Car accidents are one of the most common ways that people are injured across the country. While you might intentionally take steps to keep yourself safe on the road, there is no accounting for other drivers who might create dangers and cause crashes.
If you were injured in a car crash caused by another driver, you could be entitled to compensation. While your no-fault insurance might supply some damages, these policies rarely cover your case in full. For help, consider taking your case to court with assistance from an experienced Edison car accident lawyer.
The Edison, NJ car accident attorneys at Legal Care New Jersey can help represent you and fight to get you the damages you need after a car accident injury. For a free case review, call us today at (732) 838-9769.
When to Contact a Lawyer After a Car Accident in Edison, NJ
Knowing whether your accident is serious enough to call a lawyer – and when in the process you should contact a lawyer – can be difficult. First, it is important to understand that any car accident where you faced physical injuries is likely “serious enough” to contact a lawyer. Second, you should understand that it is rarely ever “too early” in the process to call a lawyer.
Cases Where a Lawyer Can Help
If your accident involved physical injuries, you should work with a lawyer instead of relying on the insurance company to compensate you after a crash. Our Edison car accident lawyers can analyze the facts of your case, help collect evidence, and present your case to the insurance companies.
In many cases, NJ insurance laws will actually prevent you from filing a lawsuit unless your injuries are sufficiently “serious.” This will mean that you have to prove you have a broken bone, a permanent injury, or another on a list of specific “serious” injuries to qualify for a lawsuit.
If your case does qualify for a lawsuit, our attorneys might be able to sue for damages, potentially opening up access to things like pain and suffering and other damages that your insurance policy might not cover.
If you are ever in doubt about whether your case is serious enough to contact a lawyer, consider calling our attorneys for a free, no-risk case evaluation. At that time, we can analyze your case and help you determine what our lawyers might be able to do for you and what damages you could be entitled to.
When to Call an Attorney
If you are trying to figure out when to call a lawyer, know that sooner is always better. First, get medical treatment and collect evidence at the scene of the crash if you are able to. Then consider calling a lawyer as your next step in your case.
If you file insurance claims first, it is possible the insurance company may draw out information your lawyer could have counseled you against divulging. Additionally, evidence you might not have thought about, such as nearby security camera footage, might be wiped, overwritten, or discarded.
Working with a lawyer early on can also help our Edison car accident lawyers keep track of your medical care and other damages, building your case from the start so that we can present a strong case when the time comes. Ultimately, you should call as soon as you consider seeking compensation for your injuries.
If you have already filed insurance claims and been given an offer by the insurance company, it is not too late to call a lawyer. However, you should call us before accepting any compensation for your injuries. If you accept a settlement, you might not be able to go back and claim additional damages later.
Personal injury victims only have 2 years to file a lawsuit under the NJ statute of limitations for personal injury. This means you should contact a lawyer well in advance of the 2-year deadline to make sure your case is filed on time. Filing too late can mean your case is immediately dismissed.
Determining Fault in an Edison Car Accident Case
If you were hurt in a car accident, one of your first questions might concern who is legally at fault for the crash. Drivers often question whether slight issues they were responsible for – such as minor speeding or a rolling stop at a stop sign – could have contributed to their crash. In many cases, one driver is clearly at fault over the other – and even when that is not the case, fault can be divided among multiple drivers under NJ law.
For a driver to be at fault for a crash, there must be evidence that they did something wrong. That means that if you were following the speed limit, stopping at all red lights, and following all traffic laws, there is no possible argument that you were at fault for the crash. In these cases, the other driver will have to have been the one to do something wrong, and our lawyers will help prove what their mistakes were.
If you did do something wrong, but it did not contribute to the crash in any way, then that should not be used against you. For example, a rolling stop two blocks before the crash probably did not contribute to your accident if you were hit by an oncoming truck.
If you were found to have been speeding or otherwise committing some kind of traffic violation that did contribute to the crash, the court can find you partially at fault. When this happens, your damages are reduced by your proportion of fault. So if you shared only a small percentage of fault, your damages will be reduced by that percentage. As long as you were 50% at fault or less, you can still recover damages from the other driver for their share of the fault.
For a Free Case Review, Call Our Edison Car Accident Attorneys
If you were injured in a car accident, call our Edison car accident lawyers right away for a free case review. Contact Legal Care New Jersey by calling (732) 838-9769 today.
