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After a car accident in California, it’s vital for you to find a personal injury attorney who can help you understand what rights and options you have to pursue compensation. This can be vital when you’re dealing with severe injuries, property damage, emotional damages, and more. There are many situations in which negligence can lead to a car accident, and it’s vital to recognize the various ways under injury law that you can protect your rights to pursue compensation. 

Hiring a car accident lawyer in Los Angeles can help you throughout the entire process. It becomes vital to have someone on your side who is not afraid to go to trial wherever necessary to pursue the compensation you deserve. Working with a lawyer helps you effectively position your case favorably to pursue maximum compensation and cover the losses you experience. At Pirnia Law Group, our team is truly dedicated to helping you through the most complicated matters so you can focus on your own well-being.

Common Causes of Los Angeles Car Crashes

When proving liability after a car accident, it is essential to recognize what caused your injuries. However, before you get to that point, it’s vital to recognize the various factors involved in proving liability. First, you must show that there was a duty of care, which is assumed when someone has a driver’s license. When someone has a driver’s license, they’re agreeing to follow the laws on the road. A breach in the duty of care means the driver did something negligent to cause harm. This means that they broke the law or were otherwise reckless when driving. 

Once you have an idea of the duty of care and the breach of that duty, you must show that the other driver caused the accident because of their actions. For instance, you must show the driver collided into you because they were distracted. After that, you must show that you suffered an injury because of the negligence. The best way to go through this is to know the various causes of auto accidents and how they happen.

T-Bone Collision:
These accidents occur most often at intersections because of one party negligently running a red light or stop sign. It’s called a T-bone accident because the front of one vehicle collides with the side of another vehicle, creating what looks like a “T,” and they can cause severe harm. These accidents may also be referred to as a broadside collision because it involves one vehicle hitting the side of the other vehicle with the front or rear of their vehicle.

Rear-End Collision:
Rear-end collisions are common when people are not paying attention. One vehicle stops at a red light and a distracted driver collides with the rear bumper of the driver in front of him or her, most often causing whiplash.

Hit and Run:
In a hit and run accident, the negligent driver may leave the scene of the accident. These crashes are complicated because they often require the injured driver to have uninsured motorist coverage to recover any kind of compensation.

Head-On Collision:
These are some of the most devastating types of accidents because the force of each vehicle is enough to cause a catastrophic collision. These can result in traumatic brain injuries. If passengers don’t have on a seatbelt, they can find themselves in a very dangerous position.

Intersection Accident:
Intersection accidents almost always involve negligence because one party is ignoring traffic signs or signals. Speeding is also a common reason for these accidents to happen should one vehicle try to turn with very little time before the other vehicle makes it to the intersection.

Road Rage Accident:
Road rage accidents often involve aggressive driving. Road rage can include cutting someone off, tailgating, or constantly getting in front of someone and slowing down to try and create frustration and potentially a collision.

Rental Car Accident:
When you rent a vehicle, you should always get the insurance because accidents can happen at any given moment. Even in a rental car accident you have rights, and it’s important to understand with a car accident lawyer what those rights are.

Speeding Accidents:
Speeding is one of the most common forms of negligence and it occurs far too often on the roads. Most roads have speed limits, but those throughout Los Angeles who are trying to make it to work on time often go much faster than they should.

Multi-Vehicle Accidents:
In a highly trafficked city like Los Angeles, there are plenty of situations in which multi-vehicle accidents can occur. For instance, when traffic is heavy on the highway and one person is not paying attention, it can lead to multiple vehicles crashing. One vehicle may stop in time and the vehicle behind that may stop, but a distracted driver may not have the chance, crashing into the car in front of them and pushing that vehicle into the one in front of them.

Uninsured Motorist:
Despite California law requiring all drivers to obtain insurance, there is a high number of people on the road without any kind of coverage. In an accident with an uninsured motorist, you’ll have to go through your own uninsured/underinsured motorist policy to recover compensation.

Interstate Collisions:
There are many interstates in Southern California, and around Los Angeles in particular. If you live in the area, you know the various dangers that exist on the 405, 101, 10, 210, and all other interstates. These accident claims are similar to all car accident claims and depend on the severity.

Blind Spots:
Blind spot accidents occur whenever someone doesn’t use their side or rear view mirrors to merge lanes. In many situations, driver’s should also give themselves time to quickly glance over their shoulder and check the blind spot before changing lanes. Failure to do so can cause the vehicle to sideswipe another vehicle in the intended lane.

Distracted Driving:
Distracted driving comes in three forms: visual, manual, and cognitive. Visual distractions take the driver’s eyes off the road. Manual distractions take at least one of the driver’s hands off the steering wheel. Cognitive distractions (like blaring music) take the driver’s focus off the task at hand.

Texting and Driving:
Texting and driving is one of the most dangerous actions because it includes all three types of distractions. The driver looks away from the road to look at the phone, uses one hand to hold the phone and text, and uses his or her focus to read the text and formulate a response. It takes 5 seconds to send a text, and at 55 miles per hour, that’s enough time to travel the length of a football field, which is enough time to cause a catastrophic crash.

DUI Accidents:
Drinking has the ability to impact your motor functions, making it difficult to see a hazard and react in a timely manner. This is the most common reason drunk driving leads to accidents. People who are intoxicated may swerve often, speed up and slow down, and have trouble with depth perception.

Company Vehicle Accident

Car Accident Insurance Claims in Los Angeles

Under California law, if you suffer an injury as a result of an auto accident in Los Angeles, you can hold the negligent party responsible. California operates on a traditional fault system, so you’re going through the responsible driver’s insurance provider to pursue compensation. When you file a claim, it’s important to know what types of compensation you may be entitled to receive for the damages you suffered in the collision. Here are the main types of compensation you can receive after a successful claim:

Economic damages:
Economic damages refer to any losses you experience with a monetary value. For instance, you can recover economic damages for your medical bills because you have receipts and statements showing the total costs of your expenses. You can include property damage in economic damages because you have visible proof of how much it would cost to replace or repair a vehicle. Economic damages can also cover lost income, which you can show with pay stubs you earned prior to the injury.

Non-economic damages:
These types of damages are much more difficult to understand because they don’t have a quantitative amount that you can show. There’s no receipt showing how much pain and suffering you have endured or will continue to endure because of the accident. Non-economic damages can also include loss of enjoyment in life, which occurs when you’re unable to do some of the things you enjoyed doing before you suffered the injury.

Spinal Cord Injury

Types of Accident Injuries

Car accidents can lead to some of the most catastrophic injuries, resulting in a lifetime of pain and suffering. These injuries can impact your entire life, forcing you out of work and making it difficult to enjoy the quality of life you have moving forward. These are some of the most common types of injuries you may sustain in an auto accident. 

  • Broken ribs
  • Broken beck
  • Whiplash
  • Back injury
  • Neck injury
  • Broken leg

 

The injuries that arise following a car accident can leave you in severe pain or even critical collision. While most accidents lead to the injuries above, there are some that result in catastrophic injuries, including traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord damage. Some accidents can also be fatal, meaning the family may file a wrongful death claim on behalf of their lost loved one.

What Should You Do After an Accident in California?

When you find yourself in a car accident resulting from someone else’s negligence, the steps you take afterwards can help protect your rights to pursue compensation. These steps are vital to building the strongest case possible and allow you to safeguard your best interests throughout the entire process. Below, our Los Angeles car accident attorney will explain some of the most important steps that you need to take after an accident, as well as some of the things that you need to avoid to prevent causing a problem for your ability to recover compensation.

Get documentation from the other driver:

You want to make sure you are cordial and respectful with the responsible driver so as to not create a contentious situation. The documentation you want to get from the other driver should include driver’s license information, license plate number, registration, contact information, and insurance information. Getting the driver’s insurance information is important as you’ll be going through that company to pursue compensation.

Report the accident to the proper parties:

Immediately report the accident to local authorities and your insurance company. With local authorities, you typically want them on the scene if injuries occur and if the property damage to the vehicle may exceed a specific threshold. Police officers can take statements from all parties involved, as well as witnesses, to create an accident report. Your insurance company will ask for the vital information you received so they can start processing your claim.

Take photos that can help prove your case:

Make sure you’re taking photos of the scene of the accident to show any signs of negligence. This includes missing traffic signs and tire marks from the other driver slamming on their brakes, which could indicate they were speeding. You should also take photos of the damage to both vehicles. In some situations, the location and severity of the damage can help an accident reconstructionist prove liability. Also, take photos of visible injuries you and your passengers suffer. This can help prove damages as a result of the negligence.

Seek medical attention as quickly as possible:

Some injuries can take days to manifest, which gives the insurance company time to claim your injury was from a separate incident. If you feel any pain, you should see a medical professional. This helps you start treatment for your injuries and gives you a medical record that you can use to prove your case.

You also want to contact an attorney before you speak with the other insurance company so that your legal representative can answer questions on your behalf. This leads us into some of the things that you need to avoid when you are involved in a car accident.

Don’t apologize at the scene of the accident:

While you may understandably be empathetic after an accident, you should avoid saying sorry. Anything you say is something that the other insurance company can try to use against you to deny compensation. An apology can be used as an admission of guilt if the other driver tells their insurance provider that you said sorry or made another statement such as “I didn’t even see you there.”

Don’t consent to a recorded statement without having a lawyer:

After the other driver reaches out to their insurance company, the adjuster may reach out to you in order to ask some questions. They’ll tell you the call will be recorded for training and quality purposes. While this is partly true, it’s also essential for you to recognize that this recorded statement can help the other insurance company deny your claim. The adjuster is looking for any contradictions from your initial report to your new statement that they can use to deny your claim.

Don’t post certain things on social media:

Even if you think your social media profiles are private, insurance companies have a significant amount of resources they try to use to deny a claim. As such, you should be very careful about what you post on social media after a crash. For instance, if you have a claim pending after you suffer a back injury, you shouldn’t have any photos after the crash that shows you using your back and makes it appear as though you have recovered.

What to Consider When Choosing a Los Angeles Car Accident Attorney?

When the surviving family members file a wrongful death lawsuit, they are working to pursue compensation for the family and on behalf of their lost loved one. The type of compensation that may be available to you varies, but they’re like all other personal injury cases in which they can include economic and non-economic damages. In some cases when the fatal injury is intentional (such as acts of violence), there may be a possibility to pursue punitive damages.

  • Economic damages after a wrongful death can help to cover medical bills, lost income the decedent would have earned had he or she survived, funeral costs, and lost inheritance. While you may be wondering what medical bills may arise following a fatal injury, these are typically available in situations where the deceased person receives medical treatment from the date of the injury until the date of the death if the fatal injuries are not immediate.
  • Non-economic damages exist in wrongful death lawsuits to compensate the family for situations involving pain and suffering they experience because of the loss. For instance, these types of damages are available for loss of consortium for a surviving spouse, which essentially means a loss of companionship. In other situations surviving children may file for non-economic damages because of loss of guidance and support. These are losses that have impacted your life in a way other than monetarily. 

A wrongful death firm can help you understand what your rights are to pursue specific compensation from negligent parties. The compensation you recover can be crucial to finding closure and moving forward after the death of a loved one. 

NEGOTIATING A SETTLEMENT FOR A FATAL ACCIDENT

When you need to hire a car injury lawyer, you need to ensure you’re hiring the right one for your situation. Part of this means ensuring you are asking the right questions before making your decision. Having a firm understanding of your lawyer and their process can help you make a decision that best suits your needs and your ability to pursue compensation.

How much does an attorney cost for a car accident?

Car accident lawyer fees often vary depending on your compensation because personal injury attorneys work on contingency fees. This means they work on a no win, no fee basis and you only pay if you recover compensation. The cost for your attorney is predetermined and comes out as a percentage of the amount you recover. In many cases, this is 33%, but can be negotiable with your attorney. There are also car accident lawyers with free consultations so you get answers without having to pay upfront.

When should you get a lawyer for a car accident?

You may be hesitant to hire an injury law firm immediately following a crash because you feel it’s something you can do on your own. Unfortunately, after an accident, you’re most likely going up against a large insurance company with resources and a large legal team they’re willing to use to take advantage of your rights. As such, it’s in your best interests to have legal representation as quickly as possible, and definitely before you speak with the negligent driver’s insurance company.

How much should I expect from my car accident settlement?

The compensation you recover is dependent on numerous factors. The economic damages use the value of your monetary losses so you can show much you’ve spent on medical bills and how much you’ve lost in income. The non-economic damages are what most often change from each type of case because there’s no telling just how much the accident can impact your emotional state and the amount of pain and suffering you may experience.

On your attorney search, you should be sure that you have good communication with your lawyer of choice. With good communication, you can have a better understanding of where your case is in the process. It’s important to have someone you can reach out to at any time to get answers and to have your concerns addressed as quickly as possible. You’re going through a very difficult situation and you should be able to focus on your recovery, not worrying about the legal matters you are going through.

FAQ

Why Should I Hire a Los Angeles Car Accident Attorney?

You want to find a personal injury attorney as quickly as possible following a car accident because your rights are at stake. You’re going up against a large corporation that focuses more on profit than they do on claimants. Because of this, they’re more often looking to take advantage of your rights and use devious tactics to deny your claim. When you have a lawyer on your side, you effectively level the playing field and have the resources necessary to pursue the compensation you need. A lawyer can help you with the documents and information you need, any photo evidence you have, and accident reconstructionists who can help show how the collision occurred.

How Do I Defend My Car Accident Lawsuit?

Typically, if you’re the responsible party in a car accident, the case goes through your insurance company who has their own legal team to defend against paying out compensation. However, you should never assume that you were at fault for an accident. California allows for pure comparative negligence that allows you to pursue compensation, even if you are 99% at fault for the collision. Make sure you speak with an attorney and take all the necessary steps after the collision to protect your rights.

Do Most Car Accident Cases Go to Court?

Car accident cases go through an extensive process and there are many steps that exist before you make it to court for your case. Many car accident cases, however, settle well before making it to that point should you be able to display that the other party was negligent and thus responsible for their actions. Most of the time, this settlement occurs during the discovery phase when both sides get to show their evidence. Most cases are more likely to settle because insurance companies don’t want to spend the time or money on court. 

How much does it cost to go to court for a car accident?

Going to court for a car accident can be quite expensive, but it depends on numerous factors. This includes whether you need expert witnesses and how long court proceedings are set to last. 

How long does it take for a car accident to go to court?

The journey to court after a car accident can be long and strenuous, depending on the tactics the insurance company uses. Even when you file a claim, the insurance company may try to deny it or delay payment to push the process further. When you file a lawsuit, the insurance company can file a motion to dismiss. This back and forth is often done because the insurance company knows you need money and they’re hoping you’ll take whatever settlement offer they’ll give.

Should I Get a Lawyer for a Car Accident That Was My Fault?

Yes. Unless you’re considered 100% at fault for the accident, you may have the right to receive compensation for any damages you sustain in the accident. Your insurance company may also try to deny your coverage as a way to avoid paying a plaintiff, putting you in a very difficult situation. Working with an injury attorney regardless of the situation can be the most effective way to safeguard your rights.

What Can I Do to Reduce My Risk of an Auto Accident?

Reducing your risk of an auto accident is not always possible because you cannot predict someone else’s negligent actions. Because of this, you should do everything you can on your part to prevent a collision from occurring. This means defensive driving in which you stay focused on the road, avoid anything that may be illegal, and give vehicles around you enough room. Of course, the vehicle behind you is not always controllable, but you should leave at least one car length for every 10 miles per hour you’re driving for the vehicle in front of you to stop. You should also be sure to stay out of other vehicles’ blind spots.

What Happens if Someone Sues You After a Car Accident?

You may worry about what comes next, but there are very rarely occasions in which you can afford the cost of compensation out of your own pocket. It becomes essential for the car accident lawsuit to go through your insurance provider using the coverages for which you pay. However, if you are found negligent, there’s a high possibility that your insurance provider will increase your premium because you are considered higher risk.

Can I Go to Jail for a Car Accident?

If you cause a car accident because of negligence, you’re subject to civil action by the person who suffers injuries. However, there may be criminal action involved in situations where the negligence you display is against the law. For instance, if you cause a crash because you have been drinking and driving or because you were excessively reckless in your behavior on the road, you may go to jail for your actions.

What is the average settlement for whiplash?

An injury lawyer cannot give you an accurate average for the settlement you may recover for whiplash without having a full understanding of your situation. The severity of your whiplash is often the most prominent factor in determining compensation, but there may be other elements to consider. For instance, the whiplash’s impact on your career. Someone who works in a position where the whiplash may not impact their ability to work may not be able to earn as much as someone who can no longer earn an income because of the whiplash. Be sure to speak with a top accident attorney about your options.

GET THE HELP YOU NEED FROM A LOS ANGELES PERSONAL INJURY LAW FIRM

Negligence should never be tolerated, especially when it causes you or someone you love to suffer significant injuries. There are laws that exist that allow you to pursue compensation and justice to help set a standard regarding safety on the road. By taking legal action against a negligent party, you are showing the general public that there are consequences for negligent actions. You’re also pursuing compensation that you need to live life as comfortably as possible after you suffer severe injuries. 

With Pirnia Law Group on your side, you can have peace of mind knowing there’s an experienced legal professional advocating for your rights. We have a track record of success and have accomplished significant results for our clients in the past. We never make promises regarding the outcome of your case, but we can promise that we’ll keep your best interests at the top of our mind from start to finish. We’re never afraid of large corporations who are focused on their own bottom line instead of helping claimants during difficult times. 

Our Los Angeles car accident lawyer works on a contingency fee basis, which means you never have to worry about paying for our service out of pocket. In fact, if we don’t win and obtain compensation on your behalf, you don’t have to pay attorney fees. We know you’re already dealing with financial struggles because of mounting medical bills and lost income. We want to aid your recovery, not make it harder on you. You deserve aggressive yet compassionate representation so you have a voice to pursue justice. This is exactly what we provide when you need it the most. 

You can schedule a free consultation with our firm so you can get answers to your questions without a financial obligation. We’ll only take payment when we win, and it comes out as a percentage of your total compensation, so you never have to worry about out-of-pocket expenses with us.

Call our legal team today to speak with someone about your potential case, and we’ll be ready to help you.