Car Accident Lawyer Serving Rock Hill

On your daily commute, you never expect that an accident may occur. Even when you take all of the necessary precautions to drive attentively, your safety is in the hands of other drivers. Furthermore, insurance might not want to pay you what is sufficient for recovery and repair. The car accident attorneys at HawkLaw, P.A., will fight to get you compensation in the event of a car accident. Call 1-888-HAWK-LAW today.

What Are My Chances of Getting in a Car Accident?

How likely are you to be in a car accident? The South Carolina collision statistics from the Department of Public Safety found that in 2019, there was one traffic collision every 3.7 minutes in the state. Consider a few more statistics:

• Every 9.4 hours, a fatal accident occurred.
• Every 13.6 minutes, one injury collision occurred.
• Every 5.2 minutes, one property damage collision occurred.
• Every 9 minutes, one injury occurred to a person.

When you consider these facts from the Department of Public Safety, one thing is clear. It is dangerous to be on the roadways. Many of these accidents result in property damages, high medical expenses, and wrongful death. However, before you file a car accident claim, reach out to a law firm to help you protect any compensation owed to you.

What Steps Should I Take Right After an Accident?

After an accident, the first step in most cases is to contact the police. Call 911 to request help needed. Try to stay calm and remain where you are until the police arrive. Be sure to assess who has injuries and provide that information to the dispatcher.

When safe to do so, obtain the other driver’s insurance information. Be sure to get their contact information, including their insurance company and the policy number, from their insurance card. Take a photo of both sides of the card. Also, if safe to do so, gather the names and contact information of any witnesses to the accident. Your personal injury attorney may need to reach out to these individuals to get statements.

If you can do so, take photos of the scene. That includes photos of:

• The damage to your vehicle
• The damage to the other driver’s car
• The surrounding area
• Any evidence laying around
• The other driver’s license plate
• Video that shows the entire crash site, moving slowly through it
• Any traffic signals or signs in the area

You may need to visit the police station to complete a police report. If not, gather a copy of the police report for your records and your personal injury case.

When Should I Call a Lawyer After a Car Accident?

Our car accident lawyers serving Rock Hill are available to discuss your case with you as soon as you need help. It is important to discuss your auto accident with an attorney before filing an insurance claim for the medical bills or other losses you have. One of the reasons for that is that South Carolina is an at-fault state.

What does at-fault mean? In a car accident case, the person who causes the accident holds responsibility for the losses others suffer due to that accident. If he or she caused your damages, the other driver may hold responsibility for your medical bills, property damage, and wrongful death claims.

Car accident victims may think this means that filing a claim for those losses and receiving fair compensation is likely to happen. However, that is not always the case. Remember that the insurance company is going to try everything possible to keep the compensation paid to you low as possible.

Because of this, it is critical to call car accident lawyers serving Rock Hill as soon as possible after you have the medical attention you need. Getting this legal advice may help answer your questions. It could help you avoid some mistakes, too.

Auto accident attorneys may help in numerous ways. First, they educate you on your legal rights. They may also be able to tell you if you have an accident claim and case to file based on the information you provide. Personal injury claims may be complex. Attorneys help you to potentially receive any fair compensation for the losses you sustained that are owed to you because of their experience and understanding of the law. This may include losses you sustain into the future due to long-term care needs.

What Are the Different Types of Damage from a Car Accident?

With legal representation, you may learn there are several types of personal injury claims in your case. For example, the at-fault driver may be responsible for losses such as:

• Property damage: This could include damage to your vehicle and any property you had in your vehicle at the time of the accident.
• Pain and suffering: This could include intangible losses, such as the amount of pain you were in or how you are struggling mentally after the accident.
• Loss of Consortium: This type of claim could include losses related to deprivation of benefits to a family relationship due to your injuries. This may include being unable to take care of your children or keep up with your home.
• Transportation to medical appointments: You may need compensation to help you with scheduling and paying for medical transport.
• Medical bills: This could include any medical bills sustained as a result of the car accident, such as emergency room costs, surgeries, in-hospital stays, medications, and much more.
• Lost income: You may be unable to work after your motor vehicle accident for some time.
• Loss of enjoyment of life: You may have the legal rights to compensation for this type of loss if you show that you have a serious injury that limits your ability to engage in activities you used to enjoy.

It is also important to understand the differences between compensatory and punitive damages. Compensatory damages compensate the injured person for some type of loss or injury. By comparison, punitive damages work to punish the at-fault driver, according to Cornell Law School.

How Do I Settle a Car Accident Claim Without a Lawyer?

It is possible to file a claim for a car wreck without the help of an attorney. You may be able to contact the insurance provider for the driver at fault, discuss the incident with them, and then file a claim that includes what you perceive as your losses. It may be difficult to do this in more complicated cases, such as after a drunk driving accident or a truck accident. You may also find that the process requires you to carefully document the incident and include all details of your losses, how much your earning capacity changed, what types of lingering issues you have, and what type of care you may need in the years to come, such as rehab or additional surgical procedures.

While you certainly have the right to go through this process on your own, working with a car accident lawyer that serves Rock Hill may be a much more effective method for some. If you want to try to obtain maximum compensation, use every resource you have to support you, including the help of a personal injury lawyer for guidance and support throughout your case.

To determine if you need this help, keep the following tips in mind:

• Most lawyers provide a free* consultation, so you may be able to learn more about your options.
• You typically need to be able to clearly document and prove your injuries, expenses, and damages incurred and show they come from the accident.
• Do not put your trust in insurance companies. They try to get you to close quickly, and they are not working to meet your needs, no matter what they tell you.
• There is no time to delay. Work to process your claim as soon as possible.

How Do I Get Compensation for My Case?

If you or a loved one suffered losses like this, speak to the law offices of a local attorney who has practice areas related to motor vehicle accidents and personal injury claims.  Unfortunately, it can be tough to find the right party. The driver who hit you may not be the one responsible for paying for your expenses, and your single-vehicle crash could have been caused by a defective part or pothole.

Auto accident lawyers should be the people that speak to the insurance company. Insurance companies could try to use what you say to them to prove you have some or all of the fault in the case. For example, they may try to prove you were engaged in distracted driving because you mentioned being on your phone while the accident occurred. They may try to prove that the other party was not a drunk driver because a failed sobriety test was inaccurate. It is their job to reduce what you receive.

What option do you have, then? Let a legal team handle the insurance company for you. Our car accident attorneys serving Rock Hill may be able to answer the insurance company’s questions for you. We can also provide you with upfront support for your case, such as helping you to determine what type of compensation you should claim. Without this type of support, motorists may be more likely to struggle to receive the full compensation the insurance company owes.

Your economic damages, or losses caused by the wreck, should cover all the costs you’ve paid for your recovery. For example, you might have paid to have your car repaired, or you may have missed time at work.

Non-economic damages can be more difficult to calculate. Your losses in this category are intangible, like pain and suffering, which makes them tough to calculate. Talk to your injury attorney about finding their worth.

Call Our Experienced Car Accident Attorneys Serving Rock Hill

Our car accident attorneys are not only experienced at getting you the compensation you deserve, but we are also compassionate and understand the pain you are experiencing. Let us fight for you so that you can focus on your recovery. Let the HawkLaw car accident lawyers proudly serving Rock Hill support you after a car accident. To request a free* consultation, call 1-888-HAWK-LAW (429-5529) or complete the contact form to speak with an experienced car crash attorney at HawkLaw today.