San Diego Car Accident Lawyer

As the second largest city in California, San Diego experiences a disproportionately higher amount of traffic with a greater frequency of car crashes. In the most recent year reported by the  California Office of Traffic Safety, there were over 9,000 car accidents involving an injury or fatality.

Being injured in a car accident is a serious matter—one that may take you months or even years to recover from. A car accident lawyer can make sure that you get the care and attention you need to make a full recovery.

What You Should Do After Car Accident

There are several things you need to do to ensure your health and safety in the first few minutes following a car accident:

• Make an immediate assessment of your injuries, the safety of your location, and the health of your passengers.
• Don’t move injured parties unless they’re in a hazardous location.
• Call the police and request rescue.
• If there is gasoline or other fluids on the ground, move away from your vehicle.
• Watch for other traffic when entering or leaving the roadway.

Once you know you’re in a safe location, wait for police and fire rescue to arrive on scene. Allow the paramedics to examine you, whether you think your injuries are serious or not. Accidents can be traumatic, and you may be injured and not even realize it. If you aren’t transported to the hospital, seek medical attention at your earliest convenience.

Why You May Need a Car Accident Lawyer

If you’ve been injured in an accident, you could be facing a long, arduous recovery process. Some of the common expenses associated with accident injuries are the following:

• The cost of an ambulance trip to the hospital
• Emergency room bills
• An overnight stay in the hospital (or longer depending on the injuries)
• Surgeries
• Medications
• Follow-up appointments
• Physical therapy
• Counseling (serious accidents can be traumatic)
• Lost wages
• Long-term loss of physical capacity and quality of life
• Diminished earning capacity

The responsible party’s insurer may offer to pay your medical bills, but that’s usually a small fraction of the total loss involved in an accident. Insurance adjusters are notorious for underestimating the total cost of recovery, but a qualified personal injury lawyer who focuses on car accident injuries can review your case and determine what the actual cost of recovery will be.

Motorcycle and Truck Accidents

Getting into a car accident is dangerous, but if you’re on a motorcycle or you’re in a car and struck by a much heavier commercial truck, the likelihood of injury skyrockets. With all other things being equal, the mass differentials between these different types of vehicles increases the totally energy imparted on the bodies of the drivers and passengers of the smaller vehicles. In the smaller vehicle, you’re at greater risk.

In the case of commercial trucking operations, most of the larger companies have defense litigation attorneys on retainer or working in-house. These lawyers may come to the scene of your crash or to the hospital and offer you a settlement. It’s in your best interest to have your own traffic accident lawyer review any offer from the at-fault party.

Your Work and Your Recovery

Your employer must make reasonable accommodations at your workplace while you’re recovering from an accident, but what happens when you can’t go into work at all? If you’re only out for a few days, you may be able to use your sick time or vacation to avoid interruptions in pay, but if it’s a prolonged absence, your job may not be there when you get back.

Car accidents can affect you financially in multiple ways, but losing your income can be an inordinately difficult hardship. A car accident lawyer can help fight for damages that you incur as a result of missing work or losing your job.

The Law Offices of Norman Gregory Fernandez & Associates in San Diego, California and the Surrounding Areas

If you’ve been injured in a car, motorcycle, or truck accident, you have options. The car accident lawyers at the San Diego Law Offices of Norman Gregory Fernandez & Associates will fight for your rights and get you the funds that you need to make a full physical and financial recovery. Call today for a free initial consultation.

Areas We Serve

• Anaheim 
• Bakersfield
• Chula Vista
• Irvine 
• Long Beach
• Los Angeles
• Riverside 
• San Bernardino
• Santa Ana

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