Kentucky Car Accident Lawyer

Navigating Kentucky Traffic and Your Rights After an Accident

Contending with Kentucky traffic isn’t always easy, particularly during rush hour. Conditions on the road never give drivers an excuse to engage in roadway negligence, though. Inattention behind the wheel can result in an accident and force you to contend with all the expenses and losses that come afterward.

You, however, have the opportunity to take action in the wake of a car accident. With the help of a Kentucky personal injury attorney from McCoy & Hiestand, you can bring your losses to the attention of a civil judge. In turn, you can advocate for your right to a car accident settlement that matches or exceeds the cost of your post-accident recovery.

You Deserve Support After Your Car Accident

Your cost of living can skyrocket in the days and months following a car accident. You have to contend with not only any medical emergencies brought on by your accident but also the cost of repairing your car and restoring damaged property. There’s a chance you may have to take a significant amount of time off of work, too – meaning your paychecks may not be as substantial.

What are you meant to do in the face of these economic demands? While you can push through your recovery alone, you don’t have to. You can collaborate with a Kentucky personal injury attorney to overcome the obstacles barring your recovery.

Specifically, our team can help you draft a civil claim that may allow you to secure the financial support you need to address your losses. With compensation from the party liable for your losses, you can contend with your accident’s bills without breaking the bank.

Car Accidents and Duty of Care

Kentucky’s civil courts allow you to bring forward cases describing accidents that stem from roadway negligence. In other words, if you want to bring a car accident civil claim forward, you need to indicate, via a claim, that you believe your losses stem from a violated duty of care.

“Duty of care” on the road describes a responsibility that drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other parties owe to one another. This responsibility dictates that all parties must take reasonable care to protect one another from harm. Failure to protect your peers from harm on the road can see you held responsible for their losses.

Proving a violated duty of care requires you to seek out evidence of roadway misconduct or inattention. You can look for evidence proving negligence with help from a car accident lawyer in Kentucky. Our team can return to the scene of your accident, gather bystander contact information, and help establish fault in your case.

Who to Hold Responsible for Kentucky Car Accidents

It’s often easiest to assume that other motorists bear the responsibility for your recent car accident. Before you make such a claim, however, you need to prove how a motorist violated the duty of care owed to you. Once you have evidence of negligence – such as video footage, bystander testimony, or vehicular data – you can establish your right to compensation.

You should also question what other parties may have played a role in your accident. A negligent automotive manufacturer, for example, may be responsible for another driver’s loss of control on the road. Other parties that can be held liable in your car accident claim can include:

• Automotive mechanics
• Truck drivers, their employers, and their packing teams
• Wayward pedestrians and bicyclists
• Motorcyclists
• Construction crews
• Government employees in charge of road maintenance

Evidence is king in your car accident complaint. If you’re not sure where to start looking when the time comes to establish fault for a car accident, let the data from your accident guide you in the right direction.

Presenting Evidence Valuing Your Car Accident Losses

When it comes time for you to estimate the value of your car accident claim, you have to consider the full extent of your losses. It’s best to start with your economic damages. Specifically, you may be entitled to a settlement that addresses the full extent of any bills you’ve generated while pursuing post-accident recovery services. These can include:

• Medical bills related to current and future care
• Bills tied to the restoration of damaged property
• Wages lost while in recovery
• Lost opportunities to pursue higher-paying employment

Once you establish the sum of your economic losses, you can modify that sum using multipliers approved by the state of Kentucky. These multipliers help represent losses that don’t generate bills, but that still have an impact on your daily life. For example, your non-economic car accident losses may include:

• Emotional distress
• Emotional distress
• Stress
• PTSD and related mental health conditions

You can also discuss how you might quantify the cost of wrongful death and funeral expenses in your complaint, should the need arise.

Filing Your Car Accident Claim and Moving Forward

Once you’ve gathered the data you need to establish fault for your accident and the value of your case, you can bring your claim to the attention of a county clerk. In Kentucky, the statute of limitations for filing a car accident claim is two years from the date of the wreck or last PIP payment, but no more than four years from the date of the wreck.

If you’re concerned about the tight turnaround forced by this deadline, get in touch with a car accident attorney in Kentucky as soon as possible. Our team at McCoy & Hiestand can make the most of the time allotted to you. Together we can make sure your claim hits the desk of a county clerk in time for a court to consider your right to compensation.

How to React to a Car Accident Settlement Offer

On some occasions, the party responsible for your accident may come forward and offer you a settlement before you have a chance to move your case to court. You may not have even filed a complaint by the time this offer arrives at your door. Such behavior is permitted and even sometimes encouraged, particularly in cases where the fault is straightforward.

That said, not all the compensation offered to you via settlement will fairly represent your car accident’s losses. If you’re discussing compensation with a company, for example, a related insurance provider may take steps to covertly undermine the value of your case. Fortunately, you can bring an attorney to settlement negotiations to mitigate this behavior.

Specifically, car accident attorneys can ensure that the settlement offer you receive adequately addresses the full extent of your losses. Should the offer fall short, we can negotiate with the offering party on your behalf. If the offering party is unwilling to capitulate, we can complete your complaint and bring your car accident case before a judge.

Let Kentucky Car Accident Attorneys Tackle Your Case

You deserve to work with civil attorneys who can compassionately address your concerns after a car accident. The McCoy & Hiestand car accident lawyers in Kentucky want you to have every opportunity to question why your accident occurred and what you can do in the wake of it.

If you’re ready to pursue a car accident claim in civil court, contact our team. We can schedule your car accident case evaluation through our online contact form or over the phone. The sooner you have our team of experienced lawyers on your side, the sooner you can start down the road to a successful recovery.