Injuries from a car accident can change your life in an instant. Adding to your physical pain, medical bills can quickly mount, creating financial stress and tremendous anxiety—especially if you are missing time at work while you recover.
If another individual or entity caused your wreck, you have the right to demand that they compensate you for your losses. This demand can happen through an insurance settlement or jury verdict. A Savannah personal injury lawyer from our law firm can represent you through the legal process and fight to get you the compensation you deserve.
Call Kaine Law today to receive a free case consultation on your car accident case.
Why Kaine Law Is the Choice for Your Legal Representation
When you are searching for legal assistance, you want to find a law firm that’s willing to fight for you and your family. You want a law firm that will take their time and listen to what you have to say and what is important to you. You want a law firm that wants to reduce your stress so that you and your family can recover in peace.
That’s Kaine Law.
We know what you’re going through because we have over two decades of collective experience helping clients like you. We focus solely on personal injury, helping families recover from their injuries and regain their financial stability. We also understand the financial hardships you’re facing now after the car accident. That’s why we provide our clients with a no-fee guarantee. You owe us nothing if we do not secure compensation for you.
Our Savannah Car Accident Attorneys Bring the Power of Experience
Our law firm has been protecting the rights of the injured people of Savannah for multiple decades. We have the experience that makes a difference when negotiating settlements and when presenting to a jury.
Over the two decades, our attorneys have won millions of dollars in insurance settlements and verdicts for our clients. Our successes in representing victims of car accidents speak volumes. Consider this sampling of wins:
- $11 million (car accident)
- $5,750,000 (roadway-defect-caused accident)
- $4,325,000 (DUI car accident)
- $900,000 (car accident)
We can represent your interests and fight to secure the compensation you and your family deserve.
For a free legal consultation with a car accident lawyer serving Savannah, call 404-214-2001
Proving Negligence in Your Savannah Car Accident
Many people mistakenly assume they can collect money from a person by saying that the individual caused their car accident. Personal injury law is a little more complicated than pointing a finger.
In Georgia, to recover damages, the plaintiff in a car accident case must prove the at-fault party’s negligence. This requires that we prove these four key elements:
- Duty of care: Someone owed you a legal obligation to act in a way (drive safely, for example) that would keep you safe from harm.
- Breach of duty: This person violated their duty of care (perhaps by failing to use a turn signal before switching lanes).
- Causation: The individual’s breach of duty caused the accident that caused your injury (had they used their turn signal, you would not have rear-ended them).
- Damages: You suffered economic, emotional, and occupational losses as a result of your injury (medical bills, time missed at work, pain and suffering, and more).
To establish these four elements requires evidence. Evidence allows us to prove each element, linking them together to build a solid claim for compensation. While you recover from your injuries, we will gather the evidence to prove the above elements by:
- Visiting the scene of the car accident
- Getting the police accident report
- Gathering your medical records
- Obtaining testimony from witnesses
- Reviewing photos and videos
- Working with accident reconstruction specialists
- Collaborating with medical experts
Expert witness testimony is often incredibly useful in car accident claims. The testimonies given by financial advisors, your doctor, healthcare professionals, and accident reconstruction experts can add credibility to your claims and provide a clearer understanding of the accident and your injuries.
Savannah Car Accident Lawyer Near Me 404-214-2001
How Much Compensation Can You Get From a Car Accident Claim or Lawsuit?
Most people make the mistake of assuming there is a standard or average value for a car accident claim. The truth is that every case has unique qualities, so there really is no such thing as an average value. The compensation you could recover depends on various factors in your car accident case. However, your specific injury and how it affects you today and into the future will play a significant role in determining the value of your claim.
When our Savannah car accident lawyers collect evidence to prove that another person’s negligence caused you to suffer an injury, part of that evidence will also be used to calculate your losses. You have a right to receive compensation that covers your economic and non-economic injury-related losses. This compensation is referred to as “damages,” one of the four elements we establish when proving negligence.
Economic and Non-Economic Damages You May Be Entitled to Receive
Economic damages are the direct financial losses you experience as a result of your accident. They are calculated from bills, invoices, pay stubs, and the like. Examples of some of the economic (or “special”) damages common in car accidents you may claim include the following:
- Doctors’ fees and surgeons’ fees (past and future)
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Prescription medicines
- Hospitalization
- Emergency transportation
- Home modification (ramps, widened doorways)
- Mobility devices (wheelchair, crutches)
- Lost wages and benefits
- Diminished future potential earnings
Georgia laws account for the equally significant but less tangible losses a car wreck injury could cause. These are called non-economic (or “general”) damages. Though more subjective, we have the skills and tools to calculate their value as well. The non-economic losses you may be eligible to demand in your car accident case include the following:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Diminished quality or enjoyment of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Loss of enjoyment in life
- Loss of consortium
It is important to consider the long-term effects your injuries will have on your life after your recovery. We will be sure to address any future healthcare and financial needs you could possibly need in the future. Our Savannah car accident lawyers will investigate your accident and work with medical and other experts to determine the full value of your needs, now and in the future.
Wrongful Death Damages for the Loss of a Loved One
If you have lost a loved one in a car accident in Savannah, your family has our condolences. Our legal team can investigate the accident, and your family could be eligible to receive compensation for such things as:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Your loved one’s medical bills before passing
- Your loved one’s pain and suffering
- Loss of financial security
- Loss of familial support
- Loss of consortium
We understand the tragedy you and your family are going through. We can help you find some peace.
Punitive Damages Are Awarded in Rare Cases
In certain circumstances, you may also receive punitive damages. Punitive damages are awarded by the courts in cases where the actions of the defendant are so particularly heinous that the courts are punishing the defendant for their egregious conduct. These damages also have the intended effect of warning others from doing the same. You are likely to see punitive damages awarded in drinking and driving cases or wrongful deaths.
These damages are not awarded during settlement negotiations. They can only be obtained at the resolution of a trial. However, your attorney can make the opposing counsel aware of your intention to seek punitive damages if your case should happen to go to trial.
Call Kaine Law to learn more. Speak with our representatives during a free case consultation.
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How Georgia’s Fault Laws Could Affect Your Compensatory Damages
Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety 2021 report has the state continuing to report disappointing numbers of fatalities. There were 1,797 fatalities in traffic accidents happening in 2021. Sometimes these accidents happen because of a single individual’s negligence. However, Georgia lawmakers take into account the fact that car accidents often happen as the result of the actions of two or more parties.
O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 instills in Savannah car accident cases the 50 percent rule of contributory negligence. Under the contributory negligence laws, if a court finds you at 50 percent or more at fault for your auto collision, you cannot recover damages. If your fault is less than 50 percent, you can recover damages. However, your compensation is reduced by the percentage of fault you carry in the accident.
For example, if you are found to be 10 percent at fault for the crash, you would receive 90 percent of the total compensatory award.
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Types of Negligence That Cause Car Wrecks
When Savannah Mayor Van Johnson was involved in a car accident at the intersection of W. Oglethorpe Avenue and Fahm Street, the driver of another vehicle was found to be at fault, according to coverage. Savannah Morning News reported that Johnson “limped away…slowly” from the collision, which resulted from another driver failing to yield while making a left turn.
Failure to yield is one of several common causes of car accidents. Other negligent acts known to cause crashes include:
- Driving at excessive speeds
- Driving while distracted (texting, talking on the phone)
- Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Following too closely
- Aggressive driving
- Objects on the road
- Unfavorable weather conditions
- Failure to obey stop signs or traffic signals
- Driver loses control of their car
- Failure to yield
- Improper lane change
- Driving while fatigued
- Malfunctioning car or car components
The cause of your accident could open your case up to multiple liable parties. Take for example a driver making an illegal turn and you hitting that driver because your brakes failed. We may file a personal injury claim with the at-fault driver and a product liability claim with the brake manufacturer.
There could also be questions regarding which coverage applies in your case, such as rideshare accidents. Rideshare accidents are unique in that, depending on the status of the driver, you may be filing a claim with the driver’s insurance company or the rideshare’s insurance company.
Our lawyers have managed a wide range of car accident claims and can do the same for you.
You Have a Limited Window of Time to Take Legal Action
Although most personal injury cases are settled without having to go to trial, in some cases, the insurance company refuses to agree to a reasonable settlement. Our law firm does not hesitate to take these matters to civil court. We build your case from the start, prepared for the possibility of taking your case to trial.
However, Georgia places time constraints on our ability to file a personal injury lawsuit on your behalf. The state specifies these restrictions in various statutes of limitations. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 gives you around two years from the date of your car accident in which to file a lawsuit against any negligent parties. This same deadline applies in wrongful death cases.
There may be exceptions that could shorten or extend, legally referred to as tolling, the deadline in your case. For example, the state shortens this timeline in cases where the negligent party liable for your accident injuries is a government agency.
The sooner you hire us to handle your case, the more time you give our legal team to work through gathering evidence, determining the value of your losses, and negotiating with the insurance company. This way, if we find ourselves in the position of having to file a lawsuit, we can do so before Georgia’s statute of limitations expires.
Connect With Our Savannah Car Accident Lawyers
If a car accident caused you to suffer an injury, you have the right to pursue compensation for your losses. We understand that as you try to recover from your injury, the thought of taking on the insurance companies can be daunting. Our accident attorneys can relieve you of the stress of recovering damages, leaving you to tend to your physical and emotional well-being.
Contact Kaine Law today for a free case evaluation. Remember, we charge legal fees only when and if we win you compensation from an insurance settlement or court award. Call us today.
Call or text 404-214-2001 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
