Sponsored post: One misconception people have about motor vehicle accidents is that “It takes two” – two or more vehicles to justify a claim.
Some drivers are embarrassed to say they were injured while sitting alone in their cars – as if it makes them appear foolish.
In truth, there are several major categories of single-car accidents – many of which involve negligence by a third party, even there’s no third party visible.
Here’s how it happens
- A truck drops material on the road and drives on. You hit the lumber, or gravel, or boxes of merchandise and lose control. It’s a single vehicle accident because the truck is long gone.
- A farm neglected to maintain its fences and several dairy cows wander onto the freeway.
- The highway department failed to patch a pothole, or failed to erect a sign warning drivers about it.
- Your mechanic, rotating your tires, replaced all the lug nuts but left two loose.
- The “phantom collision”: another driver forces you off the road and into a utility pole without realizing it, and speeds away.
- A county snow plow deposits a load of snow onto the highway, instead of carting it away.
Not every single-vehicle injury leads to a claim. If you fall asleep at the wheel and drive into a tree, that’s probably on you.
What sets these accidents apart is that you don’t file a claim against the other party’s insurance carrier. Instead, you present claims to your own insurer.
Much depends on whether your insurance policy contains a clause protecting you against actions by uninsured motorists, hit-and-runs, weather-related accidents and other situations. Most insurance policies do contain these low-cost protections.
You may learn, to your chagrin, that your auto insurance company does not rush to pay your medical expenses after a single-car accident injury. If they can deny, delay or diminish your claim, they will do so.
That’s when it’s advisable to have an experienced personal injury attorney on your side and ready to go to bat for you.
The Law Firm of Suisman Shapiro focuses on this area of the law. Visit their website at this link for more information.