San Diego County has the second-largest population of California’s counties. With higher populations come more vehicles on the road, leading to increased rates of motor vehicle accidents.
A San Diego car accident lawyer from Simmrin Law Group is your best ally following a car accident. You can rely on your attorney to fight to hold those who caused your injuries, suffering, and financial losses responsible for paying you compensation.
Typical Consequences Following a Car Accident
While the severity of consequences varies from incident to incident, most car accident victims face a difficult physical, economic, and emotional aftermath.
Physical Injuries
According to the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), for the most recent full year of data collection available, San Diego reported 15,043 injury-causing or fatal motor vehicle accidents. While pedestrians and those involved in high-speed accidents are most vulnerable to severe injuries, even low-speed collisions can cause serious damage.
Common physical injuries sustained in car accidents include:
- Broken bones
- Deep lacerations or amputations
- Brain injuries
- Spinal cord damage
- Nerve, muscle, ligament, or other tissue damage
- Whiplash
The effects of these injuries can be temporary or permanent and, in some cases, catastrophic. Along with physical pain, these injuries can wreak havoc on your finances.
Economic Damage
Injuries sustained in car accidents often require immediate medical treatment that may include surgery, hospitalization, and rehabilitation. Even if you do not require surgery, you will most likely miss time at work to give your body the rest it needs to recover and to undergo some sort of physical therapy.
Whatever your medical needs, you can count on the medical costs to be expensive. Medical costs, coupled with missed wages, can lead to financial crises. If your injuries are long-term, you may face a lifetime of income loss and medical expenses.
Further, you may need to hire outside help to care for your children or assume other household responsibilities, or you may need to have construction done on your home to make it accessible to your new physical limitations. Your San Diego car accident attorney from Simmrin Law Group will account for every expense and financial loss when calculating your settlement demand.
Emotional Distress
The emotional trauma of a car accident can be both immediate and long-lasting, and this suffering must be acknowledged.
Your injuries may reduce your enjoyment of life, preventing you from interacting with loved ones, participating in typical daily or special activities, or caring for your own needs independently. As a result, you may experience feelings of isolation and anxiety, and you may grieve the life you have lost.
Those who cause your emotional suffering must recognize these losses. While financial amends may not restore you to your previous condition, they do act to acknowledge your pain and give you financial access to new therapies or quality-of-life opportunities more suitable to your changed condition.
For a free legal consultation with a car accidents lawyer serving San Diego, call (310) 896-2723
A Car Accident Attorney in San Diego Will Pursue a Comprehensive Settlement
It is not uncommon for victims to underestimate the settlement amount they need to secure their financial future, cover their losses, and bring them justice. Physical and emotional vulnerability, along with a lack of legal background, can cause victims to under-assess their medical cost and income losses or accept the at-fault party’s initial settlement offer, which is assuredly less than fair.
An experienced car accident lawyer in San Diego will assess your situation with precision, not missing even minor details, and will work to secure a comprehensive settlement to restore your household’s future financial security.
San Diego Car Accident Lawyer Near Me (310) 896-2723
A San Diego Car Accident Lawyer Will Protect Your Settlement
Receiving a substantial settlement requires more than a strong case. Your car accident attorney in San Diego will compile that evidence but will also protect your settlement from other risk factors.
California’s Fault Laws
California is a “pure fault” state, which means an accident victim can file against the at-fault party, no matter how much the victim is to blame for the accident. However, the percentage of fault the court determines the victim holds for the accident will lead to a proportional reduction in compensation. For example, if you hold 30% of the blame for the accident causing your injuries, you will collect 30% less of the total calculated settlement amount.
Unethical Insurance Companies
It is important for accident victims to remember that insurance companies are not on their side. Insurance companies may act sympathetic, but they are out to protect their own assets by paying out as little compensation as possible. To protect themselves, these companies often implement unethical strategies.
For example, they may offer an “interpretation” of the accident that misrepresents your level of responsibility. They may ask you questions about the accident with the surface intention of getting the facts, but then use your words against you, perhaps even turning your sympathy for the at-fault driver’s injury into admissions of fault.
An adjuster may offer you a fast settlement, claiming it is generous and the most you can hope for, and that a refusal will leave you empty-handed.
Statute of Limitations
California allows victims two years from the date of a car accident to file a personal injury claim. If your injuries are not immediately discovered, you have one year from the date the injury is diagnosed to file. Failing to file by the legal deadline renders a claim invalid.
Should your claim be against a government entity, the statute of limitations shrinks considerably.
A car accident lawyer in San Diego will protect your settlement from these potential risks by investigating your accident carefully and gathering evidence to prove the at-fault party’s negligence, handling all communication with insurance adjusters, and filing within the legal deadline. To ensure protection against these risks, partner with an attorney from Simmrin Law Group as swiftly as possible following your accident.
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Get the Representation and Settlement You Deserve
Simmrin Law Group is here to help you sort through the aftermath of a car accident. Call or leave us a message to schedule a consultation with a skilled, caring San Diego car accident lawyer. Your attorney will manage your case with efficiency from start to finish, holding those responsible for causing your injuries accountable for compensating you.
Call or text (310) 896-2723 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form