The Colorado lifestyle is unlike any other. It's a vibrant intermingling of mountain-loving residents, adventure-seeking vacationers and an influx of newcomers who have chosen to start fresh careers in the most beautiful state in the country. And with this diverse and growing mixture comes much innovation for Denver, which has recently been named one of America’s top cities to live, from our population growth that creates loads more jobs than what we had previously, road congestion as well as increased frequency on traffic accidents thanks to all these new drivers.
DCAL is the place to call when after a car accident. With our extensive legal experience and success, we will help with every step of your case. Our Lakewood car accident lawyers are always ready for whatever comes at them which means that even if something happens out of the blue during litigation (like an insurance company changes its stance), there won't be any surprises or delays on behalf of your case! If you have been injured in a car accident, call us now and get the help that you need. We have a track record of success representing personal injury clients from Lakewood Denver, Boulder, and throughout Colorado. Call 720-770-5454 to schedule a free consultation.
What Should You do After a Car Accident?
If you’ve been in a car crash, the actions that you take immediately following can have an impact on your well-being and may influence how much money is awarded to cover injuries. Immediately after being involved in any collision, it's important for victims of accidents to:
Check For Injuries
After a car accident, first make sure that no one is hurt. If someone is injured and needs medical attention call for emergency assistance right away. Do not move anyone without the help of qualified professionals or they will risk additional injury!
Report the Accident to Authorites
It's important to contact the police after an accident. Not only are they required for insurance purposes, but it can also strengthen your case if you file an accident report with them as soon as possible.
Do Not Leave
Leaving the accident site is a serious offense that comes with significant legal repercussions. If you do not stay on-site to report your involvement and wait for law enforcement officials, it may result in a hit-and-run or felony reckless driving charges as well as injury claims by other drivers involved in the collision.
Do Not Move Your Vehicle
If you are involved in a fender-bender and no injuries or alcohol is present, it's okay to move your car out of traffic for safety reasons; however, if there are possible injuries that could be linked back to the accident scene (even without witnesses), do not move your vehicle because this can contaminate evidence on site-- even with just too many fingerprints from bystanders trying to help!
Get Evidence and Contact Information
The other driver's insurance information is vital to getting the proper compensation for your injuries. Get their make, model, and license plate; get all of that person’s contact info in case you need it later on. If there are any witnesses at the scene, collect as much personal information about them so they can be contacted if necessary.
Report the Accident to Your Insurance Provider
Your insurance company needs to know about your accident as soon as possible so that they can start working on a plan. It’s always important to notify them in the same day, but you should not admit fault and never sign any paperwork without consulting with an attorney first.
Get Medical Care
If you've suffered a serious injury in an accident, it goes without saying that seek medical attention. But some injuries may not manifest right away and can take days or even weeks to fully reveal themselves after the collision has taken place. If your crash was minor and you still feel okay it might be best to visit medical experts anyway as a precautionary measure.
Review Your Case With an Experienced Lawyer
Our law firm is ready to help you through the legal process. Have your car accident case reviewed by one of our experienced attorneys- they've seen it all! Contact us for a complimentary initial consultation and we'll go over the evidence, discuss what options are available in this matter, and see if there's any way that we can work together on resolving this issue quickly or recovering damages from those at fault.
How do You Prove Fault After a Car Accident?
Following a 2003 change to Colorado's no-fault car insurance system, it became much easier for drivers of cars involved in accidents to file claims against the responsible parties. Under this new tort rule, rather than being forced to wait until you were injured enough before filing your claim as with the old "no-fault" policy - which was designed primarily around limiting driver litigation and out-of-pocket expenses. An at-fault state allows you immediate access so that should anything happen during or after an accident where someone is deemed liable for damages sustained by either vehicle occupants or property damage associated with their vehicles. The injured party can quickly gather the evidence needed and then proceed through appropriate legal channels if necessary.
If you are less than 50% responsible for the accident, Colorado law states that you can pursue compensation. This is done by reducing your damages proportionally to how much of an impact it was from your side in leading up to the incident. If a court determines that you are mostly responsible for the accident then they will deny any kind or amount of financial aid whatsoever.
Evidence That can Help Your Claim
According to Colorado law, you must file a police report after an accident. This can be done by calling 911 and waiting for the responding officer to arrive or filing a report online - the latter is preferred because it's quicker than filling out paper forms with pen and ink! The information from your official government document will play an important role in establishing fault at any time of day or night as well as telling what happened during the incident so that others are aware when driving through these areas.
Pictures can be the key to your case after an auto accident. By taking pictures of the surroundings, position of vehicles and other evidence at a crash scene, you may unravel who is responsible for causing this incident.
Eyewitness testimony can be a powerful tool in the hands of your Lakewood personal injury lawyer. For example, it may help establish who is to blame for a motor vehicle accident and disprove other drivers’ claims about how events transpired.
Accident recreation involves replicating the site and circumstances of an accident to determine who is at fault. Experts help recreate accidents by gathering evidence, like video footage or eyewitness testimonies, that can be used in a court case.
What Types of Compensation Can You Recover Through an Accident Claim?
After you are undergoing treatment for injuries, it may be hard to think about anything else. But don't forget that there are a lot of factors that go into how much money, you end up with at the end of your case. A large part of this conversation involves what we call "damages." Damages for a personal injury claim can be divided up into two categories: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
You might be surprised at just how many things can fall into the category of damages. Damages include anything you had to pay for when a court case was over, such as medical expenses or property damage that needed replacing. An accident victim may also lose wages if your physical injuries prevent work altogether and need assistance getting back on track financially before returning to full-time employment.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are financial compensation for subjective, non-monetary losses such as pain and suffering. These can extend to emotional distress, loss of society or companionship because you’ve lost a loved one due to the negligent act of another person or company.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Lakewood Car Accident Lawyer
Personal injury victims need to act quickly and aggressively in order to protect their rights and recover a fair settlement. In most cases, plaintiffs have time before filing an accident lawsuit against the at-fault party for compensation. Our personal injury attorneys typically start by contacting the other party's insurance company after investigating an accident and documenting your case with thorough documentation of all damages suffered due to traumatic injuries as a result of negligence on behalf of another person.
The personal injury claims process is complicated. You need a skilled auto accident attorney in Colorado who can give your case the full attention that it deserves when you are looking for representation and maximum compensation after your injuries. If you're worried about getting bullied by large insurance companies or corporations don't let fears stop you from obtaining fair compensation with our firm’s help! Call our law firm at 720-770-5454 today to schedule a free consultation to review your legal options with an auto accident lawyer.