California Car Accident Lawyer

Have you or a loved one been injured in a car accident?  If so, you may be entitled to compensation. Suffering from injuries due to a car accident can be detrimental to your health and finances. We can help. Contact the experienced California personal injury attorneys of OnderLaw today for a free consultation or contact us online. We will review the details of your situation and give you more information about how we can work to obtain compensation for you.

Why Do I Need a Lawyer?  Why Choose OnderLaw ?

Recovering from the injuries you’ve sustained in a car accident can be an overwhelmingly long road. Let us do the heavy lifting for you. We’ll work diligently to help you get the justice you deserve.

At OnderLaw , our experienced attorneys have nearly two decades of experience in personal injury claims. We’ve secured compensation for our clients who have suffered from car accidents, including over $3 billion in settlements. Our attorneys not only know how to best represent you in your claim, but they’ll do so with compassion. Even more, our firm operates on a contingency fee basis. That means that if you decide to retain us, you won’t pay us a dime until we win your case or obtain a settlement for you. We get paid only if you do.

OnderLaw also believes in extending our compassion outside of the office. We are a sponsor for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and have hosted a toy drive for Toys for Tots.

Types of Car Accidents

The type of car accident you were involved in is relevant to your claim as it can help us determine who may have been responsible for the accident. Some types of car accidents are:

• Head-on collisions
• Rear-end collisions
• Side-impact collisions, or T-bone accidents
• Chain reaction accidents, or pile-ups
• Rollovers
• Side-swipe collisions

Causes of Car Accidents

Car accidents can be caused by a wide variety of factors, and of course, because they’re accidents, many are unexpected. However, many accidents could be prevented if the other parties involved had taken seriously their duty to take reasonable care not to harm others. Some common causes of car accidents our clients have been involved in include:

• Driving while distracted – Drivers can be distracted by their use of cell phones. Drivers can also be distracted by other drivers, talking to other passengers in their cars, looking at other activity on the road, and more.
• Driving while under the influence of narcotics, certain prescription drugs, or alcohol – Drugs and alcohol can impair the judgment, mental and physical faculties, and reaction times of a driver.
• Driver error – Less experienced drivers are more likely to lack the care and caution required to operate a vehicle safely.
• Mechanical errors in vehicles – Mechanical malfunctions in cars can cause or can contribute to the cause of a car accident.
• Road conditions – There may be issues with the roadway, such as potholes, missing traffic signs, or inadequately marked entrances and exits. Additionally, harsh weather conditions, like snow, can make roads more difficult to drive on and more dangerous.
• Health emergencies – A driver could suffer a sudden health emergency while driving, such as a heart attack, stroke, or seizure that would impair their ability to safely operate the vehicle.
• Disobeying traffic and driving laws – Driving and traffic laws are intended to maintain order and safety for drivers. Disobeying those laws can cause confusion for other drivers and increases the risk of car accidents.

Common Injuries Suffered in Car Accidents

Drivers and passengers in a car can sustain many different injuries, and those injuries can vary in severity. For example:

• Cuts, bruises, and contusions
• Whiplash
• Spinal injuries
• Traumatic brain injury and concussions
• Muscle strains
• Broken bones
• Sprains
• Internal bleeding
• Burns

These are just some of the injuries that you can suffer in a car accident. A much less visible injury is the mental and emotional turmoil that can persist after a person is involved in a car accident. Not only may the physical injuries require extensive medical treatment, so, too, might the mental injuries you may suffer post-accident.

Who Is Responsible?

To determine who is responsible for a car accident, we must determine who was negligent. The at-fault party will be the one who acted unreasonably when operating their vehicle. Determining who is responsible is important because, since California is an at-fault state, that person would be liable for paying fair compensation to the injured party.

Anyone operating a vehicle should do so with caution and with care. When proving negligence, we must show that the other party was careless and that their lack of care caused the accident. This is negligence. We must also show that the other party’s carelessness that caused the accident directly caused your injuries and that your injuries resulted in actual losses. Those losses are the basis of our pursuit of compensation from the other party.

It’s also possible for more than one party to be responsible for the accident. For instance, let’s say that you and another driver were involved in a car accident. The other driver is proven to have been negligent, but you are also found to have been partially negligent. This is known as pure comparative negligence. In the event you are found partially responsible, your potential compensation would be reduced in proportion to your responsibility for the car accident.

Compensation for a Car Accident Claim

You may be entitled to compensation for a number of costs that you may have incurred as a result of your car accident. These costs are called economic damages.

• Medical expenses. Even if the injuries you sustained in your car accident were minimal, you still may require medical attention. That is an expense that you would not otherwise incur if not for the accident. And if you are seriously injured, you will require extensive medical treatment and perhaps long-term medical care. These costs are considerable. You may be compensated for the medical costs you have incurred as a result of the car accident. You may also be compensated for the medical expenses you may incur in the future for injuries that resulted from the car accident.
• Property damage. No matter the extent of the damage to your vehicle, you may be compensated to cover the costs to repair your vehicle and other property lost or damaged in the crash, like cell phones and laptops. If your car was damaged beyond repair in the accident, you may be compensated for the value of your vehicle.
• Loss of income. Recovering physically from a car accident may take days, weeks, or months. This is especially so if you are recovering in a hospital or in-patient rehabilitation. During your recovery time, you may not be able to work. If you develop long-term health issues from your injuries sustained in the accident, you may not be able to return to work or may not be able to work the same type of job. If you become disabled due to your injuries, your income-earning potential could be greatly affected. All of this is taken into consideration in your claim, and you may be compensated for this loss of or decrease in both your current income and future earnings.

You may also be compensated for noneconomic damages. These damages are those that are more difficult to calculate: pain and suffering, loss of consortium (the effect of your injuries on your personal relationships with your partner or children, for example), and a decline in your quality of life.

You may also be awarded punitive, or exemplary, damages. This is a rare form of compensation that is intended to punish the party who caused the accident because they acted with malice, fraudulently, or oppressed the injured party. These damages can only be awarded by a jury.

It’s also important to remember that the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury claim in the state of California is two years from the date of the accident.

California Accident Statistics

• According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, in the state of California, traffic accidents resulting in death decreased in 2019 to 3,606, which is down from 3,798 in 2018.
• In 2017, there were 3,582 California traffic accidents that resulted in one or more deaths. There were 3,904 people killed and 277,160 people injured in traffic accidents in that same year.
• In 2017, there were 3,455 deaths by drivers in passenger cars and 275,172 injuries by drivers in passenger cars.

Call OnderLaw Today

If you or a loved one has been involved in and injured in a car accident through no fault of your own, you may be able to receive compensation. Contact OnderLaw today for your free consultation. We will review your case for free and inform you of your options. You are not obligated to retain us. Let us assist you in your time of need and help you get the justice you deserve. Call or contact us online today.