While any auto accident can be dangerous to people inside the vehicles involved, the fronts and rears of cars provide at least some physical separation between the force of an oncoming vehicle and the people inside the impacted car. If a car primarily impacts the doors or side paneling of another vehicle, there may be little preventing the occupants of the latter vehicle from taking the full force of the impact themselves.
This is the main reason why side-impact/T-bone car accidents in Bala Cynwyd can be uniquely dangerous and why they can also be challenging to seek fair civil restitution for. With assistance from a seasoned car accident attorney at Lowenthal & Abrams, you can more efficiently build the most substantial possible claim and more effectively demand compensation for the harm you sustained due to someone else’s irresponsible behavior.
In purely legal terms, side-impact car crash lawsuits in Bala Cynwyd work the same way as lawsuits over any other type of wreck anywhere else in the Commonwealth. Regardless of the specific mechanism of an accident, anyone who wants to recover for injuries and losses caused by that accident must be able to hold at least one other person directly at fault for the accident based on negligence. In other words, by proving that they did something specifically reckless or careless that violated the duty of care, they had to act lawfully and safely behind the wheel.
Often, the accident report drafted by police officers responding to a severe collision scene will provide crucial information for establishing fault based on negligence. For example, a note that one driver was cited for a traffic violation in relation to the wreck. In other situations, it may fall to an individual who was hurt in the crash, ideally with a skilled attorney’s help, to prove someone else at fault for their wreck through various other forms of evidence, such as witness testimony, accident scene photos/videos, surveillance or dashboard camera footage, and input from accident reconstruction experts.
In addition to helping with evidence collection and preservation, a capable legal professional can assist with building a strong claim around that evidence within applicable filing deadlines. For most people who have sustained a severe injury, 42 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 5524 provides a maximum of two years after an injury first happens for any litigation over that injury to begin, even if the effects of the injury will linger for years or decades after that deadline expires.
Guidance from knowledgeable legal counsel can likewise be vital to navigating Pennsylvania’s approach to car insurance and car accident litigation, under which an injured person’s right to file suit may be limited by their insurance coverage and how severe their injuries are. Finally, a practiced lawyer can help fight allegations that a person who was hurt in a T-bone car accident in Bala Cynwyd was partially at fault for causing that accident through their negligent conduct, as accusations of comparative fault along these lines might otherwise lead to that injured person missing out on much-needed compensation.
Of course, this is far from an exhaustive summary of all the roadblocks you might run into while pursuing civil restitution after being sideswiped or T-boned. Even if you broadly know what to expect from the legal process, statistics show that you have a slim chance of getting a favorable case result if you try to pursue compensation on your own.
Fortunately, you have support from dedicated lawyers at Lowenthal & Abrams who have experience handling cases like yours. Call today to discuss your options following a side-impact/T-bone car accident in Bala Cynwyd in a consultation meeting.