If you were hit by another car, you might want to sue them for assault. You may not think it was an accident, or you may think that the accident was so bad it should count as assault. Here's what you need to know.
What is Assault?
Assault is hitting another person. It can be intentional or caused by recklessness. It can be directly or caused by an object.
In most cases, assault is a crime that you can call the police and press criminal charges for. For example, if you were hit by another car in a road rage incident, you should call the police and have them arrested.
Assault is also a reason you can bring a civil lawsuit. When you file a criminal case, the person can go to jail, but they don't have to pay for your injuries. In a civil lawsuit, you can make them pay for your injuries.
Is Assault the Same Thing as an Accident?
Car accidents and assaults are both kinds of personal injury cases. An accident usually means something that's unintentional. Most injuries in car crashes are caused by unintentional actions, so they're brought as car accident cases.
An assault case is something more specific. In a car crash, it usually involves an intentional act. A road rage driver hitting you with their car is the same as someone punching you. You can also sue for reckless conduct like drag racing in traffic. Whether it's technically called assault or something else can vary by where you are, but the end result is that you can sue to recover for your injuries.
Why Do You Want to Make Your Claim an Assault Case?
In the standard car accident case, you're only entitled to recover what you lost. That might be repairing your car, paying your medical bills, and compensating you for the time you missed from work.
Alleging an assault or reckless conduct can lead to punitive damages. Punitive damages are additional money that you can receive solely because of the defendant's wrongdoing. This means that you can receive much more than in a typical car accident case.
Again, it's not whether it's called assault that's important. If you were injured by someone else's intentional or reckless conduct, you can bring a personal injury lawsuit to make them pay for their actions.
To learn more about how to bring your case, contact local personal injury representation today.
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