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Provo Auto Accident Attorney
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Auto Accident and Personal Injury Lawyer Provo, Utah Offers Free Initial Consultation
Car accidents are the number one cause of unnecessary deaths and injuries in the United States. They are also the number one source of personal injury claims in Utah.
Most of these motor vehicle accidents involve negligence including a traffic law violation. In the State of Utah, when a person operates a motor vehicle in a negligent manner and injures another person, the negligent person is legally required to help the injured person financially.
Our Auto Accident and Personal Injury lawyers are located in Provo, Utah and stand ready to help you if you’ve been involved in an auto accident. We offer free initial consultations and take personal injury cases on a contingency fee. That means you won’t pay a dime unless we collect money for you.
Three Legal Requirements For An Auto Accident Case
In order to get a good settlement or win a verdict in an auto accident case, you must first have a case. What that means is that the law recognizes that you have been injured and requires another person or insurance company to compensate you for your injuries.
You have a case when three legal requirements are met.
1. First, another person or company must have done something that was wrong and is therefore at fault.
The law defines fault differently in different types of cases. For example, in automobile accident cases the other driver is said to be negligent if the other driver speeds, runs a stop sign or follows to close. In other words, the other driver doesn’t follow the rules of the road.
2. The second element needed for a personal injury case is damages.
You, the injured party, must have been injured in some way. Usually that means a physical injury accompanied by pain and suffering. Examples of physical injuries are: broken bones, soft tissues injuries, back injuries, whiplash, bruising, scarring and disability. Once you meet the legal requirement for suffering an injury, you are entitled to recover not only for your physical injury but also for lost income, medical bills, chiropractic bills, therapist bills and even loss of enjoyment of life.
3. The third element needed for a personal injury case is causation.
What that means is that the party who is at fault caused your injuries. This seems rather obvious at first. For example, imagine that you are driving your vehicle and suddenly a careless driver runs a red light and nearly hits your car. This scares you but you are luckily unscathed. As you drive off, your brakes fail, your car crashes into a guardrail and you injury your neck. You do not have a case against the driver of the car who ran the red light. His negligence did not cause your injuries.
This may all sound very complicated. We analyze cases under these criteria every day. As a result, our experience allows us to quickly determine whether you have a case. Quite often we can tell you over the phone whether you have a case. Sometimes, we may need to do some research to determine whether you have a case. Whether we can tell you over the phone or whether we need to do some research, we will never charge you a fee for this service. We only charge fees in auto accident cases when we accept the case and obtain a settlement or verdict for you.
Statute of Limitations
After an auto accident occurs, there is a limited period of time in which a personal injury lawsuit can be filed — the law that establishes this is known as a statute of limitations. The statute of limitations for auto accidents in Utah is four years if the claim is against a private person and one year if the claim is against a person driving for the government of the State of Utah.
A personal injury claim against a person driving for a federal agency must be filed within the first two years following the accident.
Negligence in Auto Accidents
Negligence is a legal term that means someone has failed to act in a reasonably careful and responsible manner. In the case of a car crash, proving negligence means showing that:
- Someone’s carelessness caused the car accident
- The car accident caused harm and
- The party at fault is responsible for paying compensation for the harm done
If more than one party involved in the auto accident is at fault, liability may be distributed among the negligent parties according to percentage of fault. This is called comparative negligence.
Common Types of Negligence in Auto Accidents
Some of the most common types of negligence that cause car accidents are:
Driving While Distracted
A car is a large, heavy piece of metal traveling at high speed. Every driver owes a duty to others to pay attention when they drive their car. If a driver doesn’t pay attention, the driver is negligent. Distracted drivers account for approximately 80 percent of auto accidents. Each year, motorists cause thousands of driving accidents while texting, making cell phone calls, putting on makeup and performing other tasks.
Traffic Law Violations
Every driver owes a duty to others to obey the rules of the road. When a driver chooses to disobey the rules of the road, the driver is negligent and is responsible to make up for the harm the driver causes. Most car accidents can be traced to negligence in the form of one or more traffic violations. Common violations include speeding, tailgating, improper lane changing, and failing to yield the right of way.
Equipment Failure
Mechanical failures leading to car accidents often involve brakes, tires, steering mechanisms or suspension. A malfunction might point to negligence on the part of the owner or operator of the car, a mechanic or auto repair shop or the manufacturer for designing flawed equipment (e.g., seatbelts, airbags or roofs). Some of the best known cases of equipment failure involve manufacturer design flaws and often result in class action lawsuits involving large settlements. If you suspect equipment failure or a manufacturing defect contributed to an accident you were involved in, be sure to retain possession of your car so that it can be used as evidence in a trial, if necessary.
Driver Error
Utah law requires drivers to maintain control of their vehicles at all times. When a driver fails to maintain control of a vehicle, it can usually be traced back to driver error. Factors contributing to driver error include fatigue, drowsiness, distractions (cell phone use, eating, etc.), inattention, intoxication (drugs, alcohol, medications) and aggressive driving. A study conducted by Virginia Tech University in 2006 showed 80 percent of motor vehicle crashes involved distraction, fatigue or looking away from the road. The same study showed that 93 percent of rear-end collisions occurred as a consequence of inattention. Note that harm caused by driving under the influence is not just a criminal violation — it can also be grounds for a civil suit.
Road Design
Flawed road design can involve intersections, merging lanes, traffic control devices and other factors. When the design of the road is a contributing factor in a car accident, the government may be liable.
“We believe in fighting for our clients, helping them get what they deserve”
Compensation for Auto Accidents
If you were not more than 50% at fault for a car wreck, you are entitled to compensation. The following types of compensation are required to be paid:
- Vehicle repair or replacement.
- Medical expenses paid
- Lost income;
- Lost household services
- Physical and psychological pain.
Utah is a no-fault State. What that means is that an auto accident victim can only make a claim against the other driver if the victim reaches threshold. There are several ways to reach threshold. The most common is to incur more than $3,000 in medical expenses.
When You Will Need an Auto Accident Lawyer
Insurance companies frequently handle routine auto accident claims, the majority of which involve property damage only. However, when personal injuries are involved, you’ll benefit from an auto accident lawyer. We frequently find that insurance companies offer low ball settlements.
We’ve found that we can almost always get better settlements. When offering a low ball settlement, the insurance adjuster will always do so with a smile. They want to give you the false impression that they are your friend and on your side. Unfortunately, that’s rarely true. They are trying to get you to settle for as little as possible. Here is a list of things that should trigger getting an auto accident attorney:
- If the insurance company won’t pay the full cost of property damage, medical expenses, lost income, psychological pain and lost prospects then you need an auto accident lawyer.
- If the insurance company delays settling a claim then you need an auto accident lawyer.
- If the insurance company denies a claim (Sometimes the insurance company of the other party involved in the auto accident will claim their insured was not at fault or that the insured’s policy did not cover the accident.) then you need an auto accident lawyer.
- If the party at fault does not have insurance then you need an auto accident lawyer.
Our team of auto accident lawyers stands ready to help.
Call us today or chat for more information. We look forward to hearing from you soon.