Durham Head-On Collisions
Head-on collisions may happen when there is a driver that is distracted by texting, impaired by alcohol or drugs, or simply being negligent for some other reason. Sometimes, head-on collisions can happen when an individual suffers a medical emergency and loses control of their vehicle. Head-on collisions can happen anywhere in which the vehicle crosses over the center line and any place in Durham, including streets, on the Durham freeway, or Interstate-40, which is in the area of high-speed travel through Durham. If you have been in a head-on collision, contact one of our Durham car accident lawyers today to help guide you through the next steps of your healing process.
Importance of Medical Attention
Depending on the operating speed and impact of the crash, head-on collisions can potentially cause a range of injuries including multiple orthopedic problems and head trauma.
As such, it is important to follow up with your doctor, both to ensure proper recovery and to keep from hurting your injury claim in anywya. Anything that you do that is not consistent with normal treatment progress could be used against you by the insurance company to devalue your claim.
Determining Fault
Assigning fault in head-on collision cases varies from case to case. It is not clear, but oftentimes contributory negligence raises its head again. If a driver is traveling on the road and the car travelling the other direction crosses the center line and impacts the initial car, but that driver did nothing to do to try to avoid the hit and, most importantly, had plenty of time to avoid it, the law and the insurance company may find the driver somewhat responsible, even one percent. In North Carolina, and Durham specifically, drivers may not always be able to recover damages from their car accident cases due to contributory negligence.
Factors That May Impact Liability
Potential factors would depend on how much time the driver had to react to seeing the danger. If there was a significant amount of time, they may be found of contributory negligence. If the time was instantaneous or brief, there may have been nothing more that they could have done. So with the logic, there would not be contributory negligence. That is why the recorded statements collected by law enforcement are so important. An individual may think that a specific moment lasted a lot longer than it did, but in fact, two or three seconds can be a long time if something truly happened instantaneously.
Steps An Attorney Will Take
The first step that a lawyer will take is to reach out to any witnesses that may have seen the accident, and interview the police officer or first responders that were on-site. If the accident happened within an area that was heavily populated, the lawyer might try to call the people that could have potentially witnessed the accident.
