Auto Accident Information - by Lawyers in San Diego
At Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center, we handle a large number of auto accident cases, including cases with very serious injuries or death. You may be entitled to recover damages after an auto accident if you were injured as a result of someone else's negligence. The experienced auto accident lawyers at our San Diego practice offer a free consultation to help you determine if your claim is worth pursuing.
Accidents involving cars, trucks and buses unfortunately result in many serious injuries. These automobile accidents may be due to driver error. However, often other factors may play a part in causing these accidents. For example, some vehicles are poorly designed or manufactured.
As more information and studies uncover the dangers of door latches, safety belts, brake devices, tires and certain vehicles, consumers have asked manufacturers to respond. However, in order to cut costs, some manufacturers have left out important safety features that help keep tires, brakes and vehicles safe. For example, when your car is running, it should require your foot to be on the brake before you can select Drive or Reverse. People have been killed because automobile manufacturers have left out this safety device. Likewise, when your vehicle is running in Park, sometimes Park can slip into Reverse, despite a less than $5.00 change in the part that could have prevented it. Similarly, design flaws in seat belts and air bags make car accidents even more catastrophic when these safety devices fail. To learn more about these crashworthiness and product liability issues, contact the auto accident lawyers at our office in San Diego.
Some motor vehicle accident circumstances even require the use of accident reconstruction experts to determine the cause of the accident. Evaluating all the possible causes of a serious motor vehicle accident is a job for an experienced auto accident lawyer. Poorly maintained roads and improper traffic control signals are responsible for causing some car accidents. In addition, automobile injury victims may also need a lawyer’s help in finding an appropriate medical specialist or arranging for the specialist to wait for payment until the lawsuit is settled. The auto accident lawyers at Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center in San Diego know how to effectively present such cases.
Motor vehicle collisions often cause extraordinary suffering and loss to motorists, passengers and pedestrians, in addition to property damage to your car. Injured victims face medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. We want to help you get the best medical treatment so that you can recover as soon as possible. Our auto accident lawyers offer home and hospital visits for San Diego residents injured in an accident, if requested. We understand it's difficult to be injured and we want you to recover as soon as possible.
What to Do After an Auto Accident
If you have been involved in an automobile accident, there are a number of things you can do to preserve your legal rights. First and foremost, you should not delay in consulting your lawyer if you have been injured or have suffered property damage as a result of an automobile accident. Beyond that, the following is a summary of some of the most important things you can do to protect your legal rights after an automobile accident:
- Do not leave the scene. If you leave the scene of an automobile accident, you may be criminally prosecuted. You are required to provide your name, address, driver's license and auto insurance information to the other driver.
- Help the injured. If someone has been injured in the accident, you should call for paramedics and assist them to the extent you are qualified. Before calling for the ambulance, be prepared to give an accurate location of the accident and assessment of the number of individuals injured.
- Avoid additional collisions. Make sure your vehicle is not presenting a safety hazard to other motorists. It should be moved so that it is not obstructing traffic, if possible. You can further notify oncoming traffic to proceed with caution by setting out flares, turning on your hazard lights, and raising the hood and trunk of your vehicle.
- Notify the police. Typically the police will prepare a report that contains various information concerning the accident and the parties involved. While you may not be required to call the police, the accident reports they produce could be helpful to you later.
- Do not admit liability. You should not admit responsibility for the accident to the other drivers, passengers, or to the police for that matter. You may convey facts concerning how the incident occurred; however, it is best not to comment on your responsibility (or liability) for the accident. This is a legal matter that is not always readily and easily ascertainable. Judgment as to who was at fault should be reserved for a later time and be based on a number of factors.
- Obtain information. You should get the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any individuals involved in the accident, as well as any witnesses to the accident. You should also obtain the name of the insurance company and policy number of the other drivers involved. If possible, you may take photographs to document the accident scene including skid marks, road obstructions, and damage to the vehicles.
- Notify your insurance company. If you do not give your insurance company prompt notice, your policy may provide that the insurance company may deny coverage for your claim. Accordingly, you should give your insurance company notice by way of telephone and by written notice that provides you a means of proving such notice was given, such as by facsimile or by certified mail. You should provide your insurance company with all information they request concerning the facts of the accident.
- Consult a doctor if you have been injured. If you believe that you may have been injured in the accident, you should consult a doctor. Some injuries may not manifest themselves until some period of time after the accident; therefore, the mere fact that you do not immediately feel as though you have been injured does not necessarily mean that no injury has occurred. You should consult your insurance agent to see if the cost of seeing a doctor in connection with the accident is covered by your insurance policy. You should not settle your claims for injuries arising from the accident until you have been advised by your doctor as to the full extent of your injuries.
Contact the auto accident lawyers at Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center in San Diego. You should consult with us promptly to be advised as to your legal rights. In California, you have a two-year statute of limitation period in which you must file a lawsuit or be forever barred from bringing such a claim. Fact-sensitive exceptions to this rule may apply; therefore, an attorney should be consulted as soon as possible. Furthermore, by promptly notifying us, your lawyer can investigate the facts surrounding your accident while the events are fresh in witnesses' minds, and the evidence is capable of being documented by way of photograph or otherwise.
