Orange County
Car Accident Attorney

Car accidents are one of the leading causes of preventable injury and death among all age groups in California and across the United States. According to California Local, “In the first six months of 2023 alone, more than 2,000 human beings died in California traffic, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.” A large portion of these accidents take place in Orange County. The California Office of Traffic Safety estimates that there were 12,798 injury collisions in Orange County alone for 2020. These accidents can have a profound impact on both individuals and families. It is therefore very important for accident victims to seek out the guidance of an experienced car crash attorney.

At Samer Habbas & Associates, our Orange County car accident lawyers have decades of experience helping people get the support and justice that they need. Our law firm has recovered hundreds of millions for victims all across the state. We have successfully litigated some of the most complex cases out there and have helped our clients walk away with numerous 7-figure settlements. If you’ve been injured in a California car accident, don’t wait to get the support that you need in order to recover. You can reach out to our law firm anytime for a risk-free consultation at (949) 727-9300.

Common Causes of Orange County Car Accidents

Though no two car accidents are the same, many collisions are remarkably similar in terms of their cause. In particular, many crashes are caused by drivers that were simply following the lead vehicle too closely and failing to slow down in time. Part of being a safe driver entails that you maintain adequate space between yourself and the lead vehicle in front of you. There are many other common causes of car accidents.

• Distracted Driving: Many collisions are caused by distracted drivers. Distracted driving can encompass a variety of behaviors, including texting, eating, using GPS, and conversations with other passengers.
• Driving Under The Influence: Roughly 32% of all fatal crashes in the United States involve a driver who is operating their vehicle under the influence of alcohol. Even moderate amounts of alcohol below the legal limit can substantially impair a person’s ability to operate their vehicle safely. But many other substances could also impair a driver, including medications.

• Speeding: The NHTSA estimates that roughly 29% of all car accidents are caused by speeding. A driver may not realize that they could be speeding even when they are traveling the speed limit. What matters is the prevailing conditions of the road, which may require that a driver travel far less than the listed speed limit.
• Poor Road Conditions: Defects with a roadway can also contribute to a car accident. This could include roads that have potholes or lack appropriate traffic signals to regulate the movement of vehicles.
• Inclement Weather: California and Orange County tend to have beautiful weather for most of the year. Drivers throughout California are often not experienced with operating their vehicles during rain, snow, or other forms of inclement weather. These conditions can play a big role in causing a car accident.
• Vehicle System Defects: There are many different types of vehicle defects that could contribute to a car accident. Some of these may be inherent to a vehicle, such as a faulty steering system or poor brakes. Other types of defects might present themselves over time and due to a lack of maintenance. Badly worn-out tires are more likely to experience catastrophic failures, such as blowouts.

It is critical that all drivers take reasonable steps in order to prevent collisions. At a minimum, this includes getting enough sleep and avoiding intoxicating substances like alcohol. Drivers should also maintain their vehicle at a safe speed and give plenty of space to the vehicles ahead of them. Another major part of being a safe driver is taking your car in periodically for required maintenance.

Car Accident Claims That Our Law Firm Handles

Our law firm handles a variety of different car accident claims. This includes rear-end collisions, which are some of the most common types of accidents that occur on the road. We fight aggressively to ensure that victims of these collisions are properly compensated. There is simply no excuse for a driver to rear-end another vehicle on the roadway. These accidents are nearly always the result of speeding or following a vehicle too closely. What follows are just a few of the other common types of cases that we can handle.

• Head-On Collisions: A head-on collision can result in serious injuries for occupants of both vehicles. They account for a relatively small number of the total collisions that take place, but they are involved in a disproportionately high number of traffic fatalities.
• T-Bone Accidents: A t-bone collision occurs when a vehicle is struck on the side by another vehicle. These types of accidents nearly always happen at intersections, which is where vehicles routinely cross paths perpendicularly to one another. Like head-on collisions, t-bone collisions may leave victims with traumatic injuries and often result in death.
• Multi-Vehicle Pileups: There are a number of situations where many different vehicles could all be involved in a crash in a relatively short period of time. One of the most common circumstances where this could happen is when there is one collision and the roadways are icy. Drivers who see the crash ahead of them aren’t able to slow down in time and subsequently keep hitting other vehicles ahead of them.
• Hit-and-Run Collisions: A hit-and-run collision can leave victims feeling powerless. However, there are steps that can be taken to help identify hit-and-run drivers and get victims justice. This includes collecting any fragments of the fleeing vehicle and reviewing all possible surveillance footage that may have captured the accident.

There is no case too large or too difficult for us to handle. We can even handle cases where accident victims may have been partially at fault for the collision. Car accidents in California are adjudicated on the basis of comparative negligence. In other words, if a victim is partially at fault for a collision, they can still recover damages. But any award that they are given through the court system is reduced proportionately by their assigned level of fault.

Common Injuries Associated With Car Accidents

Car accidents can leave victims with long-term trauma that may impact them for the rest of their lives. The use of seat belts is associated with a dramatic reduction in injury severity for car accidents. According to the NHTSA, “Seat belt use in passenger vehicles saved an estimated 14,955 lives in 2017.” Even when the driver and all passengers in a vehicle are wearing seat belts, there are a number of common injuries that crash victims are still likely to experience.

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): Any type of blunt force trauma to a person’s head in a car accident can result in them sustaining a traumatic brain injury. These injuries can range dramatically in terms of severity and may result in minor concussions and neurodegenerative illnesses like Alzheimer’s. Symptoms commonly associated with TBIs include memory loss, depression, blurred vision, fatigue, and seizures.

Spinal Cord Injuries: The sudden impact of a car accident can seriously damage a person’s spinal cord. This could include fractured vertebrae and compression injuries. A person’s spinal cord controls their nervous system, and any damage could potentially result in long-term disability and even paralysis.

• Broken Bones and Fractures: High-speed collisions are often associated with broken bones and other fractures. For drivers, one of the most common injuries is fractures to a person’s wrist. Passengers can also sustain fractures to their arms and legs if they are thrown to one side of a vehicle.
• Whiplash and Soft Tissue Injuries: The most common types of injuries that a person might sustain in a car accident are whiplash and soft tissue injuries. These involve injuries to a person’s joints and muscles. They usually heal over time but may involve a lot of soreness and restrict a person’s mobility.
• Internal Injuries: Many injuries associated with car accidents are not outwardly visible. A number of accident victims sustained damage to their internal organs. This may include damage to a person’s kidneys, liver, spleen, heart, or lungs.

In addition to physical injuries, it is also common for car accident victims to suffer long-term psychological trauma. Victims often report having nightmares about the incident. The trauma could also cause them to engage in avoidance behavior, which may involve not driving altogether for long periods. The only way for a person to fully understand the severity of their injuries is to seek immediate medical care after an accident. Follow-up care is also very important and can help track how a person’s injuries are healing.

Why You Should Retain an Orange County Car Accident Lawyer

There are a number of reasons accident victims should hire an Orange County car accident lawyer if they’ve been involved in a collision. Among other things, lawyers have a deep understanding of all the local traffic laws and regulations that could apply to your case. They can use this knowledge to demonstrate that the other party or parties involved in your collision were negligent. An attorney can be useful in a number of other ways.

• Negotiations: An attorney can negotiate with insurance companies to help get you a reasonable and fair settlement. Insurance providers are incentivized to do everything in their power to pay accident victims as little as possible. By contrast, your attorney has the exact opposite set of incentives. Their only goal is to make sure that you get as much as possible for your injuries.
• Gathering Evidence: Another essential role that attorneys play is gathering all of the related evidence associated with your case. This could include accident reports, surveillance footage, and medical records. They can even gather evidence from the opposing party, which may help to demonstrate liability. By gathering all of this evidence, they are ultimately trying to build the best case possible for you.
• Maximizing Compensation: There are no hard rules when it comes to how much compensation a person should receive for any injury. This is especially true when it comes to quantifying the pain and suffering a car accident has caused a person to endure. One of the most critical roles that an attorney plays is taking steps to put your case in the best possible light so that you get the most money for what you’ve gone through.

One of the best reasons to hire an injury attorney is that they do not charge any money upfront. Orange County Car accident attorneys work entirely off of a contingency fee basis. They only get paid by the opposing party’s insurance provider if they are able to successfully resolve your case. If they are not successfully able to resolve your case, you don’t owe them anything. This is a win-win for both parties.

Steps Involved in Advancing a Car Accident Claim

The prospect of hiring an Orange County car accident attorney may seem daunting at first to some people. But the truth of the matter is that the process is relatively straightforward and stress-free. Here is a basic outline of the steps associated with filing a car accident claim.

• Step 1: The first part of the process is speaking with an attorney to get a free consultation and case evaluation. If you have a case that can be pursued, you will sign a retainer, which allows an attorney to legally represent you and begin taking action on your behalf.
• Step 2: The second part of the process will involve your attorney doing everything they can to investigate your accident and collect all relevant evidence. This can include police reports, medical records, witness statements, and much more.
• Step 3: The third part of the process involves your attorney filing a claim or lawsuit. Your attorney may send a demand letter to the defendant’s insurance provider and ask for a certain amount of compensation. In an ideal situation, they will offer the requested amount and the case resolves relatively quickly. When this doesn’t happen, a lawsuit may need to be filed.
• Step 4: The fourth part of the process involves an attorney engaging in negotiations with a defendant’s insurance provider. They will present evidence to the insurance provider, which may show medical bills and lost wages. There will be a lot of offers and counter-offers in the hopes that a resolution can be achieved.
• Step 5: Assuming that all goes well, the insurance provider will offer a settlement that you and your attorney can choose to accept. If you and your attorney are unhappy with the insurance provider’s settlement offer, there is also the option to take the case to a jury trial.

The vast majority of cases end up settling out of court. But there are still some cases that do go to a jury trial. A jury trial can be very risky for both parties. A jury might rule in favor of the defendant, in which case it could be very hard for an injury victim to recoup any damages for what they’ve gone through.

Compensation That Accident Victims Are Entitled To

Car accident victims often suffer very serious and traumatic injuries. These injuries can impact them for the rest of their lives. This may include preventing a person from working for long periods of time. They could also be left with long-term pain, which significantly reduces their quality of life. Accident victims are entitled to primarily three different types of damages to address these issues.

• Economic Damages: These are the damages that directly relate to tangible financial losses associated with a collision. This may include all of the medical expenses that a person incurs due to a collision, such as surgeries and rehabilitation costs. It also covers all of the future medical bills that a person may need. In addition to medical bills, accidents can also cause a person to lose money through time away from work.
• Non-Economic Damages: These are the damages for things that are more intangible and impact a person’s overall quality of life. For example, an accident could cause a person a great deal of pain and suffering. It may also prevent them from enjoying life as they previously did prior to the accident. An accident might cause a person to give up their favorite sports, such as basketball, soccer, horseback riding, or hiking.
• Punitive Damages: Plaintiffs may receive punitive damages for certain cases. Punitive damages are relatively rare and designed to punish defendants for conduct that was particularly horrendous. For example, a car manufacturer may need to pay punitive damages if they knowingly allowed unsafe cars onto the roadway prior to a series of fatal collisions.

There are a number of tricks and dirty tactics that insurance companies may try to use to avoid paying a fair settlement for any car accident. They may try to claim that a person’s injuries were not that severe. It is also possible that they may argue that the victim was actually at fault or mostly at fault. In order to receive the most compensation for any crash, it is crucial that accident victims have the best car accident lawyer to advocate on their behalf.

Why You Should Choose Samer Habbas & Associates

The Orange County car accident lawyers at Samer Habbas & Associates have decades of experience helping victims of car accidents get the medical and financial support that they need in order to recover. We understand the traumatic impact that these accidents can have on individuals and families. When a person doesn’t have the money to pay for food, rent, medical bills, and basic necessities due to a car accident, winning is the only thing that matters.

Our car accident law firm has consistently achieved some of the highest verdicts and settlements for victims in California. This includes an $11 million settlement for a client catastrophically injured in a truck accident. We were also able to achieve a $1.5 million settlement for an 86-year-old client who suffered a traumatic brain injury following a t-bone collision. Prior to the settlement offer, the adverse insurance company denied our client’s claim and was even placing the blame on them.

When you are our client, you can rest assured that no company or insurance provider is going to bully you around and put their own interest ahead of yours. In total, we have recovered over $350 million for our clients all across the state. This has been made possible by our relentless commitment to justice and the personalized attention that we give each case. There are absolutely no fees to hire us to represent you. We get paid entirely from the adverse party’s insurance provider after we successfully resolve your claim.

Getting Legal Help After A Car Accident

In order to preserve your rights and collect the compensation you were entitled to, accident victims need to act with a sense of urgency. The longer you wait to act after any car accident, additional barriers or challenges may present themselves. An attorney can take steps early on to ensure that your case is as strong as possible so that you can get all of the support that you are entitled to. The Orange County car accident lawyers at Samer Habbas & Associates can help you no matter what stage you’re at in dealing with the aftermath of a car accident.

Have you or someone that you care about been injured in a car accident in California? You may be entitled to financial compensation. We are committed to providing each client with compassionate and effective legal representation to help get them the best outcome possible. Our law firm will always ensure that your needs are put first. If taking your case to trial is what’s needed to get the best outcome, that is exactly what we will do. We prepare every case for the possibility that it may need to go before a jury. Whether you just have legal questions or are thinking about hiring an attorney, we are here for you. You can reach out to us anytime at (949) 727-9300. 

 Frequently Asked Questions