Zero Risk Settlement Funding Can Help in Teen Auto Accidents
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, teens are three times more likely to be involved in a fatal auto accident than adults. In fact, auto accidents are the single most common cause of death for those between 13 and19 years of age.
Teen auto accidents do not just affect the teen drivers and their passengers. Two way crashes can injure and kill adults, too. Adult victims of teen auto accidents can find it hard to make ends meet if they have been seriously injured. Personal injury claims involving teen drivers, especially if there are insurance issues, may take several years to resolve. Zero risk settlement funding can help injured plaintiffs.
Just such an accident involving teen drivers occurred on the Virginia stretch of I-81 last Tuesday evening. The accident occurred in Washington County near the 34 milestone marker on the southbound section of the highway.
A 19 year old driver slammed into the back of a tractor-trailer that was parked on the hard shoulder with a flat tire. The reasons for the crash are still not clear, but appear to be due to the driver over-correcting as he drifted out of the lane he was in.
In this incident, the driver of the truck and his passenger were unharmed. The driver of the vehicle, a Toyota Avalon, was killed on impact as were two of the passengers in the vehicle while a third passenger was badly injured and had to be air-lifted to Bristol Regional Medical center.
Statistics held by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that more teen accidents happen because of over-correcting, as may have happened in the Virginia accident. In Virginia, would-be drivers under 18 have to complete 45 hours of actual driving practice with an adult in the vehicle as well as driver education before they are able to get their driver license, but 19 year olds do not need any more than driver education.
According to the National Safety Council, young drivers really need many hours of practice driving before they are capable of driving safely, especially when it comes to using a busy highway at speed, changing lanes, learning to stay on course and entering and exiting a highway or freeway safely.
Regardless of the reasons for teen auto accidents, many people are still injured or killed as a result of poor driving skills. Innocent victims may have to foot the bill when it comes to long periods of medical attention and time off work. If someone suffers from serious injury such as brain and/or spinal injuries, they may lose their jobs or be unable to earn a living as they had been able to do before the accident.
Because of this, victims of accidents are able to pursue a lawsuit to receive compensation from the negligent party. A personal injury lawsuit is designed to make the client “whole”. But justice usually takes time. Sometimes as much as several years pass before a settlement is reached.
But how is the injured person, who may be a breadwinner, able to cope financially in the meantime?
When money is short, injured accident victims may be able to arrange settlement funding, also known as “pre-settlement loans”, to assist them financially until they receive their settlement cash.
These funding transactions may be arranged when a personal injury attorney has been retained to file the lawsuit on a contingency fee basis. That is, the attorney only gets paid if and when the case settles.
Likewise, a lawsuit settlement funding company is only repaid if the case is successful. The money can be used at the client’s discretion.
“Lawsuit loans” are normally carefully assessed for risk and will only be funded when the lender decides there is a very good chance of a successful settlement. These settlement loans are regarded as zero risk loans for the plaintiff because they need not be paid back unless a settlement is reached.
