Auto Accidents Overview

Drivers in Alabama are required to know the rules of the road, and they are required to abide by these rules while operating a motor vehicle. Failure to follow these rules can, in a split second, cause lasting damage, including injury and property damage to your car, and can result in medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering. Reporting an accident to the insurance company is a good first step, but much more must be done to stop the harm and start the healing.

Ferguson & Ferguson aggressively pursues legal rights for accident victims with significant physical or psychological injuries. Our attorneys are skilled at handling complex insurance claims relating to vehicle accidents, whether you or the other driver is insured, uninsured or underinsured. Our firm has a great deal of experience negotiating settlements in car accident cases. However, if a reasonable pre-trial settlement is not offered, we will not hesitate to take a case to trial. Our extensive preparation of a claim in anticipation of a jury trial tends to increase the amount an insurance company offers to settle it. We work with experienced accident investigators, engineers, medical professionals and others who assist in creating a winning posture for trial.

Every 10 seconds, someone in the United States is involved in a car accident, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Further, NHTSA statistics for 2002 show 42,815, people were killed and 1.29 million were injured in an estimated 1.31 million motor vehicle traffic accidents reported to police. Car accidents can be caused by many different factors. For example, some car accidents are caused by driver error, aggressive driving tactics or drunken driving. Other car accidents are caused, for example, by defects in the car itself, such as when a car has defective tires or defective brakes. Additionally, injuries can be caused or made worse by defects in seat belts or air bags.

Vehicle accident claims are typically governed by the law of negligence. As with other types of accidents, figuring out who is at fault in a traffic accident is a matter of deciding who was negligent. In many cases, your instincts will tell you that a driver, cyclist or pedestrian acted carelessly, but not what rule or rules that person violated. Fault issues can be complicated, and our experienced attorneys will look to a number of sources, such as police reports, state traffic laws, and witnesses, to help you determine who was at fault for your accident.

Drunk Driving

Every 30 minutes, someone in this country dies in an alcohol-related crash. In a lawsuit arising from a drunk driving accident, in addition to the intoxicated driver being held liable for the injuries he or she caused, bars or social hosts may be liable for damages if they served an obviously intoxicated guest, who then drove and caused an accident. The fact that the person who served the intoxicated driver alcohol may be held liable does not relieve the intoxicated driver of liability, however. Experienced personal injury attorneys are aware of the many laws governing legal responsibility and can help you identify who might be held responsible for your injuries, including people or businesses you may not have considered.

No matter the type of automobile accident, it is essential to take prompt measures to preserve evidence, investigate the accident, and have physicians or other expert witnesses thoroughly evaluate any injuries. If you have been a victim of an automobile accident, do not hesitate to call our skilled and experienced personal injury attorneys for a free assessment of your situation.