It’s an alarmingly common sight on our roads: look to one side or the other, and you will often see someone looking down below their steering wheel as they try to sneakily read or respond to a text message, check their email, or do something else on their smartphone while driving. People may not realize it, but in the amount of time it takes to read a text message on the highway, they have already traveled the length of a football field or more. At 55 miles per hour, this distance only takes 4.6 seconds, and there are countless opportunities for unexpected hazards, changes to traffic patterns, or a vehicle braking ahead, all of which can cause an accident before the driver even realizes that there is a problem.
In addition to the drastic reduction in a texting driver’s ability to respond to hazards, many people accidentally drift across the center line, into bike lanes or shoulders, and may not even realize that they have drifted completed into another lane on the highway. If it weren’t for other drivers’ attention on the road, there could be many more accidents due to texting and driving. Getting into any car accident is frustrating, but knowing that yours was caused by someone’s decision to read or respond to a text message that could have waited can be highly frustrating. This gets even more frustrating when the insurance company pushes back aggressively on paying a fair amount.
Find an Attorney And Fight For What You Deserve After a Distracted Driving Accident
If you were obeying traffic laws and operating your vehicle responsibly, you should not have to suffer the financial consequences of someone else’s dangerous decision to text and drive. Insurance claims are typically made against the at-fault party’s insurance company, but even a claim that has irrefutable proof of who is liable for the crash does not mean that you will get the money you deserve without a fight.
Finding an attorney can be a stressful endeavor, especially while a victim is trying to focus on making sense of their accident, deal with medical issues, and suffer through the pain of their injuries, which is why using 1-800-Injured is one of the best ways to connect with an attorney who is ready to take your case.
1-800-Injured is an attorney and medical referral service. Contact us as soon as possible, and we will schedule a free consultation with a proven attorney in your area where you will be able to discuss the many details of your texting and driving accident and learn all about how they can help you work towards getting the money you are rightfully entitled to.
Seeking Compensation After a Texting and Driving Accident
After any car accident, the victim will typically file a claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance company to receive a payment for things like the cost to repair and replace their vehicle and other personal property, along with compensation for medical bills and more. However, insurance companies have decades of experience developing strategies to reach low settlements as quickly as possible, and even something like proof that their policyholder was texting and driving will only resolve the matter of fault, but does not address the matter of damages themselves.
Personal injury damages are divided into two distinct parts: economic damages and non-economic damages. Both of these sub-categories are equally important, but each requires a significantly different method to reach a clear total. Insurance companies will work to cut corners on each of these areas and avoid paying the total amount, but your attorney will guide you through this process and fight to get you what you deserve.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the basis of a personal injury case and seek repayment for measurable costs and losses. The most common economic damages are a victim’s medical bills and any impacts on their earnings, but each of these damages has countless specific damages that lend to the overall amount, some of which are easily overlooked. Things like over the counter prescriptions and assistive devices can be included in medical bills even though they are not on the invoice from the medical facility, while lost wages include any paid time off that a victim used to cover missed days, as well as long-term impacts to their earning capacity, losses to retirement or pension funds, and more.
Other economic damages include the cost of services that a victim or their family may need to hire to accommodate their inability to perform specific tasks, such as driving, grocery shopping, cooking, or cleaning. Working with a detail-oriented and experienced personal injury attorney is a good way to ensure that each of these damages and more is included in your calculations as you prepare to initiate negotiations.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are just as important as something like lost wages, but they are much more difficult to calculate because they do not have set dollar values and are typically highly subjective and therefore difficult to quantify. They include things like the actual pain and suffering that a victim endures as a result of their injuries, as well as the emotional trauma of their accident, loss of enjoyment, and more.
Insurers know that an inexperienced claimant will have a difficult time both calculating and then defending their calculations for such impacts and are therefore aggressive to shut down any conversation about potential non-economic damages that accurately reflect the level of suffering the victim has endured. Fortunately, your attorney will be fighting to get you every dollar you deserve and will negotiate to reach an out-of-court settlement before determining whether or not to move forward with a lawsuit to bring your case in front of a judge.
There are several calculation methods for non-economic damages, and while none are perfect, there are many considerations when determining which to use for your case. Working with an experienced attorney is the best way to both determine the calculation method as well as to fight to get money in a settlement without having to deal with a costly and time-consuming trial.
Contact us as soon as possible to connect with a lawyer today.