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Motor vehicles are a necessary part of our daily lives. Most of us are in the car at least once, if not several times each day. Unfortunately, it takes only one negligent driver to cause a serious accident, and you and other drivers might be badly hurt. Negligent drivers might not always face criminal charges, but you can still get justice. Talk to an attorney about filing a civil case for damages.
After a car accident, it is imperative that you get emergency help. If you can, call 911 and have an ambulance and the police sent to your location. While waiting for help, speak to others at the scene, exchange information, and take pictures if you can. All this information will come in handy later. Once you have gotten the medical care you need, talk to our legal team about who is responsible for the crash, what your claims are worth, and how to begin your case. Your attorney will be there to help you every step of the way during this difficult period.
Call The Queenan Law Firm, P.C. at (817) 476-1797 and ask our Fort Worth, TX car accident attorneys for a free case assessment to get started.
Steps to Take After a Car Accident in Burleson, TX
Car crashes are known to be a bit chaotic. You might be in great pain while dealing with another angry driver while traffic backs up behind you. The most important thing is to remain calm and call for help. If you are unable to call for help, someone else at the accident scene should do it for you.
You should also contact the police as soon as possible, even if the other driver asks you not to involve the authorities. For certain kinds of accidents, contacting the police might be legally required. Reporting laws under Tex. Trans. Code § 550.026(a) require you to contact the police if an accident results in injuries or death to a person or such extensive vehicle damage that the vehicle cannot be safely driven. You must contact the police by the “quickest means possible.”
Exchange information with the other driver or drivers if you can. Also, exchange information with people who might have stopped to help or others who witnessed the accident. Their testimony might be extremely valuable later.
Once you have received the necessary medical care and spoken to the police, contact an attorney for legal help. You might contend with some enormous bills from the accident, insurance claims, and a potential lawsuit. A lawyer can help you explore your legal options and work to get you fair compensation.
Determining Who is Responsible for a Burleson, TX Car Accident
If only one other driver is involved in the crash, our car accident lawyers will probably include them in the case. If they were solely responsible, there may be nobody else to include. However, some accidents involve multiple factors and contributions from different people. For example, in a crash with multiple drivers, more than one may be responsible for the crash. It is also possible that other drivers will initiate their own legal claims.
Sometimes, a person is not the direct cause of an accident. Instead, some accidents are caused by defective vehicles or vehicle parts. For example, maybe the other driver’s brakes malfunctioned and failed, causing them to crash into you even though they tried to avoid it. In such a case, manufacturers of faulty vehicles or vehicle parts may be held responsible. If your vehicle was part of a recall or recalled after your accident, you should talk to a lawyer about suing manufacturers.
We should also be prepared for the possibility that another driver will accuse you of causing or contributing to the accident. If this happens, we might have to argue over proportionate responsibility. According to Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001, if proportionate responsibility is determined and your share of the blame exceeds 50%. If it does, you may be barred from recovering any damages.
Under § 33.003, each person’s responsibility may be determined by the trier of fact (i.e., the judge or jury) and expressed as a whole number percentage. If issues of proportionate responsibility arise, the trier of fact must determine your percentage of blame for the accident and the defendant’s, other claimants’, settling persons’, and third parties’.
Evidence to Support Your Vehicle Accident Claims in Burleson, TX
Your claim cannot succeed if we do not have enough evidence to meet the burden of proof. The burden of proof in most civil claims, including car accident claims, is proof by “preponderance of the evidence.” Essentially, this means we have to prove that it is more likely than not that the defendant is responsible for the accident. The more evidence we have, the closer we get to satisfying this burden.
Witnesses may be a major part of our evidentiary plans, especially if numerous drivers saw the accident or stopped to help. This is why it is crucial that you exchange information with other people at the crash. You never know who might have seen something important. Even people who were not at the accident scene but have personal knowledge related to the defendant and their liability may testify.
It is very common for drivers to take pictures after an accident. Often, this is for insurance purposes, but depending on what images they contain, your photos can be used as evidence in a lawsuit. Since accident scenes are cleared away by the police rather quickly, evidence is often lost. Your photos from the accident might preserve valuable information and details we need to prove your claims.
We should also consider looking for video footage of the accident. It is not unusual for drivers to have dashcams in their cars that record everything. Alternatively, there may have been security cameras in the area that caught the entire crash on camera. If videos of the accident exist, we need to get them quickly, as they could be easily deleted.
Get in Touch with Our Burleson, TX Car Accident Attorneys for Assistance
Call The Queenan Law Firm, P.C. at (817) 476-1797 and ask our car accident attorneys for a free case assessment to get started.