Georgia Car Accident Law

Car accidents happen and are over in seconds, but the resulting injuries and damages can last much longer, especially when injuries are severe. If you have been involved in a car accident caused by someone else, you may have a claim for compensation. Personal injury attorneys at Dan Chapman & Associates, LLC, represent clients who have been injured in car accidents in Atlanta and the surrounding areas.

We understand the difficulties that you may be experiencing after a car accident, and we can help. Contact our office to schedule a free and confidential consultation. We will review your claim and discuss your legal options. If someone else’s negligence caused your accident, they should be held accountable for the losses you sustained.

Car Accident Practice – Get An Accident Settlement Quickly

• Our attorneys represent clients who have been injured as a result of someone else’s misconduct. We have helped thousands of clients recover compensation for car accident injuries.
• We provide free case evaluations and never charge upfront fees for legal services. Our attorneys will not get paid until we have helped you secure a settlement or trial award for your injury claim.
• We understand the challenges you are facing after a car accident. We will handle your claim with compassion and efficiency while pursuing maximum compensation for your losses.

Car Accidents And Insurance Companies

Insurance companies are almost always involved in the claims process when car accidents occur. Unfortunately, insurance companies are typically difficult to deal with, and they rarely offer injured parties full and fair compensation for their losses. Insurance adjusters use standard tactics to negotiate lowball settlements, and those who accept settlement offers without legal representation are often left under-compensated for their losses.

When you have legal representation, your attorney will take care of all insurance company communications. Your attorney will also ensure that your injuries and damages are accurately calculated, including past, ongoing, and future losses, before you accept an insurance settlement offer. For example, if your injuries will require future medical care and treatment, your compensation should cover the accident-related medical bills that you expect to acquire in the future.

Experienced attorneys know how to negotiate with insurance company representatives effectively, and their job is to ensure that any settlement you accept will fairly compensate you for your losses. Typically, you will recover more compensation when you have legal representation than you would when negotiating with an insurance company on your own.

Car Accident Fault And Liability in Atlanta

After a car accident, determining fault and liability can be a complicated process. Georgia is an at-fault state which means that you must prove that another party was responsible for your accident before you can collect compensation from their insurance company. Your attorney will help by speaking with witnesses and gathering evidence to prove that someone else caused your accident.

Even if you were partially at fault for the car accident, you might still be entitled to compensation. Under Georgia’s comparative fault law, if you are injured in a car accident, you may collect compensation from another responsible party so long as you were not more than 49% at fault for the accident. However, the compensation you are entitled to collect will be reduced by your percentage of fault.

Even after fault is established, liability is sometimes an issue when a third party might be responsible for paying your claim. For example, if the at-fault driver was working at the time of the accident, the driver’s employer might be responsible for paying your claim. Rideshare accidents, such as Uber and Lyft, can also lead to complicated liability issues.

Drunk Driving Accidents in Atlanta

People are sometimes tempted to negotiate settlements on their own after a drunk driving accident because they assume that there is no question that the drunk driver caused the accident. While evidence that the driver was intoxicated at the time of the accident might be helpful in your claim, showing that the driver was impaired by drugs or alcohol does not prove that he caused the accident.

In addition to proving that the driver caused the accident, you must show the extent of your losses so that you are not left with an inadequate settlement that does not cover your past, ongoing, and future losses. An attorney will help you secure evidence of the defendant driver’s intoxication and fault and also make sure that a settlement covers all of your losses, including future medical bills and loss of earning capacity.

An attorney can also help you determine if other parties and insurance policies are available to compensate you for your injuries and damages. For example, under Georgia’s dram shop laws, alcohol providers and their insurers might also be responsible for your drunk driving accident losses.

Atlanta Dram Shop Laws

In Georgia, third parties may be liable for drunk driving accidents under some circumstances. Third parties include social hosts who provide alcohol to others in their home or elsewhere and people who work in a commercial establishment serving and selling alcohol. Alcohol providers can be held accountable under the following circumstances:

• Providing any amount of alcohol to a person who is under 21
• Providing alcohol to an already visibly intoxicated person

Proving that a minor was intoxicated when he was served alcohol or at the time of the accident is not necessary to hold a third party accountable. Georgia’s law provides that it is only required to show that a third party served a minor any amount of alcohol before the accident occurred. If the driver is over 21, you must gather evidence to prove that the driver was served alcohol when he was visibly intoxicated. Examples of visible intoxication include noticeably loud and erratic behavior, slurred speech, and impaired physical movement.

Atlanta Car Accident Attorneys at Dan Chapman & Associates, LLC

If you have been injured in a car accident in Atlanta, the attorneys at Dan Chapman & Associates, LLC, can help you get the compensation that you deserve. We have the necessary skills and resources to begin working on your case right away. Contact our office to schedule a free and confidential consultation with one of our car accident attorneys. Call (678) 504-8564.