LA Car Accident Attorney
If you have been seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident, your medical expenses and financial losses can quickly build and become overwhelming. If your accident was caused by another party’s negligence, you should not be responsible for the economic and noneconomic losses that you have been caused. To help you fight for fair compensation, you need to get legal help from an experienced Los Angeles car accident attorney.
All people who are injured in a car accident that is caused by other people’s negligence are entitled to recover compensation for the harm that they have suffered to their ability to work, their health, and their well-being.
Call Us 24/7 Los Angeles Office: 323-553-1000 | Torrance Office: 310-256-2299
Our car accident attorney has the experience and legal knowledge necessary to handle all types of motor vehicle accident cases. Each case has specific issues and laws that apply. Some of the areas that we focus on include the following:
You should not wait to contact a lawyer. Getting help quickly can help to prevent evidence from being lost. We have helped our clients to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars for their claims and can offer you peace of mind. Our attorneys can help you to navigate your case. If you wait too long, you could lose your right to recover compensation for your injuries because of the statute of limitations.
Common causes of motor vehicle injury accidents
In the U.S., car accidents are the leading cause of personal injury claims. When you suffer an unexpected injury in an accident that was not your fault, your finances, income, and savings can be devastated. You may be left facing permanent disabilities that prevent you from working. You might also suffer from chronic pain or emotional trauma.
Car accidents can be caused by many different things, including the following:
- Distracted driving
- Speeding
- Driving too fast for the conditions
- Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Following too close
All of these factors can cause a driver to lose control of his or her car and crash into someone else.
Los Angeles car accident statistics
More than 4 million people call Los Angeles County home. Because of the city’s size and crowded roads, the city and county experience many fatal and injury accidents each year.
The California Office of Traffic Safety reports several statistics for motor vehicle accidents in Los Angeles County for 2016, the most recent year for which the agency has statistics available. During that year, 44,207 people in Los Angeles were killed or injured in car accidents. In 3,546 of those accidents, alcohol was involved. Speeding was involved in 8,331 of the injury or fatality accidents. Besides people who were injured or killed in motor vehicle accidents, 3,487 pedestrians were injured or killed in traffic accidents.
What to do if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident
In California, you must stop and wait at the scene if you have a car accident. If you leave before help arrives or before you exchange information with the other driver, you can face criminal charges for leaving the scene even if the accident was not your fault.
If someone is injured, you are required to call for help immediately. You should not leave the accident scene until the officer has said that you can. You should make certain that a police report is filed and that you write down the officer’s name and contact information.
At the accident scene, you should collect the following types of information:
- Names, addresses, and drivers’ license numbers of all of the drivers who were involved
- Contact information for everyone who was involved
- Names and contact information for any witnesses
- The license plate numbers for all of the vehicles
- Insurance and registration information for all of the people who were involved
- Photographs of the damage to all of the involved vehicles
- Photographs of the accident scene
Getting help from an experienced injury attorney is important. The other party might attempt to blame you. When you have help from an experienced Los Angeles car accident attorney, you will have a better chance of recovering compensation for your losses.
After your accident, you should see your doctor promptly. Even if you are unsure of whether you have been injured, you should see your doctor. Some injuries do not show symptoms for hours or days after an accident. By seeing your doctor, you can properly document your injuries to demonstrate a nexus between them and your accident. You should keep copies of all of your medical bills and documents that are related to your injuries.
What rights do car accident victims have?
Car accident victims who are injured because of the negligence of others are entitled to recover compensation for their losses. In California, all drivers are required to have auto liability insurance of at least a minimum amount. Despite the law, some drivers fail to carry insurance.
If the driver that caused your accident has insurance, the claim will be processed by his or her insurance company. The company will first need to accept the insured’s liability. In some cases, insurance companies dispute the liability of their insureds. When this occurs, liability may need to be litigated in court.
Once the insurance company accepts that its insured was at fault, you will then need to send a demand letter. This letter will outline your causes of action, your injuries, and will include a demand for payment. When you have a lawyer communicating with the insurance company on your behalf, the process may move faster.
Damages in car accident claims
The compensation that might be recoverable will vary from case to case. The value of an accident claim will depend on the facts and circumstances of what occurred and the extent and severity of the injuries. Some of the types of damages that might be recoverable include the following:
- Past medical expenses
- Future anticipated medical expenses
- Rehabilitation costs
- Property losses
- Past income losses
- Future reduction in your ability to earn an income
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional or psychological trauma
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Disability
- Loss of the enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium for spouses
- Burial and funeral expenses in wrongful death cases
Insurance companies are motivated to protect their bottom line and to minimize the amounts that they might have to pay accident victims. They often extend offers that are unreasonably low to accident victims. You should not accept a settlement offer without having it reviewed by an experienced car accident attorney. An attorney can evaluate it for you and fight to recover compensation in a fair amount.
Accident victims must prove that at-fault drivers are liable for their accidents and injuries. They must present evidence that supports the damages that they have demanded. This makes it important for you to save all documents that are related to your injuries from your car accident.
Contact an experienced Los Angeles car accident attorney
The legal team at the Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys will fight to recover the compensation to which you should be entitled. When you retain us, we will advocate on your behalf with the insurance company or the other lawyer.
Schedule a FREE consultation. Call Us 24/7 Los Angeles Office: 323-553-1000 | Torrance Office: 310-256-2299
Learn more about other accident case types:
Personal Injury | Car Accident | Uber & Lyft Accident | Motorcycle Accident | Rear-end Accident | Truck Accident | Rollover Accident | Bus Accident | Government Vehicle Accident
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