We've all had close calls for car accidents while driving in California — a truck on I-10 merges into your lane, missing your car by inches. A drunk driver swerves across the centerline of a two-lane highway, almost causing a head-on accident. A slick patch of pavement causes an SUV to hydroplane and spin out yards in front of your car on I-210, barely leaving you time to avoid an accident. Whatever the reason may be, if you have an experienced Rancho Cucamonga car accident lawyer on your side, you have a much better chance at receiving the compensation you deserve.
In the seconds after a close call, you might think of the consequences of the crash, the serious injuries, a hospital stay, a totally destroyed vehicle, rehabilitation, and recovery. What you may not think about are the many other costs of a serious car accident or truck collision: lost wages, hospital bills, chronic injuries, emotional trauma, the ongoing expense of permanent disabilities, and long-term financial troubles. In the seconds after a close call, you certainly don't want to think about fighting the insurance companies for your rightful compensation. Leave that, and other aspects of your finnacial recovery, to a respected and experienced car accident lawyer.
Common Types of Car Accident Injuries
If you were unfortunately unable to avoid an auto accident, then you will need to consider how you going to recover compensation from the at-fault driver to reimburse medical expenses, loss of wages, employee benefits, and property damage. Especially if you’re seriously injured, you will be experiencing pain and likely suffering emotional distress. Our compassionate and experienced Rancho Cucamonga car accident lawyer can help you evaluate your case and determine if you need a personal injury lawyer to help you recover from any of the below injuries:
- Brain Injury
- Burn Injury
- Amputation
- Spinal Cord Injuries
- Paralysis
- Electrocution
- Broken Bones and Fractures
An experienced car accident lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga can also take charge of your case and deal with the insurance company and its adjusters so you — the victim — can focus on recovering from your injuries. There is peace of mind in knowing you have a good and knowledgeable personal injury lawyer working for you and building your case for your best financial recovery.
What to Do When You've Been Involved in a Car Accident in Rancho Cucamonga
If you've been involved in a crash, a lot is going on. You may not know what you should and shouldn't do. The video below offers great insight into what you should do during and after a car accident in Rancho Cucamonga.
What Does a Car Accident Lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga Do?
The legal procedure for seeking compensation for car accident injuries can be complex, unfamiliar, and challenging—and you can't count on profit-driven insurance companies to look out for your best interests. Fortunately, an accomplished California car accident attorney can help. Aside from the basics that any attorney will perform, including being knowledgeable and communicating properly, representing you with the insurance company and in court (should your case need to go that far), there are several other tasks an experienced car accident lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga should perform. These include, but are not limited to:
- Reviewing photos of the accident scene. Photos taken shortly after the crash can provide key details about the positioning of the vehicles, the extent of the property damage, skid marks on the pavement and any relevant road or weather conditions.
- Finding and analyzing surveillance footage. Outside businesses and homes, at crosswalks— surveillance cameras are practically everywhere. Finding and reviewing surveillance footage of the accident can provide crucial information about liability.
- Interviewing eyewitnesses. Personal injury attorneys can track down and, if necessary, subpoena people who witnessed the crash to have them provide statements and possibly testify on their client's behalf.
- Reconstructing the accident. Attorneys can contact expert witnesses, such as accident reconstructions, who can recreate the crash, answering elusive questions about what happened and who's at fault.
- Monitoring social media posts. Car accident attorneys often review the other party's social media posts, as they often provide valuable evidence about the crash. For example, if the other driver was posting on Facebook at the time of the accident—when he should have been watching the road—that could go a long way toward proving liability.
Types of Accidents Our Car Wreck Lawyer Handles
At the Inland Empire Law Group, we have over 25 years of experience with legal cases. While you may not know what to do in the wake of a car accident or how to fight an insurance claim denial, our team of legal professionals, including personal injury lawyers, paralegals, and legal secretaries, are dedicated to helping our clients build their cases and recover the money needed to move on from any of these types of accidents and more:
- Car Accidents
- Bus Accidents
- Parking Lot Accidents
- Trucking Crashes
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Distracted Driving Accidents
- Bicycle Crashes
- Ride-Sharing Accidents
- Rear-end collision
What Types of Potential Damages Can You Win After an Auto Accident?
After a car accident, victims can seek compensation for two main types of losses: economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages are direct financial losses incurred as a result of the crash, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and loss of earning capacity. Non-economic damages attempt to compensate victims for intangible, subjective losses like pain and suffering, mental anguish, scarring or disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life.
In cases where the defendant's behavior is considered particularly egregious, a judge or jury may award punitive damages. This third and much-more-rare type of damages serves as a punishment for the defendant and a deterrent for similar conduct.
What an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer Has to Prove in Order to Get Compensation
All car accident personal injury claims in California have four elements that must be proven in order for a victim to recover compensation:
- Duty of care. The at-fault party had a duty to operate their vehicle safely to minimize the risk to others on the road.
- Breach of duty. The at-fault driver violated their duty of care by engaging in unsafe driving behaviors that resulted in a crash.
- Causation. That the negligence of the other driver the cause of the injuries.
- Damages. The amount or value of the damages suffered.
Do I Need to Hire a Rancho Cucamonga Car Crash Lawyer?
This is a question many people ask themselves following a car crash that was not their fault. For some collisions, there are no physical injuries and only some minor property damage. In other circumstances, the collision causes only a bruise or a brief instance of some discomfort which quickly resolves without medical care. In those instances, there is little need to hire an attorney, unless there exists some unusual circumstance, or the insurance carrier is not being cooperative in resolving the claim. These types of claims usually resolve with the repair of a vehicle and some minor monetary compensation.
If the collision is significant enough to cause physical trauma or injuries, you would benefit greatly by hiring an experienced Rancho Cucamonga car accident attorney.
How to Find the Best Car Accident Attorney in Rancho Cucamonga
While word of mouth is always a popular method of finding the right attorney, whether it’s talking to family members or friends, there are a few other things you should consider when looking for the best car accident attorney in Rancho Cucamonga.
Online reviews and testimonials are crucial when determining whether an attorney is right for you. Seeing how past interactions with real-life clients went is important. You wouldn’t hire somehow who doesn’t communicate properly, or who treats their clients as just another number. Review on sites like Google, AVVO and other legal profile sites, can be extremely helpful.
Another factor to consider is experience. Not all personal injury lawyers are the same. Not all injury attorneys have experience with car accidents. Some may specialize in slip and falls or dog bites. When looking for the best car accident lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga, it’s important to use an attorney that has lots of experience with auto accidents.
Why Choose the Inland Empire Law Group for Your Auto Accident
California records almost 4,000 traffic accident fatalities a year and our state leads the country in motorcycle accidents, pedestrian deaths, and tractor-trailer collisions. Rancho Cucamonga alone sees hundreds of car wrecks and other vehicle accidents annually, from fatal multi-vehicle I-15 pileups to stoplight fender-benders that so often cause whiplash or spinal injuries, and most Southern California residents will be involved in a car accident sometime in their lifetime.
What separates our local car accident law firm from others in the Inland Empire area? At the Inland Empire Law Group, we value straightforward communication, client involvement, and client relationships. With each traffic accident injury case we take on, our Rancho Cucamonga car accident lawyer strives to keep our clients involved — both by answering their questions openly and by working with them to make certain that we understand our client's needs and requirements. In each of our car accident cases, our client will work closely with a small team of experienced legal professionals, including a lawyer, a paralegal, and an administrative assistant.
Don't continue to wonder if you should fight your insurance company for what you deserve.
Contact Our Rancho Cucamonga Car Accident Lawyer for a Free Consult
If you are reeling in the days, weeks, or months after a car accident that caused you serious injury, and if you live in the Inland Empire area or High Desert, contact our personal injury law firm today to talk to an experienced car accident lawyer about the details of your case. As long-time community members with families of our own, we understand how you are feeling after your car, truck, bike, motorcycle, or pedestrian accident: overwhelmed, hurt, stressed, shocked, and confused. There is no reason why you would know how to best deal with your insurance company, and there's no reason why you would know your legal options at a time like this — talk to an experienced personal injury lawyer to learn your best options for action.
Your initial meeting with our car accident lawyer in Rancho Cucamonga will be a private, free, no-obligation session where you can ask questions about the validity of your case, learn how insurance companies decide to deny car accident injury claims, and what you can do about recovering your compensation. Find out if you have a case by calling us at (909) 481-0100 now.