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Car accidents are a leading cause of unintentional injury and death in the US. For most drivers in Arizona, getting into an auto accident is a matter of when not if. In fact, in 2019, there were nearly 130,000 car accidents in Arizona alone. Over 900 of these collisions were fatal, while about 37,000 caused injuries. Unfortunately, a serious car accident can cause lasting injuries and dramatically affect your life.
At Shapiro Law Team, we are passionate about helping those injured in car accidents and their families in Scottsdale, Arizona. We are tireless in our efforts to recover compensation for your injuries and fight for justice on your behalf. While we understand that the money will not fix everything, we hope a fair financial recovery can help you and your family move forward. If you have been in a car accident in Scottsdale, contact our lawyers for free today. Call (480) 300-5405 24/7 to schedule an initial free consultation.
It can be easy to accept a low settlement offer from an auto insurance company. Many car accident survivors with serious injuries do not fully understand their rights or the values of their claims. They fall for bad faith tactics from insurance companies such as lowball settlement offers or wrongful claim denials. It is important to work with an attorney if you have life-altering injuries from an auto accident in Scottsdale.
Catastrophic injuries, wrongful deaths, and expensive losses deserve attention from a personal injury lawyer. A lawyer will have the knowledge and experience to aggressively negotiate your claim for fair results. Do not settle for less than you require. Work with an attorney for maximum compensation.
One of the first actions you or your car accident lawyer will need to take to work out a claim is to identify the cause of the crash. Every trucking accident, motorcycle accident fender-bender, and vehicle collision has a cause. Causation can point to the identity of the defendant, or liable party, in your car accident case. It could also determine whether or not you have grounds to file a claim against another person or party for negligence. The car accident lawyers at Shapiro Law Team have experience with many car accident causes, both common and uncommon.
Whether you know what caused your Scottsdale car accident or you need a lawyer to investigate further, contact Shapiro Law Team. We can look into the cause of your car accident and let you know if you have grounds for a claim. From there, we may offer to take over insurance company negotiations or take your claim to trial in Maricopa County on your behalf. We accept car accident cases involving many different causes, factors, and defendants in Arizona.
A vehicle collision in Arizona can inflict serious, catastrophic, or fatal injuries on victims involved. The forces exerted on vehicle occupants in the average car accident are enough to break bones, injure soft tissues, and cause a variety of other injuries. Attorney David Shapiro got into personal injury law out of a passion for helping people with serious to life-changing injuries. He built his practice on the belief that no victim should have to accept an injury without a fight. Our plaintiff’s firm accepts car accident cases involving many types of injuries.
Some auto accident injuries will cause lifelong symptoms for victims. A spine injury, for example, could cause irreversible losses of sensation, movement and bodily functions (paralysis) below the point of injury. A brain injury could also permanently affect how a survivor thinks, behaves and moves. Catastrophic injuries could cause millions of dollars in lifelong medical costs, as well as lost wages from the inability to return to work.
The Scottsdale car accident lawyers at Shapiro Law Team aggressively negotiate for maximum compensation for badly injured crash victims. We understand serious injuries and sympathize with those who must live with them. We can fight for maximum compensation for past and future losses.
Sustaining an injury in a car accident in Scottsdale is one thing, but proving the negligence of the other party is another thing altogether. First, it is important to understand that there are four elements of negligence that a car accident victim or their attorney needs to prove in order to secure compensation for what happened.
Understanding the elements of negligence is crucial, but that in and of itself does not prove the negligence. There are various steps that car accident injury victims can take immediately following the incident as well as in the days and weeks after to help prove negligence:
It is crucial to understand that you do not have to try to gather all this information on your own. When you contact a Scottsdale car accident injury lawyer soon after the incident occurs, the job of your lawyer will be to begin gathering and preserving any evidence available.
In Arizona, car accident victims often wonder if they can still recover compensation if they are partially at fault for the incident. Sometimes, insurance carriers will lead car accident injury victims to believe they cannot recover compensation or that they should accept a lower settlement if they played a role in causing the crash.
Arizona operates under a “pure comparative negligence” system. This means that a car accident injury victim can receive compensation for their injuries even if they are up to 99% at fault for the incident. However, the caveat to this system is that the injury victim will receive reduced compensation based on their percentage of fault for the incident.
For example, suppose Samantha is struck by a speeding and intoxicated driver as she tries to change lanes. As a result of the incident, Samantha sustains injuries that lead to her incurring $100,000 in medical bills. However, during the course of investigating the incident, it is determined that Samantha is partially at fault for the incident because she did not use her turn signal until after she had already begun changing lanes. As a result, it is determined that Samantha is 30% responsible for the incident, even though the driver who struck her was intoxicated at the time of the crash. In this case, Samantha would be entitled to $70,000 in compensation as opposed to the full $100,000.
Cases of comparative negligence can be incredibly nuanced, and it is crucial to work with a skilled vehicle accident attorney in Scottsdale to help you through your situation. You can be sure that the other party involved will try to lay as much blame as possible on you in order to avoid paying out a large settlement. You want an attorney by your side who can fight back and help you secure as much compensation as possible.
It is important to hire a personal injury lawyer in Scottsdale who has experience handling your type of car accident injury case. While no two cases are exactly alike, all car accident claims abide by the same set of rules and laws in Arizona. Arizona is a fault-based car insurance state, for example, meaning the party at fault for the crash will be financially responsible. The law firm you choose should have the experience, resources, and personnel to address the needs specific to your car accident lawsuit. Shapiro Law Team accepts many different types of car accident cases in Scottsdale, AZ.
After any type of traffic accident in Arizona that leaves you or a loved one with personal injuries or serious damages, contact us to discuss the possibility of a lawsuit. We will review your case during a comprehensive consultation for free and at no obligation to hire our car accident lawyers. If we think you have a case and offer to represent you, our accident attorneys will start pursuing compensation on your behalf right away. Our law firm has had years of success and obtained millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for motor vehicle accident victims.
In most cases, the statute of limitations on car accident claims (and other personal injury lawsuits) in Arizona is two years from the date of the injury. If you do not discover your car accident injuries until later, however, such as a brain injury with delayed symptoms, you will have two years from the date of injury diagnosis to file. However, exceptions do exist. If the defendant wrongdoer was a governmental entity, you only have 180 days from the date of the injury to file your notice of claim under ARS 12-821.01. Additionally, if you were injured while you were at work (for example, if you were delivering a pizza and were rear-ended badly), you only have one year to file your suit before your claim gets assigned to the worker’s compensation insurance company who is paying your bills. Due to the nuance and complexity, it is critical to your claim to file as soon as possible after your collision. Auto insurance companies often require immediate reporting – within 24 to 72 hours of the car accident. You will then have to the end of your statute of limitations to file a civil claim to damages in Arizona. You may only have 180 days from your auto accident to file a civil claim if the defendant is a government entity. Waiting could lead to the inability to use key evidence, such as cellphone records, during your claim. Acting quickly could preserve your right to seek financial compensation from the party or parties that caused your car accident.
In a personal injury claim in Arizona, the word damages has a double meaning. It refers to both the losses you suffered in the auto accident as well as the compensation you could receive from the defendant. When calculating your damages, look at all past and future losses you will experience because of the vehicle collision. In Arizona, a personal injury claimant can seek compensation for both tangible (economic) and intangible (noneconomic) damages. If you need assistance calculating your damages, contact Attorney David Shapiro.
It would be inaccurate to base your claim’s value off of someone else’s car accident lawsuit. Each claim is unique. What one client received in compensation may not reflect the value of your injuries and damages. Some claimants receive thousands while others recover multiple millions. The best way to receive an honest and accurate depiction of what your claim could be worth is by consulting a personal injury attorney near you for a review.
When we turn to data available from the Arizona Department of Transportation, we can see that there were 129,750 total vehicle crashes across the state during the latest reporting year. Out of these incidents, there were:
We can use this DOT data to look closer at Scottsdale. During that same reporting year, there were 4,526 total vehicle collisions in the city. Out of those incidents, there were:
However, the data for Scottsdale does not give us the full picture of the danger that residents in and around this area face on a regular basis. We want to pull back a bit and look at the overall crash data for Maricopa County. During the same year of data gathered above, we can see that there were 97,105 total crashes throughout Maricopa County. This should not be surprising, as Maricopa is most certainly the most populous county in the state. Out of those incidents, there were:
As with every other state across the country, Arizona drivers are required to carry a minimum amount of insurance in order to remain legal on the roadway. Each state is responsible for setting these minimum limits, and Arizona requires drivers to carry the following amounts of automobile insurance:
One thing you will not see required in Arizona is uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Other states do require uninsured motorist coverage, but Arizona does not. However, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is incredibly beneficial and relatively inexpensive. We strongly encourage all drivers to consider purchasing this type of additional coverage. If you are struck by a driver without insurance or a driver whose insurance policies are not sufficient to cover your total expenses, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can help cover these additional costs.
In the event you are struck by an uninsured driver or if the other driver does not have enough insurance coverage to handle all of your expenses, it may be possible to file a personal injury lawsuit in order to recover the compensation you deserve. However, if the other driver did not have money to pay for insurance, it is unlikely they will have much in the way of resources to pay for the expenses you incur in the aftermath of a collision.
Your health, well-being, and future could depend on how you react to an auto accident in Scottsdale, Arizona. Hiring a personal injury attorney from the beginning can grant you access to key resources to help you build your claim. It could also prevent you from making mistakes that could interfere with your financial recovery. Attorney David Shapiro and his associates are here to help you understand your rights, protect them during claim negotiations, and fight for optimal results after a motor vehicle accident. Learn all the ways our law firm can help you or your loved one after a car accident in Scottsdale during a free consultation. Request one today with our Scottsdale car accident attorneys through our website or by calling (480) 300-5405 any time, day or night.
Client Review: “David was referred to us after our car accident, and the minute I stepped into his office I felt welcomed.” -Jennifer