Side-impact crashes pair two hard facts: injuries skew severe (a door panel is all that stood between you and the other car), and fault is contested more than any other crash type — both drivers usually claim the green.
Reviewed August 24, 2026 · bands map to the disclosed methodologyBased on the multiplier method used by insurers and attorneys. This is an educational estimate, not legal advice — every claim is different.
| Situation | Typical multiplier | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Injury severity | Often 3×+ | Side impacts produce head, chest, pelvic, and shoulder injuries at higher rates than rear-end crashes. |
| The fault fight | Decisive | He-said-she-said on the light means your evidence sets your percentage — and your state's bar rule does the rest. |
| Your state's rule | Check it | A 50/51% bar state can zero a claim that a pure comparative state merely reduces. |
These bands are the same disclosed multiplier framework used across this site (methodology) — where a specific injury lands inside it is driven by documentation, permanence, and liability clarity, not by the label on the injury.
Intersection cameras, nearby business CCTV, dashcams, independent witnesses, vehicle damage geometry, and event-data-recorder downloads — this evidence evaporates in days. The difference between 0% and 40% assigned fault is frequently the difference between a full recovery and nothing at all in a bar-rule state, so treat fault evidence collection as urgent even while injuries are being treated.
When a T-bone comes from a left turn across traffic, the turning driver is presumptively at fault in most states — the mirror image of the rear-end presumption. If you were the through driver, that presumption is your anchor; if you were turning, expect to need evidence the other driver sped or ran the light.
There's no honest single 'average' — the range is your economic damages times your severity band (side impacts frequently justify 3×+), adjusted by the fault percentage the evidence supports in your state. The calculator above runs your actual numbers with the math printed.
The claim becomes an evidence contest: cameras, witnesses, damage geometry, EDR data. Until fault resolves, insurers discount heavily — which is exactly why fast evidence preservation is worth more than any negotiation tactic.
A citation is strong leverage but not automatic victory — it's often inadmissible as proof by itself, and their insurer can still argue comparative fault. It does, however, usually move the negotiating posture sharply your way.