Car Accident Lawyers in Martinsburg, West Virginia
If you or a loved one has recently been in a car accident and are looking for a Martinsburg auto accident attorney, we at the law firm Kaufman & McPherson, PLLC want you to know that you don’t have to deal with the aftermath of a crash on your own – we are here to help.
We know that financial compensation can never fully mitigate the effects of injuries, but full and fair compensation can help you recover your quality of life as you recover physically and emotionally. Contact us today to discuss how best to obtain fair financial compensation after a car accident in Martinsburg.
How Can a Martinsburg Car Accident Attorney Help?
Having a qualified Martinsburg car accident attorney on your side can make the difference between receiving an inadequate insurance settlement and receiving the full and substantial compensation that you deserve in order to cover all the costs associated with the car accident and to further compensate you for all your damages, including intangible ones.
By filing a personal injury claim with the assistance of a Martinsburg car accident injury lawyer, you can successfully claim compensation for more compensation for your damages than the insurance company would ever pay out to an unrepresented party who does not present a credible threat of litigation to enforce his or her rights.
For instance, you can seek financial compensation to cover not only medical bills, long-term treatment and rehabilitation, and various types of therapy, but also additional damages for intangible losses like lost income or the loss of the ability to earn future income, pain and suffering, emotional and psychological pain, and loss of enjoyment of life.
In the worst case scenario where a loved one has been killed in a car accident, you can seek compensation for their end-of-life expenses as well as for your losses due to their absence from your life.
Why Choose Kaufman & McPherson?
Our personal injury attorneys at Kaufman & McPherson have decades of experience handling personal injury cases for car accident victims and their families. We are dedicated to helping you move on with your life as normally as possible after a car crash, without going into debt or suffering unnecessarily because you can’t afford the treatment you need.
Our attorneys are not afraid to take on any kind of at-fault parties in court to achieve justice for you. Whether it’s a government entity, insurance company, automobile manufacturer, another driver, or a commercial vehicle company, our Martinsburg auto accident attorneys are here to fight for you.
We offer free consultations to help you decide how best to pursue your personal injury claim. Our office works on a contingency fee basis, which means that you won’t pay a dime unless we win your case. We are happy to assist you over the phone at (304) 842-4300 or you can get in touch with us anytime via our website.
Martinsburg Car Accident Statistics
Let’s take a look at some car accident statistics for Martinsburg specifically. Between 2016 and 2019, 27 fatal accidents in Martinsburg resulted in 28 deaths. Since 2007, the number of fatal accidents per 100,000 people in Martinsburg has sadly exceeded the same metric for West Virginia as a whole on average.
Interestingly, Sundays and Mondays are the most dangerous days of the week in terms of accident distribution based on data collected between 1975 and 2019, and October and December have the most accidents of any month. Fortunately, both the average EMS response time and average hospital transport time are better for Martinsburg than they are for West Virginia as a whole.
Most Common Crash Types in West Virginia
Car accidents happen in many different ways and the outcomes involve a huge variety of factors, including the speed at which the vehicles are traveling, whether the occupants of the vehicles were wearing seatbelts, and what size and type of vehicles were involved in the crash. At Kaufman & McPherson, we have experience dealing with all different types of car accidents, including these most common ones:
Head-on Collisions
A head-on collision occurs when two vehicles traveling in opposite directions towards one another crash straight into each other, such as when one car on a two-lane highway drifts into the oncoming lane.
Fortunately, this type of accident does not happen with overwhelming frequency, but the results are often devastating and deadly due to the compounded force of vehicles traveling toward one another, often at high speed.
Rear-end Accidents
Rear-end accidents happen when the front of one car strikes the back of the car in front of it. This happens much more frequently but thankfully is usually less deadly than head-on collisions, but can be equally life-changing.
T-bone Collisions
T-bone collisions are also sometimes called broadside or side-angle collisions, and they involve the front of one car striking the side of another at or near a perpendicular angle. These accidents frequently happen as a result of drivers running red lights or stop signs and crashing straight into a vehicle with the right of way. With these types of collisions, it’s important to work with one of our intersectional car accident attorneys to get the best outcome.
Sideswipe Accidents
In a sideswipe accident, the side of one vehicle collides with the side of another, often caused by a driver drifting out of their lane or changing lanes without looking first. Sideswipe accidents on their own are often not terribly destructive, but they cause chain reaction crashes with unfortunate frequency.
Chain Reaction Crashes
A chain reaction crash involves more than two vehicles and often happens as a result of an initial crash between two vehicles (such as a sideswipe) and then compounds into larger accidents when surrounding vehicles can’t stop or get out of the way of the initial accident fast enough and then crash themselves. Rear-end accidents can also easily turn into massive chain reaction crashes involving dozens of cars, which are also sometimes called pileup accidents.
Single Vehicle Accidents
Single-vehicle accidents can happen when a vehicle hits a non-vehicle obstacle such as a median, utility pole, tree, animal, pedestrian, or bicyclist, or when the driver loses control of the vehicle and veers off the road completely, sometimes flipping or rolling their vehicle. Single-vehicle accidents happen with alarming frequency, accounting for over half of all motor vehicle accidents in the country each year. Often, the injured party is a friend or relative of the at-fault driver, but our WV attorneys are well-versed in how to handle this complication.
Most Common Causes of Car Accidents in West Virginia
These are the top seven most common causes of car accidents in our state:
1. Speeding
Speeding is the most common cause of accidents and unfortunately one of the deadliest. The greater their speed, the less time a driver has to react to other drivers, obstacles in the roadway, or slowed or stopped traffic ahead of them. Driving too fast also makes it easier to lose control of the vehicle, dramatically increases the vehicle’s stopping distance, and reduces the efficacy of safety features like airbags and seatbelts.
Speeding doesn’t only mean driving faster than the posted speed limit – it can also refer to driving too fast for the current road conditions. For instance, driving at 60 miles per hour on an icy freeway in the fog would not be considered safe, even if you aren’t technically exceeding the posted limit.
2. Distracted Driving
There are three types of driving distractions: visual distractions that cause the driver to take their eyes off the road, cognitive distractions that take the driver’s attention away from driving, and manual distractions that cause the driver to remove their hands from the steering wheel. Texting is a particularly egregious distraction because it involves all three of those types.
In 2018 alone, 2,841 people in the United States were killed as a result of distracted driving: 1,730 drivers, 605 passengers, 400 pedestrians, and 77 bicyclists. Even checking a text message alert can take a driver’s eyes off the road for more than five seconds, during which time a vehicle can travel the length of a football field at highway speeds.
3. Alcohol Impairment
Drunk driving causes nearly 10,000 deaths every year across the country because alcohol seriously impairs all the skills required for safe driving: quick response time, the coordination to steer and brake effectively, and the ability to visually track moving objects.
4. Fatigued Driving
Fatigue can cause many of the same deficits in driving ability as drinking alcohol. Falling asleep at the wheel is the primary cause of both head-on collisions and single-vehicle accidents.
5. Confusion or Getting Lost
When drivers make a mistake or realize they are lost, they are more likely to make subsequent mistakes in an attempt to correct their course, which can often cause accidents.
6. Defective Car Parts
Occasionally car manufacturers make mistakes and failed parts can cause or worsen the severity of an accident, in which case the manufacturer can be held accountable.
7. Lack of Maintenance
Poorly maintained tires, brakes, windshield wipers, or engines can all lead to accidents. Tire blowouts are some of the biggest culprits in accidents caused by a lack of maintenance.
Driver Error and Vehicle Crashes
As you can see from the list above, the cause of the overwhelming majority of crashes is driver error. If someone else’s error caused an accident that injured you, you are legally entitled to hold them responsible for their actions and seek financial compensation.
If you are concerned about inflicting financial hardship on the person responsible, just know that if they are properly insured their insurance company will be the one paying out on their behalf. Get legal help today.
Free Legal Advice and Case Evaluation
Don’t go it alone. If you have legal issues and need help filing a claim after a car wreck, it’s a good idea to contact a specialized Martinsburg auto accident attorney today for a free consultation and case evaluation. Don’t let the insurance companies bully you into accepting an inadequate settlement! We’ll fight on your behalf to get you every penny that you deserve.
