Rear-End Crash Costs After Wichita Traffic Collisions
When you are involved in a slow-moving rear-end accident in Wichita, you need to make sure that the crash is properly reported to law enforcement. It is important that a crash report is written to explain how the accident happened. When police respond to the scene, law enforcement officers may also issue a citation to the driver who was to blame. In most cases, it is the driver who is in the rear who is held accountable for crash losses in rear-end accidents because that driver has a responsibility to leave a safe following distance and likely failed to do so or he wouldn't have hit the car in front of him.
An experienced rear-end accident lawyer knows sometimes drivers involved in a slow-speed crash may not think the accident was very serious. The reality, however, is that even car accidents with vehicles going 10 MPH can cause significant property damage. When these accidents are rear-end crashes, soft tissue injury and other major injuries can happen that also result in significant medical expenditures and large losses due to missed work time or reduced earning potential. You need to be able to show which driver was responsible for financial and non-economic losses you incurred in a rear-end crash so you can recover compensation through a negotiated settlement or litigation.
Determining Who is Responsible in a Rear-End Accident Case
Determining who is responsible when a rear-end accident happens is very important because property damage alone could result in significant costs. This is especially true in situations where a car and an SUV are involved in a rear-end accident, as compared with situations where one car is rear-ended by another passenger car.
The bumpers on a car do not match up with the bumpers on an SUV. Bankrate indicates that this mismatch has serious consequences in terms of how much damage these types of accidents cause. When a passenger car and a sports utility vehicle are involved in a rear-end accident, the damage may be more severe than crashes involving two cars, regardless of whether the SUV hit the car or the car hit the SUV.
When the SUV hits the car, the bumper of the SUV may go up over the top of the car's bumper. When the car hits the SUV, the car can slide underneath the body of the SUV. The bumpers do not harmlessly collide, causing a small amount of damage, but instead major components of both vehicles can be affected like the car's headlights, hood and cooling system, and the SUV's radiator and body.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety did a study to find out what the costs are when an SUV and a car collide in a rear-end accident. Bankrate reports that the most expensive car-to-SUV collision had a total cost reaching almost $10,000 and the most expensive SUV-to-car crash with a total cost of around $7,444 for damage to both vehicles.
The costs should be covered by the driver who was at fault for the accident but you need to make sure you can prove the other driver was to blame.
If you or a loved one has been injured in Wichita, contact Warner Law Offices. Call 866-584-1032 today.