Orange County Speeding Accident Lawyer

Orange County roadways move fast. Everyone seems to be in a hurry, and no one wants to yield. On top of that, many drivers have thrown speeding limits to the wind. The unfortunate results are serious injuries and deaths.

What Are Speeding Accidents & How Dangerous Are They?

Speeding accidents occur because of driver negligence. Too often, motorists ignore the speed limit to their and other drivers’ peril. As a result, speeding increases the likelihood and severity of collisions. Excessive speeds are extremely dangerous. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2020, nearly 12,000 people in the United States died due to excessive speed, and tens of thousands more sustained serious injuries causing long-term pain and disability. Drivers speed for many reasons, but the following three are the most prevalent:

It Feels Good

Many motorists love the feeling of driving fast. However, many drivers find themselves out of control in heavy traffic or on roads designed for low speed, such as those with sharp curves. Terrible accidents frequently result.

Social Pressure

Many drivers feel pressured to speed because the traffic flows faster than the limit. Some people think speed is okay because other people are doing it. However, social pressure does not provide a defense in court. The driver is still negligent for speeding.

Situational Factors

Sometimes, drivers put the pedal on the metal because they are in a hurry or late for an appointment. However, this can cause them to make grievous and fatal errors in judgment while proceeding way too fast.

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California Vehicle Code On Speeding

Generally. Section 22350. 22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at speed greater than is reasonable or prudent, having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.

Common Causes of Speeding Accidents

Speeding does not cause an accident, though it always makes one more severe. Instead, speeding increases the risk of an accident. Speeders know they are taking their lives in their hands and endangering others by increasing their speed risk beyond what is legal; therefore, they are negligent and sometimes reckless.

Because of excessive speed, drivers lose control for various reasons, including the following:

Excessive speed makes the vehicle harder to control
Speeding increases the stopping distance
It decreases the effectiveness of vehicle safety features
It decreases tire grip, especially in poor weather

Common Types of Injuries Speeding Accident Victims Suffer

Speeding is a culprit in approximately one-third of fatal accidents and countless injury collisions. It’s just a matter of biology. The human body can only take so much force.

As a result, speeding accident victims suffer a myriad of injuries, including the following:

Broken bones
Spinal cord injuries
Head injuries
Lacerations
Scars
Burns
Eye injuries
Crushing injuries
Fatal injuries

Should I Hire a Lawyer for Speeding Accident injuries?

Imagine you suffered devastating injuries in an auto accident because another motorist decided to speed. You may be in great pain, have to spend time in the hospital, and face ruinous medical bills. On top of that, you may find yourself temporarily or permanently disabled.

Having sustained these severe losses, your and your family’s financial future hinges on the legal compensation for these damages. To obtain the best possible result, you need proficient legal counsel that can take the defending insurance company to task.

Though it may be obvious that the other driver caused the accident by speeding, courts demand proof, and the defense will seek to create doubt. A significant portion or all of your compensation can be lost if the opposing side succeeds.

Proving the Other Driver Caused the Accident

To win the compensation you deserve, you need an attorney to obtain the evidence that proves your claim. The at-fault driver and defending insurer are unlikely to admit that the other motorist’s speeding caused the accident or even played a role. Therefore, without evidence, you cannot establish liability.

Nordean Law’s personal injury team has dealt with hundreds of auto accident cases caused by the defendant’s speeding. They know what evidence persuades courts and how to obtain it. So it would help if you had a knowledgeable litigation team to assemble the proof needed for victory.

To win, plaintiffs must establish the following:

The defendant has a duty of care
The defendant breached that duty of care
The breach resulted in harm to the plaintiff
The damages claimed to result from the breach

Proving a duty of care is straightforward. All drivers have a duty of care.

However, more evidence is needed to show a breach of that duty of care. Speeding violates the law, making it an assumed breach provided you demonstrate it occurred. Your personal injury litigation team can prove this in several ways:

Police and accident reports
Witness statements
Vehicle damage assessments
Injury assessments
On-scene evidence, such as skid marks
Accident reconstructions
Expert witness testimony
Interrogatories
Depositions

With convincing evidence of speeding as the cause, your litigation team must then prove you suffered harm. If an auto accident occurred, but there was no injury or property damage, no cause of action exists. A breach of the duty of care only merits a lawsuit if actual harm occurred.

For accident victims, showing injuries and property damage is a straightforward process. Then your lawyers need to demonstrate that the damages claimed occurred because of the incident. Medical records, testimony, police reports, and other accident reports prove this element.

With a strong case on your side, your attorneys can press the defense to settle for a substantial amount. Once the opposing insurer knows you have a winnable case, they tend to favor a settlement. Continuing to litigate a losing case only costs them more.

However, some defendants remain obdurate even in the face of overwhelming evidence. They may feel they can wear down the plaintiff by dragging out the process. Nordean Law’s litigation team overcomes this by negotiating from a strong position, utilizing settlement conferences, and arguing bulletproof cases in court.

"We never lose sight of the pain and suffering of your recovery, not to mention emotional trauma that lasts for years."

How Much Compensation Is Available for An Accident Caused by Speeding?

California personal injury law provides three types of damages for plaintiffs: economic, non-economic, and punitive. Economic and non-economic damages apply to any personal injury case based on the defendant’s negligence. For punitive damages to apply, the defendant must have engaged in extraordinarily poor conduct, which applies to a small fraction of speeding accident cases.

Economic Damages

Economic damages reimburse plaintiffs for the direct costs of the accident. In all personal injury cases, medical bills are a factor. All treatment related to the injury is eligible for reimbursement.

For instance, an accident victim may have bills for an ambulance, emergency room treatment, diagnostic tests, medications, casts, assistive devices, and physical therapy. An equitable settlement covers the plaintiff for current and future medical bills related to the collision.

Economic damages also include lost income. For example, a plaintiff may have been forced to stay home for two months and lost all the wages. In that case, the plaintiff is entitled to the equivalent in compensation.

Other forms of compensation are also eligible, such as lost benefits, business income, and self-employment income.

Non-Economic Damages

Severe injuries cause harm other than economic ones. Usually, immediately, the victim suffers physical agony. Often, pain becomes long-term, requiring medications and treatments. However, some injuries become chronic, leaving sufferers with pain and limitations.

Serious injuries also cause emotional trauma. Long stays in the hospital and rehabilitation facilities are a drain on anyone. The plaintiff may experience an extended recovery, causing isolation and enforced inactivity. Being disabled and facing mounting bills caused understandable distress.

Also, it’s difficult to enjoy life while laid up because of an accident. Career goals suffer, the injured party may miss important family events, and cherished hobbies and healthy activities, such as exercise, may become impossible.

Punitive damages focus on the defendant’s actions rather than the plaintiff’s harm. A court must determine that the defendant acted egregiously beyond the scope of a typical speeding accident. For example, a drag racer driving at 100 mph that maims and kills innocent people may face punitive damages.

Nordean law’s litigation team determines all damages due to their clients and pursues them aggressively. Speeding accident victims deserve to be made whole, and that requires demanding total compensation for all harm.

Contact Nordean Law, Top Rated Personal Injury Lawyer For Speeding Accident Lawyer

Nordean Law’s speeding accident lawyers mean business. They have litigated thousands of cases involving driver negligence. Nordean Law’s attorneys are experts at establishing speeding accident claims and negotiating or winning high compensation packages.