Fatal Car Accident Lawyers
Tuesday, June 19th, 2012 at 10:06 am
Car accidents are a leading causing of unnecessary deaths in the in the U.S. and, consequently, they are also a leading source of personal injury claims.
Several factors can play a role in a car accident. The driver may be driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, over speeding, ignoring traffic signals, etc. In many of the traffic accidents, the cause of accident is negligence of one of the involved parties. In such cases, the affected party many times settles with the responsible party. The responsible party pays for the medical costs, pain and suffering and other damages.
Car Accidents Regulations
Legally speaking, a car accident takes place when a passenger car (station wagon, sedan or convertible) gets involved in an incident or a series of incidents that result in some type of damage, such as a broken leg, destroyed vehicle, and/or fatality.
It is important to remember that you only have a limited amount of time according to law to sue the responsible party. This is known as the statute of limitations. Within he U.S. there are different time periods within which you can file your lawsuit. The time period varies from one year to six years.
If the responsible party is a federal agency, then you have a fixed time period of two years within which you can file your claim. If the responsible party is a state entity then you should check with the state to find out how much time you are allowed to have for suing. The time provided varies from 30 days to 180 days. A point to remember here is that you cannot sue the government unless you first made a claim that was denied.
Negligence
It is normally required to provide proof of negligence to receive compensation from an insurer or at the court. In legal terms, negligence means that act of failing to act in a way that is reasonably careful and responsible. When dealing with a car crash, negligence is based on the factual information derived from eyewitness reports, expert witness report, police report, photos and sketches of the place where the accident took place. To prove negligence you should show that: the accident was caused by the carelessness of someone; harm was caused in the accident; and the party responsible for the crash is responsible for compensating for the harm caused by the accident.
If you have been involved in an accident where there are more than one responsible parties, then liability may be distributed among the responsible persons on accordance with the their contribution in the accident. The term used for describing this is comparative negligence.
A fatal car accident causes irreparable damage to the affected party. While there is no substitute for a loved one, the affected persons can use their right to claim compensation to support themselves financially. If you have lost a loved one in a car accident, contact legal support to find out about the steps you can take for filing a claim.