Highway 99, a dangerous highway, runs right through the heart of Fresno, CA. If you suffered injuries from a car accident on Highway 99 or elsewhere in Fresno, one of the car accident attorneys at our firm can help you recover compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and more.
You might not get a fair offer from the other driver’s insurance company without a lawyer. Insurance companies know and respect our name. This is why many of our cases settle out of court for the fair value of our clients’ damages. Our services are free until we obtain compensation for you, in which case we will only charge a small percentage of your recovery as our fee.
The Benefits of Hiring a Fresno Car Accident Lawyer
An insurance adjuster may not serve you fairly if you don’t have an attorney representing you. They might not make a fair offer to compensate you for your injuries, because they know your only option when they offer you a low-ball offer is to sue them over it, and they know you can’t win a lawsuit if you don’t have a lawyer.
Insurance companies also train insurance adjusters to use every trick in the book to attempt to reduce the insurance company’s liability in car accidents. Adjusters are trained to get people to say things that either implicate them in a motor vehicle accident or imply a lack of fault on the part of their policyholder.Â
Do not talk to the other driver’s insurance company; leave this to a Fresno car accident attorney like those at our firm. Let us take on the hassle of dealing with the insurance companies for you so you can focus on recovering from your injuries.
Additional Benefits of Having a Lawyer
By leaving your personal injury claim in the hands of an attorney from our firm, you won’t have to worry about any of the tasks involved in building and defending your auto accident case. Some of these tasks include:
- Collecting evidence for your case, such as the police report, traffic camera footage, and bystander pictures of the accident scene
- Corroborating your evidence with witness and experts testimonies, such as a testimony about your injuries from a medical expert
- Determining what your damages are and the monetary value of your non-financial damages, like your physical pain
- Establishing the other party’s fault in your case
- Defending you from accusations about your own fault in your case
- Negotiating your settlement with the insurer
- Litigating your case if the insurer isn’t compliant
We Will Prove Negligence in Your Fresno, CA Car Accident Case
Negligence is not using reasonable care to prevent harm, according to CACI No. 401. Acting and not acting can both be negligent. A person is negligent when they act or fail to act in a way that differs from how a reasonably careful person would act. Negligence is important in your case because proving it leads to compensation for you.
A driver and their insurance company are liable for any damages, including injuries and the resulting medical bills, that result from the driver’s negligence.
CACI No. 400 instructs jurors on what must be proven for damages to be awarded based on negligence. It states that it must be proven that negligence was a factor, someone was hurt, and the negligence was a substantial cause of that person being hurt.
Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers
Suite 206
Fresno, CA 93703
(559) 241-0411
Examples of Negligence
Speeding and not keeping alert and attentive are common examples of negligence. It is also negligent to drive with non-functional equipment, like lights or brakes, and it is typically negligent to drive in a way that lets you lose control of your car. Failure to obey right-of-way rules is negligent, as is driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
It is negligent to fail to use equipment, such as headlights properly, and it is negligent to drive on the wrong side of the road. Driving while fatigued or distracted by a cell phone is negligent too. It is also negligent to fail to follow the laws of the road.
What Is Comparative Negligence?
Under comparative negligence law in California, if a jury rules you were 30% at fault for an auto accident and the other driver was 70% at fault, your award is reduced by 30%.
Defendants in California must prove that the plaintiff was negligent and that said negligence substantially caused harm to the defendant to secure damages. To protect yourself from accusations about your own liability in the case, you must prove you were not negligent in your accident, and you did not contribute to the accident.Â
Your car accident attorney in Fresno from our firm can help with this. This concept is established by CACI No. 405 in California.
Highway 99: One of the Most Dangerous Roads in America
Dark roads and drunk drivers are big reasons why Highway 99 is so dangerous. The highway ranks highly in fatal auto accidents per 100 miles in dark areas without lighting available, and in fatal accidents involving a drunk driver per 100 miles.
A CHP officer told ABC 30 he wasn’t surprised the highway was named the most dangerous in America, adding he’s made countless DUI arrests on the highway.
Tule fog also forms along this highway, which can reduce visibility dramatically, to under ten feet, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Damages in a Fresno Car Accident Case
Your lawyer could recover economic and non-economic damages for you. For example, we can recover economic damages like medical bills, lost wages and loss of earning capacity for you if you were in an accident in Fresno. We can recover damages for pain and suffering, property damage and emotional injury as well.
Property damage, out-of-pocket expenses and rental car expenses are damages we can recover for you, as are damages for disfigurement, inconvenience, or any modifications to your home or vehicle you may need to accommodate a disability.
We could also recover punitive damages for you in certain cases, like drunk driving cases. Such cases can involve gross negligence, making it possible to recover punitive damages.
Wrongful Death Recoveries
In cases involving loss of life, it’s possible to recover wrongful death damages. If you lost a loved one in a car accident, we’re very sorry this happened to you and your family. Recompense may help you support your family during this difficult time and into the future. Some of the wrongful death damages you could claim are:
- Loss of companionship and love
- Lost emotional and financial support in your family
- Funeral costs and related damages
- Any of your loved one’s unresolved damages
- Pain, suffering and mental anguish
Our experience helps us prove negligence in cases like yours. We also have a vast network of professionals who can meticulously recreate your accident scene and prove that it resulted from someone else’s negligence.
The Statute of Limitations for California Car Accident Lawsuits
In California, there’s a statute of limitations that applies to filing car accident lawsuits and other personal injury lawsuits. Meeting the filing deadline in the statute is necessary if you want to preserve your case and pursue compensation. One of our firm’s Fresno car accident lawyers in California can help you meet the deadline for your lawsuit.
The filing deadline for a personal injury suit is two years from the date of an incident, according to CCP § 335.1. According to the same code, the filing deadline for a wrongful death suit is two years from the date of the loss of life.
The Legal Process In A Car Accident Case
If you are an accident victim, you may be wondering what the legal process is regarding Fresno car accidents. Car accident cases typically fall under the area of personal injury law. Car accident lawsuits are filed in civil courts. In a car accident lawsuit, a plaintiff (the one filing suit) looks to recover financial compensation from a defendant or multiple defendants (those being sued). The steps involved in personal injury cases are:
- A complaint is filed: Filing a complaint in court is the first step in a car accident lawsuit. The complaint details what occurred, what damages you are seeking, and legal arguments as to why you are entitled to damages. Complaints must be filed within two years of your car accident injuries in California.
- The defense is served with a complaint: Once a complaint has been filed in court, the defense must be notified that they have been sued. Strict guidelines must be followed if the court is to deem the complaint served properly.
- An answer to the complaint is filed by the defense: This reply typically includes a denial or admission of the claims detailed in the complaint, and will typically include legal defenses.
- The discovery process: The discovery process occurs once complaints and answers are filed in court. The plaintiff and defense ask for and exchange info during this process. You might be asked to answer questions, produce documents or go through depositions during the discovery process. The defense may also do the same.
- The trial: The plaintiff and defense gather and present arguments to a jury or judge after the discovery phase. Cases often settle before they go to trial when one side has overwhelming evidence on their side. When cases go to trial, the plaintiff and the defense will have opportunities to present witnesses, experts and evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and more. The jury or judge will issue a verdict once the trial is closed. This verdict will depend on the evidence, and a judgment will follow, which may include financial compensation.
It is very difficult and complex to properly file and litigate lawsuits regarding motor vehicle crashes. Doing so requires a personal injury attorney with tremendous experience and skill, such as the attorneys at the law firm of Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers. An average person cannot do this by themselves.
What Should I Do After A Car Accident In Fresno?
If you’ve been hurt in a car accident, Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers recommends that you:
- Get to a safe place: Try to not panic after being in a car accident. Move your vehicle and yourself to a safe place off the road and out of the path of traffic if you can.
- Contact the police: Call 911, report your accident and ask for medical attention. Not only do you have to do this under the law if anyone has been hurt or killed, but it’s also important that a police report be written. Police reports can be vital evidence when it comes time to convince an insurance company to pay you for your injuries.
- Gather evidence: Gather any evidence you can at the scene of the accident if you are able to, including pictures of the accident scene and your vehicle, the insurance and contact information of other drivers involved, the contact information of any witnesses, and a copy of the police report.
- See a doctor: You should seek medical attention as quickly as possible, even if you don’t think you have been injured. It’s common to not realize you’ve been injured for weeks or months after an accident, and it’s important to have any injuries documented by a doctor as soon as possible. Insurance companies can claim your injuries weren’t caused by your accident if you wait too long.
- Call an experienced Fresno car accident lawyer at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers: We can handle every step of the process involved in personal injury claims for you while you focus on recovering from your injuries.
The Fresno Car Accident Attorneys at Our Firm Are Ready To Help You
Our Fresno car accident lawyers have obtained many policy limit settlements for car accident victims, and also have a database of the best doctors. We can get you the very best treatment for your injuries.
Call Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers now to see why we’ve recovered over $750,000,000 on behalf of our clients, or text us from this page. Your consultation and case review with us will be free, and if you choose to hire one of our attorneys, you won’t pay them anything unless they recover compensation for you.
