Fort Walton Beach Attorneys for Car Accidents Due to Hazardous Road Conditions
When you’re seriously injured in a car accident, you may face significant financial losses and deal with years of physical recovery. The actions of the agency or company responsible for the hazardous road conditions that directly caused your accident shouldn’t be allowed to go without consequences. You have the right to hold them accountable by taking legal action against them to be compensated for your injuries. The Fort Walton Beach car accident attorneys of The Bruner Law Firm have 30 years of experience helping our clients obtain compensation for their car accident injuries.
To discuss your case and your legal options, call The Bruner Law Firm today at (850) 243-2222 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.
How Hazardous Road Conditions Can Lead to Severe Car Accidents
When you’re traveling on a road or highway, you trust that the road is well-constructed and doesn’t pose any risk to your safety. You’ve likely driven on a city or residential road, for example, and been annoyed when you’ve driven across a pothole in the street. Your annoyance may be due to your concern about the effects the pothole may have on your tires.
Unfortunately, in other instances, hitting a pothole on a busy road when you’re traveling at a moderate or high speed can cause your tire to blow out or make you lose control of your vehicle, leading to an accident. Or it could cause the same for another driver who may then collide with you.
Additionally, defective barriers and medians on roads and highways can create risks to motorists. Medians are used to provide a clear division between multi-directional traffic. If they’re poorly built or maintained, serious accidents can result, and motorists’ injuries can be worsened if their bodies crash into those barriers in the collision. The same is true for guardrails, which are supposed to provide some protection to motorists.
Similarly, improper signage can lead to serious car accidents. Missing signage, incorrect, or complicated signage can confuse motorists at a time when they may need to make a split-second decision. For example, consider the absence of a stop sign at a busy intersection or incorrect signage for entering a highway. These circumstances could result in a car accident, causing the involved motorists severe injuries.
Who Is Liable for Hazardous Road Conditions?
Several parties could be responsible for maintaining the conditions of the road or highway on which the accident occurred. It could be the local or state government’s responsibility to properly maintain the road. If a government agency was supposed to ensure that the road on which you sustained your accident was free from hazards, then they may be liable for compensating you. In some cases, the road you traveled on may be privately owned. The individual owner or company may be responsible for maintaining the road and, thus, could be liable for your injuries.
Common Car Accident Injuries
Injuries sustained in car accidents can range in severity. Some injuries can be relatively minor, while others can be life-threatening. Some of the most common injuries from car accidents include:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Paralysis
- Brain injuries
- Burns
- Muscle sprains and strains
- Neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Loss of limb
- Broken bones
- Contusions
- Head injuries
- Lacerations
- Hearing/Vision loss or impairment
- Organ damage
- Internal bleeding
Any of these injuries could require extensive and immediate medical treatment, including life-saving surgery. Even beyond your initial medical treatment, you may need medical care for your injuries for months or years to come.
Why You Need an Experienced Car Accident Attorney
When you pursue compensation for your car accident injuries, you have to prove that another party’s negligence led to your injuries, and they’re liable for compensating you for your financial and emotional losses.
You need an attorney (especially if you were injured in an accident that was caused by hazardous road conditions) because determining who is liable for your injuries can be much more complex than an accident that was solely caused by a negligent driver. It may not be clear-cut who or what entity was responsible for maintaining and ensuring the safety of the road. Our firm has experience handling these types of cases, so we know exactly how to investigate the accident to find out who owned or operated the road so that we can pursue compensation from them on your behalf.
You’re already dealing with serious injuries as it is. Your focus should be 100 percent on your recovery, not on going back and forth with the liable parties and their attorneys who don’t have your best interests at heart. As your attorneys, The Bruner Law Firm is here to support you and advocate for what you deserve.
At The Bruner Law Firm, we don’t believe in causing our clients to face any additional financial strain. To advance this major value for our firm, we work on a contingency basis. This means that you don’t pay us upfront when you hire us. You only pay us if and when we obtain compensation for your injuries. Even if we weren’t already dedicated to our clients and determined to obtain the compensation they need, our contingency fee shows that we have every incentive to fight as hard as we can to win your case.
What You Can Be Compensated For
The party responsible for causing your accident injuries may be liable for compensating you for your financial and other personal losses. Compensation could cover your:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Loss of income or wages
- Loss of future earning capability
- Cost of replacing or repairing damaged property
- Pain and suffering
- Scarring, disability, and disfigurement
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of quality of life
- Mental anguish
You could also be awarded punitive damages by a judge or jury, but it’s rare. There has to be clear and convincing evidence of the liable party’s intentional misconduct or gross negligence.
Contact The Bruner Law Firm Today
Hazardous road conditions can cause serious injuries in a car accident. If this happened to you, call the Fort Walton Beach personal injury attorneys of The Bruner Law Firm today at (850) 243-2222 to discuss your options in a free consultation.
