An intersection can be dangerous for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. It isn’t uncommon to face a crash at an intersection, and these accidents have the potential to result in serious injuries.
With oncoming vehicles in every direction, guided simply by overhead lights and street signs, an accident can strike at an intersection at any time.
When an accident does happen, it can abruptly leave the victim with many new changes in their life: injuries, expenses, and a time-consuming recovery. Filing an injury claim against the at-fault driver can help to repay these costs.
An attorney can be your best resource when working through a Bridgeport intersection accident insurance claim, offering you professional experience and resources to raise your case’s chances of success.
Bert McDowell Injury Law has been locally trusted by the Bridgeport community for years, building a reputation for dedication to aiding accident victims through their financial recovery process. Having a legal professional in your corner can help you prove fault and negotiate a fair settlement.
Our legal team is standing by to help you get started after your Bridgeport intersection accident. Schedule your free, no-obligation case review when you call (203) 590-9169 or contact us online today.
How a Bridgeport Intersection Accident Attorney Determines Fault
If you have been in an intersection accident in Bridgeport, you won’t have to face litigation alone. Recovering financially after a car wreck can feel overwhelming when the expenses begin to pile up, but in Connecticut, you have an opportunity to hold the negligent party accountable for the related expenses.
Connecticut follows a modified comparative negligence doctrine that allows victims who are less than 50% responsible for the accident to seek compensation. In comparative negligence states like Connecticut, an insurance adjuster is tasked with assigning a percentage of blame to each party and settling claims accordingly.
To review an adjuster’s assessment, your attorney can also investigate the details of the case to determine the full extent of each party’s negligence. When establishing a percentage of negligence for each involved party, an attorney will look at a few key details that offer credible insight, such as:
Police reports
Dashcam footage
Blood alcohol and other drug tests
Witness statements
Vehicle maintenance records
Accident scene debris, tire marks, and other evidence
Medical records
Why Do I Need an Intersection Accident Attorney?
Experiencing an accident with a driver who failed to follow traffic laws at an intersection can feel frustrating, but you do not necessarily need to sacrifice your own time and energy to settle your claim.
A Bridgeport intersection accident lawyer can take the weight of litigation off of your shoulders, overseeing key details through every stage of your claim. The professional insight of an attorney can help a claimant stay prepared throughout the course of their accident claim, offering the victim peace of mind.
Insurance adjusters are skilled representatives of a bigger insurer and are trained to seek any way they can to lower a claim’s value. The looming bills can bring on feelings of anxiety, making a claimant more likely to settle for a lowball offer that fails to cover the full extent of their medical care costs and other expenses.
An insurance adjuster can use these worries to their advantage, using tactics such as drawing out the duration of a claim and repeatedly pushing offers short on value. Working with an attorney, however, can help a claimant prevent their settlement from being undervalued during the negotiation process.
A Bridgeport personal injury lawyer’s main objective is to look out for your financial well-being, and that involves accounting for all damages, including costs that have already been inflicted, as well as future expenses that you could possibly face.
The services of a car crash attorney can not only protect your financial well-being but can also save you precious time and energy. When healing from crash-related injuries, having the time to focus on physical healing is key, and an attorney can help relieve some of your most pressing distractions by:
Managing the details of your claim from start to finish: It can be tricky to keep up with all of the intricacies involved in filing an insurance claim, especially if you care about fighting for top dollar. An intersection accident attorney in Bridgeport can oversee all aspects of your personal injury claim, reducing your effort while raising your chances of a successful outcome.
Providing a thorough valuation of your damages: Your attorney will consult with medical, billing, and financial experts in order to fully understand the damages inflicted by the intersection accident, including all future costs of care and projected losses to income or key employment benefits.
Investigating all claims of negligence: Every auto accident claim will undergo a strict investigation process that helps all parties better understand how the negligent party is liable for the damages. Proving negligence can be challenging in some cases, but your attorney will thoroughly review the specifics behind the crash to determine if you have a valid claim against a negligent party.
Negotiating on your behalf: Once you have gathered all of the evidence from your case and valued what your damages could be worth, presenting that figure to the negligent party can be daunting. In a negotiation with the liable party’s insurer, an attorney can speak on your behalf. You won’t have to worry about arguing a figure or working out a compromise, as your attorney will be there to remind the insurer of the severity of your case and reject all untenable offers.
Preparing for the event of a lawsuit: Not every auto accident claim will go to court, but in the event that all parties involved cannot come to an agreement, a formal lawsuit may be your best option. An attorney will prepare your claim for possible litigation from day one so that if any hiccups arise later, you have a claim that could stand up in court. Having an attorney to safeguard your claim from the beginning can save you precious time in the event you must advance to a more adversarial litigation process.
What Typically Causes Accidents at an Intersection?
Accidents at intersections are unfortunately all too common, with the NHTSA reporting that almost 40% of all accidents happen there. There are a multitude of ways for an accident to occur at an intersection, but some situations are more commonly addressed than others, such as:
Failure to yield
Speeding
Distracted driving
Driving under the influence
Misjudging driver speeds or decisions
Running stop lights
What Can a Claimant Do to Protect Their Claim?
A lawyer can be a valuable resource while a claimant is fighting for a damage recovery settlement from their auto accident. That said, a crash victim can take additional steps to set their claim up so that it has the highest chance of success.
Even before you retain an attorney, you can follow the tips below to ensure that all of the necessary information for a claim investigation is clearly recorded. Keeping a thorough record of the events of your accident from the beginning of the journey can make the steps of filing an insurance claim move more efficiently, which will ultimately help you get back to normalcy quicker.
To preserve the important information from your intersection accident, keep the following list of advice in mind:
Always report your accident, preferably at the scene
Cooperate with law enforcement on scene and prompt witnesses to offer statements
Have your injuries assessed by a medical professional
Follow all medical advice, including recommendations for follow-up care
Document your injuries and the healing process with photos
Keep all documents from the accident, including police reports and doctor’s assessments
Don’t Wait to Call a Bridgeport Intersection Accident Law Firm!
After getting into an accident at an intersection, a claimant can rely on a Bridgeport intersection accident law firm to understand the upcoming legal process and represent them through each step of the way. It may feel like there are a lot of obligations moving forward, but your attorney will take the bulk of the tasks off of your shoulders, giving you more time to focus on important aspects of your recovery, such as spending time with loved ones while tending to your own physical well-being.
An initial consultation with The Bert McDowell Law Firm is completely free, and because we work on a contingency fee for auto accident claims, our team will never charge any upfront fees. A contingency agreement allows an attorney to represent an accident victim without charging upfront or hourly fees by solidifying an agreement to be paid from the auto accident settlement.
Simply put, we don’t win unless you do!
An initial consultation is the perfect time for you to ask any questions that have been on your mind or voice or any concerns about the upcoming process. In this meeting, you and an attorney will review the specifics of your accident and point toward a general course of action for moving forward.
Find out more about what your case could be worth when you call (203) 590-9169 or contact us online to schedule a free case review.
(203) 690-1030
(203) 690-1030
An intersection can be dangerous for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. It isn’t uncommon to face a crash at an intersection, and these accidents have the potential to result in serious injuries.