Car Accident Lawyer St. Louis, MO. Being in a car crash can be one of the most traumatic experiences in a person’s life. Between car repair bills, medical expenses, and the psychological scars that come after you’ve been in an accident, the aftermath of being in a wreck can overwhelm anyone. Having a car accident lawyer in St. Louis and throughout Missouri who cares about your well-being, takes a special interest in your case, and fights for you every step of the way is critical for you to get all that you are entitled to.
Combs Waterkotte provides the best combination of client advocacy and personal service among car crash lawyers in St. Louis and across Missouri. Our firm offers the communication and attention you would expect from a small firm but with a legal acumen and record that equals any big firm in St. Louis, MO. Call us today at (314) 900-HELP or contact us online if you’ve been in a car crash recently and would like a free, no-obligation case review.
Why Choose an Experienced St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer?
If you’ve been injured in a car crash, you may not want to hire a lawyer. You might think you can deal with the insurance companies yourself, don’t believe your car crash case is worth a lawsuit, or do not want to spend the money on legal representation. However, there are a number of reasons why hiring a top St. Louis car crash attorney is possibly the most important thing you can do after you’ve been in a wreck.
- Hiring a lawyer can help you get the best financial outcome for your case. Insurance companies care more about their own bottom line and share price than they do about helping their customers. To them, the ideal insurance customer is someone who never has to file or collect a claim. Studies have shown that hiring a reputable car accident lawyer can get you 350% more in a settlement than if you would deal with an insurer directly. A strong St. Louis car crash lawyer – like the ones at Combs Waterkotte – knows all the tricks and tactics insurance companies use to deny you the payout you deserve.
- We have experience in all types of car crash cases. Even if your personal injuries or property damage was minor, there could be additional factors involved in your car accident case that could maximize your settlement amount. Maybe the person that hit you was looking at their phone while driving, or injuries that were not initially apparent turned into much more severe and nagging ones once the adrenaline from the accident wears off. Working with a top St. Louis, MO car accident attorney can help you discover these sorts of additional details which can help your car crash case – details that you might have first ignored or not thought were important had you dealt with the insurance companies by yourself.
- Working with a car accident attorney in St. Louis, MO is more affordable than you think. Combs Waterkotte, like most car accident lawyers in St. Louis and across Missouri, works on what is called a contingency basis. This means we only collect a fee if you win your case. There is no need for you to pay a retainer or other fees when you hire an experienced car accident lawyer.
There’s also a lot of work that goes into trying a car accident case that can be overwhelming for an individual. Chances are that if you are deciding to fight your car crash lawsuit yourself, you might soon find out that you are in over your head and are in need of expert legal advice. When you hire a car crash attorney in St. Louis, MO, you’ll be getting an experienced legal team who can review complicated and detailed medical records, locate and subpoena witnesses and consult with experts, and comb through every detail of your case.
Car Crashes In St. Louis and Missouri: The Statistics
While it is true that Missouri’s roads are safer now than they were at the start of the 21st century, St. Louis remains a dangerous place to drive. The Missouri Highway Patrol records a yearly report on crash statistics, which you can access here. Amongst other statistics, it shows that:
- St. Louis City and County combined had 131 fatal car accidents in the year 2019, which accounts for 16% of the state’s fatal car accidents. When St. Charles and Jefferson counties are also included in this equation, this number swells to 190 fatal crashes–roughly one out of every four wrecks in Missouri that prove deadly occurs in Metro St. Louis.
- Even in non-fatal accidents, the St. Louis area leads the pack when it comes to crash totals. MHP’s 2019 data also recorded St. Louis County as the site of one out of every five Missouri car wrecks – 32,012 crashes in total. (In comparison, the four counties on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro area – Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte – combined for 34,914 crashes in 2019.) Including St. Louis City (15,774 crashes), St. Charles County (8,496 wrecks), and Jefferson County (4,978 accidents), this means that our metro area accounts for 39% of all car accidents that took place in Missouri in 2019.
- As for statewide statistics, Missouri recorded 157,038 total car crashes in 2019, up slightly from 2018. 23,422 crashes involved speeders, 6,758 were because of a drug- or alcohol-impaired driver, 87,842 accidents were caused by overly aggressive drivers, and 4,320 were due to hitting a deer.
Common Car Accident Injuries in St. Louis and Throughout Missouri
The Missouri Highway Patrol recorded 37,832 car accidents that resulted in an injury in 2019, with 55,112 people being injured as the result of a car crash. While injury types and severities can vary from small cuts or scrapes to those that cause paralysis or life-changing disabilities, here are some of the most common injuries our St. Louis car accident attorneys have seen in our clients:
- Concussions: Caused by the sudden movement and forceful movement of the brain within the skull, concussions can lead to loss of memory and motor skills, both in the immediate aftermath of an accident as well as in the future.
- Broken bones: Due to the force involved in many car accidents, we see many car accident clients in St. Louis and throughout Missouri who have broken or fractured bones. While some broken bones easily heal, others require lengthy rehabilitation and medical treatment to get back to your baseline condition pre-accident.
- Whiplash: A study from the National Institutes of Health found that 83% of people who have been in a car accident suffered whiplash as a result of that accident. Whiplash is an injury that affects the neck, upper spine, and related muscles after someone’s head and neck has been violently thrown forwards. We see a lot of people who have had whiplash as a result of a rear-end collision.
- Spinal cord injuries: these are often the most debilitating injuries we see in our car crash clients in St. Louis and across Missouri. Spinal injuries often are life-changing conditions as they often lead to impaired motor functions, at a minimum, if not paralysis.
Contact a Car Accident Lawyer in St. Louis, MO Who Listens to Your Side of the Story Today
Combs Waterkotte has years of experience fighting for our car accident clients. Our firm is not a “volume” firm, like some of the bigger practices you may know in Missouri. This is because we believe in the value of individual attention and that every client is entitled to a lawyer who listens to and cares about them. Our attorneys are available for their clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, whether to talk about their case or just to check in and see how they are doing. When you call Combs Waterkotte, you can be confident you will be working with a lawyer who will be devoted to fighting for you as a person, not just as a case number. In addition, because we want you to be feeling your best throughout the legal process, our firm has a network of mental health professionals you can visit, free of charge, to deal with the psychological trauma that comes from being in a car wreck.
Call Combs Waterkotte today at (314) 900-HELP or contact us online. Our case reviews are free of charge and have no strings attached. Talk to us and experience for yourself the value of a car accident lawyer in St. Louis and throughout Missouri who listens.
