When to Call a Greenville Car Accident Lawyer

Serious car accidents are not uncommon in North Carolina (NC), including Greenville. Many of the car wrecks in Greenville probably occur on Route 43, Memorial Drive, and Greenville Blvd. These are some of the busiest roads in the Greenville area.

Imagine you're driving along Memorial Drive headed towards East Carolina University when another driver slams into the back of your car. The impact is so severe that you suffer whiplash and smacked your head very hard on the driver side window. You get treated at a local hospital and are now faced with trying to sort out all of the important details to figure out what to do next. This is a frustrating and difficult situation to be in with many questions that need to be answered: Does the at-fault driver have insurance? How bad is the damage to my vehicle? Who will pay for my medical expenses?

This is the time to hire a Greenville car accident lawyer. You need someone who can take some of the burden off your shoulders and make sure you receive proper compensation for your injury, any lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Injuries like whiplash will require rehabilitation and a head injury could cause brain damage and potentially weaken your cognitive functions, along with other very serious side effects. Considering the other driver was at fault, their insurance should pay for your medical bills. But what if the other driver doesn't have insurance? Well, in NC you should have Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage on your insurance policy. This allows you to file a claim against your own insurance company under the UM provisions to recover enough compensation to help with expenses. You can also use this type of insurance if you're the victim of a hit-and-run accident.

What if the at-fault driver in Greenville was drunk? This is when we pursue what's called "punitive damages." This is compensation that is a form of punishment against the drunk driver in an effort to dissuade the at-fault driver from ever behaving so recklessly again, and dissuade other drivers from mimicking that behavior.

What if you had a preexisting condition prior to the accident? This does not mean your injury claim is illegitimate. Granted, there's a good chance the insurance defense lawyers will try to use your preexisting condition against you, but we take a different stance on preexisting conditions. If you suffer a head injury in your car wreck, but have a preexisting knee injury, we don't feel that injury is relevant. So, don't think that just because you have a preexisting condition your case is ruined. You probably still have a legitimate injury claim.

This is the type of information and advice you can, and should, receive from a car accident lawyer in Greenville. If you would like to discuss your situation with us, please feel free to contact our office at 1-800-752-0042 or fill out the quick contact form on the right side of your screen.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law. We maintain office in Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC), on East Elizabeth Street, and we have handled thousands of cases in which victims got hurt or killed in car, truck, train and motorcycle crashes caused by others' negligence or carelessness.

We serve every area of North Carolina, including Elizabeth City, Edenton, Raleigh, Durham, Rocky Mount, Roanoke Rapids, Greensboro, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Halifax, Northampton,  Greenville, Goldsboro, Havelock, Kinston, New Bern, Tarboro, Wilson, Ahoskie, Currituck, Camden and the Outer Banks towns of Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Manteo, Corolla, Currituck and Dare. In South Carolina, we cover the state from Myrtle Beach and Charleston to Orangeburg, Columbia, Florence, Rock Hill, Darlington, Aiken, Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg.

Firm attorneys Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008 and the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, our firm has been named a North Carolina "Best Law Firm" for personal injury law since 2010 by U.S. News & World Report.

We also offer free special reports on distracted driving and the Best Guide to Car Accident Injuries in North Carolina. 

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultations. Call us toll-free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can get back to you.