Virginia Automobile Accident Personal Injury Claims

If you have been injured in a Virginia motor vehicle accident and are thinking about making a personal injury claim, there are few things you need to know if you hope to be compensated for your physical and emotional suffering. The Virginia automobile accident attorneys understand that the legal process can be daunting and so we’re here to help clear a few things up and make you feel comfortable and assured in your personal injury claim.  

Negligence of the Other Driver
Under Virginia law, in order to successfully gain compensation for injuries that you have suffered in a car accident, you need to prove that the operator of the motor vehicle that hit you was “negligent.” This means you must prove that the other driver acted in an unreasonable manner considering the circumstances.

Often, one can prove the negligence of the other driver by demonstrating that they broke a traffic law, or other widely accepted “rules of the road.”

Some common examples of negligence include:

• Running a red light or stop sign
• Speeding
• Turning in front of oncoming traffic
• Changing lanes without using a signal

Contributory Negligence
If you are able to prove that the other driver was someway negligent in the accident, then the focus becomes your behavior behind the wheel, and whether or not you contributed in any way to the collision. If so, then your personal injury claim is over and you are entirely barred from collecting any compensation for your injuries.

This Virginia law is called contributory negligence, and while it may seem harsh, it means that even if you are 1% to blame in the cause of the accident, you get nothing. Contributory negligence is a favorite of insurance companies and is used as often as possible to make sure that you receive nothing for your claim.

Recovering Damages
If you are successful in proving both that the other driver was negligent and that you were not contributorily negligent in the accident, you can use your car accident personal injury claim to recover damages. Here are some common damages under Virginia law:

• Lost wages (both past and future)
• Permanent injuries
• Medical Bills (both past and future)
• Physical disfigurement/deformity/scarring
• Loss of earning capacity
• Inconvenience
• Pain and Suffering

To ensure that you present the best possible case in court, you need to contact the Virginia automobile accident personal injury lawyers, who have the inside information garnered from once working for insurance companies ourselves. They know the personal injury claim process inside and out and will fight for your fair compensation.

Call today at (703) 906-4229 or fill out a free case consultation form and tell us about your accident.

The above article is a guest blog post by the personal injury lawyers at The Parrish Law Firm.