Everyone expects to reach their destination safely when heading to work or taking a trip downtown for some family shopping. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Vehicle collisions occur with startling regularity throughout Pennsylvania.
When a serious accident happens, you need to start planning for how to cover your bills while recovering from injuries that could put you out of work for an extended period. We’ve seen how car, truck, and motorcycle accidents can completely upend lives and leave victims scrambling financially. That’s why we are dedicated to helping victims recover compensation for medical costs, lost wages, property damage, and emotional suffering.
You Need an Attorney If You’ve Been in Any of These Accident Types
Protecting your legal rights and holding the at-fault party responsible for your injuries hinges on retaining a skilled lawyer. To increase your chances of a fair settlement or court judgment, look for an attorney with experience handling a wide range of serious accident cases in the Pennsylvania legal system. At Heslin Law Firm, we’ve successfully represented clients involved in:
- Bicycle accidents. When a cyclist is struck by a car, truck, or bus, there is always the potential for devastating injuries with permanent repercussions. It is particularly important to consult a lawyer in these cases, as insurance companies often try to shift blame onto the bicyclist and away from the negligent driver.
- Car crashes. While head-on collisions or T-bone wrecks often have the worst injuries, any collision can potentially result in broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, and other wounds that make it difficult to return to work.
- Motorcycle wrecks. Without the protective covering offered by a car or SUV, motorcycle enthusiasts struck by negligent drivers are at serious risk for wrongful death or catastrophic injuries that impact every aspect of daily life.
- Pedestrian accidents. In direct collisions with drunk or reckless drivers, pedestrians may end up dealing with serious head trauma, spinal cord injuries, and permanent disfiguration.
- Truck collisions. While cargo trucks are necessary to keeping shelves stocked, there is an extreme danger inherent to vehicles of such large sizes carrying heavy loads at high speeds. When federal and state trucking regulations are ignored, other people on the road are often injured.
- Wrongful deaths. In any of these accident types, negligent behavior can lead to the death of a passenger, driver, or pedestrian.
How Accidents Happen on Philadelphia Roads and What to Do Next
Exactly how the accident took place is just as important as what type of collision occurred. Common causes of bicycle, car, motorcycle, pedestrian, and truck accidents around the Philadelphia area include:
- Distracted driving. Texting, talking on the phone, fiddling with knobs, or talking to children in the back seat all frequently precede a serious collision.
- Driving while intoxicated. Drinking alcohol or taking narcotics before getting behind the wheel often leads to disastrous consequences.
- Fatigued driving. While the dangers of drunk driving are well known, traffic collision data consistently shows that driving while tired is often more dangerous.
- Negligent hiring and training. Due to perennial shortages and high turnover rates, trucking companies have a financial incentive to overlook traffic violations or license issues and hire anyone who applies. When unqualified applicants are put behind the wheel, people can be seriously injured.
- Reckless driving. Ignoring traffic signs, failing to yield, road rage incidents, and speeding during adverse weather conditions can all cause an accident on any Philadelphia road.
If you were hurt by a vehicle collision, you need an attorney to investigate the crash and uncover whose negligence caused your injury. The liable party could be a driver who wasn’t paying attention to the road, trucking companies ignoring logbook violations, a bar or casino who overserved a guest, or even the manufacturer of a faulty vehicle part.
How to Recover Damages After a Philadelphia Accident
When the negligent party is identified, you can seek to recover damages for ER visits, hospital stays, physical therapy, surgeries, lost wages and lost future earning potential, or even funeral costs in the event of wrongful death. To get compensation for those costs, it’s important that you:
- Act quickly. You want to avoid any potential problems with the state’s statute of limitations on personal injury cases.
- Collect what evidence you can. If possible, take photos or video of the scene, acquire the contact information for witnesses, and then notify law enforcement.
- Establish clear documentation. Start a paper trail on your injuries by seeing a doctor as soon as you can after the accident.
- Follow your doctor’s orders. Showing up at your appointments and carefully obeying your doctor’s orders avoids problems negotiating with insurance or providing your medical details to a jury.
After taking these steps, far and away the most important part of the process is to retain a personal injury attorney. Your situation and injury are different from every other client, which is why we offer a personalized level of service for your unique circumstances. Heslin Law Firm can help guide you through the process from beginning to end so you always know what is happening and how you should proceed next.
Schedule a Consultation With Heslin Law Firm
Whether you or a loved one were hurt in a vehicle crash, don’t try to handle this situation on your own. When you’re already dealing with the trauma of an accident, reduce the stress on yourself by letting a skilled team of professionals handle the legal side and assist in your financial recovery. Call or message us today to set up a consultation and discuss your accident.
