What You Need to Know When You’ve Been Hurt in an Accident
It can happen in an instant, whether you’re riding in a car, walking down the sidewalk, or at work. Someone does something without paying attention…fails to stop at a red light, or turns on a machine without looking to see where you are. In that moment, an accident happens, and you’re hurt. It might be a cut, sprain, or bruise, but it might also be a serious or catastrophic injury, such as a broken bone, spinal cord trauma, or head injury. Your first concern is your health, but once you’ve received the necessary medical attention, what do you do next? What if you can’t work, either for just a few days or maybe never again? What about your medical bills? What if you have to live every day with some level of chronic or persistent pain? What do the laws of Texas allow when you’ve been needlessly injured because of someone else’s carelessness?
Texas Personal Injury Law—The Basics
In Texas, as in every state, when you’ve been hurt because of someone else’s careless or wrongful act, you have the right to pursue compensation for your losses. That includes:
- Lost wages or income—Any compensation you would have received from a job or self-employment had you not been injured
- Unreimbursed medical expenses—All necessary and reasonable medical bills not paid for by insurance
- Physical and mental pain and suffering
- Loss of companionship or consortium—Your inability to have close relationships because of your injuries
- Loss of enjoyment of life—Your inability to engage in activities that you enjoyed before the accident or to perform the simple tasks of daily life
- Property damage or loss
Most personal injury lawsuits are based on allegations of negligence. To prove negligence, you must demonstrate to a judge and jury that:
- The defendant (person from whom you seek payment of damages) failed to act as a reasonable person would under the circumstances;
- The defendant’s failure to act reasonably caused an accident; and
- As a result of the accident, you suffered actual losses.
Because a personal injury claim is a civil, rather than a criminal, matter, you typically need to prove only that your version of the facts is more believable than the defendant’s; in other words, the burden of proof is generally the “weight of the evidence.”
How Long Do You Have to File a Lawsuit?
The length of time allowed for the filing of a lawsuit is governed by a written law known as the statute of limitations. In Texas, that time period is two years from the date of the accident.
What Happens If You Were Partially Responsible for Causing the Accident?
It’s fairly common for both parties to an accident to have engaged in some careless or negligent behavior. Texas follows the legal principle of comparative negligence, which means that you will not necessarily be prevented from recovering for your losses simply because you were partially at fault. Instead, the judge and jury will determine the full amount of your losses, as well as your degree or percentage of liability for causing the accident. Your damage award will then be reduced by your percentage of liability. However, because Texas adheres to the principle of “modified comparative negligence,” if you are found to be more than 50% responsible for causing the accident, you will be barred from any recovery.
Contact the Aggressive Personal Injury Attorneys at Bailey & Galyen
At the law offices of Bailey & Galyen, we offer more than 40 years of experience to people across Texas who have suffered any type of personal injury. We will aggressively advocate for you at every stage of a personal injury lawsuit, from the filing of your claim and investigation of the facts through settlement or trial, if necessary. In our decades in practice, we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients in Texas and nationwide. Contact us by e-mail or call our offices at one of the convenient locations listed below. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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