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Few people in Salem likely ever anticipate being involved in a car accident. On the contrary, most may believe that their strong driving skills will help them to avoid collisions. There may indeed be some merit to that argument, yet one fact that people cannot overlook is the inability to control the actions of others. Oftentimes all it may take is a single careless decision or reckless action to lead to a chain of events that ends in a devastating accident. Such accidents often leave victims dealing with physical limitations, emotional losses and inordinate expenses, as well as uncertainty as to how they will be able to handle the financial burdens the incidents force them to deal with.

Liability for such accidents lies with the drivers that cause them, yet how can one know for sure who is at fault? Sometimes a party’s actions may indicate guilt. Take the case of an accident that recently occurred in Portland. A two-car crash left two people injured (one of whom had to be transported to a local hospital via helicopter. Witnesses to the accident reported that one of the drivers involved fled from the scene. They were located by authorities a short while later and taken into custody. Officials have yet to release why the driver fled, but they do believe that alcohol may have had a hand in causing the collision.

One might think that in cases where the potential target of a liability lawsuit faces criminal charges that any civil complaint must wait until the completion of the criminal matter. Yet that is not the case; both can be pursued concurrently. Anyone needing to initiate such action in the wake of a car accident may first want to consult with an attorney.