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Protecting Yourself During the Holidays
Around the holidays, the roads can become significantly more dangerous for many reasons. Unfortunately, there are several negligent acts that people can commit and cause others to suffer significant harm as a result. As a driver, you should know about these holiday dangers and the ways that you can stay safe.
Some of the biggest dangers around the holidays include:
- More drunk drivers
- More fatigued drivers
- More rideshare drivers
- More traffic
You should recognize the various signs that indicate someone is negligent. It helps to know the most effective ways to stay safe when someone else puts you at risk. Our firm is here to help you every step of the way, providing guidance so that you know what to do if an accident threatens your health and well-being.
If you suffer severe injuries because of negligence, we have got you covered. Call us today at 703-591-0067 to discuss your rights.
More Drunk Drivers
Planning for Holiday Travel: How to Stay Safe
If you are one of the millions of people who travel for the holidays, it helps to know where dangers may exist. For those driving to their destination, the highways can be particularly dangerous and planning before you start your trip can help you avoid a severe crash.
Here are some of the things you can do to stay safe:
Pick Your Route Carefully
You know where you are trying to go, and you know the various ways to get there. While some routes may take you longer or travel more miles, they may be safer. Some highways and roads are often more congested than others. Try to avoid highways with more vehicles, and you can potentially prevent a severe crash.
Know the Weather
Around the holidays, there's often a change in weather that puts individuals at risk whenever they're on the road. While you may recognize how to stay safe in specific weather conditions, not everyone is the same. Some people may drive too fast for the weather conditions, impacting their ability to brake.
How Can Latency Issues Impact My Claim?
Enduring an injury because of someone else's negligent actions can be devastating. However, some injuries come with latency issues, and you may not immediately experience the effects of your injuries. If this happens, it can significantly complicate your claim.
Latency issues mean you suffer an injury, but you do not feel them immediately. Instead, it can take days or even weeks for your injuries to manifest. Insurance adjusters look to latency issues to help them deny claims and minimize how much compensation a person can obtain.
When someone suffers an injury with latency issues, they do often not seek medical care right away. They think they are fine. Seeking medical treatment as soon as you become symptomatic is important. It will lead to the proper diagnose of your condition and the start of treatment that will hopefully ensure a full recovery from your injuries.
Insurance Adjusters Use Delays Against You
If you delay and avoid seeking medical care, insurance adjusters may try to use that against you. They can attempt to say that you did not suffer injuries in the crash or that you suffered harm in a separate incident. Therefore, it is vital to prioritize your health and act quickly.
How Long Do I Have to Report My Virginia Car Accident?
If you suffer a car accident, the steps you take can significantly impact your claim. Reporting your accident is just one of the steps you should take after a crash so that you can ensure the details are on record. In Virginia, there are specific rules regarding accident reports, especially concerning law enforcement.
In Virginia, you must report an accident to law-enforcement if an attended vehicle suffers property damage or if someone in the crash suffered an injury or died. Non-reportable accidents are essentially those in which nobody was hurt and nobody was in a vehicle that sustained property damage.
Why Act Quickly?
The faster you report the crash, the better it is for your evidence. You may be able to have law enforcement detail your accident and preserve evidence from your crash scene. You should also report the accident to your insurance company, whether you were or were not at fault.
What Are Statutes of Limitations?
The Virginia statute of limitations sets forth timeframes you must abide by when filing a car accident claim. To pursue compensation for injuries after an accident, you must file a lawsuit within two years of the crash. For property damages, you have five years to file your case. For a wrongful death claim, you have two years to file a lawsuit.
Is a Recorded Statement Required After an Accident?
Insurance adjusters may ask you to provide a recorded statement in the days after a car accident. While this can be helpful for some situations, you should never go through the process on your own because a recorded statement can be a tool that some insurance adjusters try to use against you.
When insurance adjusters ask for a recorded statement, they often already have answers to their questions. They want you to make a mistake that they can eventually use against you. Here are some of the things you should know about recorded statements after a crash occurs.
Speak to Lawyer before Giving a Recorded Statement
When insurance adjusters attempt to get a recorded statement, they are doing their job. Their objective is to learn your perspective on how the crash occurred and to learn about your injuries and treatment. By speaking with a lawyer before you give a recorded statement, you will have the opportunity to better understand the insurance adjuster's objective and the likely questions to be asked. You will also have the opportunity to discuss your version of the events with an attorney informally. This informal setting will allow you to learn some of the do's and don'ts for giving a recorded statement should you later choose to give a recorded statement.
What Are the Leading Causes of Crashes In Virginia?
Millions of crashes occur each year, many of which involve negligent actions. Despite knowing the dangers of specific actions, people still put others in danger. Below, we detail some of the main causes of crashes in Virginia and how they cause significant harm.
Speeding
Despite speed limits posted on every road, many drivers ignore them and drive much faster than they should. Speeding is one of the leading causes of crashes throughout the nation. Drivers may lose control of speeding vehicles. Drivers may be unable to stop their vehicles, leading to rear-end collisons and even multiple car collisions.
Aggressive Driving
Aggressive driving can include the following:
- Swerving between traffic
- Honking
- Tailgating or driving too closely
- Cutting off other drivers
- Brake checking
Aggressive driving can cause others to speed or drive aggressively. When someone is driving aggressively, it can also cause distractions.
Four Elements of Proving Liability
When seeking compensation for your injuries, your attorney must prove the other party is liable. Proving liability means you will have to address four factors to hold someone else accountable for your damages. Below, our Fairfax car accident lawyers will explain the four elements you need to know when moving forward to help safeguard your rights.
Duty of Care
Whenever someone gets behind the wheel of a car, they have a duty to ensure they keep themselves and others safe. They accept a duty of care to follow laws, drive safely, and respect all others on the road. Unfortunately, not everyone takes this duty of care as seriously as they should. Your lawyer must prove what that duty was in your case.
Breach of Duty of Care
Any negligent action is a breach of the driver's duty of care. For instance, when someone texts and drives, and causes a crash, they have breached their duty of care. Some of the actions that can cause a breach in the duty of care include:
Virginia’s Fault Laws and Your Crash Claim
For many, the biggest question after a crash is, "how can I obtain compensation for my losses?" Dealing with emotional trauma and financial losses is never easy, so working through the process to recover compensation for your damages is an understandable concern.
In Virginia, car accident claims follow the traditional fault-based laws. It's vital to recognize how this helps you move forward following a collision so that you can seek compensation for medical bills, lost wages, property damage, emotional suffering, and more.
How Fault Laws Work
Fault laws allow you to hold someone else accountable for the crash when they are negligent. For instance, if someone is texting and driving, and they slam into the back of your vehicle. That driver and his or her insurance company would be responsible for your compensation.
When you file a claim, it's up to the responsible party's insurance provider to follow through on their policyholder's liability coverage. Similarly, if you are the responsible party, the injured individual can file a claim with your insurance provider for compensation.
7 Things to Know About Dealing with Insurance Adjusters After a Crash
In the days and weeks following a crash, it can be challenging for claimants to understand their rights. In addition, you have to deal with your physical injuries, financial hardships, and emotional trauma. Unfortunately, insurance adjusters don't make it any easier, even though they're supposed to help people after a car accident.
Because our team at Shevlin Smith cares about your rights, we want to help you understand some of the most important things you should know about dealing with insurance adjusters. After a crash, make sure you know what to expect and how to move forward without insurance companies trying to take advantage of your rights.
Here are 7 things to know about dealing with insurance adjusters after a collision:
Burn Injury Degrees and the Impact on Your Life
Burns are some of the most severe injuries because they impact you physically and emotionally. There are varying degrees of severity when it comes to burn injuries, each more difficult to endure than the previous. However, not everyone knows about them and how these burn injuries can impact their life.
Degrees of burns include first-degree, second-degree, and third-degree. In rare situations, you can sustain fourth-degree burn injuries that extend deep into your body.
First-Degree Burns
First-degree burns affect only the outer layer of the skin. Symptoms include redness, pain, minor inflammation, dryness. A mild sunburn is the best example of a first-degree burn. These burns are often called superficial burns.
Second-Degree Burns
More serious than first-degree burns, a second-degree burn extends deeper into your skin, causing damage to first layer of the skin (known as the epidermis) and injury to the second layer (known as the dermis). Blisters and swelling are often symptoms of a second-degree burn. These types of burns can take a few weeks to heal, sometimes requiring skin grafting and other procedures to fix the damage done. If you suffer a second-degree burn, be sure to seek immediate treatment.
703-591-0067
10513 Judicial Drive, Suite 200, Fairfax, VA 22030
703-591-0067
From our office in Fairfax, Shevlin Smith, P.C. serves clients throughout Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., including Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Ashburn, Burke, Centreville, Dale City, Fair Oaks, Leesburg, Manassas, McLean, Oakton, Reston, Springfield, and Woodbridge, as well as Fairfax County, Arlington County, Fauquier County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
