Auto Accidents

Standing by Your Side in Difficult Times

Home

Auto Accidents

PRACTICE AREAS

Motor Vehicle Accident

$1,300,000
Our client stopped at the stop sign and was hit by another vehicle causing brain injuries

Free Case Evaluation

Contact Us now

LOS ANGELES CAR ACCIDENT ATTORNEYS

Standing by Your Side in Difficult Times

Since cars were first invented over a century ago, auto accidents have been an omnipresent background noise in our society. We read news article about them, hear anecdotes of them happening to friends of friends, see them used as plot devices in movies, and so forth.

Until you or a family member gets hurt in a car crash, and then auto accidents cease to be a background noise and immediately become a very real hurdle for you and your loved ones.

As attorneys who work in the personal injury field, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about car accidents – far more than the average person. We understand how prevalent they are, and how devastating for the human beings involved.

Traffic fatalities in California are no joke. In the year 2018, for instance, 3,563 Californians were killed in auto accidents, and tens of thousands more suffered injuries, ranging from minor to lifelong and debilitating. If you’re included in this number, you’re not suffering alone… although we’ve found that’s usually little consolation.

Then there’s the damage to your car, which might sound trivial compared to bodily injury, but which shouldn’t be overlooked: if you are like millions of other Californians, your automobile may be the only way you can get around and function in our society, and having to buy a new one can set you far back.

In this article, we’ll explain a lot about the basics of auto accidents, what you need to know if you’ve been in one, and how seeking our services can help you.

We Can Demonstrate Fault in Car Accident Cases

As your attorneys, our job will be to prove that the other driver was at fault, and that your injuries and losses came about as a result of their actions. Generally, we have to prove negligence. You can remember the elements of a car accident case with the four words duty, breach, causation, and harm. That means that the other driver had a duty to you, that they breached that duty, that you suffered some harm, and that the harms you suffered were directly caused by the accident. All drivers have a duty to drive safely, both with regards to following the traffic rules and to taking reasonable steps to ensure the safety of other drivers. Some of the most common actions which violate this duty include:

Running a stop sign or red light.
Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Not paying attention while driving.
Texting and driving.
Driving aggressively.

As a result, there are some common types of car accidents where it is usually easy to figure out fault:

In a rear-end crash, the driver in back is usually (although not always!) at fault.
In a left-turn crash, the driver making the left turn is usually (although not always!) at fault.
In a lane change accident, the car changing lanes is usually (although not always!) at fault.

Remember, there are exceptions to these, and if you think your crash might fall under one of these exceptions, then give us a call. In some cases, if the other driver acted in a truly atrocious way, we might go further and try to prove gross negligence or recklessness. With these latter types of cases, damages can often be higher. It’s rare for there to be intention in a car accident case, but it’s happened.

We Can Take on Comparative Negligence and Mixed Fault Cases

Fault isn’t always so straightforward. There are plenty of cases where both drivers share fault to some degree. For instance, let’s say the other driver ran a red light but you were going a little over the speed limit. How would the law handle this?

In California, this is dealt with via comparative negligence. This means that if you were injured in an accident, and you were partly at fault, you will receive less in damages than you otherwise would have. If you are 30% at fault, then the amount of damages you will be eligible to receive will be decreased by 30%.

However, the good news is that California is a pure comparative negligence state, so even if you were mostly at fault, you can still recover a small amount of damages from the other driver’s insurance company.

In other words, don’t assume that just because you were partly or even largely at fault, you don’t have a case! It may not be as strong as it would have been, but there may still be significant damages for you to recover.

We Can Handle Insurance Adjusters for You

As you probably already know if you drive, California drivers are required to have auto insurance.

All California drivers are required to carry insurance that covers at least $15,000 for bodily injury per person, $30,000 for bodily injury per accident, and $5,000 for property damage.

If someone else injured you in a car crash, then their insurance will pay for your injuries. This is an important factor to remember: if you get in an accident, you will be dealing with the other driver’s insurance company, not your own!

These insurance companies have an incentive to pay you as little as possible, and they hire insurance adjusters who will do anything they can to slip you up, get you to admit fault, and so forth. You probably aren’t a professional at dealing with insurance adjusters, but they are professionals at dealing with people like YOU.

As a result, unless you want to teach yourself law on the heels of a major car accident, the best thing to do is to outsource the legal footwork to a personal injury attorney whose job it is to deal with insurance adjusters.

Doing this is no different from outsourcing your taxes to a professional accountant, your car repairs to a professional mechanic, and so forth. That’s just how division of labor works, and you can rest easier (and therefore hopefully recover more smoothly from your injuries) with the stress of dealing with insurance adjusters lifted off your shoulders.

We Help You Recover Damages

If you’ve been in an accident, and the other driver was at fault, there are several types of damages you may be able to recover.

The most obvious damages are medical expenses, covering everything from the initial emergency room visit (if there was one) to any surgeries, medications, physical therapy, and more.
If you lose time at work as a result of your injuries, damages may include lost wages, as well as lost earning capacity for money you might have otherwise been able to earn in the future.
If your car was damaged (and it likely was), then you may be able to recover for damaged property, as well as any other object of personal property that may have been harmed in the crash.
With regards to the emotional toll that the accident may take on you, you may be able to sue for factors such as pain and suffering or loss of enjoyment of life. These are known as noneconomic damages, because there’s no direct number attached to them, like some of the above types of damages, but they are still an integral part of many accident lawsuits.
In some cases, you may be able to recover punitive damages, which aren’t related to your injuries at all but are instead awarded solely to make the defendant suffer if they did something particularly horrible. For instance, punitive damages have been awarded in some drunk driving cases. Remember, these are only awarded in a small minority of cases, but depending on how badly the other driver acted, they may be on the table…
In a wrongful death case – if you are the loved one of someone who was killed in a car accident suing on their behalf – you may be able to recover damages for things like funeral expenses and loss of consortium, as well as lost wages on behalf of your loved one.

What to Do After a Car Accident

If you get into a car accident in California, you should take the following steps.

AT THE SCENE:

Stop and exchange insurance information and contact information (name, address, telephone number, license plates) with the other driver. Failure to do this is a hit-and-run and will result in severe penalties, regardless of fault.
Call the police if you or anyone else involved were injured.
Get the names and contact information of any witnesses you can find.
Take photos of the accident scene, including damage to your car, your injuries, and the conditions on the road. These may provide important evidence later.
Be careful with your words; don’t admit fault TO ANYONE or even apologize (which can be construed as a legal admission of fault), and don’t try to downplay the severity of your injuries (“I’m fine”).

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING:

Seek medical attention immediately after an accident, even if you don’t feel hurt. Many car accident injuries can take a while to manifest, and the longer the gap between the accident and treatment, the harder it will be to get any damages at all for your injuries.
Report the accident to your own insurance company; this is usually contractually required.
File an SR-1 form with the DMV within 10 days of the accident, if there were any injuries or deaths or if property damages exceeded $1,000. Many people forget this since no other state but California requires this and it’s not well-known, but the penalties for failing to do so can include losing your license.
Speak to a personal injury attorney.

When Do I Need a Personal Injury Attorney?

If your accident was a mere fender-bender, with no injuries, you probably won’t need our services. These types of injuries can typically be resolved through the insurance companies.

If there was an injury, however, then that’s a different story. This is the case even if the injury isn’t serious, or doesn’t appear to be. Remember, some injuries take a while to show up, and some things which feel minor actually aren’t.

In any case, you have nothing to lose by seeking a consultation and learning more about your options. If you do choose to call us, the sooner the better: evidence is much stronger when collected immediately after an accident.

The initial consultation with us is free. You have nothing to lose by talking to us. At the very least, you might get a bit of helpful information. At most, you stand to gain the help of a law firm full of dedicated attorneys who will fight for you to the end.

find out if you have a case

Helpful Information

The Personal Injury process can be confusing. To answer the many questions regarding accidents and the injuries they produce, we put together the most frequently asked accident questions along with helpful guides to accompany them. Whether it be questions on cost, medical expenses and treatments or specifics in what to do ( or not do), we have you covered.

Coordinates of this location not found

find the best medical providers

Having high quality care to get our clients recover is our main priority. That is why we focus on sending our clients only to the best physicians after being involved in an accident.

Chiropractic

Family Doctors

General Practitioners

Neurologist

Spinal Surgeons

Cardiologist

Orthopedics

Pain Management

MRI

Optometrist

Pediatrics