Whether you were in a fender-bender in a parking lot or involved in a high-speed collision on an interstate highway, getting into a car accident is a frightening experience. The aftermath of such an incident can be even more overwhelming if you suffered a serious injury as a result of the crash.
If another person caused your accident, you may have a few options for pursuing compensation. A qualified personal injury attorney could advise you on the best course of action in your situation. Once retained, a Saline car accident lawyer can negotiate with insurance companies or help you fight for appropriate compensation in court.
Seeking Compensation Through PIP Coverage in Saline
Unlike most other states, Michigan adheres to a no-fault car insurance system, which means you must pursue compensation through your car insurance policy first before you can file an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit against another at-fault party.
Under this system, your personal injury protection (PIP) coverage should cover all medical costs, up to 85 percent of work income lost during recovery, and up to $20 per day for assistance with household services. PIP benefits are available not only to policyholders but also to family members of the policyholder who live in the same residence.
However, PIP benefits do not cover pain and suffering or any other non-economic damages. If you wish to pursue non-economic damages, talk to a skilled lawyer familiar with car accident cases.
When Can You File a Car Accident Case?
There are some limited situations in which you can file a lawsuit for an auto accident. You can pursue litigation if one or more of the following circumstances apply to your case:
The at-fault party is a resident of another state and does not have car insurance in Michigan,
The accident occurred in a state other than Michigan,
The accident resulted in a catastrophic injury that will leave you with a permanent disability or disfigurement, or
The at-fault party is at least 50 percent or more to blame for the wreck, and you are seeking $1,000 or less in compensation for vehicle damage that your insurance policy will not cover.
A car wreck attorney in Saline could offer further clarification about legal options available in your particular situation.
Common Injuries After Automobile Wrecks
Car accidents can vary significantly. Some people are fortunate enough to escape with just bumps or bruises, while others leave with permanent, life-altering injuries.
The most common types of injuries seen after car crashes include:
Cuts, lacerations, and contusions, which can lead to permanent, disfiguring scars
Broken bones
Head injuries, ranging in severity from slight concussions to permanent brain damage
Back and neck trauma, including whiplash, ruptured discs, lower back pain, and spinal cord injuries
Internal organ damage
Sprains and strains
Post-traumatic stress
Paralysis
Burns
Depression
Anxiety
Sadly, some people die from their injuries. Our compassionate Saline lawyers understand how challenging losing a beloved family member can be. We can work tirelessly to help fight for fair compensation in either a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death claim.
Possible Recoverable Compensation in Car Wreck Cases
A seasoned car accident lawyer in Saline can sit down with an injured party or with the surviving family members of a deceased person to learn the full extent of their injuries and what the accident has cost them physically, emotionally, and financially.
Economic Damages
A motor vehicle crash survivor could pursue recovery for all of their economic damages. Economic damages are losses resulting from an automobile wreck that are easy to calculate with bills, pay stubs, and receipts. They are generally the out-of-pocket expenses that come after a car crash, which could include their current and future anticipated medical bills, rehabilitation expenses, home renovation expenses to make their house more accessible, mobility assistance devices, and caretaker expenses. Economic damages could also include reimbursement for an injured party’s lost wages, future lost earning expenses, and other benefits if their injuries prevent them from working.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are non-financial losses. Automobile wrecks frequently leave people with emotional burdens. Many crash survivors find themselves facing seemingly insurmountable emotional and physical pain. Not being able to enjoy their everyday lives could lead to debilitating depression.
Fortunately, Michigan law allows people to pursue damages for their pain and suffering, mental anguish, diminished quality of life, loss of consortium, and more. Receiving non-economic damages after an automobile crash is more challenging than with other types of personal injury lawsuits in Michigan.
How Are Non-Economic Damages Proven?
To receive pain and suffering damages in a lawsuit after a car crash, local courts require the plaintiff (the person seeking damages) to meet a minimum threshold test.
Essentially, to obtain pain and suffering compensation:
The injured person must have suffered permanent and severe disfigurement or
The injured person must have sustained a serious impairment of one of their bodily functions. Although the impairment does not have to be lifelong, the impairment must negatively impact the injured party’s ability to lead their everyday life
Non-economic damages vary from person to person. No two car crash survivors experience the exact same emotional feelings or losses. These losses are highly variable, subjective, and based entirely on people’s experiences. While non-economic damages are not as simple to quantify as economic damages, our Saline car accident attorneys know how to estimate the fair value of these losses. They could work closely with a car crash survivor to learn the full effect that the accident has had on their life and their family’s lives. Our compassionate legal team would also encourage an injured person to delve deeply into how the accident has affected them, such as by having them take note of activities they have had to miss due to their injuries or recuperation. If the injured person has seen a mental health professional, our firm could use their written evaluation or testimony as evidence proving how much they have suffered.
Unlike other states that set statutory limits on the amounts of recoverable damages an injured party can obtain, Michigan law does not limit the amount of economic and non-economic damages that someone can recover after a motor vehicle accident, so a hardworking attorney could fight for the maximum possible compensation.
Punitive Damages and Car Wrecks
In addition to non-economic and economic damages, Michigan courts also occasionally allow the recovery of exemplary damages, also known as punitive damages, which are intended to punish defendants who acted with extremely poor conduct and showed bad judgment. Exemplary damages can fill in the gaps and compensate injured parties more fully than just compensatory damage awards consisting of economic and non-economic awards. Courts only assign exemplary damages in rare instances where a defendant (the person who committed the act which led to the other person’s injuries) acted maliciously, recklessly, wantonly, intentionally, or reprehensibly. For example, a court might decide that exemplary damages are appropriate after a wrongful death where a defendant got behind the wheel while highly intoxicated, if a defendant intentionally crashed their car into someone during a heated domestic dispute, or if an automotive parts manufacturer intentionally ignored warning signs that a part might be inherently defective. Although courts rarely award exemplary damages, our seasoned Saline car wreck attorneys can let an injured motorist know whether they might qualify for this type of compensation.
Possible Obstacles to Financial Recovery
Several legal matters could complicate recovery in your case. Two of the most common are comparative negligence and the statute of limitations.
What is Comparative Negligence?
In many car accident cases, the at-fault driver attempts to shift some of the blame onto the injured person. This could negatively impact your ability to obtain compensation.
Under the modified comparative fault system detailed in Michigan Compiled Laws §600.2959, anyone found partially to blame for their injuries is subject to a proportional reduction to their final damage award. Further, anyone more than 50 percent at fault for an accident cannot recover for any non-economic damages.
How Long Do You Have To File A Vehicle Collision Claim?
According to M.C.L. §600.5805, you have three years after discovering your injuries to file a car accident lawsuit. The applicable filing deadlines for insurance claims are typically measured in weeks, if not days. For these reasons, it is crucial to retain a car accident lawyer in Saline as soon as possible after a car accident. Meeting with a lawyer from Charles Boyk Law quickly after a collision is also critical for other reasons. Over time, evidence can disappear or diminish in value.
For instance, people’s memories begin to fade as time passes by. In the first few days after a crash, eyewitnesses might recall precise details, such as license plate numbers, weather conditions, and what the driver was doing when the accident occurred. After a few months, eyewitnesses might not be able to remember much more than the color of the car. Witnesses can also move and be harder to locate. If they have moved to another state, even if they can be found, witnesses might not want to come back to Saline to testify. Without their testimony, the case might not be as strong.
Similarly, evidence can get lost or changed. If someone waits too long to have an attorney investigate their accident, they might not be able to gather the necessary evidence to build a strong claim. A driver who wants to cover up their part in a crash might decide to sell their vehicle or paint it to hide evidence of an accident.
If someone meets with an attorney soon after an accident, the attorney can begin locating, gathering, and securing evidence they can use later in a civil lawsuit.
Different Types of Automobile Accidents
A wide range of automobile crashes occur regularly in the Saline area that our attorneys are skilled at handling. These commonly include:
Solo Vehicle Accidents
Some people experience harm in solo vehicle accidents, such as when drivers crash into stationary objects, including road barriers, guard rails, trees, fences, or buildings.
Rear-End Collisions
The most frequently seen types of car accidents are rear-end collisions, where the tailing driver crashes into the back of a lead car. Trailing drivers most often cause rear-end crashes when they are distracted, such as by looking down at their cell phones and failing to pay attention to changes in traffic patterns. Rear-end crashes also happen when trailing drivers are speeding or tailgating the car in front of them, which could cause them to be unable to stop in time to prevent a collision. Although liability seems like it should always fall on the trailing driver in rear-end collisions, sometimes the lead driver is partially or even entirely to blame. If a lead driver stops suddenly or slows down for no reason, they could be at fault for the accident.
Front-End Accidents
Front-end collisions happen when two cars crash head on into each other. They occur when one driver leaves their lane, such as to pass someone on a narrow road. They happen most frequently on rural roads with no median strip. They can also happen on one-way roads, where a driver goes down a street the wrong way. Head-on crashes can also happen on entry and exit ramps. Although the motorist driving the wrong way is usually at fault, the municipal authority in charge of maintaining or designing the roads can also be to blame if the road signs are particularly confusing, such as during a construction detour.
Side-Impact Collisions
Side-impact collisions typically occur at intersections. When one car crashes into the side of another, the people in the struck vehicle are at risk of experiencing devastating injuries. People in rear-end and front-end crashes have the benefit of driver and passenger-side front airbags, bumpers, trunks, hoods, and seatbelts to help them. In a side-impact crash, a car’s occupants only have the side door standing between them and a careening vehicle. Consequently, side-impact crashes often result in the most serious injuries.
Our trusted legal team has successfully assisted families like you who have suffered harm in all sorts of car accidents. Your safety and well-being is our top priority, and we want to help.
What Steps Should Someone Take After a Motor Vehicle Crash?
Right after a car accident, the last thing you are probably thinking about is filing a lawsuit. However, you need to take certain actions to protect your right to sue in case you later decide to take legal action.
Get a Medical Evaluation
Even if you feel that you have no major physical injuries, you should still see a doctor to get a full medical check-up. A physician could check your body for any hidden injuries that you might not yet be aware of. They could also take written notes that you could use as evidence linking the cause of your injuries to the motor vehicle accident.
Get Contact Information
If someone is not too hurt, they should try to gather the contact information of the other driver and anyone who might have witnessed the accident.
Take Notes
Writing down what you remember about the crash is important. As you think of new things, you should try to describe them in writing. You should also keep a journal detailing your injuries and your recuperation.
Try Not to Talk About the Accident
Try not to talk to people or post about the accident on social media. You might accidentally say something that the other side could use against you. You should also try not to talk directly to the defendant, their lawyers, or their insurance company. The insurance company might try to get you to agree to an unfairly low settlement amount. A well-informed Saline car accident attorney could handle the negotiations for you and give you the best strategy to move forward.
Consult with a Saline Car Accident Attorney Today
Determining what to do after a severe car crash can be difficult, especially if you are suffering from serious injuries. Insurance companies often make it unreasonably hard to file claims, even under qualifying circumstances. The prospect of pursuing civil litigation can be intimidating even if you have been to court for a civil matter before.
A dedicated Saline car accident lawyer can guide you on your quest for fair compensation. Call our firm today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can assist you with your case.
