Maison Law helps drivers and passengers hurt in accidents caused by merging motorists. Our attorneys demand full support for medical bills, lost income, and car repair costs on behalf of our clients.
If you have been injured in a traffic accident, please get in touch with a Hanford Car Accident Lawyer for a free case review. It’s an informative, no-string-attached way to find out what your injury may be worth and how to hold an at-fault driver and a car insurance company fully responsible.
When You May Need a Car Accident Lawyer
Your need for a lawyer’s protection will usually depend on the severity of your injuries. Victims with more serious injuries often need a lawyer’s help to protect their case and to earn what they need to make a full recovery.
A lawyer may be a wise addition to your case when these and other injuries are involved:
- Brain trauma, including a serious concussion
- A bone fracture anywhere in the body
- A hip injury
- A knee injury
- A back or vertebral injury
- A neck injury, including a serious case of whiplash
- Facial lacerations or damaged teeth
- A permanent physical disability or disfigurement
- An injury to your child or another family member
When the recovery costs rise with these serious injuries, car insurance companies work all the harder to avoid blame for a crash. They may falsely claim that you caused an accident instead of a reckless merging driver. They can also question how serious an injury is, simply to get away with providing the bare minimum in support.
You can always file a claim yourself, and that may be okay in a minor accident or one that only involves car damage. But you have a good chance to earn much more with a lawyer’s help when an impact results in serious health consequences.
Support for Hanford Merging Car Accident Victims
For victims dealing with pain and trying to recover from a major injury, dealing with overdue medical bills is truly an unnecessary burden. That’s not to mention the lost paychecks victims have to prepare for.
They may struggle to support themselves and their families while injured. They can fall behind on normal monthly expenses, like rent or a mortgage payment, and car payments.
Maison Law demands full payment on these benefits and other compensation:
- All medical bills paid now and in the future.
- Lifelong support for a permanent physical disability.
- Support for the pain experienced.
- Support for the emotional distress caused.
- Loss of enjoyment of life.
- Loss of consortium (intimacy with a spouse).
- Vehicle repair costs.
- Lost work income reimbursed.
- Wrongful death benefits for families who lose a loved one to a merging accident.
Determining Who Is Responsible for a Merging Accident
California holds the driver looking to merge responsible for most accidents. The merging driver must seek a safe place to join highway traffic, such as cars on Highway 198, and is responsible for yielding to cars already on the highway.
Drivers already on the route have the right of way. They may switch lanes or slow down to make room as a courtesy, but the legal duty of care falls to the motorist on the on-ramp. This duty of care is explained under California Vehicle Code CVC 21804.
The California Driver’s Handbook explains a few other safety guidelines for merging drivers in Kings County:
- Be in the proper lane on the on-ramp.
- Be at or near the speed of traffic.
- Merge into highway traffic when safe to do so. Do not stop unless absolutely necessary.
- Merge into a space large enough for your vehicle to safely join the lane.
- Use your mirrors and turn signals.
- Turn your head quickly to look over your shoulder before changing lanes or merging into traffic.
- Make sure you can stop safely by leaving three seconds of space between you and the vehicle in front of you.
- Make sure you do not cross over any solid lines when merging. If you need to cross several lanes, signal and cross them one at a time. Check your blind spots for vehicles, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians each time.
Merging drivers are usually held accountable in accidents, but support for victims is never guaranteed. Drivers can deny responsibility. Insurers can twist the facts to make it look like the driver on the highway was at fault. A California Highway Patrol officer may incorrectly place the blame on someone else, not even realizing it was a merging situation.
Victims must often have evidence in hand to make sure the right driver is held responsible. An experienced lawyer’s full investigation can provide this evidence, including witness testimony. Maison Law also works with accident reconstruction teams to make sure the blame stays in the right place.
Contact a Hanford Car Accident Attorney
If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident caused by a reckless merging driver, take advantage of a free case review with a real lawyer at Maison Law. Find out what your injury is worth and how to make insurance companies pay what’s fair.
There’s no obligation for your free case review. However, if you feel Maison Law can help you earn more for your claim, you don’t have to worry about having money to hire us. There are no upfront costs. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement money you and your family receive.
