Car Accident Lawyer Wytheville, VA

If you’ve been injured in an auto accident for which you were not at fault, it may be in your best interest to seek the legal advice of a car accident lawyer in Wytheville, VA from The Law Offices of Mark T. Hurt today.

Factors Involved in Determining Fault for an Accident

Sometimes it is a fairly straightforward matter to determine which driver is at fault in a car accident. In other cases, it can be much more difficult. Each driver may share a portion of the blame to a certain degree, and that can make it difficult for you to recover damages if you are injured. To further complicate matters, the laws that determine who was at fault for a crash and who is entitled to compensation can vary widely from state to state, as a car accident lawyer in Wytheville, VA knows all too well.

If you believe that you were partially at fault for the accident, you still have the right to seek compensation for your injuries with the help of a car accident lawyer in Wytheville, VA. However, the entity responsible for determining what you deserve, whether that be an insurance company or the court, will take a number of factors into consideration to determine eligibility.

Admissions of Fault

If you admit to fault for a car accident, your words may be used against you later on. It is important to watch what you say, because when it comes to determining fault, your words may be subject to broad interpretation. As an example, the worst phrase you can possibly say at the scene of an accident is “I’m sorry.” Even if you only mean it as an expression of concern for the other driver, it could come back to haunt you later as an admission of fault.

Contributory Negligence

If your actions or inactions, usually in violation of the law, partially caused the accident, that is called contributory negligence. If it is determined that contributory negligence on your part was partially to blame for the accident, it can reduce the amount of your claim or even invalidate it altogether – that is why you need the help of the car accident lawyer in Wytheville, VA to protect your rights.

This, however, depends largely on the laws of the state where the accident took place. Most state observe comparative contributory negligence, which means you should be able to receive compensation if the other driver was more responsible for the accident than you were, even if the ratio approaches 50:50. Your damages may be decreased by percentages the more fault you bear. A few states, however, have pure contributory negligence laws, meaning that you cannot receive compensation if you bear any responsibility for the accident at all.

Type of Accident

The type of accident can also make a difference, as a car accident lawyer in Wytheville, VA can explain. For example, a driver making a left turn is required to yield to oncoming traffic unless receiving a green arrow signal, and so often bears fault for a collision. Similarly, if you are rear-ended, you are almost never at fault for the accident even if you had to stop suddenly. The other driver is expected to maintain a safe stopping distance to compensate for this.

Insurance companies may try to leverage the confusion surrounding fault for the accident. A car accident lawyer in Wytheville, VA from our team  will be able to explain to you what you deserve. Contact our office for a consultation.

What To Do If a Commercial Truck Slams Into Your Vehicle

Those who drive on city roads and freeways (and sometimes even country lanes) are required to share these routes with commercial trucks. It isn’t easy to miss a huge 80,000 pounds vehicle in the next lane over, so passenger car drivers are usually on high alert and are watching the truck driver’s every move. Unfortunately, despite being tasked with the duty of transporting such a huge vehicle, commercial truck drivers don’t always pay the same respect to others on the road. When crashes occur, the injuries and resulting damage can be catastrophic. If you’ve been hit by a truck and you’re wondering if you should call a Wytheville, Virginia car accident lawyer, the answer is “Yes.” However, it’s imperative that you call for medical assistance before making contact with The Law Offices of Mark T. Hurt. Preserving your legal options is critically important. But getting necessary medical care should always be your first priority.

What To Do In the Moments After

The minutes after the truck collision are crucial. The top priority is making sure that you (and everyone else involved in the crash) are okay, and getting medical attention if you need it. It is also important to call the police, although you can certainly call a Wytheville, VA car accident lawyer to assist you immediately before you make contact with law enforcement. Some accident victims understandably want to make sure a Wytheville, VA car accident lawyer is on the scene and advocating for their interests before the police arrive. When law enforcement officers arrive on scene, they will gather information that will later be turned into a police report of what happened. This document can be hugely influential in proving to insurance agencies and other entities that you were not at-fault for the collision. Secondly, an officer may evaluate you and/or the truck driver for intoxication. If you are not injured and you are waiting for your Wytheville, VA car accident lawyer and/or the police to arrive, consider taking the following proactive steps:

-Take photographs and video of the scene. What the crash scene looks like immediately after the collision is the best opportunity you have to capture all needed evidence. Take pictures of the damage to your vehicle, the trucker’s, and other cars involved. By gathering evidence, it puts you in the position to defend yourself along with filing a lawsuit for compensation from the at-fault party. Take pictures of intersections, landmarks, skid marks, debris in the road, broken glass, visible injuries, and anything else relevant.

-Exchange details with the truck driver. You will need the trucker’s first and last name (as written on driver’s license), phone number, address, driver’s license number, insurance carrier, license plate number, trucking company name, and contact of supervisor. If you were ushered to the hospital for emergency care, then the officer who took over the scene will probably have gathered these details for you that you can get at a later time.

-Refrain from making statements about the accident. Unless it is an officer asking for your statement about what happened, you should not be making comments with the truck driver regarding the collision. And whatever you do, never say it is your fault, even if you believe this to be true. There may be underlying factors that contributed to the incident which you aren’t aware of yet, but your Wytheville, VA car accident lawyer may uncover upon investigation.

Client Review

“Mark is great an his staff is second to none. They always answer questions an call you back, I especially want to thank Carol she is the best”

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