If you were injured in a car accident in North Carolina, you have the right under state law to receive compensation for your injuries from the negligent driver. At Counsel Carolina Injury Law, our experienced car accident lawyers – who are rated among the best in the state – can help.
Our compassionate team helps clients with medical care, medical bills, property damage, and dealing with the stress of their physical recovery. We provide support, care, and concern in the aftermath of tragedies.
As former insurance defense attorneys, we know how to fight for every penny you deserve. Reach out to our car accident law firm serving Raleigh and all of North Carolina.
With more than 70 years of combined experience, our North Carolina injury lawyers for car accidents deliver more.
Determining fault in a car accident can be a complex process because of the many factors that contribute to an accident, including the actions of other drivers, road conditions, and weather. There are several types of fault (or negligence) that can be considered in a car accident case:
Distracted driving includes activities such as texting, eating, or using a navigation system while driving. Distracted driving is a leading cause of car accidents in North Carolina and can result in significant fines and penalties for those who are found to be at fault.
Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol can significantly impair a person’s ability to operate a vehicle safely. In North Carolina, it is illegal to operate a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher. If a driver is found to be impaired at the time of an accident, they may be held liable for any damages or injuries that occur.
This includes actions such as speeding, tailgating, or failing to follow traffic laws. Reckless driving can be extremely dangerous and can result in serious accidents and injuries. If a driver is found to be reckless, they may be held liable for any damages or injuries that occur.
It is the responsibility of a driver to ensure that their vehicle is in good working order and safe to operate. If a driver fails to maintain their vehicle and this leads to an accident, they may be held liable for any damages or injuries that occur.
In some cases, more than one party may be found to be at fault for a car accident.
Car accidents can cause minor and serious bodily injuries to everyone involved. Some of the most common types of injuries our car accident lawyers see in their cases are:
The personal injuries you suffered in your car accident may entitle you to monetary payments and compensation. Some of the most common types of damages recovered in the cases handled by our Raleigh car accident attorneys are:
Most car accident injury victims have questions about what they should or shouldn’t do and how the legal system works. It’s understandable because this kind of tragedy rarely happens to a person more than once. Unfortunately, there is little reliable or correct information about car accident legal advice that is available to the public, which causes confusion about the car accident process and hurts injury victims’ chances for recovery. Here’s what our team of Raleigh car accident lawyers believe you should know:
The initial moments and days after your car are critical, not only for your well-being but for your chances for compensation as well. These are the most important steps to take after your car accident:
A car accident case begins when you file legal documents called a “summons” and “complaint” in the appropriate North Carolina court, usually in the county where you live or where the accident occurred. The specific details are outlined in Rule 4 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. Filing a case is as simple as taking the summons and complaint to the court clerk of the court where you’re filing the case.
The clerk accepts the filing and returns your copies so that you can serve the defendant with their copy of the filing documents. “Serving” a defendant means providing them with a copy of your file-stamped summons and complaint in a very specific, formal way, which is explained in Rule 5 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. Your complaint must include all of the grounds to bring your case and all of your demands for compensation.
According to government statistics, 95% of car accident cases resolve before needing to go to trial. The vast majority of car accident cases will settle before the trial date arrives (sometimes even before a lawsuit is filed), and others will settle in the middle of trial. The most common reasons cases go to trial are:
The more time spent in preparation and building the case, the more likely your case will reach an appropriate settlement. But there are a lot of variables, and if your case is in the small percentage that go to trial, our car accident attorneys can help prepare you for what to expect.
There’s no way to precisely value your claim, but an experienced car accident injury attorney may be able to give you an approximate value based on their experiences and prior results in other cases. The value of your claim includes your economic damages like costs for medical treatment, lost wages, future medical care, paying for help you need around the home, and physical therapy.
To approximate a total case value, you can add up your total economic damages and then multiply that figure by 1.5 or 2 (for moderate injuries) to account for pain and suffering, which will give you a rough range of what a jury might award might be or how an insurance company could value your claim.
For serious injuries with significant permanent injury, you might multiply your total economic damages by 4 or 5 for those severe cases. For incidents that “shock the conscience,” like car accidents involving drunk drivers, we have seen victims awarded damages 10x or more of their economic damages. In a recent drunk driving case, our team of car accident lawyers in Raleigh negotiated a settlement for our clients that was 13x their medical bills.
Whether it’s true or not, you are likely going to be blamed for causing your accident or injuries, even if just partially. You might even believe that you are responsible for the accident. However, there is a big difference between what regular people think about fault and what the law says.
For instance, you might think a man stepping into a clearly visible 23 ft x 3 ft open service pit at an auto repair shop that he’s frequented for years is to blame for his own injuries. But the $1,800,000 settlement our team of premises liability lawyers secured in that case suggests otherwise.
North Carolina does follow the doctrine of contributory negligence, which could prevent you from recovering damages from your accident if a jury believes you are partially to blame. However, an experienced car accident law firm understands that defense and how to work around it.
There is no magic formula for determining what amount of pain and suffering is fair in your car accident case. In general, pain and suffering is proportional to the injuries you suffered. If your injuries are severe and/or caused permanent disability, the more pain and suffering compensation would be fair to award in your case.
In a case with severe injuries and lifelong suffering, you might be awarded pain and suffering that is five times or more of your economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, etc). In minor injury cases, your pain and suffering may be slightly less or equal to the amount of your medical bills.
Sometimes there is a disconnect between what is just and fair in your case vs. what an insurance company or at-fault party will actually pay. A good car accident lawyer has experience and even tools that can investigate recent judgments and settlements in your area to give you the best leverage in settlement negotiations so that you can recover what is fair.
