Kelseyville, California, has changed its name many times—Kelsey, Kelsey Town, Peartown. But one thing that has not changed is the beauty of the natural landscape and the friendliness of its 3,300 residents.

This neighborhood might not have the freeways we associate with massive car accidents, but collisions happen like in Kelseyville. Perhaps because of its rural character, Kelseyville attracts all sorts of dangerous driving, including going too fast for conditions or illegally passing other vehicles.

If you have been hurt in an accident in Kelseyville, call our knowledgeable injury attorneys at (707) 564-1900 or (800) 404-5400 for a free consultation to discuss your legal options.

About 450 people are injured or killed in accidents in Lake County. Around 60 people were killed or injured because of alcohol, approximately 40 motorcyclists and 20 pedestrians. State safety data ranks the county close to the middle of the pack—32 out of 58.

If you have suffered severe injuries in an accident caused by negligence in or near Kelseyville, you can pursue monetary compensation for your damages. Call our injury lawyers at (707) 564-1900 for a free consultation to discuss a potential claim.

As experienced Kelseyville personal injury attorneys, we’ve heard so many misconceptions about car accidents that if we repeated them, our heads would spin. Let us break down the law regarding car accidents, which is the same law that applies to slip and fall cases and other serious injuries.

To receive compensation, you must prove that the person you are suing was negligent. In plain language, this means the driver was sufficiently careless that they were at fault. Go out onto the road any day of the week, and you’ll see all kinds of negligent behavior, such as:

• Speeding
• Driving too fast for the conditions
• Turning without using proper signals
• Tailgating
• Failing to check a blind spot
• Drifting into another lane
• Backing up without using side mirrors

In California, you need to prove four elements to win a negligence lawsuit:

• The person you are suing owes you a duty to use reasonable care. If you’re on the road, drivers owe their passengers and fellow motorists a duty to operate their vehicles carefully, so this element is usually easy to prove.
• The defendant did not use sufficient care. They might have committed some of the negligent behavior mentioned above.
• You must suffer an injury you can be compensated for under the law. If you broke bones or sustained a concussion, then you qualify.
• The defendant’s conduct (and not something else) must have caused your injuries. In other words, you can’t sue for a pre-existing injury unless your most recent accident made it worse.

If you can’t prove these four elements, you can’t win. It’s as simple as that.

You can’t win a lawsuit or get a settlement without evidence. Sure, you can go into court and tell the judge, “That man hit me, and I spent $6,000 in medical bills,” but the judge will laugh at you. You shouldn’t expect an insurance adjuster to be impressed, either.

Instead, you need proof of who caused the accident and when. At our law firm, we have relied on the following:

• Police report. This report can identify who was involved in the collision and when/where it happened.
• Eyewitness testimony. Anyone who saw the crash can testify to how it unfolded.
• Blood test results. If the other driver was high or intoxicated, we could use medical evidence to establish that fact.
• Surveillance video. A nearby store might have captured the collision, showing who is to blame.
• Cell phone records. If a driver was on her phone during the crash, we could find that out by issuing a subpoena for her phone records.

We also need to establish your injuries for the jury. This means using your medical records to show how badly you were hurt and submitting medical bills to prove your economic losses. Sometimes, we need a medical expert to establish that the crash caused your injuries, though that isn’t always necessary.

Not every case goes to trial—in fact, very few do. As Kelseyville personal injury lawyers, we’ve handled thousands of car accident cases, and we know that insurance companies are often eager to settle their cases out of court. We can often negotiate a settlement for an outstanding sum to cover your injuries. It’s less costly, faster, and, more importantly, private.

Here’s the key to settling a car accident case: timing. To receive the most compensation, you need to fully understand your economic losses—the cost of medical care, lost wages, etc. When you have made a maximum medical improvement, the proper time to assess this is.

Now, maximum medical improvement doesn’t necessarily mean you’re back to normal—if you suffered paralysis, you’d never be back to your old self. But it does mean you’ve reached the point when you can’t get any better physically. At that point, we should know your economic losses.

You must also submit a demand for compensation to the negligent driver’s insurer. This letter will lay out your injuries and other facts:

• When the accident occurred
• Why is the insured responsible for the accident
• The amount and cost of medical treatment
• How much compensation do you demand to avoid going to court

A well-written demand letter should be professional but to the point. There’s no reason to make threats, but you must be clear about how much compensation you need to cover economic losses and other harms like pain and suffering.

In our experience as Kelseyville auto accident attorneys, insurers rarely agree with your initial demand. Instead, they try to make a counteroffer—usually a meager counteroffer. We’ll reject it and continue negotiating, going back and forth until we reach an agreeable amount.

If we’ve done our research correctly, we should obtain a sum that will fully compensate you, allowing you to move forward with your life. Our clients are pleased with our negotiation efforts; insurance adjusters know we mean business. Still, some test us, and we have no choice but to head into court and file a lawsuit to get you the compensation you need.

Watch the following video to learn about our holistic approach to personal injury cases.

Being hurt in an accident can be stressful. Let our legal team help you. Call our experienced Kelseyville personal injury lawyers today for free and friendly advice. We can be reached at (707) 564-1900 or (800) 404-5400. Since 1982, our skilled injury attorneys have helped residents of Kelseyville get total compensation for injury accidents and wrongful death cases.

^{Editor’s Note: updated 11.1.23 Image by Hans on Pixabay da cha [cs 1159]}