South Jordan Car Accident Lawyer
South Jordan is a rapidly growing community located in the southern half of Salt Lake County. In 1990 only 12,000 people lived in South Jordan; by the year 2018, the number is estimated to be near 70,000. With major highways running through the city, including Interstate 15, residents of South Jordan have relatively easy access to communities throughout the region. However, unfortunately, like other towns and cities in Utah, South Jordan also sees many auto accidents.
According to the Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS), nearly 18,000 people were injured in car accidents in the state in 2015, the most recent year for which data has been published. Though crashes occurred in communities all across the state, more than 40 percent took place in the largest population center: Salt Lake County.
Car accident victims deserve fair compensation for their injuries. At Christensen & Hymas, our top-rated South Jordan, UT car accident lawyers have the skills and legal experience required to hold negligent drivers and big insurance companies accountable. If you were hurt in a car crash in South Jordan, please contact our legal team today to get immediate help with your personal injury claim.
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Common Car Accident Injuries
Auto accident injuries vary widely. It can be difficult to predict the extent of a person’s injuries simply by looking at pictures of their crash. In some cases, victims are fortunate to escape devastating wrecks with relatively minor injuries. In other cases, seemingly minor accidents result in injuries that require long-term medical treatment and painstaking physical rehabilitation. At Christensen & Hymas, our Utah car accident lawyers handle all types of case, including those involving:
- Broken bones;
- Joint and ligament damage;
- Whiplash;
- Internal bleeding;
- Organ damage;
- Disfigurement;
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs);
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis; and
- Psychological trauma.
Victims Must Take Action
Under Utah’s statute of limitations, car accident victims have four years from the date of the collision to file a legal claim. For the best possible results, you should take action well before this time limit. Indeed, the best thing that you can do to ensure that you will be able to get the fair compensation that you are owed is to initiate your claim as soon as possible after the wreck. You should speak to a car accident lawyer in South Jordan, UT before you speak to any opposing insurance adjuster.
How to Establish Liability for a Utah Traffic Accident
The state of Utah has partial no fault insurance rules. If your total medical bills are less than $3,000, your only available legal claim will likely be against your own PIP coverage. However, if you have damages beyond that threshold, you may be able to hold another party legally responsible for your South Jordan, UT car crash. To do so, you will be required to prove that the accident was caused, at least in part, by their negligence. In Utah, car accident injury claims are usually brought under the state’s comparative negligence rules (U.C.A. § 78B-5-818). Negligence is best described as the failure to take due care. In order to prove negligence, your South Jordan car accident attorney must prove the following four things:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care;
- The defendant breached this legal obligation;
- The breach of duty was the cause of your car wreck; and
- You sustained real harm in the crash.
In many cases, insurance companies will try to pin some of the blame for the accident on the injured victim. As Utah is a comparative negligence state, car accident victims can still recover compensation for a crash, so long as they were at fault for less than 50 percent of the accident. However, compensation is reduced in proportion to liability. To put this into perspective, consider an example where you sustained $40,000 of damages in a South Jordan car accident. After review, you were found to be at fault for 25 percent of the crash. Thus, your compensation would be reduced by a proportional 25 percent, or $10,000. As this example clearly demonstrates, being unfairly blamed for an accident can take a significant amount of money out of your pocket. If an insurance adjuster is trying to push blame on you, you need to speak to an experienced Utah car accident lawyer immediately.
Auto Accident Victims Deserve Compensation
Once you prove that another party is legally responsible for your damages, there are still additional steps you need to take to get the full compensation that you are owed. Under Utah law, victims must establish the value of their damages. Insurance companies are known to attempt to undervalue damages in order to limit their own financial liability. If you were hurt in a car accident, you need to work with a South Jordan car accident lawyer who can help you get the full settlement offer that you rightfully deserve. This could include financial compensation for:
- Car repairs;
- Emergency medical bills;
- All related medical expenses;
- Lost wages and loss of earning potential;
- Pain and suffering;
- Mental distress;
- Disfigurement; and
- Wrongful death.
You Can Afford to Hire the Best South Jordan Car Accident Attorney
You may be worried about the cost of hiring a lawyer. While this is an understandable concern, there is good news: with Christensen & Hymas, you can hire a top-rated South Jordan car accident attorney without paying anything out of your own pocket. Our personal injury lawyers work on contingency. In other words, we only get paid if we win your case. We are so certain that we can help you that we are more than willing to take the risks of bringing your car accident injury lawsuit.
Contact Our Utah Auto Accident Lawyers Today
At Christensen & Hymas, our South Jordan auto accident lawyers are committed to serving victims throughout the state of Utah. If you or a loved one was hurt in a traffic accident in Salt Lake County, please call us today at (801) 214-1061 to set up a free, fully confidential review of your personal injury claim.