What Are the Components of a Personal Injury Claim in Texas?

Thousands of Texans are involved in car accidents each year, and across the nation, millions suffer the effects of auto accidents daily. Of course, most people will be involved in a collision at some time in their lives. As motor vehicle accidents are widespread throughout the nation and in the Lone Star State, these disastrous incidents can instantly transform a victim’s life for the worse.

Victims are commonly left on their own to cope with the physical, financial, and emotional repercussions that follow a serious car accident. In addition, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, a collision occurs somewhere in the state every minute on average. Adding insult to injury, local accident data shows road deaths in Dallas alone have surged by nearly 80%, and a sizable proportion of these incidents are caused by reckless and irresponsible driving.

In fact, it is abundantly clear that most auto accidents are largely preventable, given the fact that driving while distracted, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and speeding rank among the most prevalent causes of injury-causing and deadly car accidents in Texas.

Thankfully, when another driver’s negligence causes an auto accident, the injured victim or victims involved may have legal recourse. If you’ve suffered injuries in a Dallas-area car accident, knowing more about Texas’s personal injury claim process is essential to reclaiming your life.

What Are Personal Injury Claims?

Personal injury claims are cases developed when one person is injured as a result of the reckless conduct or carelessness of another. You may have grounds to file a personal injury claim in Dallas if, for instance, you were injured in a vehicle accident, bitten by a stranger’s dog, or hospitalized after a slip and fall on someone else’s property.

Elements of a Personal Injury Claim

Essentially, there are four main elements or basic components of a personal injury claim, which include the following:  

1. The alleged at-fault party owed a duty of care or reasonable caution
2. The party in question failed to exercise that duty of care
3. The failure to exercise reasonable care resulted in your injuries
4. You sustained provable injuries and damages or losses

What is a Duty of Care?

The first element of a personal injury claim that your attorney must show is the applicable duty of care in your case. A duty of care is the responsibility to prevent causing harm to another individual by taking appropriate measures. For instance, drivers have a responsibility not to drink and drive and to operate their vehicles safely.

In certain cases (such as the one described above), the duty of care is straightforward to prove since there are laws and regulations against drunk driving in Texas. On the other hand, some circumstances are less clear. For instance, business owners must take reasonable measures to guarantee the safety of their consumers, although this need is open to interpretation.

Your attorney must thus identify what procedures a reasonable person would take in your situation to avoid injuries and other damages and then demonstrate how the individual who caused harm strayed from this standard. To evaluate the obligation of reasonable care in your situation, you will need to speak with a personal injury lawyer in Texas.

Failure to Meet a Duty of Care

Next, your attorney will need to establish that the reasonable duty of care was not exercised. For instance, if you slipped and fell outside of a store because there was no sign warning of a wet or slick surface and cautioning to avoid the area, your attorney may claim that the business owner failed to meet their duty of care by neglecting to put up a sign.

Duty of Care and Causation

The third aspect of a personal injury lawsuit is establishing that the other party’s carelessness or recklessness caused your injuries or losses. Even if other causes contributed to your injuries, your accident lawyers must be able to demonstrate that the individual who violated a duty of care contributed to your injuries directly via their actions.

What’s more, damages will be lowered by the proportion of fault you are determined to hold. Thanks to modified comparative fault laws in Texas, you may only obtain compensation for damages suffered in an accident if your portion of the fault is less than 50%.

How Damages Are Determined in Personal Injury

Even if your attorney can demonstrate and prove the first three elements of a personal injury claim, you will still be unable to obtain a settlement unless you can prove damages. In other words, you do not have grounds for a claim unless your personal injury attorney can show that you have verified injuries or losses as a result of the accident in question.

This could include medical expenses to treat your injuries, ongoing recovery or rehabilitation costs, loss of pay and earning potential due to time out of work, and more.

Call the Rasansky Law Firm in Dallas

Throughout Texas and the Dallas metro area, it’s clear that vehicle accidents touch tens of thousands of families. Despite the fact that a good portion of these incidents only results in minor injuries, other victims are permanently disabled and left to bear the brunt of an accident’s tragic consequences.

Needless to say, if you are dealing with the aftermath of a major vehicle collision caused by another driver’s negligent actions, you must contact a Dallas car accident attorney immediately. You may qualify for compensation to offset your losses and impending financial obligations.

Furthermore, here at the Rasansky Law Firm, our auto accident lawyers have more than three decades of experience in assisting victims of accidents caused by careless and reckless drivers. Our seasoned, compassionate lawyers serve our clients with knowledgeable and trustworthy counsel so that they can secure the justice they deserve.

We are ready to analyze the details of your accident, organize the facts surrounding your case, and assess your legal options moving forward. If you have been injured in an automobile accident in Texas and have questions about your next steps, please call (214) 651-6100 for a free first examination of your case. Our car accident lawyers in Dallas will stop at nothing to ensure you and your family get the fair, full settlement you’re entitled to.