St. Louis Side impact collisions claims do not have to be challenging to bring to court. With the help of an experienced attorney, you could hold negligent parties accountable for their actions while focusing on recovery.
First Steps a Victims Should Take After a Side-Impact Crash
When a side-impact wreck occurs, you should always check to see if anyone is hurt. If so, you should get anyone who is injured medical attention right away. Even if someone does not think their injury is serious, it is always better to get medical attention to rule out any serious problems. In some cases, people have are internal injuries that they don’t initially feel. However, as they continue to bleed, they could eventually start feeling badly. If they do not get medical attention quickly, they could die from blood loss.
Once the issue of injuries is addressed, you should quickly hire a lawyer who can initiate an investigation into the cause of the crash and obtain photographs or video of the accident scene. If you are not injured, you could take pictures without a lawyer. However, you should keep in mind that a lawyer has the training to know how to best take the photographs to reflect the scene as it was at the time of the crash. If you wish to take video or photographs without the assistance of a lawyer, it is important to get them as close in time as possible to the crash so that they demonstrate the conditions as closely as they were at the time of the crash.
Potential Recoverables in St. Louis After a Side-Impact Wreck
Individuals in side-impact collisions could seek to recover damages to their vehicles along with personal injury damages. Property damages in a side-impact collision range from repairs to one’s vehicle to getting full value for the vehicle when it is totaled. Pursing personal injury compensation in St. Louis is not as easy because there may be damages for lost wages if the injured individual is unable to work for a period of time due to injuries, repayment of medical bills incurred for medical treatment, and pain and suffering.
Lost wages are fairly easy to calculate. When someone is out of work for a month, their hourly wage is multiplied by the number of hours they typically work per week and is often easily calculated.
Medical expenses are calculated by the bills from doctors, hospitals, and other medical professionals for treatment, tests, and procedures. Reimbursement for medical expenses has the potential to get complicated if there are issues with Medicare, Medicaid, or insurance companies assigning a lien against a personal injury settlement to get some of the money back.
Calculating damages for non-economic damages which are also known as pain and suffering damages is perhaps the most challenging. Non-economic damages are meant to compensate someone for the pain they experienced as a result of their accident. However, there are no formulas or guidelines for calculating non-economic damages. The amount awarded for non-economic damages is a decision made by a jury if the person goes to trial, or it is by agreement between the parties who settle a case.
How an Attorney Could Help a Side-Impact Wreck Victim
Attorneys can help injured individuals by pursuing an investigation into the cause of the crash and using their knowledge and expertise to uncover possible causes and reasons the injured individual may not be able to find on their own. A personal injury lawyer can also keep communication open with the opposing side, the opposing adjuster, and the injured individual. Doing so allows an attorney to act as a shield between the opposing adjuster and their client. Perhaps most important to a case, attorneys can also collect the medical bills and medical records and put together a timeline and a package about what happened including the appropriate recovery to get the case resolved if possible.
Contact Your Trial Attorney Today
After sustaining horrible injuries in a car crash, you need to contact an attorney who can represent your case. A St. Louis side-impact collisions claims lawyer could help you understand your legal options and could help you fight for maximum compensation. Reach out to your attorney today.