Few details were immediately available after a driver struck and killed a 7-year-old boy riding a bicycle.
According to the police department, on Friday at approximately 3:45 p.m., a vehicle was traveling on Montrose Avenue and hit a young child on a bicycle. The driver stopped after the collision and remained on scene until police arrived. Police said officers and medical personnel provided first aid to the juvenile before he was transported to an area hospital. Despite the efforts of staff, the juvenile unfortunately passed away.
Police said additional details will be made available as the investigation progresses.
Since a San Jose car crash lawyer must prove negligence, or a lack of care, by a preponderance of the evidence, or more likely than not, evidence collection is usually the first priority in a personal injury claim. When little evidence is available, attorneys must often start from square one, and use the available evidence to piece together the events leading up to the wreck, as well as the wreck itself.
Electronic evidence, like a vehicle’s Event Data Recorder, is very useful in such situations. Depending on the make and model, an EDR usually measures and records information like:
Often, an attorney works with an accident reconstruction engineer to put these bits of evidence together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
EDRs are critical, but they’re often unavailable. Lawyers must work hard to get around California’s strict vehicle information privacy laws. Additionally, unless an attorney acts quickly, the insurance company might “accidentally” destroy such evidence.
Reinterpretation of other evidence is important as well. Medical bills are a good example. Normally, these documents communicate clinical “just the facts, ma’am” information about diagnosis, cost, and prognosis issues. However, an attorney often when working with a doctor, can read between the lines of these records and obtain additional evidence, like information about the victim’s pain level.
The compensation in a negligence case usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering. Usually, victims receive their compensation after mediation.
Most car crash claims settle out of court. Some settle rather quickly. A few even settle before a San Jose personal injury attorney files legal paperwork. Generally, however, insurance company lawyers drag their feet as much as possible. If that stance causes settlement negotiations to stall or break down, the judge usually orders the parties to attend mediation.Basically, mediation is a court-supervised settlement negotiation session. As mentioned, insurance companies often aren’t truly interested in settling claims. They’d rather drag the process out as long as possible.
During mediation, both sides have a legal duty to negotiate in good faith. Both sides must be willing to make some compromises in order to resolve the claim. Largely because of this additional wrinkle, mediation is usually successful.
Car crash claims are usually complex. For a free consultation with an experienced San Jose bicycle accident lawyer, contact the Solution Now Law Firm. We have offices in San Jose, Los Angeles, and Oakland.
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