Las Cruces is a place that is known for its rich cultural life, delicious food, and its proximity to White Sands National Park where the first atomic bomb was tested. Tourists come from all over the country to see White Sands and trucks filled with supplies pass through town on the way to Mexico.
Unfortunately, when you have a lot of tourists In a town who are unfamiliar with the roads combined with people zipping back and forth to work, you are going to have some accidents. If you have a car accident with injuries, you are going to need an attorney.
You can find a professional personal injury attorney for your Las Cruces car accident on the website 1-800-injured. You can also find a doctor to take care of your injuries on our easy-to-use site.
Crash Statistics
According to a study done at the University of New Mexico, Las Cruces had 2,729 accidents In the year 2000. 835 of those accidents had injuries. There were 10 total fatalities. The state of New Mexico is known for having the highest rate of pedestrian fatalities in the country.
Documenting a Motor Vehicle Collision
When you have a car accident, you must contact the police and wait for them to arrive. They may ask you questions, but you are not legally obligated to answer them.
Most car accident attorneys will tell you that you should never admit to causing an accident even if you are sure it was your fault. Most people are in a state of shock after a collision. You may not be aware of all the factors that contributed to your accident.
It is important to take pictures if possible or get someone to take them for you. Get the names and phone numbers of anyone who may have seen the crash. You must exchange information with any other drivers involved in the accident.
Why Fault Matters in Las Cruces, New Mexico
The state of New Mexico uses a pure comparative fault model when it comes to auto insurance. What this means is that each person involved in an accident is financially responsible for the portion of the collision that they caused. Hence, if you are 80% responsible for an accident and the other party is 20% responsible, your insurance would pay for 80% of their bills and their insurance would pay for 20% of your accident bills. Getting into an accident may be very upsetting, but you have to think about collecting evidence to prove what happened.
When you have an accident that is caused by another person, you will report that accident to their insurance company. You need to report the accident to your own insurance company as well. The responsible party’s insurance company will assign the case to an insurance adjuster.
The insurance adjuster will look at all the facts in the case and decide if they can give you compensation for your injuries. They will offer you a settlement amount. The first offer they give you is not likely to be the highest amount they are willing to pay out. Auto accident victims need to make an appointment with an experienced law firm before they accept a car accident settlement.
Common Crash Injuries
People can get all different kinds of injuries from a car accident. However, some of them happen more often than others.
Broken Bones
Auto collisions can result in broken and fractured bones. If you break a limb, it will swell up right away. However, some breaks may not be obvious. This is especially true in the case of broken ribs. People often break ribs during motor vehicle collisions because they are forced into their seatbelts.
There are several different kinds of breaks including displaced fractures, in which bones break into many pieces, closed fractures, where the bone breaks but the skin does not, and hairline fractures where the bone barely cracks.
Whiplash
Whiplash is an injury of the neck caused by a rapid movement of the neck, it is often the result of rear-end collisions. People with whiplash normally feel better within a few weeks, but the pain can be chronic. You should never ignore the pain in your neck after a car accident. It is very important to go to the doctor.
Symptoms of whiplash include:
- Headaches
- Neck stiffness
- Dizziness
- Numbness in limbs
Brain injuries
Head injuries, especially traumatic brain injuries can result from a motor vehicle accident. They are one of the hardest kinds of injuries to detect. You may not know that you have a brain injury until months after your accident.
Brain injuries result from blows to the head, they do not have to be penetrating. The results of head injuries can range from minor memory loss to death. If a child suffers a head injury, they may have developmental disabilities.
Treatments may include surgery, oxygen, and medications. Typical drugs include anti-seizure pills. In some cases, a person with a brain injury will be put into a temporary coma. This is done to reduce the amount of oxygen necessary for the brain to function.
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychological condition that occurs after a person has experienced a traumatic event. When a person is in an accident, their body will often have a flight or fight response. The brain will release adrenaline to protect you from shock. It will increase your energy and your heart rate.
When you have PTSD, you will keep reliving the accident over and over again. You may have visions of the crash or you may not be able to sleep. If you have PTSD, your body will release adrenaline again and your heart will race. When this happens multiple times in a day, it can be very dangerous.
PTSD is treated with medication and talk therapy. Meditation is also said to help.
Causes of Car Crashes in Las Cruces
When a person gets a driver’s license, they have a duty of care to other drivers on the road. They are agreeing to drive safely and obey the rules of the road. Any violation of those rules can cause an accident. However, car accident lawyers can tell you that there are certain causes for accidents that they see more often than others.
Speeding
470 people lost their lives in car accidents in 2021 in New Mexico and speeding was the number one type of accident. Speed limits are set for a reason, but when people are in a rush they tend to ignore those reasons. The faster a car goes, the harder it will hit another object. It is harder to control a car that is traveling at a high rate of speed.
Drunk Driving
Every driver’s education class teaches the evils of drunk driving. This does not stop drunk driving from being the second leading cause of automobile accidents.
Drunk driving was actually on the rise during the pandemic, then it was on the decline in 2022. In 2020, 145 people died in accidents that were alcohol-related. 467 people died in accidents in 2022, 106 of them involved alcohol.
Distracted Driving
Many car accident claims mention distracted driving these days. People have always had distractions while driving. They may have been listening to the radio or flipping through the newspaper when they were driving.
The invention of smartphones opened the door to many tempting distractions. People often have accidents because they were texting or posting on social media. Texting while driving is a crime in New Mexico as it is in most states. However, the tickets are fairly small and some people think it is worth the risk.
If you have been injured by a driver who you believe was distracted, it is extremely important to hire a car accident lawyer. Personal injury attorneys and other lawyers have privileges that other people do not. A lawyer can subpoena records. Therefore, they can subpoena the records of the other driver’s cell phones. They can find out exactly what that person was doing the minute the accident happened.
What Documentation to Collect
Before you file an insurance claim, you should make sure that you have all your paperwork in order. You need a copy of all of the medical bills that are related to your accident. You will also need receipts for medications that you may have taken.
Most injuries from motor vehicle accidents take a while to heal. You will miss work to go to your doctor’s appointments. If you have lost wages from your job, remember to bring documentation of that as well.
Why You Should Hire a Lawyer After a Car Accident
No insurance company is going to offer you a fair settlement right off the bat. An attorney will be well-versed in auto accident law. They will have seen many auto accident claims and know how much money certain injuries are worth. They know just what to say to an insurance company to get them to offer you more money. They will have a staff of legal assistants and paralegals who will work diligently to get you the money that you are owed.
In the unlikely event that they are not able to get you an acceptable settlement amount, a lawyer can also represent you in court. You can find an experienced lawyer with a proven track record of wins when you visit our website. A good litigator will be aggressive in court but rely on facts and figures to win their case.
1-800-Injured is a Lawyer & Medical Directory where attorneys and car accident victims can find one another. Visit our site today.