Hernando Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer

Unfortunately, distracted drivers take to the roads every single day. When drivers fail to pay attention to the road, they can cause disastrous accidents, leading to serious injuries or death.

If you have been injured, lost a loved one, or had your car damaged by a distracted driver, you deserve justice. A skilled and professional personal injury lawyer in Hernando can get you that justice. When you need the help of a Hernando distracted driving accident attorney, contact Gatti, Keltner, Bienvenu & Montesti. 

Common Causes of Distracted Driving Accidents

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified several causes of distracted driving accidents. There are three main types of distractions that cause the most accidents:

Visual Distractions

Visual distractions are distractions that make drivers stop looking at the road. The most common visual distraction is texting while driving, which is illegal in Mississippi. Other causes can be things like applying makeup, looking at a GPS system for directions, or looking at passengers while having conversations with them.

Manual Distractions

Manual distractions are distractions caused by the driver doing something else with their hands, causing them to not have full control of their vehicle. These accidents can include eating, playing with the radio, or trying to retrieve an item that was dropped between the seats, like a cell phone.

Cognitive Distractions

Cognitive distractions are distractions caused by the driver taking their mind off of driving. These accidents can be caused by things like thinking about something else, stress, or focusing too heavily on a phone call or conversation.

Whatever the cause of the accident, distracted driving accidents can be devastating all the same. When you are hurt by a distracted driver, let a skilled distracted driving accident attorney in Hernando advocate on your behalf.

When Should You Speak to a Personal Injury Lawyer in Hernando

If you are injured in a distracted driving accident, you should talk to a lawyer immediately. The sooner that your attorney begins their work on your case, the more evidence that they will be able to find. Witnesses’ memories can fade, or CCTV footage can be deleted, but the sooner you start the process, the less likely this is.

As with all civil claims, lawsuits for personal injury have a statute of limitations, which is a time limit on the amount of time that you can bring your claim. The statute of limitations for personal injury accidents in Mississippi is three years. This means that you must bring a lawsuit within three years of you discovering your injuries.

Issues that arise from the statute of limitations can be complicated and hard to understand. Your Hernando distracted driving accident lawyer will be skilled and knowledgeable about all the legal issues involved.

Insurance Settlements After a Distracted Driving Accident

The majority of the time, when you sue a distracted driver, you are not truly suing them personally because their insurance company will be required to pay for your injuries. This usually means that the drivers’ insurance company will also provide lawyers to defend them. These lawyers are usually very skilled and very expensive, which can be intimidating.

However, the team at Gatti, Keltner, Bienvenu & Montesi has years of experience battling against insurance lawyers. They will know how to make your case and negotiate with them so that you get the biggest settlement possible, and if your case goes to trial, they know how to present your case to the jury to ensure that you win the biggest verdict possible.

Insurance companies are huge companies with seemingly infinite resources. The lawyers that they will hire will try to intimidate you and limit your recovery as much as possible. Do not let the insurance lawyers limit the justice you get; enlist the help of excellent distracted driving accident lawyers.

How to Prove Your Case

There are several ways that your lawyers can gather evidence or prove your case in court. Distracted driving cases are civil cases, which means that when you bring a case, you only need to prove your allegations by a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning that they are more likely to be true than not true.

Admission

Sometimes, the driver will just admit that they were distracted. This can happen right after the accident when the driver is speaking to the police or to witnesses. Obviously, this is great evidence, but this is not common.

Witnesses

After you are in a distracted driving accident, you should try to either remember or write down the names and phone numbers of people that you know who witnessed the accident. If you were riding with friends or family, they might also be witnesses. 

The police officer who investigated the accident can also be a witness. These witnesses can testify to help prove your version of events. 

Cell Phone Records

Your lawyer can sometimes obtain the drivers’ cell phone records by subpoena. Cell phone records are helpful because they can prove that the driver was on their phone at the time of the accident, which is illegal in Mississippi.

Traffic or Surveillance Cameras

Video cameras can be everywhere, and video evidence is very strong. Your lawyer might be able to find nearby traffic cameras, videos taken by people on dashcams or their cell phones, or even videos from security cameras on nearby businesses.

There will also be a process during the lawsuit called discovery, in which your lawyers will obtain any evidence from the other party that might be helpful to your case. A skilled and experienced Hernando distracted driving accident attorney will know all of the best ways to obtain evidence that is helpful to your case.

Contact a Hernando Distracted Driving Accident Attorney

When people drive distracted, they are not just putting their own lives in jeopardy, but the lives of everyone else around them. This is not fair, and if a distracted driver injures you, you are entitled to financial compensation.

When you need the help of a skilled and professional distracted driving accident attorney in Hernando, contact Gatti, Keltner, Bienvenu & Montesti for a free consultation.