California Car Accident Lawyers
According to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), California has had an average of 174,632 injuries and 259,101 property damage-only crashes annually between 2010 and 2019.
That totals approximately 434,000 crashes yearly or 1,190 crashes every day between 2010 and 2019. More recent numbers from the current decade have, unfortunately, not shown a drastic reduction in previously reported numbers.
These accidents are often very devastating, and sometimes they cause significant damage to property, reduction in quality of life, or even loss of life.
If you’ve been involved in a car accident in California, you’ll most likely seek compensation from your insurance company or a party that caused the accident, and to improve your chances of success with that claim, you’ll need a lawyer.
What to Do If You’ve Been Involved in a Car Accident in California
To ensure optimal compensation after an accident, you should follow the legally required steps and general best practices in California. They are:
Stop the Vehicle
Cal. Veh. Code §§ 20001 and 20002 require drivers involved in an accident to stop immediately. When the accident causes injury, drivers stop at the scene, and when it results in only damages, they stop at the nearest location that will not impede traffic.
However, determining whether an injury has caused injury or only damages may be difficult immediately after an accident, so it is best to stop, assess the damages, and then move to a safe location only if there is no injury and it is safe to do so.
Call Law Enforcement
If while assessing the damage, you find that someone has been killed or is injured, you should immediately call 9-1-1 to report the accident to either the police or CHP.
If the driver has been injured, an occupant of the vehicle should immediately notify law enforcement.
Exchange information
Barring any party’s inability to do so, drivers should exchange relevant information after an accident. Information to be exchanged includes name, address, and license plate information.
Drivers must also share evidence of financial responsibility (insurer name, policy number, and policy expiration date) with the vehicle owner’s name and address if the owner is a different person.
Document the accident
Document as much evidence as you can from the accident scene by taking pictures of the damage to your car, the other car, and the scene. If you have sustained injuries that are immediately visible after the accident, you should also take pictures of them.
Talk to eye witnesses to see who will be willing to give a signed statement detailing what they saw and get their contact information. If they are willing to give a recorded or signed statement on the spot, get it.
Seek medical treatment
Document as much evidence as you can from the accident scene by taking pictures of the damage to your car, the other car, and the scene.
If you have sustained injuries that are immediately visible after the accident, you should also take pictures of them.
Talk to eye witnesses to see who will be willing to give a signed statement detailing what they saw and get their contact information. If they are willing to give a recorded or signed statement on the spot, get it.
Get a lawyer
You should get a California car accident lawyer as soon as you can after an accident.
Whether you intend to file a first or third-person insurance claim, having legal advice tailored to your circumstances from the onset increases your chances of obtaining the settlement you deserve.
Report
Cal. Veh. Code § 16000 mandates that if an accident causes death, injury, or damage of property exceeding $1,000, the driver must report the accident to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) within 10 days of the accident.
This report can be made by completing an SR-1 report which is available online and at DMV or CHP offices.
You should also report the accident to your insurer within a reasonable time.
How Can a Car Accident Lawyer in California Help?
Getting a lawyer as soon as possible is important because they can:
Investigate the accident
Even if you document the accident through pictures and videos as you should, you might still miss key evidence.
Your lawyer can then come in to review the evidence you’ve gathered to determine if it’ll be sufficient, or if they will need to gather more evidence.
The sooner a car accident lawyer can investigate your accident, the more likely they’ll be able to recover evidence that might support your claim.
Report on your behalf
If you have suffered injuries in an accident, you should be fully focused on recovering in the days following, and having to make reports to the DMV or your insurer could disturb that. A California car accident lawyer can file the necessary reports with the DMV and notify your insurance company.
It is usually better to allow your lawyer to notify your insurance company of your accident because insurers are notorious for twisting and reinterpreting the words of accident victims to subsequently devalue claims.
Make claims
Making your claim with the guidance of a legal expert will likely lead to a faster resolution. Lawyers, with their experience, will ensure that your claim meets all the requirements, giving the insurance company no reason to deny or devalue your claim.
What Types of Compensation Can You Recover After a Car Accident?
Possible compensation after a car accident in California can be grouped into three:
Economic damages
These are quantifiable financial losses that you have suffered because of an accident and should be compensated for. They typically include medical expenses (and future medical expenses), lost wages, and the cost of property damage.
So, any compensation you receive after an accident must be one in which you have recovered all medical expenses and lost wages.
The cost of renting a car while you were unable to use yours, and legal fees spent either in court or to hire an attorney are also recoverable as compensation under economic damages.
Non-Economic damages
This compensates you for non-monetary losses that have affected the quality of your life. With non-economic damages, you may be compensated for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Pain and suffering awards compensate for the significant pain caused by the accident and are usually calculated in court through two methods.
The multiplier method: This method determines a multiplier (usually between 1.5 and 5 depending on the type and severity of the accident). It then multiplies the total economic damages by this multiplier to determine pain and suffering compensation.
So, if a multiplier of 2 is applied to economic damages totaling $15,000 for whiplash, you will be awarded $30,000 for pain and suffering.
The per diem method: With this method, lawyers ask juries to award an amount per day for every day that the victim has endured pain and suffering and every day they are likely to continue to award.
Depending on the severity of the accident, this per-day amount can be as low as $20 or as high as $200. If a jury awards $50 for 40 days of enduring pain and suffering, that will be $2,000.
However, Insurance companies mostly use proprietary software to input information about the accident and generate compensation for pain and suffering.
Punitive damages
When a driver commits a serious offense that leads to an accident, punitive damages may be awarded against them in court.
These punitive damages are specifically supposed to punish them for their harmful behavior and you will be entitled to them.
How Much Is My California Car Accident Claim Worth?
Property damage-only claims in California are usually worth around $6,000, while claims for accidents that cause injury may be worth around $25,000.
But those are not definite amounts. A claim’s worth is influenced by multiple factors, like the severity of damage or injury, the amount of fault attributed to each party, and losses incurred.
To get a more accurate estimate of what your claim is worth, tell us more about your accident here.
Contact the Accident Helpers Today
At The Accident Helpers, we help you get expert car accident lawyers in California who can evaluate your case, investigate the accident, negotiate with insurance companies, and secure your settlement.
