State Laws Can Affect Your Brain Injury Case
Injuries sustained in accidents can range from minor to severe. Your accident may only result in a few scrapes and bruises, or your injuries may be more severe like brain trauma. Just the thought of a brain injury is more than unnerving, as a brain injury often changes every aspect of your life.
With more than 2.8 million brain injury diagnoses annually, it’s not surprising if this is a factor in your injury case. However, state laws can affect every aspect of your case. To help inform you and improve your chances of a good outcome, here’s what you need to know about Georgia state laws and how they can potentially affect your brain injury case.
Causes of Brain Injuries
Brain juries can range from a mild headache that goes away in a few hours or days to something more catastrophic that affects every aspect of your life.
When your daily life is affected, it’s often due to a traumatic brain injury. The symptoms can vary from a mild concussion to memory loss and even an inability to take care of normal bodily functions. So, what are the common causes of a brain injury? This can range from a simple back-and-forth motion involving the neck and head to something more severe.
If you’re stuck on the head, there’s a possibility of a brain injury. Shaking the head and neck area can also result in an injury, along with falling and striking our head. Remember, it’s not only vehicle accidents that can result in a brain injury. You can experience the same injuries in a slip-and-fall or other types of accident.
So, when it comes to what causes a brain injury, it can be anything that affects the area around your head and neck.
Statute of Limitations and Your Brain Injury
When you think about a brain injury and the possible consequences, time should be on your side—however, Georgia and other states have strict statutes of limitations when it comes to filing an injury claim. This means that if you delay filing a personal injury claim, you may miss the statute of limitations. Your case may be automatically dismissed due to the missed deadline.
In Georgia, you have two years from the date of the accident to file a claim for a brain injury. If you’re hoping to find an exception to the statute of limitations, there’s a good chance you’re out of luck. Typically, the only exemptions apply to minors and plaintiffs unable to participate in their cases.
As a minor, you can’t legally file a claim for a brain injury, which means the statute of limitations may not start until your 18th birthday. If your brain injury is severe enough to prevent you from participating in your claim, the statute may also be extended.
The extension may apply until you’re deemed able by your medical team to participate in your brain injury claim case. The court may also need time to appoint a guardian on your behalf, but this technically only applies if your brain injury leaves you unable to participate in your case. Since this process can take time, the statute of limitations may be exceeded in the past two years.
Comparative Negligence May Affect Your Case
The concept of comparative negligence can seem a little intimidating at an initial glance. The rule states you can recover damages for your injuries even when you’re partially responsible for the incident. Still feeling a little confused, don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Comparative negligence means that as long as you’re not more than 50% responsible for the accident that results in your injuries, you can file a claim for damages. So, if your accident resulting in a brain injury is 30% your fault, you can file a claim for damages. However, your settlement amount will be reduced by the same percentage as your blame.
To ensure you receive a full and fair settlement, you need to prove the accident and resulting injury aren’t entirely your fault.
Proving Negligence in Brain Injury Cases
Knowing that your brain injury is present and proving it can be difficult. You must prove the basic elements of negligence. In other words, prove your brain injury isn’t the result of your actions independent of others.
So, what elements do you need to prove? There are a few elements you need to meet.
Duty of Care
Duty of care can be a little confusing. You must prove that your brain injury is the result of someone else failing to exercise reasonable care. This can include anything from failing to yield to oncoming traffic to forgetting to clean up a spill on the floor.
When you enter a business or a friend/family home, you expect to leave without injury. If you sustain a brain injury, it may be due to negligence. There’s an expectation that the property or business is safe. This also applies to other drivers on the road.
Breach of Duty and Causation
The next two parts of a brain injury case are a breach of duty of care and causation. These elements in your brain injury case can be a little complicated.
For breach of duty, you must prove that the individual responsible for your brain injury acted without reasonable care. This can mean showing the other driver ran a red light, and this is the reason you sustained a brain injury. If the at-fault driver had followed traffic laws, your brain injury would not have occurred.
So you now know that breach of duty means the other responsible party didn’t exercise reasonable care, and this means they didn’t behave the way you expect of someone else. This behavior also leads to causation. You must show that the actions of the other party directly lead to your brain injury.
Going Beyond State Law With Your Brain Injury Case
State laws definitely play an important role in a brain injury case, but that doesn’t mean you have to take the first settlement that comes your way. It’s true that the responsibility to prove your case falls on you, but with the right legal guidance, you can still secure the compensation you deserve.
Teaming up with a seasoned accident attorney can make a significant difference. They bring a wealth of experience to the table, which can be a game-changer in negotiating a fair settlement. So, even though the legal journey might seem daunting, having an expert attorney by your side can enhance your chances of achieving a just outcome in your case.
