Although new safety precautions have recently been exercised in both the designing of cars and roadways, automobile accidents are not diminishing in number.  Most people experience at least one severe car accident during his or her life, so it is always wise to be prepared for such events.  Car accidents may also require legal judgment, and this article will explain what takes place when a motor vehicle crash causes injury to one or more parties and must be taken to court.

If a car accident has left you or your loved one injured, you may find the sections below helpful in planning legal action, but nothing can substitute a consultation with a personal injury lawyer.

Car Accident Litigation

If nobody is severely injured in a particular car accident, legal assistance may not be required.  All automobile accident cases are different, and drivers can sometimes settle claims for property damage or medical aid just by exchanging insurance information.  A lawsuit is only probable in cases where injury was particularly severe or negligence cannot be quickly identified.

Causes of Car Accidents

Car accidents can take place because of many different potential factors, such as:

Driver Error- In the majority of car accident cases, a given driver is to blame for making a careless mistake while operating his or her vehicle.  This may include tailgating another vehicle, failing to stop at a stop sign or light, speeding, passing dangerously, or ignoring other road laws. 

Distractions- A driver who is not placing complete attention on the road poses a hazard to those in his or her own car and to other vehicles.  There are many distractions that can take place outside the car, like an animal or a pedestrian crossing the road.  However, distractions also come from inside the vehicle, such as when a parent is disciplining a child, the driver is trying to look in the mirror or change a CD, loud music is playing, or the driver is on his or her cell phone.

Intoxication- Drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol pose a high risk of causing accidents because their judgment, reflexes, and motor functions are extremely altered.

Inclement Weather- When weather conditions like rain, snow, or fog are present on the roads, drivers usually have a more difficult time seeing through their windows and windshield, and traction on the tires may also be an issue.  In cases like these, motor vehicle operators should drive carefully and as slowly as necessary to maintain safety.  Strong winds, slippery streets, black ice, and flooding may not be visible to a driver unless he or she is taking great caution.

Road Design or Setup- Accidents are sometimes caused by improperly designed or constructed roads or intersections, or by poor traffic control.  Road signs and medians may also be placed in areas where they fail to separate lanes properly or offer vehicles sufficient direction.  Usually, the liability in these cases falls on the government organization responsible for the design or building of the roadway or obstacle unless that company has special legal immunity.

Vehicle Defects- Cars are not perfect inventions, and when their brakes or tires give out, or the engine fails, accidents can take place without warning.  The designer or manufacturer of a particular car may be held accountable for failing to check and fix all the vehicle’s glitches, like a gas tank that is likely to ignite, or airbags and seatbelts that did not work during every test.

Road Conditions- In addition to bad weather and faulty road or car designs, objects thrown out of windows and debris such as split tires left on the roadways are also the causes of many accidents.

Two or More Vehicles

Litigation, or legal settlement, results most often from car accidents where two or more drivers and their vehicles were involved.  One driver will usually claim that the other driver’s negligence and careless driving resulted in the first driver’s injury or property damage.  A passenger also has the right to claim that the driver of the vehicle he or she was riding in was driving unsafely and caused injury to another.  Car manufacturers or designers who failed to remedy vehicle errors, or government roadway construction agencies who did not properly provide road maintenance, may also face liability if they were responsible for the factors that led to a specific accident.  Claims can also be filed against mechanics or vehicle service centers who did not fix a car properly.

Special Car Accident Issues

Certain circumstances may affect car accident litigation and make a case tricky to judge.  When outside parties become potentially liable, or when unique factors were somehow involved in a car accident, legal action must be taken in a very particular way.  These issues include:

Hit-and-Run Accidents- If a driver causes an accident and does not stop at the scene of the encounter, the injured victim may have trouble identifying that driver by physical appearance.  This makes it much more difficult for a victim to bring a lawsuit and receive compensation.

Car-Pedestrian Accidents- Pedestrians involved in collisions with motor vehicles often suffer severe injury, and are sometimes even killed instantly.  This is to the disadvantage of pedestrians, since drivers normally claim that pedestrians are at fault for “jaywalking” and other breaches of law.

Car-Bicycle Accidents- Since bicyclists do not usually wear padding and do not even always wear helmets, they are quite prone to serious injury when involved in car collisions.  Even if a vehicle is not moving, car drivers may not check before opening their doors right into a bicyclist.  Drivers sometimes claim that they could not judge the bicyclist’s speed or did not see the bike and rider until after the accident.  When bicyclists behave recklessly by choosing to bike on the opposite side of the road or run traffic lights, they increase the chance of an accident occurring.

Car-Motorcycle Accidents- Crashes that would be fairly insignificant between two cars can have devastating results if a motorcyclist is involved.  Motorcycles offer limited physical protection to motorcycle drivers, but juries still often blame these drivers for accidents, even when a car or truck driver was clearly responsible for causing a roadway accident.

Bus Accidents- Like trucks, buses are larger than most motor vehicles and can cause severe damage to all drivers involved in such accidents.  Passengers in buses are not typically required to wear seatbelts, either.  A school bus accident may require special litigation of its own, as would a case where passengers were entering or exiting a bus at the time of the crash.

Tractor-Trailer and Semi Accidents- Tractor-trailers, sometimes called “big rigs,” fall under a specific set of rules that their drivers must follow in order to ensure safety.  For instance, a semi or tractor-trailer driver must receive a certain amount of sleep every night, must have the truck inspected and maintained regularly, and can only drive for a particular number of hours per day.  Yet, since truck drivers are normally paid according to every mile they drive, they may be tempted to ignore rules in order to drive for the maximum amount of time possible.  This is an extreme hazard, since those in small vehicles can be catastrophically injured in truck accidents.

Vehicle Modifications- “After-market” modifications added on by individual drivers, especially those that are not professionally installed, may also interfere with a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle.  Raising or lowering tires, putting in tinted windows, and installing tinted or very strong headlights are all factors that can make a vehicle less safe to drive, and therefore a danger.

Road Debris Accidents- When debris or parts fall off a vehicle or are left in a roadway, they are able to potentially do damage, like in cases where glass rips a driver’s tires or a piece of metal flies through a windshield.  Liability is tough to determine in such situations, and may at least partially depend on how long the debris had already been sitting in the road.

Issues Affecting Liability

Sometimes a party has a legal immunity to responsibility in the case of an accident, or elements relating to the accident cause someone else to be considered liable:

Governmental Immunity- When an injury is caused by an employee of the state or federal government who was working at the time of the accident, victims of injury are sometimes prohibited from pursuing lawsuits against those workers and their government-owned vehicles.

Owner Liability- If a car owner lets another driver operate his or her car, and that driver causes an accident, the owner is sometimes also held responsible for negligence.  Vehicle owners need to make sure to only lend their cars to other drivers that exhibit caution and careful driving.

Employer Liability- Employees who use vehicles while on the job are supposed to be good representations of the companies they work for, and when these employees fail to drive safely and cause accidents, their employers often face liability for negligence, as well.

Cellular Phone Usage- Drivers who operate vehicles for their employers are in some cases expected to answer a cell phone while driving, as part of their regular work.  Since cell phone use while driving is illegal in many states, some employers who require that their workers take calls from the road are being punished by courts in having to share accountability for accidents caused.

Insurance Coverage Issues

Insurance can always be a problem when facing litigation from car accidents, and injured victims usually fall under one of three categories involving insurance:

Driver with No Insurance- When a person is injured in a car accident by a driver without insurance, that victim may struggle to win fair compensation from this driver.  Similarly, more and more states are making laws stating that uninsured victims have limited rights to sue for damages like “pain and suffering.”  To be prepared for circumstances where other drivers may not have insurance, some drivers now carry “uninsured motorist coverage,” which operates through their already-active automobile insurance policies.

Under-insured Driver- A driver with the minimum amount of insurance required by the state also offers little promise of compensation to other drivers that he or she injures in a crash.  Bad drivers often purchase fairly inexpensive insurance because their states allow them this privilege, even though the worst drivers should always be the ones prepared with insurance ahead of time. Having a bad driving record also makes insurance significantly more expensive to purchase.  Because of this, some insurance companies now provide “underinsured motorist coverage” to protect people from being injured by drivers with an insubstantial amount of insurance coverage.

Insurance Company’s “Bad Faith” Claim- Insurance companies are notorious for failing to offer damages victims the appropriate amount of compensation for their claims.  While factors such as a “totaled” car should bring in a fair amount of reimbursement, these companies often provide an amount that cannot cover all the costs and bills.  States that follow “no fault” laws, where drivers must insure their own car accident medical care, insurances agencies may be even less likely to come through with the necessary coverage or financial reimbursement.

Statute of Limitations

If you wish to bring forth a legal claim relating to a car accident, keep in mind that your ability to file this claim is placed on a time limit called a “statute of limitations.”  Each jurisdiction has its own time length for this law, but claims must be filed before that certain period expires.