Fort Wayne Car Accident Lawyers

Car accidents happen every day in a big city like Fort Wayne, though that doesn’t make it any easier when one happens to you. A major collision can turn your world upside down, saddling you with punishing injuries and mounting medical bills while preventing you from earning the money to pay for them.

But if you have begun to lose hope, you should know that hope may be just around the corner: the Fort Wayne car accident lawyers at Hensley Legal Group are eager to provide you with the same level of service that Hoosiers have been enjoying since 1998. We are committed to helping you and your family when you need it most.

A dedicated Fort Wayne car accident attorney is ready to answer all of your questions now, so please call or text us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form.

Steps to Take After a Fort Wayne Car Accident

Fort Wayne saw 9,314 car accidents in 2022 alone, many of them physically and financially devastating. It can be difficult to know what to do after a serious crash, though there are certain steps that you should take to protect yourself and any Fort Wayne car accident case that you might have. Specifically, you should:

Move to a safe location – This may not be your last car accident of the day if you linger in the street for too long, so move to a safe location before attempting to do anything else.

Dial 911 – Police and emergency personnel will likely need to investigate your car accident and treat the injured. Dial 911 to request their presence if they have not already arrived, and don’t forget to give the responding officers a comprehensive account of what occurred, as an inaccurate police report could come back to haunt you.

Seek medical attention – Speaking of treating the injured, seek medical attention if you suspect you were hurt in the crash, whether from paramedics on site or at the nearest emergency room. But no matter where you are first examined, it is critical not to delay. Gaps in care could hinder your recovery and allow doubt to be cast on the extent and relevance of your injuries.

Exchange information – To ensure that you will be able to identify the individuals and entities who harmed you, you should exchange key information with everyone involved in the car accident, such as:

- Name

- Address

- Phone number

- Email

- Driver’s license

- Insurance company and policy number

- Vehicle year, make, and model

- License plate

Write down the names and numbers of any witnesses as well, since independent confirmation of what took place could be invaluable.

Take pictures and shoot videos – Visual documentation of the crash could also be invaluable, so try to take pictures and shoot videos of your surroundings.

Get in touch with your insurer – Whether or not prompt notification is a requirement of your auto insurance policy, getting in touch with your insurer right away could permit you to take advantage of any available benefits, which might include reimbursement for physician visits, towing, repairs, and rentals.

Avoid other insurance companies – The insurance companies for the other parties may want to get in touch with you too. However, because anything you say could be used against you, you may want to avoid them for the moment. Instead…

Talk to a lawyer – A skilled Fort Wayne car accident attorney could analyze the facts leading up to your injury and determine the best course of action for your case.

Common Fort Wayne Car Accidents

Car accidents can come in a wide variety of forms, and the form that your own accident takes could have significant implications for your case. Some of the most common Fort Wayne car accidents include:

Rear-end crashes – Almost 25 percent of car accidents are collisions from behind, which are typically the result of drivers following the vehicles ahead of them too closely (“tailgating”) or not paying enough attention. Most rear-end crashes are “fender benders” at lower speeds, though the velocity achieved on highways like Fort Wayne’s own I-469 could initiate a chain reaction with multiple vehicles.

Head-on collisions – While they are less frequent than rear-end crashes, head-on collisions can be much more destructive, making up ten percent of vehicular fatalities despite making up only two percent of total accidents.

Rollovers – Similarly lethal are rollovers, which are responsible for nearly one out of three passenger vehicle deaths, with occupants of SUVs and other vehicles with higher centers of gravity in the greatest jeopardy of falling victim to these kinds of disasters.

T-bone accidents – When the front of one car hits the side of another, the force generated can be enormous, particularly to anyone seated at the point of impact.

Just as car accidents can have different forms, they can have different causes as well, though driver error is statistically to blame in 94 percent of all collisions. Some of the top driver-related causes of Fort Wayne car accidents include:

Speeding – Driving too fast is the number one factor in auto accidents. Speeding drivers have less time to react but need more time to stop, a potentially deadly combination.

Distraction – Distracted driving is second only to speeding as a source of car accidents, killing nine motorists nationwide each day. Though it has long been a concern, distraction has become an epidemic with the rise of cellphones, which currently contribute to 12 percent of domestic collisions.

Inebriation – Even after decades of tougher penalties and compelling public awareness campaigns, inebriation behind the wheel remains an ongoing problem in Indiana, where law enforcement makes a DUI arrest every 11.98 hours.

Fatigue – Driving while fatigued can be as dangerous as driving while drunk. One study even found that going 20 hours without sleep could produce the same degree of impairment as having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent, the legal threshold for intoxication in Fort Wayne.

But regardless of the nature of your Fort Wayne car accident, the losses that you may incur could be far beyond what you could manage without assistance – assistance you could get from the Fort Wayne car accident lawyers at Hensley Legal Group.

What Hensley’s Fort Wayne Car Accident Attorneys Can Do for You

Once retained, Hensley’s Fort Wayne car accident attorneys will work tirelessly to uncover everyone who may have been liable for your injuries within the time allotted by law, acting swiftly to amass the materials to construct your claim, such as:

Police reports

Citations and dispositions

Eyewitness statements

Dash cam, streetlight, and surveillance footage

Black box data

Phone records

Driving histories

Maintenance logs

Accident reconstruction and forensic analysis

After putting together a rock-solid case against all of the defendants, we will enter into negotiations with their insurance carriers to secure a settlement that reflects ALL of your losses, including your:

Medical expenses

Lost income

Pain and suffering

Mental and emotional trauma

Diminished quality of living

Mobility restrictions

Loss of consortium

Punitive and wrongful death damages (if applicable)

And if we do not receive an offer that is worthy of your claim, we are not afraid to go to trial for a verdict that is, in stark contrast to many of our competitors, who rarely, if ever, venture into a courtroom.

No two Fort Wayne car accidents are exactly alike, but we will always strive to get you maximum compensation for yours.

You Won’t Pay Unless We Win

You may be reluctant to agree to more expenditures when you can least afford them, but our firm works on a contingency basis.  This means that you will never have to pay us anything unless our Fort Wayne car accident attorneys win your case. 

We took you on as a client because we believe in you, and we are willing to take on every risk in order to make you whole again.

Reach Out to Our Fort Wayne Car Accident Lawyers

Hensley Legal Group has been fighting for hardworking people just like you for over a quarter century. If you have been hurt through no fault of your own, reach out to our Fort Wayne car accident lawyers to explore your legal options.

You can schedule a free consultation with an accomplished Fort Wayne personal injury attorney by calling or texting us at (317) 472-3333, chatting with us online, or filling out our contact form today.