Unique Aspects of A Fort Lupton Car Accident Case 

Car accident cases are extremely complicated. Those who have been injured in a severe car crash should seek legal help as soon as possible following an accident. A skilled lawyer could help with every element of a case, including determining liability, recovering damages, and holding the negligent party accountable for their actions. Reach out to learn about the unique aspects of a Fort Lupton car accident case.

Calculating The Full Value of Damages

It is important to know that the insurance companies typically will not offer a lot of money in the beginning. Sometimes insurance companies of the at-fault party may provide a check early on in the case, and a person should know that they should not accept that amount. A person might get a settlement offer that does not incorporate any doctor visits or fails to take into account injuries that may only show themselves later on. It is very important to be apprehensive of any early settlement amount that is offered before a person is done with treatment. A person should finish treatment and get to the maximum level of improvement before settling the case.

Types of Recoverable Damages

Some unique ways that car accidents are handled in Fort Lupton is that under Colorado law, the person who is at-fault for the accident is financially responsible for all of the provable damages associated with the accident. Some of the damages include damages to property and bodily injuries. Bodily injury is usually divided into two categories. The first one is economic damages, and this includes past medical expenses that come from the accident itself and future medical expenses for surgery, injections, or additional physical therapy or chiropractic care.

It also includes wage lost and additional expenses related to physical impairment or disfigurement. For example, if someone has scarring after a surgery, that may count as economic damages. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience, and similar losses. Those are intangible damages.

The fact that Colorado law and Fort Lupton law makes the at-fault party completely responsible sounds pretty straightforward at first glance, but the hurdle is usually establishing liability. That means that if liability is not established, those costs for medical care or property damage are not resolved. it is important to have an attorney who can work quickly and diligently to establish that liability in order to pursue damages from the at-fault party.

Negotiating a Settlement Offer

In a car accident case, the claimant can negotiate their settlement. A person likely will get an offer from an insurance company that is low, and it can be negotiated up. Having an attorney can help ensure that they will negotiate the appropriate settlement amount.

They will look at a person’s injuries, future injuries, surgery estimates or injection estimates, and other factors that a client without an attorney might not think about. The attorney will also be able to emphasize things that really impacted that person’s life, such as pain and suffering, loss of income, loss of abilities, and loss of enjoyment of life.

The Importance of Seeking Medical Treatment

A person should also go to the doctor even if they think they are okay in the beginning. Pain and injuries can develop weeks after the accident. It is important to get checked up right after the incident, and it is important to follow-up with the doctor. Working with an experienced car accident attorney could help the person to get connected to a doctor right away, and this is important because insurance companies tend to emphasize gaps in treatment. If a person waits too long to see a doctor, insurance companies will dwell and emphasize that gap in treatment. This is a hurdle that the defense can get over, but the insurance companies’ common argument is that if the person was in pain, they would have received treatment, so they must not have been seriously hurt.

Common Causes Of Car Accidents In Fort Lupton

There are many causes of car accidents in Fort Lupton. One is distracted driving. While Colorado has outlawed texting while driving, people are allowed to talk on their phone without having a hands-free device, and that can lead to distracted driving. The American Automobile Association estimates that between 25 to 50 percent of serious accidents are caused by distracted drivers who are talking on the phone, eating or doing something else that prevents them from having their undivided attention on the road.

Speeding

Another common cause of motor vehicle crashes is speeding especially in Fort Lupton, since it is close to freeways. All it takes is a car malfunction or someone to slow down abruptly for there to be an accident due to someone speeding.

Driving Under the Influence

Another cause seen from time to time is driving under the influence of substances like alcohol, marijuana, or even over-the-counter pain medication. When these situations occur, it must be shown that the distracted or impaired driver was at-fault for liability purposes. If a police officer or other person witnesses that person texting, that could be significant evidence to establish liability.

For drunk driving, in that particular situation, there is usually more evidence. For example, there might be documented bad driving or swerving, the accident itself might be evidence indicating that the person was under the influence, and an officer might conduct a field sobriety test. There are field sobriety tests that can be conducted for the officer to establish whether that person was under the influence. It is important to get the police report and supplemental report, especially when someone is drunk driving. It can help a person’s case because it clearly shows that the at-fault driver was, in fact, more than just negligent and that they were willful or wanton in how they acted.

Proving Liability

It is important to get the police report or an accident report that can demonstrate that the at-fault person was driving in a distracted fashion. Other times, there is no report documenting that they were distracted. In that case, attorneys would have to work with adjusters and the insurance company on getting an affidavit from the driver who was injured and may have witnessed that the distracted driving or an affidavit from a witness in the driver’s car who can establish that that person was at fault.

Contact An Experienced Car Accident Lawyer Today

There are several important reasons to contact a car accident lawyer, and doing it right away is very important because there are injuries that occur right after the accident, as well as some that do not develop until a couple of weeks later. Seeing an accident lawyer will allow the client access to a specialist treatment provider. Car accident lawyers often have access to physical therapists, medical professionals, chiropractors, and other specialists that can see the claimant right away. Another significant reason for contacting an attorney after an accident is to set up a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company and to establish that they are, in fact, at-fault.

Often, insurance companies want to defend their insured, so even though it could be a rear-end accident in which it is clear that the other party is at fault, their insurance company might be hostile and might find the injured party at-fault. An attorney can work towards establishing liability against the at-fault party right away. Learn more about the unique aspects of a Fort Lupton car accident case today.