Car crashes are a consistent but relatively subconscious concern for most California drivers. While crashes do occur every day, they only affect a tiny minority of drivers at any given time. Many people go years without ever experiencing a crash or may have completely avoided collisions altogether.
Someone involved in their first collision may have a hard time making sense of their rights and the rules protecting them. For example, people may not understand what types of financial compensation are available to them. They may believe that filing a lawsuit after a car crash is unnecessary. However, many collisions lead to lawsuits if they cause major injuries, significant property damage or fatalities.
California car insurance coverage often just isn’t enough
People typically expect that car insurance can protect them after a wreck. They anticipate filing a claim against the liability policy of the person who caused the crash. That expectation may be reasonable, but there simply may not be enough insurance coverage available.
Drivers in California must pay for liability coverage. Someone needs to have $5,000 of property damage coverage. There are two different policy limits for injury-related coverage. Drivers must have $15,000 of coverage if they cause a crash that hurts one person and $30,000 of coverage for crashes affecting two or more people.
Those with expenses that insurance cannot cover may sometimes be able to file either a personal injury or a wrongful death lawsuit against the party at fault for a collision. Another driver or possibly a business could have a degree of liability for a crash. Ultimately, understanding why lawsuits are common after collisions may help people overcome their aversion to taking legal action.