Arizona Car Accident Lawyer

If you have been involved in a car accident, you may be left with serious injuries, perhaps even unable to return to work. Your medical expenses may be growing daily, and you may not even have sufficient funds to pay your normal monthly expenses. This situation can feel overwhelming but when you add to that trying to obtain a fair settlement from an insurance company that has no interest in your health or your future, “overwhelmed” likely does not begin to explain how you feel.

Car accidents are the top cause of personal injury claims and there is a reason for that. You may have been on your way home after a long day at work. You are driving safely, following all traffic laws and rules of the road, but another driver is not. That driver may be exceeding the speed limit, texting, failing to follow traffic laws, or otherwise driving in an unsafe or negligent manner. Without warning, your drive home becomes an auto accident that you are left to deal with for weeks, months, even years to come.

Why Choose the Arizona Car Accident Lawyers from Ciccarelli Law Offices?

Should you find yourself in the above situation, you should know that you do not have to face this seemingly untenable situation on your own. You can speak to an Arizona car accident attorney from Ciccarelli Law Offices. Choosing a personal injury attorney can be difficult at best. You may have never needed an attorney before now and are unsure how to choose one that will always have your best interests at heart.

We hope you will give Ciccarelli Law Offices a chance to assist you in obtaining a fair settlement, as quickly as possible. We have been helping individuals and their families who have been seriously injured in an Arizona car accident due to another’s negligence. We fight for those injured in any manner through the negligence of another person or entity. We offer a free initial consultation, accepting personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis.

We promise to fight for your right to get the medical treatments you need, as well as reimbursement for your medical expenses and lost wages, as well as payment for pain and suffering. We know that you have many choices when it comes to hiring an Arizona car accident attorney and we hope you will call Ciccarelli Law Offices. Attorney Lee Ciccarelli has been recognized as:

Super Lawyer
Top 100 Trial Lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers Association
Having the highest rating (10.0) by AVVO
One of the Top 100 Litigation Attorneys by the American Society of Legal Advocates.

If you want a lawyer who truly cares about your future, contact Ciccarelli Law Offices today.

What Compensation is Available Following an Arizona Car Accident?

Although your exact compensation for your Arizona car accident will depend on many different factors—including the extent of your injuries and the facts and circumstances surrounding your accident—the following compensation is likely:

Special damages are considered damages that are easily quantifiable—that is, an exact number can easily be placed on the specific damage. Lost wages and medical expenses fall under this category. Your medical expenses can include reimbursement for medical expenses spent to this date, as well as an estimation of future medical expenses based on your physician’s assessment of what you will need to recover and how long that recovery may take. Medical expenses include hospital and ER bills, physician expenses, prescriptions drug expenses, rehabilitative services expenses, reimbursement for necessary assistive devices, and even reimbursement for hotel, motel, and meals if you have to travel a significant distance to see a specialist.
General damages are those that are less easy to quantify. These types of damages are much more subjective and include pain and suffering. “Pain” refers to actual physical pain, as well as to emotional pain and suffering. You may have lasting trauma from a serious accident that could include depression, anxiety, or PTSD. In some cases, the “multiplier” method is used to calculate pain and suffering. This method adds all your special damages, then multiplies that figure by a number between 1.5 and 5 to arrive at pain and suffering damages. The most commonly used multiplier is 3, but 4 or 5 could be used when the injuries are particularly severe, or a low number could be used when the injuries are relatively mild.

Car Accidents in Arizona Fall Under Comparative Negligence

States generally follow either comparative negligence laws or contributory negligence laws. The state of Arizona follows comparative negligence law which allows an injured party to recover damages, even if he or she is 99 percent at fault. This means that if you were hit while going through an intersection by a driver who ran a red light, but it was determined that you were exceeding the speed limit, it might be determined that you were 15 percent responsible for the accident.

Therefore, if you were awarded a settlement of $100,000 for your injuries, that amount would be reduced by 15 percent, so you would receive $85,000. However, a plaintiff cannot recover any amount of money for damages if he or she intentionally caused or contributed to the injuries or death. Contributory negligence laws are harsher in that if it is found you contributed in any way to the accident you would be barred from recovering any damages at all.

What Are the Most Common Injuries Associated with Car Accidents?

The injuries sustained from a car accident will depend on the speed of both vehicles at the time of the accident, the type of accident (head-on, rear-end, side-impact, rollover, etc.), and whether the drivers and passengers were properly wearing seat belts. A head-on collision at high speeds is likely to result in death or catastrophic injuries, including traumatic brain injury, vision loss, amputation, and spinal cord injury. A rear-end collision can result in whiplash and other neck and back injuries, as well as knee injuries when the knees hit the dash.

A side-impact collision, like a head-on collision, can cause serious injuries, ranging from broken bones, crush injuries, spinal cord injuries, neck and back injuries, internal bleeding, internal organ damage, amputation of a limb, facial disfigurement, and even vision loss. When the driver or passenger is not wearing a seat belt, a rollover accident can cause severe injuries when the person is thrown out of the windshield.

What Are the Most Common Causes of Car Accidents?

Distracted Driving Car Accidents

Car accidents are often the result of distraction. We live in a multi-tasking world, however, those who are driving should only drive. Unfortunately, many drivers eat meals while driving, change car controls, GPS, or radios, turn around to see what the children or pets are doing in the back seat, talk on a cell phone, read texts, read social media posts, daydream, or talk to passengers. Any of these distracted driving actions can result in a serious, even fatal car accident.

Unfortunately, our data on distracted driving accidents is less than comprehensive because most people who have caused an accident are unwilling to admit they were texting or otherwise engaging in distracted driving.

Drowsy Driving

Drowsy or fatigued driving is also much more common than it once was. Few adults consistently get a good night’s sleep, meaning we are chronically fatigued with slower reaction times, and an inability to make quick decisions.

Speeding and Reckless Driving

Excess speed is another common cause of car accidents. What might be a relatively minor accident becomes much more serious when one or both vehicles are exceeding the speed limit.

Reckless driving including tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, failure to yield, and ignoring traffic signs and laws can result in Arizona car accidents and injuries.

Other Causes of Car Accidents

There are many other causes of car accidents in Arizona. Inclement weather is another cause of Arizona car accidents. Heavy rain, high winds with blowing dust, and fog can all result in reduced visibility for drivers, which in turn can result in an accident. Other causes of Arizona car accidents include animals on the road, poor roadway design, and roads that are not properly maintained.

What Should You Do Immediately After a Car Accident?

If you are involved in a car accident you could be seriously injured, and emotionally shaken up. Your body receives a rush of adrenaline during an accident that can mask the presence of injuries, so you should always have yourself medically checked out following your accident. If you are physically able at the scene of the accident you should do the following:

Call 911 immediately, even if the other driver tries to keep you from doing so. Having a police report that indicates who was responsible for the accident can be an invaluable tool for your car accident attorney down the line.
If there were witnesses to the accident, write down contact information for each witness.
Take photos of the scene of the accident, along with both vehicles with your cell phone. Evidence will disappear quickly following a car accident, so take photos from every angle, including the license plate of the at-fault driver.
Once you are home, take the time to write down every single detail you can remember about the accident.
Contact your own insurance company and give them the basic details of the accident.
Keep a file containing all medical receipts related to your car accident.
Contact an experienced car accident attorney from Ciccarelli Law Offices to ensure you are treated fairly by the at-fault party’s insurance.

Call Our Arizona Car Accident Lawyers Today

If you suffered an injury in a car accident in Phoenix, Chandler, Tempe, or anywhere in the state of Arizona, our law firm is here to help you. At Ciccarelli Law Offices, our Arizona car accident lawyers have the experience and resources you need to put your life back together again after a serious car crash.

Let Attorney Lee Ciccarelli help you through this difficult time in your life. Call us today to begin fighting for justice after a serious accident.