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Representing Clients Throughout Central Alabama

Attorneys Karen M. Salter and Carmen S. Ferguson
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    3.  | Car Accidents

Protecting The Rights Of Those Who Were Injured In Car Accidents

If you were injured or if a member of your family lost their lives in a car accident in Birmingham, contact the car accident attorneys at Salter Ferguson, LLC, immediately to discuss your case. We will protect your rights and pursue maximum compensation for the harm that you have suffered, including pain, suffering, disfigurement, lost wages or income, medical expenses and more.

Every year, hundreds of people are seriously injured or killed in car accidents on Alabama roads and highways. Whether you were rear-ended at a red light, T-boned at an intersection, or involved in a rollover on the highway, it is important to talk to a Birmingham car accident lawyer about your legal rights and options.

The attorneys of Salter Ferguson, LLC, in Birmingham have more than 30 years of combined legal experience in car accident cases. Their clients also benefit from their experience outside the legal profession. Karen Salter is a registered nurse and Carmen Ferguson is a former insurance adjuster. Together they are a powerful legal team that has a record of achieving positive results for their injured clients.

Car Accident Resources

We Handle All Types Of Car Accidents, Including:

  • Uninsured and underinsured driver accidents
  • Distracted driver accidents
  • Work-related auto accidents
  • Rollover accidents
  • Railroad crossing accidents
  • Accidents caused by defective vehicles or components
  • Accidents caused by dangerous roadways
  • Multi-vehicle accidents

Getting Compensation After A Car Accident In Birmingham, Alabama


Insurance companies will want to settle your case quickly for the least amount of money possible. Our goal is to see that you receive the full amount of financial compensation you deserve. It is wise to try and resolve your case when your medical treatment is complete and your doctor dismisses or releases you from medical care. Why? Some accident-related injuries do not become apparent for days, weeks or months following an accident. If you settle too soon and new accident-related injuries arise, you will not be compensated for those injuries.

Our first priority is to make sure you are receiving appropriate medical care. If not, our car accident attorneys will try to assist you by recommending several reputable doctors and specialists who can address your specific condition. We will also assist you with the property damage portion of your case and work with your insurance company to get you a rental car until your vehicle is repaired or replaced.

We will thoroughly investigate the accident by gathering the police report, witness statements, photos and in some cases expert analysis of the scene and/or vehicles. We will then make a case for full compensation for your loss. If the insurance company and its lawyers fail to make a reasonable offer, we will take your case to court, where we have an impressive record of success.

How Our Car Accident Lawyers Can Help You

Car accidents are a stressful experience for everyone involved, and, unfortunately, the stress doesn’t always end after the crash is over. Depending on the severity of the accident, you may be facing extensive injuries, large medical bills, damage to your car, lost wages from time off work for recovery, and even the possible loss of a loved one.
With all these stressors occurring, getting your life back on track can be difficult. Balancing a lawsuit in addition only makes the situation even more overwhelming. The car wreck attorneys at Salter Ferguson, LLC, can help by taking your legal matters into our skilled hands, allowing you to focus on recovery. Our Birmingham car accident lawyers treat every case as if it’s the only one. Each is unique, and we take the circumstances that make your case unique into consideration.

From the moment you enlist our services, we begin investigating the accident and uncovering the liable party. If necessary, we have the resources to bring in experts who can help further understand your case and serve as witnesses. Upon evaluating your situation, we may be able to detail how much insurance coverage is available to you and what the best strategy is to achieve positive results.

Many car accident victims face pressure from the other party’s insurance companies – sometimes even immediately after the accident. While insurance companies focused on getting through your claim with the lowest payout possible, at Salter Ferguson, LLC, we do the opposite. We not only help you understand what a fair amount of compensation is, we directly negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf to protect you from unscrupulous insurance practices.

Our services extend through all parts of the car accident claims process, including both settlement discussions and trials. Many car accident cases end in the settlement stage, and we aim to earn you your rightful compensation wherever possible. If we can’t obtain a compromise with the insurance companies, we have experience in the courtroom and will do everything necessary to prepare your case for the courtroom.

After a car accident, your focus should be on recovery, not struggling to understand the legal work and processes necessary to file your case. Salter Ferguson, LLC, will handle the legal matters of your claim – and, with our three decades of legal experience behind us, you can rest easy knowing we’ll do everything in our power to achieve a positive outcome for your case.

What Types Of Damages Can I Recover From A Car Accident?

Car accidents can cause anything from minor damages to life-altering injuries. When your damages are the result of someone else’s negligence, you have a legal right to compensation for those damages. Depending on the specifics of your accident, you may be able to recover one or many of these types of damages:

  • Medical expenses. The most common type of damages recovered from a car accident claim are those for medical expenses. Severe injuries can leave you with large medical bills. In some cases, those injuries can even require ongoing medical treatments. You have a right to compensation for both your past and future medical expenses due to any injuries from the accident.
  • Pain and suffering. In addition to injuries, you may also suffer severe pain from the damages. Pain and suffering can also include any mental or emotional anguish experienced because of the accident, such as anxiety. Like with medical expenses, you can receive compensation for both past and future suffering.
  • Lost wages. In some cases, car accident injuries can require that a victim take time off from work to recover or to work in a reduced capacity. For others, injuries may be severe enough that they prevent the victim from returning to the workforce at all. In any of these cases, the victim may recover past and future lost wages due to their injuries.
  • Wrongful death. While many car accidents lead to injury, they can also lead to death. In these cases, the family of the deceased has the right to compensation for the wrongful death of a loved one.
  • Loss of consortium. Both injuries and cases of wrongful death can lead to a loss of affection or companionship. This type of damage requires a relationship between the car accident victim and their families, as well as a change in behavior or loss of life that altered or took away the previous relationship.

While it can be easy to understand a fair amount of compensation for medical bills and lost wages, which have concrete amounts, determining future expenses or the monetary value of emotional impact can be difficult. Hiring an experienced car accident lawyer to handle your case ensures you not only understand your rightful compensation, but that you may also receive it as an award in court.

Determining Negligence In A Car Accident

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One of the necessary components for a personal injury claim after a car accident is providing proof that the other party’s negligence caused your injuries. This requires four major components:

  • The defendant had a duty to the victim
  • The defendant breached that duty
  • The victim suffered damages
  • The damages were the result of the defendant’s breach of duty

For example, when driving, motorists have a legal duty to follow Alabama road laws and observe safe driving behaviors. When motorists engage in reckless driving, like speeding or texting and driving, they are breaching their duty of care. When that speeding causes the motorist to collide with your vehicle, causing you injury and damages to your car, the motorist’s negligent behavior has led to the damages, and he or she is now at fault for the accident.

In Alabama, driver behavior contributes to thousands of car accidents per year. In 2016, 155,907 motor vehicle crashes in Alabama – a 5.73 percent increase over 2015. Failure to yield the right of way, tailgating and misjudging stopping distance were the most common actions that contributed to crashes.

Alabama Car Accident Laws And Statute Of Limitations

One of the important things to note about Alabama law is that it is a contributory negligence state. This means that if you are in any way at fault for your accident, you cannot recover damages, even if the other driver is mostly at fault. As such, insurance companies are at an advantage in court, because if they can prove you contributed in any way to the accident, they don’t have to pay compensation.

Alabama also has a strict statute of limitations for car accident claims. You must file your personal injury claims within two years of the accident or you may lose your right to compensation. If you intend to file your lawsuit against the government for dangerous roadways, the statute of limitations is even shorter, at only six months.

Because of these strict timelines, it is best to contact a Birmingham car accident attorney as soon as possible after your accident. At Salter Ferguson, LLC, we can help you prepare your claim to ensure that you meet your deadline for filing. In addition, with a former insurance claims adjuster on your side, we know how to counter any of the insurance company’s attempts to put you at fault for your accident – ensuring that Alabama’s contributory negligence laws don’t lead to losing your rightful compensation.

Alabama Auto Insurance Laws

Alabama requires all motorists to carry liability insurance coverage that meets the minimum amounts set by law:

  • $25,000 for bodily injury per person injured in an accident you cause
  • $50,000 for total bodily injury liability for injuries caused to two or more people
  • $25,000 for property damage

Despite these laws, not all motorists carry the appropriate levels of insurance. If this happens in your case, your case will likely need a different approach. The attorneys of Salter Ferguson, LLC, are familiar with all manner of uninsured and under-insured driving accidents, and we can help you file the appropriate claim with your insurance company to make sure you receive financial compensation for your damages.

Free Consultation With Experienced Birmingham Car Accident Attorneys Today.

The sooner you call us after a car accident in Birmingham, the more we can help. Don’t delay.

Contact our personal injury law firm online to speak with a dedicated member of our team. You can call us at 877-653-9655. Our Birmingham car accident lawyers offer a flexible appointment schedule to accommodate your medical appointments and your employment commitments. We will also schedule home or hospital visits when you are unable to travel to our office. From our office in Birmingham, we represent people injured in car accidents throughout Central Alabama.

Karen’s handling of my case was both professional and caring. I appreciate how quickly my case was settled. I felt that Karen made my case her first priority even though I’m sure she had many other clients for whom she was working just as hard at the same time. – Lynn Reeves