Head-On Collision Lawyers
Charlotte | Huntersville | Hickory
Helping Victims of Serious Accidents Seek Financial Recovery
We Will Relentlessly Fight for Your Rights
America is a nation of cars. Our country has one of the highest vehicle ownership rates in the world. While this grants a certain level of freedom, it also increases the likelihood of sustaining serious injuries in a car accident. With so many vehicles on the road, it’s no surprise that negligent and reckless drivers so often cause wrecks. While most of these are minor, many prove disastrous for the drivers and passengers who experience them. This is particularly the case in accidents that involve frontal impacts. If you or a loved one have found yourself injured because of such an incident, a head-on-collision lawyer in Charlotte may be able to help.
At Harman Law, our team of North Carolina personal injury attorneys has spent years fighting for the rights of our clients. We’ve worked with more car accident victims than you could imagine, but in our experience, it’s typically victims of head-on collisions who suffer the most severe injuries. There are various reasons behind this, but the most important concern you should have is getting justice and fair compensation to assist in recovery. North Carolina law is fairly stringent when it comes to these cases and liability, but with an experienced lawyer from our law firm on your side, you’ll have an advocate who will fight relentlessly for your rights.
How Serious Are Head-On Collisions?
When you hear about the most devastating car accidents, they’re often frontal impacts. That’s because a head-on collision is more than just a vehicle crashing into something. It’s two vehicles and their combined velocities crashing into each other. For instance, imagine that two cars are traveling in opposite directions at a safe 45 MPH on a public highway. If they were suddenly to collide with each other head-on, the impact would be equivalent to each vehicle crashing into a solid object at a speed of 90 MPH. This explains why head-on collisions are three times as deadly as accidents involving side impacts.
Sadly, no one even has to be speeding for such a crash to prove detrimental. The combined velocities result in some of the most debilitating injuries you’ll ever see in a car wreck:
- Spinal cord injury
- Severe head laceration
- Traumatic brain injury
- Airbag injuries (e.g., face injury, breathing complications)
- Broken bones
- Internal bleeding and organ injuries
- Chronic whiplash
- Blunt force trauma
- Neck injuries
In a best-case scenario, the injuries sustained will only be temporary. Even the physical damage that people fear the most often heals within a few years. For instance, a spinal cord injury that results in no cell death may have few permanent consequences. Unfortunately, research still shows that those who suffer severe injuries in car accidents deal with chronic pain even three years after their injury. This can occur after treatment has done all it can do for you — a condition known as maximum medical improvement. This is exactly why you should work with a head-on collision lawyer in North Carolina who may be able to help recover non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.
And since we offer a free consultation to accident victims and work on a contingency fee basis, you’ll never have to worry about being unable to afford justice.
Are You Entitled to Compensation for Auto Accident Injuries?
Accident victims involved in head-on collisions have a tough road ahead of them. For some, the toughest battle may be healing physically. However, recovering compensation that’s appropriate for your losses can also be difficult. That’s because you have to prove negligence in your case, and this isn’t as simple as saying, “That’s the person who caused my injury.” If your case goes to trial, you’ll actually need to show that the defendant had a duty of care to avoid such an accident, that they violated that duty, and that their violation resulted in your personal injury. Having an experienced Charlotte head-on collision attorney on your side can simplify this process.
Fortunately, it’s not difficult to establish when a duty of care exists. We all have such duties in our daily lives. For instance, every driver has a duty of care to avoid reckless or negligent actions that could injure others on the road. If someone is engaged in drunk driving or distracted behind the wheel, they’re certainly violating this duty. If no accident occurs because of this violation, however, then the third element of successful claims involving auto accidents is not present. You must show that the violation resulted in some form of loss, but these losses can be economic (e.g., medical bills) or non-economic (e.g., emotional distress).
The one issue that can derail everything is shared liability. North Carolina is a pure contributory negligence state, and this means that any liability on the part of the victim can make them ineligible for compensation. This is true even if the at-fault driver is 99% liable for the accident. This is why it’s so important to speak with a head-on collision attorney in Charlotte before speaking with insurers — and you should avoid admitting any level of fault to anyone. If you’ve already admitted fault, though, seeking compensation is still possible. An experienced car accident lawyer may be able to use exceptions — such as the defendant having the last clear chance to avoid a collision — to secure compensation on your behalf.
Who's At Fault for Frontal-Impact Car Accidents?
Fault in head-on collision auto accidents can sometimes be clear and straightforward. Perhaps the negligent party was engaged in distracted driving and crossed the center line. Maybe the driver was trying to pass in an unsafe manner and struck oncoming traffic. In an automobile accident that involves a frontal impact, it’s often simple to look at one driver and say, “They were somewhere they weren’t supposed to be.” However, this isn’t always the case. Liability may sometimes be unclear, and things can get particularly complicated in three-car accidents. Still, all personal injury cases come down to assigning liability.
The at-fault individual will typically be the one who was doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing. This could actions which are negligent, reckless, malicious, or illegal. Even when there are two vehicles involved, though, there can sometimes be other parties liable who were uninvolved in the collision itself. For instance, the local government could be responsible if they failed to clear vegetation that obscured a stop sign. Similarly, a local bar owner could be held liable for overserving a drunk driver who causes a head-on car accident. This is another reason you should seek legal assistance. Because without it, you may not recognize all the parties you should seek compensation from.
Can Car Accident Attorneys Really Help?
When someone is harmed due to the negligence of others, they frequently ask whether personal injury attorneys are necessary for recovering compensation. That’s because they often hope to get a settlement or court award without having to pay attorney fees. Technically speaking, you can receive financial recovery without a lawyer. Unfortunately, this route is filled with hurdles and complications. Injured victims are typically inexperienced in law, and this means they’re unprepared to deal with skilled insurance adjusters and insurance company lawyers.
It only takes one mistake to derail your case — even if you’ve suffered permanent injuries that are clearly the fault of another party. A simple admission of partial guilt can negate your entire right to recover monetary compensation. This is why you should avoid talking to insurance adjusters prior to speaking with the legal team at Harman Law. Our experienced head-on collision lawyers in North Carolina know how to handle adjusters, and if those adjusters refuse to offer a fair settlement, our firm has the trial experience necessary to fight for your rights in a court of law.
These facts explain why personal injury victims with legal representation are more likely to receive compensation and higher levels of financial recovery. You deserve to be compensated for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, property damage, emotional distress, and other damages. Our law firm will work tirelessly to secure maximum compensation on your behalf, and since we work on a contingency fee basis, you can rest assured that you’ll have no upfront out-of-pocket expenses related to attorney fees. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
Is There a Deadline for Filing a Lawsuit in North Carolina?
Regardless of whether you’re represented by North Carolina personal injury attorneys, there is a deadline for filing a head-on collision case. That’s because North Carolina has a three-year statute of limitations on injury cases. There are some exceptions to this rule — such as when catastrophic injuries result in mental incapacity or a medical malpractice injury isn’t discovered until later — but most people will only have three years to file for compensation. If you fail to do so, the insurance company won’t have much incentive to offer a fair settlement. Essentially, you could be on the hook for your own medical bills, future treatment, and other monetary losses.
This is slightly different in wrongful death cases. If you lose a loved one in a head-on collision, you’ll only have two years from the date of their death to file a case. There are times when clients injured in these accidents survive for years but eventually die from those injuries. In situations where your loved one is seriously harmed, it’s imperative that you reach out to a law firm as soon as possible. The personal injury statute of limitations in North Carolina continues to run — even when it’s apparent that someone will eventually die due to the other driver’s negligence. Make sure you secure sound legal advice so you fully understand the complexities of wrongful death cases.
Contact a Head-On Collisions Lawyer in North Carolina Today
If you’ve been involved in a head-on collision, you likely sustained substantial injuries. Even if the harms you suffered were relatively minor, though, a combination of lost wages, medical bills, and other losses can create significant difficulties. If you’re lucky, the adjusters will offer a fair settlement for your car insurance claim — but this is not a certainty. Insurance companies have a primary goal of turning a profit, and in most cases, this means paying out as little as possible for accident claims. This is why having North Carolina personal injury attorneys on your side can prove so invaluable.
At Harman Law, we’ve seen the difficult and often tragic consequences that head-on collision victims go through. It only takes one moment of negligence or unlawful acts by a reckless party to cause catastrophic injuries to innocent victims. If you or a loved one have experienced such injuries — or if you lost a family member to such negligence — settlement negotiations or a personal injury lawsuit may be able to help you recover compensation. Contact us today at Harman Law by calling (704) 286-0947 to schedule a free case evaluation. Our head-on collision lawyers in North Carolina are ready to advocate for justice on your behalf.
