Washington DC Scooter Accident Lawyer
Scooters are emerging as a popular transportation alternative for people who want to avoid driving, public transit such as the Metro, or don’t want to deal with cumbersome equipment like bicycles. These “micro-mobility” options are rapidly showing up in our major cities, including Washington DC, and have left city planners and the courts scrambling to update laws to ensure that our roads stay safe for the many ways people choose to use them. As laws, infrastructure, and public awareness slowly start to integrate scooters into the public eye, injuries and accidents are on the rise. Insurance companies are quick to leverage the uncertainty about these forms of transportation in order to settle for as little as possible. This leaves scooter accident victims to foot the bill for many of the damages that they are rightfully owed compensation for.
Working with a personal injury attorney is one of the best ways for a victim of a scooter accident (or their family, in the event of a fatal accident) to fight for the money they deserve while taking the time needed to focus on making a recovery. Unfortunately, even finding a scooter accident attorney who is available to take the case can be daunting, and many people simply move forward with their claim alone instead of partnering with an attorney to fight for what they actually deserve.
Contact Balkin & Mausner For a Free Consultation With a Scooter Accident Lawyer
Contact the team at Balkin & Mausner as soon as possible to request a free consultation about your scooter accident. During your consultation, you will be able to go over the details of your situation, outline the steps you’ve already taken, and get a clear understanding of how your lawyer would advise you to move forward with their support. You do not need to go through this process alone, and working with our firm can give you the emotional space you need in the aftermath of an accident to focus on yourself while also getting comprehensive legal support.
Insurance companies benefit when victims choose to file their own claims, and the sooner you partner with a personal injury attorney, the sooner you will be able to look towards the future with confidence, knowing that a proven scooter accident attorney in Washington DC is fighting for what you rightfully deserve.
Proving Fault After a Washington DC Scooter Accident
Washington DC is one of the few legal systems in the United States that still uses an antiquated law known as contributory negligence in personal injury cases. Under contributory negligence, a victim may be barred from seeking any compensation after an accident if it is determined that they were partially at fault for the accident in any capacity. Insurance companies will work to leverage this law to their advantage before moving forward with any additional aspects of the claim, such as determining compensation amounts. An inexperienced victim trying to manage their claim may find themselves inundated with legal documents, suggestions of their own negligence, and aggressive insurance adjusters pushing to settle for far less than they are rightfully owed.
When you have an experienced Washington DC personal injury attorney handling your claim on your behalf, they will be able to work through this initial step from a place of knowledge and understanding while you focus on getting the support you need for recovery. This first step in personal injury cases often leads to claimants accepting settlement offers out of fear of ramifications stemming from their own potential negligence, but insurers know their chances of achieving this goal are greatly reduced when there is a lawyer representing the victim from the start.
Calculating Fair Compensation After a Washington DC Scooter Accident
Once an attorney has established the right for a victim to seek compensation, the next step is to go through the process of identifying, cataloging, and calculating the financial value of each impact, or “damage,” that the victim has suffered.
There are obvious damages like medical bills, lost wages, and the cost to repair or replace property, but these only make up a small part of the overall claim. Unfortunately, many claimants accept settlement offers from the insurer that includes these damages and little more, only to realize after the fact that there were many more repercussions for which they must now shoulder the financial burden.
Economic Damages
A detail-oriented personal injury attorney will start their investigation by examining every economic impact their client has suffered and may suffer in the future. Beyond the obvious, aforementioned damages like earnings and medical bills, there are many other issues, like long-term diminished earning capacity, the cost of assistive devices or services to help accommodate their injuries, and more. Each of these damages is as important as a massive medical bill or the cost of an ambulance ride and may be multiplied depending on the calculation method that the lawyer uses.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are the effects that do not have dollar values associated with them, such as the emotional impact of such a traumatic experience, the pain and suffering of your injuries, and more. As you can imagine, calculating something as abstract as “depression” after an accident can feel impossible for someone who is not familiar with the personal injury process. Still, your lawyer will take care to reach a fair and reasonable amount for these damages, along with supporting evidence for their value.
The Difference Between a Settlement and a Lawsuit
In many cases, a personal injury attorney will work towards an out-of-court settlement before filing a lawsuit and bringing the case in front of a judge. This approach can help to save time, money, and retain control over the situation instead of leaving the final decision to a disinterested third party. In fact, some estimates suggest that more than 50% of all personal injury claims are settled before a lawsuit is ever filed, and upwards of 95% of all cases are resolved before trial.
Settlement negotiations take place between your attorney and the insurer and often come in lower than the likely award at the resolution of a lawsuit. This is because of how much simpler this process can be. When your attorney chooses to file a lawsuit, it may be due to the fact that the insurer is unwilling to reach a reasonable compromise or could be because your lawyer believes you may be awarded punitive damages in addition to the compensatory damages that they are negotiating for. Working with a proven lawyer who knows how to navigate these processes is essential to getting the money you deserve.