Intersection Accidents and Injuries
Car accidents at traffic intersections usually occur when drivers fail to yield the right-of-way to other vehicles at the proper times. The at-fault driver might run a red traffic light or stop sign, causing a broadside accident and bringing about severe injuries and damages for other drivers and passengers on the receiving end.
If you recently suffered injuries in a traffic intersection accident that resulted from another driver's careless or reckless behavior, you may have several legal options that you may consider. Make one of your top priorities following an accident to seek help from a qualified and experienced car accident attorney in your area.
Your
car accident lawyer can file a claim with the responsible driver's insurance company, negotiate a favorable settlement offer, and, if necessary, pursue a fair litigation result in your case after filing a lawsuit in court. Your attorney will do everything possible to help you recover the maximum monetary compensation you need and deserve for your T-bone accident injuries.
How Do Traffic Intersection Accidents Usually Occur?
Traffic accidents at intersections usually happen when drivers deviate from the standard of care and drive recklessly. In some situations, intersection traffic accidents occur when drivers deviate from standard traffic laws, including speeding, failing to yield the right-of-way to other traffic, and exhibiting road rage, including running red lights or changing lanes in an intersection.
At other times, intersection accidents happen when drivers ignore the road. Numerous distractions in vehicles, including electronic devices, rowdy passengers, and music systems, may divert a driver's attention off the road, preventing them from noticing a nearby car or pedestrian at a traffic intersection.
Even when a driver looks down for just a second or two, that may be enough time for a severe intersection accident to happen.
Other traffic intersection accidents are the result of drunk or intoxicated driving. Both alcohol and drugs can significantly impair a driver's reaction time and concentration.
Alcohol, in particular, can slow down a driver's central nervous system, delay their reflexes, and prevent them from stopping their vehicle in time to avoid a crash. Both drugs and alcohol may also bring about nausea, dizziness, and blurred vision, preventing a driver from noticing another driver or
pedestrian at a traffic intersection.
When others drive negligently, they may cause several types of accidents near traffic intersections, including rear-end accidents, T-bone accidents, and head-on collisions.
A rear-end accident usually happens when a driver is not paying attention to the road or is speeding near a traffic intersection. If traffic backs up quickly, the negligent rear driver may cause their vehicle to hit the back of another car that has already stopped.
Head-on collisions at traffic intersections usually happen when drivers attempt to pass a vehicle in front of them, negligently striking another car in an opposing travel lane.
On the other hand, broadside accidents, or T-bone collisions, typically happen when drivers fail to yield the right-of-way to another vehicle traveling on an adjacent roadway.
If you or someone you care about suffered injuries in an intersection accident resulting from driver negligence, you should speak with knowledgeable legal counsel immediately. Your attorney can review the police report and other documentation to determine your eligibility for filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit.
If you can move forward, your attorney can file a claim with the appropriate insurance company on your behalf, negotiate with the settlement adjuster handling your claim, and help you obtain a fair monetary award for your injuries.
Common Intersection Accident Injuries
The specific injuries that an intersection accident victim sustains depend upon various factors, including the type of accident, the number of vehicles involved, the force of the collision, and how the accident victim's body moves in their car during the crash. The collision force may sometimes be so strong that the accident victim's body moves from side to side or backward and forwards very abruptly.
Alternatively, a part of the accident victim's body might strike the headrest, steering wheel, window, or other part of the vehicle, resulting in one or more severe injuries.
Some of the most common injuries that accident victims suffer during intersection collisions include:
- Bone fractures
- Rib fractures
- Traumatic head and brain injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Full and partial paralysis
- Spinal cord injuries
- Soft tissue contusions
- Eye injuries
- Open laceration
- Significant bruising
Seeking ongoing medical care following an intersection accident is essential to obtaining a full recovery. Moreover, by obtaining and sticking to a treatment regimen, you increase your chances of recovering fair monetary compensation from the insurance company handling your claim.
While you obtain the medical treatment you need for your car accident injuries, a skilled personal injury attorney in your area can handle the legal aspects of your case and begin preparing a settlement demand package on your behalf.
After all of your medical treatment concludes or you know what treatment you will need in the future, your lawyer can submit this demand package to the insurance company adjuster. They will begin pursuing the fair monetary compensation you need to recover for your accident-related losses.
Proving Your Intersection Car Accident Claim or Lawsuit
As the victim of a traffic intersection accident, you have the legal burden of proof in any personal injury claim or lawsuit you file. This means that to recover monetary compensation and damages for your accident-related losses, you must satisfy several legal elements of proof.
First, you must demonstrate that the driver who caused your intersection accident acted unreasonably under the circumstances. In other words, they must have ordinarily
violated one or more traffic laws or regulations.
In addition, you must show that as a direct result of the other driver's negligence, the accident occurred, and you suffered at least one physical injury in the accident.
To establish medical causation between the accident and your claimed injury or injuries, your lawyer can retain a treating medical provider or other medical experts to draft a report or testify in your case.
Medical experts can help accident victims demonstrate:
- That their injury or injuries directly resulted from the intersection accident
- As a direct and proximate result of their intersection accident, they suffered one or more permanent injuries that are unlikely to recover over time
A car accident attorney can help you satisfy the legal elements of your case necessary to recover monetary compensation and damages.
Recovering Financial Damages in an Intersection Car Accident Case
The monetary compensation and damages that car accident victims recover will vary from case to case. Certain factors often determine the types and amounts of the financial recovery that intersection accident victims are eligible to recover.
Those factors include the specific injuries that they suffered in their accident, as well as the force of the collision, the medical treatment that they underwent, the total cost of that medical treatment, and other accident-specific factors.
First, an intersection accident victim can pursue monetary compensation for their related medical expenses. If a medical provider determines that they may need to undergo a surgical procedure or other related medical treatment in the future, they can recover those anticipated medical costs as part of their overall monetary damage award.
In addition, if the accident victim had to miss time from work due to their injuries, they may be eligible to assert a claim for lost income. Similarly, if their injuries are so severe that they cannot return to the same job and they have to switch to a lower-paying job, they may be eligible to bring a claim for loss of earning capacity.
Next, intersection accident victims may be eligible to receive various
non-economic damages in their personal injury claims or lawsuit. Those damages compensate intersection accident victims for the various intangible losses that they suffer as a result of another driver's negligence at or near an intersection.
Those damages may include monetary compensation for:
- Mental distress (such as from post-accident PTSD)
- Past and future pain and suffering
- Loss of spousal companionship
- Loss of life enjoyment
- Loss of the use of a specific body part
- Permanent disability or disfigurement
- Long-term or lifetime care costs
When it comes to determining the types and amounts of monetary damages you may be eligible to recover in your case, your car accident attorney can be an invaluable resource.
Your lawyer can ballpark the amount of money you can receive as part of your personal injury settlement, jury verdict, or binding arbitration award in your case. Your lawyer can then set about maximizing your total monetary compensation and helping you achieve the highest possible monetary award in your case.
Filing a Legal Claim for Monetary Compensation
The first step to recovering monetary damages following an intersection accident is to bring a claim with the at-fault driver's insurance company. If that driver fled the scene of the accident or did not have motor vehicle insurance, you may file a first-party uninsured motorist claim with your own insurer.
To get the ball rolling, your attorney will typically submit a settlement demand package to the insurance company adjuster. This demand package will usually include various documents about the car accident, your injuries, and the medical treatment that you underwent following your accident. Those documents may also include police reports, lost income statements, medical treatment records, medical bills, photographs of your visible injuries, accident scene photographs, and a personal statement from you regarding the effects of the accident on your life.
At that point, the parties may engage in settlement negotiations to try and resolve the car accident claim outside of court. Since most initial offers from insurance company settlement adjusters are far below the actual value of the case, your attorney may need to negotiate with the insurance company over a period of several weeks or even months.
In some cases, your attorney may need to file a lawsuit in the court system to obtain the most compensation possible from the insurance company. Even if your attorney files a lawsuit, this does not necessarily mean that your case will proceed to a court trial. In fact, most lawsuits and car accident claims settle at some point out of court.
While your case is in litigation, your attorney can assist you with every step of the process, including answering written questions, called Interrogatories, and preparing you for a discovery deposition.
Your attorney can also handle all legal proceedings for you, including pretrial and settlement conferences, jury trials, and alternative dispute resolution proceedings.
Along the way, your attorney can address all of your legal questions and concerns and help you make informed decisions that will lead to the highest possible monetary recovery in your case.
What Happens at a Car Accident Trial?
If the
insurance company refuses to adequately compensate you for your intersection accident injuries, you have the option of taking your case to a civil jury trial. At trial, the jury will decide all disputed issues in the case and will determine the amount of monetary compensation to award you for your accident-related injuries.
During a jury trial, your attorney can:
- Make an opening statement and closing argument in support of your case
- Introduce documentary evidence on your behalf
- Call expert witnesses to the stand to testify in support of your case
- Aggressively fight for your right to recover various types of monetary compensation, depending upon the nature and extent of your injuries
Speak to an Experienced Car Crash Attorney about Your Options Today
If you suffered injuries in a recent intersection car accident, you may be eligible to receive various types of monetary damages. A
personal injury attorney in St. Louis can help you file your claim, negotiate it with the insurance company, and litigate your case through the court system, if appropriate.
Whatever you decide, your lawyer can help you maximize your damages and recover the monetary award you deserve to receive due to another driver's negligent behavior at a traffic intersection.
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