Ashland, KY, Car Accident Lawyer

There’s nothing more frightening than to be driving with your family or friend on a Kentucky roadway and then, suddenly, you’re slammed into by another vehicle driven by a distracted or drunk driver. Shattered glass is flying everywhere, metal is crushed and twisted, and passengers are thrown across seats and into the dashboard. In many crashes, people are seriously injured or killed. Injuries from car accidents can leave you laid up in a hospital bed for days or weeks, and crash victims often miss many days of work, which means less money coming in to pay bills. It’s like a perfect storm that can leave you discouraged and in pain. If you or a loved one has been injured in a vehicle crash, you may be entitled to financial compensation. This is especially true if the accident was caused by someone else’s negligence. A skilled and experienced Ashland car accident lawyer can fight aggressively for your rights to get the justice you deserve. You don’t have to get stuck with expensive medical bills and lost wages. Call Billy Johnson Law Firm at 606-437-4488 to learn more about how we can help.

Causes of Car Accidents in Ashland

An Ashland car accident attorney explains why crashes can be deadly.

Usually, vehicle collisions in Boyd County are not actually accidents. People do not accidentally drive carelessly and cause collisions. Instead, negligence, or a lack of care, causes most of the vehicle collisions in Kentucky. Driver impairment is one of the leading causes of car crashes. Common forms of driver impairment include:

• Alcohol: Despite a decades-long crackdown on drunk drivers, alcohol still causes about a third of the fatal car crashes in Ashland. The impairing effects of alcohol begin with the first sip. That’s well before drivers are legally intoxicated.
• Drugs: Marijuana and prescription pain pills, both of which are legal to take, at least in some cases, are the leading causes of stoned driving in Boyd County. Much like alcohol, the impairing effects of these powerful drugs usually begin with the first puff or pill.
• Fatigue: Drowsiness and alcohol affect the brain and body in much the same way. In fact, driving after eighteen consecutive awake hours is like driving with a .05 BAC level. That’s above the legal limit for many Kentucky drivers.
• Medical Condition: People with serious medical conditions, like epilepsy, know they could suddenly lose consciousness and they shouldn’t drive. Too many times, they get behind the wheel anyway. Mild or moderate illnesses, like the flu, can reduce driving ability by as much as 50%.

Aggressive driving also causes many crashes. This category includes speeding, changing lanes unsafely, tailgating, and ignoring a traffic control device. Driver errors cause over 95% of the car wrecks in Ashland. Defective products, such as defective tires, cause a handful of wrecks. Usually, manufacturers are strictly liable for the injuries their defective products cause. There’s no need to prove fault or negligence. Defective road design and maintenance, like defective guardrails, cause a few wrecks as well. Car accident injury claims against a city, county, state, or another government entity are legally complex.

Damages You May Be Entitled To

A skilled car accident attorney in Ashland will fight aggressively for you.

There are a variety of damages you may be entitled to depending on the nature of the crash, the severity of your injuries, and who was at fault. Economic Damages

• Medical expenses (current and future)
• Lost wages
• Diminished earning potential
• Property damages
• Funeral and burial expenses (wrongful death)

Non-Economic Damages

• Shock and mental anguish
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of consortium (loss of companionship for your spouse)
• Emotional distress
• Scarring and disfigurement

Punitive Damages (does not always apply) Punitive damages are in addition to economic and non-economic damages, and they are sometimes imposed by a judge who wants to punish a defendant for negligence that is especially egregious or for a previous record of safety violations. Punitive damages are meant to warn other potential offenders who might be tempted to do the same thing.

Common Injuries in Car Accidents

When you or a loved one is involved in a car or truck accident, you can be catapulted into the windshield, crushed by twisted metal, or cut by flying glass. Many severe injuries can result from a car accident in Ashland. Some common injuries include:

• Concussion
• TBI and brain injury
• Broken bones
• Neck and spinal cord injuries
• Internal bleeding
• Cuts, abrasions, and puncture wounds
• Burns
• Organ damage
• Paralysis
• Wrongful death.

If you have sustained a serious injury in a car accident, follow these steps to ensure your protection and safety:

1. Call 911 and ask for police to respond to the scene.
2. Seek medical attention right away.
3. Get the driver’s license and insurance information of the other driver.
4. Get names and contact info of any bystanders or eyewitnesses.
5. If you are able, take pictures with your phone of your injuries, damage to both vehicles, and the accident site itself.
6. Answer police questions succinctly but do not elaborate or acknowledge fault.
7. Hire an Ashland car accident lawyer to represent you.

Deadliest Roadways in Kentucky

In 2019 there were 156,758 vehicle collisions on Kentucky’s public roads in which 732 people were killed and 32,871 were injured, according to traffic collision facts from Kentucky State Police. One in 133 Kentucky residents were injured in traffic accidents. About 66% of crashes involved two or more moving vehicles and 16% were collisions with fixed objects. Roughly 3,069 were collisions with deer. About 35% of all collisions occurred on Kentucky’s “State Numbered” roads, and 49% of all fatalities occurred on these roads. About 22% of all collisions happened on city streets. The 5 deadliest interstates in Kentucky are:

• I-64
• I-75
• I-65
• I-24
• I-265.

The deadliest parkways in Kentucky for traffic crashes are:

• Bluegrass Parkway
• Purchase Parkway
• Daniel Boone Parkway.

Different Types of Crashes

There are several different kinds of vehicle crashes you can be involved in. Some tend to be more deadly than others. Crash types include:

• Rear-end collision
• Side-impact collision
• Sideswipe collision
• Rollover
• Head-on collision
• Single-car accident
• Multiple-vehicle pile-up
• Pedestrian collision.

Statute of Limitations on Car Accident Claims in Ashland

The statute of limitations, which is unusually short in Kentucky, gives car accident and other personal injury victims a limited amount of time to act. Usually, the statute of limitations is a hard deadline. A judge could throw out a claim if it is filed even a day after the deadline expires. However, this time clock doesn’t always start running when an accident happens. Under the discovery rule, victims do not have to file claims until they know the full extent of their losses and they connect those losses with a person’s negligence. This rule often comes up in sexual abuse, toxic exposure, dangerous drug side-effects, and other such personal injury claims.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Prestonsburg Car Accident Lawyer?

Here’s the good news. An Ashland car accident lawyer at Billy Johnson Law Firm works on contingency, which means that we don’t get paid until you get paid. Your legal fees are paid by the defendant as part of a settlement agreement or jury award. If for some reason your claim is not successful, then you owe us nothing. You don’t have to worry about up-front money to hire our attorney to represent you.

Choosing the Best Car Accident Lawyer in Ashland, KY

Billy Johnson Law Firm stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The skilled attorneys at our law firm fight hard to get the justice our clients deserve. We are aggressive with opponents and compassionate toward our clients. We understand that you’ve been through a traumatic experience and your family may be scared and suffering. We’ve helped countless clients walk through the frightening experience of car crash injuries. We’ll stand beside you every step of the way. To learn more about our legal team, you can see our attorney bios here. You can read testimonials from our happy and satisfied clients. You can also review our successful verdicts and settlements.

Contact Billy Johnson Law Firm Today

If you’ve been injured in a crash, you don’t have to go it alone. Let a skilled and experienced Ashland car accident lawyer fight for the compensation you deserve. The Billy Johnson Law Firm is committed to getting you justice! To find out about how we can help, call us at 606-437-4488.