At the Charles Law Offices, we are skilled in handling all forms of personal injury, such as wrongful death and survival actions; broken and fractured bones; neck injury, spinal cord injury, herniated discs, pelvic injury, back injury and paralysis; coma; psychological disorders and emotional trauma, including Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; eye injury; face injury, head injury, brain injury and concussion; scars and permanent disfigurement; arm  and hand injury; knee injury,  ankle injury and leg injury; burns; and chronic pain and suffering.

Automobile accidents occur in many forms, such as single or multi-vehicle crashes, head-on collisions, rear-end collisions, 90 degree or “T-Bone” accidents, rollovers,  improper lane changes, sideswiping,  and hit-and-runs. An automobile accident can be caused by many different forms of negligence, such as cell phone usage, texting or other distracted driving; a defective road condition; adverse weather conditions; alcohol or drug usage; fatigue or drowsiness; aggressive or inexperienced driving; inadequate driver training; mechanical or product failure; and ignorance or intentional violation of the rules of the road contained in the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code,   to name just a few. If your accident was caused by someone else’s negligent conduct, you may be entitled to money damages for your injuries, disfigurement, embarrassment and humiliation, loss of income and earnings capacity,  loss of life’s enjoyments and pleasures, and loss of consortium.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a “comparative negligence” jurisdiction, as set forth in 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 7102. This means that even if you were negligent in causing the car accident, you or your legal representative still may be entitled to recover money damages as long as your negligence in causing the accident was not greater than the causal negligence of the party or parties against whom recovery is sought.  Under this “comparative negligence” analysis, any damages sustained by you will be reduced in proportion to the amount of negligence attributed to you.  For example, if you were 20%  at fault in causing the accident, the amount of damages awarded to you will be reduced by 20%.  If you are found by a judge or jury to be greater than 50% at fault in causing the accident, the Pennsylvania “comparative negligence” law bars your recovery of money damages from the other party or parties involved in the accident.

Under Pennsylvania’s  “Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law,”  every registered vehicle owner in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania  is required to be covered by financial responsibility, and may lose his operating privilege or vehicle registrations if he fails to maintain financial responsibility on the currently registered vehicle for the period of registration.  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania   is a “no-fault” jurisdiction with regard to the payment of “first party” motor vehicle insurance benefits, such as medical benefits, income loss benefits, accidental death benefits, and funeral benefits. A person who suffers injury arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle shall recover first party benefits against the applicable insurance coverage according to an order of priority set forth by statute (75 Pa.C.S.A.§1713).

Pursuant to  statute (42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5524), there is a 2 year statute of limitations for bringing a lawsuit for injuries and other damages suffered in a car accident. Pennsylvania does, however, have a “discovery rule” which, in certain limited circumstances, may extend the time for filing a personal injury lawsuit. The “discovery rule” provides that where the existence of injury is not known to the  complaining party and such knowledge cannot reasonably be ascertained within the  prescribed statutory period, the limitations period does not begin to run until discovery of injury is reasonably possible.

Under section 1705 of the “Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law an insured party is required to select either the “Limited Tort” Option or the “Full Tort” Option insurance plan, which  will govern how his claim for bodily injuries will be analyzed  and whether he is  legally entitled to damages for pain and suffering or other nonmonetary damages:

“Full Tort” Option:  permits recovery for all medical and other out-of-pocket expenses, and financial compensation for pain and suffering and other nonmonetary damages as a result of injuries caused by other drivers.

“Limited Tort” Option: permits recovery of all medical and other out-of-pocket expenses, but not for pain and suffering or other nonmonetary damages unless the injuries suffered fall within the definition of “serious injury” as set forth in the policy or unless one of several other exceptions noted in the policy applies.  “Serious Injury” is defined in section 1702 as “a personal injury resulting in death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement.”

Pursuant to section 3742 of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code (75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3742), the driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury or death of any person is required by law to immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident or as close thereto as possible, and to remain at the scene until he has fulfilled the requirements of section 3744 of the Motor Vehicle Code (relating to duty to give information and render aid).  A violation of this legal requirement is treated as a felony of the third degree if the victim suffers serious bodily injury, and is punishable by a minimum term of imprisonment of not less than 90 days and a mandatory fine of $1,000.  If the victim dies, a violation of this legal requirement is punishable  by a minimum term of imprisonment of not less than 1 year and a mandatory minimum fine of $2.500.

If you have been injured in a car accident, it is vitally important that you seek immediate medical attention and treatment for your injuries. Immediate medical attention is important for several reasons including: (1) to minimize the pain, suffering and/or disability caused by the trauma; (2) to prevent further injury or deterioration of the medical condition; and (3) to obtain documentation of the nature and scope of the injury caused by the other party’s negligence. Each of these factors is important in later proving the damages caused by the other party’s negligence,  and in obtaining the optimum financial award that you deserve.

The police report  is a very important document that often records how the accident occurred,  the party responsible for causing the accident, and any injuries and damages suffered in the accident.  It frequently contains the names, addresses, telephone numbers and statements of the parties and eye witnesses to the accident;  the geographic location of the accident; a description, and often a diagram, of how the accident occurred, including the existence of any skid marks and relevant measurements; environmental conditions at the time of the accident and whether they played a role in causing the accident; any  motor vehicle code violation/s committed by the respective parties; the nature, location and extent of vehicular damage resulting from the  accident; the post-crash location and position of the vehicles involved in the accident; the post-accident road worthiness of the vehicle/s involved in the crash; the name and address of any tow-truck business used to remove a disabled vehicle from the accident scene;  and other data that later may be used by the attorneys at Charles Law Offices  and their  expert witnesses to prove your case.

A representative of the insurance company may attempt to contact you shortly after the accident  to obtain your statement in an effort to lock in the details of how the accident occurred, what injuries you suffered,  any pain or disability you are experiencing, and other facts and information. Generally, it is not a good idea to speak to your opponent’s representative prior to consulting with, and obtaining  legal advice from, your attorney.  Sometimes, for example, several types of legitimate personal  injuries sustained in an automobile accident  have delayed symptoms. Any statements made by you  to the insurance representative immediately following an auto accident may be incomplete or inaccurate concerning the nature and extent of your injuries and damages. Such statements given without legal advice may be taken out of context and later used by the insurance company in an attempt to minimize or downplay your injuries, pain and suffering and/or damages in a future lawsuit.    In order to protect your legal rights, our advice is this: Don’t sign anything! Don’t say anything! Protect your legal rights and talk to the attorneys at Charles Law Offices first!