Take These Steps After a Baltimore Highway Accident
Drivers face considerably higher risks when they drive on a highway. If you have been injured by another driver’s negligence in a highway collision – or because a vehicle or vehicle part was defective – seek legal help at once by reaching out to a Baltimore Highway Attorney.
Overwhelmingly, negligent and distracted drivers are the leading cause of vehicle accidents on the highways in and around the Baltimore area. Defective vehicles and defective vehicle parts are the number two cause of highway accidents.
And sometimes, a highway’s faulty design or its lack of maintenance is the reason a highway accident happens. If you’ll keep reading this brief discussion of highway accidents, you will learn what steps to take if you are injured in a highway accident for any of these reasons.
If You Are Injured by a Negligent or Distracted Driver
Greater speeds make highway accidents potentially more dangerous than accidents on city streets that have traffic signals, stop signs, and lower speed limits. Motorists also must deal with trucks moving at high speeds and drivers who may be driving while fatigued, distracted, or intoxicated.
When a motorist is at-fault for a highway accident, that driver in most cases will be held liable for any injuries, and that driver’s auto insurance company may make a payout for a personal injury claim. If the company disputes or denies your claim, call a personal injury lawyer at once.
Like 36 other states, Maryland and Virginia are both “at-fault” auto insurance states (as opposed to “no-fault” states), so having your attorney prove a negligent party’s fault and liability after a highway accident is what it takes to prevail with a personal injury claim in either of these states.
What Can Happen in a Highway Accident?
Highway accidents are the cause of serious, catastrophic, and even permanently disabling injuries that include head and brain injuries, neck and back injuries, abdominal and chest injuries, and knee and leg injuries.
A severe spinal cord injury is usually caused by a blow or an impact to the spine that dislocates, crushes, fractures, or compresses one or more vertebrae. Spinal cord injuries may damage ligaments, vertebrae, spinal discs, and the cord itself.
A blow or jolt to the head that disturbs the natural brain functions can be the cause of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Highway accidents can also cause skull fractures and facial lacerations. After any highway crash, if anyone is injured, seeking medical help is the first and foremost priority.
If you are injured in a highway accident in or near the Baltimore area, you may be entitled by law to compensation for your medical expenses – for as long as you need medical care – and for your lost income and related damages. It will depend on how and why the accident happened.
How Will a Baltimore Highway Accident Attorney Help You?
If you are injured in a highway accident in or near Baltimore because a driver was distracted or negligent, or if there is a dispute about which driver was at-fault, you will need a Baltimore highway accident lawyer to help you recover compensation with a personal injury claim.
Your attorney will determine exactly how the accident happened, identify the liable party or parties, and negotiate a fair and reasonable settlement on your behalf. You may be compensated for your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and related losses and damages.
If for any reason your personal injury claim is challenged or denied, and out-of-court negotiations are fruitless, your accident attorney will take your claim to trial, tell the jury how you were injured, and ask the members of that jury to order the payment of your compensation.
Injured Because a Vehicle or Vehicle Part Was Defective
Hypothetically, if every driver on the highway perfectly adhered to the traffic laws and safety rules, you and your loved ones would still be at risk. That’s because there are too many defective vehicles and faulty vehicle parts causing highway accidents.
Too many vehicles are manufactured with design flaws or with defective parts that cause collisions, rollovers, blowouts, and other malfunctions that may result in severe personal injuries in a highway accident.
Manufacturing defects are the result of mistakes in the manufacturing and production of vehicles. Design defects are more dangerous because a defective design may affect a whole line of vehicles – putting more people at risk.
An individual vehicle may also be defective if it was mishandled by a dealership or on the way to a dealership. When a vehicle manufacturer, parts manufacturer, or dealership has operated negligently, that party may be held liable if you are injured as a result of that negligence.
If You Are Injured Because a Highway Was Poorly Designed or Maintained
Federal, state, county, or city departments or agencies are responsible for public streets and highways. However, bringing a personal injury claim against a government agency is considerably more complicated than bringing a claim against a business or an individual.
Special rules apply if you bring an injury claim against a government agency, so if a dangerous pothole, a faulty highway design, a defective traffic signal, or poor highway maintenance causes a highway accident, and you’re injured, contact a Baltimore highway accident attorney.
The time limits and deadlines for taking legal action will depend on which government agency is responsible for the section of highway where you were injured, but you must contact an attorney before the evidence begins to deteriorate and the memories of the witnesses begin to fade.
After a Highway Accident, What Will Justice Cost?
Baltimore highway accident lawyers provide the injured victims of negligence with a free first legal consultation without any obligation. You’ll learn how the law applies to your own highway accident case, and you will receive sound advice about proceeding with legal action.
If you and your Baltimore highway accident lawyer move ahead with your personal injury claim, you will pay no lawyer’s fee until and unless your lawyer recovers the monetary compensation that you are entitled to under the law. Whether that accident was caused by the negligence of another driver, an automaker, or a government agency – having the advice and services of a Virginia or Maryland highway accident lawyer is your right.
If your lawyer can prove your injury claim, the law will be on your side. However – it cannot be stressed strongly enough – as soon as you’ve obtained medical treatment, you must contact and make the call to a highway accident attorney as quickly as possible: 202-933-1918.