Lawrenceville car accident lawyer

Car crashes in Lawrenceville happen at every speed: a rear-end collision at highway speed on GA-316, a red-light T-bone on Sugarloaf Parkway, a slow bump as someone backs out of a space near the courthouse square. Any of them can leave you hurt.

Gary Huggins is a Lawrenceville car accident lawyer at Huggins Accident Injury Lawyer. He'll come to you here in Lawrenceville, explain the claim in English or Spanish, and take the insurance calls off your hands. Call (240) 421-5511 at any hour.

Where Lawrenceville car crashes happen, and what proves them

Each road brings its own crash risks, and each kind of crash calls for different proof.

A rear-end crash on GA-316 isn't always as simple as it looks. The other driver's insurer may claim you braked for no reason or cut in. Video and the cars' own data can answer that.

Many newer cars carry an event data recorder that captures speed, braking and whether the driver's seat belt was buckled in the seconds before a crash. That data can show exactly how the other driver approached. It can also be raised against you, since SB 68 lets juries in pending and future cases hear seat-belt evidence; see our article on seat-belt evidence under SB 68.

Before your car is repaired or salvaged, call (240) 421-5511. Gary can make sure the damage and the data are documented first.

When the other driver says it was your fault

Expect the other driver's insurer to look for ways to put the blame on you. After a Lawrenceville crash, that can sound like this:

• “You stopped short.” On GA-316, the driver behind is expected to leave enough room to stop. Crash data and video can show whether you braked normally.
• “I had the green.” After a collision at a Sugarloaf Parkway intersection, both drivers may say so. Witnesses, video and signal timing records can settle it.
• “You were going too fast.” When a driver turns left across GA-20 into your path, the insurer may claim you came in too quickly. The damage pattern and speed data help answer that.

Each argument is an attempt to move fault onto you, and in Georgia the percentages decide whether you recover at all.

What a Lawrenceville car crash claim can cover

You may be entitled to:

• The cost to fix your car, or its pre-crash value if it's totaled, along with a rental or loss of use
• Medical care, now and in the future
• Lost pay, and lost earning capacity if you can't return to the same work
• Pain, suffering and the parts of daily life the injury takes away, which Georgia doesn't cap in ordinary injury cases
• Punitive damages if the driver was drunk or high, with no $250,000 ceiling in that situation (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1)

If the other driver was working, an employer's commercial policy may also be on the hook. Gary checks.

Georgia rules for a Lawrenceville car accident claim

The deadline. Georgia's general rule gives you two years from the crash date to sue for your injuries (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33). Government involvement shortens things sharply: written notice to the City of Lawrenceville is due in six months, and to Gwinnett County or the State in 12.

Fault. A jury can split blame between drivers. If yours stays under 50%, your award is reduced by that share, but at 50% or more you recover nothing.

Insurance. In an at-fault state like Georgia, you start with the other driver's liability coverage. Georgia's floor for that coverage is low ($25,000 for each injured person, $50,000 per crash), so your own uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) coverage is often the backstop.

Suppose both of you have $100,000 policies: the other driver in liability coverage, you in UM.

• Added-on UM could make up to $200,000 available, the driver's policy plus yours.
• Reduced-by UM would add nothing, because the driver's $100,000 is subtracted from your $100,000.

Georgia switched to added-on as the default on January 1, 2009; reduced-by applies only when the insured chose it in writing. A UM claim also has technical requirements, including formally serving your own UM carrier with the lawsuit (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11(d)).

Your declarations page answers the added-on question in a single line. Read it to Gary at (240) 421-5511, and he'll tell you what it means for your claim.

Your first week: your part and Gary's

Your part

• Get checked by a doctor and keep every follow-up appointment.
• Save bills, receipts and explanation-of-benefits letters; under SB 68, what your health plan actually paid can matter.
• Photograph your injuries as they heal.
• Stay off social media about the crash.
• Send Gary the declarations page from your auto policy.

Gary's part

• Routes every insurer's calls to himself. You can turn down the other driver's insurer if it asks to record you; here's what to know before an adjuster records you.
• Gets the report from Lawrenceville Police, Gwinnett County Police or the Georgia State Patrol.
• Asks nearby businesses to keep their video.
• Documents both cars and, when it matters, the crash data.
• Tracks your treatment at Northside Hospital Gwinnett, a Level II trauma center, or wherever you're seen, along with any hospital lien (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-470).

If your case has to be filed and Gwinnett is the right venue, it would be heard in your own county seat, at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center on Langley Drive. Our Atlanta car accident lawyer page walks through the whole claims process.

Talk to a Lawrenceville car accident lawyer today

Rather than sit in traffic on GA-316 and I-85 while you're hurting, let Gary make the trip. He'll meet you at home, at Northside Hospital Gwinnett or by video. If you'd like to come in, the office at 1050 Crown Pointe Parkway, Suite 500, Atlanta, GA 30338 in Perimeter Center is about 30 to 35 minutes away outside rush hour.

Gary speaks Spanish; see our Spanish car accident page. Crash closer to Duluth? Our Duluth car accident lawyer page covers that side of Gwinnett, and our Lawrenceville personal injury page covers other injuries.

Lawrenceville drivers can reach the office at (240) 421-5511 around the clock for a free consultation, with no attorney's fee unless we recover compensation for you.