Car Accident Injuries:
Everything You Need To Know
Below you will find everything you need to know if you are injured in a car accident. We’ve included everything from what to do the moments after the accident occurs to receiving maximum compensation in the shortest amount of time.
The steps are very similar if you are injured in a semi-truck or motorcycle accident, or if you were a pedestrian hit by a car.
Every step is very important if were injured in the car accident and want the responsible party to pay for all of your injury-related expenses and losses.
If you have any questions or would like us to fight the insurance company on your behalf, contact us. We are here to help and we only get paid when you receive your settlement.
Our legal consultation and representation is free unless your claim is successful.
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Car Accident Death Fact:
36,560 people died in traffic-related accidents in 2018.
9,378 were speeding-related deaths.
(source)
12 Steps to Maximize Compensation After Being Injured in a Car Accident
Over 2 million people are injured on US roadways each year according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
We have the 12 steps you should take if you are injured in an auto accident summarized below the video that covers the same 12 steps.
While still at the scene of the accident:
- Call 911
- Be careful as to what you say
- Seek medical treatment immediately
- Gather supporting evidence for your injury claim
- Notify your insurance company
- Notify the responsible party’s insurance company
- You do not have to offer a statement to the responsible party’s insurance company
- Organize all of your paperwork and other evidence
- Understand you do not have unlimited time (Statute of Limitations)
- Draft a professional demand letter
- Do your best to stay calm
- Know when to hire an accident attorney
Would you like to know what your injury claim is potentially worth? All you need to do is get us the details of your accident by phone or email and we would be happy to provide you with a realistic amount you could potentially expect and answer any questions you may have.
Car Accident Injury FAQ
Explore the following most commonly asked questions and answers regarding vehicle crashes in Kentucky. We’d be happy to speak with you about your concerns in person or by email.
What are the categories of automobile accidents?
There are a number of different types of automobile accidents such as:
- Car accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Taxi and transportation accidents
- Semi-truck crashes and tractor-trailer collisions and accidents
- Commercial vans and truck crashes
- ATV and off-road vehicle wrecks
What are the initial steps one should take after an accident?
Following these first steps are critical for insurance documentation and a possible court case:
- Determine injuries.
- Obtain the police report.
- Take photos of the accident scene and vehicles if possible.
- Secure medical forms.
- Do NOT Speak to your insurance company or the other party’s insurance company.
- Call Christopher Jackson, and make a claim against the responsible party.
What is the first thing I should do after a car accident?
The most important thing is to assess the severity of your injuries and how they will affect you now and in the future.
How long will you be out of work?
Will you be able to go back to your same job?
We have relationships with medical doctors who can treat you and secure payment once there is a settlement.
I have an injury from a vehicle accident where another party was at fault. Their insurance company has offered me a settlement, should I take it?
The other party’s insurance company does not have your best interests in mind.
Many times, they will try to settle with compensation that is a quick, low-ball offer.
We will fight to help you strive for maximum compensation based on your level of injuries. We will review your future health care needs and the ability to work before accepting any settlement.
Why should I call a lawyer if I’ve been involved in a serious accident?
An experienced, Kentucky motor vehicle accident attorney can investigate factors, details, and evidence of your collision.
If needed, forensic professionals and accident re-constructionists can assess the situation.
I have injuries from a crash that was the other party’s fault. What type of compensation am I able to ask for in a lawsuit?
We can request compensation for a number of expenses relating to your injuries, including:
Medical expenses: Bills for ambulance, hospital, physical therapy, medications, medical equipment, and in-home medical visits.
Property damage: Damage to your vehicle and/or damage to a boat, trailer or motorcycle you were towing and other cargo.
Lost wages: We can request lost wages from not being able to work or for having to take a job that pays less because of a disability caused by the accident.
Pain and suffering: This is the physical pain and emotional stress you incurred due to injuries.
Punitive damages: These types of damages can be requested in the event of seriously negative circumstances, and are damages exceeding simple compensation and awarded to punish the defendant.
My sister died as a result of a car accident that was not her fault. Can we claim a wrongful death lawsuit?
Immediate family members may seek damages in a wrongful death lawsuit for funeral expenses, future lost wages, burial bills, loss of companionship, and loss of household services.
How Can Your Legal Representation Support My Case Outcome
We coach you through every step of the process and do all of the leg work on your behalf.
We overlook no detail and involve forensic professionals, if necessary, to study all of the evidence. We represent clients in and around Covington, Cincinnati, and other area communities.
Contact us at 859-261-1111 in Kentucky or 513-861-8000 in Ohio. You may also inquire about a free case evaluation with our convenient quick contact form.
Determining the Responsible Party of the Accident
Determining liability or legal responsibility for an accident can be complicated, but often rests on whether someone was careless or “negligent.” It’s easy enough to say that the person or business that caused an accident must pay for your injuries. But before you get to that point, you must determine who was legally at fault.
Most accidents happen because someone was careless. The basic rule is: If one person involved in an accident was less careful than another, the less careful one must pay for at least a portion of the damages suffered by the more careful one.
Car Accident Scenarios to Aid in Determining Fault:
- If the injured person was where he or she was not supposed to be, or somewhere he or she should have expected the kind of activity which caused the accident, the person who caused the accident might not be liable because that person had no “duty” to be careful toward the injured person.
- If the injured person was also careless, his or her compensation may be reduced by the extent such carelessness was also responsible for the accident. This is known as comparative negligence. Kentucky is a “pure” comparative state, meaning liability can be apportioned however it may be from 90%-10% or even 50%-50%. Ohio is a “modified” comparative state, meaning the at fault party must be more negligent than the injured party.
- If a negligent person causes an accident while working for someone else, the employer may also be legally responsible for the accident. This is vicarious liability.
- If an accident is caused on property that is dangerous because it is poorly built or maintained, the owner of the property is liable for being careless in maintaining the property, regardless of whether he or she actually created the dangerous condition as long as the owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition.
- If an accident is caused by a defective product, the manufacturer and seller of the product can both be liable even if the injured person doesn’t know which one was careless in creating or allowing the defect, or exactly how the defect happened.
Determining the Percentage of Liability
Bob was in a car accident in which he stopped short and was hit from behind. If the other person had been 100% at fault, Bob’s medical bills and lost income would entitle him to $1,000.
However, the police accident report notes that Bob stopped short because one of a group of children next to a school looked as if he was going to dart into the street. The insurance company for the person whose car hit Bob from behind points out that Bob should have been going slowly enough in the school area to be able to stop without having to slam on his brakes.
In this case, not going slowly enough may have made Bob about 10% negligent. Because of this, the person who hit him is not liable to Bob for the full compensation of $1,000, but for only $900 (100% liability minus Bob’s 10% liability = 90% liability).
There is no formula for arriving at a precise number for a person’s comparative carelessness. During claim negotiations, you and an insurance adjuster will discuss all the factors that might have resulted in the accident.
Then the question of your own carelessness goes into the negotiating hopper, along with all the other factors that determine how much your claim is worth — such as the seriousness of your injury and the amount of your medical bills.
Comparative negligence is applied in three slightly different ways, depending on the state where the accident occurred. The more generous states allow you to recover compensation for your injuries in an amount based on the other person’s fault, no matter how great your own fault was, like Kentucky.
Most states, however, use a slightly more restrictive rule under which you can’t recover anything if your own carelessness was 50% or more responsible for the accident, like Ohio. And a handful of tight-fisted states don’t allow you to recover any compensation at all if your fault is any more than “slight” compared to the others involved — or, worse, if your own carelessness contributed in any way to the accident. (This is called “contributory negligence.”)
If You are in a Car Accident and the Responsible Party Does Not Have Insurance
Were you injured in a car accident with an uninsured motorist/under-insured motorist (UM/UIM) and need an attorney?
If this happened to you or a loved one, you may feel as if you have no financial options when it comes to covering medical expenses and other damages. The personal injury lawyers at The Law Office of Christopher Jackson will seek out new pathways to coverage you have not even considered and get you the compensation you deserve.
Not Everyone has Insurance Even Though it is Required by Law
Most people assume that other drivers have good insurance policies, but this is far from the truth.
The fact is that many people on the road drive with inadequate insurance or none at all. This can cause major issues for accident victims who need coverage for damages.
UM/UIM Coverage Explained
Under state law, insurance companies are required to make uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage available; however, drivers are not required to carry it. UM/UIM coverage provides motorists protection in scenarios where the liable at-fault party does not carry enough insurance policy to pay off all your damages or possesses none at all.
If you have uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, your insurer will provide payment, the amount of which is determined by your specific policy, for injuries caused to:
- You while being the operator or passenger of your own vehicle, while being the operator or passenger of a vehicle that is not your own, or while walking the streets as a pedestrian
- A relative who is injured while being the operator or passenger of a vehicle included in your policy
- Any other person who was permitted to drive or ride in your insured vehicle
- Any passenger in a vehicle you are operating but are not the owner of
The clearest way to illustrate how under-insured motorist (UIM) coverage works are through an example.
Let’s say your injury claim is worth a total of $50,000 and the at-fault motorist’s insurance only had the mandatory minimum limits of $25,000.
You can go after the remaining $25,000 from your own insurer through UIM coverage. Assuming that amount does not exceed your policy’s limits. In this example, you must carry more UIM coverage than the at-fault driver.
How Can I Learn More About Uninsured Motorist & Under-Insured Motorist Coverage?
At The Law Office of Christopher Jackson, our uninsured motorist accident attorneys can help you find the best route for finding fair and full compensation for your losses. Recovery may not be easy, but it is possible with our help.
There are inherent dangers while on the road, such as potentially negligent or careless drivers who may cause collisions.
For this reason, state law requires all drivers to carry automobile insurance that will provide coverage in case they are at fault and cause a collision. This insurance is designed to provide for compensation for injuries incurred or property damage done as the result of negligence, or a mistake on the part of a driver who causes a crash and to benefit the victims of the car accident.
Make Sure You and Your Family are Protected
Our underinsured motorist law firm recommends that you purchase both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage with your auto insurance policy.
Both types of insurance cover the motorist and usually cover pedestrians and bicyclists who are injured in accidents as well. Since you cannot control the behavior of other drivers, it is always a good idea to make sure you and your family are protected by obtaining uninsured and underinsured coverage in the event of an accident.
If you were in an auto accident and the driver who caused the accident was uninsured, depending on your insurance coverage, our injury attorneys can make an uninsured motorist claim with your insurance company.
The claim would be just like a claim brought against a defendant except that your insurance company would be involved. The claim can cover the damages you incur, including any medical bills you receive for treatment, any lost wages you were unable to earn from missing work, the pain and suffering you endured, and whatever other damages exist in your case.
Our uninsured car accident lawyers can make the uninsured claim on your behalf, handling every aspect from obtaining all your medical records and bills through settlement. Though you may be represented by a lawyer, the choice to settle is always your decision to make as you are the one who suffered the injuries in the accident.
More Details About UM/UIM Coverage And Claims
We also represent drivers in underinsured motorist claims. If an at-fault driver has low insurance limits and you have significant damages, there may not be enough money to fully compensate you for your damages. For example, if your state’s minimum insurance coverage is only $25,000 per person/$50,000 per occurrence, this means that regardless of how many people are injured in an accident, the insurance company would be liable for only a maximum of $50,000 worth of damages.
It is very easy for total damages to exceed the minimum insurance coverage, so if a driver has only a small insurance policy, those injured often have an underinsured motorist claim as well. After making a recovery from the defendant’s insurance, a personal injury lawyer can help you bring a claim against your own insurance policy even if your limits are not greater than the at-fault driver. This is often called “stacking.”
Even if you are in an accident with a driver who has low insurance limits, you may still be able to be fully compensated for your losses, even if your auto insurance policy limits are the same as the at-fault driver. Often this helps accident victims pay their medical bills and provide for their families while they are unable to work and recovering from injuries. Also, when policy limits are obtained, state law provides that the PIP lien is extinguished.
Protect Your Rights
Following an accident, it is a good idea to speak with a personal injury lawyer to learn whether you may have an uninsured or underinsured claim in addition to any other forms of financial recovery.
Many times, additional compensation is available to accident victims who are unaware of it and who miss out on those payments because they did not receive proper advice.
Speak with our experienced accident attorneys who deal with UI and UIM cases on a weekly basis to ensure you don’t leave money on the table.
If you were a Pedestrian Hit by a Car
Legal Representation for Pedestrians Hit by a Car
Were you hit by a car while crossing the street?
Unfortunately, many pedestrians are hit by vehicles and injured every year; these injuries are often quite serious because they involve a collision between a motor vehicle and a person.
At the Law Offices of Christopher Jackson, we represent people who have been injured in a pedestrian accident. You need an attorney that understands the law, the long-term issues, and how insurance companies work.
We Handle Pedestrian Injury Cases of All Kinds
In our experience, most pedestrians are injured when drivers fail to pay attention to their surroundings. Motorists often keep a lookout for dangers to themselves as they travel in cars, trucks, and buses, but then they don’t watch for those that are most likely to get hurt, such as people on foot, bicyclists, and motorcycle riders.
Although not as common, lawyers at our office have also handled pedestrian and bystander injury claims where motorists have lost control of their vehicles and driven up onto sidewalks and into houses and restaurants.
Representing the following types of pedestrian accident cases:
- Not yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks
- Backing out of parking spaces in parking lots
- Driving too fast in residential areas where there are children playing
- Turning in a stoplight intersection and not keeping a lookout for pedestrians rightfully in the crosswalk
- Driving while distracted, whether by texting, talking on a cell phone, or other distractions such as eating or drinking
What Questions Are Asked?
In order to obtain full compensation for those injured in pedestrian accidents, or for the family members of those killed, our pedestrian injury lawyers conduct a thorough investigation and will want to know answers to questions such as:
- Was the accident victim in a properly marked crosswalk?
- Have there been previous accidents at the same location?
- If the accident occurred at night in a designated crosswalk, was the crosswalk properly lit?
- What types of traffic control devices were in place to warn oncoming traffic of the crosswalk?
- Were the roadway conditions unobstructed?
- Were other potentially responsible parties involved, such as construction companies that may have been engaged in work that may have contributed to the accident?
Pedestrian Accident Fact:
There were 6,283 pedestrians left dead after being stuck by a vehicle in 2018.
(source)
5 Keys for a Proper Settlement
- Know what the short and long-term effects can be for the victim
- Gather all the evidence on scene, medical, and witnesses
- A sophisticated understanding of the law and how it applies to your case
- The willingness to take the time to get it right
- And with all that comes the confidence in and out of the courthouse to challenge the insurance companies who care only about their bottom line
Were You Hit by a Car in a Crosswalk?
The law requires drivers to exercise due care to avoid hitting pedestrians, yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk, use the horn to warn them when necessary and to use proper precaution if they see a child in the road. Too often drivers fail to take these necessary precautions and they cause accidents that should never have occurred.
In the vast majority of pedestrian-related crashes, the fault does not fall on the pedestrian but rather is due to some type of negligence on the part of the driver. Often, multiple factors may lead to the negligent action, including driving while distracted, failing to stop at a stop sign, failing to check for pedestrian traffic before proceeding into an intersection, and speeding.
Were You Hit by a Truck, Bus, or Train While Walking?
Passenger cars are not the only threat facing pedestrians; additional dangers come from semi-trucks, buses, vans, and trains.
Regardless of what type of vehicle causes a pedestrian accident, there may be a claim for the damages incurred by the pedestrian if negligence was involved on the part of a driver, an owner of a car, truck, or train. Sometimes, a mechanic who built or performed maintenance work on the vehicle is at fault.
The Law Offices of Christopher Jackson’s Experience Representing Car Accident Victims in Greater Cincinnati
Motor vehicle accidents are devastating. You may have long-term injuries requiring medical appointments, physical therapy, and prescription drugs for months, even years. It is critical that you speak with an accident attorney who cares and knows the law. The reputable attorneys at The Law Offices of Christopher Jackson are experienced with serious collisions and offer compassionate attention and fierce defense when you need it most.
Strong Representation For Those Injured In An Accident
How Our Experience And Skills Can Help
It may seem unfair that you are not allowed the time to recover, but insurance companies have teams of attorneys who begin work the moment they are notified of a motor vehicle accident. It is imperative that you secure legal representation as soon as you are injured.
It is very important to gather evidence from the scene. Photographs and witnesses are very important in proving your case. We try to get photographs of the damage to both vehicles, photographs of the scene, photographs of the injuries, scars, etc.
After a motor vehicle accident, it’s also very important not to speak to the insurance company. They will record every call, and although you have nothing to hide, they will twist your words and use them against you. A common twist we see often is when you fail to properly describe your injury. The insurance company may ask how you feel; you will say you are, “OK” because you survived the crash and did not lose any limbs, etc. The insurance company will not ask any more questions. Then, the next time you talk to the insurance company and tell them that your back, neck, leg, etc., are in pain, they will deny your claim because you already told them you were, “OK.”
We have a great deal of experience representing individuals injured in Motor Vehicle Accidents:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Uninsured/Underinsured motorists
The insurance company is not trying to help you get the most compensation. You need an experienced car accident attorney to help you understand your rights and legal options, someone who can relieve the stress of dealing with these legal issues. Insurance company claims adjusters and their lawyers are trained to offer minimal compensation and to deny your claim outright. Many people simply give up at this point. Do not give up!
If you were injured by a negligent driver, you may already have received offers to settle. Don’t settle until you understand your rights and never sign anything.
Never Make A Statement For An Insurance Company
It is very important to never provide a recorded or written statement to any insurance company before you have spoken with attorney Christopher Jackson or his office. Insurance company employees are trained to ask questions that could compromise your claim and allow the company to ultimately deny your claim.
By speaking with the insurance company adjuster, you risk making an inadvertent statement that could be used against you. Mr. Jackson and his office understand insurance company tactics and know-how to protect your interests. After you contact us, we will handle all communications and work to ensure you receive the compensation you need and deserve for your injuries.
Attorney Christopher Jackson will aggressively pursue compensation from the negligent party’s insurance company in your crash. He has years of litigation experience, and he will work with a variety of experts to help you win your case. Since 2003, Christopher Jackson has helped injured people; let him help you.
No Attorney Fees Unless You Win and Free Consultations for Motor Vehicle Accident Cases
The Law Offices of Christopher Jackson offers free consultations for personal injury cases, including home, hospital and office visits. Evening and weekend appointments are also available at our offices in Covington and Cincinnati. Call us today at 859-261-1111 or toll-free at 888-811-3247, or contact us online.
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