Drivers who fail to observe the road may cause serious accidents that may lead to debilitating injuries and other losses. In some cases, victims of distracted driving accidents may even suffer fatal injuries.
If you or a person you love suffered injuries in a car crash that a distracted driver caused, you need to have experienced legal counsel by your side aggressively advocating for your interests.
The San Marcos distracted driving attorneys at DJC Law can handle every step of your personal injury claim or lawsuit. First, we can investigate your accident circumstances and gather documents to prove your case. We can also handle all settlement negotiations and litigation proceedings in your case in pursuit of the highest monetary recovery available.
Please contact our office directly for a free case evaluation and legal consultation with an experienced San Marcos distracted driving lawyer. We’re ready to assess your rights.
Why Choose Us to Represent You?
If you sustained injuries in a distracted driving car accident, you want a solid, aggressive legal team fighting for your legal interests. The experienced San Marcos distracted driving accident lawyers at DJC Law have the knowledge, compassion, and experience to achieve the results you deserve.
Our legal team resolves many cases directly through the insurance settlement process. However, unlike some personal injury law firms, we are not afraid to take on the insurance company directly and litigate your case in the court system to an efficient resolution.
We can advise you in making thoughtful, informed decisions throughout your case, including whether or not to accept a particular settlement offer from the insurance company or litigate your case in court.
Let us explore your legal options and recover the monetary settlement you deserve for your car accident losses.
What Is My San Marcos Distracted Driving Accident Case Worth?
Putting a firm value on a car accident case can be challenging since every accident case is different. Different accident victims suffer various injuries and may require different types of medical treatment.
In general, the more serious the accident victim's injuries and losses, the higher the monetary compensation they may recover as part of their claim or lawsuit. Some factors that may affect the types and amounts of damage that you can recover in your case include the nature and extent of your injuries, the force of the accident, the number of collisions that occurred, the cost of your medical treatment, whether you had to miss time from work and if so, the amount of money that you lost from being unable to work.
To recover monetary damages, accident victims must satisfy their legal burden of proof:
- They must establish that the other driver behaved negligently under the circumstances. For example, the driver might have looked down at their phone or otherwise did not pay attention to the road.
- The victim must show that their accident directly resulted from the at-fault driver's negligence.
- They must demonstrate that they suffered at least one physical injury because of the other driver's carelessness.
We can retain one or more experts who can testify in your case to help satisfy these legal elements. For example, an accident reconstructionist can visit the accident scene, review camera footage, and speak with witnesses to determine how the accident occurred.
A medical expert, on the other hand, can causally relate your injuries to the accident. A treating healthcare provider can also establish, based on a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that you suffered one or more permanent injuries in your accident (for instance, a full or partial paralysis injury).
If you can establish the various legal elements of your car accident claim, you can recover different types of monetary damages.
First, you can recover the cost of your medical treatment expenses — both past and anticipated.
You might also recover lost income compensation if you missed work due to your injuries. If you had to switch jobs, take a pay cut, or switch to light-duty work, you can also claim loss of earning capacity.
Finally, you can recover various types of monetary damages for your intangible losses, including compensation for:
- Lost quality of life
- Loss of the ability to use a body part
- Permanent disfigurement or disability
- Mental anguish
- Pain and suffering
- Inconvenience
- Loss of spousal companionship
- Lifetime care costs.
At DJC Law, our experienced San Marcos car accident lawyers can advise whether to accept a pending settlement offer from the insurance company or continue settlement negotiations. We can also explore litigation. No matter what you choose, our legal team will stand by your side every step of the way, aggressively fighting for your legal interests against the insurance company.
Where Do Distracted Driving Accidents Occur in San Marcos?
Distracted driving accidents in San Marcos can happen anywhere people drive. Area highways are typical locations for distracted driving accidents simply due to higher speeds and traffic concentration. Some of these highways include State Highway 80, State Highway 123, and Interstate 35.
Distracted driving accidents are also common in parking lots and garages since drivers in those locations often have their minds on other things, such as getting to their destination or leaving and going home.
Drivers in these locations might also fail to use their backup cameras or look behind them before pulling out of a parking space, negligently causing their vehicle to strike another vehicle or pedestrian.
If you sustained injuries in a distracted driving accident in one of these locations, you are not alone. However, you must contact skilled legal counsel as quickly as possible to get the support you need to explore your legal options.
At DJC Law, our attorneys can review your accident with you and pursue a claim for the monetary recovery you need and deserve.
Types of Distractions That Cause Car Accidents in San Marcos
With the many electronic devices in today's vehicles, it is easy for a driver to become distracted. Frequently, drivers become distracted when they try to use their electronic devices while driving.
For example, a driver might send or read a text message on their cell phone or make a phone call without using a hands-free Bluetooth device. Even hands-free systems can distract them.
Loud music or GPS navigation can distract a driver, as can passengers, especially for teen drivers or parents with young children in the back seat.
Any of these activities may cause a driver to look down, turn their head, or otherwise take their focus and attention off the road. When a driver physically turns their head, even for a second or two, they may fail to see a nearby pedestrian or motor vehicle, and a crash results.
Even when drivers do not turn their head, others in the vehicle may cause them to lose focus while driving.
When drivers become distracted while behind the wheel, they may inadvertently cause several different types of accidents.
These accidents may include:
- T-bone or broadside collisions, where the front of the distracted driver's vehicle hits the side of a car that has the right-of-way on an intersecting road
- Tailgate or rear-end accidents, where the front of the distracted driver's vehicle hits the back of the car in front of them
- Head-on collisions, where a distracted driver negligently causes their vehicle to slide into the path of oncoming traffic, striking the front of an oncoming vehicle
- Sideswipe accidents, where an inattentive driver negligently causes their vehicle to swerve into another travel lane, often pushing cars on the receiving end entirely off the road
If you suffered injuries in a motor vehicle crash that a distracted driver caused, it is best to consult with legal counsel as quickly as possible. Your attorney can determine exactly how your accident happened, often with the assistance of a certified accident reconstructionist. Your lawyer can then pursue the monetary recovery you need for your injuries.
Injuries in San Marcos Distracted Driving Accidents
In a distracted driving accident, accident victims may suffer severe injuries. The injuries that a car crash victim ultimately sustains will depend on the force of the collision, where they sat in the vehicle, and how the accident moved their body.
In some situations, a collision may cause a driver or passenger's body part to strike a vehicle component, such as the steering wheel, door, headrest, or window, bringing about debilitating injuries.
Some of the most common injuries that car crash victims may suffer include:
- Open lacerations
- Bruises
- Whiplash
- Rib fractures
- Broken bones
- Soft tissue injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Internal bleeding
- Spinal cord injuries
- Eye injuries
- Mouth and dental injuries
Our legal team can assist if you sustained any of these injuries in your San Marcos distracted driving accident. We can begin gathering documents and handling various legal tasks while you attend medical appointments and focus your attention on recovering from your injuries.
We know the effects any injury can have on your life, and we fight for your rights whether you have relatively minor or catastrophic injuries.
Fighting the Insurance Company After a San Marcos Distracted Driving Accident
Following a distracted driving accident, our legal team can pursue a personal injury claim with the at-fault driver's insurance company.
Despite what they advertise, insurance companies are not interested in making an accident victim whole again after their accident. Instead, they want to pay the accident victim as little monetary compensation as possible to remove the claim from their books.
To accomplish this goal, many insurance company adjusters will try to pin some or all the blame for the accident on the accident victim. They might also contend that the accident victim overstated their injuries or that the car accident did not cause their injuries.
Our legal team understands the tricks and tactics insurance companies routinely use to undervalue car accident claims. We can go at the insurance company head-on with litigation and favorable expert testimony on your behalf. We can maximize the monetary recovery you receive, making you whole again after your accident to the greatest extent possible.
What to Do Following a Distracted Driving Accident in San Marcos
Following a distracted driving car accident, concentrate all your attention on getting better, attending medical appointments, and making a full recovery. Attending all your prescribed medical appointments increases your chances of obtaining favorable settlement compensation in your case, and insurance companies are more likely to take your case seriously.
Similarly, keep track of all critical documents in your case, including medical treatment records from providers, medical bills, lost income documentation, injury photographs, property damage photographs, camera footage of the accident, and photographs of the accident scene. Keep any contact information you obtained from witnesses to the car accident.
Once you complete your medical treatment, we can assemble these documents into a settlement demand package for the insurance company to review and evaluate in your case.
Contact an Experienced Distracted Driving Accident Attorney in San Marcos Today
If you sustained injuries in a San Marcos distracted driving accident, time is of the essence. When accident victims fail to file a timely claim or lawsuit within the time frame designated by the statute of limitations, they waive their right to recover monetary damages for their injuries.
At DJC Law, our legal team can begin the process for you right away and safeguard your right to collect the financial recovery you deserve.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a personal injury law firm in San Marcos, please call us at (512) 888-9999 or contact us online.