When winter arrives with a vengeance, it can be dangerous to venture out on the roads. Most county, state and federal road maintenance departments will try and keep roads open as much as they can if there are heavy snow falls, but it is often left to the individual driver to make the choice whether they should drive at all or how they should drive.
Accidents frequently happen because a driver fails to drive carefully enough in the conditions and drives too fast because they think they know how to drive safely. If you have been hit in a crash in the snow by a driver who was acting unsafely, you may have grounds for claiming compensation by filing a personal injury claim with that driver’s insurer.
Crashes that happen because of the snow may make it hard to prove who was at fault. You should hire a car accident attorney to help you prepare a claim for fair compensation.
Damages after a Car Accident in the Snow
Most personal injury claims are made because the person making the claim believes that they were injured through no fault of their own. Injuries can result in expensive bills for medical treatment, so the injured accident victim will want to include these in their claim for damages. Lost earnings may result from a need to stay away from work while receiving treatment or recovering. Compensation for any lost earnings is an important component of a claim.
Other damages that are usually included are the cost of repairing any damage to the car, including the cost of towing it from the crash scene as well as an amount in compensation for the pain and suffering caused.
How a Car Accident Attorney Can Help You Prove Fault
Proving fault after a crash in the snow can be problematic. Your attorney will attempt to minimize any degree of fault which you may be responsible for. Insurers will try and challenge any assertion that their client was driving unsafely and that their driving caused the accident which led to your injuries. Your attorney will have dealt with cases like this before as they happen every winter. They will be able to help find evidence that can shed light on who was to blame for your accident in the snow. This may include crash scene evidence such as tire marks, photos taken at the scene, any police report and eye witness statements.
Why You Should Let a Car Accident Attorney Handle Your Case
Some accident victims shy away from contacting attorneys after a crash in which they were injured through no fault of their own. They think that they will be saddled with an expensive legal bill in addition to all the other bills they have to face after a crash in the snow. In fact, they should not be worried about paying an attorney in advance. The majority of personal injury attorneys provide free initial consultations and will only charge a fee when the case is settled favorably on behalf of the client.
