Head-On Collisions
With few exceptions, the traffic on most city streets is separated only by a pair of yellow lines painted on the asphalt or concrete. This gives you the legal protection of knowing which lane you are supposed to be in, but it takes only a second of another driver’s miscalculation or distraction to cause that driver to cross those little painted lines and strike your vehicle head-on. If this has happened to you or someone you love, our Alexandria, VA DUI accident lawyer is here to help.
Head-on collisions can be serious at the best of times and catastrophic at the worst. Injuries can range from modest to severe and even fatal.
If you or a family member have been hurt in a head-on collision, it’s important that you contact an attorney right away. Car insurance companies are going to use every trick in the book to attack your claim or minimize it entirely. You want someone fighting on your side from day one to protect you and to make sure that you get the compensation that you deserve.
What Head-On Collisions Are
A head-on collision is a term used to describe any crash where the fronts of two vehicles meet. Many people think that this means a direct meeting, grill to grill. That is too narrow of an interpretation. Head-on collisions can include all manner of car accidents where the front of one vehicle has crossed the double yellow line and struck the front side of the oncoming vehicle.
Investigating Head-On Collisions
The insurance companies are going to work hard to fight against your case. You have to remember that the insurance companies are in the business of paying you as little money as possible. We at Blaszkow Legal get out in front of the insurance companies’ arguments by commencing our investigation immediately. We know what arguments they are going to make in every single case, so we work hard to defeat those arguments before they even have a chance to make them.
Our team includes experienced car accident lawyers as well as paralegals and investigators who have spent years analyzing and working on these crashes.
The police department investigates crashes when they happen. Most crashes will be handled by local police, while those on major highways may be handled by the Virginia State Police. Their investigation can be somewhat terse if the injuries sustained were not significant, in their estimation. This sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. It is important to remember that a criminal or traffic investigation done by the police is very different from a civil investigation.
Our team gets to work immediately identifying camera footage, witnesses, those with dash camera footage, and more. These things need to be obtained as soon as possible after an accident. Camera footage especially requires prompt attention because most camera systems do not keep footage beyond 30 days at most. If we do not preserve the footage in that time, it can be lost forever.
The Causes Of Head-On Collisions
Head-on collisions have several root causes that are quite common.
Distracted Driving –occurs when a motorist takes their full time and attention off of the roadway. Many drivers are blatant and will even text while they are driving down the road. This causes their focus to leave the roadway and be placed on the cell phone, which often causes “lane drift.”
Fatigued Driving – Some motorists drive beyond their own limits and capabilities. A driver who is beginning to fall asleep can actually have the same response time as someone who is drinking.
Speeding – Speeding lowers reaction time and also makes the vehicle harder to control. Someone who is speeding may begin to cross the center line and not be able to correct before an oncoming vehicle strikes them.
Inexperienced Driving – New drivers sometimes miscalculate where their vehicle is in relation to the roadway as a whole. This can cause head-on collisions if they miscalculate exactly where their wheels are.
Inattentive Driving – Not all inattentive drivers are distracted by cell phones. Some drivers might have dropped something between the seats or in the passenger footwell. When a driver ceases to look at the roadway and begins to reach for an object in the car, this can cause the vehicle to drift across lanes.
Dealing With Car Insurance Companies After A Head-On Collision
Car insurance companies are very anxious to talk to you after a head-on collision. They want to talk to you because they want to use what you say against you. Make no mistake—insurance companies are not on your side. The insurance adjusters are trained to act very empathetic and to sound like they only want to do what’s best for you. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
You see, Virginia is a state that practices a legal concept known as contributory negligence. Contributory negligence is sometimes called the one-percent rule. It means that if an insurance company can argue that you are even 1% responsible for the happening of a collision, then you cannot recover. That means at all—nothing.
How This Plays Out In A Head-On Car Accident
Car Insurance Adjuster: So please tell me what happened.
You: Well, I was checking my Google Maps when this other car crossed the center line and hit me.
Car Insurance Adjuster: So you were looking at your Maps when the crash happened?
You: Yes.
Car Insurance Adjuster: Thank you.
After this kind of conversation, they send you a nice letter arguing that you may have crossed the center line too, or that they cannot prove that their driver was negligent because you just admitted to not looking at the roadway. It can be that simple.
In order to protect yourself, never talk to a car insurance company after a car accident. Always contact a lawyer who can protect you from the insurance companies and stop you from saying something that they can use against you to attack and deny your claim.
Compensation After A Head-On Car Accident
It’s our job as your lawyer to get you as much compensation as possible from the negligent party or parties who caused your car accident. We do this by documenting your damages.
What are damages? It is a legal term that attempts to be comprehensive and state all of the ways that the crash has affected you, in every facet of your life. There are some general elements to your damages that can be the same in every case, depending on your injuries and the effects.
Some examples of your damages include:
Medical Expenses, Current and Future: These include hospital bills, radiology bills, prescription costs, physical therapy, rehabilitation, and more. Sometimes you might be seriously injured and may require treatment in the future, such as an MRI every year. This would fall under future medical expenses.
Property Damage: You are entitled to have your vehicle repaired or a replacement vehicle paid for. Property damage can be somewhat vexing because the evaluation of a car is not what its value is to you, but rather what its pre-accident sale value would be. This is often computed using Kelley Blue Book values.
Lost Wages: Time that you have missed from work, whether paid or unpaid, is part of your lost wage computation. If you missed a week or a month of earnings, you will be able to make that part of your claim. If you used sick or vacation time that you had accrued, this also counts.
Permanent Injury: Some head-on collisions can be so severe that a person can be permanently injured. Permanent injuries manifest themselves in many ways, such as lifelong pain in a certain part of the body or permanent impairment such as decreased range of motion or inability to lift over a certain weight.
Pain And Suffering: Pain and suffering is a very misunderstood concept. It is a kind of non-economic damage that is not black and white. We prove what a person’s pain and suffering is based on witness testimony, medical documentation, and the testimony of the injured party.
It’s important to talk to a car accident lawyer to find out exactly what you can claim after your crash.
How Head-On Car Accident Claims Work
After you have been hurt in a head-on car accident, you should contact our office for a free consultation. As soon as we are retained, we will get to work investigating the case, determining liability, and helping you to arrange the medical care that you need to begin your treatment. The longer you wait, the more chances you give the insurance companies to fight against you.
Once you are done with your medical treatment, generally we will compile a demand letter. A demand letter is a compendium of your damages, including your medical expenses and all of the applicable diagnostic coding that the insurance companies’ computers need to begin assessing your case. We send this off to the insurance company, and generally, they get back to us within 30 to 60 days.
At this point, the negotiations begin. It’s important to remember that it is always your case. Our attorneys are never going to call you and say we’ve settled your case for X unless you have agreed to do so. We will give you the benefit of our advice and knowledge, but the decision is always yours.
If the insurance company denies liability or they do not want to compensate you with the fair value of your claim, we have to file a lawsuit. Our team is ready to file lawsuits as soon as necessary. This is one of the determining factors of a good law firm. If you have a law firm that only settles cases and doesn’t go to court, then the insurance companies track that. They know who is willing to fight and who is not.
Call A Head-On Car Accident Lawyer Today
It costs you nothing to give Blaszkow Legal, PLLC a call. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means that we don’t get paid unless you collect money. We are available 24/7 and from the minute you retain us, our team is ready and willing to fight for you and your family. Our team has decades of experience with these cases, and we know all of the games that the insurance companies are going to play. Let us fight for you, and call an experienced car accident lawyer today. Call us to discuss your claim and Get Justice with Joe!
