Types of Car Accidents in Winston-Salem
There are many different ways that a car accident can occur in Winston-Salem. Vehicles can collide with each other from the front, side, or rear, and cause significant amounts of damages from any angle. Due to the potential severity of these accidents, it is important that an individual takes immediate legal action no matter which type of accident has taken place. An experienced auto accident attorney can assist an individual in properly handling their case to help ensure a positive outcome on their behalf.
Rear-End Collisions
When someone is driving in a car and another car hits them from behind, that is a rear-end collision. Rear-end collisions can happen on a highway, at an intersection, or near construction sites. When someone stops for traffic ahead and the person behind them is not paying attention, a rear-end collision can occur.
Generally speaking, fault in a rear-end collision is usually assigned to the person at the back of the chain who caused the collision. However, it is important to note that this is not always the case. When just two vehicles are involved and one car strikes the car in front of it, it is relatively clear-cut as to who is at fault. Sometimes, though, there are three, four, or five cars in a chain reaction, so determining fault can be a fact-specific inquiry.
Role of Contributory Negligence
Contributory negligence is an affirmative defense that is available in every case. Generally, the argument is that the injured person might have stopped short or stopped for no reason. That is how the defense of contributory negligence is used. It is not always successful, but that is not to say that it could never be successful. Contributory negligence is present in all types of car accidents in Winston-Salem.
Side-Impact Collisions
Another type of car accident that can occur in Winston-Salem is a side-impact collision. A side-impact collision is where an individual’s car contacts another vehicle on the side like a sideswipe or a T-bone accident. When someone is involved in a side-impact collision, they should get medical treatment as soon as possible to treat their injuries, then contact a lawyer if they have questions about their rights.
With a T-bone collision, the individual involved can have some of the same types of injuries that one would expect from a frontal collision, including concussions, ankle injuries, wrist, elbow, and shoulder injuries. An individual can also get a contrecoup injury. That can occur when a collision impact was to the right side of the person’s car. The person ends up hitting everything on their left because of physics in play with that type of collision.
Recoverable Damages
A person involved in a side-impact collision can receive the same types of damages as in other collisions, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, future impairment, and permanent scarring. An attorney can help someone involved in a side-impact collision develop their claim, collect and preserve the relevant evidence, track the medical treatment, collect the medical records and bills, and submit the claim to the insurance company in an attempt to resolve it.
Rollover Accidents
A rollover accident is where the vehicle leaves its wheels and rolls either onto its side, onto its roof, or does a full revolution and ends up back on its wheels. Significant side impact can cause a rollover. A person can prevent a rollover accident by not pulling out in front of cars. There may be features on newer models of cars that are aimed at preventing rollovers, but there is no one specific thing a driver can do to prevent a rollover.
A person involved in a rollover accident should take photographs of the car showing the damage to the roof and the side rails in order to build up the evidence. A lawyer can help someone involved in any type of car accident in Winston-Salem accident by gathering the relevant evidence and documenting the facts of the collision and the injuries that were sustained from it.
Establishing Liability
An attorney can help establish liability by vetting out the facts and talking to eye-witnesses to determine if there is anyone who can talk about the facts and circumstances that existed at the time of the accident. In the litigation context, the lawyer will take the deposition of the at-fault driver to establish the facts to discredit any allegations of contributory negligence.
It is important to contact a lawyer sooner rather than waiting because evidence disappears and memories fade. By contacting an eye witness right after a motor vehicle accident has occurred, the person is more likely to get a better statement of what actually took place. If someone contacted that same witness two years down the road, chances are their memory has faded.
