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Have you been injured in a vehicle accident? You deserve the best Seattle car accident lawyers on your side who will fight for you. Our law firm of reliable attorneys and legal specialists will guide you through the legal process and fight for your rights in the face of insurance companies and the judicial system.
We are your professional Seattle car accident attorneys who will help your injury claims, financial compensation or recover financial compensation, auto accidents, pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents or motor vehicle accidents, traffic accidents, property damage and lost wages.
We, your professional legal counsel and injury lawyers, will fight for your financial recovery. With our skilled injury attorneys, you can ensure a free consultation. Your car accident lawyers will walk you through the legal process.
A skilled Seattle car accident attorney or a personal injury attorney should handle car accident cases. A car crash with serious injury is inevitable; that’s why our law firm is always ready to help you 24/7.
There are many years of experience between Wattel & York Law firm and the attorneys representing car accident victims through the legal process. Wattel & York Law firm was founded to safeguard the rights of Seattle residents and visitors who have been wounded due to the negligent actions of others.
One of its primary goals is to help personal injury victims get their personal injury claim or maximum compensation.
A car crash occurs for various reasons, including human error and the effects of one’s immediate surroundings. These may cause serious injuries. There’s only a limited number of car accidents that cannot be avoided. The vast majority are consequences of poor decisions made by someone who should have known better. Various factors, including human error, can cause car accidents.
Car crashes may result in multiple physical injuries and brain injuries that may lead to the wrongful death of both car collisions parties. At this stage, you need to consult with reliable car accident attorneys.
Seattle car accident statistics from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) and the Washington State Patrol (WSP) say it’s become more common for drivers to have alcohol and drug impairment head-on collision, especially t-bone wreck that is fatal in Washington.
The World Road Safety Commission recently released the following sobering statement regarding the dangers of distracted driving: “As many as one in three Washington State traffic deaths and more than one in four serious injuries by distracted driving. Distraction-related fatalities rose by 27.1% and serious injuries by 33.8% from 2015 to 2017, respectively, compared to the preceding three years. As a leading cause of traffic fatalities and serious injuries, distracted driving is second only to drunk driving.” The Washington State patrol continuously receive reports of a car crash and other car accident in the Seattle area because of distracted drivers.
In fatal auto accidents in Washington, driver distraction eclipsed overspeeding in 2015 as the most common reason. Overspeeding still accounts for more than one-fifth of all fatal or severe injury crashes, such as brain injury caused by rear-end collisions, according to WTSC and the Seattle Department of Transportation.
A car accident crash can happen due to driver fatigue. Based on Washington State patrol reports, fatigue can have the same effect on a driver’s performance as alcohol or drug abuse.
Accidents can occur when something goes wrong with one vehicle. For example, breaking down in traffic can be signaled by a blown tire or dimmed taillights. Others may indicate a severe flaw in the vehicle’s construction.
The road conditions must be considered while a driver’s vehicle operates. That’s not always a simple undertaking. There are a lot of Seattle vehicle accidents caused by wet roads or broken traffic lights in particular. These are a few of the more typical causes of car accidents in the Seattle area.
After a car accident, you may have a lot of questions. What will happen next? Assumptions about how a case will be handled. Almost everyone has to deal with the consequences of an automobile accident at some point in life. Not everyone knows what to do in a particular car crashes event. Here are some answers to your inquiries about your car accidents from your Skilled Seattle car accident attorney.
It would be best to begin protecting yourself immediately after a car accident. Seek medical attention for an initial consultation if you have a serious injury. There is lots of critical information that you should gather at your crash site to protect yourself after the car accident claim for insurance.
Many Seattle drivers decide to try to handle their insurance claims on their car accident cases. If your accident results in bad injuries or significant property damage, having a car accident lawyer in Seattle to stand on your side can help you avoid missing out on the funds you require following your accident.
Many people ask how much recovering compensation they should expect after a car accident. Should you anticipate the other driver’s insurance information coverage to pay the maximum amount allowed? Will the company cover your medical bills?
There are some unique aspects to your claim. Several things might influence the compensation you receive.
Many clients are concerned that engaging an attorney will put them in a worse financial situation than before the accident.
At Wattel & York Law, Seattle car accident attorney, we begin with a free consultation to go over the details of your accident, better understand your injury and offer sound legal guidance. Working with a Seattle car accident attorney can often improve the amount of money you get as a settlement.
Rather than questioning whether you can afford to hire a car accident attorney (Seattle, WA), think about whether you can afford not to hire one to assist you with your claim.
Hiring a car accident attorney is really a game-changer that you may not regret later. We can even coordinate and ask for details from your insurance company or driver’s insurance company if there are any.
In many circumstances, the other motorist’s insurance company would offer to give you a below fair settlement check shortly after the accident. Frequently, however, this check represents only a portion of the compensation you are entitled to for your injuries.
Your driver’s insurance company would most likely conduct also their separate investigation. Other driver’s insurance company may also have their settlement offer.
An auto accident attorney (Seattle, including the west Seattle bridge) can assist you in determining if the check issued by the insurance company will appropriately meet your recovering compensation.
Will your insurance company reimburse the negative equity in your automobile if your car is declared totaled after an accident? It is frequently the case that it is contingent.
If somehow you have owed money on your car and have been involved in car crashes. Car collisions or personal injury cases in the Seattle area, your injury lawyers or car accident attorneys got your back and acted as your insurance claims adjusters. Having one injury lawyer or car accident attorney is what you need to help you with your future medical bills and medical care compensation that your insurance company refuses to provide on case to case bases.
A lawyer can assist you in filing a claim that includes the negative equity in your car, but there is no assurance that the insurance company will cover the costs. You might still owe the additional equity on your vehicle, depending on the severity of the accident and your injuries. You may be able to move over your negative equity into a new car loan in some instances.
You may be required by law to make a statement about the accident to the other driver’s insurance company. A car accident lawyer (Seattle, WA) can help you craft your statement more carefully, avoid admitting fault, and supply the company with all pertinent information regarding the accident.
If feasible, write down your account of the events as soon as possible following the accident. The more you wait, the more memories of events will fade. Other witnesses, your doctor’s remarks, and even the insurance company’s queries may impact your account of events.
If possible, avoid admitting fault if you are unsure if you contributed to the accident or suspect you may have contributed to the accident. It is often difficult to determine who or what caused or contributed to the disaster following an accident. Could you make sure they are the at-fault party?
When you’re trying to get compensated for your injuries and property damage, admitting fault can work against you. An auto accident lawyer (Seattle) can assist you in determining what you should and should not say in any comments you make regarding the accident.
In Washington, you have three years from the accident date to submit a claim. However, you should file your accident claim as quickly as possible in the best-case scenario. The longer you wait to claim after an accident, the more difficult it will be to gather evidence.
Not only that, but events may fade from your and your witnesses’ memories. Consider the case where you discovered injuries weeks or months after an accident. Traumatic brain injury or another injury that took weeks or months to manifest. You have three years from when you become aware of the injury to bring a claim.
There is no no-fault law in Washington. Instead, Washington follows a comparative fault system. Each party’s fault is considered when determining who pays for the accident and who is financially responsible for the other party’s injuries. Then lost income as a result of the accident.
Many insurance companies will conduct a thorough investigation to assess blame and assign financial liability following an auto accident. The insurance provider will most likely consider several criteria, including the accident police report.
Other elements that may come into play include:
This can be incredibly useful, as an unbiased account from someone who saw the accident take place can help to clear up any confusion about how the accident occurred.
If there are multiple eyewitnesses, the insurance company will likely compare their stories to see if they match up. If there are inconsistencies, this may weaken the value of their testimony.
These statements can be invaluable in helping to determine fault, as they may include information such as whether or not a party was speeding or operating the vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Photographs and videos of the accident scene
If any photographs or videos exist that show details of the crash itself, this evidence can help both insurance companies
This can offer insight into the severity and angle of impact, which can help to give a clearer picture of how the accident occurred.
In some cases, damage to one vehicle may be more severe than that of the other, which could indicate that the driver of the less-damaged vehicle was at fault.
This document can provide a great deal of information about the accident, including any traffic citations that were issued and a description of the accident scene. This evidence can be incredibly helpful in determining who was at fault.
In some cases, insurance companies may hire accident reconstruction experts to help piece together how the accident occurred.
The insurance company will also likely review the driving history of both parties involved in the accident. If one driver has a history of accidents
Working with a car accident lawyer might assist you in avoiding being held responsible for an accident you did not cause. You can safeguard your rights throughout the process by engaging with an attorney.
An experienced Seattle car accident lawyer will often do numerous jobs on behalf of a client, including determining the reasons for a car accident and the degree of a client’s injuries. Identifying every party who may have a legal liability to the lawyer’s client is a critical stage in most vehicle accident lawsuits.
That is an easy question in some instances. However, it’s not always as simple as you might believe. The following are some of the people that are usually held liable for a vehicle accident victim’s injuries under the law:
Every driver must be responsible when sharing the road. Unfortunately, a large number of other drivers do not. Distracted driving, drunk driving, aggressive driving, and just plain irresponsible driving can all result in an accident, leaving the motorist legally liable for the accident caused by those activities.
If you have been in an accident caused by another driver, it is important to know your rights and take action to hold the other driver responsible for their actions.
One of the most common causes of car accidents is distracted driving. Texting, talking on the phone, eating, fiddling with the radio or navigation system—all of these activities
Personal automobiles are not involved in every accident. Instead, many include cars and trucks owned and operated by a company or another corporate organization. Businesses and other organizations that own or run automobiles involved in a collision may be held liable.
Our taxes help fund our state and local governments’ design, construction, and maintenance of safe and secure highways. Our governments, on the other hand, occasionally fall short. A government organization may be liable for injuries caused by a poorly-designed road with dangerous curves, poorly built roads with inadequate material, or poorly-maintained roads with gaping potholes or visible impediments.
For most Washingtonians, automobiles are a significant investment. A car manufacturer or one of its parts releases a defective product onto the market. In that situation, Washington law may find the manufacturer accountable for the defect’s cause of an accident.
Washington’s product liability laws are designed to hold manufacturers accountable for the safety of their products. The law is intended to protect consumers from dangerous or defective products. If a manufacturer releases a faulty product onto the market, then customers may be injured or killed by that defective product.
In general, automobile accident victims in Washington and the families of those who sadly perished in car accidents have legal rights to seek compensation for their injuries and losses. These damages are divided into two categories by the law: economic (or specific) damages and non-economic (or general) damages. Economic damages pay a motor vehicle accident victim for fixed, out-of-pocket expenses for medical bills incurred due to the accident and injuries.
Typically, they include:
Injuries frequently necessitate medical treatment in the medical center, like Harborview Medical Center, and we all know how expensive medical treatments are. The Harborview Medical Center is one of the well-known medical centers in Seattle. Even if you have health insurance, a few stitches in an emergency room might cost thousands.
Not all injuries recover in a few weeks or months with good treatment. Some have long-term side effects that require long-term treatment to address. Ongoing therapy, drugs, and future procedures are all part of the long-term costs. When seeking compensation for your injuries, it’s critical to factor in future medical expenses.
Car accidents can result in lifelong impairments and disabilities, which will alter your life in various ways. To assist you live your daily life with your disability, you may need a technologically improved wheelchair, car modifications, ramps put in your home, and other adaptations. These can also be quite costly.
It is required for various injuries sustained in car accidents, including neck and back injuries, fractures, soft tissue injuries, dislocations, and others. To rebuild strength, balance, and other movement abilities and help reduce discomfort, you may need to attend multiple sessions months after your injury.
In addition to helping you recover from your injuries, physical therapy may also help prevent additional injuries in the future.
Physical therapy is a specialized form of treatment that is used to help individuals who have sustained injuries as a result of car accidents. Some of the most common injuries associated with car accidents include neck and back injuries, fractures, soft tissue injuries
If a car accident resulted in injuries, it probably resulted in a car wreck or damage to your motor vehicle or other belongings. Repairing a car wreck can be shockingly expensive, with even a basic dent removal costing over $1,000. If your motor vehicle has been largely damaged, you may need to fix it or replace it entirely. While the repairs are being made, there may be some temporary transportation fees.
If your injuries limited your movement, your doctor advised you to rest or require surgery or hospitalization. You should be compensated for all missed wages due to your injury and recovery.
In addition to lost wages, you may have other economic damages as a result of your injuries. You may, for example, incur medical bills, need to hire someone to help with household chores or childcare, or suffer damage to personal property.
Some disabling injuries may impair your capacity to execute your job effectively. For example, if you are paralyzed, you will be unable to work on a construction site or any other physically demanding job. If you have suffered a major brain injury, you may be unable to engage in difficult research or other intellectual endeavors. You may be able to obtain maximum compensation for lost wages and opportunities due to your personal injury.
In some Washington motor vehicle accident situations, the party involved and liable for the victim’s damages may have the option of making periodic payments rather than paying the damages in one single sum.
Other damages compensate a motor vehicle accident victim for injuries that are difficult to quantify, such as:
Mental anguish, physical pain, and emotional suffering are common side effects of injuries, both from the injuries and from the changes your injuries may create in your life.
Whether your injuries are temporary or permanent, you should be compensated for any pain and suffering that you experience as a result of your injuries.
If you have been injured due to the negligence or fault of another person or entity, it is important to work with an experienced personal injury lawyer who can help you understand your rights and seek compensation for all damages.
Injuries frequently result in changes in crucial personal connections, such as the loss of consortium or companionship with a spouse, or the effects on a parent-child relationship, among other things.
Severe injuries can alter your life in various ways. You may not always be able to engage in activities you enjoy, take care of yourself, play with your children, or indulge in other hobbies or personal pursuits.
Medical bills or pay statements that specify the number of your losses do not constitute non-economic damages. You’ll need the assistance of a skilled Seattle auto accident attorney who can assess other damages and present proof to back up your case. Non-economic damages in car accident claims are also subject to legislative limitations. Non-economic damages in Washington can’t exceed 43% of the state’s average yearly wage multiplied by the victim’s projected lifetime, contrary to many other states’ statutes (minimum 15 years).
Punitive damages for an auto accident are usually not allowed under Washington State Department law. With these restrictions, you may be able to recover large compensation for serious injuries sustained in a car accident.
We are a Seattle car accident law firm, and we understand how tough life can be after a car accident. At Wattel & York Law, we know how difficult life can be after a car accident turns your world upside down. The anguish of healing from an accident or grieving for a loved one who has passed away with the wrongful death is just the beginning.
The financial burden can also arise when drivers leave victims, and you may be confronted with new demands on your time from an insurance adjuster and a police investigator. Insurance adjusters are claim agents tasked with assessing claims to determine the company’s responsibility under a policy. We understand why hiring an attorney may not be a top priority.
Personal injury claims in Washington are subject to a three-year statute of limitations. In some vehicle accident cases, such a time frame is insufficient to conduct an investigation and pursue a claim. Even if the time allotted is sufficient, time can make it more difficult to locate and examine the evidence and dull the recollections of key witnesses.
At Wattel & York, Attorneys At Law, we have extensive experience handling accident cases.
Understanding Your Options
We listen and understand your specific scenario from the moment you contact our law firm. We’ll go over the aspects that will help you raise the value of your claim while also reducing risk. Above all, we assist you in imagining a path forward that is unique to you.
Connecting With Your Seattle Car Accident Attorneys
If our team can assist you, you’ll know within 1-2 days. Your lawyer and legal team will walk you through the process and update you on what’s happening. You will maintain control as a part of the team working on your case.
Supporting Documentation
Our dedicated legal staff will work with you to ensure that you have all the essential paperwork. Insurance policy information, medical center records, repair expenses, financial compensation, and missed pay are all included.
Formulating A Winning Plan
We’ll examine your car accident case from every viewpoint, ensuring that you get the result you deserve. We pick up our sleeves and bring an unwavering commitment and track record to develop a winning strategy while keeping you informed.
Negotiation And Litigation
We are unwavering in our pursuit of justice. We bargain with the defense to collect the pay you deserve with tenacity and resiliency. When a court trial is necessary, our attorneys are skilled personal injury litigators who know how to maximize policy volumes and outcomes.
No obligation for your free consultation. Contact us now, we are available to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Your information is kept private and confidential, reviewed only by our staff.