Indianapolis Vehicle Accidents

Indianapolis Vehicle Accidents

As the nickname suggests, Indianapolis is a large and sprawling city. Surface streets crisscross hundreds of square miles of land inside the I-465 beltway. Outside the beltway, interstate highways point in all directions, bound for other major cities across the country. Living in a transportation hub like Indianapolis has its conveniences. But there are also risks involved in sharing the roadways with thousands of other drivers. When someone else is careless behind the wheel, you may be the one to suffer the consequences.

The attorneys at Stephenson Rife make sure careless drivers are held financially responsible for the injuries they cause. Our office in Indianapolis helps people hurt in accidents involving passenger cars, light trucks, SUVs, smart cars, and other personal and commercial vehicles. Collisions involving any of these types of vehicles can produce devastating injuries. Unfortunately, the more serious the injuries to the victim, the more eager the insurance company will be to dispose of the claim. That is where we step in. We keep fighting until you receive full and fair compensation.

Do I have a claim against the other driver?

The physical and emotional trauma of a serious car crash is overwhelming. Additional stress soon follows, as medical bills and other expenses accumulate. Understandably, when accident victims contact our firm, the first thing they want to know is whether they have a claim for damages against the driver of the other vehicle.

According to the Indiana State Police, there are more than 5,000 vehicle collisions per year (in which one or more people are injured) in the city of Indianapolis. While every accident is unique, over the course of 30 years of representing clients we have come to recognize three factors that must exist for a car accident claim to be successful:

• INJURY – Regardless of how irresponsibly the other driver acted when causing the collision, if you were not hurt, you cannot bring a personal injury claim (you can still recover for property damage to your vehicle). Stephenson Rife represents victims who have been seriously injured, so this factor is typically not an issue.

• LIABILITY – The other driver must have been at fault. In fact, in the state of Indiana, unless you can show the other driver was 50 percent or more to blame for the accident, you cannot recover for your injuries. We have the resources and expertise to investigate car accidents in Indianapolis to prove that the other driver was at fault. Do not accept the conclusions of the other driver, the insurance company, or even the responding police officer when it comes to liability. If there is a question about who is to blame for your injuries, contact our Indiana car accident attorney office for advice.

• COVERAGE – You may have suffered severe injuries in a collision in which the other driver was clearly to blame. But if there is insufficient insurance coverage, you are at risk of receiving less compensation than you deserve. Our attorneys know how to locate all available insurance policies (or other sources of funds, including the other driver’s personal assets) in order to satisfy your claim.

Our law firm helps vehicle accident victims in Indianapolis every day.

Serious collisions are common in our city. In part, this is because we have so many major cross streets, where speed limits and the corresponding risk of harm are high. According to the Federal Highway Administration, in urban areas of our state, vehicles traveling on primary thoroughfares account for roughly the same percentage of total traffic as do vehicles traveling on interstate highways. It comes as little surprise, then, that the Indiana State Police recently identified the intersection of two major cross streets – Raymond Street and Shelby Street (on the south side, near Garfield Park) – as the location of more collisions than anywhere else in the city. We have experience identifying the types of careless driving that often occur on our city streets. Hiring a local, experienced accident lawyer can make all the difference in your case.

You must act now to protect your right to compensation.

Indiana law imposes strict time limits for suing the party responsible for an automobile accident. This time limit is referred to as the “statute of limitations.” In Indiana, the statute of limitations is two years. If you do not file a lawsuit within that time period, you have forever lost your right to recover.

That is not to say that filing a lawsuit will be necessary in your case. Our attorneys are skilled negotiators. The majority of our clients will never need to step foot in a courtroom in order to obtain fair compensation. All the same, delay must be avoided. The sooner you contact our office, the sooner we can go to work getting you the money you deserve. Call our Indianapolis office at 317-680-2501 or use the convenient on-line inquiry form to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with Stephenson Rife about your Indianapolis car or truck accident.