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Bensville, MD Car Accident Lawyers

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    Our attorneys have decades of experience representing injury victims in car accidents and all sorts of personal injury cases.  Our goal is to help you hold the at-fault parties responsible and get you the damages you need to pay for your medical care, cover your lost wages and other expenses, and reimburse you for the pain and suffering you faced.

    When you are involved in a car accident, gather as much evidence as you can and then call our lawyers.  Do not talk to insurance companies or accept any money from them before talking to our attorneys and understanding how the statements you give the insurance company could affect your right to seek compensation.

    Call Rice, Murtha & Psoras’ car accident attorneys at (410) 694-7291 right away for a free review of your potential car accident case.

    Determining Fault in a Car Accident in Bensville, MD

    When people get into a car accident, one of their first concerns is whether they were at fault or whether there is enough proof to hold the other driver at fault for the crash.  This is an important concern, as the law in Maryland ultimately uses fault to determine who pays for damages in a car crash.  However, fault is often surprisingly intuitive, and juries often make reasonable decisions about fault that help do justice for the victim.

    Elements for Fault

    For a party to be held at fault for a car accident, they need to have violated a legal duty that contributed to causing the crash.  In many cases, our car accident attorneys can point to a clear violation of a traffic law to hold drivers responsible.  In other situations, we might have to point to driving that is unreasonable given the situation, which is also a legal violation that can justify a lawsuit.

    What this means in practice is that, for example, a driver who was speeding will be held at fault for a crash if that speeding contributed to the accident.  If they were speeding 5 miles back but had slowed down by the time the crash occurred, that speeding is not actually related to the accident.  Our attorneys need evidence that the other driver was doing something wrong at the time of the crash and that the crash would not have happened without that violation.

    Contributory Negligence

    Another factor that often complicates matters of fault is that victims are not perfect.  Car accidents often involve drivers who were perhaps violating a traffic law by speeding or following too closely, but they were injured because another driver did something far worse.  In some states, courts can assign partial blame to each driver, but Maryland uses a stricter rule.

    Under our “contributory negligence” rule, the court can cut off a victim’s ability to sue if they were even 1% at fault for their own crash.  This means we often have to closely investigate the crash and look at whether the victim’s potential breaches actually contributed to the crash or not.  For example, if you were hit by a driver who ran a red light, but you were tailgating when it happened, that might not actually affect the fault in your case.  You could have been 2 inches or 20 feet behind the driver in front of you, but that would not have stopped the third car from hitting you from the side.

    There may also be arguments that you did something wrong, but the other driver had the “last clear chance” to avoid the crash.  For example, if you pulled up too far at a red light and stuck out into the intersection, the cross-traffic might be able to slow down and go around you.  If three drivers go around you without a problem, but the fourth driver refuses to change their lane position and hits you anyway, that likely puts the crash on them.

    How Insurance and Lawsuits Compensate Car Accident Victims in Bensville, MD

    If you drive in Maryland, you have to have car insurance.  The state minimum requirements include $30,000 of coverage per person for injury, $60,000 per accident for injury, and $15,000 for property damage per accident.  But these requirements dictate how much the other driver needs to cover you in the event of a crash; your policy also likely has first-party benefits you can use to cover your own injuries.

    Maryland policies typically have at least $2,500 of personal injury protection (PIP) meant to cover your medical bills and lost wages regardless of fault.  You can use this without settling or ending your claim against the at-fault party, but it likely is not enough to cover your full case.  You might also have other first-party collision benefits you can use for auto repairs, medical pay, and other damages, but you may have to pay a deductible to tap into these benefits.

    Otherwise, if someone else hurt you, you can file an insurance claim with their policy or a lawsuit against them.  With an insurance claim, the insurance company investigates the claim and makes a decision about payment without going to court, but the damages you can claim are ultimately the same.  If the insurance company is dragging its feet, if they deny coverage, or if they offer a low settlement, our lawyers can negotiate with them for a better settlement.  If all else fails, we can take the driver and their insurance company to court and let the jury handle decisions about fault and damage amounts.

    If the other driver does not have insurance, you can go after them directly for payment in a lawsuit.  However, many drivers cannot afford to cover the accidents they cause without insurance.  If you get hurt by someone who cannot pay or whose insurance is too low to cover your damages, your policy might also have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM).  UM/UIM can pay you from your own policy to cover damages you might have claimed from the at-fault driver’s insurance.

    Call Our Bensville, MD Car Accident Attorneys Today

    For help after a car accident, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras’ car accident lawyers at (410) 694-7291.