Maryland City Car Accident Lawyer

Following an auto accident in Maryland City, there are several steps victims can take to protect their access to compensatory damages.

After your car crash, you should get the police report for the accident. You can do this by contacting the Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Office or downloading the report online. Though not useful as evidence, police reports can give our lawyers much-needed information about an accident in Maryland City. From the accident site, you should go straight to the hospital. This will allow you to generate medical records that prove your injuries exist. To recover compensation after your accident, you must bring your claim within the statute of limitations and submit compelling evidence that can prove the defendant’s fault for your injuries. Your recovery should include compensation for financial and emotional damages.

For help with your case from our Maryland City car accident lawyers, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras today at (410) 694-7291.

Getting a Police Report for a Maryland City Car Accident

According to Md. Code, Transp. Art. § 20-107(a), all accidents that result in injury or death must be reported to law enforcement in Maryland City. Officers will then create a police report, which our lawyers can help you obtain and use when building your claim.

For an accident in Maryland City, officers from the Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Office will likely respond to the crash location. They will ask you questions about the accident and your involvement in it. Police officers may also talk to eyewitnesses, take photographs of the accident scene, and note any contributing factors of the crash in this report. Though inadmissible as evidence in your injury claim, the police report can be helpful to our lawyers when piecing together the accident’s sequence of events.

To get your report, you can request it online through the Anne Arundel County portal for public information requests or through BuyCrash.com. Reports from BuyCrash.com cost $14, while reports directly from the Anne Arundel County Sheriff’s Office cost $5. There might be additional fees attached if your report contains photos, videos, or other supplemental materials. When requesting your report, you may have to provide your name, the report number, and other information about the accident itself.

If you have any trouble obtaining the police report for your accident in Maryland City, our attorneys can assist you. Typically, it takes several business days for police reports to become available to victims. If it is taking longer than that for your report to become accessible online, tell our lawyers.

Getting Medical Attention After a Car Crash in Maryland City

On top of getting the police report for your accident in Maryland City, you should also get immediate medical attention. This can allow you to build medical evidence that our attorneys can use when proving the negligent driver’s fault for your collision.

One of the best things victims can do is go directly from the accident site to the hospital. There, doctors can give you the emergency treatment you need and fully assess your injuries. This will result in medical records detailing and confirming your immediate physical injuries. You can then seek further care during the course of your recovery to ensure there are no gaps in your medical treatment. If your injuries require surgery or other specific care, follow doctors’ advice so we can show the jury that you are fully committed to your physical recovery.

As you receive medical care, you will incur medical damages. Upon receiving invoices or bills from hospitals or treatment centers, send copies of them to our lawyers. This will allow us to accurately calculate your economic damages due to medical expenses. We can factor these damages into your total losses, enabling us to request an appropriate amount in compensation from a negligent driver in Maryland City.

Recovering Compensation After a Car Accident in Maryland City

In order to recover compensation after your recent auto accident in Maryland City, you will have to do several things, including filing your claim by the deadline and meeting the standard of proof in your case.

As dictated by Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art., § 5-101, car accident victims in Maryland City have three years to sue negligent drivers. Do not delay bringing your case, as doing so could make it harder to prove certain elements of your lawsuit. Furthermore, waiting to sue may mean you are without compensation for longer than necessary.

In addition to filing your lawsuit on time, you will also have to prove the defendant’s fault, provided your case goes to trial and does not settle out of court. To do this, we must prove four elements. The first is that the negligent driver owed you a duty of care. Then, we must prove that the defendant breached their duty of care, directly causing your physical injuries and your real damages. If we establish all four of these elements, we will have successfully proven that the defendant is liable for your injuries.

This is what enables you to recover compensatory damages in Maryland City. Compensation should include damages for financial and emotional losses. This means that while your medical bills and lost wages should be compensated, so should your emotional losses due to pain and suffering. Juries are only allowed to award victims up to $935,000 in non-economic damages, according to Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art., § 11-108(b).

You can also recover damages if you settle your claim out of court. Leveraging evidence of negligence in settlement negotiations can allow car accident lawyers to get a suitable offer from the defendant. Regarding payment of damages, you might get it via a lump sum payment or through structured payments. This will likely depend on the financial ability of the defendant in your case.

Call Our Maryland City Lawyers About Your Auto Accident Case Now

You can call our car accident lawyers at (410) 694-7 to have Rice, Murtha & Psoras evaluate your case for free today.