Sand Law is your North Dakota Car Accident Team
Motor vehicle accidents occur every day in North Dakota. There are many traditional factors, such as North Dakota’s often unpredictable weather, that play a factor in how many accidents occur during a given time. During the winter, snowstorms create hazardous driving conditions that can cause car accidents. Spring brings with it not only April showers but slick roads that can be bothersome for drivers. Summer and fall have their own effects on driver safety as well.
It’s true that over the years, safety improvements to both roads and vehicles have reduced the number of serious injuries compared with a few generations ago. However, new distractions such as texting and driving, the use of electronic devices while behind the wheel, and other negligent acts still cause serious, injury-producing motor vehicle accidents on a regular basis.
The car accident lawyers at Sand Law are experienced in fighting against insurance adjusters and defense attorneys to secure the compensation you deserve.
What Are My Rights If I Have Been Involved In An Accident?
If you have been injured in a car accident, you have the right to seek compensation for your losses and injuries. In the law, we call these damages. Under North Dakota law, if you have been involved in a car accident and sustained damages – you can recover monetary compensation for pain and suffering, emotional harm, disfigurement, and humiliation.
You can also recover damages for medical expenses, lost income, and property damage. The best way to go about enforcing these rights is to hire a car accident lawyer who is familiar with the local court system. There are many ins and outs of the legal system that require the expertise of an experienced attorney.
At Sand Law, we always advise our potential clients that whether they hire us or another law firm – it is imperative to employ the services of a car accident attorney. Whether you were injured in a Grand Forks car accident or a collision in Williston, hiring capable legal representation is essential.
Do I Have To Go To Court If I Was Injured In An auto Accident?
Many of our clients are worried that they will have to be dragged through a long, drawn-out trial. Others are nervous about testifying on the stand in court. The car accident lawyers at Sand Law are here to help you every step of the way and ease your mind.
We are the ones that fight for you in court. If you do have to testify, we prepare our clients for what to expect. You will not be surprised and will feel comfortable with how the process works.
At Sand Law, we pride ourselves on being a litigation law firm. Our approach to auto accident cases is to prepare as if a case is going to trial. However, the vast majority of car accident matters settle out of court prior to trial, either at mediation or at settlement conferences.
Our Car Accident Lawyers Will Fight the Insurance Companies For You
At Sand Law, PLLC, our car accident lawyers are determined to achieve positive results for our clients. Fighting the power of the insurance industry requires a proactive approach. We have the experience and knowledge of how adjusters and claims representatives approach their work to anticipate challenges. Insurance companies rely on lawyers to minimize their risk. We level the playing field by providing our clients with zealous advocacy and tenacious representation.
For many car accident cases or personal injury claims, you may be entitled to compensation for things such as lost wages and medical bills. Our team of auto accident attorneys will review your medical records, any police reports, and witness statements and gather evidence from videos to reconstructions as we build your case.
Our law firm has the resources and skills to fight for your best interests across the spectrum of motor vehicle accidents, including:
- Car Accidents
- Truck Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Rideshare Accidents
- Drunk Driving Accidents
- Oilfield Vehicle Accidents
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Bicycle Accidents
Insurance companies frequently delay settling injury claims. They know that as you recover, your memories about your current struggles and pain will fade. We work with clients to help them understand the nuances of battling the insurance industry to maximize compensation. We will guide you every step of the way as we prepare for the trial. A strong position at every stage of litigation is strong medicine in solving legal disputes over the harm you have suffered.
Common Injuries Caused by Car Accidents
Car accidents can be devastating, leaving victims with injuries that could take months to years to recover from. Some people don’t recover from their injuries at all and are left with a disability. Car accidents can also leave people with minor injuries that may still cause pain and suffering, high medical bills, and more.
Brain injuries
Traumatic brain injuries are very common in car accidents, as they occur when the head is struck or penetrated with great force. Types of brain injuries include concussion, contusion, anoxic brain injury, and coup, contrecoup, and coup/contrecoup injuries. Coup injuries occur when the head is struck, and the brain is damaged at the site where it was struck.
A contrecoup injury occurs when the brain shifts and strikes the opposing side of the skull, causing damage at the side opposite to the site of impact. A coup/contrecoup injury occurs when the brain shifts back and forth, causing damage at both the site of impact and the opposite side of the brain. These injuries are often misdiagnosed, causing further problems down the road.
Spinal cord injuries
Spinal cord injuries occur when the back is struck with great force. This type of injury is incredibly common in rear-end accidents. The higher on the spinal cord the injury occurs, the more severe the consequences of the injury. Damage to the spine may cause either complete or incomplete paralysis. Complete paralysis means that the victim has lost all ability below the site of the injury. Incomplete paralysis refers to a partial loss of movement and sensory ability below the site of the injury.
There is no cure for spinal cord injuries, but they can be treated with different surgeries, injections, and physical therapy. The costs associated with spinal cord injuries can be very high and may last a lifetime.
Broken bones
Broken bones aren’t often serious but may require surgery if the break isn’t clean. A clean break can be set into a cast to heal, but a more serious break will need surgery to make sure that it’s set in the correct position before placing it in a cast. Serious breaks, like multiple broken bones or a bone broken in multiple different places, may require physical therapy after treatment to help the patient get used to walking again.
Burns
Burns can be caused by hot metals or a car fire. Serious burns require skin grafts and are at high risk for infection. They also leave the victim with lifetime scars. If the burn occurs near the airway, it could cause trouble breathing and death.
Soft tissue injuries
The most common type of soft tissue injury is whiplash. Whiplash is also one of the most common injuries associated with car accidents as it occurs when the neck moves back and forth rapidly. Whiplash and other soft tissue injuries can lead to chronic pain even after the injury has fully healed.
Amputated limbs
In the case of a catastrophic injury that leads to an amputated limb, a patient may need to spend money on prosthetics and even the cost of amputation. Amputation can occur at the scene of the accident or at the hospital if the limb is beyond saving.
Neck and Back Injuries
Neck and back injuries include whiplash, a very common injury associated with car accidents, herniated discs, soft tissue injuries, and more. Back injuries can cause a lifetime of back pain and often require physical therapy or surgery to repair the damage.
Internal injuries
Internal injuries, like damage to the organs or internal bleeding, often go undiagnosed. After an accident, you may feel a surge of adrenaline that masks the pain of injuries not visible. Internal injuries often require surgery to repair the damage to the organs or stop the bleeding. If left untreated, internal injuries can lead to fatality.
Crush injuries
Crush injuries are fairly common in car accidents as the metal of the vehicle can warp when damaged by another car. This can cause limbs, most often the legs and arms, to be crushed. Crush injuries include multiple broken bones and amputation.
Common Causes of Car Accidents
There are many different causes of car accidents. Sometimes the cause of an accident is a driver acting with negligence, like speeding or talking on the phone. The driver is doing something they don’t think will cause an accident. However, sometimes drivers are more grossly negligent, doing things that are knowingly risky, like drunk driving or aggressive driving.
Speeding
Speeding most often causes read-end, sideswipe, and t-bone collisions. A driver may be speeding so fast that they’re unable to stop in time, rear-ending the driver in front of them. Depending on how fast they’re speeding, this could also cause a chain reaction accident, causing the person they hit to hit the car in front of them and so on. Speeding may also cause accidents if a driver is weaving in and out of lanes on the highway. Speeding while changing lanes can lead to a sideswipe accident if a driver isn’t paying close enough attention.
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving doesn’t just include texting. It also includes talking on the phone, using a GPS, talking to someone in the back seat, looking for something in the back seat, and generally doing anything that will keep your eyes, ears, and mind off the road. When people think of distracted driving, they most often think about physical distractions, like texting or eating, but mental distractions can cause crashes too. For example, daydreaming or just generally not paying attention can cause an accident to occur.
Drunk Driving
Driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or higher is considered drunk driving in North Dakota. Drunk driving is an incredibly dangerous act that puts everyone on the road, including the driver, at risk. Driving while intoxicated can cause slow reaction times and distraction. Drunk drivers may also have a hard time paying attention and tracking other cars on the road or get easily distracted by headlights, streetlights, and more.
Drowsy Driving
Many people don’t think that driving while tired can cause an accident, but that’s completely untrue. Driving while tired is dangerous, as falling asleep at the wheel is a hazard for all drivers on the road. Tired drivers may close their eyes for just a second, not even knowing that they’re falling asleep, and then wake up because of a crash that they caused.
Reckless or Aggressive Driving
Reckless and aggressive driving includes road rage, cutting people off, and intentionally trying to hit other vehicles. An accident may occur if someone cuts someone off too quickly or even sideswipes their car on purpose. This is considered to be grossly negligent.
Defective Car Parts
Rarely a car accident will occur because of a defective car part. This could mean failed brakes, a steering malfunction, or another issue with the car. In these cases, it could be the fault of the manufacturer of the vehicle. However, this is only true if the car has been kept in good condition by the driver.
Lack of Maintenance
If the vehicle hasn’t been kept in good condition by the driver and an accident is caused by failed brakes or other maintenance issues, the driver could be liable for the accident, especially if they knew that they needed to get their car serviced.
Types of Car Accidents
The different types of car accidents are categorized based on how one vehicle impacts the other. Different accidents can cause different injuries, and some types of car accidents are more dangerous than others.
Head-on collisions
A head-on collision occurs when the front of one car collides with the front of another car. Head-on collisions are pretty rare, but they can cause fatalities because of where the driver is located. These accidents might occur if one driver is driving in the wrong direction or if they veer into oncoming traffic.
Rear-end accidents
Rear-end accidents, unlike head-on collisions, are common. These accidents occur when the at-fault driver doesn’t stop fast enough, hitting the car in front of them. This can commonly cause whiplash or spinal cord injuries. These may occur at stoplights when a driver doesn’t come to a stop quickly enough or at a high speed if the driver is distracted. Rear-end accidents are almost always the fault of the driver doing the rear-ending.
T-bone collisions
T-bone collisions most often happen at intersections and stop signs. If a driver runs a red light or a stop sign, they could hit a driver who’s following the rules of the road. Depending on which side of the vehicle is hit, the results of these accidents can be devastating.
Sideswipe accidents
Sideswipe accidents occur in busy cities and on crowded highways when one driver skims the side of another driver’s car. This could be a parked car on the side of the road or a vehicle in the next lane over. The severity of these accidents depends on how fast the vehicles were going and what side of the vehicle the accident occurred on.
Chain reaction crashes
Chain reaction crashes happen when someone is rear-ended at a high speed, causing the vehicle that was rear-ended to move forward and slam into the vehicle in front of them. These accidents can be tricky, as multiple parties are involved. They can also cause serious injuries, as the driver of the middle car will face impact from both behind and in front of themselves.
North Dakota Car Accidents in an Uber or Lyft
Ridesharing has completely changed the transportation industry, making it easier and more convenient than ever for computers to find a ride and for individuals to earn money driving. However, one of the main drawbacks that companies like Uber and Lyft now face is that more and more rideshare accidents are occurring, and it is unclear who is responsible and how injured victims should be compensated. If you have been involved in a rideshare accident, you should consult a qualified Uber and Lyft accident lawyer to learn your rights and options.
Injury claims involving Uber and Lyft collisions require a special kind of experience and legal skill. At Sand Law, we have obtained large settlements and fair compensation for rideshare injury victims.
You may be able to file an injury claim after a rideshare accident if you were:
- A passenger in a rideshare and the ridesharing driver was at fault.
- In another vehicle that was hit by a negligent rideshare driver.
- A rideshare driver was injured in an accident in which someone else was at fault.
- A passenger was injured in a rideshare accident, and the other driver has little or no insurance.
Hurt in a Rideshare Car Accident? Call Sand Law, Uber, and Lyft Accident Lawyers
If you were hurt in an accident involving a rideshare company in North Dakota, then contact the Sand Law PLLC. We have extensive experience recovering compensation for Uber and Lyft accident victims. Contact us by filling out the form below or by clicking on our phone number in the header.
Compensation in a Car Accident Injury Lawsuit
Medical expenses
Medical expenses include costs for hospital or emergency room visits, visits to your regular physician or a special physician, surgery costs, physical therapy, treatment, ambulance rides, and more.
Lost income
When you’re involved in an accident that results in injuries, severe or otherwise, you’ll be required to take time off of work to receive treatment and recover. You can recover the wages that you lost while you were out of work. You can also recover damages for loss of earning capacity, which means you are no longer able to work your job anymore because of the injuries you sustained.
Pain and suffering
Pain and suffering compensation is calculated based on how much your life has changed before and after the accident. Depending on how much you’ve been through and how much the injuries have impacted your life, this compensation could be higher or lower. The more your quality of life has changed because of the accident, the more compensation you’re likely to receive.
Punitive damages
Punitive damages are rare. However, some parties still receive them. Punitive damages are given out as a punishment to the at-fault party. They’re given out when the at-fault party has acted with gross negligence and are used to prevent the at-fault party from committing the same act again in the future.
Property damage
Property damage in a car accident often only means damage to your vehicle. In the event that your insurance doesn’t cover the damage or total loss of your vehicle, you can claim further compensation for repairs or the cost of a replacement vehicle.
Wrongful Death
If your loved one was killed in a car accident, you may be able to file a wrongful death claim on their behalf. A wrongful death claim can seek to recover compensation for damages left behind by the deceased and damages caused to the family. This may include medical bills or funeral expenses from the person who was killed or pain and suffering and lost wages from the surviving state.
Get Started On Your Car Accident Recovery With Sand Law
The personal injury lawyers at Sand Law have office locations in Fargo, Bismarck, Minot, Watford City, and Williston. We are conveniently located to serve all of North Dakota. To arrange a no-pressure consultation with a top-rated injury attorney, please send us a message online or call 701-609-1510. There is no fee unless we obtain compensation on your behalf.