Bourne, MA Car Accident Lawyer
Collisions between vehicles often leave victims seriously injured and needing compensation, which they can get from negligent drivers when they file claims in Bourne.
Right after a crash, call 911. This will inform law enforcement and paramedics of the accident, and they will arrive to assist you. Officers can collect information from negligent drivers, and paramedics can give victims onsite medical care. Victims must identify who is liable for their injuries to bring a compensation claim. Depending on a case’s complexity, this could require us to involve an accident reconstruction expert, who could analyze evidence to determine who initiated the accident. We can also quickly identify and interview eyewitnesses whose testimony could help prove negligence in court. By comparing your injuries to Massachusetts’ serious injury threshold, we can confirm if you can sue for financial and intangible damages and file your case before the deadline.
Call (617) 925-6407 for help with your case from the car accident lawyers of the Law Office of John J. Sheehan.
Calls to Make After Car Accidents in Bourne, MA
The first call you make after a car crash should be to 911. When speaking with 911 operators, victims should request police attention at the accident site and ask for paramedics if injured.
You can call 911 to report any collision, even seemingly minor rear-enders. Police officers can help victims collect negligent drivers’ information and record other details, like the accident’s exact location and environmental factors. Do not leave the scene before officers arrive, even if the negligent driver does.
Officers may indicate the seriousness of victims’ injuries at the site in their reports, so tell the police if you are at all harmed during a crash. When paramedics arrive, tell them what happened and which part of your body was impacted by the accident, and they can assess you for underlying injuries like organ damage. Upon your arrival at the emergency room, doctors can perform additional diagnostic tests to confirm your injuries and prescribe appropriate treatment.
Victims can contact our lawyers soon after collisions to begin preparing their claims. Delaying this process could delay filing, putting victims at risk of missing the filing deadline for car accident lawsuits in Massachusetts, which is three years.
Ironing Out the Details of Your Bourne, MA Car Crash
As we start to prepare your case, our lawyers must iron out the foundational details, such as who was involved in the accident, which driver initiated the collision, and whether or not your injuries are severe enough to recover non-economic damages.
Who Was Involved?
First, our car accident lawyers must identify all involved parties. In the simplest cases, the involved parties might be the victim and the negligent driver. If the driver was operating a commercial vehicle, like a semi truck, when the accident happened, their employer might share responsibility for the damages because of vicarious liability. This only applies when drivers or truckers are regular employees, not independent contractors.
When injured in multi-vehicle accidents, victims should call the police for help processing the scene and collecting everyone’s information. Multi-vehicle accidents could happen for many reasons, such as one rear-end collision that starts a chain reaction. When multiple drivers are involved, we can determine if they share fault or if liability is reserved for one party.
Who Initiated the Crash?
In all car accident lawsuits, we must show which driver’s negligence caused the crash, resulting in the victim’s injuries and damages. Accident reconstruction can achieve this, and our lawyers can promptly involve experts in your claim if liability is somewhat unclear. Crash reconstruction experts work in reverse by analyzing evidence from the scene to make various determinations. Based on photos of tire marks, the point of impact, and property damage, crash reconstruction experts can ascertain which party instigated the crash. Experts can make other determinations, like speed, direction of travel, and the general sequence of events.
To ensure experts have enough evidence to review, victims can take photos at the scene to preserve proof of property damage and debris, and our lawyers can obtain any images taken by police when we get the crash report.
Were There Eyewitnesses?
Witnesses often stop to offer aid after catastrophic accidents, and victims can use that opportunity to ask for their contact information. If you were too hurt to talk to witnesses, first responders might have collected their details and recorded them in the crash report.
Witness statements can help prove various elements of car accident claims, like how the defendant breached their duty of care. For example, witnesses may testify that a defendant was speeding, swerving in and out of lanes, making an illegal turn, or driving recklessly when they hit you. To ensure witnesses’ memories remain intact, our lawyers can prioritize scheduling interviews with them as soon as possible.
What Were Your Injuries?
Massachusetts has a serious injury threshold for auto accident lawsuits, and victims must certify that they qualify to sue. According to Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 231, § 6D, there are two ways victims can qualify to bring a lawsuit and recover non-economic damages from negligent drivers. The first is incurring upwards of $2,000 in reasonable medical damages, including surgical, hospital, and ambulance costs, among other expenses. The second is sustaining a serious injury, which includes death, whole or partial loss of a body member, permanent or serious disfigurement, hearing or sight loss, or a fracture.
Because the threshold for medical damages is relatively low, many victims can file claims for all losses after going to the emergency room once for care after a collision. Monitoring your damages and ensuring you keep hospital records organized is crucial, and our lawyers can handle this aspect of your case as we prepare it.
Call Our Bourne, MA Accident Lawyers for Help Today
Call (617) 925-6407 for a free case assessment from the Law Office of John J. Sheehan’s car accident lawyers.
