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Being in a car accident can leave you with a damaged vehicle and injuries that could significantly impact your financial future. If you’ve been in a collision, it’s important to know what your options are. And that’s where the team of Lee’s Summit car accident lawyers at Holland Injury Law can help.
With over 30 years of experience helping people recover losses after car accidents, we are confident in our ability to offer reliable and compassionate representation. Below, you’ll learn more about how Missouri law works in relation to collisions, what the most common causes of traffic accidents are, and why you should hire our car accident lawyers to represent you.
Missouri is one of many states that follows a fault-based system when it comes to traffic collisions. Fault-based systems require the person who is to blame for the accident to pay for any damages incurred.
However, one crucial thing to know is that you can still recover losses if you were partly to blame for the accident. That’s because, in addition to using a fault-based system, Missouri also follows pure comparative negligence laws. These explain that you can recover damages as long as you are not 100% to blame for the accident. Your winnings, however, will be reduced by the amount of blame you hold.
For example, suppose that you were 40% at fault for an accident, and your settlement is valued at $100,000. In turn, you’ll receive $60,000 because the 40% will be subtracted. There is no empirical way to accurately assign fault percentages, so you have to provide substantial evidence and establish liability.
Most of the time, in order to establish liability, you’ll need to demonstrate that the other person was negligent. And your first step toward doing so involves showing that they owed you a duty of care that they then breached.
Every driver owes others on the road a responsibility to operate their vehicle safely and obey all traffic laws. Driving while texting or using your phone is against the law in Missouri, so a driver breaches their duty of care whenever they look down at their phone.
For example, let’s say you were traveling down Southeast 5th Terrace, and a driver coming from Southeast Brentwood Drive was using their phone as they came to the intersection, thus failing to give you the right-of-way. The first part of proving negligence is covered, as the other party owed you a duty of care that they breached by driving while distracted.
Another part of proving negligence is that the defendant’s actions led you to suffer injuries, which can be compensated. In the same example, you could have sustained all manner of injuries in a potential T-bone collision. If they were to require medical care, you could file a claim to hold the other driver liable.
As with other forms of personal injury claims, you must abide by the state’s statute of limitations, which limits the amount of time you have to file a claim. In Missouri, you generally have five years to file following a crash, but there can be exceptions.
If a loved one died in the collision, for instance, you only have three years to file. However, the clock only starts ticking the moment that your loved one dies, which can be different from the date of the accident.
Nevertheless, if you miss the deadline for filing a claim, you’ll be unable to recover any losses. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so essential that you have a team of experienced car accident lawyers by your side.
Car accidents can occur for all manner of reasons, but some causes lead to more frequent collisions in Lee’s Summit and the greater Jackson County area, such as:
Missouri State Highway Patrol calls distracted driving an epidemic that is even now underreported because people don’t want to admit to cell phone use while driving.
Using a cell phone is the most common distraction these days, but there are others. Anything that takes a driver’s attention away from the road is a distraction and thus a danger, including changing radio stations, checking the GPS, and eating or drinking.
Most people know that the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit is 0.08%, but what they don’t realize is that having just one drink can make them a danger behind the wheel. That’s because alcohol, in general, impairs reflexes and coordination, making it more difficult for a driver to react appropriately to hazards.
Fatigued driving makes a driver just as dangerous as they would be while intoxicated. That’s because they’re more prone to distractions and have impaired reflexes. They won’t be able to react in time to hazards that appear on the road.
Going over the speed limit or driving faster than road conditions allow doesn’t just make accidents more likely to occur. It also impacts the severity of those accidents. A vehicle traveling at a high speed will carry significantly more force on impact, potentially leading to catastrophic injuries and substantial property damage.
It’s not always the driver who’s at fault. Sometimes, the road itself is what creates dangers. Potholes, uneven pavement issues, or debris on the road can all cause drivers to lose control of their vehicles. And in these types of collisions, whoever is responsible for road maintenance can be held liable.
If another driver’s brake system malfunctions, a collision is almost guaranteed. Nevertheless, the driver of the affected vehicle may not be to blame if they took their car in for maintenance regularly and thus had no knowledge that there was an issue with their car’s brakes. Often, the fault lies with the car’s manufacturer.
No matter how simple a car crash might appear, proving that you deserve compensation will always be an uphill battle because you’ll be dealing with insurance companies. Insurers want to pay you as little as they can get away with, and that means resorting to plenty of unpleasant tactics, including outright bullying you into accepting a low offer.
But if you have Holland Injury Law by your side, you won’t have to worry about negotiating on your own. We’ll gather the necessary evidence to show that you deserve compensation and aggressively fight for what’s fair. And if there are disputes about percentages of fault or if the insurers are not offering what we feel is appropriate, we can take your claim to court. Our years of experience and dedication have earned us over 1,000 5-star reviews from clients, so you can breathe easy knowing we’ll always fight for what you deserve.
If you’ve suffered losses in a car accident, you may be entitled to file a claim and recover damages. With the help of the team of Lee’s Summit car accident lawyers at Holland Injury Law, you have a chance to get compensation to cover medical expenses, lost wages, and the emotional trauma you’ve sustained because of the collision.
Our team of lawyers has helped more than 7000 clients recover over $300 Million across settlements and jury awards, and we’ll fight to get you the help you deserve. Contact us today to speak with an experienced car accident lawyer about your case.
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