Phoenix Car Accident Lawyer

Expert Phoenix Car Accident Attorney

When you get in a car and drive toward your destination, you expect to reach your destination without any issues. Unfortunately, though, that’s not always what happens. After you’ve been involved in an accident caused by another party, a Phoenix car accident lawyer at Bleaman Law Firm, PC, can help you make a claim. Whether you were hurt along I-10 or on Loop 101, a car wreck attorney from our firm can represent you.

About Us

To give yourself the strongest chance of success in taking that option, contact a trusted Phoenix car accident lawyer at Bleaman Law Firm, PC. We understand what our clients need and advocate for the compensation they deserve. Our founding attorney has over 23 years of dedicated experience in representing locals across Arizona. We have achieved many successful outcomes for our clients after they suffered personal injuries. ^*

When you need to maximize your recovery, set up an initial consultation with our firm.

What Is a Phoenix Car Accident Lawyer?

A Phoenix car accident lawyer is a locally licensed attorney who recovers compensation for car accident victims after a car crash. Whether they were hurt on Loop 303 or along U.S. Route 60, an attorney can pursue financial compensation for their injuries, emotional trauma, and property damage. A Phoenix lawyer can:

• Investigate the accident to establish fault.
• Gather compelling evidence.
• Negotiate with insurance companies.
• Represent their clients’ interests in court.

An attorney can either negotiate a settlement or proceed to the Maricopa County Superior Court as necessary. Lawyers work to hold negligent parties accountable for causing an accident.

What Kinds of Car Accidents Happen in Phoenix?

Many types of car accidents happen in our area, including:

• Rear-end collisions
• Head-on collisions
• Side-impact (T-bone) crashes
• Sideswipe collisions
• Rollover accidents
• Multi-vehicle collisions
• Intersection crashes

This is not a comprehensive list. If you’re involved in a crash, contact a trusted lawyer to discuss how they can address your specific situation.

Arizona Vehicle Accidents

Arizona sees many accidents annually because it has many interstate highways and congested roadways. Each year, people are injured and even killed in major vehicle accidents. During 2023, Arizona recorded 1,304 crash-related deaths. If you need to pursue a wrongful death claim or an injury accident case, reach out to an attorney for representation. While money from a wrongful death claim won’t bring back your loved one, it can provide some necessary financial stability.

In Arizona, accidents are typically caused by human errors, like distracted driving, speeding, and impaired driving from alcohol and/or drugs. Also, aggressive driving, driver fatigue, failure to yield, and running red lights are major contributing factors. These crashes can involve passenger vehicles, motorcycles, or even rideshare services like Uber and Lyft. If someone else hits you, you should consult an attorney.

Phoenix Car Accident Hotspots

Phoenix has several car accident hotspots, where accidents happen repeatedly. You may not be surprised to hear that these include:

• I-10
• S. 60
• Loop 101
• 19th Avenue & Union Hills Drive
• 51st Avenue & Elliot Road
• 63rd Avenue & I-10
• 12th Street & I-10

In these areas, drivers should navigate with more caution and drive defensively. If someone hits you, document everything. Contact an attorney who can explain your options to get what you deserve.

Get What You Deserve After an Accident – Contact a Lawyer

When you are involved in a car crash, the problem is often just beginning. Hopefully, your injuries are only minor, but for many people, there are serious medical consequences, bills, or even wrongful death. If you are dealing with such situations, you can contact our skilled Phoenix personal injury lawyers who can help you deal with all legal matters.

For some, the situation can be such that they miss significant work time. In those cases, the damage to your car or motorcycle can seem a small concern compared to the pain, suffering, and other psychological turmoil the accident has caused. It’s still, though, another concern.

These costs are the responsibility of those liable for the accident, although more often than not, it is their insurance companies that may be paying. The insurance companies, though, are in the business of making money, and paying you what you’re owed means less for their bottom line. It’s not uncommon for them to reject a claim that should be honored or offer someone less than they are rightfully owed.

Therefore, the law has created the ability for you to bring a civil claim against them to get what you rightfully deserve.

Who Is Liable for a Car Accident in Arizona?

The first step in an auto accident claim is determining what party or parties may potentially be liable. Often, people assume it’s one of the other drivers who was involved in the accident. While that may be true in many circumstances, it’s not always the case.

It’s important to note, as well, that there may be more than one party who is liable for an accident. There are some situations where multiple parties made errors that converged together to cause the accident.

Some of the potentially liable parties include:

• Another Driver in the Accident. More often than not, the party most likely to be liable for an accident is one of the other drivers directly involved in an accident. They may have been speeding, driving drunk, driving recklessly, not following the rules of the road, distracted driving, or making some other driving error.
• Another Driver Not in the Accident. In some circumstances, the driver who caused the accident may not have even been involved in the accident directly. If someone is driving erratically and recklessly, it can cause others around them to take evasive maneuvers.

Sometimes, though, those evasive maneuvers may result in an accident with another driver. That could mean, then, that it is the initially reckless driver who is at least partially liable for what occurred.

• A Driver’s Employer. Something like a trucking accident or accident with someone else driving for work could lead to their employer being held liable. This is particularly the case if something about their policies, like unreasonable delivery expectations, created a likelihood of the driver behaving recklessly.
• A Parts Manufacturer. Sometimes, an accident can be caused by a defective part failing. If that’s the case, the manufacturer of the part could be held liable.
• A Vehicle Maintenance Shop. There are also times when the part itself might not fail, but an improper installation could cause a problem and lead to an accident.
• The Government. The government is responsible for maintaining functional roads, signs, and traffic signals. If a problem with these things leads to an accident, the government in charge could be held liable.
• Property Owner. If the accident happened on private property because of the property owner’s negligence, the property owner could be held responsible.

What Is the Time Limit to File a Car Accident Claim in Phoenix, Arizona?

How long you have to file a claim is determined by the statute of limitations. For a car accident in Phoenix, which is determined by the general personal injury statute of limitations, this limit is two years. There are a few exceptions that may extend the potential window, such as if the injured party is a minor.

There are also some that shorten the window. For instance, the statute of limitations to bring a claim against the government is only one year, and in most cases, a notice of a potential claim must be submitted within 180 days. A couple of years may seem like a while, but it is, in reality, not a lot of time, so it’s critical that you contact an experienced Phoenix car accident lawyers promptly after you are injured in an accident.

How to Prove Fault in a Phoenix Car Accident?

An auto accident claim is a form of personal liability claim. This means that proving fault may follow the same general process of proving negligence in personal injury claims. It’s important to recognize that the burden of proof is on you in these cases, and your Phoenix car accident attorneys are responsible for proving the defendant’s fault for the accident.

To prove this, they could rely on things like photographs, video, or other evidence. They may also use eyewitness testimony, professional witness testimony, or anything else that could be valuable in showing the defendant’s fault.

Common Injuries in Phoenix Car Accidents

Vehicle collisions can lead to many different types of injuries, ranging from mild to severe. Sometimes, even low-speed collisions on the highway (like on I-10, Loop 101, or SR 51) can result in painful injuries that require medical attention. After suffering whiplash, broken bones, psychological trauma, or other harms in a crash, car accident victims in Phoenix should understand their rights. Types of injuries that frequently occur in car accidents include:

• Whiplash, which occurs when the head is forced backward and forward suddenly
• Soft tissue damage to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments throughout the body
• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
• Spinal cord injuries
• Internal bleeding that may not be noticeable until hours after the crash

In addition to physical injuries, many car accident victims also suffer from anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, or post-traumatic stress symptoms.

It’s important to see a doctor immediately after an accident because some injuries do not present themselves until days or weeks after the initial crash. Medical records can help prove the extent of your injuries and that they were caused by the crash. This may be useful if your claim goes to Maricopa County Superior Court or during settlement negotiations with insurance companies.

Injuries caused by car accidents can be severe enough to cause a person to miss work or change their entire lifestyle. No matter the severity of your injury, you should know your rights if you were hurt in someone else’s accident.

Duty of Care

Proving fault begins by demonstrating that the defendant had a duty of care. This is the idea that the defendant had a civil responsibility to behave in a manner that was careful not to put others affected by their actions in any kind of needless danger or risk.

The idea is that in society, we owe it to others to be considerate of how what we do or don’t do might impact others, and we don’t have a right to endanger others with our recklessness.

In the case of a car accident, a duty of care is relatively easy to establish. It’s widely understood that vehicles carry a significant amount of inherent risk and danger. It’s also understood, though, that our actions involving vehicles could very easily create more risk and danger, so we need to use an appropriate amount of care and caution.

Breach of Duty

In a car accident claim, establishing a duty to care is necessary because the plaintiff’s lawyers must next show that the duty was not met. This is known as a breach of duty. This means that the defendant, either by their action or inaction, failed to provide the level of careful behavior that was due to others. This could occur as a result of a variety of behaviors, depending upon who the defendant is and their relationship to the accident.

In some cases, the breach of duty may be a violation of car accident laws and even criminal, but it doesn’t have to be. Civil law covers things that are “honest mistakes” that don’t rise to the criminal level but are still a violations of what participants in a civil society owe to each other. Therefore, proving a breach does not always require proving that someone behaved criminally but instead that they failed to behave as a reasonably careful person would have in the same circumstances.

A breach of duty in a car accident can take many different forms. If another driver is at fault, it could be something like a violation of the rules of the road, drunk driving, reckless driving, or distracted driving in Phoenix, and hazardous areas such as the most dangerous roads and intersections in Phoenix, could require a driver to use heightened caution.

In circumstances where a driver’s employer is at fault, a breach of duty might come from an unreasonable policy or delivery expectations.

A defective part or an incorrectly installed part could be considered a breach by the manufacturer or installer. The government could also potentially be at fault if they have failed to keep the roads, signs, and traffic lights in functional working order. To prove the breach, the plaintiff’s lawyer may need to have evidence demonstrating that it occurred.

Connecting the Breach to the Accident

The final thing the plaintiff’s lawyers must do to prove fault in a car accident is connect the breach of duty by the defendant to the injuries suffered by the plaintiff. Because of the nature of the car accident, this may probably involve proving two things, both of which could receive some resistance from the defense.

It must be shown that the breach of duty led directly to the accident. This might seem like something that wouldn’t be debatable, but there can be times when a breach doesn’t contribute to an accident.

Imagine if someone were on their phone, texting while driving. If they are going through a green light while maintaining their lane and speed, but another car comes through the intersection and runs into them because the light malfunctioned and both directions had a green, it would be hard to argue that the person texting contributed much to the cause of the accident, if at all.

Providing Evidence of the Defendant’s Liability

The breach must be shown to be the reason that the accident occurred in Phoenix, Arizona. In other words, the plaintiff’s lawyer needs to be able to show that without the breach, there wouldn’t have been any accident. To show this, they may rely on a variety of evidence and may even call on a professional witness in car crashes who may be able to demonstrate the way that the breach precipitated the accident.

The injuries, then, must be a direct result of the accident. This is another thing that many people might not think would be particularly disputable. However, there have been attempts to defraud insurance companies by claiming either that pre-existing conditions were the result of an accident or that injuries suffered after an accident were caused by it.

To prevent these kinds of issues, a higher level of scrutiny may be placed on the injuries that are attributed to the accident to verify that they weren’t caused by something else. The plaintiff’s team may need to demonstrate the connection and, again, could rely on the use of a professional witness if needed.

What Could Compensation Cover in a Phoenix Car Accident?

Compensation in a car accident claim, as with all personal injury claims, is paid out in what is referred to as damages. Damages also must follow the causal connections from the breach, so the plaintiff’s lawyers must be able to demonstrate that the costs the damages will cover are a direct result of the injuries suffered in the accident.

It needs to be shown that without the breach, you wouldn’t have incurred those costs. It’s only with that direct evidence that the defendant is going to be considered liable for them. Therefore, it’s critical that you maintain thorough documentation of the injuries you suffered and the costs associated with them, as that is what your Phoenix car accident lawyer may use to prove the costs caused by the accident.

The damages in a car accident claim are usually paid out in three forms:

• Economic Damages. Many of the costs of a car accident have a clear, tangible financial component to them. Things like medical bills from the injuries you sustained, repairs for a vehicle or even replacement of a totaled vehicle, and the wages you’ve lost from having to miss work are all things that have an easily recognizable financial component. That makes them relatively easy to calculate as well.
• Non-Economic Damages. The costs of an injury aren’t limited to those things for which there is a bill. There are less tangible psychological and emotional costs that you may have to deal with as well, so things like pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment in life are given values.
• Punitive Damages. A third kind of damages is determined not so much by what the plaintiff has suffered but rather by an assessment of the defendant’s actions. These punitive damages aren’t awarded in most cases, though, as they serve the purpose of acting as a punishment and deterrent.

They are only given out in cases where the actions of the defendant were particularly egregious. Therefore, the only way they are likely to be awarded is if there was something malicious or otherwise glaring about the defendant’s behavior.

What Is the Meaning of Comparative Negligence?

When considering damages, it is worth recognizing that Arizona civil claims operate under what is known as a pure comparative negligence system. What this means is that the plaintiff’s possible contribution to the accident and their injuries could potentially limit the damages that they are able to collect.

The defendant’s lawyer may have the opportunity to argue that the plaintiff was also at fault for the accident. The burden of proof may be on them to demonstrate the components of fault regarding the plaintiff’s actions leading up to the car accident.

If they are able to make a case for the plaintiff’s fault, both parties may be given a percentage according to their contributions to the accident. The plaintiff, then, may have their award reduced proportionately to their share of the fault. For instance, if it can be shown that the plaintiff was 10% at fault on a $200,000 damages award, they may receive $180,000.

In some states, the party that is more than 50% responsible for accidents cannot collect damages at all. Because Arizona operates under a pure comparative negligence system, this is not a concern. In Arizona, even if someone is 99% at fault for an accident, they could still collect 1% of damages.

What to Do After a Car Accident in Phoenix, AZ?

A car accident is often a disorienting experience for those involved. Shock and adrenaline can leave a person feeling like they’re in a bit of a haze. Of course, any physical injuries only add to the chaotic feelings of the moment. What you can and can’t do in the immediate aftermath of an accident is going to be limited by these factors.

However, to whatever extent you can, there are some things you may be able to do in the immediate aftermath of a car accident that can be helpful to your later case. As the situation moves forward, there are also some practices that can be helpful.

Some of the things to do after a car accident include:

• Seek Medical Help. It’s important that you get medical help both at the scene of the accident and afterward. The paramedics who come to the scene of an accident with injuries are trained to look for traumatic injuries. They may recognize something is wrong that you aren’t even aware of yourself because of the shock.
• Get Contact Information. It’s important to, if possible, get contact information at the scene of the accident. You should also get the contact and insurance information of any other drivers involved in the accident. Likewise, It’s a good idea to see if there were any eyewitnesses present and to get their contact information. Your Phoenix personal injury lawyer may be able to use their help in making your case.
• Document More Than You Think You Need to. Documentation is vital to making your case. It may provide your lawyer with everything from evidence needed to argue the defendant’s fault to justification for the damages you’re seeking. If your injuries will allow it, or if someone else you trust can handle it, it’s helpful for documentation to begin at the scene of the accident.
• Be Cautious About What You Say. It’s important to choose your words very carefully if you are discussing the accident with anyone. The defendant’s lawyer may also be looking for anything that they can find to use against you. If something you have said can be presented as though you are taking the blame, you can be pretty sure they may use it when it comes time to advocate for contributory negligence.
• Contact the Bleaman Law Firm. Getting in touch with a car accident lawyer in Phoenix soon after an accident can be essential to ensuring that you protect every option available for you to receive the compensation you deserve.

Arizona Car Accident Statistics

Motor vehicle crashes in Arizona remain a major concern, with 3.36 deaths and 149 injuries daily. Alcohol-related incidents made up 4.71% of crashes but caused over 25% of fatalities. Single-vehicle and rollover crashes were key contributors to fatal outcomes.

Most accidents (70%) occurred in daylight. Children under 14 were involved in 36 deaths and 3,000+ injuries. Total crash-related losses reached $21.6 billion, highlighting the urgent need for safety measures and legal help for victims.

When statistics become personal, action matters. Talk to a Phoenix car accident lawyer and take control of your recovery journey.

FAQs

Can I Still File a Claim if My Accident Happened in a Parking Lot?

Yes, you can file injury and property damage claims after a parking lot accident. Despite occurring on private property, many accidents can result in valid insurance claims. Police may not come to the scene to determine fault. You may need to gather security video, witness accounts, vehicle damage, and local traffic laws.

Regardless of whether you were involved in a crash at a mall, business parking lot, or garage in Phoenix, you deserve compensation if someone else was at fault.

What if I Start Feeling Pain Several Days After an Accident?

Many injuries don’t show symptoms until hours or days after an accident. Injuries like soft tissue, whiplash, concussion, and back injuries can easily be hidden by adrenaline and shock. If you begin to experience new symptoms, get checked by a doctor immediately. Early assessment can protect both your health and your ability to link the injuries to the accident should you decide to file a claim.

Can Weather Conditions Affect a Car Accident Case?

Weather conditions may not necessarily affect a car accident case. Despite Phoenix’s reputation for sunny days, dust storms, monsoon rains, and low visibility can create catastrophic accidents.

Negligent drivers can’t necessarily hide behind poor weather conditions. Motorists are expected to drive according to road conditions, which may mean slowing down. You may still be liable for causing an accident if you were speeding, tailgating, or otherwise driving recklessly in bad weather.

What Happens if a Car Accident Aggravates a Pre-Existing Injury?

You may be able to claim damages if an accident exacerbates a medical condition that you had prior to the accident. In Arizona, the victim of an injury can generally recover damages for the exacerbation of prior injuries when they are worsened by another party’s negligence. Medical records and testimony are commonly used to establish the way in which the collision aggravated your pain, limitations, or need for medical treatment.

Hire a Car Accident Lawyer in Phoenix to Help You Seek the Compensation That You Deserve – Call Bleaman Law Firm, PC

The costs of a car accident can pile up quite quickly, especially when the accident is quite serious. Drivers are expected to carry car insurance so that there is appropriate compensation for those who suffer costs as a result of these accidents. To hire a car accident lawyer, contact Bleaman Law Firm, P.C., right away.

*Past case results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Phoenix Car Accident Lawyer Reviews

Phoenix Car Accident Resources:

• Texting and Driving in Arizona (Things You Should Know!)
• When to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer after a Car Accident in Arizona?
• How Long Does It Take to Settle a Car Accident Claim in Arizona?
• What To Do After A Car Accident in Arizona?
• Arizona Car Accident Statistics
• Arizona Average Personal Injury Settlement Amount
• Phoenix Car Accident Statistics 2026 – Traffic Collisions
• Distracted Driving Accident Steps to Take After an Accident
• Drunk Driving Accidents in Arizona