Decatur Auto Accident Attorneys

The experienced Decatur auto accident attorneys at Montlick and Associates have been convincing advocates for Decatur car accident victims since our Decatur car accident law firm was established in 1984.  If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Decatur car accident, you may be struggling with physical pain and a grueling course of rehabilitation. Car accidents are sudden traumatic events that can leave a car accident victim confused and unsure how to proceed. No one expects to be involved in a serious auto accident in Decatur, and an auto collision will affect you and your family in a number of ways. Depending on the exact nature of your injuries, you may be coping with permanent pain, disability from employment, inability to fully enjoy life, diminished enjoyment of your marital relationship and crippling financial hardships.

In the most extreme cases, the negligence of another driver may rob an injury victim of his or her ability to live without the specter of chronic future pain. Catastrophic injuries like spinal injuries, brain injuries, amputations, massive burn injuries and similar severe and permanent injuries may take away one’s mental and physical functioning. Our experienced Decatur car accident attorneys at Montlick and Associates have been convincing advocates for Decatur car accident victims since our Decatur car accident law firm was established in 1984.

When you suffer other types of injuries, your injuries may be less apparent with the use of objective diagnostic tools, or they may take some period of time before they manifest symptoms. It is essential that even if you experience what you believe to be mild injuries you obtain prompt medical care and accept the benefit of emergency services. Many people involved in car accidents compromise their health or their personal injury case by assuming they did not suffer serious injury or declining to obtain timely medical care. Insurance companies will exploit such delays by arguing that a car accident claimant is misrepresenting the existence or severity of his or her injuries.

Dealing with Insurance Companies in Decatur Auto Accident Claims

When a car accident victim is injured in a Decatur car accident, it is not uncommon for the at-fault driver’s insurance company to contact the injury victim and try to obtain a statement or settle the case. When you are suffering with pain and the emotional trauma of your ordeal, you should never try to negotiate a settlement directly with the insurance company adjuster. If the adjuster knows that a Decatur car accident attorney does not represent you, the adjuster may try to get you to settle before you understand the full value of your claim.

It is generally never advisable to settle a car accident claim until you have finished all treatment and therapy. When a claim is settled before an auto accident injury victim has completed all medial treatment, physical therapy, and rehabilitative therapy, there is a risk that the prognosis may be worse than originally anticipated resulting undervaluing of one’s claim. Any offer from the insurance company will typically be conditioned on an accident victim exercising a general release of liability, which typically waives any right to later request compensation if one’s injuries turn out to be more severe than expected.

The most prudent course of action is simply to avoid any communication with the other driver’s insurance adjuster until you have retained a personal injury law firm. Our experienced Decatur auto accident attorneys can take care of all negotiations with the insurance company if we take your case. While we frequently are able to resolve Decatur car accident claims without trial through negotiations, mediation or other forms of alternate dispute resolution, we have built our reputation with major insurance companies on our success at trial.

How Is Fault Determined in Decatur Car Accident Cases?

The legal theory upon which the vast majority of car accident cases in Decatur are based is negligence. Negligence is basically just a legal term that describes conduct that is so unsafe that a reasonable person in the same or similar circumstance would not engage in the conduct because of a foreseeable risk of injury to others. If you are able to prove that this unsafe driving conduct caused injury to you or the loss of a loved one, this creates the basis for a negligence claim or a wrongful death claim based on negligence. While there are many varieties of negligent driving conduct the most common examples include:

• Driving while not paying attention
  • Speeding or driving too fast given weather, road and traffic conditions
  • Driving while under the influence of illegal narcotics, prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications
  • DUI/DWI (drunk driving)
  • Inexperienced teen drivers
  • Tailgating particularly in stop and go traffic
  • Drivers that do not stop at controlled intersections (stop sign and traffic signal violations)
  • Unsafe turns or lane changes
  • Failure to turn one’s head and check blind spots
  • Aggressive driving practices (i.e. consciously engaging in multiple traffic violations at the same time)

Although virtually all accidents involve some degree of negligence by one (or even both) of the drivers, other parties may also play a role in causing a serious Decatur car accident. If the governmental entity that constructed the road did not plan the road out so that it was safe or ignored proven hazards, the public entity may be a potential defendant in a Decatur car accident claim. The vehicle manufacturer also may be a potential defendant if product defects in the vehicle contributed to the collision. Other parties that may share liability for a Decatur car accident include vehicle owners, employers that send employees on business errands, and others. Our dedicated Decatur car accident attorneys carefully investigate our clients’ car accident claims so that we can identify all potential defendants.

Serious Decatur Car Accident Lawyers for Serious Injuries

When you involved in a collision on Decatur highways or streets, you may suffer severe injuries that impact every aspect of your life. The injuries you suffer may range from mild to life-threatening, including:

• Whiplash
• Injuries to the brain
• Soft tissue injuries
• Torn ligaments and tendons
• Spinal cord damage
• Severe full thickness burns
• Amputation of arms and legs
• Damage to vital organs
• Fractures, broken bones, bone crush injuries
• Wrongful death

If you have suffered serious injuries of this nature, our experienced Decatur car accident attorneys can evaluate your legal right to a broad spectrum of personal injury damages to compensate your for physical pain, time off work, lost future earning ability, diminished enjoyment of life, costs of treatment, vehicle repair or replacement, burial/funeral expenses and other damages based on your specific case.

Be aware of your legal rights! If you have been injured because of the negligence, intentional misconduct, or recklessness of a third party, you may be eligible for financial compensation. Call now for a FREE CONSULTATION with one of our experienced Decatur auto accident attorneys.

Our Decatur auto accident attorneys are available to help you and may even visit you if needed. You can call us anytime 24/7 at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) for a FREE CONSULTATION. Alternatively, you can visit our website www.montlick.com to make use of our FREE CASE EVALUATION FORM or 24-hour live online chat service.