Minnesota Car Crash Attorneys
If you have been injured in a car crash in Minnesota, or if someone you love was injured or killed in a crash, you have rights and you may be able to recover substantial compensation that can pay for medical bills, lost income and much more. To learn more about your rights, please schedule a free consultation with one of the experienced Minnesota personal injury lawyers listed in this directory.
Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages are meant to compensate you for your existing and future economic and noneconomic losses. They are meant to make you “whole” again, by returning you to your preinjury state.
Economic damages are the monetary costs of your injuries. These include your medical expenses, lost income, lost earning capacity, and other out-of-pocket expenses created by your injuries. Existing economic damages are the easiest type of damages to calculate. Future economic damages are more complicated because it can be difficult to predict how your injuries will affect you in the future.
Your Minnesota car crash lawyers will work with the appropriate experts, such as medical experts and economists, to estimate your future economic damages.
Non-economic damages are the personal losses that do not directly correspond to a dollar amount, but are far more meaningful to most accident victims. These include pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of the ability to participate in family activities, and much more. Non-economic damages are far more difficult to put a number on than economic damages.
Punitive damages are not compensatory. They are meant to punish the wrongdoer for his or her actions and, in Minnesota, are only allowed in cases where the defendant behaved in a way that he or she knew would be likely to cause harm to another person.
Punitive Damages if a Drunk Driver Caused Your Accident
In Minnesota, drunk or drugged driving meets the threshold for knowingly dangerous behavior that allows for punitive damages in a civil suit. If there was a conviction of impaired driving or criminal vehicular injury or homicide, it is admissible as evidence when punitive damages are being considered, but there does not have to be a conviction and the driver does not even have to be charged for punitive damages to be considered in your case.
Seat Belts
Minnesota is favorable to accident victims when it comes to seat belt and child car seat issues.
Your use or non-use of a seatbelt or use a car seat is not admissible in court, meaning that failure to use either cannot be used against you as an accident victim. But, it is admissible on your behalf if you are suing for a defective seatbelt or car seat.
If you have been injured or lost a loved one in a car crash in Minnesota, please schedule a free consultation with one of the experienced Minnesota car accident lawyers listed on this website.