It can be traumatizing to be involved in a traffic collision. Think about this, in a moment, your life can change into one of distress, pain, and turmoil, perhaps not even because it was your fault. When other people are to blame for causing the accident, there is no need for you to suffer the consequences. You must take action so that you should receive the compensation for the injuries you have sustained.
This is the reason why you need to contact the Kendall Law Firm in Harrisonburg, VA to give you the required legal support you need in such difficult times. After all, after a traffic collision, assistance from attorneys, friends, and family can make all the difference. This article discusses what you need to know about a traffic collision claim.
Types of road traffic accidents
No doubt, the roads can sometimes be dangerous places and everyone using these roads faces the risk of an accident. Here are some specific types of road accidents that you can experience while on the road:
Cars tend to contribute to the majority of traffic on many roads. No wonder, it’s quite common to find out that cars are involved in most of the road traffic accidents. The good news is that if you were traveling in a vehicle and was injured in a car accident, there is a good chance that you can make a claim.
You can make a claim regardless of whether or not you were driving the car or passenger. The most common types of car accidents involve a collision with another car, such as changing lanes into your vehicle and someone reversing into your vehicle while in a car park.
If you were driving the car, you need to prove that the party was at fault for the traffic collision. On the other hand, if you were a passenger, it’s almost impossible to be responsible for the car accident.
While car accidents involving its occupants are quite common, there are also others that involve more vulnerable road-users and tend to be more serious. These vulnerable road users include pedestrians, cyclists, bikers, and many more.
If a car accident happens and involves these other road users, there is a potential that they may suffer more severe injuries like head or brain injuries. The good thing is that the courts are aware of the increased vulnerability of these types of road users. Therefore, motorists are usually required to be more careful to avoid injuring them. This can make it easier to establish specific aspects of the claim, especially if you are a road-user who falls into vulnerable categories.
Keep in mind that a road traffic accident doesn’t need to involve a collision of two cars. They can involve a wide range of causes including hazards on the road surfaces like spillages and defective parts of your car.
These are usually more uncommon road accidents than two or more cars colliding. They can often involve making a claim against more at-fault parties like manufacturers and those responsible for spillage.
The importance of making a personal injury claim
Personal injury claims sometimes get bad press from some people, but there is nothing wrong with them. They are intended to help as much as possible the effects of the accident. Ideally, someone has wronged you, so you are legally entitled to get compensation to correct the wrong.
It’s worth noting that negative effects from road traffic accidents can take various forms. The most common effects are perhaps the physical injuries that you sustain in the traffic collision. Others include changes to the quality of your life, psychological effects, and loss of income.
The truth is that money alone is not enough to reverse the accident effects, but filing for the compensation can help when experiencing a difficult situation. There are certain forms of injury like whiplash injuries that need early access to medical treatment. While it’s necessary to seek medical treatment from private medical healthcare providers, you should know that it requires a lot of money.
Therefore, if you decide to hire a motor vehicle accident lawyer and make a personal injury claim, you can expect that either the at-fault party’s insurance company or a medical agency may arrange the funding. This allows you to get the medical treatment quickly without having any financial burdens.
As mentioned before, a road traffic accident may affect most aspects of your life, such as your income. If you can’t work any longer because of the injuries you sustained in the car accident, money can be a source of your stress and worries. Hence, you need to file for a compensation claim so that you can alleviate some of these worries and stress. In some cases, you can even get compensation before filing a claim through interim payments.
You may be forced to endure suffering, pain, and other things though it was the fault of someone else. Worse still, the other person may have been careless or simply poor driving that led to this situation. This must not go unresolved so that the negligent individual should learn a lesson. By claiming, they will recognize the problems you had to go through and give the right compensation for it.
The unfortunate truth is that the car accident has occurred and this cannot be changed. Regardless of whether you file for the compensation or not, the harm is already done. But filing for the compensation you are legally entitled to can at least redress some of the losses you suffered.
But it’s always a good idea to file for compensation quickly because of the statute of limitations which requires you to do it within a specific period. Therefore, you need to hire an experienced attorney to guide you through the filing of the compensation process. It’s also a good idea to hire an attorney immediately after the accident so that you can get the right legal advice.