Meridian Texting While Driving Accidents
Lawyers Who Understand the Dangers of Distracted Driving
Have you been hurt in a car wreck due to someone negligently using their cell phone while driving? If so, the Meridian car accident attorneys of Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz may be able to help you recover for the injuries you have sustained. At any given moment throughout the day, over 660,000 drivers are using electronic devices on the road across the United States. Texting while driving is an epidemic of epic proportions. Sending, reading, or writing a text message has been found to increase the risk of being involved in an accident by 23 times the normal rate. Moreover, according to the Mississippi Department of Education, texting while driving can cause drivers to miss up to 50% of the driving environment.
Texting While Driving Increases Auto Accidents
Texting while driving is illegal in Mississippi. Specifically, Mississippi law states that it is against the law to write, send or read a text message from a moving motor vehicle. This law was enacted largely because of the dangers linked to texting while driving and the recent surge of distracted drivers on the road. One of the most commonly-referenced texting while driving statistics shows that at 55 miles per hour, a driver will travel the length of a football field during the average time it takes to read or send a text message. If you have been involved in an accident, and you can prove the other driver was texting while driving, the other driver could be held liable for the damages you have sustained.
Texting While Driving Accidents in Meridian
In Mississippi, an injured party generally has three years from the date of the accident to settle their claim or properly file a lawsuit in court. However, if the at-fault party is a government entity or a municipality, that statute of limitations is reduced to one year. Failure to satisfy your claim within the allotted time period will result in complete forfeiture of your claim. Our car accident lawyers can help Meridian residents abide by requirements set forth by law, including the applicable statute of limitations.
To recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, vehicle repairs, and other losses sustained in the accident, you will have to prove the driver who struck you acted negligently. To do this, you will have to prove the following elements:
- Duty: All drivers have a duty to drive safely in Mississippi and abide by laws regarding texting while driving.
- Breach of duty: Here, you must prove the at-fault party breached their duty to drive in a safe manner. This could be shown by proving the driver was texting at the time the accident happened or was otherwise distracted by someone or something else.
- Causation: This element requires you to show a causal link between the other driver’s conduct and the resulting accident and your harms.
- Damages: You must show you suffered actual damages as a result of the accident, which can include physical pain, medical bills, loss of income, pain and suffering, or emotional distress.
To illustrate a texting while driving accident in Meridian, consider the following example. Let’s say you are leaving an appointment at City Hall, located at 601 23rd Avenue, Meridian, MS 39302. On your way home, you turn onto 6th Street. Meanwhile, another driver, traveling on 25th Avenue, approaches 6th Street. He is looking down at his phone while typing a text message, so he fails to notice the stop sign. As a result, he proceeds into the intersection and strikes your vehicle. In this situation, you can show the other driver acted carelessly behind the wheel by looking away from the road, texting, and running the stop sign.
Call NST for a Free Consultation with a Mississippi Lawyer
Texting while driving accidents often result in severe and catastrophic injures to those involved. Many times injured parties are unable to return to work, leaving them without the ability to afford their medical bills and support their family. At Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, our attorneys serve those injured by distracted drivers throughout Mississippi. We fight for the rights of people injured in Lauderdale County and surrounding areas, including Collinsville, Middleton, Stonewall, Newton, and Marion. Contact our office by calling 800-529-4004 or by completing our online form to set up a free appointment with a motor vehicle crash attorney. Let us explain to you why NST is the way to go.
Most car accidents are preventable and occur as a result of errors by one or more drivers. To prove liability, you will need to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the driver owed you a duty of care, which was breached, and that your injuries resulted from the driver’s carelessness. Damages that may be available in these cases often include medical expenses, lost income, mental anguish, loss of consortium, and pain and suffering.
Truck drivers are required to follow numerous detailed regulations, including rules related to hours of service, keeping a logbook, and maintenance procedures. Many of these regulations are intended to protect other people on the road from harm. In some states, if a driver violated a law that was enacted to protect the public, the violation can create a rebuttable presumption of negligence. Trucking companies are also required to follow a number of regulations, including rules related to background checks of drivers and proper supervision. They often may be held directly or indirectly liable for a truck accident.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) evaluates applications for disability benefits. Although many people pay into this system throughout their lives, many legitimate claims are initially denied, and this process may be less straightforward than claimants expect. The SSA uses a five-step sequential evaluation to determine whether to grant benefits to an applicant. Each step is considered in a set order. We can present your case in a persuasive manner and help you appeal a denial of a meritorious claim if needed. This could include representing you in a hearing before an administrative law judge.
Workers’ compensation functions slightly differently in each state. In Tennessee, for example, businesses that employ five or more employees must carry workers’ compensation insurance. If you are injured on the job, you may recover benefits, such as medical costs and disability. Neither your employer’s nor your own culpability for your injuries will prevent you from collecting these benefits. However, it may still be a struggle to obtain benefits from your employer’s insurer. We can help you navigate this challenging process.
If you were harmed by a health care professional’s failure to use the appropriate level of care in providing treatment to you, you may be able to recover compensation. Most medical malpractice lawsuits require retaining an expert to determine the accepted standard of care and explain what the defendant did that fell short of this standard, as well as how the inappropriate conduct caused the patient’s injuries.
When you buy a toy, car, medication, or other product, you do not expect to be hurt. If you are injured, you may have grounds to file a product liability lawsuit. There are three types of defects that may be actionable: manufacturing, design, and marketing (also known as failure to warn). Manufacturers may be held accountable under multiple different theories, including strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, and concealment. For example, if you take a drug that causes you to develop cancer, but you were not told that a potential side effect of the drug was developing cancer, you may have grounds to hold the manufacturer strictly liable for its failure to warn you of the risk.
Nursing home residents are often elderly or disabled, and thus they are especially vulnerable to neglect, physical abuse, and exploitation by staff members. Unfortunately, many nursing homes are understaffed or employ staff members who are inadequately trained to deal with potentially frustrating situations. Nursing homes are required to protect their residents from physical, mental, and emotional harm by providing a safe environment, as well as adequately training and supervising staff. A failure to do so may be grounds for a nursing home negligence lawsuit for damages.
Property owners have a duty to keep their property reasonably safe. In most situations, this includes an obligation to inspect the property for dangerous conditions and fix them or provide warnings about them so that visitors are not harmed. One type of dangerous condition, which may present a particular problem in apartment complexes or shopping centers, consists of inadequate security measures such as broken locks, poor lighting, or a lack of security guards. A failure to take security measures when appropriate may allow third-party criminals to assault, rob, rape, or otherwise harm visitors and tenants. You may be able to recover damages if you can prove that the defendant knew or should have known about a history of attacks similar to yours and taken appropriate security measures to reduce the risk of further incidents.
Consult a Personal Injury Lawyer in Memphis or the Surrounding Regions
If you are dealing with a devastating injury or medical condition, the Memphis personal injury attorneys at Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz can evaluate and explain your options. Our firm has 30 attorneys and more than 100 staff members, and we serve injured people in many areas of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky, including Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Jackson, Meridian, Tupelo, Columbus, Grenada, Starkville, Oxford, Hayti, and Caruthersville. Contact our office toll-free by calling 800-529-4004 or by completing our online form to set up a free consultation with a personal injury, workers’ compensation, or Social Security Disability lawyer. Once you have learned more about our vigorous advocacy for the rights of the injured, you will realize that NST is the way to go.