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When Will You Need an Alabama Car Accident Attorney?
If a negligent driver injures you in an auto accident in or near Mobile, schedule a consultation with a Mobile car accident lawyer – as quickly as possible – to discuss your right to recover compensation.
When it’s obvious which driver is at fault for a car collision, Alabama law requires the at-fault driver to compensate the victims for their medical bills, lost earnings, and related damages.
However, in many car accidents, the fault is not entirely one-sided, and each driver is at fault to some degree. When more than one driver is at fault for a car accident in Alabama, the law in this state holds to the legal principle of contributory negligence.
What is Contributory Negligence?
Alabama’s contributory negligence rule is strict. If you had any of the fault for a car accident that injured you, even a one percent share, you won’t be allowed to recover compensation. It doesn’t matter how small your role in the accident was. If you bear any fault, you can’t be compensated.
Contributory negligence prevents many seriously injured accident victims from recovering compensation. If a motorist speeds through a red light and crashes into you, but you were driving five miles per hour over the speed limit, and you are assigned even one percent of the responsibility for the collision, you will not be compensated.
To recover compensation after a car accident, your Mobile car accident attorney may have to gather evidence that shows you did not contribute to the accident in any way. This evidence may include photos or video of the crash, witness statements, and the police accident report.
How Does Contributory Negligence Differ From Comparative Negligence?
Most states apply some form of comparative negligence in personal injury cases so that most injury victims may recover some amount of compensation. If the party filing a personal injury claim contributed to the accident, that party’s compensation is reduced in most states by that party’s percentage of fault.
Someone with twenty percent of the fault for a traffic accident, for example, would be allowed to recover only eighty percent of his or her total damages. Some states do not allow you to recover compensation if your percentage of the fault for an accident exceeds fifty percent.
Other states allow you to seek compensation even if you were ninety-nine percent at fault. Alabama is one of the few states that allow no recovery of compensation if you are even one percent at fault for an accident.
Are There Any Exceptions to Alabama’s Contributory Negligence Rule?
There are only two exceptions to contributory negligence in Alabama. No one under 14 can be found contributorily negligent. The same exception may apply to individuals with limited competence or a mental handicap.
The second exception is the “wanton behavior” exception when someone consciously disregards the safety of others. For example, if the person who injured you was knowingly and consciously drunk but drove anyway, you may be able to recover compensation even if some negligence on your part contributed to the accident.
How Are Car Accident Cases Resolved in Alabama?
Alabama is an at-fault state for auto insurance, so the driver who causes an accident is responsible for paying the other parties’ damages. This may seem like a straightforward rule, but personal injury lawsuits are often more complicated than they appear.
In Alabama, most personal injury claims based on car accidents are resolved when the lawyers for both sides meet out-of-court to negotiate a settlement. However, the case may go to trial if no acceptable settlement offer is forthcoming or the fault for an accident is in dispute.
At personal injury trials, jurors consider testimony from both sides, view photos of the collision and the damages, and determine which driver should be held liable. If both drivers have liability, the jurors decide how much liability to assign to each.
How Will a Car Accident Lawyer Help You?
A Mobile car accident attorney negotiates with car insurance companies regularly. Car accident lawyers know the negotiating tactics insurance companies use, and they also know what it takes to recover the compensation an injured victim of negligence needs and deserves.
Your Mobile car accident lawyer should question the witnesses and examine the evidence quickly after an accident. Retain a lawyer immediately.
Your lawyer will explain how the contributory negligence rule in Alabama applies to your case. Your lawyer will negotiate – and, if necessary, take your case to court – to win the justice and compensation you need as the injured victim of someone else’s negligence.
What Can Happen if You Do Not Retain an Attorney?
Too many traffic accident victims fail to seek an attorney’s help. They often settle their claims too soon or accept inadequate settlements. When you do that, you waive your right to receive additional compensation and your right to take further legal action.
Your traffic accident attorney will fight to ensure that you recover the compensation you need for your lost wages, medical expenses, pain, suffering, and related damages after you’ve been injured by another motorist’s negligence.
What is the Deadline for Personal Injury Lawsuits?
If you are injured in a car accident in Alabama, the deadline for filing a lawsuit against the at-fault driver is two years from the accident date. Don’t wait two years. Your lawyer should see the evidence while it’s fresh and speak to any witnesses before their recollections fade.
At Lattof & Lattof, we represent clients on a contingent fee basis. You’ll pay us no fee upfront or until we recover your compensation. If you are not compensated at the conclusion of the legal process, you’ll owe no lawyer’s fee to Lattof & Lattof.
Let Lattof & Lattof Handle Your Personal Injury Case
Dealing with the legal system, doctors, and insurance companies after an accident can be overwhelming. Let us help. For over seventy years, three generations of attorneys at Lattof & Lattof have represented thousands of clients in and near Mobile.
Lattof & Lattof has established a reputation for extraordinary client service. Our award-winning attorneys know how to settle the most challenging and complex personal injury disputes. We have the knowledge, skills, and experience you need, and we’ll make your case our priority.
If you are struggling with injuries after a traffic collision or you need to learn more about contributory negligence and your rights as an injured victim of negligence, call Lattof & Lattof at 251-850-5528 to schedule a free first legal consultation.
