Hingham, MA Car Accident Lawyer

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Motor vehicle accidents are dangerous for victims, often causing debilitating injuries. While such injuries are typically expensive, victims may get damages by bringing claims against at-fault drivers.

Before filing your car accident claim in Hingham, we must identify how the other driver breached the duty of care they owed you, causing the accident and your injuries. To do this, we may interview eyewitnesses and get crash reconstruction experts to assist with your claim. Learning the accident’s location and time can help us obtain relevant surveillance footage before it is erased and calculate the filing deadline for your case. Your injuries and medical records will dictate if you can get compensation for pain and suffering in Massachusetts, so prioritize your physical recovery. Our lawyers will review such information to confirm if you are eligible for non-economic damages in your case.

Call our Boston car accident lawyers at (617) 925-6407 for a free assessment of your case from the Law Office of John J. Sheehan.

Confirming the Facts of Your Hingham, MA Car Accident Case

When preparing your compensation claim in Hingham, our attorneys will first determine whether the other driver was negligent. We will then pinpoint basic facts, such as where and when the accident happened and whether you received emergency medical treatment. We will also determine the sum of your losses and identify potential eyewitnesses whose testimony might ensure your financial recovery.

How Was the Other Driver Negligent?

The first thing to determine is whether or not the other driver involved in the accident was negligent. To prove liability for collisions and injuries, our car accident lawyers must establish a duty of care and breach, in addition to other elements. As a driver behind the wheel, the other driver owed you a duty to follow traffic rules and regulations. Breaking those rules is a breach of their duty of care. One could breach their duty of care by engaging in any negligent driving activity, including speeding, distracted driving, drowsy driving, or aggressive driving.

Our lawyers will aim to pinpoint exactly how the defendant breached their duty of care. For example, attempting to merge into a lane without room between cars would be negligent and could lead to an accident. Failing to observe another driver’s right of way, failing to come to complete stops stop signs, or texting while driving are common examples of negligence causing accidents in Hingham.

Because Massachusetts is a comparative negligence state, victims might recover less damages if they share fault for their injuries. Crash reconstruction experts and statements from eyewitnesses can help our lawyers overcome comparative negligence defenses. We can gauge whether the defendant might use a comparative fault defense based on the evidence left behind by a crash and prepare your case accordingly.

Where and When Did the Accident Happen?

Our team will also determine the basic facts of the accident, such as its time and location. This can help us rule out potential contributing factors that could otherwise lessen a negligent driver’s liability, such as poor visibility, weather, or road conditions.

By knowing the exact location where the accident happened, our lawyers can also exhaust all potential sources of surveillance footage. We may contact homes or businesses near the accident site with security camera systems to do this. We can prioritize this part of evidence collection, as surveillance footage is at risk of being deleted as more time passes.

The accident’s date will inform the filing deadline for your case, which will likely be three years from that day under Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 260, § 2A.

Did You Get Medical Treatment?

Whether or not you received immediate medical treatment may factor heavily into your case. In Hingham, victims can only seek non-economic damages against negligent drivers when they pass the tort threshold. The criteria for passing this threshold can be found in Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 231, § 6D. Victims must sustain serious injuries to recover compensation for pain and suffering, which include limb loss and permanent and serious disfigurement, or incur $2,000 or more in medical damages.

The outcome of initial medical assessments and diagnostic tests may dictate whether or not you pass the tort threshold and can recover additional compensation, such as damages for pain and suffering. Because victims’ medical records are so vital in auto injury claims in Massachusetts, getting urgent medical care is essential so that they have evidence of their injuries. Victims should follow all aspects of their treatment plans to avoid having gaps in their medical records.

Did You Incur Losses?

Victims file car accident claims to recover damages for losses, meaning they must provide proof of those losses to get compensation. Proof of losses must be explicit and may include charges from hospitals or providers who treated victims after accidents. Being unable to return to work immediately after crashes is common, and victims should report any lost wages to our lawyers so that we can request compensation for them in complaints.

Victims might incur non-economic damages without knowing they are compensable. Our attorneys will use the appropriate tactics to document and quantify victims’ pain and suffering. Like with economic damages, compensation for non-economic damages is unlimited for car accident victims in Hingham.

Did Anyone Witness the Car Accident?

While prepping your claim, our lawyers will determine if anyone witnessed the accident and could provide testimony about what happened. Suppose you did not notice or speak to any eyewitnesses at the scene in Hingham. In that case, we can use other tactics to identify them, such as reviewing the accident report from law enforcement. Once identified, we can interview eyewitnesses to keep their statements intact and use them as evidence in your lawsuit.