After a Phoenix car accident, you or a loved one may have sustained severe injuries and damages, and you need help. Handling Arizona car accident claims on top of the costs of medical bills and the stress of missing work can be too much for one person, which is why our law firm is here.
A Phoenix car accident lawyer from Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm can help you through the legal process. We’ll be at your side every step of the way to seek full and fair compensation on your behalf. Our Phoenix car accident lawyers will do everything possible to get you the compensation you deserve so you’re able to focus on healing.
The personal injury lawyers at our law firm have experience in representing clients who have been injured in Phoenix car accidents. We understand how overwhelming it can be when the negligent actions of another driver leave you with injuries, emotional damages, and a long road to recovery.
Our Phoenix injury lawyers will hold the negligent driver accountable for their actions and help you recover from your losses. Our Phoenix car accident lawyers at Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm will fiercely advocate for your rights and fight for your future. Reach out to schedule a free consultation to discuss your potential case.
Phoenix Car Accident Statistics
Arizona has 6.2 million registered vehicles and 5.4 million licensed drivers. According to the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), there were 129,750 motor vehicle crashes in 2019. An estimated 911 of those were fatal car accidents and caused 982 fatalities. There were 36,926 injury crashes that caused 53,809 injuries.
Phoenix had a high number of fatal and injury crashes in the same year:
- 45,208 total automobile accidents
- 193 fatal crashes
- 11,820 injury crashes
- 202 fatalities
- 17,193 injuries
In more recent data, while the number of traffic fatalities increased in 2020 to 1,057 up from 980 in 2019, the number of total accidents that occurred declined. The number of traffic-related fatalities soared to 1,180 in 2021 as more motorists returned to the road after pandemic rules became laxer. Data for the first six months of 2022 shows that Arizona’s fatal car accident statistics appeared to be on a downward trend. There were 398 traffic fatalities during the first quarter of 2021, compared with 700 during that same time frame in 2020.
These motor vehicle accidents happen with alarming regularity. A Phoenix resident could be injured or worse in a car collision every day. When these incidents occur, the results can be devastating. That’s why our personal injury law firm is so dedicated to helping car accident victims. We fight for those who have been injured because of a negligent or reckless driver.
What Are Common Types of Car Accidents?
Different types of collisions can lead to certain injuries, and some collisions tend to be more likely to cause potentially life-threatening injuries. You may have been involved in one of the following kinds of car accidents:
Head-On Collisions
When a driver is heading the wrong way or swerves out of their lane, they may cause a head-on collision. Since the impact is at the front of both vehicles where the drivers are located, they can sustain severe injuries. Traumatic brain injuries, internal organ damage, and severe lacerations are all possibilities.
Rear-End Collisions
If a driver collides with the back of another vehicle, the impact can cause whiplash. Rear-end collisions are common when a driver is distracted and doesn’t realize that traffic has stopped.
T-Bone Accidents
These are also called broadside collisions and commonly occur at intersections. The front of one vehicle strikes the side of another. The driver or passenger can both sustain serious injuries like spinal cord injuries or broken bones if they’re on the side of the impact.
Sideswipe
When vehicles are traveling side by side, and one exits their lane, the cars can collide. This could happen when a driver doesn’t check their blind spot when changing lanes or merging.
Single Vehicle Accidents
In some cases, a negligent driver can cause an auto wreck but not be involved in the car crash. If a negligent driver swerves in front of another vehicle, the other driver may try to maneuver their car to avoid a collision. While they may avoid a car crash with the negligent driver, they can lose control and crash into something else.
All the auto accidents above can cause injuries. As your Phoenix car accident lawyer investigates your case, we’ll know the details of what type of crash you were in and what injuries resulted from it. Our Phoenix auto accident attorneys make sure to have the full scope of your injuries and damages so we can fight for maximum compensation.
What Are the Primary Causes of Phoenix Car Accidents?
As your personal injury attorney is building your Phoenix car accident case, we’ll review the evidence from the auto accident to find out what the other driver did to cause the crash. Negligent actions behind the wheel can cause dangerous motor vehicle accidents in seconds. It’s possible they did one of the following common causes of car accidents such as:
Driver Inexperience
Driving is, in many ways, like a game of chance. Understanding the value of scanning the road for potential hazards, anticipating when a motorist is going to make certain choices, knowing how far of a distance to maintain between oneself and the vehicle in front of them, and how long it takes to reach a full stop in certain conditions all take experience that newly licensed drivers simply don’t have. This lack of foresight or insight leaves these motorists vulnerable to causing crashes.
Speeding
When drivers are going above the posted speed limit, they’re putting themselves and others at risk.
Inclement weather, such as wet, icy, or leaf-strewn roads, affects how quickly motorists can brake, depending on how fast they are traveling when they attempt to slow down. Navigating blind turns at a fast rate of speed puts motorists at risk of losing control over their vehicles and also gives them less time to avoid other drivers, pedestrians, and others, thus resulting in a crash.
The combination of alcohol intoxication with speeding is particularly dangerous. It has the potential of causing particularly catastrophic crashes that result in the loss of life.
Drunk Driving
Intoxicated drivers are not able to safely operate a car because their judgment, senses, and alertness are all impaired. They could easily veer out of their lane into oncoming traffic, run up into a curb or sidewalk, or may not notice that traffic is slowing down or stopping.
Poor Maintenance
Perhaps you wouldn’t envision taking a vehicle out on the road if you didn’t believe it was performing optimally, but that’s not how other motorists may operate. Countless motorists take their vehicles to work or on errands despite knowing that their different components, including the following, are failing:
- Brakes
- Tires
- Timing belts or chains
- Batteries
- Radiators
- Engines
- Transmissions
The obvious danger associated with doing this is that the car could cease to operate in the middle of traffic, causing a hazardous situation and resulting in a wreck. Additionally, vehicle owners could lose control of their poorly maintained vehicles if a tire were to blow out or could catch on fire, which could spread to other vehicles if it were to overheat. These are only a few examples of what could happen due to poor maintenance, all resulting in preventable crashes.
Texting and Driving
Phones are a major distraction to drivers. When drivers are more focused on sending a text, they may take one or both hands off the wheel. The driver will also look at the phone and take their eyes off the road. When a driver is distracted, they may not notice that they’re exiting their lane, changing their speed, and they may not notice if a car has changed lanes in front of them.
Defective Auto Parts
While we trust that the cars we drive are thoroughly tested before they’re released on the market, that’s not necessarily the case. Cars have many different components, many of which are manufactured by various third-party vendors.
Unless a manufacturer is cautious to perform thorough safety and crash testing on the parts it fabricates and also on the third-party ones it uses, then there’s a strong possibility for cars or aftermarket parts to get released on the market that are defective or dangerous, meaning they might easily cause a car accident.
Sometimes the dangers associated with certain vehicles or third-party parts isn’t known until sometime down the road after multiple personal injury claims have been levied against auto manufacturers or an insurance company representing them. By then, countless motorists may have been seriously harmed, both inside the vehicle as well as motorists in nearby vehicles.
Road Rage
Drivers may get angry behind the wheel and allow that anger to influence their driving behaviors. If someone cuts them off, they may feel the need to get back at that driver. When a driver is more focused on the other driver, they may speed, forget to use their signal, or lose control of their steering and cause an auto accident.
It’s possible that the negligent driver was exhibiting a combination of dangerous driving behaviors. For example, if they were looking at their phone, they may not realize they were speeding up at the same time. These combinations can contribute to a Phoenix car accident that has a higher severity of injuries.
When your car accident lawyers know what caused your crash, they’ll assess the damages done to you and the vehicle. Our Phoenix car accident attorneys will use this evidence to seek fair compensation for your losses stemming from the auto accident.
Injuries Commonly Resulting From a Phoenix Car Accident
As you noted in the discussion of Arizona car accident statistics above, while, sadly, many of these crashes result in fatalities, thus warranting surviving family members to file wrongful death claims, many car accident victims, thankfully, survive their crashes. Just because auto accident victims survive their crash doesn’t mean that their life isn’t forever changed because of their collision.
Some of the more common injuries a car accident victim is likely to suffer in a crash include:
Broken Bones
Bone fractures often result when the passenger compartment of the vehicle becomes compromised in some way. This may occur:
- During a T-bone accident whereby the side impact causes the door to make an impact with a vehicle occupant, fracturing their rib, hip, or arm
- When the air bag deploys while the driver’s hands are on the wheel, causing wrist fractures
- If the force of a rear-end crash is so significant that it jolts the neck back and forth so much that it breaks a motorist’s neck
Internal Organ Damage
Another type of injury that often results in a car accident that can coincide with broken bones is internal organ damage. This type of injury often affects vital organs such as the:
- Spleen
- Liver
- Lungs
This type of injury can either be passive (meaning it was merely caused by impact) or penetrative. The former can cause internal bleeding, which a vehicle occupant may not realize is happening until they’ve suffered irreversible harm. The latter may cause a quick and significant loss of blood or render an individual unable to breathe, leaving them vulnerable to losing their life before paramedics can be summoned to help them or before they arrive at a hospital emergency room.
Head Trauma and Traumatic Brain Injuries
There are many different ways in which a motorist may suffer head trauma which causes a permanent brain injury in a crash. Some of the more common ways this happens is when a motorist strikes their head on the steering wheel, a dashboard, a side or front window, or even the headliner of the vehicle violently enough in a car accident.
Brain injuries are one of the more life-altering injuries that a person can suffer in a car accident. While no one would want to suffer injuries in a crash, the problem with brain injuries is that they often rob individuals of their essence in one way or another. These types of injuries can cause the following deficits to emerge:
- Cognitive (thinking)
- Memory issues
- Emotional and behavioral issues, like mood swings, becoming easily angered, and depression
Individuals who suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) often incur significant medical expenses in the immediate aftermath of their accidents as doctors try to identify the extent of their injuries. Future surgeries, occupational and physical therapy, and around-the-clock care that’s needed to care for or monitor patients with TBIs can quickly add up, causing significant financial stress.
TBI victims and their families often file insurance claims to recover the compensation necessary to ensure they (or their loved ones) can continue to receive top-notch care.
Spinal Cord Injuries
A spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the worst types of injuries that can happen to someone involved in a car accident because it can leave behind lasting mobility issues, thus impacting their ability to live life like they did pre-crash.
Individuals who suffer SCIs often require the assistance of others for their basic needs, depending on the type of paralysis they have. They also often have to attend regular doctors’ visits, undergo surgeries, and require special equipment beyond wheelchairs to offer them some degree of mobility and autonomy.
The medical expenses a car accident victim who’s suffered an SCI may amass across their lifetime if they get hurt in their 20s or 30s, for example, may easily equate to millions of dollars. In addition to medical expenses, there’s also a potential loss of income if an SCI patient is unable to return to the job they held before their car accident.
Working with a Phoenix car accident attorney from Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm to file an Arizona injury claim or personal injury lawsuit can help you recover the compensation you need to cover medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages you have suffered from your involvement in a crash.
What Should You Do After a Car Accident in Arizona?
While you may feel shocked, distressed, and not know what to do in the moments after a Phoenix car accident, there are steps you can take that could potentially help you in the future if you decide to file a personal injury case.
Take a look at these tips so you can take care of your health and your car accident claim.
Get to a Safe Spot
After a Phoenix car accident, you may still be in traffic. It’s important to get to a safe area, such as the side of the road, after an auto accident. If your vehicle is immobilized, making it impossible for you to navigate it into a safe area, then don’t stick with it. Remove yourself, if possible, to a safe location while you summon help. Doing so minimizes your risk of sustaining other injuries.
Call for Help
You’ll need to call emergency services after your car accident so you can have medical professionals assess your injuries. They have special training that may cause them to see evidence of injury that isn’t readily apparent to you. They can transport you to the hospital in the ambulance if you seem unwell.
Calling for help also means getting a police officer dispatched to the crash scene. Once they arrive, police can make a report of their findings. This will be of critical importance as you move forward in filing a claim to recover compensation.
Don’t Apologize for the Crash
You may feel the need to apologize to the other driver because of the situation, even if it was their fault. Don’t do it. Your apology could be used against you because it could be seen as an admission of guilt for the car accident. This could result in some of the responsibility for the crash being put on you, meaning you could have any compensation you’re eligible to receive reduced by your percentage of fault for the crash.
Cooperate With Police
Provide the police with the facts about the car accident that you know. Be as accurate as possible and be honest and tell them you don’t remember something if that’s the case. It’s understandable for you not to remember everything—guessing about your motor vehicle accident could lead to inaccuracies, again affecting your ability to prove liability and recover compensation in your case.
Exchange Information
You’ll need to get the other driver’s information, including:
- Their name
- Their contact information
- Insurance policy information
- Vehicle information
While the responding police officer should facilitate this exchange of information once they arrive on the scene, it doesn’t hurt to try and obtain this information on your own as you await their arrival in case the other driver vacates the scene or the officer drops the ball and doesn’t get this information for you.
Take Photographs and Keep a Journal
Photographs of the property damage and the motor vehicle accident scene can help show the severity of the car crash and possibly include clues as to what happened. You may also want to document your car accident injuries with photographs and a journal to keep track of how they’re affecting you.
Get Medical Attention
Once you’ve done all you can at the car accident scene, you need to see a doctor for an evaluation of your auto accident injuries. While you may not think that you’re hurt, it may be the adrenaline rush running through your body that’s making you feel that way.
It’s always best to get checked out, just in case. It’s better to be safe than sorry. By doing so, you’ll learn how seriously you were hurt and know how you were hurt and be able to start treatment.
Make sure to request your medical records following your visit and to preserve any property damage and other photographs you take, as your auto accident attorney will need this info when making a demand for compensation in your car accident case.
Contact a Phoenix Car Accident Attorney
You should reach out to a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible so they can start fighting for you. The photographs of the scene, police report, and medical records can all help your Phoenix car accident attorney fight for you.
Our Phoenix car accident attorneys understand how difficult it can be to deal with serious injuries and losses after a crash. Our Phoenix injury lawyers will go over how we can help and work with you throughout the legal process.
A Phoenix Car Accident Lawyer Can Fight for You
Your Phoenix car accident attorney will start gathering evidence to support your personal injury claim and seek full compensation for your damages. These will likely be split into two kinds of damages that cover your financial losses and the other types of losses.
Economic Damages
Your financial losses can be your medical bills, future medical costs, lost wages, loss of earnings, and diminished earning capacity. If your vehicle sustained damage in the crash, your Phoenix car accident attorney will also include the repair costs. We’ll examine all medical bills and other forms of expenses that you’ve received from the auto accident and seek compensation for it.
Non-Economic Damages
These types of damages are a bit different. You can also seek compensation for losses that don’t have a bill. Pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and mental anguish are all non-economic damages that your Phoenix car accident attorney will take into account when fighting for you.
You can trust your Phoenix car accident attorney to always fight for your best interests. We’ll stand up to insurance companies that are trying to get you to settle for less than you deserve or are minimizing the effects of your car accident injuries. We’ll seek compensation that will allow you to get the medical care you need and provide you with peace of mind so you can work on your recovery.
Options You Have if a Motor Vehicle Accident Claimed a Loved One’s Life
If you had the misfortune of losing a loved one in a car accident, then rest assured that our team at Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm has the best car accident lawyers with extensive experience handling wrongful death cases like yours. Like all the car accident cases we take on, our Phoenix injury lawyers will thoroughly investigate what happened that resulted in your loved one’s wrongful death.
A Phoenix car accident attorney from our office will determine if the circumstances surrounding your relative’s death violate Arizona personal injury law. In personal injury cases like these, our auto accident attorneys typically begin gathering insurance company information for the at-fault party and other evidence necessary to prove the insurance claims before filing wrongful death lawsuits.
Damages surviving loved ones may be able to recover by filing wrongful death claims against an at-fault party (the other driver’s insurance company) in serious car accident cases include:
- Any lifesaving or end-of-life medical care a motorist received
- Burial and funeral costs
- Lost wages and lost future earnings
Pretty much, any expenses incurred due to your loved one prematurely losing their life due to driver negligence are recoverable. So too, are any losses the at-fault party caused your relative to not be able to contribute to your family in the future (like making a financial contribution to the household).
Our car accident attorneys in Phoenix, AZ know how financially crippling it can be when a sudden accident occurs, unexpectedly taking your household’s primary breadwinner from you in an instant. It makes the grieving process all that much harder to cope with.
A Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm car accident attorney can help you deal with the insurance adjuster at the other driver’s insurance company while you’re grieving your loss. Rest assured every Phoenix injury lawyer on our team is committed to seeing car accident claims to the bitter end to ensure the injured party or surviving loved ones receive a fair settlement.
Our Phoenix Car Accident Lawyers Will Stand Up for Your Rights
Our law firm protects an injured person or their loved ones whose lives have been upturned because of a Phoenix, AZ car accident. We can help you secure a fair settlement to protect your financial future, too.
It all starts with a phone call for a free car accident case evaluation. You’ll meet with an experienced Phoenix car accident lawyer who will review any police reports regarding what happened, review your medical records as the injured party, and ask you additional questions about any interactions you may have had with the other driver’s insurance company.
Our attorneys then go over your options, such as filing car accident claims with a negligent driver’s insurance company. Should you decide to move forward in filing an injury claim, your lawyer will likely advise you that they’ll handle future communication with an insurance company on your behalf to protect the integrity of your car accident lawsuit. Continuing to communicate with an insurance company on your own could jeopardize your case.
While the time after a motor vehicle accident in Phoenix, AZ can be confusing, it’s important to act quickly in filing a claim with the other party’s insurance company so you can get the recovery you deserve. Accident victims who wait too long to file a car accident lawsuit with the other party’s insurance company may not be able to come forward with a car accident claim because the statute of limitations has passed.
Your Phoenix personal injury lawyer will be able to tell you how much time you have to file your car accident claim and ensure you take legal action within that deadline. Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm is here to help individuals like you move forward in filing car accident claims after an auto accident. Reach out to us to schedule a free case evaluation to get the claims process started right away.
