San Antonio Legal Advice

What must you prove in your car accident claim?

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Gary: My wife and I were hurt in a car accident about a month ago. We were not at fault. I am ok but my wife is not. The other driver slammed into the passenger side door where she was riding. She is still treating with the doctor. We are already getting a lot of medical bills in the mail. If we hire a lawyer, what do we have to prove to be able to recover from the driver’s insurance company? -Jeff in Decatur
Transcript:
Jeff – thanks for the question though I’m sorry to hear about your wife’s injuries and the wreck.
There are many things we have to prove in these personal injury claims:
* Someone was negligent in causing the wreck (besides our client);
* This person’s negligence was the proximate cause of our client’s injuries;
* We have to prove the damages our client sustained in the wreck.

Negligence: this essentially means who is at fault.
We have to prove that someone (besides yourself) was at fault for causing the wreck.
The injured party has the burden of proof in showing that the Defendant driver was negligent in causing the wreck.
For example:
When the defendant rear-ends your car because they did not maintain a safe following distance or they failed to keep a proper lookout of the road ahead, they were negligent.
When the defendant rear-ends your car because he did not get his brakes repaired, even though he knew they were not working properly, he is negligent.
Other examples could include:
Following too closely
Driver distractions due to using a cell phone or adjusting the radio

Driving under the influence of alcohol or some illegal drug
Failure to yield while turning left
Driver fatigue because they drove their tractor trailer more than Federal law allows
Proximate Cause:
Once we prove the other driver was negligent, then we must show that this negligence was the proximate cause of your injuries.
Here is an example:
You are at a complete stop at a red light. The Defendant is not paying attention to the road ahead and crashes into the rear of your car. Your head hits the steering wheel causing a huge cut on your chin and you chip a couple of your teeth. The Defendant’s negligence was the proximate cause of the wreck and your injuries.

(3) Damages:
When we prove that the Defendant was negligent and his negligence was the proximate cause of the wreck, we must now prove what damages were inflicted upon you.
Damages could include compensation for:
Medical bills, including:

-emergency room physician

-chiropractors

Lost wages:
Typically, if someone misses a week of work due to a car wreck, it can be proven with a couple of check stubs showing the time missed from work, a doctor’s disability slip, and a wage verification form signed by the employer.
Lost wages can be very problematic, however, if someone misses time from work but is paid “under the table” and there is no record on the books. It gets even messier when there is no mention of this work on the tax returns.
Transportation costs
You would not have to be driving around from doctor’s appointments to physical therapy to the pharmacy to get your prescriptions filled if the Defendant had not caused the wreck.
This is clearly money that is coming out of your pocket that you would not have lost if the car wreck never happened.

Gas is expensive.
Parking in some of the private lots can also add up.
Keep track of your round trip mileage to these appointments and save those parking receipts!
FUTURE medical expenses
Doctors can sometimes tell us to a reasonable degree of medical certainty what they anticipate you will incur should you eventually need a surgery or have to undergo some additional tests.
The key component to making a claim for these future medical expenses is to get a doctor’s narrative addressing the medical needs, why they are necessary, how they were caused by the wreck, and the costs of the procedure(s).
FUTURE lost wages:

The way a jury measures future lost income is for them to determine what the plaintiff would otherwise have earned in his job or profession but for the injury.

Punitive damages:

Sometimes the defendant’s conduct in causing the wreck or his actions immediately after the wreck are so egregious that the law allows us to seek additional damages known as punitive damages.

For example, punitive damages can be sought in wrecks where:
– The Defendant causes a wreck and attempts to flee or does flee the scene of the collision.
– The Defendant was driving their vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
There is a legal presumption under Georgia law that a person is driving under the influence if their blood alcohol level is above .08.

General damages are hard to quantify for everyone and are highly subjective, so the law instructs the judge or jury to assign these damages on an individual basis.
The amount of the damage for pain and suffering is based upon the enlightened conscience of fair and impartial jurors that apply the facts and law to that specific claim.
There is an old saying that “[T]he easiest pain to bear is someone else’s.”
There is a lot of truth to that statement.
It is a challenge to get a jury to understand the degree of pain and suffering someone experiences because of a wreck – especially when the injuries are not visible.

If not us, please call someone – but call an attorney that specializes in personal injury law.

If you would like to speak with my law firm about your claim, we make it easy for you.
Just pick up the phone right now and give us a call at (770) 934-8000.
Our intake specialists are standing by right now to speak with you.
The consultation is FREE and completely confidential.
It is loaded with information about personal injury claims and you can learn a lot more about me and my law firm.

You owe it to yourself – to your family – to get the help you need.
So give us a call right now. (770) 934-8000.
And stay tuned for more of “Do I Need A Lawyer”
We’ll be right back.

Nursing Home Injury Law