Alpharetta Car Accident Lawyer

If it’s safe to do so, move your vehicle to the shoulder of the roadway, away from other cars that increase the risk of a pileup crash. If the accident caused serious damage and you are unable to move your vehicle, shift to park and turn on your hazard lights.

As soon as your vehicle is in a safe location, check yourself and your passenger(s) for visible injuries. If you or the passenger are in pain or sustained a visible injury, call an ambulance. You never know how an injury will evolve, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Even minor accidents can cause injury, and many times, an injured person isn’t even aware they were hurt until after the fact. This is because our bodies respond to high-intensity situations such as car accidents by releasing adrenaline, a chemical that makes us alert and masks significant pain for hours.

Even if you feel fine and don’t have visible injuries, it’s still a good idea to visit your doctor for a check-up, especially if you have any plans to file a claim against the other driver. Some injuries are latent, meaning symptoms develop over subsequent weeks or even months. If you have a latent injury, your doctor will likely discover it before dangerous symptoms appear.

You should call the police after being in an accident, even if the damage appears to be minor. The reporting officer will write a police report containing valuable information about the crash and the officer’s opinion as to who caused the wreck. While a police report cannot be used as evidence in court, insurance companies consider these documents invaluable in their investigation. You should try and remember to get the officer’s name and badge number, too.

When it’s safe, walk over to the other driver(s) and obtain the following information:

• Their name and physical address
• Their contact information (phone number, email address)
• The make, model, and license plate number of their vehicle
• Their driver’s license number
• The name of their insurance company and policy number

Other than hiring an Alpharetta car accident lawyer, the best thing you can do for your case is to gather evidence at the scene of the crash. When you file a claim, the other party will try and refute what you say – they might even try and put the blame on you.

If you have sound evidence, their claims won’t hold up, and you’re much more likely to receive maximum compensation for your injuries and property damage.

Here’s the photographic evidence you should gather from the scene:

• All vehicles involved, including any damage
• Any traffic lights, stop signs, etc.
• Weather conditions – water on the road, storm clouds, etc.
• Skid marks, glass, and other debris on the road, etc.

Most states require you to notify your insurance if you were in a crash where someone was seriously injured or if the cost of damages totals more than a certain amount. To be safe, you should notify your insurance company even if the wreck was minor.

If you’re worried about your options, contact an Alpharetta car accident lawyer who can help you navigate conversations with your and the other driver’s insurance company.

Every case is different, so while we can’t tell you now exactly how much your claim may be worth, we won’t settle for anything less than what you deserve. Other law firms just want more cases, so they’ll settle for a low amount just to get you out the door.

We think that’s a waste of time, and we’ll work towards obtaining maximum compensation for you.

If someone else was at fault for your collision, you may be entitled to receive compensation for your injuries, property damage, and more. This compensation, or damages, is divided into two general categories: economic and noneconomic. Economic damages are intended to compensate you for the financial losses you’ve suffered due to your wreck. These can include:

• Past and future medical and rehabilitation bills
• Property damage
• Lost wages due to missing work
• Out of pocket expenses

Noneconomic damages, on the other hand, compensate you for the non-monetary losses you suffered. This includes mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment in life, and more. Economic damages are objective since you can produce invoices and receipts to show your monetary loss, but noneconomic damages are very subjective.

Your Alpharetta car accident lawyer will work with a variety of experts to create a strong claim for compensation on your behalf. This amount of compensation will be presented to the defendant’s lawyer during negotiations.

If a satisfactory settlement isn’t reached, your car accident attorney will fight for the full compensation you deserve in court.

A settlement is reached between disputing parties – you and your lawyer against the other driver and their lawyer – outside of the courtroom. A verdict is usually decided by a jury at trial.

By definition, a settlement is a contractual agreement between disputing parties. Negotiations between the individuals and their lawyers can take weeks or months, but they rarely last as long as it would take to reach a decision in court.

Sometimes, the only way for you to obtain maximum compensation is by taking the other party to court. Preparing for trial can be intense and requires a lot of work, which is why many attorneys will try and convince you to settle for something less than what you need.

Unlike those attorneys, the Alpharetta car accident lawyers at Rafi Law Firm prepare every case for trial. If the other party refuses to make an equitable settlement, we’ll be ready to take them to court.