Allentown Car Accident Lawyer
If you have been injured in a car accident in Allentown or Lehigh County, you need an experienced car accident lawyer who can help you navigate the often difficult process of getting compensation for your injuries. A car accident attorney can help you determine whether you have a case, assign liability, and negotiate with insurance companies.
- Last Modified:
- September 15, 2023
- Common Causes of Allentown Car Accidents
- Common Car Accident Injuries
- What Types of Compensation Am I Entitled To For My Car Accident?
- Can I file a car accident lawsuit?
- Should I settle my car accident case?
- What do I do after a car accident?
- How Cordisco & Saile Can Help
- Contact an Allentown Car Accident Lawyer Today
The Allentown car accident attorneys at Cordisco & Saile have extensive knowledge of Pennsylvania personal injury law and the specifics of the roadways and transportation systems that make up the Allentown and Lehigh County infrastructure.
If you need a car accident lawyer, choose Cordisco & Saile to benefit from this award-winning legal team’s skill, professionalism, and network of expert witnesses in Allentown.
How Cordisco & Saile Can Help
Our attorneys at Cordisco & Saile have experience with all sorts of personal injuries in Allentown and the greater Lehigh Valley, from slip-and-fall cases to truck accidents. We are recognized as Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and have a Superb 10.0 Avvo rating.
We deliver strong case results for our clients, including a $2.9 million settlement for a motorcycle accident and $10 million for a local first responder after a truck collision. We take pride in client testimonials that note our diligence, client communication, and ability to take on complex legal matters.
Our legal team can help you with the following:
- Evaluating your case. Find out how much your car accident case may be worth and who may be liable for your damages. An attorney can help you gather evidence and investigate who may be at fault.
- Dealing with insurance companies. Insurance companies can be frustrating if you don’t have experience with them. Legal representation can help you contact the right employees and departments, understand insurance terminology, and reach a fair settlement with your insurance company.
- Litigating your case and taking it to trial. Although most car accident cases settle before trial, not all do. Our experienced Lehigh Valley trial attorneys can build a strong case for you.
At Cordisco & Saile, we understand our clients’ physical, financial, and emotional hardships after car accidents. We strive to be the best car accident lawyers we can be through hard work, dedication, and fierce advocacy for our clients.
What Types of Compensation Am I Entitled To For My Car Accident?
If you have been in a car crash and experienced a physical injury, property damage, or emotional distress, you should be compensated accordingly. The amount of compensation you are entitled to depends on your injuries, who was at fault, and insurance coverage, among other things.
You can find out more about the compensation you may be entitled to by scheduling a meeting with a Lehigh Valley car accident attorney.
Can I file a car accident lawsuit?
If your damages from a car accident were significant and insurance did not fully cover your losses, you may wish to file a lawsuit against the other driver or other potentially liable parties.
Don’t delay in deciding whether to file suit, as Pennsylvania has strict time limits for filing. For personal injuries or property damage in a car accident, you have two years from the car accident to file your suit under the state’s statute of limitations.
If you decide to file a lawsuit and you are awarded damages, you’re required to reimburse your insurance company for any payments for losses that were part of your award. For example, if your insurance company paid medical bills that a jury awarded you damages to cover, you will have to pay that portion of your award to your insurance company.
Your insurance company may also take the lead in any lawsuit in a process known as subrogation.
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How to Prove Fault in a Car Accident
The driver who caused the accident is usually the one held liable. Pennsylvania is a comparative negligence state, which means that regardless of whether you are partially responsible, as long as the other driver was primarily at fault—at least 51 percent—you can still be awarded damages.
For example, a jury might determine that the other driver was partially at fault when they improperly turned left into oncoming traffic and hit you. However, the jury might also find that you were partially at fault because you were speeding during the accident.
Suppose the jury determines you were 20 percent at fault for speeding and the other driver was 80 percent at fault for turning left into traffic. If you had $10,000 in damages, your damages would be reduced by 20 percent to $8,000.
In some cases, defects in vehicles cause accidents. The vehicle manufacturer, the manufacturer of the defective vehicle part, and other distribution channels may be liable. Cordisco & Saile LLC’s Lehigh Valley product liability lawyers can help you hold them responsible.
What About Insurance Coverage?
Insurance coverage in Pennsylvania is complicated. Pennsylvania is a no-fault insurance state for personal injury, meaning that your own insurance provides personal injury protection, or PIP, coverage for economic damages like medical bills and lost wages, regardless of who was at fault in the accident.
However, Pennsylvania is unusual because it also handles bodily injury claims as separate and distinct from PIP claims. Instead, Pennsylvania drivers can choose between full tort or limited tort coverage that determines what they can seek in a personal injury lawsuit against an at-fault party:
- Full tort: Allows policyholders to seek all types of damages, including pain and suffering.
- Limited tort: Allows policyholders to seek pain and suffering damages only in the following situations:
- The over driver was under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance.
- The other car was registered out of state.
- The other driver is uninsured.
- You were a pedestrian or cyclist.
- You suffered “an injury resulting in death, serious impairment of a bodily function, or permanent disfigurement.”
Pennsylvania no-fault insurance is limited to personal injury. If your car was damaged in the accident in Allentown or Lehigh County, the insurance company of the driver at fault covers the loss.
Common Causes of Allentown Car Accidents
In 2022, in Pennsylvania, a daily average of 184 people were involved in traffic crashes. Despite being home to only 2.9 percent of the state’s population, Lehigh County was one of Pennsylvania’s 10 counties with the most reported traffic crashes. It had 2.5 percent of the traffic crash fatalities and 4.6 percent of the state’s injury crashes.
Car accidents in Pennsylvania are almost always caused by driver error. Still, several additional factors may also contribute to a crash, such as speeding, driving under the influence, distracted driving, and tailgating. Hazards such as bad weather and road work zones also play a part.
Cordisco & Saile Lehigh Valley personal injury lawyers help with several types of motor vehicle accidents:
Multi-Vehicle Pileups
You need an experienced attorney to help you sort out the cause of a multi-car pileup. They happen on highways, intersections, and in high-traffic areas and could result from one driver’s actions or a problem such as a poorly marked work zone.
Rear-End Collisions
Distracted drivers and impatient ones who tailgate often cause rear-end collisions. As the front driver, there isn’t anything you can do to avoid an accident with someone who can’t react to your stopping for a legitimate reason.
Too often, drivers don’t realize how close they are to motorcycles. If you were in an accident, our Cordisco & Saile Allentown motorcycle accident attorneys could help.
Rollovers
Vans, trucks, and SUVs are most prone to rollovers because of their higher center of gravity, but cars are also involved in rollover accidents. A knowledgeable Cordisco & Saile Allentown car accident lawyer can help you determine if another driver, your vehicle manufacturer, or both were responsible for your injuries.
Sideswipes
Failing to account for blind spots and poor lane-changing often causes sideswipe accidents. Even if you see the other driver coming, there is often little you can do to avoid a collision unless you leave your lane and potentially hit another car yourself.
Head-On Collisions
Even if your airbag saves you from further injury, a head-on collision can lead to serious injuries and vehicle damage. These accidents are often the result of drivers crossing highway lines or avoiding intersection lights and signs. Cordisco & Saile has skilled investigators ready to show that the other driver was at fault for your head-on collision.
Side-Impact Collisions
Side-impact collisions, also called T-bones, happen when the front of one vehicle smashes into the side of another. Depending on the speed of the vehicles, side-impact collisions can result in serious injuries.
Common Car Accident Injuries
Car accidents can cause a range of injuries, from minor to severe. Some of the more common injuries caused by car accidents include:
- Whiplash
- Concussion
- Burns
- Soft tissue damage
- Broken bones and torn ligaments
- Spinal cord injury
- Traumatic brain injury
- Dismemberment
- Death
Should I settle my car accident case?
A lawsuit can be time-consuming and emotionally difficult. If you can reach a fair settlement with the other driver or their insurance company, it may be more efficient and cost-effective than taking your case to trial.
Nearly all tort cases, including car accident cases, end up settling before trial. The average car accident settlement depends on a number of factors, including the nature of the victim’s injuries, the evidence of fault, and insurance coverage.
What do I do after a car accident?
Our Cordisco & Saile’s injury and accident lawyers have represented many Allentown car accident victims. Whether your motor vehicle accident occurs on Interstate 78, Route 22, or one of the other busy Lehigh Valley roads—some of which see more than 40,000 motorists a day—the advice for what to do after a car accident is the same.
To protect your health and your finances after a car accident in Allentown, follow these steps:
- Call the police
- Collect evidence
- Seek medical attention
- Report the accident to your insurance company
- Follow up with medical care
- Keep written records
- Contact an attorney
When speaking to witnesses and the other driver to collect contact information, don’t say anything that might be interpreted as an admission of guilt or wrongdoing. Stick to the facts until you have spoken to an Allentown car or truck accident attorney.
Contact an Allentown Car Accident Lawyer Today
When it comes to a car accident in Allentown, Pennsylvania, you need attorneys who have the experience and determination to fight for you. Contact the compassionate attorneys at Cordisco & Saile LLC today.
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