ATVs are great. Especially here in the south, riding recreational All Terrain Vehicles is a fun outdoor activity that families enjoy. However, it’s important to understand that ATVs are powerful. They’re vehicles, not toys, and as vehicles, they can do a lot of damage.
ATV accidents do happen. In fact, they’re common here in Alabama. They’re prone to roll over, and sometimes don’t have proper protection for their passengers. ATVs for adults can be up to 600 pounds, and move over 65 miles an hour. That’s pretty fast, even for a car. In 2017, over 93,800 ATV injuries ended in someone being treated in an emergency room. On average, between 500 and 600 of those were fatalities, and a significant portion of them are children under 16 years old.
These accidents are unfortunate and often caused by user error. Going too fast on uneven ground or driving the vehicle on a paved road that has normal traffic, are a couple of issues that make it more likely to experience an accident when riding an ATV. The lack of a helmet can significantly increase the injuries caused by these types of wrecks. There are oftentimes failures in the SRB components of ATVs, including tires or steering mechanisms. Recalls are issued by manufacturers frequently for issues such as these.
After an ATV wreck, our team can handle the legwork for you and get you back on your feet as soon as possible. Expensive hospital visits or a casket for a loved one can be detrimental to one’s finances and wellbeing. If you want to seek compensation after the wreck that caused significant injuries to you, a friend or family member, you aren’t alone. An experienced injury attorney can help you to investigate these incidents or can help you to develop the best strategy available. Here are a few ways Charles McCorquodale Law can assist you during this trying time:
1. Lawsuits are stressful.
It cannot be overstated that any litigation procedure, no matter the scale, can be difficult and very stressful to all parties involved. The fact is that legal processes involved in these kinds of cases require a significant amount of oversight and attention to detail. Documents must be written and properly filed. An experienced injury attorney by your side to assist you, is a great asset. Extensive issues in your filing may end in your case being thrown out of court, a devastating blow to someone likely still dealing with hospital bills and physical recovery. An injury attorney understands how to handle these matters in court and can take a large amount of stress off of you.
2. Discovery
The next step, discovery, helps to identify the parties responsible for this incident and the specific causes of these injuries. Documents and evidence are collected to support the victim’s injury claims.
Discovery establishes the foundation for your case. Relevant documents discovered and admitted into evidence (sometimes over objections), help to provide the foundation of your case and help the jury to see the causes of significant injuries. When we assist our clients in these matters, we navigate and organize this process in the correct manner.
3. Defense
It’s likely your lawsuit will be against an entity larger than yourself, such as the manufacturer of the vehicle or the homeowner’s insurance company. These companies boast large defense teams that spend large amounts of time and money to dispute and negate cases just like yours. They know regulations, loopholes, the ins-and-outs of these devices and will not hesitate to use all of that knowledge against you. Without an attorney to represent you, you might soon find yourself with no case at all.
4. Negotiations
Finally, before these cases are handled in a court manner, they’re usually taken into a negotiation phase to resolve the issues. This is an integral part of the case, as it’s usually in everyone’s best interests to attempt to resolve through an agreement before the case is presented to a judge or jury. Without a lawyer, it’s more than likely that you won’t get what you deserve. Attorneys are skilled negotiators that can speak on your behalf in these sensitive situations.
Have you been injured in an ATV accident? Charles McCorquodale is a skilled injury attorney who can help you get the compensation you deserve. Call us today for a free case evaluation at (251) 220-2790 or click here.
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