Scranton Personal Injury Attorneys

Ask any Scranton personal injury attorney, and they’ll tell you that personal injuries come in many different forms. But what they all have in common is that someone was hurt through no fault of their own. For it to be a personal injury, an injury must be caused by the negligence of another person or entity. However, if someone planned to hurt you, that’s not a personal injury but more likely assault.

When you are injured in an accident, you can take the help of a Scranton personal injury lawyer to file a suit for damages to cover your injuries and recovery. This is an option that many people must choose to take because of the high cost of medical bills and the income lost during recovery. Most people can’t support themselves after sustaining a personal injury, and they shouldn’t have to. The one who caused the injury should be held responsible.

A personal injury attorney in Scranton, PA can help you in this regard.

When a serious medically consulted work injury can cost upwards of $44,000, no one should be left to deal with it themselves. Contact the Scranton personal injury attorneys at Scartelli Olszewski, P.C.

Types of Personal Injury

As experienced personal injury lawyers in Scranton, PA, we’ve helped victims with various kinds of claims over the years. There are many types of personal injuries that someone can suffer in public, on someone’s property, and at work. Certain types of personal injury require a greater level of negligence, so if they’ve caused you harm, how much you should seek in damages is affected. If you’re unsure what kind of personal injury you’ve experienced and what compensation you deserve, our Scranton personal injury attorneys at Scartelli Olszewski, P.C. can explain.

Car & Truck Crashes

Vehicle crashes are some of the most common personal injuries people can experience outside of the workplace. They also come in multiple forms that can affect who a victim should seek damages from and how much in damages they likely sustained. Our Scranton personal injury attorneys routinely deal with cases involving:

• Car crashes: This is when someone hits your vehicle due to a mistake or choice they made as a driver. How much damage you or your vehicle may sustain and how much you can seek in damages depends on the accident. Someone clipping your side-view mirror and someone causing a rollover accident are technically both car crashes, with a difference in severity.
• Truck crashes: Truck accidents involve industrial and transportation vehicles, like an 18-wheeler, semi-truck, or large moving van. Accidents involving these vehicles will involve the company that owns the vehicle and employs the driver. Due to their size, they also tend to cause more damage to other vehicles and sometimes the area around them. Depending on their contents, they can include many injured passengers and/or materials that make the road dangerous.
• Crashworthiness: Crashworthiness refers to accidents not caused by a driver error or a natural occurrence–such as a deer or falling tree. Rather, they are caused by something faulty in one or more vehicles or made worse by them. In these cases, victims sue the manufacturers for damages instead or in addition to the other driver at fault. If an injury was made worse or wasn’t prevented because of a faulty safety feature, like an airbag, that would also be a crashworthiness case, as would an accident caused by faulty brakes.
• Rideshare accidents: These accidents refer to accidents that involve rideshare services like Uber and Lyft. If a rideshare driver hits you, it’s not much different from a car crash, but if you’re the passenger of a driver who causes a car accident, and you’re injured, the process is different. Rideshare companies have insurance policies that can affect how you can sue for damages. Feel free to discuss your case with a qualified personal injury lawyer in Scranton, PA to understand how liability is established in such cases.
• Motorcycle accidents: Any vehicle that does not exceed 5 brake horsepower is considered a motorcycle. Due to the lack of protection motorcycles provide, it’s common for cyclists to experience severe injuries, which will require more recovery funds than car crashes.
• Pedestrian accidents: In Pennsylvania, unless traffic-control signals are in place and in operation, pedestrians have the right of way. This means the driver is responsible for the pedestrian’s injuries unless they walk out into traffic or when the pedestrian signal doesn’t call for them to walk. If you’re hit by a car, or a pedestrian walks when they’re not supposed to, our personal injury attorneys in Scranton, PA can help you sue for damages.

That’s right, a seasoned Scranton personal injury lawyer is the most reliable ally in your fight to obtain justice and fair compensation for your injuries, losses, and damages.

Aviation Accidents

While most airports, aviation schools, and airfields will make you sign waivers and agreements regarding the safety and risks of flying, there are limits to what a waiver can do.

Even beyond the accident itself, how professionals react to the accident can relieve or cause more pain and suffering. If their decisions and reactions to the event lead to more people being injured or even succumbing to their wounds, that’s cause for a lawsuit.

If a plane landing damages your property, you can sue for those damages. Don’t hesitate to reach out to a knowledgeable Scranton personal injury lawyer to know your legal options.

Bicycle Accidents

As experienced personal injury attorneys in Scranton, PA, we understand that bicycle accidents can be potentially worse than motorcycle accidents in some instances. Motorcycles have the weight and dexterity to withstand a hit, but if a person is hit while on a bicycle, they have very little protection. The injuries from these accidents are often severe and permanently life-changing. Depending on your coverage, certain insurance providers will cover your medical bills, but if you can’t rely on them, the one who hit you should be paying the difference along with addressing the other factors such as pain and suffering.

Boating Accidents

In Pennsylvania, most boating accidents take place in lakes and rivers, which still see a large number of accidents. Depending on the nature of the accident, you can experience a slip-and-fall accident on someone else’s boat, be thrown overboard, or be injured by the boat’s fins. There are also many other types of injuries you can sustain when your boat is hit by another boat.

While you can have insurance for your boat and personal injuries, Pennsylvania does not mandate insurance for boat owners. This means you may need to file a lawsuit with the help of a skilled personal injury lawyer in Scranton, PA to cover the cost of your injuries.

Bus Accidents

In Pennsylvania, whether or not you have auto insurance matters. Many auto insurance policies will cover your injuries if you are in a bus crash and will seek compensation from the bus company itself. If you do not have auto insurance, you need a competent Scranton personal injury attorney to help you seek it from the bus company’s insurance.

Even if the bus driver was not at fault for the accident, several people suing the driver will not lead to everyone getting compensated for their injuries. The bus is also the one offering a service that left you injured, which serves as an argument against them should their insurance refuse to cover you.

Dog Bite Injuries

If someone’s dog bites you unprovoked, the owner needs to pay you for the damages. This applies to any animal kept as a pet, though dogs are the most common offender. For an animal to be unprovoked, you must have been invited to the home, did not threaten or intimidate the dog, or attempt to bother it in any way. Walking on someone’s property without permission may seem harmless, but this is reason enough to provoke a dog.

If the dog bite happens while you are in public, such as in the park, the impetus is put more so on the owner to make sure the dog isn’t provoked, but that doesn’t mean the owner is completely guilty. Bring all the details of your dog bite to our Scranton personal injury lawyers, and we can explain how strong a case you have. Always remember to try and capture as many photos as possible.

Electrocution Accidents

Electrocution accidents occur when you are hurt by an electric current that damages your personal health. These symptoms denote that you haven’t just been shocked but electrocuted and should see a medical professional:

• Severe burns
• Difficulty breathing
• Confusion
• Loss of consciousness
• Heart rhythm problems
• Muscle pain and contractions
• Seizures
• Cardiac arrest

Electrocution is one of the most common workplace injuries, but it is not exclusive to the workplace. It is also commonly a type of premises liability injury. The three most common causes of electrocution are exposed wiring, powerline accidents, and landscaping incidents.

An able Scranton personal injury attorney will know how to file a legal claim and seek compensation from the party responsible for your injuries and suffering.

Premises Liability Injuries

We are all responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of our property. If someone is negligent in maintaining their property, they can become responsible for any injury on their property. Examples would be sickness from dangerous mold, cuts from uncovered nails, or unstable structures falling onto or falling out from under someone.

The property owner’s responsibility is mainly called into question when there’s reason to believe that the owner could not have known about the danger on their property, but this defense is not the strongest one.

Depending on your case facts, a Scranton personal injury lawyer will help you make all the right legal moves.

Product Liability Injuries

If something you’ve purchased is defective or incorrectly designed in a way that will cause you injury, the manufacturer and/or creator owes you damages. A common example would be defective airbags that do not function or do so improperly. Your personal injury lawyer in Scranton, PA can shed light on this.

Slip and Fall Accidents

If you’re in a home, storefront, or a place of business that is not your own, and a substance on the floor causes you to slip and fall, this is called a slip-and-fall accident. Unless there was a sign that clearly denoted a spill, it is the responsibility of the property owner to warn you about the danger.

Similarly to electrocution, this is a type of injury that can be considered a workplace injury or a premises liability injury. These types of cases can also be handled by a personal injury attorney.

Train and Railway Accidents

Train and railway accidents include when trains collide with other trains or objects on the railway. While these accidents may be out of the control of railway employees, how they respond and help passengers through an accident can help prevent or cause more injuries.

If a train’s conductor reacts poorly to an object on the tracks, causing a significant railroad accident, the railway can become responsible for the damages.

Wrongful Death Accidents

This is a type of personal injury accident that you can only sue for on another’s behalf. If a loved one dies due to any of the previously listed types of injuries, the case becomes a wrongful death case. These carry hefty consequences and require the utmost care and investigation. The person who experienced the injury can no longer fight for themselves, and those they leave behind should still be able to afford a funeral and the cost of living without their help.

Workers’ Compensation

If any of the previously stated types of personal injury accidents happen at your workplace while you are on the clock, you need to apply for workers’ compensation. This is where your employer’s insurance covers the costs of your medical bills and lost wages. If they try to deny your claim, you need to contact a personal injury attorney in Scranton, PA and begin a lawsuit against them for the coverage they owe you and the damages you incurred while they refused to pay.

Who Can Help You After Suffering an Injury? The Scranton Personal Injury Attorneys at Scartelli Olszewski, P.C.

Personal injuries come with pain and trauma. The first thing you should always do is to make sure you’re taken care of as soon as possible by a medical professional. Then, seek damages, so your recovery doesn’t harm you and your family. When an accident isn’t your fault, you shouldn’t be the one who has to pay for it. Contact Scartelli Olszewski, P.C. for a Scranton personal injury lawyer near you.