Injured in a Motor Vehicle Accident in Georgia? Call Our Auto Accident Lawyer in Atlanta for Help
One of the most common causes of unintentional injuries in the United States is a motor vehicle accident. Indeed, our auto accident lawyer in Atlanta knows that car accidents, 18-wheeler wrecks, motorcycle crashes, bicycle accidents, and other vehicle collisions are some of the most common causes of personal injuries or wrongful death in the United States. Statistics reveal that roughly 2.5 million people are injured each year due to traffic accidents, many suffering permanent and disabling injuries. Unfortunately, motor vehicle accidents are the second most common cause of accidental deaths too. According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), each year roughly 43,000 people are killed in traffic accidents. Right here in Georgia, fatal traffic accidents take the lives of almost 2,000 people each year, which translates into a rate of 16.7 deaths per 100,000 people – a figure that is higher than the national average of 12.9.
If you or a loved one were seriously injured in Georgia, call our experienced auto accident lawyer in Atlanta at the K. Hall Law Group. We offer free consultations and case evaluations, helping victims and their families learn more about their rights to compensation under Georgia law. There is no obligation to sign up during your free consultation, but if you decide to hire us and if we accept your case, there are no upfront costs to begin working with us. Our legal fees are also only paid from a percentage of what we recover for you in a settlement, verdict, or another type of award, meaning there are no out-of-pocket expenses. To learn more about how our compassionate legal team at the K. Hall Law Group can help you, contact us today to schedule your free case evaluation.
Types of Auto Accidents our Auto Accident Lawyer in Atlanta Handles
It does not matter whether you were involved in a high-speed or low-speed collision, our experienced auto accident lawyer in Atlanta can handle nearly any type of motor vehicle accident case. This includes some of the following types of crashes:
Head-on crashes
Rear-end collisions
Rollovers
Sideswipes
T-bone or side-impact accidents
Trucking wrecks
Car crashes
Bicycle collisions
Any other type of collision that caused your personal injuries in Georgia.
Common Injuries from Atlanta Auto Accidents
There are many different types of personal injuries that could be caused in a Georgia auto accident case. Some of these personal injuries are significant, irreversible, disabling, and life-changing. Many victims who suffer these injuries will require surgery, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and or other future treatment and care.
Some of the most common personal injuries that our auto accident lawyer in Atlanta at the K. Hall Law Group can handle include the following:
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
Spinal cord injuries (SCIs)
Amputations or loss of a limb
Paralysis
Broken bones or fractured bones
Organ injuries
Blindness
Significant disfigurement from lacerations or injuries
Shoulder injuries, such as SLAP tears, torn rotator cuffs, and other tears
Burn injuries
Knee injuries, such as meniscus tears or ligament tears to the LCL, ACL, PCL, or MCL
Neck injuries or back injuries
Disc herniations or annular tears, and
Any other type of bodily harm from a motor vehicle accident in Georgia.
Types of Compensation from an Atlanta Auto Accident
An auto accident lawyer in Atlanta can help victims and their families recover compensation for their “damages” after a motor vehicle crash. The term “damages” means the relief that a court can award a party in a lawsuit or what a party can obtain in a settlement for his or her losses. In a personal injury case, damages are typically awarded in the form of monetary compensation.
There are many different types of damages that could result in monetary compensation in a personal injury case, including the following:
Past pain and suffering – compensation for the agony, discomfort, and pain that a victim already has suffered, measured from the date of the accident until the date of payment
Future pain and suffering – compensation for the future agony, discomfort, and pain that a victim will likely suffer, estimated for the rest of a victim’s life at the time of payment and based on the victim’s remaining life expectancy
Medical bills – reimbursement for past medical bills, as well as compensation for future medical bills that are likely to occur (such as medication costs, nursing care, or surgeries)
Lost wages – reimbursement for past lost wages due to the accident, personal injuries, disability, doctor appointments, and other reasons due to the auto accident
Lost future earnings – compensation for victims who are unable to earn the same amount of money post-accident, measured from the difference of pre-accident earnings and post-accident earnings, multiplied by the estimated working life of the victim (to retirement), and often adjusted for inflation
Loss of consortium – compensation for relations with a spousal, but also normal familial relations and society with other family members or dependents such as parents, children, siblings, and other relatives
Nursing care and assistance – including in-home nursing, 24/7 nursing care, nursing home or long-term care facilities, and other care and treatment by medical providers
Home or vehicle modifications – including grab bars, ramps, elevators or lifts, widening of doors, or other changes to a vehicle or house that allow a victim to remain living there
Wrongful death damages – compensation for the loss of a loved one, including burial costs, funeral expenses, emergency medical bills, and other losses associated with the loss of a loved one
Punitive damages – in rare and exceptional cases, damages for egregious conduct by a defendant meant to punish and deter, and
Other damages that our auto accident lawyer in Atlanta may find appropriate for your motor vehicle crash case in Georgia.
Proving Liability in Auto Accidents
In order to recover compensation, you will need to establish liability, or fault. In nearly all personal injury cases, liability is premised on negligence. This is a type of cause of action, or claim, that alleges that a defendant failed to act as a reasonably prudent person would have under similar circumstances. As a result, a defendant caused reckless, careless, and needless harm to an innocent person.
In order to prove negligence under Georgia law, a victim will need to prove all of the following elements:
1) Duty of Care
The first element is establishing a duty of care. In motor vehicle accident cases, this is generally the easiest element to prove. That’s because all drivers owe others on or around the roadways a duty of reasonable care in the use or operation of a motor vehicle. That means seeing what there is to be seen and driving in a manner that prevents foreseeable harm to others.
Businesses also owe a duty of care too. This includes maintaining their vehicles in proper order, ensuring all equipment like brakes, steering columns, lights, tires, and other devices are all operational. The same is true of municipal or government owned or operated vehicles, including buses, DOT vehicles, road work trucks, emergency vehicles, and other motor vehicles.
2) Breach of the Duty of Care
Once a duty of care is established, a victim will also need to establish that the defendant breached that duty of care. This means that a defendant failed to act as a reasonably prudent person would have in similar circumstances in the use or operation of a motor vehicle.
Some examples of a defendant breaching the duty of care include the following:
Texting while driving
Drunk driving
Speeding
Improper lane changes
Aggressive driving or reckless driving
Drugged driving
Improper left turns
Unsafe U-turns
Rear-end collisions
Distracted driving, and
Other types of reckless or careless conduct that could cause a Georgia motor vehicle accident and our auto accident lawyer in Atlanta can handle for you.
3) Damages
Victims also need to establish that they suffered damages in the motor vehicle accident. This includes any of the harms noted above, including conscious pain and suffering, medical bills, lost wages, loss of consortium, or any other losses. Victims who had pre-existing injuries may still be entitled to recover compensation for their losses too.
4) Causation
Lastly, and one of the most contested elements, is known as causation. This is also known as proximate cause or the substantial factor test and is sometimes reduced simply to “but for” liability. The effect is the same. Victims need to establish that a defendant’s breach of duty caused the victim’s damages. This means proving that the defendant was a substantial factor in causing the victim’s pain and suffering.
Although this sounds obvious, our auto accident lawyer in Atlanta knows that many defense lawyers and insurance adjusters will use this element as one to reduce, undermine, or even deny your claim. This is particularly true in multiple vehicle collisions such as pile-up accidents, or where a victim may be partially at fault for a crash. However, the truth is that many arguments raised by the defense are without merit.
Negligence Per Se in Georgia
Victims harmed in a motor vehicle accident may also be able to use the doctrine of negligence per se to establish the first two elements of negligence. As a result, victims will only need to establish causation and damages. This doctrine applies when a defendant has violated a traffic law which caused a motor vehicle accident.
In order to rely on the doctrine of negligence per se, a victim will need to establish the following:
Defendant violated a statute
The harm suffered by the victim was the type of harm sought to be prevented by the statute, and
The victim was within the class of persons that the statute meant to protect from that harm.
Although this functions as a legal shortcut by automatically finding liability against a defendant, it still requires an experienced auto accident lawyer in Atlanta to handle the case because all three elements must be met.
Injured in a Georgia Motor Vehicle Accident? Call Our Auto Accident Lawyer in Atlanta for Help
Victims and their families who have suffered personal injuries, financial damages, or other harm due to the negligence of a defendant in Georgia could call the K. Hall Law Group. Our compassionate and experienced auto accident lawyer offers free consultations where families can sit down, ask tough questions, and get accurate answers – without having to pay anything upfront. To learn more about how our skilled personal injury law firm can help you and your family after a motor vehicle accident in Atlanta or elsewhere in Georgia, contact us today to schedule your free consultation by dialing 678-367-3339 or by using the Contact Us form here.
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