At AutoAccident.com, our clients are our focus, from dealing with insurers to investigating your crash or preparing for trial. Knowing that someone is working on getting the compensation you need and has your best interests in mind can ease that worry. Contact our legal team to schedule a free consultation with one of our injury lawyers and learn how we can help you with your accident case.

Personal injuries are those that occur through negligence. In other words, the individual would not have suffered an injury if that other person or entity had used a standard of care that others would have. Personal injuries include physical harm, but mental and emotional damage may be included. Following are the different areas in which a personal injury may occur:

• Motor Vehicle Accidents: These types of accidents are often due to a negligent driver speeding, driving distracted, or being too fatigued to be behind the wheel of a car.
• Bicycle Crashes: Negligent motorists often cause bicycle crashes, especially when turning right at an intersection. Backing out of driveways without looking for bicycle riders is another cause.
• Motorcycle Collisions: A motorist making a left turn in front of a motorcyclist is the most common cause of these accidents.
• Truck Accidents: Poorly trained drivers, speeding, and lack of maintenance can lead to an accident with a big truck. Underride/override accidents often cause fatalities to another motorist.
• Uber/Lyft Accidents: Accidents using a ride-sharing service can result in personal injury.
• Common Carriers: Carriers such as buses and trains are responsible for safely taking their passengers to their destinations. A personal injury lawyer can determine if negligence is involved if someone is injured in an accident.
• Pedestrian Accidents: Pedestrians often suffer severe injuries in an accident because of their lack of protection. Intersections are common locations for pedestrian accidents caused by negligent motorists.
• Dog Bites: Dog owners in California must keep their animals on a leash or contained to avoid injuries to others. If a dog bites or injures someone, they may claim fair compensation.
• Premises Liability: Slips and falls can cause injuries if a property owner or government entity is negligent.
• Products Liability: Products are expected to be safe if used as directed. The manufacturer and others can be held accountable if a product is defective.
• Medical Device Defects: Defective medical devices can worsen a patient’s outcome and require further surgeries to repair. The company can be responsible for expenses, pain, and suffering due to medical device defects.
• Defective Drugs: Insufficient warning labels or placing the wrong medication or dosage in the package can cause severe harm or fatalities.
• Wildfires: When someone is injured in a wildfire caused by negligence, they can claim financial compensation.
• Wrongful Death: Wrongful death occurs when negligence on the part of another is the cause. The family may pursue a claim for compensation for that loss.

The injured party must prove negligence to be compensated for a personal injury. While this might sound complicated, only the four following things must be shown:

• The person or entity who caused the injury had a duty of care. In other words, they had a legal obligation to be careful not to harm someone.
• The negligent party breached that duty: The person or entity who caused the injury did not act in a way that prevented the harm.
• The person or entity’s actions caused the injury: For example, the motorist who caused an accident was speeding or drunk driving, which led to the crash injury. An experienced accident lawyer can build a strong compensation case.
• The injured person sustained a financial loss: Evidence and documentation must be presented that proves the injured person suffered a financial loss. This can be shown through medical costs, lost wages, and noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering.

Damages in a personal injury include economic and noneconomic losses. Economic refers to monetary losses such as medical bills. Noneconomic losses are for intangibles, such as the pain of the trauma experienced. Recoverable damages may include:

• Medical costs: Ambulance, hospitalization, doctor bills, and anything associated with the injury can be recovered. This includes medical tests, rehabilitation, a home health care aide, etc.
• Out-of-Pocket Costs: These are related to the injury, including medications, travel to and from the doctor and wheelchairs, or other needed devices. The cost of changing a home to enable a disabled person to function is also covered, such as ramps or alterations to a bathroom.
• Lost Wages: Monies lost because the injured person cannot work are recoverable. Self-employed employees may also claim lost wages; proof of income must be shown.
• Loss of Future Income: Some people are severely injured and can no longer work. If the person cannot return to work, the loss of future wages, expected bonuses, and other losses can be recovered. A specialist in vocational rehabilitation can support their claim by testifying as an expert witness. The limitations of the injured person are assessed by this witness, which includes doing cognitive and dexterity testing and evaluating their physical and/or mental limitations.
• Noneconomic Damages: These types of losses refer to the pain and suffering the person experiences, and they can also include humiliation or embarrassment from scarring or disfigurement. Loss of enjoyment of life is recoverable due to a person’s inability to perform functions before the accident, such as gardening, skiing, or others.
• Damage to Personal Relationships: The loss of consortium with a spouse, along with love, protection, moral support, and other intangibles, can be recovered in a personal injury. Damage to the relationship with the family’s children is also recoverable.
• Emotional Distress: Some people in a motor vehicle accident develop post-traumatic stress disorder afterward. According to the Mayo Clinic, PTSD presents nightmares, flashbacks, depression, and severe anxiety. To collect damages for PTSD, the injured person must require the services of a medical professional to cope with and treat the symptoms.
• Wrongful Death: When a loved one is lost because of negligence, family members supported by the decedent by at least 50 percent may claim fair compensation. This can pay for funeral and burial expenses, lost future income, loss of inheritance, and much more.
• Punitive Damages: Punitive damages are not often awarded in California because malice, fraud, or oppression must be involved. They can be awarded in intentional deaths or when drunk driving is involved.

Finding the right one is essential if you are looking for a Lemon Hill car accident lawyer to help you recover financial compensation. This can be daunting since there are so many to choose from. Learning about a lawyer, both professionally and personally, is helpful, and this can let you find out what lawyer would be the best fit for your case. Following are some valuable tips on what to look for in a personal injury lawyer:

• Look for a lawyer who practices personal injury law exclusively.
• Find an attorney with compassion interested in you and your family, not just in your case. That way, you will know they will work hard to get you the compensation you need.
• Choose a lawyer who is professional and experienced.
• While smaller law firms may be acceptable, remember that a larger one has the financial wherewithal to pursue a case in court.
• Check online client reviews on whether the attorney is recommended and does an excellent job communicating with their clients.
• Look over the lawyer’s website for information that pertains to your case.
• Check the attorney’s education and the associations they belong to.
• Look for comprehensive knowledge of personal injury law, such as published papers, books, or television appearances.

Watch the following video on how to choose a personal injury lawyer:

We believe that no one should have to pay for injuries caused by another’s negligence. This is one of the reasons we decided to practice personal injury law. Our approach is holistic. We believe an accident injury affects the person and can impact the entire family financially, making life difficult.

Suffering an injury due to someone’s negligence can leave you with mounting bills and pain. If you have been injured in an auto accident caused by a careless driver, selecting a high-rated Lemon Hill personal injury attorney is crucial in helping you get fair compensation for your injuries and damages. Please call us at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly advice.

^{Editor’s Note: updated 6.20.23 Photo Attribution: Image by Leobert from Pixabay cd [cs 1693]}