Seattle Car Accident Lawyer

Washington State Car Accident Statistics

According to Washington State’s most recent Vision Zero plan, the number of fatalities and serious injuries had fallen from the mid-2000s until about 2013. But since 2013, both deaths and severe injuries have risen.

According to the state, some of this growth since 2013 was due to national trends as gas prices fell and drivers logged more miles. But the state also decriminalized the possession and use of marijuana in 2012, and the first legal dispensaries opened in 2014.

In 2022, the most recent year with full statistics, Washington had 78,866 total car accidents. These accidents included:

• 679 fatal crashes
• 2,605 serious injury crashes
• 7,914 minor injury crashes
• 11,571 possible injury crashes

Serious injuries incapacitate accident victims so severely that they require ambulances to carry them to a hospital. Minor injuries produce visible wounds but allow those injured to transport themselves from the accident scene. Possible injuries cause symptoms like dizziness, pain, or stiffness without producing an open wound.

Bear in mind that these numbers represent crash counts rather than injury counts. They just mean that the car accident caused at least one fatal or non-fatal injury of the identified severity.

Common Types of Car Accidents in Seattle, WA

Washington releases multi-year crash statistics to smooth out year-to-year anomalies. Over the three years between 2015 and 2017, 66% of fatal and serious injury accidents were single-vehicle crashes involving a fixed object.

Other types of crashes that caused fatal or serious injuries included:

• Head-on collisions
• Rollover accidents
• Collisions with parked cars
• Opposite-direction sideswipe collisions

Two types of crashes were missing from this list. Rear-end crashes are the most common type of crash in the U.S. But they typically cause minor or possible injuries rather than fatal or serious ones. Similarly, same-direction sideswipe collisions are less common, but when they happen, they usually cause only minor or possible injuries.

Regardless of the severity, a car accident injury can cause significant losses. A Washington car accident attorney can help you identify your losses and determine how to recover maximum compensation.

Causes of Car Accidents in the Seattle Area

An analysis by Washington’s Traffic Safety Commission has identified four high-risk behaviors that played a role in almost all fatal Seattle car accidents in 2021. Of the 670 fatal crashes that involved these four behaviors:

• 61% involved at least one impaired driver
• 31% involved speeding by at least one driver
• 23% had at least one vehicle occupant without a seat belt
• 19% involved distracted driving by at least one driver

According to the state, the most common cause of impairment in fatal and serious injury crashes involved a combination of marijuana and alcohol. Between 2015 and 2017, drivers involved in impaired driving crashes had in their systems:

• Multiple drugs or alcohol combined with at least one drug in 45.1% of crashes
• Alcohol only in 36.6% of crashes
• A drug other than alcohol or marijuana in 11.6% of crashes
• Marijuana only in 6.6% of crashes
• Whether marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol to the user’s health or not, the statistics prove that it can affect a driver’s abilities. But alcohol, alone or in combination with other drugs, still caused more intoxicated driving deaths than any other drug or drug combination.

Common Washington Car Accident Injuries

Car accidents cause a range of injuries. These injuries vary depending on the type of car wreck and its severity.

When you get into a crash, your body whips around under the force of the impact. It can hit the steering wheel, dashboard, door, seat belt, or side window. The body's motion can cause whiplash injuries even if you do not hit anything.

Some common car accident injuries sustained include:

• Traumatic brain injury
• Spinal cord injury
• Herniated discs
• Neck strain
• Back strain
• Soft tissue injuries
• Fractured hands, legs, ribs, and facial bones
• Knee sprain
• Chest bruise
• Laceration
• Abrasion

You could incur significant medical expenses after a car crash for treatment, therapy, and medication for these injuries.

Proving Negligence in Seattle Auto Accident Cases

Washington uses an at-fault auto insurance system. Each vehicle owner must have liability insurance, and all injured crash victims will file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurer.To seek compensation, crash victims must prove the at-fault driver acted negligently. Negligence means a driver failed to exercise reasonable care. To prove fault, your auto accident lawyer in Seattle must meet four elements:

• Duty of care
• Breach of duty
• Damages
• Causation

All drivers have a legal duty to avoid causing unreasonable risks to other drivers. A driver breaches this duty when they break traffic laws or take some other objectively unreasonable action.

The car crash victims must prove they suffered damages. Damages usually include economic losses, such as medical bills and lost income, and non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering.

The accident victim’s Washington car accident lawyer gathers evidence showing the at-fault driver’s actions were both the cause-in-fact and proximate cause of the losses.

Thus, the allegedly negligent actions must fall within the sequence of events that resulted in the injuries. They also need to be the type of actions that could foreseeably cause harm.

Washington State Liability and Insurance Laws

Car owners in Washington must carry auto insurance with bodily injury liability (BIL) and property damage liability (PDL) coverage. Liability insurance is an agreement between an insurer and a policyholder. The insurer pays third-party accident victims who suffer injuries or property losses due to the policyholder’s actions.

All Washington auto policies must have minimum claim limits of:

• $25,000 BIL for one injured person
• $50,000 BIL shared among multiple injured people
• $10,000 PDL per crash

These coverage minimums mean that the insurer will pay up to the amount to crash victims after a collision caused by its policyholder.

Compensation Available After a Car Crash in Seattle, WA

Car owners in Washington must carry auto insurance with bodily injury liability (BIL) and property damage liability (PDL) coverage. Liability insurance is an agreement between an insurer and a policyholder. The insurer pays third-party accident victims who suffer injuries or property losses due to the policyholder’s actions.

All Washington auto policies must have minimum claim limits of:

• $25,000 BIL for one injured person
• $50,000 BIL shared among multiple injured people
• $10,000 PDL per crash

These coverage minimums mean that the insurer will pay up to the amount to crash victims after a collision caused by its policyholder.

Time Limit for Car Crash Claims in Washington State

All states have a statute of limitations that sets the deadline for filing a car accident lawsuit. In Washington, you have three years from the date of your motor vehicle accident to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver.

However, before filing a lawsuit, most car accident claims begin with the other driver’s insurance company. Since the insurer will need time to review your claim, you should have your Seattle car accident lawyer start the process well before the deadline.

How Our Car Accident Attorneys in Seattle Will Help with Your Case

When you hire Seattle auto accident attorneys to handle your accident claim, they will:

• Discuss your car accident and injuries with you
• Gather evidence to support your car accident claim
• File an insurance claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company
• Communicate with the claims adjuster to fight any claim denials or reductions
• Negotiate to settle your insurance claim
• Prepare and file a lawsuit if the insurance company refuses to settle
• Conduct pretrial discovery and file pretrial motions
• Present your case to a jury at trial

Very few cases reach trial. Instead, most car accident cases will settle during the insurance claim or pretrial stages.

Why Hire Our Washington State Car Accident Lawyers to Handle Your Claim

Lehmbecker Law is a Seattle auto accident law firm representing clients throughout the Seattle metropolitan area. Benefits of working with the firm’s personal injury attorneys include:

The firm was established in 1986, making it a fixture among Seattle car accident attorneys. Over the past 37 years, the firm has also earned some of the legal profession’s highest honors, including:

• 10.0 Super rating from Avvo, its highest rating
• Distinguished rating from Martindale-Hubbell
• 2016 Client’s Choice Award from Avvo

The firm’s car accident attorneys handle all types of claims, including wrongful death claims after fatal car accidents.

We start working on your personal injury claim the day you hire us. We charge a contingency fee, so you pay no upfront fees and nothing if we cannot settle or win your case.