Car Accidents

Recovering from a car accident is difficult both physically and mentally. The last thing most car accident victims want to think about is how they will pay for expenses that arise due to their injuries. As experienced Maine car accident attorneys, we work to ensure you get the compensation you deserve for all of your injuries including medical expenses, lost wages, household services, pain and suffering and more. We focus on your case, so you can concentrate on healing.

Most car accidents are the result of negligence where one or both drivers fail to use reasonable care on the road to avoid causing injury to themselves or others. We hope the information below and on related pages will help you better understand some hurdles you have to jump through along the way to securing compensation for your car accident injuries in Maine. If you retain us we will try to show the court (1) the defendant owed you a duty, (2) the defendant breached that duty, (3) the defendant's actions or omissions proximately caused your injuries, and (4) damages.

There are approximately 2.5 million rear-end collisions each year, making rear-end collisions the most common type of road accident. They are often the result of distracted driving, and victims of these types of collisions can suffer many different types of injuries, including soft tissue injuries such as whiplash. Liability for rear-end collisions can be more straightforwardly proven than some other cases. Usually the party that strikes the other party's vehicle from behind is the "proximate cause" of the accident. All drivers have a duty to pay careful attention to the possibility that the car in front of them is breaking.

In spite of increased education about the dangers of drunk driving, drunk drivers choose to gamble with other people's lives. Drunk driving accidents remain a leading cause of injuries and death. In some cases, the person or business who supplies alcohol to a drunk driver that causes injury may be deemed negligent as well under the Maine Liquor Liability Act. A victim of a drunk driver has only 180 days (6 months) to give notice to a bar, pub or other server of alcohol that he intends to hold it responsible for an injury or death. It is critical to consult a Portland car accident lawyer right away if your or a loved one was hurt by a drunk driver.

Nearly four percent of fatal crashes and hundreds of crashes resulting in injury involve sleepy drivers or drivers that have fallen asleep behind the wheel. It is possible to prevent accidents involving a fatigued driver. Anyone who is driving and feels he or she might fall asleep at the wheel has a duty to pull over at a rest area even if it is inconvenient. No driver can properly attend to his duty of care to other drivers if he is falling asleep on the road.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about 30 percent of all fatal crashes in 2004 were caused by high-speed collisions. High speeds can result in collisions of so much force the vehicles’ structures can't protect the occupants from serious injury. In addition, when driving at high speeds, you may travel longer distances after seeing an incident and reacting to it (by breaking, swerving, etc.). Airbags and seatbelts are not as effective if speeding is involved.

According to NHTSA, about 65,000 pedestrians are injured in car accidents each year. Many automobile drivers do not respect the rights of pedestrians. Drivers have a responsibility to obey the laws of the road and drive safely and attentively at all times. Likewise, pedestrians should also follow applicable rules to avoid serious injury and death; a pedestrian that fails to follow rules may be found comparatively negligent in Maine. Comparative negligence can be asserted by defendants in order to hold plaintiffs responsible for that portion of their injuries for which they, not the defendants, are responsible. This means, if you dart out into the street at night for fun and are hit by a car, your recovery may be reduced. If a jury finds you 50 percent or more at fault, your recovery will be barred altogether. The doctrine of comparative negligence applies not just to pedestrian accidents, but all types of car accidents.

Driver distraction of any kind is a common cause of accidents. This includes answering your cell phone, dialing or texting while driving, and applying makeup. Personal injuries in connection with vehicle collision can be caused by failure to yield, hit and run, head-on collisions, side-impact collisions, chain reaction collisions, mechanical failure, road hazards, recreational vehicles, age, back-overs, all-terrain vehicles, car seat failures, and intersection collisions.

Where appropriate, we can also prove psychological injuries and address underinsured and uninsured motorist claims.

Our attorneys understand how painful a car accident can be. Anxiety can only increase recovery times. We represent clients all around Maine, including Portland, offering forceful and conscientious advocacy to accident victims so that they can spend their time recovering rather than worrying. Contact the experienced Maine car accident attorneys of Peter Thompson & Associates at 1.800.804.2004 or via our online form for a free consultation.

• Failure to Yield
• Hit and Run
• Chain Reaction Accident
• High Speed Collision
• Mechanical Failure
• Rear End Collision
• Case Study
• Typical Underinsured Motorist
• Head On Collision
• Distracted Driving

• Failure to Yield
• Hit and Run
• Chain Reaction Accident
• High Speed Collision
• Mechanical Failure
• Rear-End Collision
• Road Hazards
• T-bone Collision
• Underinsured Motorist Accidents
• Uninsured Motorist Accidents
• Proving Psychological Harm from Accidents
• Asleep at the Wheel Accidents
• Head-On Collision
• Distracted Driving
• Recreational Vehicle Accidents
• Drunk Driving Accidents
• Common Causes of Accidents
• Age-related Accidents
• Back-Over Car Accidents
• Car Accident Injuries
• Seat Belt and Airbag Injuries
• Passenger Injuries
• All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Accidents
• Child and Infant Car Seat Injuries
• Intersection Collision Injuries
• Texting While Driving