Maison Law of Glendale stands up for victims hurt in merging zones accidents caused by careless drivers. Our lawyers make sure the right motorist takes responsibility and that insurers cover all medical bills.
If you have been injured, please get in touch with a Glendale Car Accident Lawyer for a free case review. Do this before you speak to an at-fault driver’s insurance provider. It’s an informative, no-string-attached way to find out what your injury may be worth and how to hold a car insurance company fully responsible.
When You’ll Want a Lawyer On Your Side
If your accident involves only minor scratches or bruising, or only car damage, you may be fine handling your case yourself.
But when a serious injury is involved, the stakes are raised. The medical bills are higher, and there’s more missed time at work for injured victims. The settlement check would need to be much bigger, but car insurance companies see the price tag and immediately go into defense mode.
They can work to find ways to shift the blame for the merging accident to you. They may even find ways to devalue your injuries, claiming they aren’t all that bad.
But a lawyer can fully investigate your accident and fight back with solid evidence. A lawyer’s help can be especially helpful if you have a serious injury, including broken bones, head injuries, or neck and back injuries (including whiplash).
A lawyer would take these steps and others to help increase to protect your claim and earn you more:
- Fully investigate the accident.
- Use the evidence to make sure the fault in the accident can be reassigned.
- Utilize medical documents and charts in case an insurer tries to downplay how badly you are hurt.
- File your claim for you while you are allowed to focus on healing.
- Demand full compensation for your current damages and the medical care you may need in the future.
- Check over every settlement offer you receive and reject it and demand more if it doesn’t cover all of your hardships.
You always have the right to file your own claim, but a skilled lawyer can often earn you much more in support than if you tried to take on a giant auto insurance provider yourself.
What You Should Demand from a Car Insurance Company
One key to earning a fair settlement check that covers all of your hardships is knowing what to ask for. Everything you endure through your recovery and time away from work must be covered.
Any settlement check must also include provisions for the future in case your injury flares up, and you require additional surgeries or physical therapy. What if you miss more time at work down the road with chronic pain? These real possibilities need to be covered.
Maison Law of Glendale would be seeking support for your economic damages, and for some factors you might not have known could add to your injury settlement check:
- Totals on current medical bills and those expected in the future.
- Any expenses associated with a permanent disability. The cost of support over a lifetime.
- The toll of physical pain and emotional trauma.
- Loss of enjoyment of life due to an injury.
- Travel costs of making doctor’s appointments while unable to drive. Seeing specialists outside of Glendale.
- All income and benefits that are lost while in recovery as victims are unable to perform job duties.
- Wrongful death benefits. For the families left behind who have lost a loved one due to a merging driver’s mistake. This includes assistance with funeral and medical costs. A wrongful death claim also seeks money to replace the weekly income the deceased can no longer provide to close relatives. The family’s emotional trauma must also be supported.
Which Driver Is Responsible for a Merging Accident?
According to California’s Vehicle Code (CVC), the driver trying to merge bears the liability in an accident. The driver attempting to join traffic on a busy route like the Glendale Freeway has the legal responsibility to find a safe point to merge and to switch lanes safely.
The driver already on the interstate or highway is actually not obligated to facilitate the merge. They can show kindness to another driver by safely switching to the left lanes or slowing down to make room, but it’s not required by law.
The merging motorist’s duty to enter a highway safely is laid out in CVC 21804. The driver is responsible and, in most cases, would be found liable for any accidents that resulted from a dangerous “unsafe lane change.”
It’s an important distinction, because merging drivers can make mistakes that lead to frightening pileups.
- Going faster than traffic already on the highway
- Going much slower than traffic already on the interstate.
- Failing to check mirrors and blind spots before changing lanes.
- Looking at a cellphone while trying to merge.
- Sideswiping vehicles.
- Switching lanes when there isn’t enough room.
What to Do After a Merging Lane Accident
These and other errors in judgment can leave you spun out on I-5 or Route 134, in shock, and perhaps in some pain.
The fault may be clear to all who experienced the collision or were nearby, but insurers generally always dispute who was to blame if it was their policyholder who was at the center of an accident.
A driver may flat out lie and tell the CHP that they weren’t merging when the accident happened.
All evidence will be helpful to back up your side of the story. This will include the details you can collect right after a scary collision.
If you or anyone else is hurt, ask for an ambulance when you call 911. Get checked out fully by paramedics and go to the ER at a local hospital like Adventist Health Glendale if necessary.
In the meantime, if the scene is secure and you feel strong enough, try to collect this evidence:
- Give a full report to the police.
- Take photos of the entire scene, including images of the damage to vehicles, the markings and debris left in the lanes, and of any visible injuries.
- Get contact information from witnesses on the scene.
- Get driver’s license and insurance information from the other drivers involved unless a Glendale Police Officer or the CHP provides it to you.
- Save any bloody or damaged clothing. Do not throw them away or wash them.
- Get yourself and family members checked out by your own doctor, even if you’ve already visited the ER. Get full documentation.
A skilled lawyer can take this information and add to it through further investigation after learning of your case. Maison Law can also rely on accident reconstruction data if an insurance adjuster still refuses to accept blame.
Contact a Glendale Car Accident Attorney
If a merging driver’s error in judgment leaves you with a serious injury, it’s a strong indicator that you could use the help of a lawyer. Contact us to set up a free, no-obligation consultation with a real Glendale lawyer to go over your options.
If you decide you could use our help, we are there, but you don’t have to worry about finding the money to pay a lawyer. We work on a contingency basis. It means we don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then, our fee comes out of the settlement check that an insurance company must write for you.
