St. Louis Distracted Driving Accident Lawyer

Distracted driving has long been a cause of car accidents. Historically, driving distractions were limited to eating a burger while driving or applying lipstick in traffic—both potentially dangerous driving behaviors. But in today’s world, distracted driving has exploded into a tremendous problem nationwide since smartphones became the centerpiece of all technology in our daily lives. Around 3,500 lives have been lost annually to distracted driving accidents each year during the last five years, and many thousands more motorists and pedestrians suffered serious injuries.

Distracted driving is an egregious form of driver negligence that leaves the distracted driver liable for an injury victim’s damages like medical costs, lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering. If you or a close family member suffered injuries due to a distracted driver, you need strong legal representation to ensure you have the most compelling case for recovering damages like medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Call the St. Louis distracted driving accident lawyers at Miller & Hine Attorneys at Law today for a free case consultation. We are ready to begin a strong legal strategy to recover your financial losses so you can focus on your physical recovery.

Why Choose Us For Your Distracted Driving Accident Attorneys in St. Louis?

The attorneys at Miller & Hine have deep compassion for those injured due to the reckless actions of distracted drivers behind the wheel. We represent clients from all walks of life with results-oriented strategies tailored for each unique case. We’ll work toward prompt action in your distracted driving claim and ensure the following advantages in your case:

• Over 50 years of combined legal experience in Missouri injury law
• An in-depth understanding of legal liability in car accidents, including those involving distracted drivers 
• Keen investigative skills to document the evidence you need to prove distracted driving negligence in your claim to maximize your chance for a large settlement
• A collaborative approach using the best team effort for creative solutions to complex cases
• Individualized attention to each client to carefully calculate damages and put a powerful voice behind your claim
• A reputation for success including a recent $610,000 settlement in a car accident claim

No one should take on a complex accident claim alone while they’re also recovering from injuries. The St. Louis car accident attorneys at Miller & Hine provide strong legal representation for those injured due to distracted driver negligence in St. Louis.

What is Distracted Driving?

When any activity diverts attention away from the task of driving and watching the road, it’s distracted driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it takes about five seconds to read the average text message. At 55 miles per hour, a vehicle travels about the length of a football field in the five seconds that the driver’s eyes are off the road. 

Distracted driving accident numbers have increased dramatically since people began using smartphones for activities such as texting, email, selecting playlists and podcasts, GPS directions, and social media. Distracted driving accidents are caused by inattention to the road due to the following:

• Texting, scrolling through social media, making phone calls, recording videos, checking email, using GPS, choosing music playlists, and any other hands-on cell phone features
• Eating while driving
• Applying makeup or grooming
• Interacting with children in the back seat
• Adjusting a sound system
• Picking up dropped items from the floor mat
• Daydreaming
• Reading or studying

Some studies show that even hands-free device use causes distraction. A driver should always have their full attention on the road to avoid causing an accident.

How Common is Distracted Driving?

An estimated nine motorists die every day due to distracted driving accidents and many more suffer serious injuries. Distracted driving also causes injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists. An alarming 587 pedestrians and cyclists died due to distracted driving collisions in 2020 alone. Cell phone records reveal that the average driver spends 1.38 minutes on their phone for every hour of driving. Cell phone use behind the wheel currently causes about 12 percent of car accidents in the United States.

How Do You Prove Distracted Driving in St. Louis?

All drivers have a duty to take reasonable actions to avoid causing injuries to others, including the duty to follow traffic laws and avoid distractions. When a driver allows their attention to wander from the roadway ahead, the consequences to themselves and others can be disastrous. It often takes an investigation to determine the cause of an accident, including distracted driving accidents. Proving driver distraction typically involves examining the police report to learn what law enforcement and emergency services found at the scene, such as an active cell phone or scattered food in a driver’s vehicle. In some cases, a stunned driver readily admits their distraction to the police by saying they were answering a text or by making statements such as “I only took my eyes off the road for a moment.”

An investigation may also rely on cell phone records, traffic camera footage, and eyewitness testimony.

A skilled distracted driving attorney from Miller & Hine will investigate the accident and document evidence of driver distraction to meet the following legal points of liability by showing the following:

• The at-fault driver owed a duty of care to others on the road to take reasonable measures to avoid causing injury
• They breached their duty of care through negligent or reckless actions behind the wheel
• Their breach of duty directly caused the accident and injuries
• The injury victim suffered significant economic and non-economic damages from the accident

Once your attorney has clear evidence of liability, they’ll send a demand package with the evidence and a list of carefully calculated damages to the insurance company of the at-fault party. Under the state’s comparison negligence insurance laws, if a distracted driver is 100 percent at fault for a car accident, the injury victims can recover full compensation for their damages.

What Damages Are Available for Compensation in Distracted Driving Cases in Missouri?

After a car accident, expenses quickly mount. Damages in a car accident are far more than just property damage to a vehicle. Common damages claimed for compensation in car accident claims—including distracted driving cases‒include the following:

• Property damage to a vehicle and personal items
• Medical expenses
• Future medical costs
• Lost wages
• Future lost income
• Diminished future earning capacity (if left with a disability)
• Pain and suffering
• Other non-economic damages that apply in individual cases such as loss of enjoyment of life, diminished life quality, disfigurement, traumatic limb loss, loss of consortium (the full physical and emotional relationship with a loved one), or PTSD

If the distracted driving accident caused a fatality, close family members can recover additional damages in a wrongful death claim including funeral expenses and compensation for the loss of income for the working years the deceased family member would have continued earning had they not died from their injuries.

What to Do After a Distracted Driving Accident in St. Lous

The aftermath of a serious car accident is traumatic and confusing, especially if you have painful injuries or injured family members. In some cases, you could be far too hurt to do anything but wait for help to arrive, but if you’re able to move safely, taking certain steps after the accident can help you recover both physically and financially. Use your cell phone or ask an uninjured person to help you by using a cell phone to do the following:

• First, call 911 to report the accident and request police and EMS
• Give reasonable aid and comfort to anyone injured if it doesn’t cause you further injury
• Snap photos of the damaged vehicles
• Take photos of anything relevant to the accident, including the entire accident scene, the positioning of the involved vehicles, and any traffic signs or signals
• Photograph any visible injuries
• Record your statement about what you remember about the accident since trauma often fades memory later
• Add the contact information of the other driver
• Add the contact information of eyewitnesses

Often, eyewitnesses are the key to proving that a distracted driver caused the accident. Eyewitnesses may see the other driver on the phone or searching for dropped sunglasses during the moments before the accident. Eyewitnesses also sometimes verify facts such as confirming that a driver failed to stop for a stop sign or red light. When there are no traffic cameras in place to capture video of an accident, an eyewitness is critical to the case. Sadly, they often leave the scene before giving the police their contact information.

What to Do In the Hours and Days After a Distracted Driving Accident Causes Injuries

Always go directly to the hospital from the scene of the accident. This is crucial for addressing any emergency medical care you need and ensuring ample evidence that your injuries occurred in the accident. Ask for a complete medical evaluation and then do the following:

• Tell the doctor about all of your symptoms, even those that seem minor
• Promptly report any new symptoms you experience, since adrenaline often masks injury symptoms for some time after an accident
• Ask for a detailed medical report listing every injury, the treatment the doctor recommends for your injuries, and your prognosis for recovering from each injury
• Obtain a copy of the police report from your accident
• Avoid posting on social media

Always call an experienced car accident lawyer after a serious accident, especially if you suspect the other driver was distracted and caused the accident. Don’t talk to anyone from the insurance company until you’ve hired an attorney from Miller & Hine to represent you. Insurance companies protect their profits and commonly use predictable tactics to undervalue or wrongfully deny valid claims.

Common Measures Insurance Companies Use Against Injury Victims

Sadly, insurance companies are private businesses with profits as their motive. Despite their reassuring ads, they are not on your side—especially if you have extensive damages and they want to avoid a hefty payout on your claim. In Missouri, a car accident injury victim has the burden of proving the other party at fault in the accident to recover full compensation under the state’s pure comparison negligence insurance laws. Insurance companies may do the following to protect their profits at your expense:

• Call very soon after the accident with a settlement offer that’s far lower than the amount you’re entitled to. Often, this offer comes well before you know the full extent of the economic damages you are facing. Settlements also require you to sign away your right to a lawsuit. Never sign an early settlement agreement, but instead, speak to your attorney
• Call on a recorded line and then use your innocent remarks out of context against you later. For instance, if you say “I never saw him coming” they can use that as an admission of fault on your part
• Ask for medical authorization to examine your injury report and then search through your back history to find pre-existing conditions or previous accidents they can claim as the true cause of your symptoms
• Claim that the minimal damage to your vehicle means you cannot be as injured as you claim
• Follow your social media accounts to use photos and comments against you

When a lot is at stake after a serious car accident, you need the aggressive protection of an experienced accident attorney who can protect your rights against these common insurance company tactics. Under Missouri’s comparison negligence insurance laws, insurance companies can save money by unfairly assigning car accident victims a percentage of fault for the accident. If they claim that you were 25 percent at fault because you drove five miles an hour over the speed limit, they can reduce the amount of a $100,000 claim to $75,000. An experienced attorney can protect your right to full compensation when a distracted driver causes an accident.

Call the Distracted Driving Lawyers at Miller & Hine Today

At Miller & Hine, our St. Louis injury attorneys represent distracted driving accident victims the way we would our own family members. We offer free case consultations and never charge fees unless we secure your compensation either through a settlement or in court if your case requires a lawsuit. No one should take on a complex claim like a distracted driving accident case alone. Call our St. Louis law office today so we can begin a strong, personalized strategy to achieve prompt action on your claim and full recovery of your damages.