Did you know that car crashes in the United States account for around 11.7 deaths per 1,000 individuals? Besides fatalities, car accidents can also cause severe injuries and thousands of dollars worth of damage. This is why it is so important to have a car accidents lawyer on your side.
If you’ve been in a car accident recently, you might be wondering how much a person can sue for a car accident. Unfortunately, there is no single answer to this. This is because there are many different types of car accidents that can happen.
Usually, the more severe the accident is, the more a person can sue for. Keep reading and learn more about how it all works below.
Understanding Different Types of Car Accidents
Before we dive into the price ranges of suing for car accidents, it is first important to understand what kind of car accidents there are. As mentioned before, there are many different types of accidents and some can be much worse than others. For example, suppose that you were sitting in your car at a stop light and a car behind you fails to slow down in time.
As a result, that car will bump into the back of your car, causing a small dent in the back or scratching off some of the paint. While your car might have some minor damage, you are physically fine after the accident. This kind of accident is pretty much as mild as it gets.
In an accident like this, you won’t be able to sue for very much. This is because no one was injured and the damage to the vehicle was only very slight. Even if your car is a very expensive one, the minor damage likely won’t be enough for you to sue for very much.
However, you should still be able to sue the person for enough money to repair the damage done to your car. Your car insurance will be able to help you with this, especially if your car is very expensive. And, of course, a car accident lawyer in Houston, Texas, will be able to help you as well.
The value of a car accident will only increase the more intense the car accident is. For example, if you end up developing whiplash from the car accident, even if the accident itself was relatively minor, you should be able to sue for a larger amount of money.
The Details
This is true for other types of injuries as well such as a broken leg, a fractured wrist, a sprained shoulder, and so on. The amount you will be able to sue for usually correlates with the injuries involved and how severe those injuries are. The price will also correlate with the injuries of other people.
For example, suppose you are in your car with a group of your friends. If you get into an accident and you as well as your friends all get injured, this will allow you to sue for a larger sum of money since the result of the accident is more severe. You also have to consider other factors such as the severity of the damage to your car.
A little tap on the back of your car won’t be worth much. However, if your car is practically crumbled into a little ball due to the accident, this will certainly be a much more expensive issue. This is also true if the accident caused damage to the surrounding environment such as phone poles or houses.
However, you may be surprised to know that certain types of injuries may not get you very much money when you sue.
How Much Can You Sue for a Car Accident?
If no one was injured in a car accident, you likely won’t be able to sue for very much. You might only be able to sue for a few hundred dollars. If your car was an expensive model and was severely damaged, you might be able to sue for a few hundred dollars, but anything more than that is not very common. Again, your insurance company will also play a part in all this.
However, the numbers will start to change quite drastically if you are injured during the accident. Suppose that you broke your leg in an accident. In this case, you may be able to sue for around $10,000.
This may not sound like very much to help you recover after breaking your leg, but it is far more than you would get if you weren’t injured at all. Minor injuries such as scratches and bruises won’t get you very much at all. You might only be able to sue for a few hundred dollars.
However, if the injury is very severe, then you will be able to sue for quite a lot more. For example, suppose that you lost a limb during a car accident. Since this is quite a severe injury and because it will change your life in a big way, you will be able to sue for quite a lot of money, likely several tens of thousands of dollars.
What You Need to Know
There are also other very severe injuries for which you can sue for a lot of money. For example, suppose you hit your head during a car accident and sustained a traumatic brain injury. Because this is one of the most severe types of injuries one can get from a car accident, you can likely sue for several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Such a large settlement will be necessary for the brain-damaged person to live in a new fashion, likely with the help of medical staff and support. The exact amount of money you will get will always depend on the exact injury you sustain. This is because insurance companies are very specific with what they cover.
For example, the amount of money you get from losing an arm will be different than the amount you get from losing a leg or a foot. The settlements will also be different depending on if you are paralyzed from the waist down, from the neck down, and so on. If there is a fatality involved, then you can sue for even more since, of course, the value of human life is worth quite a lot.
If there are several fatalities involved, then you might even be able to sue for millions of dollars. But again, the exact cost will depend on a wide variety of things such as the details of the crash, your insurance company, and your lawyer, among many other factors.
Choose the Right Lawyer
The amount of your settlement will depend on a large part on your lawyer and how good your lawyer is. If you have a mediocre lawyer without much experience, you can’t expect that lawyer to get you a very good settlement. You might only end up with a fraction of the settlement that you should get.
Of course, this is the last thing you want to deal with after recovering from a personal injury. Instead, you’ll want to have a good lawyer that you can count on to get you the maximum settlement you possibly can. That way, you won’t have to worry about any financial trouble for the time being and you can focus more on recovering.
When you choose a car accident lawyer, there are a few things you should consider. For one, you should make sure that the lawyer has plenty of experience. The more years of experience a lawyer has, the better.
This is because a more experienced lawyer will know more about how to deal with certain problems and how to get you the largest settlement possible. Besides experience, you’ll also want to make sure that the lawyer has a good reputation. If you do some research online and find that a particular lawyer has a load of bad reviews from previous clients, this is a bad sign.
But if you find a lawyer that has many positive reviews, then you’ll be on the right track. Once you find the right lawyer, you can put all your worries to rest.
Hiring a Car Accidents Lawyer
The amount you can sue for a car accident will depend on a variety of factors such as if anyone was injured, the severity of the accident, and so on. A good car accidents lawyer can help you get the most out of your lawsuit.
To get the legal representation you deserve, contact us here.