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Driving is one of the most dangerous things that people do on a daily basis – or perhaps throughout their whole life. When you get on the road, your safety often relies on other drivers making safe decisions and following traffic laws. When they fail to do so, you can face serious injuries – injuries those negligent drivers should be responsible for.
Our South Bend car accident attorneys fight to help injured car crash victims get the compensation they deserve. Whether you were injured in a low-speed fender bender or a multi-car pileup on the highway, our experienced injury attorneys are determined to get you the justice you deserve.
For a free case review, call the South Bend car accident injury lawyers at Wruck Paupore today. Our number is (219) 322-1166.
Car accidents involving multiple vehicles are almost always caused by driver error. Below are some of the reasons for collisions that our South Bend car accident attorneys run into most frequently.
In almost every instance of rear-end collision, the law finds that the driver of the rear vehicle is to blame. This is because it is every driver’s responsibility to leave ample room between their car and the one in front of them to allow for them to come to a safe and controlled stop if anything should happen ahead. Rear-end car accidents in Indiana are particularly problematic because they could cause a multi-car collision at high speeds, which can complicate liability. In these cases, you will want the help of a seasoned South Bend car accident attorney to help sort out liability.
The almost universal presence of cell phones serves many benefits, but also comes at a cost. When a driver chooses to text or otherwise use their mobile device instead of looking at the road, this cost could be substantial. Not only is texting while driving a crime in Indiana, but it could also be grounds for a lawsuit if the distracted driver causes an accident.
In inclement weather, particularly in areas that experience significant snowfall every year such as South Bend, driving can turn hazardous at a moment’s notice. However, just because slippery road conditions caused by weather might have contributed to the accident does not mean that all drivers are devoid of fault. Drivers in South Bend must account for inclement weather and low visibility conditions by decelerating accordingly and using fog lights or high beams where appropriate. Failure to do so could result in liability for a resulting collision.
It is entirely possible that the negligence that caused or contributed to your injuries did not originate with another driver. Cars contain a number of critical parts, any of which could malfunction if not produced or installed correctly. These not only include functional parts like brakes or software systems, but also safety features like air bags and seat belts. Your South Bend car accident lawyer can help with the difficult process of identifying where the vehicle manufacturer shares some of the blame for your injuries.
Each year, drunk driving accounts for a shocking number of car accident injuries and deaths across the country. Despite the criminalization of getting behind the wheel while inebriated or otherwise impaired, this problem continues to plague us to this day. Because the practice of driving under the influence is so highly reckless and irresponsible, many courts will choose to award additional punitive damages to victims in these cases. Discuss with your South Bend car accident lawyer what forms of compensation may be available to you.
After an accident, you may not be clear on what to do next, whether you need to sue the driver who hit you, or when you should contact a lawyer – or if you even need a lawyer. It is important to understand that without the help of an experienced South Bend car accident attorney, you may never get the answers to these questions. Ultimately, hiring a car accident lawyer at the beginning of your case is usually best.
Immediately after your accident, your main priorities should be your health and safety. Once you have gotten out of immediate danger and gotten your injuries taken care of, you should speak with a lawyer. The law in Indiana gives you two years to file an injury claim under I.C. § 34-11-2-4. However, victims will often need their lawyer’s help well before that filing deadline – and your lawyer will need more time to draft any legal documents and prepare the case for filing.
When you start working with a lawyer early on, your attorney can help collect evidence and act as a go-between between you and any insurance companies or defendants involved in the case. This means not only taking photos of the accident scene and vehicle damage, but also sending letters demanding that video evidence from traffic cameras and security cameras be preserved for trial. This also means preventing you from being taken in by any seemingly attractive settlement offers that might fail to cover your case.
It can often feel like your case is not “serious enough,” but you should still speak with a lawyer if you faced any injuries. Often, insurance companies try to undercut payments for injuries, and your lawyer can help you get what you deserve. Working with an attorney that offers free case reviews is also an excellent option because your lawyer can help you with any doubts about why a lawyer would or would not be necessary in your case.
When you file a car accident lawsuit for your injuries, there is a range of damages you can get compensation for. Your case will primarily revolve around two areas of damages: economic and non-economic damages. In some cases, a third type of damages, known as punitive damages, may provide you additional relief on top of what you deserve for your harms.
Lawsuits are meant to, in part, reimburse victims for any expenses they incurred because of the accident. These are known as economic damages because they have a clear economic or financial effect to them; they have a price tag attached.
These damages commonly include things like medical expenses and lost wages. They also include repair or replacement costs for your vehicle and other property (cell phones, clothes destroyed in the crash, etc.). Your attorney can help you calculate and add up all of these damages – potentially surprising you with some of the things you can claim compensation for. For instance, many victims do not know that they can often claim compensation for the monetary value of alternate transportation to medical appointments, childcare, hired help for household services/chores, and more.
The most common non-economic damages you might claim in a car crash case in South Bend are pain and suffering damages. These damages, like other non-economic damages, do not have a clear price tag attached to them. While the goal of a car accident lawsuit is to reimburse the victim for economic damages, there is also a goal to otherwise make the defendant “whole” again. As the injuries cannot be undone, this means also reimbursing them for the harms that do not have clear price values attached.
The mental distress, physical discomfort of injuries, the post-traumatic stress of an accident, the fear of a new accident – these are all things that can be compensated as non-economic damages in a car accident lawsuit.
Where they are called for, South Bend courts do have the ability to impose a third type of damages on the defendant. These damages, appropriately called punitive damages, are meant to punish a defendant whose harmful conduct was so reckless or malicious in nature that it should be discouraged in potential future offenders. Common examples of situations that might call for punitive damages include accidents caused by drunk drivers, illegal drag racers, and perpetrators speeding away after committing a felony.
After a crash, your main priority should be to get yourself to safety if you are still in the middle of the road and to get medical attention. Call 911 and get police and ambulance services – plus the fire department, if necessary, to put out any car fires. After seeking medical attention, there are some important pieces of evidence you might be able to collect.
Photos of the crash scene are invaluable evidence. If you are able to take pictures or have a loved one go to the scene and photograph the cars, skid marks, and injuries, that can help your case. The police might also take photos.
The names and contact info of everyone involved will also be vital. This helps you know whom to sue, who else might have been injured, and who witnessed the crash. They can all provide statements or be called as witnesses in your case.
Some of this information will be unable to you if you were swept away in an ambulance. Fortunately, this information is often contained in a police report. While police reports are not typically admissible as evidence in your lawsuit, your lawyer can use the police report to get this info. Talk to your South Bend car accident lawyer about any other evidence you might need for your case, such as medical records and traffic camera footage.
Too often, our South Bend car accident lawyers see potential injury plaintiffs make mistakes and damage their claim by trusting insurance representatives after an accident. Make no mistake about it, the other driver’s insurance company is not concerned with your well-being. They will do everything they possibly can to prevent your recovery, starting with attempts to question you about the accident.
Insurance representatives may act as though they want to get your side of the story about the accident. In reality, they are trying to get you to make statements that they can twist to use against you in court if you decide to pursue your lawsuit. They may also try to tempt you into accepting a settlement offer that is substantially lower than what you deserve or could earn through a court verdict.
The best way to avoid any of these unfortunate circumstances is to let your South Bend car accident lawyer handle the communications with the other side’s insurance provider. This way, you can save yourself the stress of dealing with claims adjusters and prevent any simple slips of the tongue from coming back to harm you later.
If you are interested in pursuing a lawsuit after you were involved in a car accident, our South Bend car accident attorneys urge you to act quickly. Under Indiana state law, personal injury plaintiffs, including those suing after car accidents, only have two years to file their lawsuit in the appropriate court. The clock generally starts to run on the date that the accident happens. However, in some special cases you need to provide notice to the potential wrongdoer in 179-days or less.
Some limited exceptions do apply, such as when the victim was a minor at the time of the accident. However, if you do not fit one of these limited exceptions and mistakenly miss your deadline, the court will toss your case out without any sympathy to your honest mistake. This is why it is always the best idea to bring your case to the attention of a seasoned South Bend car accident lawyer who can apprise you of all deadlines that may apply on your claim.
Call the South Bend car accident attorneys at Wruck Paupore if you were injured in a car crash. Our attorneys offer free case reviews to help you understand how to proceed with your injury case. Call us at (765) 885-6269 today.
Don is a founding partner and one of the nation’s top-ranked personal injury litigators. He is a member of the Multi-million Dollar Advocates Forum, which includes less than 1% of the nation’s trial lawyers, and awarded the highest ranking given by Martindale Hubbel and AVVO.
More importantly, Don understands representing personal injury victims is about more than recovering the best settlement: it’s about helping clients get back on their feet and supporting them in every aspect of their recovery.
In nearly all cases, our clients seek compensation from the wrongdoer’s insurance company. Before forming Wruck Paupore, Jason worked for a prominent law firm representing some of the world’s largest insurers. This experience gives Jason a deep understanding of the insurance industry and the strategies it uses to pay injury victims as little as possible.
Jason -- and our entire team -- put this inside knowledge to work to force insurance companies to pay what is actually owed. Often, we use the insurance company’s own tactics against them as we fight for the full compensation our client deserves.
For more than four decades, Keith has been fighting for injury victims. During that time, he’s watched the insurance industry change, with insurers now more interested in protecting their stock price than treating injury victims fairly.
Since the beginning, Keith has put people first. From his childhood in Gary, Indiana during the 1960’s and working his way through law school, Keith has risen to become one of the Midwest’s most respected trial lawyers. He has never forgotten that being a lawyer is about helping people -- and seeing injury victims through struggles in a way that could change their lives forever.
Over the decades, Keith, Don and Jason have fought relentlessly for clients, even when other lawyers have said the case was impossible to win.
Contact Us:
Wruck Paupore P.C.
Injury Lawyers
275 Joliet St. Suite #250
Dyer, IN 46311
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