With an increase in cell phone use over the past couple of decades, we have also seen an increase in traffic accidents. Cell phone use, especially through texting, has led to distracted driving. And despite texting while driving having been outlawed in Nevada, drivers still do it.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to someone’s negligence of texting while driving, you should seek guidance and help from a car accident lawyer. In Henderson, contact Pacific West Injury Law, an experienced firm familiar with Henderson roadways and Nevada traffic laws.
What Happens When Someone Texts and Drives
While more common with younger generations, drivers of all ages just can’t seem to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. If they hear an incoming text or think of something they want to tell someone, they reach for their phone. The results can be deadly.
Texting is a form of negligent or distracted driving. Various forms of driver negligence are the cause of most traffic accidents. Distracted driving can also include:
- Listening to something or someone not related to where one is driving
- Daydreaming or thinking about something other than the road and traffic
- A driver using their hands for something rather than steering the car
Other Forms of Driver Negligence
Driver negligence can therefore include:
- Talking on a hand-held phone
- Talking with passengers
- Eating
- Grooming and looking into the mirror
- Watching a navigation system
- Digging around in a purse, backpack, or briefcase
Drivers often try to take on other tasks rather than giving the roadway their full attention. This can lead to accidents, injuries, and sometimes death. An experienced attorney can assist you to recover some compensation for your injuries, pain and suffering, and lost or damaged property resulting from a wreck with a negligent driver.
Determining and Proving Negligence in a Texting While Driving Accident
When you hire a texting while driving accident lawyer in Henderson, they will need to determine negligence on the part of the other driver and prove they are liable in order to get you the proper compensation. Once your attorney obtains a copy of the police report of your accident, they can get to work.
The report may reveal a lot of information. Law enforcement may have uncovered solid evidence through interviews of you and the other driver, passengers in each vehicle, and witnesses to the accident. There could be accompanying photographs. And the other driver could have admitted to texting while driving.
If it becomes necessary for your case to go to trial, your texting while driving accident attorney in Henderson may be able to recover the other driver’s phone records as evidence, proving they were texting at the time of the accident.
Should You Negotiate with the Insurance Company?
NO! While you should contact a representative of your own insurance company to inform them of the accident, you should not talk with any representative of the other individual’s insurance company.
You can be sure that representative will have a strategy for getting the lowest settlement agreement possible. Or they may try to trick you into saying something that could jeopardize your case altogether. Do not negotiate with the insurance company. Instead, let an experienced attorney handle negotiations for you.
Tactics the Insurance Company Uses
Be aware that the insurance representative may ask to record a phone call with you. While you should not be talking with them at all, you definitely should not agree to a recording. Say no, and hang up.
Something as seemingly benign as “How are you?” can be a problem. Most of us tend to reply that we are fine even though we may be recovering from severe injuries due to the accident. Saying you are “fine” could be construed as a denial of severe injury.
The insurance company may also send you an enticing settlement offer. Do not sign it. Turn it over to your Henderson texting while driving accident attorney. Together you can do better.
Contact our Henderson Car Accident Lawyers today.
Damages You May Be Able to Recover in Your Case
A texting while driving accident may leave you with tangible and intangible injuries and damages. Your tangible damages are physical and considered economic. Economic damages may include:
- A visit to the emergency department
- Transportation by ambulance to the ER
- X-rays and other tests
- Surgery
- Hospitalization
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Follow-up visits with your doctor
- Repair to your vehicle
- Loss of income from not being able to work
- Future medical bills
- Future loss of income
Non-Economic Damages
Your intangible injuries are just as real but do not come with a specific bill. These non-economic damages may include:
- Mental and emotional anguish
- Physical pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Partial or full disability
- Loss of consortium
- Wrongful death of a loved one
While your attorney is developing your case, they will also access the injuries you have incurred and determine appropriate compensation.
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What If You Were Partially at Fault for the Accident?
Nevada has a comparative negligence law that allows the plaintiff to recover some damages even if they were partly at fault in an accident.
For example, let’s say the other driver was texting while driving and rear-ended you on the freeway. But one of your brake lights was out, and they claim they did not know you were slowing or coming to a stop.
The court may determine you were at 10% at fault for having an inoperative brake light. You can still receive 90% compensation for the amount you are awarded at trial.
Most Texting While Driving Cases Settle Out of Court
Like other personal injury cases your texting while driving accident claim will probably never get to court. It is in the best interest of both parties to settle outside the courtroom, saving in attorney fees and time.
You will receive compensation more quickly if your Henderson texting while driving accident lawyer can reach a proper settlement with the defendant’s attorney or insurance company.
When Should You Contact a Texting While Driving Accident Attorney?
Contact your texting while driving accident lawyer in Henderson as soon as possible. Once your injuries from the accident are stable and your doctor allows, you should promptly reach out to a car accident lawyer.
In Nevada, the statute of limitations for any personal injury case, including a car accident, is two years. That means you have two years from the date of the accident to file a legal claim and lawsuit. Don’t wait.
Contact Pacific West Injury Law for Help Today
In Henderson, the surrounding area, and Las Vegas, call upon the legal team at Pacific West Injury Law. We have experience in texting while driving car accidents and a history of winning big for our clients. Give Pacific West Injury Law a call today!