Car Accident Attorney in Louisville

Unfortunately, incredibly common. So much so that, according to the state, in 2015 one in 16 Kentucky residents was involved in a car accident. Accidents are on the rise.

In 2015, they went up 7.1 percent, and in Jefferson County alone, the increase was almost 10 percent. That same year, injuries in the county went up over 2 percent; deaths from motor vehicle accidents went up over 20 percent. The numbers show a serious risk on the road; with that risk level, if something should happen, you deserve the chance to get compensated.

Kentucky law requires that all drivers have proper auto insurance before using their cars on the road. PIP, or Personal Injury Protection, insurance helps drivers receive money after a crash, regardless of whose fault the crash was.

PIP insurance can provide up to $10,000 for medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses caused by the accidents. Many times, however, PIP insurance is not enough to cover the compensation you need to recover. This can be especially true when a catastrophic injury occurs as a result of the accident. In addition, PIP insurance doesn’t cover property damage and mental health services.

Generally, victims who have PIP insurance accept limitations on their right to sue the other party. However, if their injuries meet a certain threshold, they are allowed to sue the offending party without violating any rules. The injury threshold is a $1000 in medical expenses, broken bones, permanent disfigurement or injury, and death.

If your injuries qualify, you may be free to sue the insurance company of the person that caused the accident. Kentucky is a pure comparative state, which means that a plaintiff may be able to recover compensation even if he or she was, in some part, at fault for the incident. However, it’s important to remember that the amount of compensation you could possibly receive depends on how much you were at fault for the accident.

A large part of proving that you have a case is showing that the other party involved in the crash was negligent. For the other driver to be negligent, they have to have acted in a way that other people that showed reasonable levels of care would not do. Was someone texting while driving, causing an accident? Maybe they ran a red light, or a stop sign. It could even be as simple as not giving proper right of way.

These acts and more are negligent acts, and our ability to help prove that they caused the wreck go a long way in you getting fair compensation from the other party’s insurance. There are also accidents that are caused by negligence where recklessness is involved.

An example would be if someone drove under the influence of alcohol and caused an accident. This is reckless negligence, and in instances like these, you may be eligible for additional compensation called punitive damages. Punitive damages are a form of compensation that is meant to discourage other people from acting in that same reckless manner.

The victim of a car crash can file a lawsuit to recover compensation for two types of damages: economic damages and noneconomic damages. Economic damages are damages that you can measure in terms of money. This can mean medical bills from a hospital stay, expenses for future doctor’s visits, and additional expenses insurance often doesn’t cover, such as rehabilitation or the cost of an in-house nurse or aide.

It can also mean lost wages for any time you had to miss at work; if the injuries from your accident leave you unable to do your job for an extended period of time, there is also the potential to be compensated for that time in terms of earning capacity. Noneconomic damages are the damages that are not measured in terms of money. This can mean both physical and emotional suffering.

If you want to file a lawsuit against the other party in your automobile accident, we may be able to help. The lawyers at Morgan & Morgan’s Louisville office have years of experience handling accident claims and can navigate the complicated laws and processes required to represent you in court.