Distracted drivers cause thousands of car accidents throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, and over 100 in Arlington County alone. If you have been hurt in a car accident caused by a driver on a cell phone or who was otherwise distracted, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and other losses and damages. Our Alexandria, VA car accident lawyer can help you to determine whether you have a claim worth pursuing.
It is important that we hold negligent drivers accountable, as they endanger the lives of other motorists on the roadway. If you have been hurt in one of these crashes, you know all too well how dangerous this kind of negligence can be!
The attorneys at Blaszkow Legal believe in fighting against negligent parties and the insurance companies that try to attack innocent, injured claimants. We are ready, willing, and able to take the fight to them to get you the compensation that you deserve! Give us a call right away for a free consultation!
The Blaszkow Legal Method – Taking The Fight To The Insurance Companies
Our attorneys, paralegals, and investigators are all trained to approach every case using the Blaszkow Legal Method. This methodology is unique to our practice, and it is a way of fighting insurance companies to streamline the process and maximize our clients’ recovery. The process is actually very simple: we work up every case as if we are going to trial from the minute we are retained.
This does not mean that your case is going to go to trial—quite the opposite. However, in contrast to other law firms that only spend a little time on a case at the beginning, we work hard to investigate and prove the case immediately. The insurance companies know that we are doing this, and they know that we can kick the legs out from under the arguments they’re going to make against you. Because they know that we are actually ready to fight, our cases are more likely to settle. We are not a factory firm. We work hard on your case from day one!
This is doubly important in Arlington County car accident cases because Virginia is a contributory negligence state. If the insurance companies can argue that you are even 1% responsible for the happening of the crash, they can deny your claim automatically. It is important for us to get the evidence we need to make your case right away, before it is lost or destroyed.
What Distracted Driving Is
Distracted driving is most commonly thought of as cell phone use while operating a vehicle. That is indeed the largest, most obvious kind of distracted driving, but it’s far from the only kind. Here are some other ways that a driver can be distracted, and each of these can cause very serious accidents:
- Using a cell phone to talk, text, or browse social media
- Inputting data into a GPS device
- Looking at other people in the car, such as during conversations
- Eating while driving, including opening bags and unpackaging fast food items
- Reaching for objects within the car and looking for them when they are not found
- Daydreaming
- Focusing on a vehicle’s infotainment system
All of the distracted driving behaviors above, which are broadly characterized as visual distractions, manual distractions, or cognitive distractions, can cause serious car accidents.
Did you know, for example, that younger drivers between the ages of 18 and 25 account for over a third of all distracted driving accidents? That may seem unfair, but it is a statistical reality according to NHTSA.
Investigating Distracted Driving Car Accidents
Using the Blaszkow Legal Method, we set our team to work immediately after we are retained to begin investigating the case. It is extremely important to speak to an experienced Arlington car accident lawyer right away so that we can gather the evidence we need to defeat the insurance companies and the arguments they are going to make against you. This is where our technique allows us to provide results that big-name, nationwide law firms do not.
We investigate cases by:
- Reviewing collision scenes for physical evidence that can help prove our case
- Performing independent crash reconstruction and analysis, which includes site visits by our firm’s own investigators and sometimes by retaining independent accident reconstruction professionals
- Interviewing responding police officers
- Interviewing responding firefighters and emergency medical personnel
- Interviewing witnesses to the crash, both in involved vehicles and independent witnesses who may have seen some or all of the crash
- Downloading vehicle data, often known as the black box. This evidence often comes from Event Data Recorders (EDR) or Airbag Control Modules (ACM)
Demanding the preservation of cell phone records of the distracted driver, including text message logs, call logs, data usage logs, app usage information, and social media login credentials
Reviewing other camera footage, such as body-worn and dash camera footage from responding emergency personnel
What Should You Do After Being Hurt In A Distracted Driving Car Accident
If you have been involved in a car accident caused by a distracted driver in Arlington County, Virginia, or anywhere else, follow these steps to protect yourself and your case:
- Call 911 immediately. This helps to preserve information such as the date, time, and location of the crash, and will get emergency medical resources to you immediately.
Cooperate with responding police officers. How do you know that the other driver was on a phone? Did you see it before the crash? Did the other party immediately get out of the car with a phone up to their ear? Make sure you relay that information to the officers because it will be recorded on their cameras as well as in their reports.
- Take lots of pictures! We all have cell phones with cameras, so make sure that you are taking a lot of pictures. You cannot have too many! Take pictures of the person who caused the accident, their phone, the vehicles, drag marks—anything you can to help preserve the evidence of your crash.
- Identify the other driver. This means getting a picture of their driver’s license, not just their insurance card! The insurance card tells you who is paying for the policy, but your claim is against the driver. This is a very common mistake.
- Get evaluated by a medical professional. It is important that you go to the hospital to get checked out. Urgent care facilities are fine for everyday aches and pains but not for traumas. They do not have the imaging and professionals necessary to review someone after a car accident. Go to the hospital. If your crash is in Arlington, go to Virginia Hospital Center, INOVA Alexandria, or Reston Hospital Center at Tysons Corner.
- Do not speak to insurance companies! This includes your own. If the other driver turns out not to be insured, even your own insurance company will fight against you when you try to obtain your uninsured motorist coverage.
- Call Blaszkow Legal immediately. Speak to an experienced, aggressive Arlington distracted driving accident lawyer right away so that we can protect you and begin documenting and preserving the evidence we need to make your claim.
Compensation After A Distracted Driving Accident
After being hurt in a distracted driving accident, you have the right to file a claim for your damages. Damages is a legal term that tries to encompass all of the ways that you have been hurt and how your accident has impacted you. Some of the elements of your claim for compensation include:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Time lost from work or lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Diminished value of a vehicle [[link to Diminished Value page]]
- Scarring
- Disfigurement
- Wrongful death if the negligent distracted driver kills a loved one
- Permanent injuries
Your claim always has to be proven. The burden of proof always lies with the claimant, or person bringing the claim, in order to prevail. One of the many things that an experienced distracted driving accident lawyer is going to do is not only make certain your damages are claimed but also document and build the proof of those damages so that we can win not only before an insurance company but also before a judge and jury.
Insurance Company Tricks In Distracted Driving Cases
Car insurance companies have a goal, and it’s important that you remember that. Their goal is to pay you as little money as possible or to simply deny your claim so they don’t have to pay anything at all. They begin working toward this goal as soon as you call them and continue to do it every minute of every day. They are not on your side, they are not good neighbors, and even if you save 15% or more, they are still trying to attack every piece of your claim.
The insurance companies will pull out their bag of tricks to meet their goal. They will allege that you caused the accident! Or, they will admit that their person caused it, but you are also a little bit responsible—maybe by saying that you rolled a stop sign or that you were speeding. Remember the contributory negligence rule!
Another one of their favorite tactics is to offer you a small, immediate settlement. They will tell you not to call a lawyer because it’s only going to make everything drag out. Remember that as soon as you take their money, you have settled your claim! Insurance companies have no duty to tell you what you are allowed to claim, and they are fully entitled to take advantage of your lack of knowledge. For example, if you went into an emergency room and had to pay $500 out of pocket, they are not required to tell you that your claim is for the full amount of the itemized bill, not just the $500 you paid. Just because your health insurance paid some money and the hospital wrote off the rest doesn’t mean that’s not your claim—but they are never going to tell you that!
At Blaszkow Legal, we have been fighting against every shady and dirty trick the insurance companies pull in every case. Let us put our experience to work for you and maximize your compensation, rather than minimizing it!
Call Today For A Free Consultation After A Distracted Driving Accident
There is absolutely no risk to you in calling us. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means that we only get paid if you collect money. Our firm has over 45 years of experience, and you don’t owe us any money until the end. We are available around the clock and have staff who speak a wide variety of languages to help you.
Don’t be afraid of insurance companies, and don’t be afraid to fight for what’s yours. Call Blaszkow Legal, PLLC today and let us fight for you!
