Westfield, IN Car Accident Lawyer

Collisions often lead to expensive damages for victims, for which they can hold negligent drivers accountable via compensation claims.

Accident reconstruction can determine how a motor vehicle accident happened, including other details, like how fast the negligent party was driving. To ensure experts have enough evidence to review and reconstruct an accident, victims may photograph crash sites and call the police for help documenting the scene. On top of proving how and why the accident happened, our lawyers must also show your need for non-economic damages. We can use the appropriate method to quantify your pain and suffering and use evidence, like statements from mental health experts, to support compensation requests. Do not delay medical attention following an accident; doing so could lead to insufficient medical evidence for your compensation claim.

Call our car accident lawyers at (219) 322-1166 for a free case assessment from Wruck Paupore.

Using Accident Reconstruction in Westfield, IN Car Crash Claims

Auto accidents are often damaging, leaving behind considerable evidence that can help our lawyers and accident reconstruction experts determine what happened. These experts can explain an accident’s cause, helping victims prove liability and recover compensation.

Victims can take photos at the scene to ensure crash reconstruction experts have enough evidence and information to review. Many victims know to do this and will automatically photograph property damage and debris after any accident, even if they are uninjured. For serious accidents that cause injury, victims should always take photos of the scene. Pictures showing the point of impact and the final landing positions of involved vehicles can help experts settle certain matters, including whether or not the negligent driver was driving over the speed limit when they struck your car.

When victims are too injured to take pictures, they can ask first responders or eyewitnesses for assistance. Law enforcement might photograph the scene without prompting, especially if it is a serious crash with considerable damage. The same is often true for eyewitnesses, who might stop to take pictures or videos of the accident’s fallout.

While investigating a collision, our car accident lawyers can pool all photographic and video evidence from the victim, the police, and eyewitnesses and give that information to an accident reconstruction expert to review.

While these experts can strengthen many car accident compensation claims, they are particularly useful for claims threatened by Indiana’s comparative negligence rules. These rules lower compensation for victims who share fault for their injuries according to their percentage of negligence. Victims found to be more at fault than defendants are blocked from recovery under I.C. § 34-51-2-6.

Calculating Pain and Suffering Caused by Car Accident Injuries in Westfield, IN

There are several ways to calculate pain and suffering, and we can identify which method could maximize your recovery based on your economic damages, injuries, age, anticipated recovery timeline, and other factors. For example, the per diem method might be best for calculating non-economic damages for a victim with permanent injuries that will cause them pain and suffering indefinitely. Comparatively, the multiplier method might be best for victims with considerable economic damages, as they are taken into account using this calculation method.

Per Diem Method

The per diem method assigns a daily rate to a victim’s pain and suffering. To do this, our lawyers will consider the severity of your injuries and whether physicians expect you to recover from them. For permanent and disfiguring injuries, victims’ pain and suffering might be greater, especially if they cannot engage in daily activities they once enjoyed, like going to work or playing with their children.

After identifying an appropriate daily monetary rate for your pain and suffering, our lawyers will multiply that amount by the days you expect to incur non-economic damages. To determine how long your pain and suffering will persist, our lawyers may confer with mental health experts who can give statements after evaluating you.

Multiplier Method

The multiplier method works off of a victim’s economic damages. When using this method, we begin by identifying an appropriate multiplier between 1.5 and five. Where you fall on the scale will depend on the severity of your injuries, with a multiplier of five indicating that your injuries are particularly serious and you may not recover from them. We may have to defend our chosen multiplier to support our calculations for non-economic damages, and we can use your medical records and statements from medical experts to do so.

After picking a multiplier, we will multiply it by your total economic damages, which will be the amount we request in non-economic damages.

Potential Consequences of Delaying Medical Treatment After a Car Accident in Westfield, IN

When proving liability, car accident victims must show the connection between the other driver’s negligence and their injuries. This requires medical evidence, which victims can begin building immediately after a collision by going to the hospital.

If you do not go to the hospital, even for a short time, it could be harder to show you were injured because of the accident caused by the other driver. While some accident injuries are immediately apparent, like broken bones and lacerations, others are harder for victims to identify alone. For example, if you hit your head on a fixed object in your car during an accident, you might not realize the extent of your head injury unless you get medical attention. If you do not immediately seek the proper diagnostic testing and care for those injuries, they could worsen substantially.

In addition to going straight to the emergency room after a crash, victims should follow the treatment plans doctors set for them, see specialists they are referred to, and get all necessary surgeries, therapies, or care to recover physically.

Call Our Injury Attorneys in Westfield, IN Today

Call our car accident lawyers for a free case review from Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166.