Walnut Creek Car Accident Lawyer
Every year, vehicle collisions kill or seriously injure millions of Americans. In many cases, these injuries are either permanent or debilitating. As these victims struggle to recover physically, unpaid bills pile up. That increases the strain these individuals feel. Insurance company adjusters take advantage of this situation. They seemingly call constantly demanding settlement. However, there is simply no way to know if their proposals are fair.
The compassionate Walnut Creek car accident lawyers at Venardi Zurada understand what injury victims are going through. Many members of our professional team are car crash survivors. So, we not only work hard to obtain fair compensation for your serious injuries. We also proactively communicate with you throughout the process, so you are never in the dark.
Preliminary Concerns
Frequently, when car crash victims come to our office, financial compensation is the furthest thing from their minds. Instead, these victims have immediate needs, such as medical treatment and vehicle replacement.
We have professional relationships with top-notch car crash physicians. These people know how to diagnose and treat injury-related conditions such as whiplash. Additionally, these physicians usually charge nothing upfront for their services. So, this treatment addresses both the physical and financial turbulence that a serious vehicle collision often causes.
These same principles apply to vehicle replacement. Insurance adjusters usually try to find the cheapest available alternative. But our Walnut Creek car accident lawyers understand that this option doesn’t always work for these families. If the destroyed family car was an SUV or minivan, a smaller vehicle simply won’t do. So, we make sure these victims get the replacement vehicles they need, as opposed to the vehicle an adjuster is willing to pay for.
Of course, medical and vehicle replacement bills must be paid eventually. So, once we address these immediate needs, we quickly move onto the legal aspects of your case.
Building a Case
Often, we partner with private investigators to collect evidence in your case. Furthermore, because of our experience, we quickly identify the matter from a legal perspective, so we go down the correct legal path.
The evidence in a car wreck case often includes the police accident report, medical bills, and witness statements. However, sometimes these items are inadequate. Witness statements are a good example. For various reasons, many people do not loiter at accident scenes so they can voluntarily talk to police officers.
Electronic evidence, such as a vehicle’s Event Data Recorder, often fills in any holes. Most EDRs measure and record items like:
- Vehicle speed,
- Engine RPM,
- Brake application, and
- Steering angle.
Often, a lawyer works with an accident reconstruction professional to put these bits of evidence together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
The EDR could be critical in a car wreck claim. But such evidence is not always available. Attorneys must overcome some procedural and practical hurdles to use it in court.
Based on the evidence, we usually pursue either an ordinary negligence or a negligence per se claim. Device distraction is a good illustration of the difference between these two doctrines.
California has a very broad hands-free law. It’s usually illegal for motorists to hold or use a cell phone while they are behind the wheel. If they violate this law, or another safety law, and that violation causes injury, they could be liable for damages as a matter of law. This doctrine is called negligence per se.
Ordinary negligence is basically a lack of care. Many studies indicate that driving while using a hands-free speakerphone, which is legal in California, is as dangerous as driving drunk. If the motorist didn’t use ordinary care and caused a crash, that motorist is likewise liable for damages.
These damages normally include compensation for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.
Reach Out to a Hard-Hitting Alameda County Attorney
Injury victims are normally entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced car accident lawyer in Walnut Creek, contact Venardi Zurada, LLP. Home, virtual, and hospital visits are available.
