Cheyenne Car Accident Lawyer

Residents of less-populated states like Wyoming aren’t immune to the dangers of car accidents. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that there were 100 fatal crashes in Wyoming in a single recent year, killing 111 people.

These unacceptable numbers are underscored by Wyoming’s fatal crash rate. There were 19.2 fatalities per 100,000 Wyoming residents, much higher than in more populous states like California (9 deaths/100,000 population), Florida (14.7 deaths/100,000 population), and New York (4.8 deaths/100,000 population).

If you have been injured in a Cheyenne car accident that wasn’t your fault, you don’t have to just pay the bills and move on. You may be able to recover the cost of your medical bills, the money lost when you missed work, and other losses.

At Olson Personal Injury Lawyers, our Cheyenne car accident attorneys are ready to evaluate your crash to find out who may be legally responsible, or liable, for the crash. We can help you seek compensation from the liable party and their insurance company.

To find out if your injury qualifies, call Olson Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation today.

Common Causes of Car Accidents

Every car crash is unique. But experts will tell you that certain behaviors often contribute to collisions. That’s why road safety laws are so important. When a reckless or negligent driver causes a crash, you can seek compensation for the injuries they caused by driving irresponsibly.

Common causes of car accidents include:

• Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Distracted driving, such as texting while driving, making a call while driving, daydreaming, and rubbernecking
• Running a red light or stop sign
• Aggressive and reckless driving, such as speeding, tailgating, or failing to signal before a lane change
• Driving while overly tired

All of these behaviors increase the likelihood of a driver causing a car accident, putting themselves, other drivers, pedestrians, and other bystanders at substantial risk.

Common Car Accident Injuries

Every year, car accidents catastrophically injured drivers and passengers, leaving them with permanent injuries and years of intense medical care ahead of them. Even less serious injuries can result in expensive medical treatment and permanent changes to the injured person’s life.

These are some of the common injuries people sustain in car accidents:

• Neck and spinal cord injuries – The forces of a collision can cause trauma to your neck and spinal cord. These injuries, such as whiplash, can lead to partial or full paralysis and have a significant impact on your physical capabilities going forward.
• Traumatic brain injuries – A hard blow to the head can be fatal. In less serious cases, such injuries can cause concussions, brain damage, cognitive decline, and paralysis.
• Burns – High heat car fires can do tremendous damage to anyone trapped inside or near the crash scene. Severe burns result in skin damage and disfigurement that may require extensive surgery to correct.
• Broken bones – The impact of a car against another car, motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian can break bones. Your legs, arms, wrists, hands, feet, hips, ribs, and even your spine and skull are all vulnerable in a car crash.
• Cuts and bruises – Flying glass and jagged metal from a car crash can easily lead to cuts and bruises all across your body. Lacerations can prove fatal if they’re not properly treated.

What to Do After a Car Accident

What should you do in the moments after a crash to stay safe and keep your legal options open? Here are a few tips:

• Stay at the scene if you don’t need urgent medical treatment. Do not move your vehicle away from the scene except to get it out of the way of other traffic.
• Call 911 to report the accident to the relevant authorities. If anyone has been injured, including yourself, call for an ambulance.
• Notify your car insurance carrier. You should report the accident to your carrier, but avoid making statements to any other insurance adjusters or saying more than bare facts. Doing so without legal representation may jeopardize any future injury claim you wish to make against the other driver.
• Document the damage to your vehicle with photographs. Take pictures of the scene and the other vehicle, too.
• See a doctor and follow their instructions carefully. They may discover invisible injuries, like a concussion. Failing to follow your doctor’s instructions can jeopardize your personal injury claim.
• Speak with a car accident attorney about your legal options.

Time Limit for Filing a Car Accident Lawsuit in Cheyenne

Wyoming state law allows car accident victims to file a lawsuit up to four years after the date of their injury. In cases of wrongful death, the statute of limitations is two years.

While you may have years to file a lawsuit, it’s best to contact an attorney as soon as possible after a crash.

Most car accident cases in Cheyenne can be resolved through negotiations before they go to court. Your lawyer can negotiate with the insurance company and their lawyers to seek the best possible settlement.

A Cheyenne Car Accident Lawyer Can Help You with These Types of Damages

Damages are a legal term that describes all of the losses that your injury caused. There are multiple different kinds of damages you can recover from a car accident lawsuit. In broad terms, they include:

• Financial or economic damages – These encompass expenses like your medical bills, lost wages if you’re forced to miss work for medical treatment, and lost the ability to earn in the future. These objective types of damages are easier to assign a specific dollar value to.
• Non-financial or non-economic damages – These damages are just as real and just as compensable, but they are more abstract. They include things like pain and suffering, loss of companionship if someone you knew was hurt or died in the accident, embarrassment, and other subjective losses.

How Our Cheyenne Car Accident Lawyers Can Help You

At Olson Personal Injury Lawyers, our car accident attorneys are committed to helping victims recover as much compensation as possible. We’re prepared to research your case, gather all necessary evidence, file the claim paperwork, and negotiate for the best possible settlement.

If we have to, we’re fully prepared to bring your case to court. Our lawyers work on a contingency basis. That means that we won’t be paid until we resolve your case successfully through a settlement or judgment against the at-fault party. You can trust that our goals are the same as yours: to seek the most money possible so that you can move on from your injury.

Contact a Car Accident Lawyer Today

Now’s the time to act if you’ve been injured in a car accident. Call the Cheyenne office of the Olson Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free case review today.