Elko Car Accident Lawyers

Experienced Elko Car Accident Attorney Ready to Fight For You

Car accidents are dramatic events that can have huge and long-lasting consequences. If you’re injured in an accident, the medical treatment you need to recover may be expensive and time-consuming. Injuries can also make it harder or impossible for you to work as you did before the accident. Financial compensation for your injuries can ease the challenges an accident leaves behind. You need the expert assistance of a car accident lawyer in your fight for the compensation you deserve. Insurance companies work hard to minimize the amount they have to pay to accident victims; you can even the odds by putting an experienced car accident on your side.

Christian Morris Trial Attorneys has an experienced team of personal injury attorneys who have helped countless clients deal with the aftermath of a car accident in Elko, Nevada. When our clients get injured because of wrongdoing or negligence on someone else’s part, we make sure they recover all the compensation they deserve. Call 702-434-8282 today to schedule your free consultation.

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Stay On The Scene

Leaving the scene of an accident is illegal if it caused property damage or injuries. You may expose yourself to significant “hit and run” penalties” if you leave. You must stay until you are legally dismissed. Assess the situation and offer help if you believe it’s appropriate to do so.

Clear The Road, If Possible

Move your vehicle out of the path of traffic if it is drivable. If it is safe to do so, push incapacitated vehicles out of traffic lanes. Turn on the hazard lights in your vehicle. If you’re carrying cones, flashers, or other hazard signals, set them out so other drivers see there has been an accident.

 

If moving your vehicle is not possible, do not stay in or with it. Get clear of traffic and wait in a safe place until law enforcement officers arrive.

Do Not Talk About Fault

Nevada laws place a significant burden on the driver who causes a car accident. (Nevada is a “fault” state.) Do not take responsibility for the accident or apologize to other drivers. You are not fully aware of all the applicable circumstances immediately following an accident, and your impression of who is to blame may be mistaken. Let fault be assigned by the police and/or insurance adjusters.

 

Check For Injuries

If you are not injured, check with other parties involved in the accident (drivers and passengers) to see if anyone else is injured. Call for an ambulance and the police if there are any injuries. Don’t assume that someone else will make the call for you. Unless they are in imminent danger, leave injured people where they are. Moving an injured victim can worsen their injuries. Stay calm and do whatever you can to make the injured party comfortable until first responders arrive.

Call The Police

Nevada law states that all car accidents must be reported to the police if they cause injuries, deaths, or property damage over $750. We recommend you call the police following any accident; the Elko Metropolitan Police currently track non-injury collisions as well as more serious accidents. If you do not call immediately following the accident, you have ten days to submit a Report of Traffic Accident. When you speak to the police, be as informative as you can without speculating. Stick to the facts.

Collect Contact Information

When circumstances make it practical to stay on the scene of the crash, gather as much information as you can. Useful facts to record include the names and insurance details of all drivers involved, the name of the first police officer on the scene, and contact information for anyone who witnessed the accident. It is best to make a record of facts as soon as possible, while the details are fresh in your mind.

Take Pictures

Use a camera or your cell phone to take pictures of the crash scene if you can. Important details to capture include the state of all the vehicles involved, any property damage the accident caused, any injuries, and the state of the roadway where the crash occurred. Look for environmental factors that may have contributed to the crash (e.g. trees that obscure a stop sign) and photograph them. Crash scene photos can become powerful tools in a personal injury case.

Contact Your Insurance Company

Time limits for reporting an accident vary from company to company, but most insurers are strict. Call your insurance company and explain your accident as soon as possible. Follow any instructions your agent gives you. Do not admit fault, even to your agent. If you’re contacted by the insurance company of another involved driver, do not give a recorded statement or discuss a settlement until you have discussed your case with an attorney.

Gather All Your Accident Information

If you become sure that your accident will require you to take legal action, it’s helpful to collect all of the information you have about your crash in one place. Any medical documentation is essential, as is a copy of the police report on your accident.

Contact A Lawyer

Contacting an Elko personal injury attorney like Christian Morris Trial Attorneys is your final step following a car accident. You can rely on an experienced lawyer to study your situation and provide you with useful advice on what to do and what not to do next. Once you’ve hired a lawyer, you can also trust them to handle all of the important communications connected to your case, negotiate with insurance companies, and take your case to court if necessary.

Damaged cars immediately after a collision in Elko, NV
Contact us today if you have been injured in a car crash in Elko, NV

When Do I Need To Find A Car Accident Attorney?

If you come through a car accident and need to visit a doctor or hospital afterward, you should seek guidance from a personal injury attorney. Cases like these have a statute of limitations, so you need to get started as soon as possible. In some accidents, the details regarding injuries and fault which go into the official police report are inaccurate or incomplete. This is another reason it’s smart to contact us quickly; we can review your accident reports and explain your legal options. The sooner you get in touch with Christian Morris Trial Attorneys, the better off you’ll be. You don’t want to damage your case by saying the wrong thing inadvertently! Fill out our online contact form or call us at (702) 434-8282 to schedule a free consultation.

How Much Compensation Can I Get For A Elko Car Accident Claim?

The greatest factor determining how much your claim is worth is the severity of the injuries you sustained. Have your injuries made it impossible for you to keep your job or permanently disabled you? Did your loved one lose their life in a car accident? Every settlement or verdict for a car accident case differs depending on the specifics of the accident. The best way to develop a good idea of your case’s potential value is to talk to an expert. Call us today!

What Help Does A Elko Car Wreck Attorney Provide?

In the United States, car accidents are responsible for the overwhelming majority of personal injury claims. While routine, minor accidents like fender benders are easily handled through insurance companies, you need an attorney’s help if your vehicle sustained significant damage or anyone was injured. Insurance companies are major corporations, and they will not hesitate to try to save money by minimizing the amount of compensation they pay to accident victims.

After a car accident injury, you can count on your personal injury lawyer to be your advocate in all legal and insurance matters. Insurance companies will avoid responsibility whenever possible; your attorney holds them accountable. Hiring a trustworthy lawyer is a vital step in protecting your rights and ensuring that you receive the compensation you deserve for your injuries.

What Steps Should I Take After A Car Accident?

What Causes Most Elko, NV Car Accidents?

How Is Fault Determined In An Elko, NV Car Accident?

Who Should I Contact After A Car Accident in Elko, NV?

If you get into a car accident and you are injured, seeking immediate medical treatment is your first priority. If you do not seek the emergency medical care you need, you may make your injuries worse and suffer through a longer recovery. A delay in seeking treatment can also be a problem if you pursue a personal injury claim. Insurance companies or their lawyers may attempt to downplay the significance of your injuries using your delay in treatment as evidence. Explain your accident as fully as you can to the doctors and other healthcare providers who treat you. Keep all of the documentation you receive during treatment: diagnosis, treatment plans, bills, and so forth.

If you do not need immediate medical care or receive it, here are the steps to take after a car accident:

Our auto accident lawyers have noticed most of the crashes we see are caused by the following:

Driving Under The Influence

A driver who has consumed alcohol or other intoxicants is a significant danger to other drivers. While intoxicated, a driver has a smaller attention span and a greatly diminished capacity to focus. Driving under the influence can lead to falling asleep, hallucinations, or full loss of vehicle control. While being intoxicated sometimes protects a driver from serious injuries by making him or her more relaxed, the accidents they cause tend to inflict serious injuries on others.

Falling Asleep At The Wheel

Fatigue and falling asleep become significant factors in accidents that involve tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles. A tired driver is an impaired driver, and actually falling asleep while driving can endanger many lives. Failing to recognize the signs of fatigue and failing to get off the road is a form of negligence. Falling asleep at the wheel is more common in night-time accidents, but day-time fatigue accidents are far from rare.

Reckless Driving

Road safety is a communal quality that relies on all drivers obeying traffic laws and exercising good sense. When one driver instead drives recklessly, he or she increases the risk of accidents involving multiple vehicles. Behavior that can be considered reckless driving includes speeding, swerving, disregarding traffic signals, not using turn indicators, racing or driving in unusual, dangerous ways. Reckless drivers may not be aware of their own negligence, but they are always putting others at risk.

Distracted Driving

Whenever a driver attempts to combine another activity with driving, he or she is engaging in distracted driving. Distracted driving is a very broad category, and it is a serious problem all across the nation. Distractions can come in many forms. Using a cellphone to talk or text while driving is a distraction. So is operating a GPS device or a navigation app on a smartphone. Eating, drinking, talking, and attempting to manage children or pets can all lead to distracted driving. Distracted driving is negligent because the driver is giving road safety less than the full share of his or her attention it deserves.

Speeding

Speeding is one of the foremost causes of accidents on the road. Exceeding the speed limit, by many miles per hour or just a few, makes it difficult or impossible for a driver to react to unexpected conditions safely. Speeding cars tend to collide with other vehicles because speeding drivers don’t have the time and space they need to stop. Speeding often causes rear-end or head-on collisions, and these accidents have an increased chance to cause serious spine, back, and neck injuries.

A man yawning while driving a car

Nevada’s laws on road accidents and car insurance make it an “at-fault” state. That means the driver who causes an accident takes legal responsibility for all damages that it causes. Determining fault after a car crash is obviously a huge part of how damages are handled. If you’re in an accident and there isn’t sufficient evidence to establish fault, you may end up receiving less compensation than you should, or having your damage claim denied entirely.

In most car accidents, fault comes down to either negligence or negligence per se. Negligence per se is the violation of a law or statue, while plain negligence is acting without a reasonable degree of care. Because both principles are used in Nevada accident law, a driver can still be held liable for causing a crash even if he or she was not violating a law.

Your car accident needs to be thoroughly investigated so that fault can be proved. There are many different kinds of evidence that can be helpful. Police reports, witness statements, photographs, accident debris, drivers’ statements, road condition information, and many other kinds of data can all play a role in determining who was at fault for an accident.

Some cases call on the expertise of accident reconstruction specialists to determine fault. This becomes more likely if multiple parties are disputing where fault lies.

Fault for an accident can sometimes be assigned to multiple parties. Claims for damages in cases like this are subject to the rule of comparative negligence.

The auto accident lawyers at Christian Morris Trial Attorneys have extensive experience defending clients who have been injured in Elko accidents and incidents all over the state of Nevada, including Henderson, Las Vegas, and other areas. We have comprehensive experience with the local courts and judges and a strong track record for securing favorable outcomes for our auto accident clients. Trust our team to thoroughly investigate your accident and injuries and pursue every possible source of compensation. We do our best to maximize your compensation because we know how significant the burdens imposed by serious injuries can be.

If you believe you have a car accident case or simply need legal advice, we’d be happy to provide a free consultation. We work strictly on a contingency basis; you need not pay us unless we secure compensation for you with a settlement or a favorable verdict. Call us today at 702-434-8282 or use our online contact form.