Car accidents take place every day in the nation’s capital, sending many people to the hospital and rendering others disabled as a result of the injuries they sustain from such accidents. In addition to the injuries, a lot of people experience emotional trauma due to the impact the accident has had on them. Proving all of this in court can be challenging for anyone and will require the assistance of a car accident lawyer like can be found at https://thomasjhenrylaw.com/locations/san-antonio/car-accident-lawyer/. However, things become worse when the statute of limitation for filing a personal injury case has been exceeded. This article offers essential information regarding the statute of limitations as well as other important information regarding personal injury cases.
Standard Statute of Limitation
When it comes to personal injury cases such as the auto accident cases, the statute of limitations often ranges from 1 to 6 years depending on the state an individual comes from. For instance, in a state with a statute of limitation of two years, you would have only two years from the moment of the accident to file a case against the offender. To check your states’ statute of limitation, you can follow the following link.
Discovery Rule
There is a discovery rule to the standard of limitations in personal injury case such as an auto accident. The discovery rule extends the deadline for filing a lawsuit in case the injured person had no idea of the injury or did not know that the actions of the defendant caused the injury. An example of a situation where the discovery rule applies is the case where you developed brain complications as a result of an accident that occurred some months or years back. If the regular statute of limitation has expired at the time such complications occurred, reliance on the discovery rule may be one of the ways you could contact the best car accident lawyer you know (or just get searching on the internet), to file a personal injury lawsuit against the person responsible for the accident that prompted your complications.
Other Extensions
In some states, there are other ways you can extend the statute of limitation, apart from the discovery rule. For instance, if the defendant has left the country or state after the accident leading to your injuries was committed, then the statute of limitation may stop running until the moment that person comes back. Therefore, if the statute of limitation is two years and the defendant left the state for a year after the car accident took place, then the statute of limitation would be extended by a year. Nonetheless, these kinds of instances are often difficult to prove. Therefore, you should not depend on an extension of the limitation statute until you speak to a car accident lawyer first.
Another way the statute of limitation can be extended is if the plaintiff is disabled, is a minor, or is mentally ill. However, it should be noted that not all states would allow extension in these kinds of cases. Again, speak to your attorney so you can know what options are available to you.
Bottom Line
If you believe that you have been injured as a result of a car accident, do not wait for the statute of limitation to expire. Seek immediate medical attention and hire an experienced auto accident attorney to help with your settlement.
