Individuals involved in motor accidents can be held financially liable in the United States for the damaging consequences of the accident. This might include damage to property, bodily damage to passengers and drivers and fatalities. In most states the US law requires drivers to carry liability insurance as the potential costs when sued can easily exceed the entire annual income of a driver.
Traffic Violation
Drivers involved in frequent collisions receive traffic citations which might directly address one or more traffic violations like, speeding, driving under influence of drugs, alcohol etc. In the event of fatality, a charge of vehicular homicide is prosecuted against driver. Conviction for simple traffic violation is dealt with fines or suspension of driving license for a short while. When drunk driving is concerned, offenses might also result in jail time and/or mandatory alcohol rehabilitation.
Lawsuits and Claims
In accidents with minor property damage, lawyers are not absolutely essential and claims are usually handled by getting an estimate of damage from a third party and presenting the claim to the insurance company. Insurance company might comeback with a lesser estimate and in view of impending negotiation rounds with the company you are advised to hire legal help. If there are personal injuries that require medical care of any magnitude, there is a definite need for legal help to prepare and organize the necessary paperwork, get medical bills and car damages paid up.
Statute of Limitations
The first step after suffering injuries in a car accident is to hire an attorney and begin the legal process as soon as possible. Unnecessary delay would usually weaken the potential claim because of various reasons. These might include loss of evidence, loss of fresh memories and disorganized paperwork and medical records and the inability of the attorney to direct the process. In fact waiting might result in the case being completely barred by the Statute of Limitations of the state where the accident took place. Statute of Limitation is an enactment in a legal system that decides on a certain time period. Any legal proceeding based on a event cannot be started if the above mentioned ‘maximum time’ has elapsed since the event. Also, a lot of attorneys hesitate in taking up old cases because of various unresolved issues, time pressure and a lowered value of claim.
