuries because he was partially at fault for the accident. Sound pretty harsh? Actually, some states still follow this rule (Alabama, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia).
But most states now use some proportional form of comparative negligence that allows an injured party to recover some damages for his or her injuries, even if he or she was partially at fault. There are currently three variations: Pure comparative fault; proportional comparative fault at 51%; proportional comparative fault at 50%.
Pure Comparative Fault
In states that have adopted pure comparative fault as a measure of damages, if an injured person is partially at fault for causing his own injuries, his damages are reduced by the percentage of his fault. For example, say Michelle was injured in a car accident for which she was 80% at fault. Damages for her injury amount to $10,000. Michelle will be entitled to recover $2,000 for her injuries, that is, $10,000 less 80% or $8,000 for her percentage of fault. States: Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Washington.
Proportional Comparative Fault at 51%
The states that have adopted proportional comparative fault bar recovery if you are more than 51% at fault for the accident. In other words, you cannot file a liability claim and lawsuit against the other driver’s negligence if you were more than 51% at fault. For example, Dennis hit Teri’s car while driving in excess of 25 miles per hour over the speed limit while Teri was attempting to cross the road. Even though Teri was partially at fault for not waiting until the road was completely clear before crossing, the insurance company allocated fault to Dennis at 60% due to his excessive speed. Even though Dennis suffered a broken arm from the accident, he is not entitled to recover for his injury due to the fact that he was more than 51% at fault for the accident. States: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Proportional Comparative Fault at 50%
In states that have adopted the 50% bar standard in resolving auto accident claims, an injured person that is less than 50% at fault for the accident is entitled to compensation. If the injured party is 50% or more at fault, he or she is not entitled to recovery for the injury. For example, Richard and Susan accidentally hit each others’ cars while backing out of their parking spaces at exactly the same time. Both were not looking carefully enough when they backed up, and so both were deemed equally at fault for the accident. Neither one will be entitled to damages since both were 50% at fault for the accident. States: Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia.
How is Percentage of Fault Determined?
After an accident, it is the job of the insurance company claims adjuster to assign the relative degrees of fault based on the circumstances surrounding the accident. There is no secret mathematical formula for determining percentages of fault in accident injuries. You and the claims adjuster will negotiate and come to some agreement as to what, if any, your allocated fault is. Here is where an experienced personal injury attorney can come in handy. He or she will know how to assess the accident and advocate for the lowest percentage of fault on your behalf. If you and the insurance adjuster reach an impasse, a court of law is ultimately your next step to resolve the issue of fault.
Fault and Car Insurance
Insurance companies often offer extra coverage/protection (for extra money) to help pay for property damage and/or personal injury and medical expenses regardless of fault. So if you are injured in an accident that was mostly your fault and you are not entitled by law to compensation from the other person’s insurance, but you have extra coverage under your own policy, your insurance company will pay for your injuries. This extra coverage is called PIP (personal injury protection) or No Fault coverage. Under this scenario, you would file a liability claim with your own insurance carrier for medical bills and lost income, up to a specified maximum, without any discussion or disagreement about the circumstances of the accident and who was at fault. Whether you can file for further expenses against the other person who was at fault in the accident depends on your state’s laws. In many states, Uninsured/Underinsured coverage is required. This provides coverage for damages resulting from an accident with someone who either has no insurance or does not have enough insurance to cover your expenses. It also protects you if the other person flees the scene after the accident or is a driver of a stolen car.
Beyond the damages suffered, the degree of fault is probably the most important factor in determining how much you may finally recover for your accident injury. In most cases, both you and the insurance company will know (by the circumstances surrounding the accident) the level of fault for both parties. Was the other party completely at fault? Mostly at fault or only a little at fault? If you are in a comparative fault state, an adjuster will reduce your recovery amount by your percentage of comparative fault. If you were only 10% at fault, your damages total will be reduced by 10%. Your recovery will not be reduced by any amount if the accident was clearly someone else’s fault.
If you have been injured in a Beverly Hills Accident, please call us today at (800) 466-3279 for a free, confidential consultation with an experienced Beverly Hills Accident Injury attorney.