Austin is a popular area, which means there is plenty of traffic all year around. Unfortunately, vehicle accidents are a common reality for many residents and visitors to this area. At Hill Law Firm, we are here to help if you need an Austin car accident lawyer by your side. Our team has the resources necessary to fully investigate your claim, determine liability, and help you recover compensation for your medical bills, property damage expenses, pain and suffering losses, and more.
Austin Car Accident Resources
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Why Choose Hill Law Firm?
How Will an Austin Car Accident Lawyer Help?
Common Causes of Car Accidents
Common Car Accident Injuries
Where Do Most Car Accidents Occur in Austin?
Dangerous Intersections in Austin
Proving Negligence After a Car Accident
Compensation Available After an Austin Car Crash
How Much Does an Auto Accident Attorney Cost?
Should I Get a Lawyer for a Minor Accident?
Contact an Experienced Attorney Today
Why Choose Hill Law Firm for Your Austin Car Accident Case?
- The Austin personal injury attorneys at Hill Law Firm are dedicated to providing a client-focused approach, which means we take the time to listen to your goals and needs.
- We have recovered millions of dollars on behalf of injury victims throughout the state of Texas through settlements and jury verdicts.
- We have a network of resources at our disposal, and we refuse to back down from aggressive insurance carriers. Our team will take your case all the way to trial if that’s what it takes to ensure clients are treated fairly.
How Will an Austin Car Accident Lawyer Help My Claim?
Car accident claims can become very overwhelming for individuals who are working to recover from injuries and repair their vehicles. However, when an attorney gets involved, they will handle every aspect of the case on behalf of their client. This will include:
- Conducting an independent investigation in order to determine liability
- Ensuring their client is evaluated by medical professionals who can treat their injuries
- Working with economic and financial experts to calculate total losses
- Fully preparing the case for trial while negotiating with insurance carriers
Common Car Accident Injuries
Unfortunately, individuals involved in vehicle accidents in and around the Austin area often sustain severe injuries. At Hill Law Firm, our San Antonio injury lawyers have extensive experience helping clients who have sustained the following:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Broken and dislocated bones
- Severe lacerations
- Puncture wounds
- Road rash
- Internal organ damage
- Internal bleeding
- Amputations
- Crush injuries
In addition to these traumatic injuries, we also know that crash victims in Austin can suffer from significant emotional and psychological trauma as a result of the actual crash, the injuries, and the subsequent recovery process. Our goal is to help clients recover total compensation for their losses, including compensation for physical injury medical bills as well as emotional and psychological suffering.
Where Do Most Car Accidents Happen in Austin?
Austin and Travis County are some of the most dangerous places in the state in terms of car accidents. There are several reasons for this, including congested roads and highways, a high number of commuters, and distracted drivers. Every day, drivers who commute to Austin for work create a significant boom at rush hour along the I-35 corridor – leading to some of the most congested roads in Texas and an increased risk of collisions. In heavy traffic, the most common type of accident is a rear-end collision.
Although recent improvements made by the Austin City Council have corrected some of the issues with the infrastructure of Travis County roads, there are still many dangerous locations for drivers, bikers and pedestrians. According to data from the Texas Department of Transportation, the top locations for fatal car accidents are city streets, the interstate, U.S. and state highways, and farm to market roads (in order). Intersections and crosswalks are some of the most dangerous locations for car accidents within the city.Â
Altogether, Travis County reported 16,838 car accidents in 2021. These collisions caused 154 confirmed fatalities and 755 suspected serious injuries. Travis County was ranked number six in the state for the number of car accidents behind Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Tarrant and El Paso Counties. Knowing where the highest number of car accidents takes place in Austin can help citizens protect themselves – and the City of Austin take strides toward safety improvements.
Dangerous Intersections in Austin, Texas
Intersections are the setting for thousands of car accidents in Texas each year. Intersections are dangerous by their very nature; they are where two or more lanes of traffic intersect with each other. It is critical for everyone who has to go through an intersection to be aware of traffic traveling in different directions and the correct traffic pattern to prevent collisions.
Unfortunately, not all road users are as careful as they should be when crossing through intersections in Austin. Many run red lights and stop signs, often resulting in catastrophic accidents such as T-bone collisions and head-on collisions. However, some intersections are dangerous by design, even for prudent drivers. According to traffic data collected by the Department of Transportation, these are the most dangerous intersections in Austin, Texas by number of car accidents:
- Butler Road and Lamar Boulevard
- Riverside Drive and South Pleasant Valley Road
- Lamar Boulevard and Parmer Lane
- Riverside Drive and Willow Creek Drive
- Cesar Chavez Street and I-35
- Trinity and East 7th Street
- U.S. 183 Service Road and Cameron Road
- North Lamar and Rundberg Lane
- Highway 183 and Loyola Lane
At these cross streets in particular, drivers and other road users should pay careful attention, reduce their speeds and proceed across carefully. All road users must obey the signs and traffic control signals posted at intersections to prevent collisions. They must also understand and obey Texas’s right-of-way laws. Violating traffic rules and ignoring rights-of-way can increase the odds of intersection accidents in Austin. If a dangerous intersection design contributed to your crash, you may have grounds to file a claim against the government as well as a driver.
Proving Negligence After a Car Accident
Car accident claims are brought in response to someone else’s negligence or recklessness. In the context of personal injury law, negligence is a breach of the duty of care, or the failure to act with the proper amount of care based on the circumstances. When someone is negligent and this results in a car accident in Austin, the negligent party has to pay for the crash under Texas’s insurance law. It is up to the victim to prove negligence during the claims process.Â
Successfully proving negligence requires clear and convincing evidence. This evidentiary standard is also known as a preponderance of the evidence, and it requires enough evidence to prove that the defendant was negligent with at least a 51 percent certainty. While this is not as strict as the burden of proof in a criminal case (proof beyond a reasonable doubt), it can still be difficult to meet as a car accident victim.Â
Many crash survivors rely on personal injury lawyers to obtain proof of negligence for them. A lawyer can return to the scene of your car accident, file letters of preservation to protect key evidence, gather proof of fault, hire accident reconstructionists and take many other actions to prove your car accident case. A lawyer has strong storytelling capabilities to make a compelling argument against the negligent party on your behalf.Â
The success of a car accident claim relies on the strength of the evidence. Common examples of evidence used in car accident cases in Texas are the police accident report, medical records, signed eyewitness statements, expert witness testimony, photographs and video footage, and cell phone records. Again, a lawyer can make it easier to collect important evidence for use during your claim.
Compensation Available After an Austin Car Accident Occurs
There may be various types of compensation available to those injured in a car accident. In general, we will find that clients are able to recover both economic and non-economic losses after these incidents occur.
- Economic damages. We can refer to these as special damages. These are the losses that are calculable after a vehicle accident occurs. We say calculable because we can add up bills and receipts that car accident victims receive, and this can include:
- All medical expenses
- Property damage expenses
- General household out-of-pocket expenses
- Non-economic damages. We can refer to these as general damages. These damages revolve around more immeasurable types of losses that individuals suffer from after a vehicle accident occurs. We do not have bills or receipts that can be added up to measure a person’s:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium for family members
The total amount of compensation available to individuals after a vehicle accident occurs in Austin will vary depending on the circumstances surrounding each collision. Some other factors that can alter how much compensation is ultimately handed over include the severity of the injuries, the level of property damage, how long it takes a person to recover, and the level of a person’s pain and suffering.
In cases where the actions of an at-fault driver were grossly negligent or intentional, punitive damages may be awarded as a result of a civil personal injury lawsuit.
How Much Does an Auto Accident Lawyer in Austin Charge?
Affording an attorney after a car accident occurs can seem immensely challenging. However, the team at Hill Law Firm takes these cases on a contingency fee basis. This is an arrangement where we handle all upfront and out-of-pocket costs related to the case, and clients will not be responsible for paying any legal fees until after we successfully recover the compensation they are entitled to. If we do not win the case, our clients do not pay a dime. We think that this fee arrangement helps ensure that any individual, regardless of their current financial status, is able to hold at-fault parties responsible for their actions.
Should I Get an Attorney for a Minor Car Accident?
Even after a minor car accident in Texas, it can benefit you to hire an attorney for legal representation. Although you may be able to handle a small claim on your own, it can be easier and more productive to work with a lawyer. A car and bus accident lawyer in Austin will give you legal advice that you can trust during a difficult or confusing time for greater peace of mind.Â
Hiring a car accident lawyer may be necessary even for a minor collision in terms of an insurance claim. Any car accident, from minor to catastrophic, can result in physical injuries, medical bills, lost wages, property damage and other significant losses. A car insurance company may take advantage of you and offer less than you need, even for a modest claim, without a lawyer by your side.
Overall, a car accident lawyer can offer counsel and representation to make the legal process easier after a minor collision. At Hill Law Firm, we are always 100 percent transparent with potential clients. During a free consultation, we will give you our honest opinion of whether you need an attorney for your case. We would not waste your time or ours taking a case that was too small or that we believe you can successfully resolve on your own. Our time is money – and our priority is your well-being.
Contact an Austin Car Accident Attorney Today For a Free Consultation
If you or somebody you love has sustained an injury or property damage in a vehicle accident caused by another driver in the Austin, Texas, area, reach out to the team at Hill Law Firm for help today. Our car and truck accident attorneys in Austin have the resources necessary to handle every aspect of your claim, and we have no problem standing up to aggressive insurance carriers on your behalf. Let us make sure that you recover total compensation for your losses so you can make as full of a recovery as possible. When you need an Austin car accident attorney, you can contact us by clicking here for a free consultation or calling us at (210) 960-3939.