Distracted Driving Accidents

Experienced South Carolina car accident attorneys who dedicate their impressive practice to helping victims of distracted driving accidents obtain just compensation.

There are plenty of dangerous drivers out there, but distracted drivers are among the most difficult of all. When motorists refuse to focus their attention solely on driving safely, they put everyone on the road at undue risk. If a distracted driver leaves you injured in a car accident, protect your rights and your rightful compensation by consulting with an experienced South Carolina car accident attorney.

Distraction

To drive safely, motorists must pay attention to the road ahead and the traffic all around them, and succumbing to any kind of distraction spells danger. Texting (and other smartphone activities), however, take distraction into dangerous new territory. When a motorist chooses to write or read a text behind the wheel, they achieve the dangerous distinction of melding all three categories of distraction into one mega distraction. These categories of distraction include:

When a driver’s hands are involved with anything other than driving safely (such as when texting)
When a driver’s vision is focused on anything other than driving safely (such as when texting)
When a driver’s thoughts are trained on anything other than driving safely (such as when texting)

Texting behind the wheel is exceptionally dangerous and is far too common.

Traveling at Highway Speeds

To help you better understand how texting tends to affect motorists, let’s consider a common example. It takes an average of about five seconds to compose or read a short text. When a driver chooses to do this behind the wheel, this five seconds of driving blind translates to a distance (when traveling at highway speeds) that approximates the length of a football field. When you take a moment to consider the guy next to you on the road driving blind for the length of a football field, it should give you a pretty good idea about exactly how dangerous texting behind the wheel is.

Your Physical, Financial, and Emotional Damages

If you’ve been injured by a distracted driver, you can experience serious physical, financial, and emotional damages (or losses) that you’ll need to overcome on your journey toward recovery.

Your Physical Damages

Your physical damages refer to your physical injuries, which are likely to be exceptionally painful. Healing physically can be a long and arduous process. In fact, the physical pain you experience can be extremely difficult to bear and can meld with the emotional pain you’re also likely to experience.

Your Financial Damages

Your financial damages refer to those losses that you can attach a price to. Examples include:

Property damage to your vehicle
Your medical costs, which are likely to be extremely high and can be ongoing
Your lost earnings (while you recover), which can be even more considerable if your earning potential is affected

Your Emotional Damages

Your emotional damages refer to the emotional suffering you’re forced to endure as a result of the distracted driver’s negligence. Car accidents are violent, terrifying events, and if the accident that leaves you seriously injured was caused by another driver’s overt negligence (distraction), it could amplify the emotional consequences you experience. Common psychological consequences include:

Accident flashbacks
Fear of getting back behind the wheel
Sleep disturbances that can include night terrors
Increased anxiety
Bouts of depression
Panic attacks
Severe mood swings
Increased irritability
A tendency to self-isolate and push others away

These emotional consequences should receive the attention they require when it comes to your car accident claim.

Your Injuries

The types of injuries that are most common to car accidents include:

Broken bones, which are slow to heal, are extremely painful and can lead to serious complications that include chronic pain and severe physical limitations
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), which tend to be as emotionally damaging as they are physically
Spinal cord injuries, which are closely associated with chronic pain and serious losses in the range of motion
Cuts and burns, which are highly susceptible to dangerous infections and can be disfiguring (when on or near the face)
Soft tissue injuries, such as whiplash (which is closely associated with chronic pain and limited range of motion)

Your Car Accident Claim

You will file your car accident claim with the distracted driver’s insurance company, and while it is paid specifically to cover your losses, it’s motivated by its own profits, which means that obtaining the compensation to which you are entitled can be a serious challenge for you on your own (you are, after all, injured, vulnerable, and experiencing serious financial setbacks). Never fear; however, an experienced car accident attorney will skillfully handle the insurance company on your behalf. Some of the tricks that insurance companies like to pull (in their efforts to increase profits) include:

Offering early settlements that are far too low to cover their claimants’ complete damages but that some claimants are desperate enough to accept
Denying claims with the hope that claimants will simply give up
Prolonging and complicating the claims process to the point that claimants walk away
Calling the extent of claimants’ damages into doubt
Attempting to direct fault away from their policyholders and toward claimants

Don’t be fooled by the insurance company’s stance. You have legal rights, and your car accident attorney will help you protect them.

Seek the Professional Legal Guidance of an Experienced South Carolina Car Accident Attorney

If a distracted driver leaves you injured in a car accident, obtaining the compensation that covers your full range of damages is critical, and the savvy car accident attorneys at David Aylor Law Offices in South Carolina are on your side and here to offer their help. Our formidable legal team has a wealth of experience guiding car accident claims like yours toward favorable resolutions, and we’re here for you, too. For more information about what we can do for you, please don’t wait to contact or call us at 843-548-1574 to schedule your free case evaluation today.