Recent statistics indicate the fact that nearly 17,000 deaths and over 300,000 serious injuries happen every year in the United States as a result of auto incidents. No matter if you are the victim or the cause, such an event can affect your life for the long term and bring about serious material and personal damage. When you are at the scene of an accident, you don’t think straight and the smallest action you do can cause irreparable harm. Your first priority should be to contact your San Diego accident attorney as soon as possible. If you don’t already have a lawyer to represent you, maybe it is time you started looking for one.
When do you require the services of a San Diego accident attorney?
A car accident lawyer is the type of professional you will definitely need when something goes wrong following a traffic incident. Most people will tell you that the first steps should be calling the police and then your insurance adjuster, but the process won’t always be as easy as you might hope. Without specialized help from an attorney who has done this kind of work before, your insurance settlement might turn out to be quite unsatisfactory, or the legal consequences of that auto incident might be more severe.
You will require the services of a San Diego accident attorney when:
1) Settlement amount is far from enough to cover the damages
Insurance companies are considering a lot of factors when calculating your claim, so many times they may come up with a much smaller settlement amount than what you had originally anticipated. There are also situations when your insurance agent will completely ignore the long-term effects a car accident may bring into your life, such as your need for physical therapy or your inability to go to work. With a specialized attorney by your side, these omissions will not happen.
2) When you are being sued by the other party
If it is proven that you have been the one who has caused the accident, your insurance policy will theoretically cover the debt, but sometimes that amount will not be enough for the injured party. As a result, they may be coming after you. A specialized San Diego accident attorney will know exactly what legal steps to take in order to save you potentially thousands of dollars in damages to the other party.
3) When you are facing criminal charges
Many things can go wrong during and after an auto accident. You may have committed an act that caused the police to press charges against you, or sometimes the injured party will choose to do that as well. You will undoubtedly need the services of an accident lawyer with years of experience to help you get through this without too much trouble. Sometimes charges can be dropped due to all sorts of technical mistakes the police made at the scene, and a good accident attorney will be able to find all of these technical details that can save you from getting a criminal file with your name on it.
Even if you have been involved in an apparently insignificant traffic incident, things can go wrong. This is why it is best to have the name and contact info of a reliable San Diego accident attorney who can help you navigate the daunting legal system and get away from challenging situations.