What Personal Injury Victims in Sacramento Need to Know

Personal injury victims in Sacramento need to know how they can go about protecting their legal rights. Unfortunately, if you’ve been injured because of someone else you can’t necessarily count on an insurance company to fairly compensate you.

Defining Personal Injury

Personal injury is part of the civil law code. To put it simply, it’s the law that addresses legal problems that are not criminal in nature. It covers a lot of areas. Personal injury covers injuries received by a person because of the negligence of another person. It can be a car wreck, a dog bite, a boat accident, or anything else that causes harm to a person or their property.

For someone to have a cause of action that enables them to start a lawsuit, there are certain things that must be present. First, the person or business must have owed a duty to the person that was injured. For instance, consider Sacramento’s leash law. Animals, with the exception of domestic cats, must not be allowed to roam around outside without a leash. So, the duty of the pet owner is to keep their pet on a leash.

Next the person who caused the injury must have breached their duty in some way. In reference to our example, if someone took their dog outside into an unfenced area without a leash, they have breached their duty if the dog hurts someone.

The victim must have some sort of physical or emotional injury or there must be damaged property. If the dog causes a physical injury, such as a bite, that is a physical injury. If the dog got away and jumped on the hood of a vehicle and caused dents, that’s property damage. Both of those examples show you how there must be some form of injury that can be compensated.

Finally, the claim of personal injury must be the direct cause of the injury. This is often called the but-for test. But for the dog being off of the leash, the car wouldn’t have been damaged or the person wouldn’t have suffered a bite.

If You Suffer a Personal Injury

If you suffer a personal injury in Sacramento, there are some things that you need to do in order to protect your legal rights. First, call law enforcement. At the very least, a police report provides valuable information that documents the occurrence. Second, you should seek medical care as soon as possible if you are physically injured. There are two reasons for this. It ensures that you don’t have an internal injury and it strengthens your case. Insurance adjusters will look at when you decided to seek medical treatment. Finally, do not try to settle with the other party or insurance company on your own. You may not get what you rightfully deserve. You may also lose your right to file a claim in court.

Instead, you should seek the services of a highly qualified personal injury attorney. An attorney can handle your insurance claim and deal with the other party. This can help you focus on getting better and get your life back on track.

Protect your legal rights – contact a personal injury attorney!