Top Winston-Salem, NC Car Accident Lawyers of 2024 – Forbes Advisor

Unless it’s a minor accident, a car accident often results in extensive property damage, bodily injury, and emotional trauma. You’ll probably want the person at fault to cover your expenses through an insurance claim.

However, there are times when their policy limits are not enough to cover your losses, or their insurance company may try to understate your claim or even deny liability altogether. In such cases, filing a car accident lawsuit may be a necessary legal step to get the compensation you deserve for your injuries.

In the sections below, you’ll learn about filing deadlines, important car accident laws, how fault is determined in North Carolina, and other important information to help you with your case.

North Carolina Statute of Limitations for Car Accident Cases

After a car accident, many people feel overwhelmed by the sudden financial burdens that arise—medical bills, lost wages due to inability to work, car repair costs, and the emotional toll that often follows. The law provides a path to seek compensation from the responsible party for these damages, but this window of opportunity does not last forever.

The statute of limitations for a car accident is the legal deadline within which you must take action after an accident. In North Carolina, the statute of limitations is three years from the date of the accident. If you miss this deadline, you lose the right to seek compensation for your injuries and damages.

In the event of a car accident resulting in a fatality, family members of the deceased person have two years from the date of the victim’s death to file a wrongful death claim, which may be different from the date of the accident itself.

North Carolina Car Driver Law

Here are some North Carolina car accident laws every driver should know about.

Error based system

North Carolina operates a fault-based system for car accidents. This means that the person(s) at fault for the accident will have to pay for the medical bills and any other losses incurred by the other driver and passengers. To ensure this, all drivers in North Carolina must have car insurance with minimum coverage limits that include:

• $25,000 for bodily injury or death of one person
• The maximum amount of coverage per accident is $60,000
• $25,000 for property damage

North Carolina law also requires drivers to carry underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage. This coverage comes into play when the driver who caused the accident has little or no insurance. If your injuries and damages exceed the limits of the at-fault driver’s policy, your underinsured motorist coverage can help cover the rest.

For example, if you are seeking $40,000 for your injuries and the at-fault driver’s policy only covers $25,000, you can claim the remaining $15,000 from your own insurance.

Reporting a car accident

In North Carolina, you are legally required to report a car accident to law enforcement if it involves bodily injury, death, or property damage of $1,000 or more, or if the accident involves a vehicle that has been seized by law enforcement. Once the accident is reported, the responding officer has 24 hours to complete a police report and must submit it to the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles within 10 days.

Even if the accident doesn’t meet the criteria for mandatory reporting, it’s still a good idea to file a report. Having an official record can be valuable when filing a claim with your insurance company. Regardless of the severity of the accident, never leave the scene of the accident without exchanging information with the other driver. Failure to do so, even in a minor accident, can result in a hit-and-run charge, which can have serious legal consequences.

Damage limits

There are two main types of compensation you may receive in a car accident lawsuit: compensatory damages and punitive damages.

Compensatory damages are intended to cover losses incurred in an accident. They are divided into two categories: economic damages, which have a financial value, such as the cost of treating injuries in a car accident, repair costs, and property damage; and noneconomic damages, which include losses that have no direct monetary value, such as emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life.

Punitive damages, on the other hand, are intended to punish a defendant when their actions were particularly egregious. They are not awarded in every car accident case and only come into play when the defendant’s conduct is deemed to be particularly harmful.

There are no limits on compensatory damages in North Carolina, meaning you can recover the full amount of your economic and non-economic losses. However, punitive damages are capped at three times the compensatory damages amount or $250,000, whichever is greater. It is important to note that this limit does not apply in cases where the accident involved drunk driving, which opens you up to potentially higher punitive damages.

Identifying Fault in North Carolina Car Accidents

Determining fault in North Carolina car accidents is especially difficult because of the state’s strict “contributory negligence” rule. Under this rule, if you are found to be even 1% at fault for an accident, you cannot recover any damages. This means that no matter how little you were involved in the accident, you cannot receive compensation for your injuries or losses.

For example, imagine you were hit by another car, but you were driving slowly at the time of the accident. If a court finds that you were 5% at fault and the other driver was 95% at fault, you still won’t be able to recover damages from the other party, even if they were at fault in the first place. This “all or nothing” rule can make it extremely difficult for plaintiffs to successfully sue and recover compensation for their losses in North Carolina.