Phoenix Distracted Driver Accident Attorney

Phoenix Distracted Driver Accident Lawyer

Every driver has a legal responsibility to operate their vehicle attentively and to refrain from distracting activities while driving. Arizona has also enacted laws aimed at minimizing distracted driving in an effort to prevent accidents.

However, distracted driving remains a top-reported cause of accidents throughout the state each year. If you were injured in such an accident, a Phoenix distracted driver accident attorney can help you recover.

Legal Counsel for Victims of Distracted Driving Accidents in Phoenix, AZ

The team at the Bleaman Law Firm, PC, has years of experience handling a wide range of motor vehicle accident cases on behalf of our clients in the Phoenix area. We have helped many clients recover from all types of accidents, including those resulting from distracted driving. We know how to help our clients establish liability and recover compensation for the damages they suffered.

While it is technically possible for you to pursue compensation for your recent accident on your own, and you are under no obligation to hire an attorney, legal counsel can be an invaluable asset for the difficult proceedings you face as you seek compensation for the damages you suffered because of another driver’s negligence. We know how to streamline your recovery and maximize the compensation you obtain for your damages.

Recovery from any motor vehicle accident begins with proving fault for the accident, and once fault is established, you can proceed with filing an auto insurance claim against the at-fault driver. If insurance can’t fully cover your damages, a personal injury suit enables you to claim compensation for all outstanding losses the defendant inflicted in the accident. Your Phoenix distracted driver accident attorney can help with every phase of your case.

How to Prove Fault in a Distracted Driving Accident in Phoenix

If you were hurt because another driver was texting while driving or distracted in some other way, the fault for the accident might seem perfectly clear to you. However, the formal legal process of establishing liability for an accident is likely to be more complex than you initially expected. You must identify the party who caused your accident, prove how they caused it, and then prove the extent of the damages they directly caused in the accident.

Proving a driver was distracted can be challenging, but an experienced Phoenix distracted driver accident attorney will know how to secure the evidence you will need to make your case. This evidence could include a driver’s cell phone records, recordings from traffic cameras around the scene of the accident, vehicle computer data, and testimony from witnesses who saw the accident happen.

For example, if your attorney obtains the at-fault driver’s cell phone records, these records could be cross-referenced with vehicle computer data, showing that the driver’s cell phone was in use at the moment the accident occurred. Once you have established that the other driver was somehow distracted behind the wheel, you can proceed with claiming compensation for the damages they inflicted in the accident.

It’s important to remember that if a defendant has caused a personal injury by breaking the law, it is possible for this to be reflected in your recovery in the form of punitive damages and/or restitution. In a civil suit, a judge may order a defendant to pay punitive damages if they caused the accident through an illegal act, and if they are criminally prosecuted, the judge in the criminal case could add restitution to their penalties.

Filing Your Auto Insurance Claim After a Distracted Driving Accident

No matter how your accident happened, filing an auto insurance claim is likely to be your first avenue of recovery from the driver responsible. Once you prove fault, you can file your claim against their auto insurance policy. Every driver in the state is required to have auto insurance that provides at least $25,000 to cover bodily injury to a single person, at least $50,000 for all bodily injuries in a single accident, and at least $15,000 in property damage liability coverage.

Every insurance company has a professional duty to process all claims for coverage in good faith, and they are also required to investigate claims to ensure they are legitimate. It is never wise to discuss a settlement with an insurance company without an attorney advising you. Unfortunately, many insurance company representatives attempt to take advantage of unwary claimants and coerce them into accepting lowball settlements.

When an insurance company sees that you have legal representation, they are far less inclined to attempt any bad-faith handling of your claim. Your Phoenix distracted driver accident attorney can make sure they handle the claim efficiently and deliver a fair settlement offer. If any disputes are raised against your claim, your attorney can resolve these issues for you. After receiving your settlement check, any remaining damages can be recovered with a civil suit.

Filing Your Personal Injury Claim for a Distracted Driving Accident

The basis of a personal injury case is harm caused by negligence or illegal misconduct. The term “negligence” is any failure to act with reasonable care. For example, every driver has a duty of care to operate their vehicle attentively. Distracted driving of any kind is a violation of this duty of care. Once you have established liability and recovered as much as you can through an auto insurance claim, all remaining damages will need to be recovered with a personal injury suit.

Under Arizona law, the plaintiff in a personal injury case has the right to seek full compensation for the entirety of damages they suffered because of the defendant’s actions. This includes both economic and non-economic damages, with the former being significantly easier to prove.

Economic damages you may be able to recover from a successful personal injury claim in Phoenix include:

• Property damage. Your auto insurance claim may yield some compensation for vehicle repair costs and other lost property, but any remainder that insurance cannot cover must be secured through your personal injury claim. In addition to your vehicle repair or replacement costs, you can also seek compensation for any personal belongings that were damaged or destroyed inside your vehicle because of the accident.
• Medical bills. The defendant who caused your injury is liable for the cost of treating the injury. You can seek compensation for hospital bills, ambulance transportation fees, and all other medical expenses resulting from your accident. This would include anticipated future medical treatment costs if the defendant inflicted a serious injury requiring ongoing care.
• Lost wages. When you are unable to work because of a personal injury, the defendant is responsible for the income you are unable to earn during the recovery process. This applies to lost future income as well if you suffered any permanently disabling injuries from the accident that have left you unable to work in the future. Your attorney can help calculate how much you could have earned in the future if you hadn’t been injured.

The average person in Phoenix can typically account for immediately noticeable economic losses like the cost of repairing their vehicle and their hospital bills, but accurate assessment of long-term damages like lost earning power is far more challenging without an attorney’s help.

Additionally, economic damages are just one aspect of their claim. The victim of a distracted driving accident also has the right to seek compensation for the pain and suffering they experienced.

Calculating Pain and Suffering in a Distracted Driving Accident Claim

The term “pain and suffering” applies to the intangible physical pain, psychological suffering, and emotional trauma resulting from a personal injury. This qualifies as a compensable loss in a civil suit, but the average plaintiff may not know how to assign a monetary value to intangible losses like these. The state does not require the use of a specific formula to calculate pain and suffering, nor are any caps or limits assigned to how much the plaintiff may claim.

Effectively, the plaintiff has the right to seek whatever amount of pain and suffering compensation they believe reasonably reflects the scope and severity of the harm done to them by the defendant. The more serious their injuries and the greater the extent of their long-term or permanent complications resulting from them, the more they are likely to obtain compensation for pain and suffering compensation.

Your Phoenix distracted driver accident attorney is your most valuable resource when it comes to determining suitable pain and suffering compensation to include in your case. If you suffered any type of catastrophic injury resulting in permanent disability, the pain and suffering compensation you obtain is likely to amount to substantially more than the total of your claimed economic damages.

Understanding Comparative Fault in Phoenix Motor Vehicle Accident Cases

Proving fault in a distracted driving accident case could be more challenging than you are prepared to confront on your own, but you could also face additional complications if you bear any fault for the accident.

Arizona follows the rule of pure comparative negligence, and this rule comes into play whenever more than one party shares fault for the damages cited in a civil claim. Each party has a fault percentage assigned.

The fault percentage assigned under the pure comparative negligence rule indicates the share of the damages the liable party is responsible for repaying. For example, if two defendants are found to bear 40% and 60% fault in a $100,000 claim, they would be responsible for $40,000 and $60,000 of the damages in the claim, respectively. If a plaintiff is found partially liable, their fault percentage is taken from the final award as a penalty.

The pure comparative fault rule could apply to your case if you were negligent in a manner that could be interpreted as a contributing factor in causing the accident. While bearing partial fault will not prevent you from claiming compensation from the defendant, it will diminish your recovery by a percentage. The higher the value of your claim, the more that even a small percentage of comparative fault will diminish your recovery.

Settling Versus Litigating Your Accident Claim in Phoenix

Most of the personal injury cases filed in Pheonix are resolved privately through settlement negotiations. As long as the parties involved in a case are willing to negotiate and compromise, they could potentially save a great deal of time, effort, and money that would otherwise be spent in protracted litigation. During settlement negotiation, the parties meet privately with their attorneys to discuss mutually acceptable terms for resolving the claim.

Settlement is not always a viable option for every civil suit. If the defendant in your claim denies fault, objects to the scope of damages you are claiming, or if settlement negotiations otherwise fail, the case will need to be resolved through litigation, and this will take much longer. The judge handling the case will review evidence and testimony presented by each party and then deliver their ruling.

Ultimately, settlement offers faster results and more control over the outcome of your case. When you choose the Bleaman Law Firm, PC, to represent your case, we will do everything we can to streamline your recovery, settling the case if possible or litigating if necessary. You have a limited time in which to pursue your recovery, so it is vital to reach out to legal counsel as quickly as possible.

Find Legal Counsel in Phoenix

The team at the Bleaman Law Firm, PC, can provide compassionate and detail-oriented legal counsel for every phase of your recovery efforts following a distracted driving accident. We know how to gather the evidence you will need to firmly prove liability for the accident, and we can also assist you in accurately calculating all the damages you can claim through auto insurance and/or a personal injury suit.

You have a limited time in which to pursue compensation for your damages. You may have only a few days in which to file your auto insurance claim, and you face a two-year statute of limitations if you intend to file a personal injury suit.

Contact the Bleaman Law Firm, PC, today and schedule your free consultation with an experienced Phoenix distracted driver accident attorney to learn more about the legal services we provide that can help you recover.