West Valley City Car Accident Lawyer

Car accidents can be complicated. When a victim is injured in a car accident, he or she can face steep expenses. Victims can seek compensation for their accident damages through personal injury claims.

What Causes Car Accidents?

There are a variety of issues that can cause car accidents. Examples of these include:

• Vehicle malfunctions. One or more vehicles can suffer from a faulty or defective part, such as a brake failure, that causes drivers to lose control of their vehicles or vehicles to behave in unexpected ways, causing a collision;
• Wildlife and domestic animals darting into the roadway; and
• Poorly designed and maintained roadways. These can be turns that are too sharp for certain vehicles, confusing layouts and traffic patterns, and roadways with potholes and other types of damage.

Many car accidents are caused by driver negligence. Driver negligence can take many forms, but all incidences of driver negligence have one common ingredient: a driver did not take the necessary care he or she should reasonably have taken to prevent an accident. Acts of driver negligence can be:

• Drunk driving;
• Driving while under the influence of illegal drugs or prescription medication;
• Distracted driving;
• Aggressive driving;
• Disregarding posted traffic laws, such as the speed limit or stop signs; and
• Drowsy driving.

When a negligent driver causes another party to suffer an injury in a car accident, he or she is at fault. This means that he or she is liable for the victim’s damages. In other words, the negligent driver’s insurance provider can be required to pay for the financial expenses the victim faces because of his or her injury.

Motorcyclists, truck drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians can be negligent in the above ways as well.

How Can I Be Injured in a Car Accident?

You can suffer one or more of the following injuries:

• Broken bones;
• Spinal cord injuries;
• Soft tissue injuries;
• Cuts;
• Head trauma; and
• Back injury.

What to Do After a Car Accident

If you or anybody else involved in the accident needs emergency medical attention, call 911 to have an ambulance sent to the scene. Otherwise, pull off the road if it is safe to do so and call the local police to have an officer sent to the scene to fill out an accident report.

Take photos of the accident and your injury. You will need these later to support your personal injury claim if you choose to file one. If there were witnesses to the accident, take down their contact information.

Do not leave the scene of the accident without a copy of the official police report and the other driver’s insurance information. After you leave, seek medical attention for your injury as soon as you can.

Seeking Compensation for your Car Accident Damages in West Valley

In Utah, drivers are required to carry at least $3,000 worth of personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. When an individual is injured in a car accident, he or she may recover compensation for the related damages through a PIP claim with his or her own provider. The victim does not have to prove another’s fault to file a PIP claim.

If the victim’s damages exceed $3,000, he or she may file a personal injury claim with the negligent driver’s insurance provider to seek compensation for his or her damages. This does require the claimant to demonstrate the liable driver’s fault.

To demonstrate the other driver’s fault, the victim must provide evidence that demonstrates how the accident occurred and how it caused him or her to suffer specific financial damages.

Evidence to support a personal injury claim can include:

• Photographs of the accident;
• Eyewitness testimonies;
• The victim’s medical bills;
• Documentation of the victim’s lost wages; and
• Testimonies from expert witnesses, such as the victim’s doctor.

Through a personal injury claim, a victim can seek compensation for his or her medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering damages. These can include the reduction to his or her quality of life due to chronic pain and other prolonged effects of the injury and medical aids like a wheelchair or over-the-counter medication. In Utah, the statute of limitations for personal injury claims is four years from the date of the accident.

Work with an Experienced West Valley Car Accident Lawyer

Never assume that you cannot recover compensation for your personal injury damages after a car accident. If your expenses exceeded the statutory threshold and the accident was caused by another party’s negligence, work with an experienced car accident lawyer to seek compensation through a personal injury claim. To learn more, contact Christensen & Hymas today to set up your free consultation with a member of our team.