You’re driving down Sheridan Road in Kenosha when suddenly, another vehicle strikes you. What do you do now? How will you be able to pay for your medical expenses? And what about the wages you’ll lose from being off work while you recover?
Unfortunately, this scenario is all too common in Kenosha and throughout Wisconsin. However, car accident victims have two main ways to seek compensation for their medical expenses, lost wages, and other losses due to their injuries. They can file an auto insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault party.
Contact Warshafsky Law Firm today for a free consultation with one of our skilled Wisconsin car accident lawyers. We’ll walk you through the process of seeking the compensation you deserve and answer your questions about financial recovery.
Not all car accidents are the same. Depending on the type of accident you are in, the injuries you suffer can be drastically different, and these differences can actually help determine how an accident occurred. Some of the most common types of car accidents are:
Depending on the cause of the accident that injured you, multiple parties could be liable for your losses. Parties commonly held liable in car accident cases include:
An experienced car accident lawyer can help you identify all liable parties in your case so you can hold them financially accountable for your injuries.
Most Kenosha car accident cases involve seeking compensatory damages, including both economic and non-economic damages. In some rare cases, punitive damages may also be available. Punitive damages are not classified as compensation, as they are a penalty for the at-fault party.
These types of damages cover the following:
While Wisconsin law doesn’t cap the compensatory damages a victim can receive, it caps punitive damages at $200,000 or twice the compensatory damages awarded to the plaintiff, whichever is greater.
However, another factor that may limit the total compensation you can receive for your injuries is the at-fault driver’s liability insurance policy limits. In Wisconsin, all drivers must have the following minimum liability insurance coverage:
To recover more compensation than the at-fault driver’s auto insurance policy limit allows, you may have to identify other at-fault parties to hold liable or file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver directly.
Proving liability in a Kenosha car accident case involves collecting various types of evidence that your lawyer can use to demonstrate how the accident occurred and who caused it. Some key pieces of evidence your lawyer may use are:
Several Wisconsin laws could have a major positive or negative impact on your car accident case, including the state’s DUI, distracted driving, and comparative negligence laws.
If the motorist who struck you was driving under the influence, you may be able to use their intoxication as evidence of their negligence, strengthening your case for compensation. In Wisconsin, the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for DUI is 0.08 percent for most drivers, 0.04 percent for commercial drivers, and 0.0 percent for underage drivers.
Wisconsin has a distracted driving law prohibiting motorists from operating vehicles while engaging in other activities that take their attention away from the road, including texting. If you can show that the driver who struck you was driving distracted, it could help prove that their negligence caused your injuries.
Comparative negligence is a legal framework that reduces the victim’s compensation by their degree of fault for the accident that caused them harm. For example, a victim may be 20 percent at fault for an accident if they were speeding when another driver struck them. In that case, the other driver is only liable for 80 percent of the victim’s damages.
Wisconsin’s modified version of comparative negligence adds a 50 percent threshold for recovering compensation. Victims who are more than 50 percent at fault are barred from recovering any compensation through a personal injury lawsuit.
Auto insurance providers also use this law to reduce the value of or deny claims.
After suffering an injury in a Kenosha car accident, it’s vital that you take the following steps to protect your right to seek compensation through an insurance claim or injury lawsuit:
Were you injured in a Kenosha, Wisconsin, car accident? Contact Warshafsky Law Firm for a free case assessment with one of our experienced Kenosha car accident attorneys. We’ll review the details of the accident, explain your options for seeking compensation, and answer any remaining questions you have.
