Wrong-Way Driver Car Accident Lawyer

In an average year, Michigan has close to 300,000 traffic accidents. Unfortunately, driver error or negligence causes the majority of these crashes. Wrong-way collisions are on the rise, many of them causing multiple deaths and serious injuries.

Wrong-way accident victims often need help in the days, weeks, and months following their crashes. The Mike Morse Law Firm provides competent legal assistance.

Do You Need a Wrong-Way Accident Lawyer?

You can try to handle your case without legal help. However, most people receive significantly more compensation with a lawyer on their side. You may be unaware of some damages you can seek, and insurance companies aren’t likely to tell you about them voluntarily.

Mike Morse and his team will fight to win maximum compensation for you; you deserve it. We’ll try to negotiate a reasonable settlement offer, but we’ll recommend filing a civil lawsuit if we believe that’s the best course of action.

We also provide other assistance to our clients. We will:

• Explain your legal options and provide advice
• Serve as your spokesperson with insurance company investigators and representatives
• Complete and submit your paperwork
• Investigate your accident thoroughly
• Update you regularly
• Use our vast resources to fight for your best interests

Although the Mike Morse Law Firm is Michigan’s largest personal injury firm, we give each client personal attention.

Eligible survivors may have grounds to file a wrongful death suit if someone dies as a result of a wrong-way accident. If the deceased person could have filed a valid personal injury claim if they had lived, you can usually make these claims. Check with the Mike Morse Law Firm to see if you meet the requirements.

Why Will We Investigate Your Wrong-Way Accident?

The cause of most wrong-way accidents is clear: a driver headed in the wrong direction hits someone else. We still need to perform an investigation regardless. We must gather evidence to prove who’s responsible and ensure that no undeserved fault falls on you.

Negligence

Negligence is the basis for most personal injury claims. To prove negligence, we will show that:

• The guilty party owed you a duty of care
• They breached their duty of care
• That breach resulted in a car accident
• You sustained injuries in that accident

When referring to driving, a duty of care is exercising reasonable caution to avoid harming yourself or others. All drivers assume that duty when they get behind the wheel of an automobile. When drivers do certain things, they’re being negligent. Examples include:

• Failing to follow traffic laws and signals
• Speeding
• Aggressive driving
• Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Wrong-way driving
• Distracted driving

Distracted driving causes many traffic accidents and can easily lead drivers to head in the wrong direction. A distraction is anything that makes you remove your hand(s) from the steering wheel or take your focus away from driving safely. Common examples are:

• Using any electronic device
• Adjusting controls
• Eating, drinking, and smoking
• Interacting with your passengers
• Reaching for something inside your vehicle
• Daydreaming
• Looking at scenery

Distractions can make you unintentionally drift into another lane of traffic, sometimes causing a collision. Wrong-way collisions are usually catastrophic.

Fault

Michigan is a no-fault state. Laws require Michigan drivers to obtain personal injury protection insurance, which pays for specific damages no matter who causes an accident. PIP policies might not cover all your expenses, so it’s still necessary to determine fault.

Every driver in an accident is assigned a degree of fault. Michigan uses a modified comparative negligence system. If you’re at least 50% responsible for causing your accident, you can’t seek non-economic damages. However, you can still recover a portion of your economic damages.

Suppose you’re 10% responsible for causing your wrong-way accident. You’re eligible to seek non-economic damages, but your economic damages will be reduced by 10%.

Economic Damages

Economic damages reimburse you for some expenses directly incurred because of your accident:

• Medical bills
• Lost wages
• Some daily costs
• Property damage

Be sure to keep your bills and receipts. In some cases, you may be able to seek compensation for future lost wages and medical expenses. Ask your attorney if you qualify.

Non-Economic Damages

If you qualify, non-economic damages compensate you for things like:

• Pain and suffering
• Anxiety, depression, and PTSD
• Inconvenience
• Permanent disfigurement
• Losing the ability to enjoy your life
• Personal or social relationship damage

The amount of compensation you receive may depend on how significantly these conditions impact your life. The Mike Morse Law Firm will fight to get as much as you deserve.

Exemplary Damages

If the person guilty of causing your wrong-way accident exhibited particularly despicable behaviors, you might receive exemplary damages. This award provides extra compensation for your negative experience, unlike punitive damages that punish defendants.

Why Are Wrong-Way Accidents Dangerous?

You probably know that hitting an object while traveling at 55 mph can create significant injuries and vehicle damage. What you may not realize is that that force is doubled in a head-on collision because both vehicles have force and momentum behind them. The impact force becomes 110 mph.

High-speed head-on collisions often force engines into passenger compartments, which can easily cause severe injuries and multiple fatalities. Many wrong-way accidents involve other vehicles as well.

If you see a car heading toward you in your lane, you’ll probably slow down and try to change course. Cars behind you might rear-end you or you may hit other vehicles traveling beside you. Chain reactions caused by a single driver headed the wrong way on the road can involve several vehicles.

Why Do People Drive the Wrong Way?

Most people who drive the wrong way don’t do it intentionally, but the results of a collision are the same regardless. If a driver heading the wrong way causes an accident and injures you, you deserve compensation. Some reasons that people drive in the wrong direction include:

• Restricted visibility: Heavy rain or snow, low-lying fog, dim headlights or streetlights, the sun’s glare, nighttime driving, and poor eyesight can make it difficult to realize that you’re in the wrong lane.
• Unfamiliar locations: One-way streets, inadequate signage, faded roadway markings, tricky construction zones, and GPS failures often confuse drivers.
• Driving under the influence: Alcohol and drugs (including some prescription medications) can impair your judgment, make concentrating on driving challenging, blur your vision, cause delayed reaction times, and may cause you to turn or drift into the wrong traffic lanes.
• Passing: Drivers intentionally enter wrong-way lanes to pass slow or stalled vehicles or other obstructions; if they don’t use extreme caution, they might cause a collision.

Motorists aren’t the only ones who are injured by wrong-way accidents. These cars can also hit pedestrians and cyclists who have minimal protection.

Why Should You Choose the Mike Morse Injury Law Firm?

Wrong-way accident claims are often complicated, but the attorneys at the Mike Morse Law Firm have proven experience handling them. We focus on car accident claims and know how to win; we’ve obtained more than $1.5 billion for our satisfied clients. We’ve earned a 5-star Google rating with over 2,500 reviews. Let us show you why.

You won’t pay any fees until we win your case. Request your no-obligation free case review 24/7. Reach out using live chat, call us at 855-MIKE-WINS or (855) 645-3946, send us an email, or submit our online contact form today.