Harlingen Car Accident Attorneys

Harlingen Car Accidents Can Leave Victims With Significant Losses

If you’re injured in a car accident that another driver’s negligence caused, you’re likely overwhelmed and at a loss for where to turn. General knowledge about the car-accident process follows to help you understand how best to proceed. But consulting with an experienced car accident attorney will help you protect your rights and your rightful compensation while allowing you to let go of some of the following responsibilities during this difficult time.

Safety First

Your top priority in any accident is the safety of everyone involved. So, let’s break that down: If possible:

• Pull off the road for safety’s sake
• Call 911
• Check yourself for injuries
• If you’re able and qualified, go to the aid of anyone who may have suffered injuries and stay with them until help arrives.

The focus on safety helps you do what’s immediately necessary in the aftermath of a car accident.

If another driver’s negligence caused your injuries, you need experienced legal counsel. Car accidents are upsetting and don’t put you in the best frame of mind to take care of the complicated process involved in bringing a car accident claim that protects your best interests. Allow your dedicated car accident attorney to help guide your claim toward the compensation to which you are entitled.

What to Do After a Minor Accident in Harlingen

If you went through a minor accident with no serious injuries, follow this straightforward process.

Exchange contact and insurance information with the other driver and alert the authorities (which is always in your and your claim’s best interests). While the other driver may seem agreeable and may take appropriate responsibility for any negligence at the time of the accident, that can quickly go south—at which point it becomes a "you said/he said" thing.

Serious Injuries After a Car Accident in Harlingen

If you suffered a serious injury in a car accident that another driver’s negligence caused, you may have sustained a traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and serious burns. These serious injuries can result in extensive expenses:

• Emergency transportation and care
• Surgeries and aftercare
• Doctor, specialist, and therapist appointments, treatments, and care
• Ongoing care
• Prescription medication
• Adaptive physical device
• Adaptations to the home
• Home healthcare

These costs don’t even take your lost wages and lost earning potential into consideration. Different as they are, serious injuries can also lead to a diminished sense of self (with the loss of one’s career and with the decreased ability to cope with the world in familiar ways) and significant emotional trauma that ranges from depression to PTSD. This can prove as difficult to overcome as any physical injuries.

While no amount of financial compensation can negate the accident, just compensation can allow you to better navigate your path toward healing.

Car Accidents and Driver Negligence

Driver negligence comes in many forms, but a few are most prevalent—and dangerous:

Distraction. Driving while distracted is dangerous. Driving is a complicated task that demands complete concentration. When drivers make the disastrous decision to focus on anything other than their primary task of driving safely, they endanger everyone with whom they share the road. It’s as simple as that. With the advent of the smartphone, distracted driving has reached epidemic proportions, and smartphone use—by incorporating every known category of distraction—is the deadliest form of distracted driving.

Impairment. You know it’s irresponsible and dangerous to drive while impaired by alcohol, but that doesn’t stop other drivers from doing it. Impaired drivers are dangerous drivers, and they’re out there.

Aggression. Aggressive drivers aren’t just dangerous—they’re scary. Aggressive drivers take an I own the road attitude that puts everyone at risk. Aggressive drivers typically engage in a combination of dangerous-driving techniques, and they have a variety to choose from:

• Tailgating
• Passing on the shoulder
• Driving erratically by ignoring traffic signals, signs, and lights; randomly slowing down or stopping; and failing to yield safely or as directed
• Bullying other drivers by gesturing obscenely, screaming, flashing headlights, and honking incessantly at them
• Speeding

Any of these dangerous acts is bad enough on its own, but in combination, they become more deadly. Steer clear of aggressive drivers, and when it’s safe to do so, alert the authorities. You could help prevent a deadly accident.

Speed. Drivers who speed make our roads more dangerous. Many drivers believe they have the right to drive at the speed at which they feel comfortable, but that attitude ignores other motorists’ safety. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety relays that speeding is the deadliest form of aggressive driving and that it accounts for about one-third of traffic fatalities in the United States. Speed does indeed kill. If you spot a dangerous speeding driver, allow that driver all the space you can—and alert the authorities when you can do so safely. You could help save a life.

Every driver on the road owes every other driver the duty to not drive negligently, which includes not driving while distracted or impaired, not driving aggressively, and not speeding.

The Role of Insurance Companies in Car Accident Cases

If you were injured in a car accident that another driver’s negligence caused, you’re going to deal with an insurance company. It’s important to note, however, that you are not required to give an official statement (whether recorded or written) to the other driver’s insurance company, and you are well advised not to do so. Allow your car accident attorney to provide whatever information it needs.

Car insurance reps are adept at leading claimants on paths that encourage them to allude to their own responsibility (even when they’re not liable). This is one headache that you don’t need and that you can avoid.

Your own insurance company, on the other hand, may require you to give a statement—but you don’t have to do so before you consult your own car accident attorney, who will guide you through the process. Remember to give clear, correct, succinct answers to the exact questions that the insurance company asks.

Finally, remember that insurance companies are in the business of making money, which means that your just compensation is not their priority. In fact, to shore up their profits, many insurance companies go to great lengths not to pay out on claims. Protect your rights and your claim by allowing your skilled car accident attorney to take the insurance-company reins.

Gather Evidence in Support of Your Claim

If another driver’s negligence injured you, the evidence at the scene of the accident is likely to play a pivotal role. Gather and compile all of the evidence that you can as soon as you’re able to do so. (Enlist a bystander if your injuries prevent you from doing so yourself). Include several sources of evidence:

• Smartphone photos and videos that capture the scene and all of its pertinent details from every angle.
• Eyewitness statements and contact information.
• All relevant reports, including police reports, damage estimates, and medical bills and reports.
• A sketch of the accident that visually represents how the accident happened, how the cars collided, the exact location, car placement, all significant details, and any mitigating circumstances.
• A written narrative that relays what happened and that includes every detail that you can remember. (The turmoil that surrounds car accidents can quickly blur your memories.)

Your car accident attorney will help equip your claim with all of the necessary evidence.

If a negligent driver injured you, you may feel overwhelmed. Car accidents are frightening, dangerous, and costly, but you don’t have to face yours on your own. A dedicated car accident attorney has the experience, commitment, and skill to effectively and efficiently guide your claim toward its best possible resolution. Your claim, your rights, and your rightful compensation matter too much to leave to chance—or to the discretion of the insurance company. An experienced car accident attorney will aggressively advocate for the compensation to which you are entitled. To schedule a free consultation with one of our attorneys at Trust Guss Injury Lawyers, call our office today at 800-898-4877 or contact us now through our online contact form.