1. Assess any injuries and go to your doctor: many times, people do not know or realize they are injured until well after a car accident. If you realize you were injured and are feeling pain as a result, go to your doctor immediately and receive treatment. Your doctor will write down everything you say about how you feel and what you think the cause of the injury was, so be precise with your language when you speak to your doctor.
2. Do what your doctor says. Follow your doctor’s instructions, including getting necessary tests, completing treatment, and seeing specialists. If you are not feeling better, go back to your doctor and explain how you feel.
3. Take pictures of your injuries.
4. Obtain a copy of the police report from your accident, if possible.
5. Contact Mike Rafi at 404-948-3311 before you speak to any insurance companies, give any statements, or go to traffic court.
6. Contact your insurance company: you are responsible for reporting an accident to your insurance company. Importantly, all you must do is report the accident and provide the basic details—where the accident occurred and who was involved. You should not and do not need to provide your insurance company a statement or detailed account of the accident or your injuries right after the wreck.
7. Do not write on social about the collision, the other driver, your injuries, your doctors, or anything else that could be used against you.

If you have been injured in a car accident in Atlanta, you will likely receive a settlement offer by the insurance company — especially if the accident was the other driver’s fault.

Chances are, however, the offer you are sent will be much lower than what you deserve. Insurance companies are in the business of making a profit, after all, and want to give out as little money as possible.

Once you accept that offer, you forfeit your right to seek greater compensation for your injuries. Because of this, it’s vital to consult an Atlanta car accident lawyer as soon as possible. Unlike the insurance company, your lawyer will act in your best interest by carefully evaluating your case and helping you decide the best path forward in the legal process.

Though you may not need a lawyer for a little fender bender in which there were no injuries, you will definitely need an attorney if:

• There were serious injuries and/or property damage
• The accident resulted in a death
• It is unclear who was at fault
• The settlement offer doesn’t cover your expenses
• You’re unsure what your legal options are

Mike Rafi, a dedicated car accident lawyer in Atlanta, has seen first-hand how car accidents can affect people’s lives. Mike will help his clients seek the compensation they deserve.  Mike Rafi and his team of experienced car accident attorneys believe in maximizing the value of every case they work on to help alleviate their clients’ financial and emotional burden.

Since 2016, Mike Rafi has won over $31 million on behalf of his clients. Rafi Law Firm is known as a boutique law firm, meaning we only take on a few cases at a time. Because of this, Mike and our other Atlanta car accident attorneys are able to fully focus on your case and approach it . Lawyers at other firms may be handling 10 to 20 cases at a time, if not more.

Our mission is to help you get the full compensation you deserve. Some of Mike Rafi’s recent car cases include:

• $3,013,000 jury verdict in wrongful death tractor-trailer crash on I-285
• $1.6 Million settlement for client in car crash
• $460,000 settlement for client rear-ended on I-285
• $300,000 settlement for client injured in car crash on I-20

Of course, every case is unique. We cannot guarantee you will receive the full amount in your claim. In fact, no attorney can–if a car accident lawyer tells you they can obtain a specific settlement amount for your case, run or better yet, drive safely way.

The settlement or verdict we seek on your behalf will be based on the circumstances of your accident, the injuries you sustained, the parties involved in the wreck and other factors. We will always be transparent with you about the outlook for your case and will work with you to obtain the compensation you need and deserve.

When your Atlanta car accident lawyer takes on your case, one of the most important elements of personal injury law they will consider is negligence. In legal terms, a person acts negligently when they act in a way that a reasonable person wouldn’t and cause harm.

In order to prove negligence, your attorney will consider four general factors:

1. Duty of Care

Broadly speaking, every person has a duty of care to avoid harming another person. This duty looks different in specific situations. For instance, doctors have a duty of care to treat their patients to the best of their ability. Drivers have a duty not to cause harm to others on the road. They must follow all traffic laws and drive defensively.

2. Breach of Duty of Care

When a driver doesn’t act in a “reasonably prudent” way, and they cause injury, they are said to have breached their duty of care. However, not every accident is caused by a breach of duty of care. For instance, if a large branch falls in the road and a driver has to swerve to avoid it, causing an accident, that driver may not have breached their duty of care. After all, another reasonably prudent person likely would have reacted in the same way.

3. Injury Caused by the Accident

Third, your lawyer will evaluate whether your injuries were caused by the accident itself, and not some other factor.  Insurance companies will look for ways to blame your injuries on other things and not the crash. For example, insurance companies will look back into your medical history to find some other prior event that they can blame for your injuries, like a prior car crash, workplace accident, or sports injury. It is important to have a lawyer who understands the medicine and science about your injury and can successfully show that the car crash is the reason you are hurt.

4. Real Damages Caused by the Accident

Finally, your lawyer must prove that you suffered real, monetary damages because of the accident. This is generally the easiest element to prove. Medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other expenses are perfect evidence that you suffered real damages.

In 2015, there were over 385,000 crashes throughout Georgia. These resulted in 1,430 fatalities and 19,405 serious injuries. Since 2009, the number of crashes has steadily increased, as have the rate of serious injuries. The most common fatal injuries were caused by single vehicle accidents, followed by roadway departures.

In Fulton County, where the majority of the city of Atlanta is, there were 58,581 total accidents in 2017. These resulted in nearly 18,000 injuries and 61 fatalities. Alcohol use was the main cause of car accident fatalities that year, followed by speeding.