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When to Hire a Car Accident Lawyer in Mississippi

Not all car accidents require the help of an attorney. Most of the time, you will not need the help of an attorney when property damage is the only issue, or if personal injuries were minor. In some cases, however, you may benefit greatly from the insight and expertise of a qualified car accident lawyer.

Consult an attorney if you were seriously injured. In addition to the actual amount of your medical expenses, you may be entitled to additional compensation for wages lost during your recovery, future economic loss, and even pain and suffering. An experienced attorney can help you beyond knowing what compensation to seek. Studies conducted over the last few years have shown that settlements negotiated by attorneys are as much as 3-1/2 times larger than those received by individuals without legal counsel.

Hire an attorney if the insurance company offers a settlement too soon. Settling out of court benefits the insurance company because it saves them money, but negotiating the settlement before enough time has passed to ascertain the degree of your injuries will do you an injustice. A qualified lawyer can review the case and determine whether or not the settlement offer is fair.

Get legal advice if the accident was your fault. In most states, even if you were negligent in some way, the other driver probably had some responsibility for the incident as well. Most states operate under a system called comparative negligence, which allocates a degree of responsibility to each party, based on their actions. If there is a chance that you might be sued, you should set up a consultation with a car accident attorney to discuss the case. Even if you were at fault, your lawyer may be able to help limit the degree of financial responsibility.

Seek legal help if insurance refuses to pay covered expenses or cuts off payments. Insurance companies obviously are in business to make a profit, but they are required to live up to the terms of the policies they’ve underwritten. If you feel that you did not receive the benefits to which you were entitled, ask a lawyer to review the situation.

Finally, talk to a lawyer if you’re uncertain about the legal process. You do have certain rights under the law, and if you think your rights have been abused, speaking with an attorney can clarify the situation. Initial consultations are usually free, and if you are entitled to benefits that have been withheld, your attorney is the best resource to resolve the problem.

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Rules of Conduct Following an Accident In Mississippi

There are several basic “rules” that you should always take seriously following an accident. Some of them you should follow because it’s the law and you could get into trouble if you don’t, while others are just common sense rules that make dealing with an accident much smoother.

Never Leave the Scene of an Accident

You could find yourself being criminally prosecuted if your car has been involved in an accident and you leave before the police arrive. It’s also a good idea to avoid moving your car (unless you are risking further accident or injury by leaving it where it is) until a police officer has been able to take a look at the accident scene. If you are blocking traffic, try to move the very shortest distance away from where the impact took place. If you’ve suffered injuries from the accident stay in the vehicle until the emergency personnel arrive to assess your physical condition. Call the police yourself, or have someone at the scene call for you, but make that call a priority.

If the Other Driver is Reluctant to Contact Police

If you are a victim of negligent driving which resulted in an accident, and the other party says, “Oh, let’s just handle this ourselves without calling the police,” do not be persuaded! Even if you’ve properly exchanged information, you may end up very sorry should you not call the police and have an accident report filed which will detail the accident as well as who was at fault. If you later find that the other driver was either uninsured, or comes up with a completely bogus story about how the accident actually happened, then you will be the one to bear the financial hit. Your insurance may not pay due to lack of a police report, and you could be stuck with injuries and damages to your car that you will have to pay out of pocket for. Take the time and call the police, and don’t be bullied into ignoring this crucial step.

Don’t Refuse Medical Attention

It happens time after time at accident scenes. People who are involved in a crash routinely refuse medical attention even when they are feeling at least some level of pain. They go home, then hours later find that their pain has increased significantly, and end up in the emergency room. The problem with this is that if and when your case reaches court, your delay in seeking treatment can be used against you to prove your injury was not a result of the auto accident. In most all cases where the accident was any worse than a very small bump-in, you and your passengers should be checked out by EMT workers, emergency room personnel or your own personal doctor before you go home.

Never Admit Fault

If you are able, following an auto accident, try to jot down notes as to when the accident occurred, the weather and road conditions, the absence or presence of street lights or skid marks, etc. Make a diagram which shows the location of the vehicles involved in the accident as well as any traffic signals or signs in the immediate vicinity. Good notes can serve you well should your case go to trial. While you will definitely want to exchange insurance information with the other driver, and state the basics to the police, it’s never in your best interest to admit responsibility for the accident until you have consulted an attorney.  Your statements following an accident can come back to haunt you, and in any case, the police may determine the other driver was equally at fault, so use your right to remain silent if you are thinking of “confessing.”

Call an Attorney

Even the simplest auto accidents can require many steps by the people who suffered injuries, and dealing with the insurance companies, medical issues and possible lost wages can be very complex. Failure to notify your insurance company could lead to a denial of your claim down the line, so hiring a lawyer can allow you to focus on getting better rather than dealing with insurance issues.

At Barrett Law, PLLC, a dedicated car accident lawyer in Mississippi from our law firm is committed to representing Mississippi car accident victims with the compassion and personal attention that has allowed our law firm to develop a leading reputation throughout Mississippi.  We have been helping Mississippi car accident victims in Lexington and across Mississippi for over 75 years so call Barrett Law, PLLC today at (662) 834-2376.

 

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Delayed Symptom Injuries in Mississippi Car Accidents

The tell-tale symptoms of car accident injuries sometimes are not that apparent at the time of your Mississippi car accident, which can lead you to believe you have “minor” injuries or that you are not injured at all. This can result in two negative outcomes. Your health can be in danger because you may suffer long-term damage that would not have occurred if your injuries were diagnosed promptly, and you can lose your ability to recover for damages from a responsible party.

When you are involved in a Mississippi car accident, it is important to seek medical attention no matter how minor you consider your injuries.  Soft tissue damage that results from trauma such as whiplash may not even make itself manifest until days or weeks later. This tissue damage can become a much more serious problem if not treated correctly. The inflammation that will set in due to such damage can cause swelling and muscle spasms that develops into soreness, stiffness, numbness, headaches and other physical manifestations.

Sometimes it can be more than just soft tissue that is damaged such as an injury to nerves or ligaments.  Most people don’t understand that these types of injuries take a long time to heal, and sometimes can produce scar tissue that will need to be manipulated by a specialist so that the injury does not heal this way impeding further movement later.  Treatment that is given for these injuries is often downplayed, or people are just given pain medications to mask the symptoms and provide pain relief.  These methods will not address the problem over the long-term and can end up causing future difficulties and pain.

Other types of injuries that can have delayed symptoms are head injuries, spinal injuries, and shoulder injuries.  A person does not have to be driving fast when they are in a Mississippi car accident to suffer these injuries either. Sometimes a car will not even be damaged, and it will be easy to brush the auto accident off as no big deal.  This can be a grave mistake. Seeking medical attention and awareness of what your body is doing in the subsequent hours after a Mississippi car accident is important.

Symptoms that victims of auto accident in Mississippi should be aware of include the following:

  • Headaches
  • Problems with your vision
  • Pain and inflammation
  • Numbness or tingling in body parts
  • Dizziness
  • Fatigue
  • Irritability

It is important to seek out the advice of an experienced Mississippi auto accident attorney if you think you have sustained injuries in a car accident anywhere in Mississippi.  Many insurance carriers dismiss the seriousness of injuries and take the position that an auto accident victim is either faking or exaggerating his or her injuries. Insurance adjusters love to use insulting phrases like “low impact” collision as they make inappropriate settlement offers far below the real value of an injury victim’s claim.

Our Mississippi auto accident law firm offers a free initial case evaluation so call us today at (662) 834-2376.

If you are injured or a loved one’s life is tragically taken in an Mississippi car accident, the Mississippi car accident lawyers at the Barrett Law Office work hard and give its best efforts to obtain the full value of our client’s claim as we have been doing for car accident victims throughout Mississippi since 1933.

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Can “Talking” Cars Prevent Mississippi Car Accidents

Ford, GM, and Toyota are thinking futuristic and developing a new technology for cars that will allow them to talk to one another.  This new technology is called “Intellidrive”.  The technology utilizes GPS and WiFi that allow the vehicles to send out signals with their location and speed information so other vehicles on Mississippi roadways and know where they are and how fast they are going.  The cars essentially “talk” to each other.

The reason behind the push for this new technology is to keep drivers safer behind the wheel. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) believes that when this new technology is employed, it will help to reduce the risk of potential accidents by as much as 80%.

Some cars already employ more basic versions of what might be called smart car technology that warns drivers of impending accident risks and/or helps drivers avoid such car accidents.  Some vehicles already on the market let you know when you are drifting into another lane or when you might be in danger of colliding with a vehicle in front of you.  While this new technology that permits vehicles to communicate to each other might sound like something out of a science fiction movie, it could help to cut down on the 5 million car collisions per year in the U.S. that kill approximately 340,000 people and injure more than 2 million.  Any new technology that can significantly reduce Mississippi car accidents is a type of car industry advancement worth embracing.

The Technology

These new systems are not limited to just employing current radar technology to detect what is in front of them or behind them as with some current vehicles.  The smart car technology can detect a signal up to 900 feet away and 360 degrees around. The multi-directional WIFI signals send out a car’s location, cruising speed and brake status information to the other car. That car is then warned of an incoming hazard by a series of beeping noises and flashing red lights. The first warnings would alert the driver.  If the driver does not respond, then the car would take over and employ whatever action was necessary including applying brakes or changing speed or direction.

The goal of the system will be to prevent collisions by preventing a vehicle from changing lanes, approaching a stalled vehicle too quickly or entering an intersection if the light has turned red.  While the technology appears like a promising way to reduce the number of fatal Mississippi car accidents, there are some bugs that need to be worked out.  For example, the automakers are trying to determine an effective way to keep the channels the signals flow through clear.  They are also trying to determine how to keep hackers out of the system and how to protect privacy.

Working Together

There are several car manufacturers that are cooperating to make this happen.  For this system to work, different makes of cars have to be able to communicate with one another.  Even though the investment in the technology has been upward of $40 million dollars in federal money, the end cost to the automakers is only going to be about an extra $100 per vehicle.  The goal is to have this smart car technology become standard in some 2013 automobiles.

It remains to be seen how effective this new technology will be in preventing car accidents or reducing auto accident related injuries and fatalities in Mississippi.  It may help with distracted driving because the car will be interacting with the driver on a lot of different levels which might keep the driver more engaged on the business of driving.  The car may also alert drivers of hazards that the driver has not noticed because the driver was engaged in activities like using one’s cell phone.

It could very well increase the number of lawsuits if there are accidents as a result of the technology. If the system malfunctions causing a driver whom relies on the system to make an error in judgment, it may raise issues as to who is responsible for a resulting auto collision.  Despite these concerns, the technology looks like a promising step in the right direction.

If you or someone you love is involved in a Mississippi car accident, a car accident attorney in Mississippi from Barrett Law, PLLC may be able to help you seek compensation for damages such as medical bills, property damage, permanent disabilities, as well as pain and suffering.  The roots of Barrett Law, PLLC have grown and flourished during the last 75 years.  We represent those who have suffered serious injury or wrongful death throughout Mississippi so contact us today to see how we can help at (662) 834-2376.

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