Duluth, GA Recreational Accident Lawyer

Recreational Injuries and Liability

Because recreational is such a broad term, it can be difficult to define who’s liable when someone suffers a recreational injury. If another person’s or entity’s negligence injured you, that party failed to exercise the reasonable amount of care owed you while at the recreational facility. Such entities can include ski resorts, hunting resorts, golf courses, swimming pools, hiking companies, scouting troops, schools and coaches, and any number of other entities. Recreational injury cases often get very complicated very quickly. If you’ve suffered a recreational injury that was caused by someone else’s negligence, you need skilled legal counsel.

Here are some examples of recreational accidents that could cause serious injuries:

• Boating accidents
• Camping accidents
• Skiing accidents
• Hiking accidents
• Accidents that occur while playing sports
• Swimming accidents
• Recreational vehicle accidents
• Accidents related to firearms
• Horseback riding accidents
• Whitewater rafting accidents

If someone else’s negligence has left you with a recreational injury, consult with an experienced personal injury attorney today. These cases are complex, but your rights and your rightful compensation matter too much to leave to chance or to the insurance company’s discretion. The dedicated legal team at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC, in Gwinnett County, Georgia, has the experience, knowledge, and commitment to help navigate your claim toward the compensation to which you’re entitled.

The Insurance Company

If you’ve been injured in a recreational accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, there’s going to be an insurance company in your future. It’s important to understand the basics when it comes to recreational injuries and insurance claims. While they provide a product that’s meant to compensate people like you who’ve been injured in an accident, insurance companies are first and foremost in the business of making money. This often means denying claims and minimizing payouts. In other words, your fair compensation is far from the insurance company’s top priority. Your skilled personal injury attorney will help you effectively and efficiently navigate the insurance process. Your claim matters.

What to Avoid

While it’s useful to know how to proceed if you’ve suffered a recreational injury, it’s also important to know what to avoid doing. You are not obligated to provide the negligent party’s insurance company with a statement, and it is in your best interest not to do so. Insurance representatives are skilled at culling statements from accident victims that later hurt the victims’ own cases. Your experienced personal injury attorney will provide the insurance company with what it needs.

Finally, while it’s human nature to want to apologize for having made a fuss (after being in an accident)—even when the accident was caused by someone else’s negligence—it’s not in your best interest to do so. Resist the urge. An apology can later be misconstrued as an admission of personal fault. The less you say, the better.

Gather Evidence at the Scene

If you’ve been injured while engaging in a recreational activity, the evidence at the scene of the accident is likely to be critical to the success of your claim. Gather all the evidence you can as soon after the accident as possible, and if you can’t do it yourself, enlist a bystander, friend, or family member to do it for you. There are several primary types of evidence to focus on:

• Use your smartphone to take pictures and videos that depict the scene of the accident from every angle. Don’t forget to take wide-angle photos of the big picture and close-ups of the details. Because your ability to snap photos quickly on your phone is nearly unlimited, don’t hold back. Take a picture or video of everything that you believe may be pertinent. Don’t leave out anything that you think may have caused, contributed to, or exacerbated the accident.
• Gather eyewitness testimony and eyewitness contact information. Eyewitnesses may even have photos or videos of the accident as it took place, and it doesn’t hurt to ask.
• Write out a narrative that explains exactly how the accident happened in your own words as soon as you can. Include as many details as you can remember. This contemporaneous document will help you keep your memories intact and can prove critical to your claim.
• Ask the facility for a copy of the accident report (which you may be asked to contribute to). If you’re asked to fill out an accident report, succinctly report exactly what happened with no extraneous comments or embellishments. Your dedicated personal injury attorney can help make sure you get this right.

When you head out for a day of recreation, you’re certainly not thinking about being injured in the process. Recreational injuries, nevertheless, do happen. Whether you’re heading to the slopes or the hiking trail, always make safety your top priority.

If You Suffered a Recreational Injury, Consult a Skilled Personal Injury Lawyer at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC Today

If you’ve suffered a recreational injury due to someone else’s negligence, it’s difficult—you were intending to have some fun, and instead, you ended up injured. It’s not a great scenario. An experienced personal injury attorney will carefully assess the circumstances of your claim and will help you navigate it toward just resolution. To schedule a free case evaluation with an attorney, call our office today at 404-418-8244 or send us an email through our online contact form.