A city on the Kern River, Bakersfield is two hours north of Los Angeles and is known for its country music, educational institutions, and industries relating to oil and agriculture. Although a quiet city compared to other major cities in California, Bakersfield is notorious for pedestrian accidents and a rising number of traffic accidents.

Ehline Law and our personal injury attorneys have over 15 years of experience working with accident victims in California, including Bakersfield, protecting their rights and ensuring they receive the compensation they deserve after their accidents.

Contact us now to discuss your case and learn more about your legal rights if you’ve suffered injuries due to someone else’s negligence.

Bakersfield Accident Statistics

A study conducted by Smart Growth America revealed that in the past nine years, Bakersfield ranked second in the most dangerous city for pedestrians across the United States. In 2021, the California Highway Patrol reported that they saw more traffic collisions involving pedestrians than in 2020 or any previous years.

According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, there were 1,958 people killed and injured in total in 2020 in Bakersfield, with the top 3 causes involving:

• Alcohol – 265
• Motorcycle – 103
• Pedestrian – 113

What Does Personal Injury Law Cover?

Personal injury law allows compensation for injured victims who suffer injuries in different types of accidents.

Personal injury law is spread across three different categories:

• Negligence torts: This deals with people who fail to exercise a reasonable standard of care, resulting in injuries or wrongful death to others.
• Intentional torts: This deals with people who intentionally cause harm or injuries to another person, leading to damages. Trespass, assault, and battery are some types of intentional torts.
• Strict liability torts: Strict liability arises regardless of negligence or a person’s mental state. It may include dog bites, defective products, and abnormally dangerous activities.

Ehline Law and our personal injury lawyers have more than a decade of experience handling all sorts of personal injury claims, including the following:

• Car accident
• Other motor vehicle accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Bicycle accidents
• Slip and fall accidents
• Airport and aviation accidents
• Work-related accidents
• Dog bites
• Cruise ship accidents
• Medical malpractice
• Wrongful death, and many more.

If you’ve suffered injuries due to another’s negligence, you must reach out to an experienced personal injury lawyer to discuss your personal injury claim.

Types of Compensation for Bakersfield Personal Injury Cases

When accident victims suffer injuries, they can file personal injury claims to recover the damages they’ve incurred following their accidents.

The two main categories of damages injured victims can recover under compensatory damages include:

• Economic damages: Also referred to as special damages, these compensate injured victims for their out-of-pocket expenses after their accident. It may include medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage.
• Non-economic damages: Also referred to as general damages, these compensate injured victims for the subjective losses they experience after their accident. It may include pain and suffering, emotional trauma, mental anguish, loss of consortium, loss of guidance, and many others.

In rare instances where a case involves extreme recklessness or negligence, the court may also award punitive damages to punish the defendant for their actions.

Most personal injury victims often leave substantial money damages on the table as they don’t know how to assess or calculate the compensatory damages they are eligible for. It is essential that accident victims work closely with Bakersfield personal injury attorneys to help determine the damages and aggressively pursue compensation from the at-fault party’s insurance company.

Should You Settle Your Personal Injury Claim Before Speaking to a Bakersfield Personal Injury Lawyer?

An insurance company is always quick to lowball an initial settlement offer and tell the accident victims that this is the best they can do considering the “circumstances.” Sometimes, they blame the injured party for the accident to reduce the settlement or even reject them.

When you pursue a personal injury claim against the at-fault party’s insurance company, you’ll likely receive a settlement offer from the insurer. Discussing your personal injury case and the settlement offer with an experienced Bakersfield personal injury attorney would be best.

If you’ve suffered serious injuries, you’ll look at medical bills in thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. In some cases, the medical expenses can even cross a million dollars. We’re not even factoring in the other damages incurred, such as lost wages and compensation for the pain and suffering you’ve experienced due to another’s fault. The initial settlement offer won’t even cover your first year of medical expenses.

An experienced personal injury attorney can help evaluate your case and let you know what your case is worth and whether you should accept the initial settlement offer provided by the insurance company.

How Long Do You Have to Pursue a Personal Injury Case?

Whether you’re looking to pursue a personal injury claim or a wrongful death lawsuit in Bakersfield, you only have two years from the date of the injury or death. The statute of limitations shortens to six months if a government entity is responsible for the accident.

It’s essential that you focus on your medical treatment, but you also don’t have much time, and waiting can potentially harm your case as:

• You’ll lose crucial evidence if you wait long enough.
• You’ll lose contact with the witnesses, which can weaken your case.
• Other party’s attorneys will question why you waited following your injuries and may get enough time to gather evidence to prove your injuries didn’t result from the accident.

How Ehline Law Bakersfield Personal Injury Lawyers Will Help You

There are several ways our Bakersfield personal injury lawyers can help you with your personal injury case, including the following.

Carry out Investigations

After an accident, it is crucial to carry out investigations to determine the liable parties, as in some personal injury cases, it may be challenging to identify the responsible parties, while in others, there may be multiple defendants.

Ehline Law has the resources to allocate toward your personal injury case and carry out investigations to help determine the liable parties and hold them accountable for your loss.

Collect Necessary Evidence

It is crucial to establish the elements of a personal injury claim before you can make a recovery, and these include:

• Duty
• Breach
• Causation
• Damages.

To establish the elements of a personal injury claim, you must gather and compile evidence to support your case. Evidence can make and break your case, and our personal injury attorneys know what evidence they need to collect to bolster your claim.

File Personal Injury Claim

Pursuing a personal injury claim is never straightforward. One must follow a legal process, forms to fill out, and serve notices to the relevant parties.

Our personal injury attorneys do this daily, and we can take care of the legal hurdles associated with filing a personal injury claim while you focus on your medical treatment.

Negotiate a Fair Settlement

After filing a personal injury claim, the insurance company will assign a claims adjuster who can be a nightmare to work with. Our personal injury attorneys know how to handle insurance companies and their adjusters, and we can help negotiate a fair settlement on your behalf.

Pursue a Personal Injury Lawsuit and Go to Trial

In some personal injury cases, there may be a disagreement over a fair settlement between our attorneys and the insurance company. If we believe you deserve more than the insurer offers, our personal injury attorneys are not afraid to pursue a personal injury lawsuit in court.

Why Should You Choose Ehline Law

With a sea of personal injury law firms in Bakersfield, choosing one that is perfect for you can be challenging. Here are a few reasons why you should choose Ehline Law for your personal injury case.

Extensive Experience and Superior Track Record

Ehline Law is a leading personal injury law firm that has been operating in California since 2005. We have more than 15 years of experience helping injured victims get the compensation they deserve.

Our personal injury attorneys have recovered in excess of $150 million in compensation and handled more than 3,000 personal injury cases. We have extensive experience and local knowledge of California state and municipality laws to pursue your claim.

Awards and Achievements

Ehline Law is an award-winning personal injury law firm with many awards and achievements to our name. We have received the Superlawyers Rising Star award (2006 – 2015), Premier Personal Injury Attorneys (2015), Top 100 Trial Lawyers, and many more.

Our personal injury attorneys are not only legal experts but media stars. We are humbled to provide interviews on large media channels such as CNN, NBC, CBS, and others on various topics, including legislation pertaining to cruise ships, dog bites, and limousines.

Free Consultation

We believe in offering potential clients an opportunity to learn more about their cases, our law firm, our attorneys, and what we’re willing to offer. Discuss your personal injury case with our legal team and learn more about your legal options.

Contingency-fee Basis

Physical injuries can financially exhaust an individual, which is why many don’t even consider reaching out for legal help. We believe everybody should receive quality legal representation without worrying about legal fees.

Our personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, allowing injured victims to receive the legal help they deserve following their accident.

More than 15 Locations!

Ehline Law has more than 15 locations across California, serving many cities, including Los Angeles, San Diego, and Bakersfield, CA. You can visit our nearest law office or give us a call, and we can arrange a free consultation at a place of your choosing.

Schedule a Free Consultation with Ehline Law Bakersfield, CA

If you suffered injuries in an accident in Bakersfield, contact us at (833) LETS-SUE for a free consultation, as you may be able to seek compensation.