When You Should Hire Accident Attorneys
It is a simple fact of life that Americans sometimes get badly injured, and this may be most common at physically demanding jobs like construction or while driving a car. Traffic accidents are all to common, and a number of factors may cause a person to get into a wreck or hit a pedestrian. Similarly, construction workers and even park rangers face many hazards on the job, so finding accident attorneys in the case of injury may be a good idea. An injured driver or employee may reach out to lawyers in their local area, and many law firms specialize in accident cases. Some accident attorneys are even more specialized, focusing on car accidents or construction or workplace injuries in particular. If someone is run over by a drunk driver or injured during a construction project, for example, they may find accident attorneys to pursue litigation against the at-fault party. What might these accident attorneys do their their client?
Traffic Accidents
Tens of millions of adolescent and adult Americans have a valid driver’s license and drive across American roads and highways every day, but some drivers are not safe. A driver may be impaired by drugs or alcohol, or they may be distracted by electronic devices. And statistics show that elderly drivers are also hazardous, since they have shortened attention spans and may be slow to react to developments on the road. Drunk driving, meanwhile, is arguably one of the biggest causes of road accidents in the United States today. Someone who has a blood alcohol content, or BAC, of 0.08% or higher is legally driving drunk, and that alone is a serious crime whether or not an accident occurs as a result. Drunk drivers will have impaired coordination, judgment, and reaction times, making them likely to hit other vehicles, pedestrians, or property.
Distracted drivers are those who are preoccupied with an electronic device such as a cell phone, and this takes a the driver’s attention off the road. Distracted drivers are likely to hit other cars or pedestrians, or at least run red lights and stop signs, simply because they aren’t watching the road and they will be too slow to react to developments. For this reason, cell phone use while driving a car is often illegal, and can get someone pulled over.
The Workplace
Some jobs are more risky than others, and this is especially true for construction workers. They face many hazards, even the mundane accident of slipping and falling from a great height on the project. Construction workers may also accidentally inhale noxious paint fumes or silicate particles, and lung disease is in fact common among construction workers. At the worksite, workers may get run over by vehicles or get arms or legs crushed or trapped under machinery or heavy loads, and in summer, they may suffer heat exhaustion or even heat stroke. Park rangers, meanwhile, might slip or trip and go tumbling down a hill and hit rocks or trees along the way, or they may be mauled by a dangerous animal such as a bear or cougar. Reptile, insect, or spider bites or stings may also happen.
Accident Attorneys
If someone was badly injured in a traffic accident at the workplace, they may turn to local law firms to find legal representation during litigation (or in rare cases, even in court). As noted above, some law firms are very specialized; a construction worker may turn to a construction lawyer, and a car wreck victim may look for auto accident lawyers. A victim needs help because he or she may be emotionally charged and unable to look at the case clearly and objectively, but a lawyer can. What is more, the victim’s injuries may prevent them from doing paying work in the future, and only a lawyer can handle that tricky complication to the case. A good lawyer can also deal with a stubborn insurance company that is refusing to cooperate. And of course, a potential client may want to get consultations at a local law firm (this may or may not incur a fee) in order to find a lawyer whose personality, skills, success rate, and educational background are to the client’s liking. Together, they can build an effective case during litigation.