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Even at low speeds, car crashes which involve a vehicle weighing thousands of pounds colliding with the side paneling of another car can be extremely dangerous. Because there is so little separating the occupants of the impacted car from the immense forces being directed towards them, it is not uncommon for “side-impact” wrecks to cause life-altering injuries where a different type of collision would not have caused any injuries at all.
However, while the outcomes of side-impact / T-bone car accidents in Charleston are often severe, these incidents can often serve as grounds for civil litigation. This claim could allow you to recover comprehensively for the harm another driver’s negligence has caused you. If you were hurt in a wreck recently, you should make contacting an experienced car accident lawyer one of your top priorities.
Broadly speaking, “side-impact” accidents in Charleston and throughout the state of West Virginia occur in one of two ways: with the front of one car crashing head-on into the side of another, or with the sides of two cars bumping or scraping together. The former type of incident—a “T-bone” crash—typically happens in intersections where traffic is traveling in different, perpendicular directions. This is often due to one of the drivers speeding, running a red light, and/or being distracted by their cell phone.
The latter type of crash—a “sideswipe”—more commonly happens on highways and especially around entrance and exit ramps. They are often due to a merging driver not using their turn signals and/or failing to check their “blind spots” before moving towards another vehicle. A qualified personal injury attorney could help take effective legal action against anyone who causes either kind of collision through negligence.
Legal representation can also play a key role in fighting allegations of “comparative fault” made against someone injured in a side-impact car wreck in Charleston. In a nutshell, civil courts have the authority to decide, based on the evidence presented to them, who is at fault for a specific accident. They can assign a percentage of fault to any injured person who contributed to causing their injuries through their own negligence—for example, speeding through an intersection and then getting T-boned by a drunk driver who ran a red light.
In accordance with West Virginia Code § 55-7-13C, any percentage of comparative fault assigned to an injured person can be held against them. Their eventual damages reward would be decreased by the percentage of fault assigned to them.
On top of that, any injured person found to hold 51 percent or more of the total fault is barred from recovering any civil compensation whatsoever for that incident. That is true even if someone else was also partly at fault.
No matter how it happens or what injuries you suffer from it, a side-impact or T-bone car accident in Charleston can be a uniquely harrowing experience for everyone involved. Unfortunately, these crashes can also be uniquely tricky to seek fair financial recovery for afterwards, particularly for people who try to file suit by themselves.
Among many other reasons, that is why it can be so important to have dependable legal counsel on your side throughout the legal proceedings. Call today to learn what the biggest female-founded law firm in the United States can do for you.
To Schedule an Appointment, Call Us Toll Free at 1.877.873.8208 or Email Us for a Prompt Response.
Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law
