Injured by a speeding driver in Philadelphia, PA? Our experienced speeding accident attorneys in Philadelphia will fight to recover full monetary compensation for medical expenses, lost income from work, and more.
In Pennsylvania, negligence per se applies to speeding, meaning the violation of speed limits can establish a breach of the driver’s legal duty to operate their vehicle safely.
This legal principle can strengthen your claim, but insurance companies will still fight to minimize what they pay. The at-fault driver’s insurer knows that speeding accidents typically result in substantial medical bills, extended recovery periods, and significant pain and suffering damages.
They also know that without experienced legal representation, many victims accept settlements far below what their cases are truly worth.
Our Philadelphia speeding accident lawyers have spent years handling these complex cases, working with accident reconstruction specialists who can calculate exact speeds at impact and medical experts who document the full extent of your injuries.
At Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, we pursue every available avenue of compensation, from current medical expenses to future care needs, lost wages to diminished earning capacity, and the physical and emotional toll these preventable crashes take on your life.
Contact us today for a free case evaluation.
Why Choose Our Attorneys For Your Speeding Accident Claim in Philadelphia
At Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, we focus exclusively on representing individuals injured by negligent drivers in Philadelphia. Our firm combines compassionate counsel with aggressive advocacy to secure the compensation you deserve after a speeding accident.
When you retain our services, you gain access to a team with specific experience handling speeding-related crashes. We work with accident reconstruction experts and utilize advanced speed analysis technology to build compelling cases.
Our Philadelphia speeding accident attorneys operate on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we win your case.
Our award-winning legal team understands that speeding accidents often result in more severe injuries due to the increased force of impact. We have secured millions of dollars in compensation for clients throughout Pennsylvania, and we’re ready to fight for you.
Do I Have a Case After a Speeding Car Accident in Philadelphia?
If a speeding driver hit you, you likely have strong grounds for a personal injury claim. Speeding violations provide powerful evidence of negligence, which forms the foundation of your case.
You must prove the other driver was negligent, their negligence caused the crash, and you suffered quantifiable damages.
Is Speeding Negligence Per Se in Pennsylvania?
Yes, violating Pennsylvania’s speed limits constitutes “negligence per se” under state law. This legal concept means that breaking a safety statute automatically establishes that the driver breached their duty of care. A speeding citation issued at the scene serves as strong evidence of this breach.
However, you still must prove that this negligent behavior directly caused your injuries and resulted in measurable damages. Our experienced Philadelphia car accident lawyers know how to connect these legal elements to build a winning case.
How We Prove Speeding and Fault in Philadelphia Crashes
Successfully proving liability when a driver was speeding requires sophisticated investigation beyond witness statements. Our team acts within hours of your initial contact to secure time-sensitive evidence before it disappears.
We build detailed, evidence-based cases that demonstrate precisely how excessive speed led to your injuries.
Evidence We Secure Within Days
Our investigation focuses on gathering multiple forms of irrefutable data to support your claim:
- Event Data Recorder (EDR): We extract “black box” data from vehicles that records speed, braking, and steering inputs in the seconds before impact
- Police Speed Detection: We obtain official reports documenting speeds measured by LIDAR, radar, or other law enforcement technology
- Surveillance Footage: Our team canvasses areas for business and traffic camera recordings, especially along high-traffic corridors like Roosevelt Boulevard
- Speed Camera Data: We subpoena automated enforcement records from Philadelphia’s speed camera program before deletion
- Physical Evidence Analysis: We use skid marks, debris patterns, and vehicle damage to calculate minimum impact speeds
Can We Obtain Speed Camera or EDR Data?
Yes, but immediate action is crucial. This critical evidence often gets deleted within 30 days of an accident. As soon as you hire our firm, we send legal preservation letters and subpoenas to secure this data before it’s lost forever.
Many insurance companies and vehicle manufacturers automatically purge electronic data after short periods. Our quick response protects your right to this vital evidence.
What Compensation Can I Recover After an Accident Caused by a Speeding Driver?
Speeding accidents generate tremendous force, typically causing more severe injuries than lower-speed collisions. This often translates to higher compensation needs for medical care, lost income, and pain and suffering.
Pennsylvania law allows injured victims to recover for all economic and non-economic losses they experience.
Economic and Non-Economic Damages
Your compensation covers two main categories of harm you’ve suffered:
- Economic Damages: Medical bills, future treatment costs, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, property damage, and out-of-pocket expenses
- Non-Economic Damages: Physical pain, emotional distress, mental anguish, scarring, disfigurement, and loss of life enjoyment
The severity of speeding accidents often results in substantial awards in both categories. Our attorneys work with medical experts and economists to accurately calculate your total losses.
Punitive Damages for Reckless or Drunk Speeding
In cases involving extreme negligence, Pennsylvania courts may award punitive damages. These aren’t meant to compensate your losses but to punish outrageous conduct and deter similar behavior. Examples include excessive speeding while intoxicated, street racing, or fleeing police.
Punitive damages can significantly increase your total recovery when the at-fault driver’s behavior was particularly dangerous.
Pennsylvania Insurance and Tort Options After a Speeding Accident
Your pre-accident insurance choices significantly impact your ability to recover compensation. Pennsylvania’s “choice no-fault” system requires you to select either “Limited Tort” or “Full Tort” coverage, which determines your rights to sue for pain and suffering.
Limited Tort vs Full Tort in Speeding Cases
Your tort selection directly affects your compensation rights:
- Limited Tort: Restricts pain and suffering claims unless you suffer “serious injuries,” but costs less in premiums
- Full Tort: Allows unrestricted pain and suffering claims regardless of injury severity, with slightly higher premiums
High-speed crashes frequently cause injuries severe enough to meet Limited Tort’s “serious injury” exception, potentially allowing full compensation even with restricted coverage.
First-Party Medical Benefits
Pennsylvania requires minimum $5,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage from your own insurance. These benefits pay medical bills immediately while your injury claim against the speeding driver proceeds.
We coordinate these benefits to ensure your doctors receive prompt payment while maximizing your overall recovery.
Our firm maintains relationships with top Philadelphia medical providers who understand the insurance coordination process.
What if I Am Partly at Fault Under Pennsylvania’s Comparative Negligence Rule?
You can still recover compensation even if you share some responsibility for the accident. Pennsylvania follows modified comparative negligence, allowing you to claim damages as long as you’re not more than 50% at fault. Your final award gets reduced by your percentage of responsibility.
For instance, if you’re awarded $100,000 but found 33% at fault, you’d receive $67,000. The other driver’s speeding often reduces your fault percentage significantly, as excessive speed is such clear evidence of negligence.
Common Injuries in High-Speed Collisions
Speeding accidents create devastating forces that cause life-altering injuries. The faster the impact speed, the more severe the resulting harm typically becomes.
High-speed crashes commonly cause:
- Traumatic brain injuries: Violent impacts cause the brain to strike the skull, leading to cognitive impairment, memory loss, and personality changes
- Spinal Cord Damage: Force can fracture vertebrae or sever the spinal cord, resulting in partial or complete paralysis
- Multiple Fractures: Complex bone breaks often require multiple surgeries, metal hardware, and extensive rehabilitation
- Internal Bleeding: Blunt force trauma damages vital organs and causes life-threatening hemorrhaging
- Severe Burns: High-speed crashes increase fire risk and fuel-related injuries
These injuries often require years of treatment and can permanently affect your ability to work and enjoy life.
Philadelphia Speeding Hotspots and Local Road Risks
Certain Philadelphia roadways see repeated speeding accidents due to their design and traffic patterns. Our local knowledge of these dangerous areas helps us investigate crashes more effectively.
Roosevelt Boulevard’s 12 lanes and complex intersections create opportunities for drivers to exceed the 40 mph limit dangerously. I-95 through South Philadelphia combines high speeds with heavy truck traffic and frequent construction zones.
Kelly Drive’s scenic curves along the Schuylkill River hide dangers as drivers take turns too fast.
Broad Street becomes particularly hazardous during late-night hours when illegal racing and aggressive driving increase dramatically.
What to Do After a Speeding Crash in Philadelphia
Your actions immediately following a speeding accident can significantly impact both your health and legal rights. Taking proper steps protects your well-being and preserves crucial evidence for your case.
Seek Medical Care Immediately
Visit an emergency room or see your doctor right away, even if you feel fine initially. Adrenaline masks serious injuries, and delayed symptoms are common in high-speed crashes. Getting immediate medical attention creates documented medical records that directly link the accident to your injuries, which insurance companies cannot dispute.
Follow all treatment recommendations completely. Gaps in medical care give insurance adjusters ammunition to argue your injuries weren’t serious.
Preserve Evidence and Documentation
If physically able, photograph everything at the scene including vehicle damage, your injuries, skid marks, and road conditions. Collect witness contact information before people leave the area. Request the police report number from responding officers.
Avoid discussing fault or giving detailed statements about how the accident happened. Simple factual information is sufficient for the police report.
Avoid Insurance Company Recordings
Politely decline to give recorded statements to the other driver’s insurance company. Adjusters are trained to ask questions designed to minimize or deny your claim. Refer them to your attorney instead.
Your own insurance company may require a recorded statement, but consult with us first to understand your obligations and rights.
Contact Our Firm Immediately
Contact Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers as soon as possible after your accident. We’re available 24/7 to provide free consultations and can immediately begin preserving time-sensitive evidence. Let us handle all insurance communications while you focus on recovery.
Deadlines to File a Pennsylvania Speeding Accident Claim
In Pennsylvania, the statute of limitations generally gives you two years from the accident date to file a lawsuit. However, claims against government entities like PennDOT or Philadelphia have much shorter deadlines of just six months for official notice.
Critical evidence like surveillance footage and witness memories disappear long before these legal deadlines expire. Immediate legal action preserves your rights and strengthens your case significantly.
Missing these deadlines typically bars you from recovering any compensation, regardless of how strong your case might be.
Skilled Auto Accident Attorneys in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
We believe everyone deserves access to justice regardless of their financial situation. That’s why we handle all speeding accident cases on a contingency fee basis – you pay nothing unless we recover money for you.
Our firm advances all case-related expenses including investigation costs, expert witness fees, and court filing charges. You never receive a bill for these expenses unless our Philadelphia speeding accident lawyers win your case.
This arrangement allows us to take on insurance companies and their teams of lawyers without you worrying about legal costs during your recovery.
Serving Philadelphia and Surrounding Communities
Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers represents clients throughout Philadelphia and surrounding areas including Allentown, West Chester, Reading, Coatesville, and Pottstown. If your injuries prevent office visits, we’ll meet you at your home or hospital room.
Our commitment extends beyond legal representation to helping clients access medical care and support services during their recovery process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Prove Speeding Without a Police Ticket?
Yes, we can establish speeding through vehicle black box data, witness testimony, accident reconstruction analysis, and physical evidence like skid marks. Police citations help but aren’t required to prove negligence.
What if I Was Also Speeding When the Accident Happened?
You can still recover compensation under Pennsylvania’s comparative negligence law as long as you’re 50% or less at fault. Your award will be reduced by your percentage of responsibility, but the other driver’s excessive speed often makes them primarily liable.
How Quickly Do You Need Speed Camera or Traffic Video?
Most surveillance footage gets deleted within 30 days of recording, making immediate legal action crucial. We send preservation letters within hours of being retained to secure this evidence before it’s lost.
Does Limited Tort Prevent Pain and Suffering Claims?
Limited Tort restricts these claims unless you suffer “serious injuries.” High-speed crashes typically cause harm severe enough to meet this exception, allowing full compensation despite Limited Tort coverage.
Are Punitive Damages Available for Extreme Speeding?
Yes, Pennsylvania allows punitive damages when the at-fault driver’s conduct was outrageous or reckless. Street racing, excessive speeding while intoxicated, or fleeing police can trigger these additional damages.
What’s the Deadline to File My Speeding Accident Claim?
You generally have two years from the accident date, but only six months for claims against government entities. Evidence preservation requires much quicker action, making immediate legal consultation essential.
How Much Does Hiring Wilk Law Cost?
Nothing upfront – We handle cases on a contingency fee basis, so you pay nothing unless we recover money for you. We only get paid if we win your case, and we advance all investigation and litigation expenses.
What Should I Avoid Saying to Insurance Companies?
Never admit fault, minimize your injuries, or give detailed accident descriptions without legal counsel. Simple factual information for police reports is sufficient – refer all other questions to your attorney.