The 5 Most Common Situations Where You’ll Need a Car Crash Attorney

Car crashes can impact your life profoundly. If a car hits your vehicle while you’re out driving around, it can total your car, and then you must replace it. The crash can also seriously injure you. You may need surgery or physical therapy after the incident.

You can get in a car wreck while moments away from home. You can get in one while on vacation. Claiming adequate compensation after a Las Vegas car crash might become necessary if you rented a vehicle and you’re driving along the Strip when another motorist plows into you. A car can back into you in the parking lot at Disneyland. 

While you can never feel completely safe from a car crash, you can at least follow all traffic laws. Doing so makes accidents less likely. The rest you must leave to fate. 

If you’re in a car crash, you won’t always need a lawyer. However, in certain situations, you will more than likely require one. We will discuss a few of these scenarios in the following article.

The Other Driver Fled the Scene

If another driver hits your car, that’s never ideal. You might have one of these situations that turns out relatively okay, though.

Maybe the other driver admits they caused the accident. You’re in an at-fault state, meaning the other driver’s insurance will pay for the vehicle damage. It should cover your medical bills and lost wages as well.

Maybe you’re in an accident, though, and the other driver flees the scene. That’s illegal, and the police consider it to be a felony.

If the other driver leaves the scene, they might have several reasons for doing so. No matter their reason, though, it’s definitely a smart idea to hire a lawyer. 

You will probably need to sue the other driver. By doing so, you’re putting legal pressure on them to pay for things like your lost wages if you missed work, your doctor bills if the crash injured you, and the repair bill if the accident damaged your car. 

The Accident Involved Several Vehicles

You may also have a situation where an accident involved several vehicles. This can happen on the highway. 

You have many cars traveling at a high rate of speed. If one car hits another, that action can cause multiple other collisions. The police sometimes call this a chain reaction car crash.

If that happens, then you may need to hire a lawyer because it is not entirely clear who actually caused the wreck. Maybe it happened very quickly, and you’re not really sure of the sequence of events. 

If you live in a no-fault state, and you have the proper insurance, then you might not need a lawyer. If a crash involved several vehicles, though, and it occurred in an at-fault state, that means you need to figure out who caused the accident, since their insurance will presumably repair your vehicle damage.

The Other Driver Blames You, But You Feel It’s Their Fault

You will probably want to hire a car crash lawyer if you’re in an at-fault state and you feel certain the other driver caused the wreck. However, they feel differently, and they blame you.

In such situations, you will likely feel some righteous anger. Some people don’t ever like to admit that they’re wrong, though.

The other driver may feel this way. The facts might point to them being at fault, but you will probably need to prove that in court in order to collect the money that you are due. 

In such situations, your lawyer can gather evidence that proves the other driver caused the wreck and that you did not. 

The Other Driver’s Insurance Won’t Pay for Your Claim

Maybe you’re in an at-fault state. You need the other driver to admit they caused the accident, and you need their insurance to agree and to pay for your vehicle damage and medical bills.

The first part of that equation happens with no issues. The other driver agrees they caused the accident. You find that their insurance company does not agree with that assessment, though.

Now, you’re engaged in a battle not with the other driver, but with their insurance company. You will absolutely want to hire a lawyer if this ends up happening. You don’t know the law well enough to argue against the insurance company and their attorneys in court.

Again, your lawyer can help by compiling evidence that proves the other driver caused the wreck and presenting it in court. Your attorney might even have the other driver take the witness stand and testify if they feel it will help your case. 

The Other Driver Didn’t Have Any Insurance

You may also have a situation where another driver hit your car, and they don’t have any insurance. Maybe they had a policy, but they let it lapse. They may also have an insurance policy, but it’s worth less than the minimum amount that your state requires.

In that circumstance, you will need to hire a lawyer so that you can hold the other driver accountable for their actions. It’s much like when you need an attorney if the other driver fled the scene.

If you’re in a no-fault state, then it probably won’t matter that the other driver didn’t have insurance. The onus of paying for the damage to your car falls on your insurance company, not the other driver’s. 

In an at-fault state, though, you will need a lawyer so that you can sue the other driver. That is probably the only way you will get the money to cover your lost wages, medical expenses, and car repair bills. You may also want additional cash for your pain and suffering if you sustained some serious injuries.

In any of these instances, you’ll want to find and hire a personal injury attorney who knows everything about this niche. They can pursue justice for you with dogged determination.

By ML staff. Image courtesy of Pexels.