Smart Legal Tips on Properly Handling a Health-Damaging Road Accident

Being involved in a road accident is a difficult situation to be in. The event itself can be very traumatic and the work required after the accident to get the compensation you deserve is also quite tumultuous. Even though you might genuinely be the victim, proving this in a court of law is a separate matter. The person that you have an accident with will try their best to not have to pay any compensation. In some cases, this can be in millions of dollars.

The individual that you have an accident with nor their insurance company will want to pay this amount of money. How you approach the matter in legal terms is very important to ensure that you get the right compensation. Here are a few tips to help you along the way.

Get Medical Assistance

The first thing to do is to get proper medical attention. This is important for your physical well-being, but the medical reports will also play a big role in the case later on. Keep in mind that you need to consult with an emergency medicine specialist, not the local GP. Certain injuries that arise out of accidents, such as whiplash, are hard to detect for a doctor who doesn’t specialize in emergency medicine. A specialist will know all the potential risks involved and will go straight to diagnosing the problems that are most likely in a car crash. This will help you make the best recovery possible and will also provide you with the critical information you need to strengthen your case.

Seek  Professional Help

Accident claim cases and injury claim cases are both very technical matters. Pursuing such an issue in court on your own is not recommended. Even if you are a professional lawyer, it is best you get a specialist to handle the case for you. Moreover, injury laws will vary from place to place. Something that is accepted in Virginia may not be applicable in the state of North Carolina. Getting a local professional to handle the issue will give you the highest chance of success.

It’s also possible that an accident happens in one part of the country but the court hearing happens in a different state. If the hearing is happening in North Carolina then a distracted driving lawyer in Raleigh, NC will be the best choice. This is very common in accidents involving commercial vehicles or government vehicles. They will usually have the case heard in a state or city that is closer to their headquarters rather than where the accident took place.

Gather Evidence

How much compensation you get in a case and how easily you get that compensation depends on the amount and quality of evidence you have. Ideally, you should be recording everything that you can about the case. Medical bills, car repair bills, medical reports, and many other things can be valuable pieces of evidence for your court case. The more evidence you have, the better. Also, you should focus on gathering evidence from the very moment that the accident took place. If possible, take photos of the wreckage, the place where it happened, the opponents’ vehicle, their ID, and even the input of eyewitnesses. This will all come in handy in proving your innocence in court.

File Reports

Every state has a statutory period within which the case needs to be filed. In some areas, this can be as little as three months. Meaning that within three months of the accident you need to file the case in court for it to be considered. If you exceed this statutory period the legal system is not obliged to hear your case and you have no chance of winning any kind of compensation. In some situations, you might be able to move the case to a different state that has a longer statutory period, however, this isn’t always possible and it’s rather inconvenient. Try to file the claim as soon as you can. Consult with your lawyer to find out how much time you have and when would be the best time to file the case in your locality.

With the case filed in court, the next part of the battle begins. Civil courts are already flooded with thousands of cases and it could take some time before your case is even heard. For some states, this is a few days; for others, it can be a few months. Don’t be surprised if it takes time. Also, the case itself can take several weeks to reach any conclusion. Some cases even go on for multiple years before a decision is arrived at. This is common in extremely complicated cases. Be ready to spend quite a lot of time pursuing this matter in court.