How Can You Prove Fault in a Motor Vehicle Accident?

What Can Happen if You Are Injured by a Negligent Driver?

A severe injury in an Alabama traffic crash can abruptly and unexpectedly change your life, and not in a good way. If you are injured by a negligent driver in or near Phenix City, you must be advised by a Phenix City traffic accident lawyer, and you must contact that lawyer promptly. Alabama is an “at fault” state for traffic accidents, so the driver who is responsible for a traffic accident is also accountable for the costs. The central legal issue in a personal injury case arising from a traffic collision is determining which motorist was at fault and has liability. Under Alabama law, the injured victim of a negligent driver is entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and other crash-related damages, but a victim’s compensation doesn’t simply appear in the victim’s mailbox or bank account.

What Steps Will an Injured Victim of Negligence Need to Take?

Instead, the victim (called the “plaintiff” in a personal injury case) and his or her attorney must prove that the motorist accused of being at fault – the “defendant” – was driving negligently and should be assigned liability for the accident. A plaintiff and his or her Phenix City car accident attorney must also prove the defendant’s negligence was the direct cause of the accident and injuries. It’s hard, for example, to prove an accident caused a back injury if you have an old back injury or a history of back trouble. Lastly, with the assistance of your Phenix City traffic accident lawyer, you must offer evidence of the extent of your injury, and you must provide documentation of your medical costs, lost wages and projected future lost earnings, and all additional accident-related losses and damages.

What Should You Do Immediately After a Traffic Accident?

To succeed with a personal injury claim, you’ll need evidence in support of that claim. A lawyer can help you – later – but when an accident happens, you must remember to take these steps to put yourself in the best position to prevail with an injury claim:

1. Summon medical and police assistance at once, and ask the police how to acquire a copy of their accident report. That report may or may not help you, but any hint that the defendant was driving recklessly or negligently helps confirm your injury claim.
2. Take plenty of photos. Photographs can be persuasive evidence in personal injury cases. Photograph the damage to the vehicles, the license plates, your visible injuries, and the general accident scene. If you’re injured, ask someone to take the photographs for you.
3. Speak to any eyewitnesses and try to get their names, phone numbers, street addresses, email addresses, their employers’ names – any contact information that can help you and your lawyer reach an eyewitness about offering testimony or making a statement.

If you’re not taken to a hospital or treated at the accident scene, obtain a medical examination at once, and within 24 hours if possible. That examination protects you if you’ve sustained a latent injury, and it establishes the medical documentation you’ll need to file a personal injury claim.

How Do Personal Injury Lawyers Help Injured Victims of Negligence?

Your Phenix City car accident attorney will conduct a comprehensive investigation of the accident, and if necessary, your attorney will seek assistance from medical authorities, accident reconstruction specialists, insurance professionals, and other experts. Every facet and detail of a traffic collision will be scrutinized to determine which motorist has liability. Your personal injury lawyer will then develop a legal strategy to obtain the maximum possible amount of compensation from that motorist’s auto insurance provider. In some accidents, neither motorist is at fault. For example, millions of vehicles are recalled each year for defective parts, so if a defective vehicle or part was the real cause of an accident, your lawyer may recommend filing a product liability claim against the vehicle or part manufacturer.

What Else Should Drivers in Alabama Know?

The law in this state makes some presumptions that Alabama motorists should know and understand. Rear-end crashes, for instance, are usually considered the fault of the rear vehicle driver – even if the vehicle in front was stopped improperly or illegally. Alabama law presumes that every driver must be able to brake safely – in almost all driving situations – and that drivers who don’t stop safely are probably negligent. Similarly, a driver turning left is almost always presumed liable for a crash with a driver who was moving straight through an intersection. Unless the driver moving through the intersection was violating a traffic law, the driver who was making the turn is usually presumed to be at fault.

How Soon Do You Have to Take Legal Action? And What Will Justice Cost?

In most cases and with very few exceptions, the deadline for taking legal action with a personal injury claim in Alabama is two years from the date you were injured, but you must not wait two years to consult an accident attorney. Your lawyer should see the evidence while it’s fresh (and before it’s lost or altered), and your lawyer should speak with the witnesses before their memories fade. You should contact an accident attorney at once after you’ve been seen by a doctor and treated for your injury. If you’re injured, your first consultation with an Alabama personal injury attorney is offered with no obligation or cost. If you proceed with legal action, you’ll owe your personal injury attorney nothing upfront and nothing until your attorney recovers your compensation.

Take Your Personal Injury Case to the Bence Law Firm

With sixteen years of legal experience, Alabama personal injury lawyer David Bence has recovered more than $50 million for the injured victims of negligence in this state. Attorney David Bence knows how to resolve the most complicated and difficult personal injury claims. He will make your case a priority. If you’ve been injured by a negligent driver in or near Phenix City, or if you’re injured this way in the future, find out more about your rights – or start the personal injury process at once – and call the Bence Law Firm immediately at 334-489-1951.