Car Accident Lawyers Serving Pittsburgh

A minor accident with no injuries and no dispute about fault may not require an attorney. More serious accidents can raise questions that are difficult to resolve through an insurance claim alone. Consider talking with a lawyer if you suffered significant injuries, need ongoing medical treatment, cannot work, are being blamed for the accident, were hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver, or are having difficulty with an insurance company. You also don’t have to wait until an insurance claim has been denied. Speaking with an attorney early can help you understand what evidence should be preserved, what insurance may be available, and what deadlines may apply.

Pennsylvania follows a modified comparative negligence rule, so your share of responsibility for a crash can affect whether and how much you can recover. For people injured in Pittsburgh or elsewhere in Western Pennsylvania, an attorney familiar with Pennsylvania law can identify which laws, insurance policies, and deadlines apply. A lawyer can investigate what happened, help preserve evidence, identify available insurance coverage and responsible parties, document your losses, communicate with insurance companies, negotiate a settlement, and file a lawsuit when necessary.

Being partially responsible for an accident does not necessarily prevent you from recovering compensation in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania follows a modified comparative negligence rule. If your negligence was not greater than the negligence of the defendant or defendants from whom you are seeking recovery, you may still recover damages. Your compensation can be reduced according to your percentage of fault. For example, if you were found 20% responsible for a crash and your recoverable damages were $100,000, your recovery could be reduced by 20%. Fault is not always straightforward. A Pittsburgh car accident attorney can investigate the crash, gather and preserve evidence, and challenge allegations of fault when appropriate.

You may still have options, but the answer depends heavily on your own auto insurance coverage. Pennsylvania insurers are required to offer uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage, but Pennsylvania drivers may reject those coverages in writing. UM coverage may provide compensation when an at-fault driver has no applicable liability insurance. UIM coverage may apply when an at-fault driver’s available liability coverage is not enough to compensate you for your injuries. Because UM and UIM coverage can be rejected and policy choices can affect the amount of coverage available, it is important to review the actual policy and declarations page rather than assume coverage exists. An uninsured or underinsured driver does not necessarily mean there is no potential source of compensation. An attorney can review the available policies, determine what coverage may apply, and identify other potentially responsible parties or sources of recovery. A Pittsburgh car accident lawyer can review the available insurance policies and determine what potential sources of recovery may apply.

The first step is usually a phone call or contact-form submission explaining what happened and how to reach you. You don’t need to have every detail or document before contacting the firm. The team may ask when and where the accident occurred, who was involved, what injuries resulted, what medical care you have received, and whether insurance companies or other attorneys are involved. Depending on the matter, the firm may schedule a free consultation, request additional information, refer you to another attorney, or explain that the firm cannot take the case. The consultation carries no obligation to hire the firm. Contacting Bordas & Bordas alone does not create an attorney-client relationship. Representation begins only after you and the firm enter into a written agreement.

The insurance coverage available after a Pennsylvania car accident depends in part on the policies involved and the coverage choices that were made. For example, Pennsylvania insurers must offer uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage, but drivers can reject those coverages in writing. Other Pennsylvania insurance choices can also affect the rights and compensation available after an accident. Because policies and circumstances vary, it is important to review the actual insurance coverage rather than assume what is available. A Pittsburgh car accident attorney can review the applicable policies and explain how Pennsylvania insurance law may affect your claim.

Put health and safety first. Get out of immediate danger, call 911 when emergency help is needed, and seek appropriate medical care.

When you can do so safely, document what happened. Take photographs or video of the scene, hazards, vehicles, damaged property, and visible injuries. Get names and contact information for witnesses. Save reports, receipts, messages, insurance information, and anything else that may show what occurred.

Report the incident to the appropriate person or agency when required, such as the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police or other local police, a property owner, employer, rideshare company, or insurer. Be truthful, but avoid guessing about speed, distance, blame, or injuries you do not yet understand.

Do not rush to sign releases or accept a final settlement before the extent of the injury is known. Evidence can disappear quickly, so serious injuries should be evaluated by a Pittsburgh personal injury attorney early enough to preserve important information and calculate deadlines.

Yes, if you can do so safely. Photographs and video can preserve conditions that may change within minutes or days.

Useful images may include the overall scene, vehicle positions and damage, roadway or weather conditions, skid marks or debris, a spill or broken surface, lighting, missing signs or barriers, damaged equipment or products, and visible injuries. Take both wide views and closer details when possible.

Do not put yourself in danger, interfere with emergency responders, or delay needed medical treatment to collect evidence. If you cannot take photos, a family member, witness, or investigator may be able to help later.

Keep original files. Avoid editing, filtering, cropping, or deleting them. Digital timestamps and metadata may be useful. If businesses or nearby homes may have surveillance or doorbell video, which is common along busy Pittsburgh streets and commercial corridors, tell your attorney quickly because recordings are often overwritten.

Use your symptoms and medical needs—not a legal claim—to decide whether to seek care. Some injuries are obvious immediately, while others become more noticeable over hours or days.

If you have pain, dizziness, confusion, numbness, weakness, breathing difficulty, significant swelling, loss of movement, worsening symptoms, or any other concerning change, seek appropriate medical attention. Emergency symptoms require emergency care.

When you see a provider, explain accurately how the injury happened, when symptoms began, and what has changed. Follow treatment recommendations when you can. If cost, transportation, work, or another issue prevents follow-up, document the reason and tell your attorney.

Medical records can later help show the nature and timing of an injury, but the first priority is receiving appropriate care.

Yes. Social media activity can become relevant in a Pennsylvania personal injury case. Photos, videos, comments, check-ins, public posts, and sometimes private messages may be requested or used to challenge what someone says about an accident, injury, limitations, or recovery.

The safest approach is to avoid posting about the incident, your injuries, medical treatment, insurance claim, lawsuit, or the people and companies involved. Even unrelated posts can be taken out of context—for example, a single photo from a good day may be used to suggest that an injury is less serious than medical records show.

Do not delete existing posts after a claim begins without talking with your attorney. Deleting material that may be evidence can create separate problems. Review privacy settings, but do not assume a private account makes information unavailable in litigation.

Ask friends and family not to tag you in posts about the incident or your recovery.

Save anything that helps show what happened, what the injury caused, and how it affected your life.

Depending on the case, that may include police or incident reports, such as crash reports from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police or Pennsylvania State Police; photographs and video; witness information; medical records and bills; prescriptions and pharmacy records; insurance letters, emails, texts, and claim numbers; damaged property or product packaging; work restrictions, pay stubs, tax records, and leave documents; receipts for related expenses; and a simple timeline of symptoms, treatment, conversations, and important dates.

Keep original documents and digital files whenever possible. Do not alter photographs, rewrite original messages, or throw away damaged property until you have asked whether it may be evidence.

You do not need to organize everything perfectly. A legal team can help identify what matters, but preserving information early is much easier than trying to recreate it later.

If you can do so safely, get the names and contact information of people who saw what happened or observed the conditions before or after the incident. Independent witnesses may remember details that the people directly involved did not notice.

You do not need to conduct a formal interview at the scene. A name, phone number, email address, and brief note about what the person saw can be enough for an attorney or investigator to follow up later.

Do not pressure a witness, suggest what they should say, or ask them to change a statement. Preserve any text messages, emails, photographs, or video they send you.

Witnesses can become difficult to locate over time, so getting basic contact information early can make a major difference in an investigation.

Do not assume it is too late simply because months have passed. The deadline depends on the type of claim, where it occurred, who was involved, and other facts.

At the same time, waiting can make an investigation more difficult. Surveillance video may have been erased, witnesses may be harder to locate, vehicles or products may have been repaired or discarded, and memories can fade.

Gather the records you still have, including medical information, reports, photographs, messages, insurance correspondence, and a timeline of what happened. A Pittsburgh attorney can determine whether a claim may still be timely under Pennsylvania law and what evidence can still be obtained.

If a government entity (such as the City of Pittsburgh, PennDOT, or Pittsburgh Regional Transit), a medical provider, a child, or a death is involved, special rules may apply. Get legal advice rather than relying on a general internet deadline.

Pennsylvania law generally requires drivers to immediately notify police when a crash results in injury or death, or when a vehicle is damaged badly enough that it must be towed. In Pittsburgh, that usually means calling 911 so the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, another local department, or the Pennsylvania State Police can respond.

Even when a police report is not required, drivers involved in a crash should stop, exchange names, addresses, vehicle registration, and insurance information, and help anyone who is injured. Leaving the scene of a crash involving injury can have serious legal consequences.

A police report can document the date, location, people involved, witness information, and the officer’s observations. Ask the responding officer for a report or incident number and how to request a copy. The report is not the final word on fault, but it is often an important starting point for an insurance claim.

If you were injured in a crash in Pittsburgh or elsewhere in Allegheny County, a Pittsburgh car accident lawyer at Bordas & Bordas can help obtain the report and identify other evidence that may support your claim.

In most Pennsylvania car accident cases, the general deadline to file a personal injury lawsuit is two years from the date of the crash. Claims for damage to a vehicle or other property generally have a two-year deadline as well.

Exceptions and special rules can apply. Claims against a Pennsylvania government entity, such as the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PennDOT, or Pittsburgh Regional Transit, generally require written notice within six months of the accident, and there are limits on when government entities can be held responsible. Deadlines may also be calculated differently when the injured person is a minor or when a crash results in a death.

Insurance claims have their own requirements. Your own policy may require prompt notice of an accident and cooperation with the insurer, and an uninsured or underinsured motorist claim may be governed by separate policy terms.

Because missing a deadline can prevent you from pursuing compensation, talk with a Pittsburgh car accident attorney promptly. Bordas & Bordas can review your situation and identify the deadlines that apply to crashes in Pittsburgh and throughout Western Pennsylvania.

When you buy auto insurance in Pennsylvania, you choose between full tort and limited tort coverage. That choice can significantly affect what you can recover after a crash in Pittsburgh or anywhere else in the state.

Full tort preserves your right to seek compensation for both economic losses, such as medical bills and lost wages, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Limited tort usually costs less, but it generally prevents you from recovering pain and suffering unless you suffered a “serious injury,” which Pennsylvania law defines as an injury resulting in death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement. Limited tort does not prevent you from seeking compensation for economic losses.

Exceptions can allow a person with limited tort to recover pain and suffering as if they had full tort. These include crashes where the at-fault driver was convicted of DUI or accepted ARD for DUI in connection with the crash, was driving a vehicle registered in another state, intended to cause injury, or did not carry the insurance Pennsylvania requires (although limits may still apply to an uninsured motorist claim under your own policy). You also keep full tort rights if you were injured while riding in a vehicle that is not a private passenger vehicle, such as a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus, and you may pursue a claim against a business whose vehicle defect caused your injury.

Your declarations page shows which option you selected. Even if you chose limited tort, do not assume you cannot recover for pain and suffering. A Pittsburgh car accident lawyer at Bordas & Bordas can review your policy and whether your injury or the circumstances of the crash may qualify for full tort recovery.