What Should You Do Immediately Following an Accident?

Regardless of the type of vehicles involved in a crash, there are certain steps you should take to protect yourself immediately after an accident and during the aftermath. Those steps include:

• Seek medical attention. You can request medical attention at your location, or you may seek treatment later in the day. Not all injuries are apparent, and some may even take days to reveal themselves. A medical report will thoroughly document the severity of your injuries and will be highly beneficial if your case results in a court appearance.
• Call the police. If necessary, requesting law enforcement will help direct traffic or help with crowd control. It will also provide you with an official police report to document the events surrounding the accident.
• Gather evidence. If possible, document the driver’s and/or vehicle owner’s name, address, phone number, insurance information, and driver’s license information. Also, document the names and phone numbers of all eyewitnesses.
• Take pictures. Be sure to take photos of the road conditions, street signs, damage to both vehicles and other property damage.
• Call an experienced injury attorney at O’Malley Tunstall PC.

What are Examples of Government Owned Vehicles?

Examples of government vehicles include but are not limited to:

• Police cars
• Fire engines
• Ambulances
• Mail trucks
• City or school buses
• Garbage trucks
• Government semi-trucks or tractor-trailers
• Department of Transportation vehicles
• Municipal or city snowplows
• Maintenance trucks
• Tow trucks
• Military vehicles

How Are Government Vehicle Accidents Different From Other Accidents?

The rules vary greatly when dealing with any government entity. Some key differences include:

• Sovereign immunity may apply, which only allows claims to be filed against the government in certain instances.
• Special laws may further complicate a claim, such as the North Carolina Tort Claims Act.
• Government immunity may extend to contractors in cases where they are involved or responsible for the accident.
• Government claims may have compensation caps.

What is the North Carolina Tort Claims Act?

In most cases, government entities have sovereign immunity or special protection against lawsuits. However, the North Carolina Tort Claims Act allows a government entity to be sued if a state officer, employee, or other agent who is working within the realm of their duties negligently harms another person. If negligence is proven, then this Act authorizes payments of up to $1 million for damages.

Claims are heard by the North Carolina Industrial Commission, which is a state agency created to act as a court for worker’s compensation claims and other matters.

Community colleges and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association are both considered to be state agencies under the Act. The Act also grants the Industrial Commission jurisdiction over claims regarding school bus accidents.

How is Negligence Determined?

Most injury or accident cases hinge on the legal theory of negligence. For negligence to be proven, each of the following four elements must be established.

• Duty of care: The defendant owed the injured party a duty of care or the reasonable expectation of safety.
• Breach of duty: The defendant failed to uphold that duty of care by acting negligently or recklessly in a way that a person in a similar situation would not.
• Causation: The reckless action is directly responsible for the resulting accident, and without that action, the accident would not have occurred.
• Damages: This is the monetary amount of damages incurred as a result of the defendant’s carelessness.

Pure Contributory Negligence

While in most states, if you are at all responsible for a relationship, you may still be able to recover damages, North Carolina does not allow this. North Carolina operates under contributory negligence, which means that if you are even 1% at fault for an accident, you may not be able to recover any damages for your injuries.

What Damages Can Be Sought After a Car Accident?

Compensation may vary depending on the specific circumstances of your case. Possible compensation includes economic, noneconomic, and punitive damages.

Economic damages are damages with a specific monetary amount, such as:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Property damage
• Lost wages
• Decreased earning capacity

Noneconomic damages do not have a specific monetary amount and tend to be harder to calculate. They include:

• Physical pain
• Mental suffering
• Scarring or disfigurement
• Decreased quality of life
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of companionship

Punitive damages are different from economic and noneconomic damages that reimburse victims because punitive damages are meant as a punishment to deter similar egregious wrongdoing in the future. Punitive damages are only ordered in cases of willful or wanton misconduct.

How Long Do I Have to File a Claim Against a Government Entity?

The time limit or statute of limitations to file a claim against a local or North Carolina government entity is within three years from the date of the accident. If the accident resulted in the death of an individual, then a claim must be filed within two years from the date of the death.

The statute of limitations for filing a claim against the federal government is two years from the date of the accident.

While there are certain exceptions to these timeframes, claims that are filed outside of these windows are typically barred from being heard.

Do I Need an Attorney?

Claims against government entities are notoriously complicated. With immunity and other laws, there are many ways that a claim can be unsuccessful. To give you the best chance of success, call O’Malley Tunstall PC at 919-277-0150 or fill out a contact form for a free consultation.