Mesa Car Accident Lawyers

Common Car Accident Injuries

Even the best-engineered vehicles can only do so much in high-speed, high-impact collisions or freeway pile-ups. Seatbelts, airbags, and shock-absorbent car frames can lessen the harm to passengers or make survival possible in crashes that total cars. Even if you walk away from an accident, you may still suffer injuries that require medical treatment or physical therapy.

A personal injury lawsuit covers common car accident injuries such as:

• Impact injuries – soft tissue injuries, bone fractures, ligament tears, knee injuries, broken ribs, internal bleeding, whiplash, spinal injuries, chest injuries, or limb injuries
• Head injuries – concussions, skull injuries, fluid or tissue damage, or TBI
• Penetrating injuries – cuts, scrapes, lacerations, or abrasions
• Permanent or long-term injuries – burns, paralysis, or amputation

If your loved one passed away in a car accident, you may have a case for wrongful death.

A personal injury lawsuit helps you put responsibility where it belongs. Whoever is responsible for your injuries should be the person who pays for the consequences.

When Should You Call an Attorney After a Car Accident?

In Arizona, the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury claim after a car accident is 2 years. That means you only have up to 2 years from the date of your car accident to file a legal claim or lawsuit. If you don’t file a claim within this time limit, you lose your chance forever.

As a result, it’s important to contact a Mesa car accident lawyer about your car accident as soon as possible after it occurs. But the statute of limitations is not the only reason you want to move quickly. You also want to get started on collecting evidence right away.

When it comes to filing a successful personal injury lawsuit, evidence is the most important factor in not just winning your case but also getting a proper settlement. And evidence is best when it’s fresh – for example, photos of the accident immediately after it happened. Photos taken a week or month after the accident may not carry as much weight because certain conditions that led to the car accident may have changed.

The same idea of “fresh” evidence applies to your injuries also – which is why it’s important to get checked out by a medical professional soon after your accident, even if you feel “fine.” Many injuries, especially traumatic brain injuries, are latent. They may become noticeable only months down the line or when they get worse over time. A medical scan showing injuries a week after your accident is much easier to link to the crash compared to a medical scan taken 6 months after the fact.

The stronger your evidence, the harder it is for another driver or your insurance company to contest the facts. If you have a strong case, you have a strong position for negotiation too. Insurance companies have to make you an offer worth considering when they know you have enough evidence to win against them in a costly legal battle in court.

That’s why even if your case seems “simple,” the experienced legal team at AZ Injury prepares the strongest possible argument from the start. Not only are you more likely to get a better settlement offer, but your insurance company will know you mean business with our attorneys in your corner. The sooner you talk to a lawyer, the sooner we can take the legal process off your shoulders and the sooner you can get back to focusing on your recovery.

What Is the Legal Process After a Car Accident in Mesa, Arizona

Personal injury cases depend heavily on the unique facts and circumstances involved. No two cases are ever truly the same, which is why establishing the facts is so important.

As soon as you contact a personal injury lawyer about your car accident, your attorney will start the process of establishing the facts and building your case.

1. Investigation and documentation – Your lawyer will gather information and evidence about the accident and the extent of your injuries. This may include photos, videos, dash cam footage, eyewitness testimony, medical scans, or expert testimony.
2. Negotiating a settlement – Not all personal injury cases have to go to trial. Many of them settle in the pre-trial settlement stage. If you make a strong enough case, you can convince the person responsible to negotiate and avoid going to court against you.
3. Trying your case in court – If you’re unable to come to a settlement agreement, we’re ready to take your case as far as it needs to go to get you the compensation you deserve. That could mean arguing your case in front of a judge or jury.

The process may seem complicated and overwhelming at first, but a dedicated legal team can help you navigate the realities of your case with your best interests in mind.

How to Prove Fault in a Car Accident Case in Arizona

Arizona is a fault-based state, where whoever is responsible for a car accident is also responsible for paying the damages that result. This is simple enough if one driver is 100% at fault and the other driver has no fault whatsoever. But what happens if the fault is shared between two or more individuals? What if you were also partly at fault?

Can You Get Compensation for a Car Accident if You Were Partly at Fault?

In Mesa, Arizona you can recover compensation for a car crash even if you were partly at fault.

Arizona law has a comparative negligence rule that portions out compensation based on the proportion of fault each driver contributed to the crash.

For example, if you were 20% at fault, you would be responsible for paying 20% of the total damages from the accident. The driver responsible for the remaining 80% would pay for 80% of the damages. Even if the majority of the fault was on you, you could still recover compensation for the remaining damages. For example, if you were 75% responsible for a crash, you could still recover 25% of your damages in a lawsuit.

Proving fault can get complicated – especially if two or more parties have different interpretations of how and why the accident happened. Ultimately, a judge or jury would determine fault based on the evidence presented to them. Whichever side can back up their facts with the most convincing evidence is likely to win their case.

What Types of Damages Can You Get in a Car Accident Lawsuit?

A personal injury lawsuit is supposed to “make you whole” under the law – that means compensating you for any harm or losses that you’ve suffered because of the crash.

If your car accident case is successful, a settlement or judgment in your favor could cover:

• Medical expenses for treating your injuries, for however long you’ll need treatment
• Lost income from being unable to work because of your injuries
• Pain and suffering or loss of enjoyment of life

Your damages should cover all expenses and losses related to your injuries – past, present, and future. Your attorney should make sure that all your needs are covered, even if that means for the next few years, decades, or the rest of your life for permanent injuries. The more severe your injuries, the more likely they are to affect your life and your ability to earn an income – and the greater your recovery should be to properly reflect your needs.

At AZ Injury, our dedicated team of personal injury lawyers can help. Contact us or call us at (480) 272-8700 to get started and schedule your free consultation now.