Martinez car accident and injury lawyers.

AFTER A MARTINEZ WRECK

Which side of the county line were you on?

Martinez sits right up against Augusta. It’s an unincorporated part of Columbia County, but the Richmond County line runs just to the east, close to busy stretches of Washington Road and I-20. People cross it all day without noticing, because so many Martinez families work, shop and see doctors in Augusta. After a crash, though, which side you were on can change almost everything about your claim.

Maybe you were headed home on Washington Road or pulling out onto Furys Ferry Road when someone else didn’t stop. Now there’s a car to fix, a doctor to see and an adjuster who already wants to talk. You don’t have to work all of that out on your own, and you don’t have to do it today.

Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C. handles Martinez injury cases from our Augusta injury office, a short drive east. Across Georgia we’ve recovered more than $5 billion for over 300,000 clients in 45 years, from 9 offices. There’s nothing to pay up front, and zero fee unless we win.

Don’t sign anything an insurance company hands you before you know which county’s rules apply to your crash. Their first offer usually comes before anyone has checked.

Columbia County or Augusta? Here’s what changes.

On the Columbia County side, Martinez has no city police, so the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office usually writes the report, and a claim against local government is usually a county claim. On the Augusta side, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office writes it, and Augusta’s consolidated government is safest treated as a six-month claim.

What changes	Columbia County side of Martinez	Augusta-Richmond County side
Who usually writes the report	Columbia County Sheriff’s Office	Richmond County Sheriff’s Office
Notice deadline for a local government claim	Generally 12 months (county)	Plan on 6 months (consolidated government)
Where a case is often filed	Columbia County Justice Center, Evans	Augusta-Richmond County Judicial Center, downtown
Judicial circuit	Columbia Judicial Circuit	Augusta Judicial Circuit

Two things stay the same on both sides. The Georgia State Patrol works many crashes on I-20 and state routes, and a claim against the State of Georgia or GDOT generally allows twelve months. A claim against a private driver or business generally allows two years to file suit, wherever the crash happened.

Here’s how that plays out. Two drivers are hit on Washington Road on the same afternoon, a few minutes apart. One crash is just west of the line and the other just east. If a county vehicle caused the first, the family generally has twelve months to send notice. If an Augusta vehicle caused the second, we’d plan on six. Same road, same day, different clocks.

The courthouse matters less than the deadline, but it still matters. It decides which judges hear your case and where you’d go for a hearing. We’ll tell you where yours belongs, and why, before anything is filed.

Not sure which side you were on? The agency that came to the scene is usually the best clue. If it was a Richmond County deputy, see how Augusta crash reports work. If it was a Columbia County deputy, the process works much like it does in neighboring Evans.

Getting the report is usually simple once you know who has it. The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office takes open records requests online and at its Evans office. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Records Bureau releases reports online and at 400 Walton Way. Or tell us the road and the date, and we’ll get it for you.

Can’t tell which county you were in? Call 706-806-9889. Give us the road and the nearest cross street, and we’ll work out the rest.

Car and truck crashes in Martinez

Most serious Martinez crashes happen on the busy commuter roads: Washington Road, Columbia Road, Furys Ferry Road and Riverwatch Parkway, plus I-20 near the Bobby Jones Expressway. Our Martinez car crash lawyers handle the report, the medical bills and the adjuster, so you can focus on getting better.

Washington Road is the one people ask about most. It carries commuters into Augusta and shoppers to the stores and restaurants along it, and it crosses the county line near I-20. That makes it one of the easiest places in the area to end up with a report from one county and a deadline from another.

Trucks move through here, too, between I-20 and the businesses along the corridor. If a commercial truck hit you, our attorneys for truck wrecks know the trucking company’s team often starts building its defense within hours. If you were on a motorcycle, our motorcycle crash lawyers know how quickly blame lands on the rider.

Plenty of Martinez neighborhoods sit a short walk from Washington Road and Furys Ferry Road, and not every stretch was built with people on foot in mind. If a driver hit you while you were walking or riding a bike, our pedestrian accident attorneys can help you and your family figure out what comes next.

Falls, dog bites and workplace injuries in Martinez

Not every Martinez injury happens behind the wheel. A fall in a grocery store, a restaurant or an apartment complex can be the owner’s responsibility if they knew about the danger and left it there. Our slip and fall team will give you a straight answer about whether you have a case.

Martinez has plenty of older shopping centers and apartment complexes, where worn steps, broken lighting and uneven parking lots are common. When an owner ignores a hazard like that and someone gets hurt, Georgia law can hold the owner responsible.

If you were hurt at work, our workers’ compensation attorneys can explain workers’ comp and whether someone else may also be responsible. If a dog bit you or your child, our dog bite injury lawyers can explain what Georgia law expects from the owner.

Serious injuries and losing someone

Some crashes change a family’s life in a moment. When there’s a brain injury, a spinal cord injury or a death, the claim has to account for years of care and lost income, not only the first round of bills. We bring in treating doctors and life care planners early, so the claim reflects what’s really ahead.

Our head injury attorneys know that a normal scan in the emergency room doesn’t always mean you’re fine a month later. If you lost someone, our wrongful death lawyers for Columbia County families will explain who can bring the claim and what it covers, at a pace your family can handle.

From Martinez to 10th Street

The downtown office is at One 10th Street, Suite 550. From Martinez, most people take Washington Road or Riverwatch Parkway east into downtown Augusta. Hurt too badly to drive? Tell us, and we’ll come to you. We handle cases in both the Augusta and Columbia County courthouses.

If a government vehicle was involved, the deadlines on our Augusta deadline page apply, and they can be as short as six months on the Augusta side. If a vehicle from Fort Gordon was involved, see how Fort Gordon claims work.