Having your life disrupted by a car accident can be devastating. In an instant, you are safe, healthy, and secure–and in the next, you are in terrible pain, facing injuries, financial strain, and emotional distress.
Every year, 2 million Americans are injured in car accidents. In 2019, there were over 4,000 car accidents in Delaware County, Indiana–many of which were in Muncie. But whether you were injured on the bypass, McGalliard Road, on the south side, on a rural Delaware County road, or anywhere else, you may be left with bills, pain, and a whole new reality to adjust to.
If you were injured or a loved one was killed in an accident in or around Muncie, you can turn to an experienced car accident attorney to advocate on your behalf. At Yosha Law Firm, our attorneys are compassionate, knowledgeable, and skillful. We know how to help you pursue compensation for the damages you have suffered because of someone else’s negligence on the roads.
A car accident lawsuit can be lengthy and complicated, but you don’t have to try to do it alone. We have helped thousands of Hoosiers get on the path toward recovery. That means helping you with:
- Lost wages and lost earning capacity
- Compensation for your pain and suffering
- Coverage for property damage to your vehicle
- Ongoing rehabilitation costs
- Wrongful death claims
We understand how difficult it is to recover from a car accident, especially one that involves catastrophic injuries. You likely have questions swirling through your mind as you try to figure out what your next steps need to be.
Let our attorneys here at Yosha Law Firm fight for justice so that you can go back to living your life. You don’t have to bear the burden of recovery from car accident injuries on your own!
Common Causes of Muncie Car Accidents
Accidents in Muncie are caused by many different factors. Sometimes, accidents have more than just one cause. However, it is very common for someone’s negligence or carelessness to cause an accident.
One of the first things your attorney will do on your behalf is to identify all of the contributing causes of your accident. Determining the cause will help to prove who was at fault for the accident.
Reckless driving & speeding
When people drive recklessly on the road, they endanger themselves and everyone else, including their passengers, other drivers and passengers, and pedestrians. Reckless driving may include speeding, tailgating, ignoring posted signs, improper passing, and refusal to yield the right of way.
Any driver who disregards the safety of others by engaging in reckless driving behavior should be held responsible for any injuries they cause through their actions.
Your attorney can demonstrate that a driver’s risky and reckless choices caused your injuries.
Driving under the influence
Drunk or intoxicated driving causes many of the accident fatalities in Indiana. There were 106 fatalities attributed to driving while intoxicated in 2020 alone. To prove that a driver was under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or other controlled substances during a crash, your attorney can use police reports, eyewitness testimonies, and even get a subpoena for medical records.
If the other driver was arrested or is facing charges related to driving under the influence, you may still be able to file a civil suit against them to get compensation for your injuries.
Distracted driving
When drivers in Muncie fail to pay attention to the task at hand, they can easily cause an accident. Every year, drivers in Delaware County break the law by engaging in distracted driving, including using their phones to make calls, answer emails, search for locations on mapping software, or even watch or record videos!
It can be difficult for a layperson to prove that another driver was engaged in this kind of behavior. However, an experienced attorney can examine the police report, interview eyewitnesses, hire expert witnesses, and recreate the accident scene to understand just what happened.
Drowsy Driving
People rarely consider the implications of drowsy driving, which can be just as dangerous as drunk driving. Driving while drowsy slows a person’s reaction times and compromises their attention to the road.
It may be a challenge to prove that another driver’s sleepiness caused the accident, especially if they were alone in the car. However, your attorney knows how to investigate and prove drowsiness if it was a factor in the crash.
Important Car Accident Laws in Indiana
It can be difficult for the average person to make sense of all the laws that may affect their attempts to get compensation. You have to deal with statutes of limitation, comparative negligence of who was responsible, compensation maximums against state or local governments, caps on punitive damages, and more.
Let’s take a look at some of the most important laws that may affect your lawsuit.
Is Indiana an “at fault” state?
When you hear that Indiana is an “at fault state,” you may be wondering what that means. It means that whenever an accident occurs that leads to a personal injury, the Indiana courts hold the at-fault party responsible for damages suffered by those who were not at fault.
However, more than one person could bear responsibility for the accident. Sometimes, the person suing for damages even bears some of the responsibility. When that happens, Indiana uses its comparative negligence statute.
If you were less than 51% responsible for the accident, you can sue the party who was 51% or more responsible for damages. However, if you were more than 51% responsible, you are ineligible to file a personal injury lawsuit.
An attorney can identify who was at fault and make a strong legal argument for how much responsibility each party has in the accident.
How does comparative fault affect compensation?
If you were partially responsible for the accident, your total compensation will be reduced by the same percentage of your responsibility. This is true for both court awards and negotiated compensation amounts.
For example, if you are found to be 15% responsible for the accident, then your total compensation payout will be reduced by 15%.
What is Indiana’s statute of limitations?
Personal injury lawsuits must be filed in Indiana within two years of the date of the accident. Still, you don’t want to wait until those two years are almost over to file a claim, as your attorney will need time to prepare your case.
It can take months to years to take a personal injury lawsuit from start to finish. Your attorney needs time to:
- Gather evidence
- File a claim with the insurance company
- Negotiate with the insurance company
- File a lawsuit
- Prepare the case for court
- Additional negotiation for settling out of court
There is no such thing as getting started too early on your Muncie car accident claim.
How to Get Compensation for Injuries After a Muncie Car Accident
One of the hardest things about recovering from a car accident is figuring out how to heal from your injuries while facing the financial hardships caused by them.
At Yosha Law Firm, we believe that getting compensation for our clients is an act of justice. You deserve to be able to heal without worrying about the expenses piling up from medical bills, missed work, and permanent changes to your life.
The importance of proving negligence
It’s not always easy to prove negligence, especially when you don’t have experience with Indiana’s personal injury laws. That is one of the reasons it is so important to retain a personal injury attorney who understands Indiana’s standards for proving negligence.
To prove that another party was negligent, all of the following statements must be true:
- The other party had a duty of care to behave reasonably and safely, including as a driver on roads
- The other party’s actions breached the duty of care, either by acting irresponsibly or failing to act in the appropriate way
- This breach of duty caused the accident
- Your injuries from that accident have caused measurable financial losses
What Kind of Compensation Can You Get After an Accident in Muncie?
The amount of compensation you receive is dependent upon the extent of your injuries and financial losses. More serious accidents are more likely to be accompanied by higher compensation payouts.
Some of the most common kinds of compensation we recover for our clients include:
- Current medical bills
- Future medical costs
- Medication and prescription costs
- Rehabilitation expenses
- Lost wages from missed work
- Lost earning capacity if you’re unable to return to work
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Disfigurement and scarring
- Permanent disability
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
When we review your case, we will help you determine if there are additional expenses and losses that should be documented in your claim for compensation.
Yosha Law Firm Helps Muncie’s Accident Victims
We know that recovering from the trauma of an accident is incredibly difficult. When you add the stress of medical bills and legal paperwork, it can get absolutely overwhelming.
We don’t want you to be overwhelmed. Our goal is to help you focus on your recovery without feeling like you are drowning in logistics and debt. A life-altering crash requires an attorney who is dedicated to providing compassionate, knowledgeable legal support.
Yosha Law Firm is proud to provide that compassionate and knowledgeable expertise. We leverage our experience to guide our clients toward justice.
At Yosha, we don’t get paid unless you do
The attorneys at Yosha Law Firm work on contingency, so you don’t pay a single dollar unless we win your case, either through a settlement or a court award. That is because we don’t believe that you should take on more financial stress while your lawyer fights for justice on your behalf.
Contact Yosha Law Firm for a Free Case Review
When you’re ready to talk, our Muncie attorneys are ready to listen.
Reach out to us to schedule your free case review, where we will learn about you, your accident, and how your life has changed. From there, we can strategize about the best ways to alleviate your pain and suffering, as well as your financial future.
