Most people do not like suing after a car accident. They know that it takes time and effort, and the lawsuit can also get very contentious sometimes. However, in certain instances, you may feel like you have little choice in the matter.
For instance, you may think that you should contact a car wreck lawyer following an accident in some cases. In this article, we will talk about when it makes the most sense to sue the other driver after a car wreck.
When trying to determine whether or not to sue the other driver after a car accident, you will probably want to think about how this crash impacted your life. If you walked away unharmed, and either your insurance or the other driver’s policy will cover all of the economic damages, then you may feel like you do not need to move forward with a lawsuit.
However, maybe the crash seriously injured you. If you live in an at-fault state, and it is clear the other driver caused the accident, then you will need to get their insurance company to pay for your medical bills.
Maybe you have medical bills that total more than the full amount of the other driver’s insurance policy, though. If that is the case, then you will probably need to sue them to try to collect money for the rest of your outstanding medical bills.
You may want to sue the other driver if they don’t have car insurance. You need to have a minimum amount of insurance coverage in virtually every US state.
If the other driver doesn’t have insurance, and you’re in an at-fault state, then you will have to cover things like your medical bills, lost wages, and the repairs to your car out of your own pocket unless you can successfully sue the other driver.
Maybe the other driver hit your car and killed one of your passengers. Maybe they killed your spouse or partner. Perhaps they killed your child or one of your parents.
In such instances, you may be able to collect cash for things like repairs to the car or lost wages if you have to miss work. You will probably want money for your non-economic losses too, though. In this case, that means the loss of companionship.
You must live the rest of your life without the deceased, whether that’s your spouse, child, or whoever else died. You may miss them very much. Your life won’t feel the same without them.
Even if the other driver didn’t do something really unconscionable, like drive drunk, if they made a serious traffic mistake and killed someone in your car who you loved, then suing them because of that person’s loss usually makes sense. Maybe the other driver already feels awful about what they did, but they still took this person away from you. They should provide compensation for that.
If the other driver did something egregious and hit your car, then that’s another situation where you will more than likely want to sue them. For instance, maybe they drove drunk and struck your vehicle.
These types of scenarios happen all the time. Even though virtually every driver knows they shouldn’t operate a vehicle after ingesting alcohol, people still do it frequently.
If a drunk driver hit you, and they injured you and damaged your car, then their insurance might pay for some or even all of the economic damages if you’re in an at-fault state and the other driver’s insurance company admits they caused the crash. However, you will still probably want to sue for non-economic damages. In this case, you can probably say you’re experiencing a traumatic reaction after the accident.
Maybe you’re feeling anxiety after the crash. You can probably pretty easily convince a jury of that. If this drunk driver came out of nowhere and smashed into your car, then it’s perfectly natural that you’d feel anxious after that.
You can also point to certain other driver behaviors as a reason why you might sue the other motorist after a car accident. For instance, maybe they didn’t drive drunk, but they hit your car while going considerably over the speed limit.
If another driver hit your car while on the highway, and they went five miles over the speed limit at the time, then that’s technically illegal, and the police might try to ticket them. If they went 20 miles over the speed limit and hit you, though, that’s when you should probably sue them.
They did something that is undeniably reckless. Driving considerably over the speed limit and hitting another car means this person does not respect law and order.
You can probably convince a jury pretty easily that you have anxiety after the crash and that the other driver should pay restitution for that.
There is one additional reason why you might want to sue the other driver after a car accident. Maybe you’re in an at-fault state, and the other driver won’t admit that they caused the crash.
In such a situation, you will have to pay for all your economic damages, including your medical bill copays, repairs to the car, and lost wages if you have to miss work while you’re recovering. That’s because your insurance will cover none of that. That’s how living in an at-fault state works.
To get the other driver to pay for the economic damages you sustained, as well as any non-economic ones you feel you’re due, you will need to try to collect physical evidence to prove that the other driver caused the crash. Your lawyer’s investigator can probably help with that.
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