- July 11, 2022
- Car Accidents
An auto accident in Greenwood could change your life. The year 2019 showed a dip in the overall number of auto accident fatalities in the US. In 2020, the total motor vehicle fatalities reported by the NHTSA were 38,827.
The NHTSA came out with an estimate on motor vehicle crashes for the year 2021. According to his report, the number of crashes in the US has seen a whopping 10% increase in road accidents and took the total to 42915.
Out of the total 42,915, South Carolina contributes 1144 road crashes, which shows a 7.5% increase in motor vehicle crashes compared to last year.
This shows the number of auto accidents in Greenwood, SC, is following an upward trend. If you are a victim of one, do you need to get a Greenwood car accident lawyer? Let’s see.
Situations That Demand You Get a Lawyer as Soon as Possible
It’s always advisable to get in touch with a lawyer. Doing this as soon as possible is even more critical in the following situations.
- If the auto accident in Greenwood is severe involving serious injuries, it is advisable to have an auto accident lawyer by your side.
- If the accident is caused by drunk driving, distracted driving, and other reasons where it was clearly the fault of other drivers
- If the accident was partially caused due to your fault
- If after the accident, insurance company adjusters contact you
- If you want to recover the cost of damages caused
- If you want to file an auto accident lawsuit in the court
- If the accident caused the wrongful death of a person
- If you found the car accident injuries are making you lose your daily wages
- If you are unable to find concrete evidence to prove your case
- If you are wrongly charged with causing the auto accident
- If you do not have an insurance company of your own
- If the stature of limitation of filing the lawsuit is close at hand
- If it’s your first experience with an auto accident
- If the auto accident caused a multi-vehicle crash
There are ample reasons you may need an auto accident lawyer in Greenwood, SC. Moreover, recent stats for 2021 show that are condition is worsening. NHTSA is doing every bit to get the trend to slope down. It has launched a campaign to make people use seat belts and prohibit risky driving. The recent one was named as Click it or Ticket campaign.
How Can an Auto Accident Lawyer in Greenwood, SC Help You?
A lawyer for an auto accident in Greenwood can help you in more than one way. A car accident lawyer plays an important role when handling a car accident lawsuit.
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Understands Your Case
If you visit or contact a Greenwood car accident lawyer for a free consultation, you need to first explain your case in brief without missing essential details. Tell your lawyer about the accident, how it happened, how soon you reported the accident to the police, the extent of injuries, etc.
Based on the information, a lawyer understands your case and how best to move forward.
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Understand the Laws
Your attorney will make you aware of all possible scenarios. A lawyer would talk about the stature of limitation, the insurance company adjusters, the process of filing the case, shared fault rules, and more.
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Tell You the Feasibility of Your Case
Furthermore, in the end, your attorney would suggest the next best step. The auto accident attorney will judge the worth of your case. Your lawyer will work for the best outcome whether your case is settled or goes to court.
Your lawyer may suggest negotiating with the insurance company or filing the case before the court of law. This will also depend on whether the defendant has an insurance company.
If the former case, the lawyer will be responsible for talking to the insurance company. Your lawyer will present the estimated compensation to them. If the settlement goes through, you won’t have to move to the court of law.
However, if the insurance company is adamant about not providing the desired compensation, the lawyer will suggest filing the lawsuit.
How Does an Auto Accident Attorney Help in a Lawsuit?
When filing the lawsuit, your auto accident attorney in Greenwood has to perform several other tasks. This would include
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Filing the Case
Filing the case is the first step in the process. This would involve completing certain formalities like doing necessary paperwork, attaching necessary documents, and much more.
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Collecting Necessary Documents
Thereafter, the attorney would work upon collecting all necessary documents like the medical bills, police report, medical report at the scene of the accident, estimated vehicle damages, and much more.
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Finding Evidence
It is important to collect concrete evidence to support the case. For this, the lawyer will collect any video footage (if available), find the witnesses and talk to them, collect images from the scene of an accident (maybe from police reports), etc. The more the evidence, the easier it is to get compensated big.
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Presenting the Case
Finally, the lawyer also has an ardent task of presenting the case before the judge. How well a lawyer presents the case makes a lot of difference in receiving the compensation. You may also be able to claim punitive damages.
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Deal With Defense Attorney
At the same time, your lawyer must also deal with the defense attorney. If the at-fault driver also chooses to hire an attorney, your lawyer may have to up their game. A defense attorney will try to minimize the compensation and may also point towards modified comparative fault law to apply.
They will also try to prove that you were partially at fault for the accident, which will reduce your overall compensation amount.
Get an Attorney for an Auto Accident in Greenwood, SC
If things are going out of your hand, you can hire an auto accident attorney to get a sense of direction. Dealing with the law isn’t easier. Moreover, an auto accident attorney doesn’t charge anything until they win the case. You don’t have to pay for a consultation or any hourly fees.
A personal injury lawyer in Greenwood will suggest the best possible step you should take depending on your case. Contact us today to learn more.
