Car Accident Lawyer | Vancouver, Washington

If you are looking for a car accident lawyer or car wreck attorney near you after a crash in Vancouver or anywhere in Clark County, BF Quackenbush Law handles injury claims from our office at 217 W Evergreen Blvd, Vancouver, WA 98660. We represent drivers, passengers, pedestrians and others hurt in car wrecks, from rear-end collisions on city streets to multi-vehicle crashes on the freeway.

Many Clark County crashes happen on the roads local drivers use every day: I-5 and I-205, SR-14 along the Columbia River, SR-500, and the I-5 Interstate Bridge between Vancouver and Portland. Commuter traffic, merges and stop-and-go backups on these routes produce rear-end and lane-change collisions that often lead to disputes over fault.

When a Clark County car accident case goes to court, it is filed in Clark County Superior Court at the Clark County Courthouse, 1200 Franklin St., Vancouver, WA 98660. Many claims resolve with the insurance companies before trial, but every claim should be prepared as if it will be tried there.

Washington law sets out what every driver must do after a collision. Under RCW 46.52.020, a driver in a crash that injures or kills someone must stop at or as close to the scene as possible and remain there until they have exchanged information and given the help described below. If the crash damaged only vehicles or property, the driver must move the vehicle as soon as possible off the roadway or the freeway lanes and shoulders to a safe location, such as an exit ramp shoulder or the nearest cross street, and moving it does not affect who is at fault.

Each driver must give their name, address, insurance company, policy number and vehicle license number, and show their driver's license. Drivers must also give reasonable help to anyone injured, including arranging a trip to a doctor or hospital when treatment is clearly needed or is requested. Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a class C felony, and a class B felony if someone dies.

Under RCW 46.52.030, unless a law enforcement officer makes the report, a driver in a crash causing injury, death or apparent property damage to any one person of $1,000 or more must file a written collision report within four days. The $1,000 threshold is set by Washington State Patrol rule, WAC 446-85-010. The report goes to the city police if the crash was inside city limits, or to the county sheriff or State Patrol if it was outside them.

Beyond those legal duties, take photos of the vehicles, the road and your injuries, get names and phone numbers of witnesses, and see a doctor promptly even if you feel fine. Avoid giving a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer before you understand your claim.

Washington is a fault-based state: the driver who caused the crash, and that driver's liability insurer, are responsible for the harm. Proving fault usually depends on the collision report, photos, vehicle damage, witness accounts and sometimes video or vehicle data.

Washington also follows pure comparative fault under RCW 4.22.005. If you were partly at fault, your recovery is reduced in proportion to your share of fault, but it is not barred. Someone found 30 percent at fault, for example, can still recover 70 percent of their damages. Insurers know this rule well and often argue for a higher share of fault on the injured person, which is one reason careful investigation matters.

Your own auto policy may pay benefits before any claim against the other driver is settled. Washington insurers must offer personal injury protection (PIP) coverage under RCW 48.22.085, and a named insured can reject it only in writing. The minimum PIP benefits under RCW 48.22.095 are $10,000 for medical and hospital expenses, $10,000 in income continuation (up to $200 per week), $5,000 for loss of services (up to $200 per week) and a $2,000 funeral benefit. Under RCW 48.22.005, PIP medical benefits are payable for expenses incurred within three years of the accident.

Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage under RCW 48.22.030 protects you when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough to cover your damages. It also applies to hit-and-run drivers and to phantom vehicles, meaning a vehicle that caused the crash without touching you or your car. A phantom vehicle claim requires that the crash be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours and that the facts be corroborated by evidence other than the testimony of the people making the claim. UIM bodily injury coverage must be in the same amount as your liability coverage unless all or part of it was rejected in writing.

Your own insurer can become an adversary on a PIP or UIM claim, so the same care applies to those claims as to a claim against the other driver.

Claims against a city, county or other local government, such as a crash with a city or county vehicle, have an extra step. Under RCW 4.96.020, a written claim must first be presented to the government's designated agent, generally on the standard tort claim form, and it must be presented within the time limit for filing suit. No lawsuit can be filed until 60 calendar days after the claim is presented, and the limitation period is tolled during those 60 days.

Claims against the State of Washington, including crashes with Washington State Patrol or WSDOT vehicles, follow a similar process. Under RCW 4.92.110, the claim goes to the Office of Risk Management in the Department of Enterprise Services, and suit cannot be filed until 60 days after it is presented. A missing or defective claim can derail a case, so these claims should be prepared early.

Many Clark County residents commute to Portland, and a crash just across the Interstate Bridge may be governed by Oregon law rather than Washington's. Oregon's deadline is shorter: under ORS 12.110, an action for any injury to the person not arising on contract must generally be commenced within two years, compared with three years in Washington.

If you were hurt in Oregon, do not assume you have Washington's longer window. Which state's law applies and where the case can be filed depend on the facts, and the two-year clock is the safe date to work from until that is sorted out.

A truck accident claim often reaches beyond the driver. Commercial truck crashes can involve the trucking company, the company that loaded the cargo and the owner of the trailer, each with its own insurer. Federal rules in 49 CFR Part 395 limit how long a property-carrying truck driver may drive, including an 11-hour driving limit after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and driver logs and electronic records can show whether those limits were followed. That evidence should be requested early, before it is lost.

In any car or truck accident claim, the damages you can seek generally include past and future medical expenses, lost wages and lost earning capacity, vehicle and property damage, and non-economic harm such as pain, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life. The value of a claim depends on the injuries, the treatment and the available insurance, and no lawyer can honestly promise a number.