Can I Sue the Auto Shop for Negligence?
While driver negligence is often the cause of car accidents, it isn’t the only cause. Suppose you can draw a direct line from the work an auto shop did on your vehicle to the damage you suffered in a traffic accident. In that case, you can file a car accident case against them, and an experienced car accident attorney can help.
Case Requirements
To successfully sue an auto repair shop – or to successfully settle a car accident claim against them – you’ll need to demonstrate that each of the following elements applies:
- The car repair shop owed you a duty of care or was responsible for you. Car repair businesses bear an immense responsibility to their customers in the form of quality repairs that qualified professionals make.
- That car repair shop breached this duty of care in some way. For example, doing shoddy repair work, using inferior parts, or both.
- Their failure to live up to their responsibility was the direct cause of the accident that left them injured.
- As a result, you suffered losses addressed by the law. These include property damage to your vehicle and its contents, medical bills, lost income, and physical and emotional pain and suffering.
Proving Cause
Your seasoned car accident attorney has the legal insight, experience, and resources to clearly demonstrate that the auto shop’s negligence caused the accident that left you injured. For example, if you had brake work done and were injured in a rear-end accident in which your brakes failed and you rammed into the back of another motorist’s car as a result, making a connection between the auto shop’s repair work and your crash may be a straightforward process.
Your claim, however, will be specific to the circumstances involved. Your lawyer will take all the steps necessary to prove a close correlation between your work on your car and the damage you suffered – regardless of how challenging it is.
Time Is a Critical Factor
In Pennsylvania, you have only two years from the date of an injury-causing accident to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party, such as a negligent auto shop. This time constraint is called the statute of limitations, and it is an important factor to keep in mind.
Car accident cases that aren’t based on the other driver’s negligence, such as their impairment or distraction, tend to be much more complex and require considerable time to resolve. Discussing your case with a knowledgeable car accident attorney as soon as possible is always the best course of action.
Call an Experienced Harrisburg Car Accident Lawyer Today
The persuasive Harrisburg car accident attorneys at Mette Attorneys at Law dedicate our practice to skillfully guiding challenging cases like yours toward advantageous outcomes that support our valued clients’ most complete recoveries. We’re here for you, too. To learn more about what we can do to help, please don’t hesitate to contact us online or call 717-231-5219 today.