Common Facts About Back-Side Auto Collisions in St Louis County
Rear-end accidents are handled differently in comparison to other types of collisions. These types of cases typically settle well before trial because of the perception that a jury may not award the desired amount of compensation.
The most common causes of car accidents in St. Louis County are rear-end crashes, intersection crashes, sideswipe crashes on the interstates, and people pulling out into oncoming traffic. Victims of these types of accidents are known to suffer serious injuries requiring extensive medical treatment.
Negligence Laws in St. Louis County
St. Louis County is a comparative negligence jurisdiction. This means that a person’s damage award can be reduced by their percentage of fault for the crash. This also means that even if the defendant is one percent at fault, the injured person can recover one percent of their damages from the defendant.
Comparative negligence is very prevalent in auto accident cases since insurance companies are likely to claim that the plaintiff shares some liability in the accident. If a plaintiff is believed to have contributed to an accident, their damage award would be reduced by the percentage for which they are at-fault for.
Factors Impacting Liability
Some factors to consider when determining fault are the speed of the crash, whether there are any witnesses, whether an accident reconstruction has been done, whether such a reconstruction can be done using evidence they have secured from the roadway, the weather conditions, and any video or photographs of the scene.
Gathering Evidence for an Auto Accident Claim
There are several pieces of evidence that would play a vital role in successfully filing an injury claim. Much of the information that a plaintiff would look for could be gathered from witness interviews, videos, photographs, and evidence from the roadway. When trying to obtain video from a nearby business, it is important to keep in mind that victims may have as little as two weeks to extract video information from a security camera. This is because most security camera devices cycle over after two to four weeks. If a claimant does not retrieve video within two weeks of the accident, the contents of the video may be erased.
Examining the scene of the accident could also prove to have a positive impact on a person’s injury claim. Roadways may contain specific evidence that some may overlook. For example, skid marks and yaw marks could show the estimated speed and locations of the vehicles involved.
Benefits of Reaching out to a St. Louis County Car Accident Attorney
When filing a claim for damages, you should seek the services of a legal professional to guide you throughout the legal process. By having an experienced attorney at your side, you may be better suited to overcome any arguments made by the defense. An attorney could also help you collect evidence to strengthen the validity of your claim.
If you wish to get started on filing a claim for recovery, be sure to schedule a consultation as soon as possible.