Suffering a car accident can leave you with pain, medical bills, and an uncertain future. You may have been hurt due to someone else’s negligence, and you need to hold them accountable. Where do you start? Your first step should be to call skilled personal injury lawyers who can assess your case.
At Ricci Law Firm, you can speak with our Jacksonville car accident lawyers for free to understand your legal options. We investigate your claim and ensure your rights are protected throughout the course of your insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit. Instead of suffering the consequences of another person’s careless choices, get the help you need to secure the compensation you deserve.
How Ricci Law Firm Helps Your Car Accident Claim
Any car crash will cause some damage and injury. A fender-bender may not keep your car from being drivable, but you still need to get it repaired. You will likely be shaken up after an accident and need to recover. When you are severely injured, there are many bills to pay, and you could have to miss work.
Getting better is time-consuming enough without having to manage an insurance claim or decide whether to sue the at-fault party. This is when you need experienced help from tenacious car accident attorneys in Jacksonville, NC. Our team will take these concerns off your shoulders so you can heal without missing the opportunity to get justice. Our attorneys can find out who is to blame and build a robust case against them.
We negotiate with the insurance companies so you do not have to, ensuring you do not fall for their tricks. If your case must go to court, we litigate aggressively so the judge understands how you were wronged. We explore all avenues for financial relief so we can maximize your compensation. We use the same skills and background to help you as we have for many other clients.
We Manage All Car Accident Claims in Jacksonville, NC
The streets and highways of our city are home to many kinds of vehicles. You may be involved in a crash on Highway 17 in town or while heading toward the Outer Banks on NC 24. Pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcycle riders can also be hurt in a crash.
Your auto accident lawyer at Ricci Law Firm has experience with all these types of claims, including:
Passenger Vehicle Accidents
Cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs make up the largest number of automobiles on our roads. While we trust them to move us from home to work or out shopping, they are prone to some damaging collisions. For example, you could be hurt in crashes from head-on, in a t-bone, by being sideswiped, being rear-ended, or a rollover.
Left turns at intersections or four-way stops are especially dangerous, leading to severe injuries for the driver and passengers. If your SUV or pickup truck is top-heavy or overloaded, you could easily roll onto the side or roof of the vehicle if you lose control on a sloped road. These mishaps lead to extensive damage to your vehicle and severe injuries. Fortunately, your Jacksonville car accident attorney can help you calculate all your losses for compensation.
Motorcycle Accidents
The Insurance Information Institute (III) has found that motorcyclists are much more likely to suffer catastrophic injury or death in a crash. They do not have the protection that a passenger car driver does, and other drivers often overlook these smaller vehicles.
Motorcycle accident victims must often get emergency treatment, including surgery. They often face months of rehabilitation and physical therapy, meaning they may not be able to work. Until they can return to work and care for themselves, they need financial relief from an insurance settlement or jury verdict against the at-fault car driver.
At Ricci Law Firm, your qualified auto accident lawyers can help you fight against motorcycle bias to hold the liable party accountable. We will help you manage your claim for the best outcome after your motorcycle accident.
Tractor-Trailer Accidents
When a commercial truck driver loses control of their vehicle, the immense size and weight of a tractor-trailer can cause horrifying injuries to you in your car. Averaging 80,000 pounds and between 70 and 80 feet in length, large trucks inflict greater damage to more vehicles in an accident. When a truck is the cause of your car accident, your attorney can help.
Trucking companies have large insurance policies, but obtaining a satisfactory settlement from them can be challenging. They will fight to avoid liability, and they have the money and resources to wear you down. Our auto accident attorneys will not back down from them, and we will fight to get the compensation you deserve.
What Causes Car Accidents in Jacksonville, NC?
Car accidents are common throughout North Carolina. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has shown a recent 7.5% increase in car crash fatalities. Nearly 24% of these deaths were the result of speeding.
Speed is the number one factor in most accidents around the country. With a combination of city streets, highways, and rural roads, residents of Jacksonville, NC, can expect that speed will play a part if they are in an accident. In addition, there are other elements that can contribute to your car crash, such as:
- Aggressive driving, also known as road rage
- Driving drunk or while taking drugs
- Bad environmental conditions, such as ice, snow, rain, or flooded roads
- Breaking traffic laws
- Driving while sleepy or fatigued
- Driving while distracted
- Hazardous road conditions
- Defective auto parts, such as tires or brakes
- Shoddy repair work on a vehicle involved in the crash
- Loose animals that enter the roadway
- Inadequate or confusing signs
- Road construction
Some drivers blame themselves for their accidents, but the truth is that there is likely another party at fault for your crash. Untrimmed residential or public landscaping that blocks visibility at a stop sign could contribute to your collision, and those responsible for maintaining the plants should be investigated. Even parts or vehicle manufacturers can be pursued if their actions or inactions led to your crash.
Recovering Damages in Your Jacksonville Car Accident Case
Your Jacksonville auto accident attorney should examine every potentially liable party and build a solid case against them. You can file a combination of insurance claims and lawsuits to secure the financial recovery you need. In each case, you can provide a list of your damages, which includes both actual costs and the subjective impact your accident has had on your life.
Known as compensatory damages, they fall into two main categories: economic and non-economic. Some examples of economic damages include:
- Hospital, ER, and ICU expenses
- Lost income while you are home recuperating
- Lost future earnings and benefits
- Medical bills
- Nursing and rehabilitative care
- Prescription medications
- Physical therapy costs
- Repair or replacement costs for personal property, including your automobile
Non-Economic Damages Are No Less Important in Your Claim
The non-economic losses include the way you have suffered after your car accident. They do not have a specific price tag, but they are a large part of your damages. Insurance claims do not typically pay for this pain and suffering, so you may need to file a lawsuit to recover all the expenses you have endured.
Examples of these non-economic damages include:
- Anxiety and depression
- Scarring, especially on the face
- Disfigurement from amputations or burns
- Emotional distress
- Isolation and loss of society
- Loss of enjoyment of life, including hobbies and time with family
- Mental anguish
- PTSD
- Shock, fear, grief, and embarrassment
The value of these varies from case to case because each person’s interpretation of their emotional burden will be different. Your Jacksonville car accident attorney can help you determine what your suffering is worth so we can provide a fair estimate to the other parties.
Understanding Liability in Your Auto Accident Claim
To successfully secure compensation, you and your attorney will need to present evidence showing how the other party(ies) is responsible for your accident. This means proving negligence, which has four necessary parts:
- Duty of care: You must have evidence that the other person owed you a duty of care. For car crashes, this duty is assumed as soon as a person accepts their license and gets onto the road.
- Breach: Proving a breach in (or failure to uphold) the duty of care can be shown with documentation of intoxication, police reports, cell phone records, and traffic camera footage, among other sources.
- Causation: Your attorney will need to draw a direct connection between the defendant’s breach of duty and your injuries to show they caused you harm.
- Damages: Presenting medical records, bills, repair estimates, and other evidence can show you have measurable damages as a result of the crash.
Numerous parties can be held responsible, and your attorney must prove these four elements against each of them to be awarded damages. At Ricci Law Firm, we will thoroughly evaluate the validity of a claim against another party to determine if pursuing it is worth the time and effort. We concentrate on reducing your fees in this way while working to maximize what you receive.
Dram Shop Liability
When it comes to liability in North Carolina, there are special laws that pertain to driving while drunk. Known as dram shop laws (or ABC laws in NC), they allow plaintiffs to file claims against establishments that serve alcohol to a person who is already intoxicated or a person under 21.
Invoking these laws is complicated in our state and definitely requires careful interpretation by your attorney. They must decide whether they can effectively persuade an insurance provider or judge that the law applies in your case. If it does, you can not only satisfy your need for justice in your case but potentially prevent the establishment from committing this same crime and hurting others.
Insurance Requirements and Claims in North Carolina
Anyone who lives and drives in North Carolina is required by law to carry insurance policies that will pay for any injuries and damage they cause to others in a crash. This is known as liability insurance, and you must carry the following minimum amounts:
- Bodily injury coverage: $50,000 for one individual and at least $100,000 to cover two or more injured
- Property damage coverage: $25,000 per crash
Note that these policies do not pay for damage to you or your vehicle, but you can carry additional coverage so you are protected in case a driver hits you but is uninsured. One look at today’s healthcare costs will tell you that the minimum coverage amounts will not do a lot if you are seriously injured. If you exhaust the minimum coverage amounts of the at-fault person, you should consider filing a personal injury lawsuit.
Insurance May Not Pay for All Your Losses
In addition to having more bills than the liable person’s insurance will pay, you may not get all the damages you deserve from an insurance claim. First, insurance adjusters are paid to reduce or deny claims so they save money for the company. Second, most policies do not pay for non-economic losses.
In addition to negotiating the fairest settlement for you, your attorney will also let you know when they think it is time to move to trial. In the courtroom before a judge and jury, you have a better chance of recovering all your losses, including the subjective ones. Understanding the nuances of these cases is where the lawyers at Ricci Law Firm stand out among the rest.
Hire Our Jacksonville Car Accident Lawyers Today
At Ricci Law Firm, we are dedicated to championing the families who need our help. We provide compassionate and knowledgeable services to help you negotiate with insurance companies and take liable parties to court. You can depend on us because we offer over 60 years of combined trial and legal experience with a client-oriented approach.
Our Jacksonville car accident lawyers focus on building a strong attorney-client relationship that brings our clients back when they need help in the future. If you or someone you love has been injured in a car wreck from someone else’s carelessness, contact us to schedule a free consultation today.
Visit Us at Our Jacksonville Office
2421 Gum Branch Rd Suite 150, Jacksonville, NC 28540