Merrillville highways funnel traffic into Gary and greater Chicagoland. This means that motorists are at a greater risk for accidents involving semi-trucks and corporate vehicles. If you find yourself fighting to recover from one such accident, who can you call for support? When in doubt, Merrillville highway accident lawyers are here to help.Vaughan & Vaughan has helped Hoosiers like you recover from serious accidents since 1913. We know how to work within the civil circuit to help you secure the damages you need to pay your bills. You can book a case evaluation with our personal injury lawyers in Merrillville for FREE to discuss how we can get you back on your feet.
How to Recover from a Highway Accident
There’s no guaranteed strategy that you can use to recover from a highway accident. However, there are steps that people in your shoes have taken before that have eased their burdens. You can follow in their footsteps, using the tools they used to make your recovery as straightforward as possible.Our highway accident attorneys in Merrillville, IN, specifically recommend that you:
Take Your Injuries Seriously
Shock can disguise the symptoms of many severe injuries after a highway accident. As such, we encourage you to connect with emergency responders and ER staff regardless of whether or not you feel okay after an accident. These professionals can assess your health and detect any conditions that shock or adrenaline may have prevented you from noticing.
Get Representation
As mentioned, highway accidents can leave you with severe and sometimes debilitating injuries. It can feel impossible to meet your everyday needs when you’re contending with burns, broken bones, or other serious losses. Tackling the complexities of Indiana’s civil courts may seem unthinkable.Fortunately, you don’t have to manage every aspect of your recovery alone. Whether you need help filing an insurance claim or you want to go to court, you can call on a Merrillville, IN, highway accident lawyer. Our team can:
Meet with insurance claims adjusters and mitigate their bad-faith tactics
Managing your communications with a liable party
Investigate the negligence that led to your accident
Build a personal injury claim in your name
Calculate the value of the settlement you deserve
Represent your best interests in and out of court
You can discuss what services you might specifically benefit from during a FREE personal injury case evaluation with our staff. Our evaluations do not commit you to a specific course of legal action. The decision to move forward with a claim is entirely up to you.
Gather Evidence of Negligence at the Scene
You have the right to file an insurance claim and/or a personal injury claim after a serious highway accident. However, if you want either claim to move forward, you need to submit evidence of a negligent party’s wrongful behavior.The evidence you use to prove that someone violated the duty of care they owed you may include the following:
Bystander accounts of your losses
Statements from expert witnesses
Medical reports
A police report
Photos and videos from your accident
Debris from the accident scene
Electronic data
Our team can help you analyze the evidence so you can better present the narrative of your accident in your finalized claim.
Explore Your Right to Recover Fair Damages
Some of the evidence you use to assign responsibility for your losses can also help you calculate the value of your desired settlement. Our attorneys take your economic and non-economic losses into account when establishing the value of your case. This way, we ensure that you can maximize the compensation you receive after a case.The losses we may have the right to include in your claim may include the following:
Emergency medical expenses
Long-term medical bills
Temporary or permanent disability
Lost wages
Emotional distress
Reduced quality of life
Pain and suffering
Mental anguish
Property damage and restoration
What to Expect When Filing a Personal Injury Claim
You have an obligation to submit your personal injury to Indiana’s civil courts within the state’s two-year personal injury statute of limitations. You cannot miss this deadline if you want to move a claim forward.Once you’ve filed your claim, a court decides whether or not you have the right to move your case forward. Should the court give you the right to act, you can:
Negotiate for the support you deserve in private conversations with a liable party
Open discovery and prepare to undergo a bench or jury trial
There are pros and cons to each of these courses of action. For example, highway accident settlement negotiations tend to resolve faster than a traditional trial. However, trials allow you to rely on a judge and bailiff to control a defendant’s belligerent behavior. We can discuss which of these paths suits your case upon filing your claim.
Let Highway Accident Lawyers in Merrillville Go to Bat for You
Are you ready to get the support you need to recover from a highway accident? Let our highway accident attorneys in Merrillville fight for you. Vaughan & Vaughan can represent your best interests in and out of court. Our transparency ensures that you’ll feel comfortable working within Indiana’s civil system.You can book a FREE case assessment with our staff today if you want to learn more about our services. An initial case evaluation does not lock you into a civil trial but instead lets you get to know our team. We’re looking forward to fighting for you.
Exceptional Truck Accident Knowledge
Attorney Charles J. Vaughan is the only lawyer in the State of Indiana to hold a Class A Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). This distinction provides our clients with a clear advantage in trucking and other commercial vehicle accident cases.
