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Renton Car Accident Lawyer

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Car accidents happen every day and can cause serious injury or death. If you’ve been in a car accident, you may be feeling lost and confused about what to do next. The legal system is one of the most complex systems that we have in this country. It’s filled with jargon and technical terms that are difficult for non-attorneys to understand. Our Renton car accident lawyers can help victims make sense of the system.

If you or a loved one was injured in a car accident in Renton, Washington, consider contacting a personal injury attorney as soon as possible so you can recover the compensation you deserve. Caffee Accident & Injury Lawyers has been handling car accident cases for almost two decades. Contact us today for a free consultation by calling (206) 312-0954 or fill out our online contact form.

Renton Car Accident Attorney Resources:

Why Choose Us?

Caffee Accident & Injury Lawyers have helped protect the rights of injured victims in Renton, WA. Our law firm has sucessfully recovered millions of dollars in compensation for victims that have suffered life-altering injuries in Washington. 

Our Renton car accident attorneys understand the complexities associated with the long-term impacts of auto accident injuries and are here to help victims, and their loved ones, recover compensation for what was lost in an auto accident.

The lawyers at our firm have:

  • Track-record of Success – For more than a decade, our Renton injury lawyers have helped individuals impacted by serious auto accident injuries recover millions of dollars in damages for the pain and suffering caused. Our firm has been recognized for outstanding service in personal injury law. 
  • Client-centric representation – At our firm, the injured victim’s case is paramount to our attorneys and the decision making involved. Injured victims and their recovery is imperative and at the forefront of all decision making.   

How Serious Are Car Accidents?

Every year, car accidents injure more than two million people and kill around 40,000. That’s about 110 fatalities a day. Most of these injuries and deaths are due to the occupants of the vehicles being hit by another car or object, but about one-third are from rollovers or crashes into fixed objects.

The severity of an injury depends on many factors, including:

  • The speed of the cars involved in the accident
  • The weight and size of the vehicles involved
  • Whether airbags deploy
  • The angle at which the cars collide

Renton car accident attorney

What Are Common Causes of Car Accidents?

Car accidents are usually caused by human error. Drivers may have been speeding, texting on the phone, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. That’s why it’s important to be aware of your surroundings at all times while driving and avoid behaviors that put you at risk for an accident.

If a car accident does occur and someone is injured as a result, you may be able to recover compensation if the other party was at fault.

What Should I Do if I Am in an Accident?

There are a few steps you should take immediately after any kind of accident, including the following:

  1. If it’s possible, stop your vehicle as soon as it’s safe to do so without causing more harm by blocking lanes.
  2. Use caution when exiting your vehicle. Call 911, and do not leave until law enforcement has arrived. They will complete an accident report, which can be important later if you decide to file a civil claim. Helpful information in the accident report might include witnesses’ names, their contact information, any injuries you or the other party suffered, and observations about the scene and the people involved.
  3. Avoid moving your vehicle if possible to preserve evidence that may have been transferred onto it during impact. If for some reason you can’t avoid driving away from the scene, do not leave before you’ve called law enforcement.

What Damages Can I Recover After a Car Accident Injury in Renton, WA?

Being involved in a car accident can have a wide range of effects. You may find yourself facing devastating physical injuries, as well as emotional damage and financial losses connected to the crash. Pursuing a car accident claim can lead to the financial compensation that you need. In Washington, a crash case can result in financial compensation being awarded in three main categories of damages:

  1. Noneconomic. Noneconomic damages are the intangible ways in which the car accident affected you. They often include psychological trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, emotional distress, mental anguish, inconvenience, and lost enjoyment or quality of life. They can also refer to grief and loss of consortium in a fatal car accident case (a wrongful death lawsuit).
  2. Economic. Economic damages describe the monetary or financial losses connected to a car accident, such as the price of repairing or replacing your damaged vehicle, the cost of your necessary medical care (now and in the future), the wages you lost from having to take time off of work, and future lost earning capacity due to a disability. 
  3. Punitive. Noneconomic and economic damages are both types of compensatory losses, meaning they are meant to make a victim whole again by compensating or reimbursing them. Punitive damages are awarded for a different reason; they are to punish the defendant and set an example for others in the community. 

In general, Washington does not allow for the recovery of punitive or exemplary damages. These damages are only recoverable when expressly authorized by statute. A lawyer can review your case to let you know if you are eligible for punitive damages based on the laws that pertain to your case. Economic and noneconomic damages, however, are awarded in most successful car accident cases in Renton.

What Damages Can Victims Recover After a Car Accident?

It is important to fully understand the damages available in a car accident case, as this will help you avoid settling for less than you deserve from an insurance company. The list of your compensable losses could be long depending on the details of your case. It is important to consider not only the expenses and losses that have already occurred because of the car accident but future foreseeable costs, as well. 

Above, the damages were broken down by type. Here is a more comprehensive list of the types of damages that victims can recover after a car accident:

  • Medical bills
  • Property damage
  • Lost wages
  • Lost capacity to earn
  • Disability costs
  • Attorney’s fees
  • Travel costs
  • Out-of-pocket expenses
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional injuries
  • Loss of consortium
  • Wrongful death benefits
  • Punitive damages (in some cases)

A lawyer can analyze your case carefully to make a complete list of the losses for which you may be eligible. Every driver in Washington is required to maintain minimum amounts of insurance to help them pay for accidents that they are responsible for causing. With a lawyer’s help, you don’t have to worry about missing out on compensation that you are owed by law. Your lawyer will be on your side and want you to recover as much financial compensation as possible. Unlike an insurance company, you can trust your lawyer to protect your interests.

How Much Is My Case Worth?

Case values are arbitrary; they are decided on a case-by-case basis. For this reason, you must get an individualized estimate from a car accident attorney for an accurate understanding of how much your case is worth. Some victims receive settlements of $10,000 or less for their car accident cases while others obtain judgment awards in the millions. Do not make the mistake of underestimating the value of your injuries and losses. If an insurance company gives you a low settlement offer, wait to accept it until you’ve spoken to an attorney and learned the true value of your car accident case.

How Do You Prove Negligence in a Car Accident Case?

In order to succeed in a personal injury case, you typically have to show negligence unless you are filing a claim as a result of an intentional act that someone committed against you. You aren’t entitled to recover compensation simply because an accident occurred; the other party must have been acting negligently.

For example, there are two drivers stuck in traffic on a busy highway during rush hour. One driver decides to try and pass everyone by driving in the emergency lane at 60 miles per hour despite heavy traffic ahead of them. If this driver crashes into someone and causes an accident, this is probably negligent, and there could be a successful personal injury claim.

In order to recover compensation for the damages that were suffered in a car accident. The plaintiff and their attorneys must establish that the other party(s) was responsible for the damages suffered. 

Car accident lawyers must show that the driver’s negligent behavior resulted from breach of duty, cause, proximate cause and that damages were suffered caused by the accident. 

Establishing that a party acted in a negligent manner is imperative to recover damages in a personal injury lawsuit.

Can Multiple Parties Be Responsible For Damages In a Car Accident in Washington?

The State of Washington is a pure-comparative fault state.  This means that more than one party can share responsibility for the damages that occurred in an accident if multiple parties acted negligently and this negligence contributed to the car accident.

In an accident involving three or more cars, two or more parties may be found to have acted in a negligent manner. 

In a hypothetical auto accident scenario multiple drivers could potentially be found responsible if two or more parties acted negligently. Here is one possible scenario where multiple drivers may be held responsible for the damages suffered in an auto accident. 

  • Driver A runs a red light at night and hits Driver B while traveling through an intersection
  • Driver B was driving a vehicle and had both front headlights out
  • Driver C was hit by Driver B’s vehicle as a result of Driver A’s negligence in running the red light

In this scenario, both Driver A and Driver B can be found to have acted negligently. Driver A may have abruptly braked before running the red light had they have seen Driver B’s vehicle with headlights that were in proper working order. 

What Is The Statute of Limitations For a Car Accident in Washington?

In Washington state, the statute of limitations is three years for personal injury cases. This means you have three years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit.

While this sounds like a long time, it’s never advisable to wait until close to the end to contact a lawyer. It will make it much more difficult for them to gather evidence, contact witnesses, and put together a solid case. Therefore, it will be much more difficult for you to recover any deserved compensation.

Do I Need Legal Representation?

If you are injured or a loved one is injured or killed as a result of a car accident, it’s important that you or your family is compensated for any damages suffered. That means hiring legal representation is almost always necessary after a serious accident occurs. Your Renton car accident lawyer will be able to help you file a civil lawsuit and hopefully recover compensation for expenses such as medical bills associated with treating the injuries you sustained, lost wages due to missing work while recovering, as well as pain and suffering.

What Are the Benefits of Hiring a Renton Car Accident Attorney

If you’ve been the victim of a car accident or any other sort of personal injury, hiring legal representation can make all the difference. An attorney will handle your case from start to finish. At Caffee Accident and Injury Lawyers, we help you with everything. Even once the case is over and you’ve received compensation, we can help negotiate your medical bills so that you can keep more of the compensation that you were awarded.

Contact Us

At Caffee Accident & Injury Lawyers, we have been handling car accident cases for years and are always here to help. If you’ve been injured in a car accident in Renton, Washington, don’t hesitate to contact our firm today. We’ll review the details of your case and work with you to build an effective legal strategy so that we can help ensure you receive all compensation available for physical and emotional harms suffered during the accident.

All of our Renton car accident attorneys are highly skilled at negotiating and litigating claims. We are successful in 99 percent of our claims and recover millions of dollars each year for our clients. Contact us whenever you’re ready by calling (206) 312-0954 or by filling out our online contact form.