Few life experiences generate the same kind of stress that results from a car accident. Besides dealing with the potential property damage, you may have to endure the pain and suffering of your injuries, while taking care of a growing heap of medical bills. If you have missed days at work, financial concerns may become an even greater concern.
If another person’s negligence caused your passenger vehicle accident in Indianapolis, Indiana, you should not have to worry about the economic aspects of your injury. By filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit, you may be able to recover your losses and receive compensation for your pain and suffering, as well as other damages.
Call an Indianapolis passenger vehicle accident lawyer from Sevenish Law Firm, P.C. at (317) 720-3229 for a free case review. Our team may be able to inform you of your rights and explain your options for seeking the compensation you may be entitled to.
There Are Many Types of Passenger Vehicle Accidents
Car accidents happen for a wide number of reasons — some related to the driver, others to the vehicle, and still others to the environment.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), car crashes happen for many critical reasons including:
Reasons Related to Drivers
Ninety-four percent of car accidents result from a driver and their decisions, lack of recognition, and non-performance behaviors, such as:
- Illegal maneuvers
- Driving too fast for road or weather conditions
- Distracted driving
- Fatigue
- Overcompensating
- Driving too fast at a curve
- Misjudging other cars’ speeds
- Misjudging gaps
- Not controlling the car’s direction
- Driver not paying attention
- Incorrectly presuming another driver’s actions
Reasons Related to Environment
The NHTSA reports that two percent of motor vehicle accidents result from environmental conditions, such as:
- Rain, snow, fog, or other weather
- Sun glare (or glare from another light source)
- Slick roads (from ice, snow, debris)
- Signals and signs
- Poor or ineffective road design
- An obstruction of the driver’s view
- Highway conditions
Reasons Related to the Vehicle
The NHTSA attributes another two percent of accidents to problems with the vehicle, including defective or malfunctioning brakes, tires, and steering columns.
The legal team at Sevenish Law Firm, P.C. may be able to investigate the cause of your accident to identify the at-fault party.
For a free legal consultation with a passenger vehicle accidents lawyer serving Indianapolis, call 317-636-7777
Establishing Liability
Regardless of what caused your car accident, the other driver owed you a duty of care to take the necessary precautions and drive in a manner that would protect you and other drivers from becoming injured.
The law acknowledges this duty, and it fulfills the first in a list of requirements that may need to be met to recover damages you may be entitled to from your injury.
Personal injury law requires that, as the plaintiff or claimant, you may need to prove the following:
- Duty of care: the other party owed you a duty to take reasonable steps to protect you from harm.
- Breach of duty: the other party violated this duty of care.
- Causation: by failing to uphold their duty of care, the other party caused you to sustain an injury.
- Damages: you suffered physical, psychological, and economic damages from your injury.
If you hire an Indianapolis passenger vehicle accident lawyer from Sevenish Law Firm, P.C., you can rest assured that we may be able to gather the evidence required to fulfill the above criteria. Call us at (317) 720-3229 so we may be able to start investigating your case.
Indianapolis Passenger Vehicle Accident Lawyer Near Me 317-636-7777
Damages You May Recover
No two car accidents are the same. The circumstances leading to a collision, the injuries that victims sustain, and the losses they suffer as a result may be as different as the people involved in the accident.
For this reason, without knowing the details of your particular accident and injury, it may be difficult to estimate how much you might be able to recover in an insurance settlement or jury verdict.
To give you an idea of what you might be able to expect, examples of what may be recoverable damages in a car accident claim or case include:
- Doctors’ and surgeons’ fees
- Ambulance fees
- Hospitalization
- Prescription medicines
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Lost wages and benefits
- Diminished future potential earnings
- Replacement services
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of consortium
- Diminished enjoyment of life
Furthermore, if a loved one dies from the injuries they sustained in a passenger vehicle accident, you may be able to pursue a wrongful death action. A wrongful death lawyer may be able to represent you in this effort to receive the compensation you may be entitled to.
Click to contact our Indianapolis Passenger Vehicle Accident Lawyer today
Statute of Limitations
People who suffer injuries in an Indianapolis car accident have a limited amount of time in which they may be able to take legal action against the liable party in their case. Sec. 34-11-2-4 of the Indiana Code restricts this timeframe to two years. In other words, you have two years from the date of your accident to file a lawsuit against the defendant. In some cases, you may have less time to file a claim.
While two years may seem like a long time, you would be surprised how quickly it can sneak up on you as you focus on recovering from an injury and adjust to a “new normal.”
By hiring a lawyer soon after your accident, you may give them more time to work through the process of gathering evidence, building a case, trying to negotiate an insurance settlement, and filing a lawsuit on your behalf if the insurer fails to agree to a fair settlement, so your matter can be handled in a civil court.
Complete a Free Case Evaluation form now
Call Our Firm Today so We Can Start Building Your Case
You have nothing to lose by calling Sevenish Law Firm, P.C. We are a contingency firm, which means that you pay us only if we win a settlement or verdict for you.
Call Sevenish Law Firm, P.C. today at (317) 720-3229 for a free case review.
Call or text 317-636-7777 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
