While Norman OK features some of the most beautiful streets for downtown entertainment or late-night, sunset strolls, pedestrians are also at risk of being hit at a crosswalk by a careless driver. At Ylla | Gosney Attorneys at Law, we connect injured pedestrian accident victims with immediate medical care and ensure they receive full compensation for their injuries.
Many injured victims avoid taking legal action because they think they’ll only be adding more stress to their lives. But with Ylla | Gosney, we make the process quick and easy. Our firm will manage your medical treatment, negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf to ensure you receive compensation for the full extent of your damages.
Don’t leave your life up to chance after a pedestrian accident; contact Ylla | Gosney today for a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
Do I Need a Lawyer for a Norman OK Pedestrian Accident?
If you’ve been injured in a pedestrian accident in Norman OK, it is recommended to discuss your legal options with a Pedestrian Accident Lawyer at Ylla | Gosney. Depending on the circumstances, it may be beneficial to take legal action immediately. Delaying legal action could mean you are no longer entitled to compensation, or essential evidence has become unavailable. This can hurt your case, so it is recommended to take action sooner, rather than later.
Our law firm can help you by:
- Connecting you to trusted doctors for continued treatment
- Filing a lawsuit to get you compensation for your:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Assigning liability to all additional parties responsible
- Communicating with insurance adjusters on your behalf
- Building your case by gathering concrete evidence to confirm your claim
- Representing you in court if your case goes to trial
What to Do After a Pedestrian Accident
A pedestrian accident can be life-altering. If you’re involved in a traumatic accident, it can be tough to think straight and know what you’re supposed to do next. We’ve provided you with the following steps to not only protect your right to compensation, but to begin building a strong case:
- Seek medical attention immediately: Even if your injuries seem minor (which is unlikely in a tcar accident), they can manifest into something much worse weeks later. So, it is recommended to check in with a doctor to make sure everything is okay.
- Call the Police: Failing to alert the police does not help your case, especially if the case comes down to your word over the car driver. A police officer will file an accident report and may even assign blame based on their collision assessment. A police report is critical evidence in any claim and will play a key role in ensuring you are fully compensated.
- Gather Evidence: You should document the accident as thoroughly as possible. Take pictures of your injuries, skid marks on the road, and street signs or landmarks. Take a video of yourself recounting the accident while it is still fresh in your mind. And if there are any eyewitnesses, be sure to get their names and numbers as they can testify on your behalf or provide a statement to corroborate your story.
- Collect Information: Exchange insurance information with the driver, and be sure to get their name, phone number, and contact information.
- Contact Ylla | Gosney: Our firm is standing by to help car accident victims physically and financially recover quickly. Call, text, or email. Our door is always open, and we’d love to help you through this difficult time.
The Importance of Medical Evidence in a Pedestrian Accident Claim
Your medical records will provide crucial evidence as to the extent of your injuries, the treatment required, and the overall impact your injury has had on your life. For this reason, it is important to seek medical treatment immediately after an accident, even if you do not believe you were injured. The positive impact of medical evidence in your personal injury case can be lessened if you delay medical treatment. A delay in medical treatment will give the insurance company reason to believe your injuries were not that serious and your life was minimally impacted by any pain you were experiencing.
Medical evidence plays an important role in personal injury claims by:
- Showing evidence of real injuries: medical evidence such as an MRI, X-ray, or doctor’s diagnosis will demonstrate you were injured as a result of an accident. This will make it hard for the insurance company to dispute or minimize your claim.
- Demonstrating Causation: medical evidence can prove fault by detailing the nature of your injury, the severity, and the timeline in which the injury occured. Medical evidence will make it easier for an insurance adjuster, a judge, or a jury to understand how much medical treatment and the extent of your pain and suffering after an injury.
- Calculating Damages: medical evidence can include bills from hospital stays, doctor’s visits, surgical procedures, and other treatments from medical specialists. Medical damages are a large part of your economic damages and can be calculated based on current and future treatment required by your personal injury.
- Establishing Continued Care: if your personal injury requires continued care, then your long-term care diagnosis will establish that your injury was severe and has done long-lasting damage to your life with the potential for permanent disability.
How to Know if You Have a Strong Pedestrian Accident Case
It is normal for anyone injured in a pedestrian accident to wonder if they have a case. If you suffered any type of injury due to another person’s careless or intentional actions, then you have a strong personal injury case. The challenging part comes in when you need to prove another person was at fault. Evidence is not always straightforward and people’s stories can change days after the accident. Fortunately, the attorneys at Ylla | Gosney can help you strengthen your case and ensure you receive compensation. Contact us today and we will review your case for free.
Below, we’ve included some signs that you have a strong personal injury case after suffering a pedestrian accident:
- The defendant admitted fault. Admission is a powerful tool our firm uses to bolster the facts of your case. Through interrogatories and depositions, we form the right questions to get to the truth of the matter, especially if the defendant is at fault.
- The incident was caught on camera. Dash cams, traffic cams, and eyewitnesses may have caught your pedestrian accident. Undeniable evidence such as footage of the incident can make your request for fair compensation undeniable. Our firm will help you obtain the necessary evidence to strengthen your case and make your statements irrefutable.
- You’ve suffered severe injuries. Unfortunately, serious and verifiable injuries are a part of a strong personal injury case. If you do not have a record or evidence of serious injury, then you won’t have much ground to stand on when making a demand for compensation. Our firm will connect you with trusted doctors, surgeons, and orthopaedists to document the extent of your injuries.
- Defendant has a history of carelessness. If the driver that injured you in your pedestrian accident has a bad driving record, this can strengthen your case. It is not uncommon for defense attorneys or the insurance to attempt to place blame onto you for your injuries. But if the defendant has a history of poor driving, then it will be difficult to argue that you were at fault.
- You’ve taken the right steps. After a serious injury, it is expected to seek medical treatment and to continue treating your injury. A lapse in treatment may seem like you’re not that injured, or it has not seriously impacted your life. The attorneys at Ylla | Gosney will help you manage your treatment and make sure you are taking all the correct steps to reach a successful settlement.
Ylla | Gosney Legal Services for Norman OK Pedestrian Injury Victims
At some point, everyone is a pedestrian. Whether you’re walking your dog, or exploring Norman’s historic downtown district on foot. And in a single second, a pedestrian injury can occur when another person is careless. Pedestrian are typically defenseless when involved in an accident, and the outcome can alter the course of their life, subjecting them to extensive medical treatment, loss of income, or even permanent disability. These are costly life changes that most people are not prepared to face alone. That’s why, at Ylla | Gosney, we offer the following services to pedestrian accident victims in Norman, OK, to protect their physical and financial futures after being injured:
- Investigate and determine wrongdoing or recklessness: pedestrian injury accidents are complicated due to the number of victims and liable parties that may be involved. Typically, there will be several people to get statements from, and some parties may only be discussing their involvement through their attorneys. Ylla Gosney can help manage this quickly and efficiently.
- Collect and preserve key evidence: Street cameras, security footage, ring cameras, and witness statements are all key points of evidence for your case. Our team of personal injury attorneys will take the proper legal steps to obtain crucial information and strengthen your personal injury case.
- Communicate with insurance companies and other attorneys: It is recommended to have an attorney speak to the insurance adjusters on your behalf. Oftentimes, insurance companies will attempt to trick you into taking part of the blame or get you to say something that hurts your claim. Our attorneys can protect you from liability and ensure your right to fair compensation.
- Prove liability: With several parties potentially being involved in a personal injury accident, any number of them could have caused or contributed to the incident. This makes determining and proving liability challenging. The attorneys at Ylla Gosney will assign a team of investigators and accident reconstruction specialists to determine the cause of your injuries, identify all liable parties, and hold those responsible for compensating you for your damages.
What is the Average Settlement for a Norman OK Pedestrian Accident Injury?
If you are not found at fault for you injuries, then you are entitled to whatever settlement amount you and the insurance company agree upon. It is important to note that insurance companies are looking out for their business, not your well-being. So, the best way to get a fair settlement amount is to partner with a personal injury attorney.
It is important to know that there is no average personal injury settlement amount, as the details of each incident vary on a case-by-case basis. For example, there are factor that can reduce your settlement amount, which we’ll cover in the next section. While the attorneys at Ylla | Gosney can help you calculate what your case is worth, the following factors will play a large part in determining the value of your personal injury case:
- Severity of injuries: These can be broken down into 3 tiers, with Tier 3 being the most severe.
- Tier 1: Minor, non-surgical injuries such as strains, sprains, and contusions.
- Tier 2: Deep lacerations, broken or fractured bones that require surgical intervention
- Tier 3: Traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries, resulting in temporary or permanent function loss
- Insurance coverage: the extent of the at-fault party’s insurance policy. An insurance policy with minimum coverage typically results in a low settlement. However, there are other legal avenues to pursuing more compensation if necessary.
- Lost income: Total amount of lost wages, which were a direct result of the injuries sustained from the accident. This could cover missed time at work, your inability to continue working, or the cost of changing careers.
- Medical Expenses: Medical expenses incurred from your injuries and any future medical treatments you may expect to have.
- Pain and Suffering: Emotional stress, trauma, and anxiety caused by how much your life has changed since the accident.
Factors that Could Decrease a Pedestrian Injury Settlement
Understanding the factors that can potentially harm your case is essential to knowing the value of your personal injury case. While an attorney at Ylla Gosney will be able to highlight the reasons you deserve to be compensated, we will also work aggressively to protect you from the factors that could reduce your compensation. Trust us, the insurance companies or a defense attorney will be looking for any way to reduce your settlement. These factors include:
- Modified Comparative negligence: In the state of Oklahoma, your settlement can be reduced or eliminated if you’re found more than 49% at fault for your injuries.
- Pre-existing conditions: pre-existing medical conditions unrelated to the accident could complicate and potentially decrease the settlement. For example, if you suffer a knee injury in a car accident, and you’ve previously injured the same knee when you fell off your bike. One could argue that your knee was already damaged, and the car accident is not the primary reason you’re injured.
- Lack of strong evidence: the inability to prove the liable party’s fault or carelessness in the accident can undermine your case and reduce your settlement.
- Delayed medical treatment: delays in seeking medical treatment after the accident may count against you as it implies your injuries were not that severe.
- Inconsistent statements: inconsistencies in your statement or an inaccurate re-telling of the incident can hurt your credibility and diminish settlement prospects.
For all these reasons, it is important to consult with one of our attorneys at Ylla | Gosney to plan ahead and prevent potential setbacks in your case.
Contact Ylla Gosney | Norman OK Pedestrian Injury Lawyers
If you or a loved one has been injured due to the carelessness of another in Norman, OK, Ylla | Gosney can help. Our law firm will aggressively pursue liable parties for the full extent of your damages.
Even though we’ve helped thousands of injured victims receive a fair settlement after suffering an injury, we treat each client with a custom legal plan that best fits their situation. After all, injured victims only get one chance to recover compensation, which is why we exercise every legal avenue to get you the compensation you need. Contact us today for a free consultation and case evaluation.