Car accidents can upend victims’ lives in an instant. Suddenly, you may be facing painful injuries, medical bills that are piling up, and time off work. This situation can easily become overwhelming, especially when you’re facing an insurance company that isn’t treating you fairly or trying to push you into an unfair settlement.
If this is the situation you find yourself in after getting into an accident in Glynn County, GA, the Glynn County car accident lawyers at Mayfield Law, LLC can help. Our Glynn County car accident attorneys have seen firsthand the toll that these events can have on victims and their loved ones. We tirelessly represent the rights of accident victims, seeking to hold liable parties accountable for their negligence and pursuing maximum compensation to help offset the unexpected costs you’re facing. We can walk you through your legal rights and options during a free consultation. Contact our law office in Glynn County, Georgia, or call (912) 457-8557 today to get started.
How Mayfield Law, LLC Can Help You After a Car Accident in Glynn County, GA
At Mayfield Law, LLC, we have spent years representing individuals injured in car accidents or who have lost loved ones in fatal accidents due to the carelessness of others. We know that car accidents can come out of nowhere and disrupt the lives of victims. We can handle every aspect of your car accident claim while you focus on your recovery.
Our Glynn County car accident lawyers provide comprehensive legal services, which include:
- Legal consultation – We take the time to sit down with you and discuss the circumstances surrounding your auto accident so that we can give you an honest opinion about the viability of a legal claim.
- Investigation – We thoroughly investigate your case to determine all at-fault parties and pathways for compensation. We gather critical evidence to help establish fault and the full extent of your damages. In some cases, we may hire expert witnesses to further bolster your case.
- Claim management – We handle communications with insurance companies and other parties on your behalf. We prepare your insurance claims and monitor them. We take timely action to preserve your rights, such as filing lawsuits before the statute of limitations expires.
- Negotiations – Insurance companies will try to minimize the amount they pay to protect their own profits. Our Glynn County personal injury lawyers want to help secure fair compensation for you that factors in all your short- and long-term losses.
Contact us today for a free legal consultation with a Glynn County personal injury attorney.
Why Should I Hire a Car Accident Lawyer?
From the moment you are involved in a car crash, you enter a complex adversarial legal process. The at-fault driver will try to deny they were responsible for the accident, and their insurance company will back them up. No one wants to be financially liable for the substantial losses that follow an accident, and you can expect a fight from the other side.
Meanwhile, you’ll be in a vulnerable position. You may have suffered serious injuries that are disrupting your life. Managing your medical care may be enough without adding a complicated legal process on top of it. Insurance companies know this and try to take advantage of this vulnerability by failing to take responsibility, getting information to use against you, or making lowball settlement offers.
You may be entitled to financial compensation for the car repairs, medical expenses, and lost wages you’ve suffered. An experienced attorney can help you demand the compensation you deserve. They can handle all interactions with insurance companies to protect your legal rights. If a lawsuit is necessary to pursue the compensation you deserve, an experienced attorney can take care of the legal paperwork and present a persuasive case on your behalf in court.
How Much Money Can I Get From a Car Accident Case?
Every car accident case is unique. Car accident case values can vary drastically from one situation to the next. Individual circumstances can dramatically impact the value of a case.
Factors that can affect the value of a car accident claim could include:
- The type and severity of the injuries you sustained
- Whether your injuries resulted in permanent disability or impairments
- Whether your injuries prevented you from returning to work
- The value of your economic damages
- The type of medical treatment you required and its duration
- The extent and duration of your pain and suffering
- Whether you contributed to the accident
- The insurance coverage available for your claim
The best way to determine the value of your specific case is to work with an experienced lawyer who can consider the factors that affect your case and give you a better idea about its potential value.
How Long Do I Have To File a Car Accident Case?
Most personal injury cases can be resolved through an out-of-court settlement, but sometimes, a lawsuit is necessary. All states have different statutes of limitations that set deadlines for filing certain types of legal cases. In Georgia, the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury lawsuit is two years.
In most cases, this means that you have two years from the accident date to file a car accident lawsuit. If this deadline passes and you have not filed a formal complaint, any complaint you later file can be dismissed as untimely. You can lose your right to recover compensation for your car accident injuries, regardless of how clear fault is in your case. Don’t let this happen to you – contact an experienced car accident attorney today who can take timely legal action in your case and fight for the justice and accountability you deserve.
What Type Of Compensation (or, damages) Is Available After a Car Accident?
The potential value of your case is directly tied to the types of damages or losses you suffered in the accident. You must be able to prove that you sustained these losses due to the accident and their value. These damages are generally divided into the following categories.
Economic
Economic damages, also known as special damages in Georgia, are losses that have a monetary value.
Economic damages can include:
- Medical expenses – You may incur various medical bills after an accident, including ambulance charges, emergency room and hospitalization fees, doctor visits, rehabilitation, physical therapy expenses, prescription medications, and medical devices. You can seek compensation for your past medical bills, ongoing medical care, and future medical costs.
- Lost income – You can seek compensation for your lost wages while recovering from your injuries or seeking medical care, as well as for any other income you couldn’t earn due to the accident. Additionally, if your injury prevented you from returning to work or the same job, you can seek compensation for your reduced earning capacity.
- Property damage – You have the right to receive compensation for the costs of repairing your damaged vehicle. If these costs exceed the fair market value of your vehicle, you can recover compensation to replace your vehicle with a similar one. If other personal property was damaged in the accident, you can seek compensation for that damaged property.
Keep all your medical bills, receipts, invoices, and estimates to help prove the value of these economic losses.
Non-economic
Non-economic damages, or general damages, are losses you incur due to the accident that do not have a direct financial figure you can assign to them.
General damages can compensate for losses such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Anxiety and depression
- Physical impairment
- Permanent disability
- Lost quality of life
An experienced car accident attorney can help prove the value of all the losses you incurred because of the accident.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Car Accident Lawyer?
Most car accident lawyers in Glynn County work on contingency.
Under this fee agreement:
- You don’t pay any attorney fees upfront.
- An attorney can get started on your case right away despite no upfront payment.
- Your attorney’s fee is conditioned upon their ability to secure compensation on your behalf.
- If your lawyer is unable to secure compensation for your case, you don’t owe for their services.
- If your lawyer recovers compensation, they receive a percentage of the recovery, which is deducted from your settlement check, along with other legal costs.
- The exact percentage is identified in your written retainer agreement.
This fee agreement allows you to secure legal services when you need them while not having to pay for them until you can afford them.
Can I Get Money If I Was Partly at Fault For My Car Accident?
Yes, it is often possible for car accident victims to recover compensation for accidents in which they played a part. Georgia uses a modified comparative negligence system that applies to these types of car accident cases.
Under this system, the factfinder assigns a percentage of blame to each at-fault party. For example, one driver may have been texting while another was speeding. The percentage of the plaintiff’s fault is deducted as a percentage from their damages. For example, in the example above, the distracted driver may be assigned 80% of the fault while the speeding driver may be assigned 20%. If the speeding driver had $100,000 in damages, their award would be reduced by 20% or $20,000 in this scenario.
If you are more than 49% to blame, you are barred from recovering damages.
Will my Car Accident Case Go to Trial?
Most car accident cases do not go to trial. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, less than four percent of all personal injury cases go to trial. 73% of all personal injury cases were resolved in an agreed settlement. Some claims were dropped completely. Another 10% were dismissed due to a lack of prosecution or failure to serve a complaint on the defendant. Others were resolved after a lawsuit was filed before the trial date.
All that being said, some car accident cases do go to trial, so it’s important you work with an experienced trial lawyer. If an insurance company knows your lawyer isn’t willing to go all the way, the adjuster will have less incentive to offer fair compensation. And, even if your case is ultimately settled before trial, you may still need to file a car accident lawsuit to show you are serious about the case.
Types of Car Accident Claims We Handle
At Mayfield Law, LLC, we have extensive experience handling all types of car accident cases. Some of the most common types of car crashes in Glynn County include:
Head-On Collisions
A head-on crash occurs when two vehicles traveling in opposite directions collide head-on with each other. Because these crashes involve the combined force of both vehicles, they tend to result in serious injuries.
Rear-End Crashes
A rear-end collision occurs when a trailing vehicle hits the back of the vehicle in front of it. These accidents are often caused by distracted driving or following too closely.
T-Bone Crashes
A T-bone or side-impact crash occurs when a turning vehicle hits a vehicle traveling straight. The turning driver is often found at fault for these accidents because they may have failed to yield the right-of-way. However, the driver traveling straight can be held liable when they have violated traffic laws, such as running a red light or stop sign.
Multi-Vehicle Collisions
Multi-vehicle collisions or pileups involve three or more vehicles. They may be caused by an initial form of negligence, followed by a chain reaction of secondary crashes.
Single-Vehicle Crashes
A single-vehicle crash occurs when someone crashes into a stationary object or rolls their vehicle over rather than colliding with another vehicle. Injured passengers may be able to make claims against the driver of the vehicle or against a product manufacturer if a defective product caused the crash.
Who Could be Liable for My Injuries Resulting From a Car Accident?
Most car accidents are caused by driver error. A driver may have acted carelessly, causing the collision. However, other factors can cause or contribute to accidents, such as dangerous road conditions or defective products.
Establishing liability in a car accident requires showing another party was negligent, which means:
- They had a duty of care.
- They violated their duty of care.
- The breach of duty of care was the direct cause of the car crash.
- You suffered damages as a result of the accident.
Strong evidence can help you provide liability.
This could include:
- Police reports
- Traffic citations
- Photos of the accident scene
- Videos from dashcams, traffic cameras, and surveillance cameras
- The mechanics involved in the crash and the location of vehicle damage, as explained by an accident reconstruction expert or biomechanical engineer
An experienced car accident lawyer will know what evidence can help establish liability in your case and how to obtain it.
Common types of Car Accident Injuries
Car accident injuries can vary significantly from minor scrapes and bruises to catastrophic injuries that forever alter the lives of victims.
Various factors can affect the type and severity of injuries accident victims suffer, such as:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Skull fractures
- Broken bones
- Chest injuries
- Abdominal injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Burns
- Amputations
Our legal team will work tirelessly to pursue the compensation you deserve after suffering these serious injuries.
Most Common Causes of Car Accidents
Unfortunately, not all drivers take the task of driving seriously.
They make mistakes that cause accidents, such as:
- Speeding and driving too fast for conditions
- Running red lights and stop signs
- Driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol
- Distracted driving
- Failing to yield the right-of-way
- Reckless driving, including frequent lane changes, tailgating, and intimidating other drivers
Vehicle defects or mechanical issues, such as tire blowouts or brake failures, cause some car accidents. A skilled car accident lawyer can investigate your case to determine how the accident happened and who is responsible for it.
Glynn County Car Accident Stats
According to the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, 1,797 people died in fatal car accidents in 2022. The Georgia Department of Transportation reports 5,135 crashes in Glynn County between 2022 and 2023. Of these, 29 were fatal, and 1,973 involved injuries.
Most Dangerous Intersections
According to The Brunswick News, the Golden Isles Parkway, also called Spur 25, was the most likely place for a car crash in 2023. Its intersection with Scranton Road was the site of nearly one crash per week, culminating in 45 for 2023. The Spur and Canal Road intersection was responsible for another 40 crashes in the same year. Glynco Parkway and the Spur intersection was responsible for another 33 crashes.
32 crashes were reported on the Altama Connector and the Spur, 25 were reported at the intersection of Spur and Altama Avenue, and another 25 were reported for Blythe Island Highway and U.S. Highway 341.
Various factors contributed to these crashes, but law enforcement officers attributed speed, distractions, and misunderstandings about traffic laws as the leading causes.
What Should I Do After a Car Accident in Glynn County?
Car accidents can happen out of nowhere. It can be difficult to stay calm and organized in the midst of such upheaval. Many accident victims suffer shock or don’t understand what they should do in the immediate aftermath and the days and weeks following the accident. Keep this list in mind if you are involved in a car accident in Glynn County:
Get to Safety and Check for Injuries
The most important priority after a car accident is your safety. Pull your vehicle over in a safe place and activate your hazard lights. Check if you or your passengers are injured if you are physically able to check on their status.
Call 911
Call 911 and request an ambulance if anyone is injured. Calling 911 can also get a law enforcement officer to respond to your accident and prepare an official report. Georgia law requires you to report any auto accident you are involved in that results in injury, death, or property damage of $500 or more.
Be Careful What You Say
Be careful what you say at the accident scene, as your words could be used against you. Don’t admit fault for the accident. You don’t know all the factors that could have contributed to it.
When speaking to the police officer, stick to the facts. Avoid speculating on who was at fault.
Collect Information
The police officer will get information from you and the other driver, but you should also ask for critical information, as you will need to file an insurance claim.
Ask the other driver for the following information:
- Their name
- Their address and phone number
- Their driver’s license number
- Their insurance information
- Information about their vehicle
Ask any witnesses for their names and contact information, too.
Take Photos and Videos
Take photos and videos of the accident.
Document the following:
- The presence of any physical evidence, such as skid marks and debris on the roadway
- The damage to your vehicle and others
- Your injuries
- The general accident scene
- Nearby traffic signs and signals
- Road and weather conditions
This evidence may be quickly cleaned up, so it’s crucial you document it while it’s available.
File an Insurance Claim
Georgia is an at-fault state for car accidents, so the at-fault driver is responsible for paying for the damages they cause. This usually occurs by filing an insurance claim with the at-fault driver’s liability insurance company. You may also be required under your insurance contract to notify your own insurance company of any accidents, even if they aren’t your fault.
Continue Medical Treatment
If you were taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital after the accident, follow your doctor’s orders and restrictions. Follow up with your regular doctor as soon as possible. Keep all your appointments and medical records.
Monitor Your Social Media Activity and Conversations
While you might be tempted to post pictures and your story on your social media pages, don’t do this. Insurance companies are notorious for following accident victims to try to get any information they can use against them. They could take a smiling picture of you out of context, trying to allege that you weren’t injured if you looked so happy, or use something you say online to contradict your official version of events.
If the insurance company contacts you to request a recorded statement, politely decline. These conversations are only used to get information to use against you and minimize or deny your claim.
Don’t talk to anyone about the accident except for your lawyer.
Contact an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer
Our car accident lawyers can advocate for you and protect your rights throughout the claim process.
Call our Glynn County Car Accident Lawyers today for Help
If you were injured in a car accident in Glynn County, GA, you can turn to Mayfield Law, LLC for assistance. Our Glynn County car accident lawyers can advise you of your legal rights and options during a free case review. Call us today to learn more.