The Small Moments Before a Crash That Decide Who Pays

When people think about a bad car accident, they think about crushing cars, airbags, a tow truck, and more often than not, they think about the time-consuming process. The time immediately before impact is littered with most of the determinants of how things will play out. Perhaps it was just down, down, down. An unbuckled belt. Or one too many drinks at dinner. Those little moments contribute more to a law bill than does the crash. Once the smoke has dissipated, what is important?

Distraction Rewrites the Story of a Crash

Everything an attorney, insurance company, and jury will see later is wrong with a hand-held phone in a motorist’s hands. Writing or reading a text message diverts your eyes from the road for approximately 5 seconds, equivalent to the time it takes to cross a football field at 55 mph. This is not a comparison or a simile. A car is traveling around a stadium without a driver.

Distraction is also expensive, one that most drivers are never really able to factor into their planning. An estimation of $340 billion was assigned to all of the motor vehicle crashes that occurred in the U.S. in 2019, and roughly $98 billion of those was due to distracted-driving crashes. Those figures are sounded on the courtroom doors as medical expenses, missing paychecks, and settlement demands.

Seat Belts Are a Legal Document, Not Just a Safety Device

It’s been a long time after the accident, and it doesn’t matter whether the belt has been clicked or not. There is additional math in the back seat. If drivers are not wearing a safety belt, then the safety belt worn by the driver increases that person’s risk of death by nearly as much as the safety belt worn by an unbelted rear passenger.

When a rear passenger is not wearing a safety belt, an unbelted rear passenger who is not wearing a safety belt sharply increases that driver’s risk of death, compared with an unbelted passenger who is wearing a safety belt. The person behind can be set in motion, in effect, to be a projectile. This is something insurance adjusters are aware of. True also applies to defense attorneys.

Alcohol Still Drives the Worst Outcomes

What hasn’t changed about serious crashes is that the most predictable factor is. The CDC reports that about one-third of all motor vehicle crash deaths are due to alcohol-impaired driving. That one number changes almost all wrongful accidents that involve highways. With the introduction of alcohol, the “legal discussion” moves beyond “ordinary negligence” into a “jury read” discussion. Collaboration among the various actors begins following these damages and possible criminal charges or civil liability. Punitive damages, criminal charges, and civil liability begin to accelerate simultaneously.

Fault Is Rarely All-or-Nothing

When people are involved in a car accident, they believe that determining who is at fault is a 50/50 proposition: if the driver is not paying attention, it will be theirs, if he/she is, it will be the other. Courts do not view it in this manner. Comparative negligence laws break down a percentage of fault and reduce your recovery by your percentage of responsibility. Speeding a little and about a second behind the other driver as he/she ran a red light? Reflects both in paying you. That’s because it is the little bit of things that count. They turn into percentages, and remind drivers to enhance vehicle Make some smart habits, and regular maintenance to ensure safety.

What to Actually Do Before You Ever Need a Lawyer

• Don’t hold or lay on the console or face-up in your lap: Out of reach, Do Not Disturb. It’s not something that you can use to prove your innocence if you don’t have it.
• Sit all using safety belts (front, back, short/long trips). An unbuckled passenger can make a difference to all occupants of the vehicle.
• Early: Take photos of the scene, witness names, etc, and the other driver’s plate number. Phones don’t forget things like memories do!
• Always be aware of the deadline: If it gets missed, NO CASE.

In many ways, this extends outside of the road. A worker was hurt in a fall on a job site. The same questions haunt road Users as those haunt car drivers after an accident: “What was anybody doing, what was missed as far as Safety measures are concerned, and what is there still an hour later as Evidence?” There is no difference between Negligence in court if it occurred at 55 mph or on the third floor of a building. The crash is loud. So, what is the substance of the case that is termed before the horn sounds?