American roads cover the entire country, from interstate highways to city roads to country lanes, but the issue is that sometimes, drivers on these roads are not safe. Often, drivers are intoxicated with alcohol or are on drugs that impair their senses and mind, or else they are distracted by the car’s dashboard features or handheld electronic devices, and this makes them unable to respond to developments on the road in time, which can lead to someone getting hurt in a crash or collide with a pedestrian or a bicyclist. Or, someone may get hit by a drunk driver and become injured, and this calls for action. What to do after a car crash? Often, as soon as able, a victim will find and recruit lawyers from personal injury law firms to help them make a legal case against the drunk or distracted driver and seek settlement money from them. Sometimes, a construction crew member may also do this if they are injured on the construction site due to negligence or misuse of equipment, and construction lawyers can help them get settlement money from the at-fault party. How can finding personal injury law firms help a car crash victim? What should one keep in mind when looking for personal injury law firms?
Dangers on the Road
Impaired drivers on the road cause many accidents and injuries in the United States every year, whether on the highway or in an urban area, and many statistics are carefully complied to keep track of this. In fact, in the year 2015, around 1.1 million drivers were arrested due to operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol oar narcotics, but while nearly 300,000 people drive drunk every day, only about 4,000 or so are arrested for this behavior. Having a high blood alcohol content while driving, or BAC (usually 0.08% of higher) is enough to warrant criminal charges even if there was no collision or injury. And if a drunk or drug-addled driver does hit someone, such as another car or a pedestrian, this may also mean that the injured party will pursue litigation against the drunk driver’s insurance company. Even motorcyclists may find themselves the victims of drunk drivers; for example, 88,000 motorcyclists were injured in 2015. What comes next?
Legal Action
Someone who was injured due to an impaired driver will naturally be very angry and upset about what happened, and this person will seek litigation against the at-fault party’s insurance company. Doing so is difficult alone, however, and usually calls for the aid of an attorney who specializes in car crash and personal injury cases. Why is a lawyer so helpful? There are many reasons to hire one to help make a case.
For one thing, the victim is probably in an emotionally charged and subjective state, and he or she will probably not have the clear thinking or objectivity needed to compose a proper legal case, while any attorney that this person hires will have the correct mindset. What is more, figuring out the correct settlement can be difficult; if the injured party’s injuries will prevent him or her from performing paying work in the future, this can create serious financial implications that a lawyer will be best at figuring out and putting into the case.
During litigation (most cases never go to trial), the injured party will seek settlement money, but if the insurance company of the at-fault party refuses to cooperate or provide all the money, this can stonewall someone acting alone, but a lawyer will know how to keep the case moving forward. A lawyer will also be helpful in a complicated case where multiple parties are involved, and blame and settlement money should be distributed correctly.
Finding personal injury law firms is just the first step. The client may get consultations with the lawyers who work there (this may or may not incur a fee) and find a lawyer whose skills, success rate, personality, and educational background are all to the client’s liking, and together, they can build a case. A car accident attorney will be familiar with such cases and know how to build an effective argument after motor vehicle accidents, and lend his or her legal expertise to the client.