Car Accidents

If you have recently been injured due to the actions of an aggressive driver, it is important to understand that you have rights and options under the law. All too often, victims of aggressive driving accidents simply assume that there is “nothing to be done” or that their case “won’t be worth much,” so they don’t seriously contemplate taking legal action.

The High Cost of Assumptions

It is important to, at minimum, explore your legal options in the wake of an injurious crash. Otherwise, the assumptions holding you back could lead to truly consequential negative financial consequences. In one of his children’s books, author Lemony Snicket muses that, ““Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make… if you make even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself in terrible trouble.” This observation certainly holds true when it comes to injurious car crashes.

If you assume that you don’t have a case to make or that your case isn’t valuable enough to pursue, all of the financial consequences of your collision will fall on your shoulders – and the shoulders of your family members – instead of the shoulder of the aggressive driver who hurt you. Medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and on, and on, and on it goes. If there is a chance that an aggressive driver can be held legally and financially accountable for this harm, don’t you owe it to yourself and your family to find out?

Pursuing Personal Injury Damages

If you were hurt while engaged in work-related activities, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits as a result of your crash. However, these benefits generally only cover medical bills and lost wages in most cases. Pursuing compensation for most other losses (not related to property damage, which is usually an “insurance only” concern) generally requires that a personal injury lawsuit be filed against the at-fault party.

“But wait,” you may be saying. “I was partially to blame too. Doesn’t that eliminate my right to seek personal injury damages?” The answer to that excellent question is “Probably not.” As an experienced black personal injury lawyer – including those who practice at Council & Associates, LLC – can explain in greater detail, states take different approaches to the issue of joint liability.

In most states – including Georgia – a modified comparative negligence approach allows injury victims to pursue compensation against other negligent, reckless, or intentionally dangerous parties for contributing to the cause(s) of their harm, as long as those victims are 49% or less to blame for their circumstances.

Most of the time, in aggressive driving cases, victims are rarely assigned so much of the blame that they are prevented from seeking justice. Aggressive drivers usually behave so egregiously that they are assigned far more blame than the others involved in the crash being scrutinized. As a result, it remains important to speak with an attorney about your situation even if you know that you were partially at fault for what happened to you.