Every year, tens of thousands of people are injured in vehicle accidents in Georgia. While high-impact crashes frequently result in catastrophic casualties, smaller fender benders can sometimes cause injury. Given that driving is a necessity in the state, your odds of getting involved in a vehicle accident are rather high, regardless of how carefully you drive. If you or a loved one has been injured in a car crash, you may be eligible for significant compensation.
Why Choose Marc Brown Law Firm?
Marc Brown Law Firm is a respected personal injury law firm with clients all across Georgia. Our expert attorneys have a well-deserved reputation for fighting for the rights of the injured. Put our strong advocacy to work for you so you can get the most out of your claim and pay your expenses.
With Marc Brown Law Firm, your case has the following:
- A law firm with a history of recovering millions of dollars for injured clients puts a well-respected voice behind your claim
- Years of experience, knowledge, and resources to support your case
- Access to accident reconstruction specialists and medical experts to provide supporting evidence in your case
Marc Brown Law Firm offers a free consultation to car accident victims. Then, an experienced attorney works for you on a contingency-fee basis, charging no upfront costs. Instead, your attorney only charges their fee after recovering compensation for you through a settlement or in court.
Common Causes of Georgia Car Accidents
Motorists rarely think twice before getting into a car, yet there were 1,615 car accident fatalities in Georgia in a single recent year. Most car accidents directly result from human error, including careless, reckless, and wrongful actions. The most common causes of car accidents in Georgia include the following:
- Speeding
- Aggressive driving
- Failure to yield the right of way
- Distracted driving
- Tailgating
- Unsafe lane changes
- Improper merging
- Impaired driving
- Improper passing
- Fatigued driving
Less commonly, a driver’s actions aren’t the cause or sole cause of a car accident in Georgia. In some cases, a negligent road maintenance agency or roadwork contractor causes or contributes to a car accident. For instance, when a deep pothole or construction debris causes one car to swerve into another one, both the driver and the negligent road maintenance agency may be held liable for their portions of the accident victim’s damages under the state’s modified comparative negligence laws.
Defective car parts or tires also cause car accidents, sometimes turning a typical car accident claim into a product liability claim against a manufacturer.
Car Accidents In Georgia
In Georgia, there are many different types of car accidents. Vehicles of various sorts, including passenger automobiles, commercial trucks, motorbikes, bicycles, and pedestrians, are all involved. Some accidents have a higher rate of damage than others. The following are some of the most typical types of car crash situations that our Georgia car accident lawyers handle:
- Head-on collisions
People who are involved in a head-on collision are at significant risk of suffering severe injuries and even death. When two cars collide head-on, the impact is more severe. Because of distractions, alcohol impairment, or tiredness, many head-on collisions occur when a driver wanders into the opposite lane of traffic.
- Rear-End Collisions
Whiplash and neck injuries are most commonly caused by rear-end collisions. Your head is forcefully thrown back and forth when a car slams into the back of your vehicle. The “whipping” motion can injure the soft tissues of the neck severely. Whiplash usually heals in a few weeks, but it can cause persistent discomfort and lifelong disabilities in some people.
- Accidents Caused by Drunk Drivers
Drunk driving accidents, also known as impaired driving accidents, are prevalent in Georgia. Drivers who are drunk or under the influence of drugs or alcohol have slower response times.
- Multiple Vehicle Accidents
When there are more than two automobiles involved in a collision, we call it a multi-vehicle accident, or MVA. When a driver makes a mistake behind the wheel and collides with another vehicle, it can set off a chain reaction in which numerous cars collide. MVAs may be very dangerous since many automobile drivers and passengers may be harmed.
- Truck Accidents
Truck accidents, involving large commercial vehicles such as tractor-trailers, are particularly devastating due to the sheer size and weight of these trucks. Collisions with trucks can lead to catastrophic injuries or fatalities for the occupants of smaller vehicles. Common causes of truck accidents include driver fatigue, improper maintenance, overloaded cargo, and driver inexperience. The impact of a truck accident can be more severe, leading to complex legal and insurance issues that require specialized Georgia truck accident lawyers to navigate effectively.
Georgia Modified Comparative Negligence Laws
According to Georgia law, you have the right to seek damages against anybody who is found to be more at fault than you. However, if you are more than 50% at fault for the accident, you are not entitled to any compensation generally. If you were responsible for 20% of the total, you might be eligible for up to 80% of the available compensation.
A judge or a jury determines these percentages, and the process might be complicated. It might mean less of a reward if you don’t have the legal skills of a Georgia car accident lawyer on your side to contest your claim.
Insurance Companies
Insurance companies for drivers are known for understating injuries and seeking to pressure you into taking a quick, low-ball settlement, which is why you need our Georgia car accident lawyer on your side.
Understanding Car Accident Injuries In Georgia
Seat belts save lives, but cannot prevent all car accident injuries. The crash force of an accident propels a motorist forward at the speed the car was traveling until the seatbelt locks into place and snaps them back against the seat. This places tremendous strain on the body’s structural support system, like muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. At the same time, the body often suffers blunt force trauma as the car’s structure collapses forcefully inward at collision points.
The most common types of car accident injuries in Georgia include the following:
- Soft-tissue injuries, such as sprains, strains, torn ligaments, and damaged tendons
- Neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Fractured bones
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Lacerations, abrasions, and contusions
- Internal organ damage
- Spinal cord injuries
- External head, facial, or dental injuries
- Traumatic amputations
- Burns
Injuries in Georgia car accident claims range from mild, fully recoverable injuries with a single emergency room bill to catastrophic injuries with life-altering damages. In the worst cases, car accidents end in one or more fatal injuries. A close family member may recover compensation for damages resulting from a grievous loss through a wrongful death claim.
What Should You Do At the Scene of a Car Accident In Georgia?
Experiencing a car accident is traumatic and terrifying, especially if you or a loved one suffered severe injuries. In some cases, injury victims are incapacitated and unable to take action on their own behalf, but under some circumstances, an injury victim can use their phone to protect themselves physically and financially by preserving evidence at the crash scene. After an accident, do the following, or ask an uninjured person to do so for you:
- First, call 911 to summon emergency services and apply emergency first aid
- Then, use the phone camera to take photos of the damaged vehicles before they are moved from their resting positions
- Take photos of anything relevant to the accident, including traffic signs, signal lights, and skid marks
- Take photos of any visible injuries
- Add the other driver’s contact information to your phone
- Add the contact information of any eyewitnesses to the accident
Eyewitness testimony is often key to a successful car accident claim against an at-fault driver. Still, witnesses sometimes leave the accident scene before police collect their names and phone numbers.
It’s crucial to seek medical attention after a car accident. Going straight from the accident scene to the hospital not only ensures that you receive the emergency treatment you need but also provides evidence that your injuries occurred in the accident.
What Can You Do to Protect Your Rights After a Georgia Car Accident?
Insurance companies are not on your side, despite their promises and compassionate ads. Instead, they are private companies that protect their profits at an injury victim’s expense. Instead of leaving your claim in the hands of the insurance company, you can proactively protect yourself during the days, weeks, and months after the accident by doing the following:
- Ask for a full medical evaluation at the hospital to diagnose injuries with delayed symptom presentation
- Report the car accident, or ensure that the police generate a report at the accident scene, and obtain a copy of the accident report
- Report the accident to your insurance company within the time limit stated on your policy
- Obtain a detailed medical report and physician’s notes, listing your injuries, the doctor’s treatment recommendations, and your prognosis
- Keep copies of all medical bills, invoices, and receipts for injury-related expenses
- Follow your doctor’s treatment plan carefully, attend every appointment, and fill all prescriptions
- Avoid posting on social media until you’ve resolved your car accident claim
- Contact a Georgia car accident attorney to represent your best interests
Having an experienced attorney on your side throughout the Georgia car accident claim process increases your chances of a favorable result and an ample settlement for your damages.
What Your Georgia Car Accident Attorney Can Do In the Days Following the Crash
Insurance companies sometimes reach out quickly after an accident, offering an injury victim a low settlement. The insurer intentionally makes an early settlement offer before an injury victim knows the full extent of the damages they face, including the value of their lost wages and the impact of their injury on their ability to return to work and former activities. After a car accident, a Georgia car accident lawyer handles all communication with the insurance company to protect against common tactics insurance adjusters use to protect company profits at your expense. Then, your car accident lawyer does the following:
- Launches an independent investigation of the accident by interviewing eyewitnesses, examining the police report, inspecting photo and video evidence, and consulting with accident reconstruction specialists—all to prove the at-fault party’s liability and protect you from common insurance company strategies, such as assigning you an undue percentage of fault or shifting liability to you
- Examines your medical records and medical bills, and consults with medical experts to calculate your economic and non-economic damages
- Sends their full findings to the appropriate insurance company or companies
- Negotiates with the insurance company with the goal of achieving a settlement for the maximum compensation available to you
Over 93% of car accident injury claims end with a settlement from the at-fault party’s insurer, but if the insurance company wrongfully denies or undervalues the claim, your attorney may determine it is in your best interest to file a lawsuit within the state’s statute of limitations and take the matter to court. Court cases take longer to resolve, but juries often sympathize with accident victims over powerful insurance companies and return a favorable verdict and a large court award to the victim for their damages.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for Car Accident Cases In Georgia?
Like all states, Georgia has a time limit in place for car accident claims. If the case requires litigation, the injury victim (the plaintiff) must file a petition within the state’s time limit, or statute of limitations. The statute of limitations for Georgia car accident cases is typically two years from the accident date. The state may extend, or toll, this time limit only under specific circumstances, such as the following:
- When a minor suffers a car accident injury in Georgia, they have up to two years from their 18th birthday to file a claim
- If an injury victim is unconscious or incapacitated for some time after their injury, they have up to two years from the date they regain cognitive abilities to file a claim
- When a car accident victim discovers an injury later, the statute of limitations begins on the date of discovery under the “delayed discovery rule.”
Your Georgia personal injury attorney can tell you more about how the statute of limitations for car accident claims impacts your case.
Available Compensation for Car Accident Damages In Georgia
Car accident injuries are costly, especially when they interfere with daily life and work. Common damages recovered in Georgia car accident claims include the following:
- Medical expenses and future medical costs related to the injury
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Lost earnings and future income loss
- Reduced earning capacity
- Compensation for pain and suffering
- Compensation for catastrophic injuries, such as loss of limb, loss of one of the senses, organ loss, permanent scarring, or diminished quality of life
If a Georgia car accident case causes fatal injury to a loved one, a close family member may recover wrongful death damages.
Contact Our Georgia Car Accident Attorney
Losing a family member as a consequence of a car accident may be tough, and a fatal injury lawyer in Georgia can help. You will most certainly face several challenges during your recovery; it will be a difficult period for you physically, financially, and emotionally. If a negligent driver is to blame for your injuries or the loss of a loved one, contact Marc Brown Law Firm immediately for assistance.