Florence, SC Car Accident Lawyer
Car crashes are one of the most common causes of serious injury. Victims injured in collisions could face a range of injuries, from broken bones to whiplash to more serious, life-altering injuries like paralysis and traumatic brain injuries, all of which we can help them seek compensation for.
Our lawyers can help victims get the recovery they need by filing lawsuits for lost wages, medical bills, and other expenses related to car crash injuries. We can also seek out pain and suffering damages to account for intangible harms like the mental anguish and emotional distress often associated with broken bones, head trauma, or other painful injuries. While head-on and T-bone accidents typically cause more severe injuries, even rear-end accidents can leave victims with damages worthy of compensation. We can prioritize your recovery by preparing and filing a strong case soon after an accident in Florence.
Contact our car accident lawyers today at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers for a free case review by calling (803) 451-4000.
Car Accident Cases We Handle in Florence, SC
Our attorneys handle many different types of car accident cases, including those that arise from head-on, T-bone, sideswipe, or rear-end collisions, among others.
Head-on Accidents
Head-on car wrecks are some of the most serious, occurring when two cars traveling in opposite directions collide with one another. The force of impact could cause displaced fractures, spinal cord compression, and serious facial injuries from broken windshields and airbags deploying. Head-on accidents often leave cars totaled, sometimes forcing them to roll over, worsening victims’ injuries and complicating their extraction from vehicles.
T-Bone Accidents
T-bone crashes are most common at intersections when one driver ignores another’s right of way or runs through a red light. In these types of collisions, the negligent driver’s car might strike the side of the victim’s vehicle. High-speed T-bone collisions could force victims’ cars into oncoming traffic, multiplying the damage.
Sideswipe Accidents
Sideswipe accidents often happen when one driver recklessly attempts to merge into another’s lane. Truckers who are drowsy behind the wheel might nod off and veer into other lanes, leading to sideswipe accidents. Similar circumstances could cause collisions with drunk drivers in Florence, entitling victims to compensation.
Rear-End Accidents
While often viewed as less serious than other motor vehicle accidents, rear-end collisions might still leave victims injured. For example, whiplash is especially common during fender-benders, particularly when they occur at high speeds or involve larger vehicles like trucks. Even if you are the rear driver, you might not automatically be at fault for the accident if the driver in front of you checked their brakes or was otherwise reckless, entitling you to damages from a lawsuit.
Suing for Minor Car Accidents in Florence, SC
Minor crashes can still leave you with substantial expenses related to the crash, as well as some injuries. Low-speed crashes in parking lots, fender benders on the road, and even sideswipe crashes on the highway can often result in expensive repairs. This likely means that injuries are involved as well, which would be the focus of your case against the at-fault driver.
Low-speed crashes can still cause surprising injuries, especially in rear-end collisions. These crashes are notorious for causing neck and back injuries, most notably whiplash. Whiplash injuries are often hard to identify on the first day or so. Still, they can lead to long-term pain and discomfort that could affect your ability to work and perform activities you used to enjoy.
If you suffer minor injuries after what you thought was a minor crash, get medical care, get records of that care, and contact our attorneys. Our car accident lawyers can help you connect the injury to the accident, even if it was the day before (or a couple of days before) you began noticing symptoms. We can also fight to get you compensation for that injury and any effects the injury might have on your life, like temporarily preventing you from working.
Even when a crash or an injury seems minor, it might still cost you dearly, so it is important to talk to our attorney about your case so that you do not undermine it by delaying filing.
Getting Compensation for Serious Injuries in a Car Crash in Florence, SC
To get compensation for more serious injuries, it might be less about proving that the injury was related to your crash and showing that you actually experienced damages and more about convincing the insurance company to cover what will be very high medical bills and expensive damages. Insurance companies will typically seek to get insurance claims shut down by denying their driver’s fault or denying that the injuries are as serious as the victim asserts. Proving that your case is indeed severe – and proving that it is worth what we say it is – will require evidence.
Witness statements, photos of the accident scene, and your testimony about what happened will be key. Getting police reports and producing all records – medical records, vehicle repair bills, pay stubs – will be important to prove the accident and how severely it has affected you.
When it comes time to negotiate with insurance companies, our car accident lawyers can fight to get you what you are truly owed, not just some low-dollar settlement to end the case quickly. Often, insurance companies refuse to pay victims damages for their pain and suffering, leading to our lawyers filing lawsuits against negligent drivers in court.
Serious injury cases often go to trial because the insurance company hopes the case will be dismissed or the victim will eventually “give in” and settle for a low amount rather than taking the time to fight the case in court. Our attorneys will do whatever we need to get you the damages you deserve, including taking your case before a judge and jury if necessary.
When to Start Preparing Your Florence, SC Car Accident Case
Our lawyers can get started working on your case as soon as possible so that we do not waste any of the statute of limitations or unnecessarily delay your recovery of damages.
After suffering injuries because of a negligent driver, contact our attorneys. We can immediately work to preserve evidence that could be lost with time, like footage from security cameras near the crash site. We will also focus on contacting eyewitnesses whom we may identify from the police report, and swiftly scheduling interviews to collect their statements.
You will have three years from the car accident’s date to file your lawsuit in court, according to S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5). This is typically sufficient time to organize evidence, tabulate damages, and write complaints, provided victims do not delay investigations or other crucial aspects of case preparation. Even if it is close to your filing deadline, we can confirm if you have a cause of action and aim to prepare a case before the statute of limitations runs out.
While it is beneficial to assume you have just three years from the accident’s date to file, our lawyers may be able to use exceptions to the statute of limitations to your advantage, such as § 15-3-30, which tolls the clock during periods when the defendant is out of state.
Recoverable Damages for Injured Car Accident Victims in Florence, SC
If you were hurt in a car accident in South Carolina, you could be entitled to compensation for expenses you paid, income you lost, and intangible harms (non-economic damages). You could also be able to get “punitive damages” if your case goes to court and the jury decides the defendant was grossly negligent.
Medical Bills and Other Expenses
You should be entitled to full compensation for all monetary expenses you had to pay because of the crash. That includes expenses like bills for medical care and vehicle repair, but it also includes costs like replacement services around the house for things you cannot do while recovering from injuries (e.g., reasonable childcare costs, hospital transportation costs, laundry services, cleaning costs).
Lost Income and Earning Capacity
You should also be able to claim financial compensation for any money you lost because of the injury. That traditionally includes lost earnings, as in the income lost during your recovery and any money lost because of your injury’s long-term or permanent effects. For example, if you worked a physically demanding job but were paralyzed in a car accident, then you might have to take a different job that pays far less. This reduced income will affect you going forward, not just during a defined healing period. As such, you should be entitled to compensation for the ongoing reduction in income you and your family will face.
If you own a business and missed out on contracts or other opportunities you had to later say no to because of your injuries, that should also qualify for damages. Essentially, the defendant should pay any money you lost because of the injury, and our lawyers can prioritize those calculations so our requests for relief are accurate.
Non-Economic Damages
Things like pain, mental and emotional distress, embarrassment, fear of future injury, and the lost enjoyment of life that comes with an injury can all be compensated. Unlike financial or “economic” damages, these “non-economic” damages have no bills, financial records, statements, or receipts associated with them.
Instead, courts and insurance companies generally rely on how severe the injury was to determine how much your non-economic damages are worth. More severe injuries could potentially be worth three or four times the other economic damages in your case, depending on how calculations are made.
Punitive Damages
The jury can make the at-fault driver pay additional damages to punish them for extreme negligence or repeat bad behavior. These damages are rare and are typically only ordered against transportation companies for malfeasance or against very dangerous drivers for gross negligence, such as drunk drivers. South Carolina caps punitive damages at $500,000 or three times the amount of compensatory damages awarded, whichever amount is greater, and our lawyers can prepare you for whether or not they are available in your case when originally assessing the defendant’s conduct.
Evidence Our Lawyers May Use During Lawsuits for Florence, SC Car Accidents
Evidence is essential in order to prove liability, and our attorneys can focus on obtaining and organizing evidence for your lawsuit in South Carolina.
Photos and Videos
Most physical evidence from car accidents is fleeting, and photographing scenes is the best way to preserve them. In addition to getting photos victims took of their injuries, property damage, or debris, we will also seek photos from law enforcement and possible eyewitnesses. Reviewing these images can help our attorneys and accident reconstruction experts piece together the sequence of events, so they are highly valuable evidence in car accident lawsuits. On top of pictures, we may get footage from dashboard cameras, doorbell cameras, or security cameras in the area. Videos might show an at-fault driver breaching their duty of care and being negligent, greatly benefiting your claim for damages in Florence.
Witness Statements
Statements from eyewitnesses and expert witnesses may also be necessary. We can use the police report to track down eyewitnesses you did not speak to at the scene and set up interviews with them. Crash reconstruction experts are particularly useful in complex cases, like accidents involving multiple drivers, so involving these witnesses early on can benefit you heading into settlement negotiations, giving us leverage over the defense to get better out-of-court offers.
Medical Records
Your medical records are some of the most important pieces of evidence our attorneys will introduce throughout your car accident lawsuit. These records will detail your specific injuries, diagnoses, prescription medications, surgeries, and any treatments necessary for your physical recovery. It is essential that your medical records are complete, so do not stop attending follow-up appointments or other doctor visits until you are fully healed, physically speaking. Gaps in your records could hurt your case.
Call Our Florence, SC Car Accident Attorneys Today
For a free review of your injury case, call Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers’ car accident lawyers at (803) 451-4000 today.
