Phoenix Car Accident Attorney Blog

Arizona car accidents are happening all over the Valley. I received a call yesterday from a sister whose brother had been seriously hurt in a motor vehicle accident about 15 months prior. The brother had been T-boned by another vehicle and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Since the time of the accident, the brother was not able to work because of the injury. The brother had ordered a copy of our book and was calling for more information.

Our Arizona Accident book was actually written to provide people with information. Many people are unaware as to how the claims process works so we just wanted to give people more information on what happened when you are involved in a personal injury claim in Arizona. The book does not just go over car accidents, but many other injury claims as well. The book is not meant to be in place of a lawyer or a consultation with a lawyer but was just meant to let people know how insurance adjusters process claims and what mistakes to look out for. The book talks about the 13 biggest mistakes that people make in pursuing their claim. When I got off the phone with the sister she told me that her brother had fallen trap to a few of the mistakes we had talked about in the book. Needless to say we may still be able to help the brother, but the brother has to call so we can go over more details.

In any case, the reason I bring this up is what I have noticed more and more is that our book does not just give people information about our legal system and dealing with adjusters but in explaining the legal system it seems to explain to people why it is OK to file a claim. Many people who call our office at first felt guilty about filing a claim for an injury out of a car accident or motorcycle accident in Arizona or any other personal injury claim. After they read our book, even the most religious, tell us that they are really glad they read the book because they have a better understanding of the legal system in Arizona and also understand that it is OK to file a claim and it does not make a person a bad person to file a claim. This is what our legal system is all about. Further, this is why we all buy insurance. Lastly, in filing a claim you let the person or company know that they need to stop the behavior or fix the behavior and make it right so that no one else gets hurt.

Not all claims are legitimate. We certainly recognize this. Not all claims are worth pursuing. Not all injuries are serious. For those people who have sustained serious injury remember that people pay for insurance in case they hurt someone by accident. Also, the only way a person or company will drive safer or put steps in place to hire safe drivers or other reasons that accidents are caused is if the people or families of the injured people stand up for their rights and let the negligent people know that they were hurt and that they need to make whole as much as possible the injured person. If people do not stand up to the person or company who caused the harm then other people will continue to get hurt.

Our recommendation is not that all people file a claim or file a lawsuit, but that all injured people talk to an Arizona personal injury lawyer and go over their options to make sure that their legal rights are protected. Most injury lawyers in Phoenix, and all over the Valley include Ahwatukee, Glendale, Chandler, Tempe, Apache Junction, Scottsdale, Maricopa, Laveen, South Phoenix, Avondale, Sun City – did I miss any where? We get calls from all over the Valley even Tucson so I want to let every one know that most Arizona injury lawyer, certainly our office, offer free consultation and a no fee guarantee where we will review your case – especially it is important to review your deadlines for your case – and let you know what you have to do to make sure your rights are protected. It is my goal by this blog entry to just entice people to review their legal options with a lawyer to make sure their rights are protected. I am not saying you have to go run out and file a lawsuit or file a claim, just make sure your rights are protected.

The sister who called me by speaking to me found out that when a person is injured they have to file a lawsuit or settle their claim within one year – which the brother did not do! If they do not file a lawsuit or settle the injury claim within one year and they have workers compensation, then they need to get a reassignment from worker compensation as in the second year of an injury claim where there is a workers compensation claim as well, the claim becomes that of the workers compensation claim. So now the brother will know that he needs to get a reassignment before going any further and then a lawsuit or settlement can be had with the adverse driver. Further, we discussed that a potential underinsured claim may exist as well and that underinsured claims have different statute of limitations than when dealing with an adverse party. These are just some of the deadlines for the brother’s personal injury claim that we reviewed. At least the brother should know the deadlines and then have the option of deciding whether or not to pursue a claim. Had they not known they could have let the statute go and never have known about the need for a reassignment. In fact, a workers comp carrier does not have to give a reassignment so if the brother does decide to pursue a claim, he will still need to hope that the workers comp carrier gives him the reassignment.

Don't forget to check our more information on our injury book and the mistakes that you can make when pursuing a personal injury claim in Arizona.

There are many Ahwatukee car accidents and it is surprising because Ahwatukee is a small community. In the last few weeks I (Alexis) think I have driven by at least 3 car accidents.

Recently I read where Heidi Clayton, an avid cyclists, was hit by a teenage driver. It appears that the driver of the vehicle was a teenage driver and collided with Heidi. From what I have read the accident is still under investigation but I have to say regardless of fault I think teenager drivers should be required to go through driving school and that the number of hours to be driven before you get your license should be over a thousand hours. Driving is not just about age but about experience. It is important to get a lot of experience driving before you get your license and it does not seem to me that our current laws for allowing teens to get a drivers license promotes safe driving.

I read that Heidi has a caringbridge.com site. For any of you that know people who have been seriously injured or who are fighting a life threatening disease, Caringbridge is an excellent site that allows accident victims or people who are sick to blog about what they are going through. This way friends and relatives can read the blog entries and feel connected to the families and patients and the families do not have to talk to everyone and explain their medical status over and over again. We have a couple of sites that we follow on Caringbridge who are young kids that have cancer and it is very sad but the service is helpful because you can follow the medical care without being invasive. The site also allows people to leave well wishes and comments/

The bike lanes in Ahwatukee and Arizona in general are very narrow. It is not surprising to me that there are so many cyclists hurt with all the drivers who do not pay attention and with the bike lane being right on the roadway. Coming from back east there was a lot more room on the roadways and the bike lanes were not next to the cars.

So here's my tip on how to make sure you do not hit a cyclist in Arizona. While I was driving with Mark the other day – I can’t remember why I was driving but suffice to say I almost never drive him, I prefer to be the passenger and he prefers to be the driver. In any case, we began discussing the narrowness of the bike lanes in Ahwatukee. I told him that any time I see a cyclists I always go to the other lane. So that is my tip for everyone: If you see a cyclists and you are able to safely change lanes so you won't be as close to the cyclists you should do so.

My feeling is that there is no reason to drive so close to the bike lane if you don’t have to. I would rather get into the other land and know I am very far from the cyclists than continue driving right next to the cyclists. I always think to myself what if the cyclists falls they will fall right into my vehicle. I just think that in safely changing lanes this way I know that I will never hit a cyclist. I know some people think that we should not have to make driving changes for cyclists and motorcyclists, but my feeling is that everyone has a right to be on the roadways and we all have to be concerned with safety.

We wish Heidi Clayton a speedy recovery and hope that she will be OK. Anyone who has questions on Ahwatukee bike accidents feel free to give us a call.

Phoenix car accidents happen every day of the week which is why our office is always accessible. As you know we have 7 kids. I (Alexis) just came back from 1 baseball game, 1 soccer game, 1 basketball practice, 3 basketball games and Mark just left to take our oldest son to his basketball game! What a busy day already! Oh and I forgot we took 2 of the kids to a chess tournament in the morning. Anyways, it’s always nice I think to have some insight into the weekend lives of the attorneys you might currently be trusting or may one day be trusting to handle your serious accident claim.

Caller Case Scenario

In between games I received a call from an Arizona resident who had just been involved in a car accident. He actually rear ended another vehicle. He said the person in front of him sped up then slowed down and so he rear ended her. He said there was minimal damage to her car, he was guessing about $200.00. The person he hit was complaining of neck pain. The police never came and they moved their vehicles about a half mile from the scene. He gave me all these facts and said, “What do I do?” The one thing he was most concerned about was his license was suspended and he wanted to know what effect that would have on the case.

Can A Person Who Drives On A Suspended License Make a Personal Injury Claim?

Most people think that if you get in a car accident in Phoenix and you are driving on a suspended license that you cannot make an injury claim or that you will immediately be deemed at fault. Many people who are illegal in this country think they can’t make a claim either. Actually, all these people are wrong. The fact that someone is illegal or driving on a suspended license – or no license at all – has no relevancy in a personal injury claim in Arizona. Actually, I should say almost no relevancy. Every Arizona personal injury claim is different of course. If the person wants to make a lost wage claim and they are an illegal immigrant then the lost wage claim gets a little complicated. If they however just want to make a personal injury claim the fact that they were driving with no license or a suspended license will never come into Court. At least by the rules of evidence it will should never come into Court.

How Does Evidence Get Into The Arizona Courts?

In order for it to come into Court someone would have to prove why driving on a suspended license had anything to do with how the accident happened. Typically, there is no evidence that can be proven to correlate fault and driving on a suspended license so that is why driving on a suspended license or being an immigrant never comes into evidence.

If You Get In An Arizona Car Accident Should You Call Your Insurance company?

With respect to the above callers case, he should call his insurance company and they will take it from there. The fact that she only had $200.00 of property damage is something that the Arizona insurance company will pick up on and will most likely use to argue that the person who was rear-ended was not in fact hurt. In this scenario, it may very well be that the person was not hurt, but many times even when there is a couple thousand dollars worth of damage or more and the vehicle does not look like it sustained that much damage, the insurance companies use the lack of serious vehicle damage to their advantage.

Does the amount of property damage have to do with how serious a person is injured?

It does not always correlate the amount of damage to the seriousness of the injuries. There have been many times that this has worked for us and again us. In one case we had many years ago where we went to trial, a tow truck cut off the roof of our client’s vehicle. Obviously, showing big pictures of our client’s vehicle with the roof cut off makes an impression. In the opposite, this has been used against us where our client was hurt but the vehicle did not look like it sustained a lot of damage. It is just something to keep in mind that just because a car is totaled does not mean the people inside of the vehicle were hurt and likewise just because a car did not look like it had serious damage, does not mean that people inside the vehicle cannot be hurt.

Always get the advice of an Arizona personal injury lawyer - What you know can't hurt you but what you don't know can hurt you - and destroy your injury claim

In any case, if you are ever at fault for an accident, it is almost always a good idea to immediately report it to your insurance company. In fact, some insurance policies say if you don’t report the accident immediately they may not cover the damages incurred. Let the insurance company deal with the injuries to the other person. If you are seriously hurt in a car accident in Arizona and are driving on a suspended license or are an illegal immigrant remember you still have rights to a personal injury claim. Whether you choose to pursue these rights and be protected by an attorney is up to each individual person. Some cases are worth pursuing and some personal injury cases in Phoenix are not worth pursuing. What is best is to talk to an Arizona accident lawyer and get some good advice!

When you are involved in a Phoenix car accident it is important to always make sure that the police come to the scene of the accident before you leave. Let me tell you about a call I received today. A woman called me who was a passenger in a vehicle and her husband was the driver. Another vehicle in front of them was driving a vehicle with a big camper attached. Somehow the camper became undone and rolled backwards into the caller’s vehicle. The car accident happened in Phoenix and it had happened about 7 days prior to her calling.

The caller indicated that her daughter was having a lot of emotional anxiety because of the car accident. Her husband had a lot of soft tissue pain and she had over all body ache pain as well. The camper had gone backwards at a pretty good rate of speed and their vehicle had incurred a significant amount of damage but was drivable.

She said they wait for 2 hours for the police to come and the police never came so the driver of the car carrying the camper told the caller that he knew a repair shop and to follow him there. The caller followed the adverse driver to the repair shop and a person at the repair shop was going to do an estimate. An estimate was done and the at fault driver told the caller he would call them.

He didn’t give any of his insurance information. The police never came. The caller and her family are hurt but never went to the doctor because they thought they would get better. And Guess What? The caller has been calling the adverse driver and he won’t answer the phone at all and she has no other way to contact him other than his name and number. She called because she wanted to know what she can do.

Well no use crying over spilled milk but in the future always wait for the police and always make sure a police report is completed. Call the police again if they don’t come. Luckily for this woman she has her own insurance and they were not that hurt. Whenever there is a delay in treatment it makes the claim very difficult to prove especially when the delay is when the person never went to the doctor until a while after the accident. This is not a case that we would accept anyways because we handle seriously injury and wrongful death claims in Arizona; however, I gave her some tips on how she can locate this guy and what needs to be done to get her car fixed.

This scenario is just a reminder to everyone that if you are involved in a car accident make sure to get as much information as possible from the driver and make sure the police come down to complete a police report. Double check that the police get as much information as possible as well from the adverse driver. As always if you have any questions on an Arizona car accident call our office. We are Arizona car accident lawyers and personal injury lawyers and wrongful death lawyers. We offer a no fee guarantee which means that we do not charge anything until we win your case. Stay tuned for further real case scenarios.

As Arizona injury and motorcycle lawyers, we have many clients who have been seriously injured in motorcycle accidents. I was talking to a client who came in on Friday to sign his settlement documents who had been involved in a motorcycle accident. In his accident he was travelling through an intersection when another vehicle did not stop and ran the stop sign and collided with our client. The client said he saw the wife of the driver put her hands on her head anticipating the collision. Unfortunately, she was not able to let her husband know prior to him running the stop light and colliding with our client.

One thing that we were discussing is that this was not a motorcycle accident. In technical terms this was a motorcycle accident but it was not a motorcycle accident in the way that most of us picture what a motorcycle accident is when we say those terms. I (Alexis) think most people when they say motorcycle accident think the motorcycle driver was the cause of the accident. For some reason drivers of automobiles do not like motorcycle driver or bicycle riders for the majority either. Most witnesses we see on police reports say the motorcycle rider or cyclists “came out of nowhere.” I think it seems like the rider came out of no where because many times the driver is not paying attention enough to see the motorcycle rider or the cyclists. It takes extra special attention when driving.

I think the client is right though that we have to remember this Arizona deadly motorcycle crash was not an Arizona motorcycle accident, it was innocent motorcycle riders stopped at a red light when another driver just rammed into them. There was no accident about this Phoenix motorcycle crash and as injury lawyers and people we need to remember that this was not an accident.

Many more facts will start to come out as in all Phoenix motorcycle cases. When it comes to a fatal motorcycle accident in Arizona, it can take months for the police to conduct a full investigation and issue the police report.

At this time, it appears that Michael Jakscht, the driver of the dump truck, was found to be on illegal drugs at the time of the accident and his bail has been set for what we heard was $1,000,000. he is currently held at the 4th Avenue jail in downtown Phoenix.

Initial police reports are indicating that the toxicology reports showed Jakscht had drugs in his system at the time of the motorcycle crash.

Victims and victims’ families are starting to speak out. Jason Anania suffered from a shattered leg, bruises back and sore shoulder. One paper quoted him saying that his physical pain is difficult but his emotion pain is difficult as well. This is not uncommon for victims of motorcycle accidents to feel. Physical pain is visible to others but emotional pain is something that is just as serious.

Many of our clients who are involved in motorcycle crashes in Arizona have emotional injuries that are very difficult to overcome. Many clients request that they seed the help of a doctor who can help them with their emotional injuries. In fact, one doctor that we work with actually takes victims out on the roadway again as one of the emotional factors besides feeling guilty for being a survivor is having a hard time getting back on a motorcycle or in an automobile after a serious motor vehicle accident.

We cannot bring all these innocent motorcycle riders back to be with us and our legal system is not a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye, but if all of the reports are correct, it sure seems that a legal system like that would be fair. Drivers cannot use illegal drugs and kill innocent people and get a slap on the wrist. This driver needs to be severely punished as he has killed innocent people, seriously injured others, and torn apart families’ lives forever.

It does not appear that this is Jakscht’s only offense either. It has been reported that he was cited in 2005 for operating a vehicle with too much weight and cited in 2006 for having parts that were in an unsafe condition. Last year, while driving the same truck from the Blue Sky Sanitation Company, he was cited for not having a fire extinguisher, no pre-trip inspection and failure to inspect emergency equipment.

Although clearly the driver was at fault for the motorcycle crash, I wonder what responsibility the company holds as well. Did this company know that Jakscht was using illegal substances? What did they do about these tickets he was getting? Did they do anything to make sure he had the proper equipment on his dump truck. Did the company know something was wrong with the truck and that it could possibly cause fire?

These are some legal aspects I think are important for everyone to know as well. Of course, Jakscht is responsible because of his actions and deserves the upmost punishment but at the same time I would advise these families of those fatally injured and the surviving victims to look into the role that the sanitation company had as well.

Again, our thoughts are with these families and innocent injured victims.

Being in a Phoenix car accident can be very confusing. Do you need a Phoenix Car Accident Lawyer? Many people think this to themselves. The smart ones call a lawyer to at least get a free consultation. Yesterday I received a call from someone who had been in a Phoenix car accident. She was rear ended by another individual and had hit her hand on something inside of the vehicle although she was not entirely sure what she hit her hand on inside the vehicle. She went to the hospital and the hospital was concerned about her head. They ran cat scans and took X-rays and told her not to worry about her injuries, including her hand, and that she would get better.

I (Alexis) see this happening all of the time. Many times the doctors focus on the more serious injury. They might look at a swollen hand and tell the patient we’ll take X-rays but you’ll be fine. The patient will then wait a few weeks to see if the swelling goes down and not visit any other doctor. Understand I am not criticizing the doctors because they do not understand how an Arizona personal injury case works in terms of an adjuster reviewing the medical care and treatment.

Here’s the problem with that scenario and this is one of the reasons when you have excellent personal injury lawyers working on your Arizona car accident claim you will get a better settlement. Studies have also shown that lawyers in general get better settlements than people who are not represented. In any case, the people who wait too long to have a follow up visit for their hand or whatever body part they are experiencing continued pain will create what I call a “hole” in their case.

The insurance company loves people who don’t go to follow up visits or wait weeks to have a follow up visit because then the isnurance company can create a “hole” or poke a “hole” through the claimant’s case. Many time broken bones are the thing that doctors and patients are worried about. However, there are other things besides broken bones such as torn ligaments, torn tendons, etc. Torn tendons and ligaments do not show on X-rays. They only show on a MRI. Many times hospitals do not conduct MRIs for a variety of reasons.

When you have the best Arizona car accident lawyer, they will follow up with you on your medical care and let you know what is the best thing to do in terms of your legal case. We as personal injury lawyers do not per se get involved in the medical care of our patients, but we do let them know when what they are doing will create a “hole” in their Arizona personal injury case. When you have an accident case that has no “holes” then the insurance company will likely offer a better settlement because they know that the lawyers will have a better case to present to the jury and that without the “holes” in the case the plaintiff is more likely to win.

Remember, cases are always looked at in a very judgmental way. Therefore, it is important that there be no gaps in treatment, that if you have pain you let your doctors know, and that as a claimant you always follow up with medical care. I think the biggest thing that insurance companies always try to poke a “hole” in the claimant’s case is trying to show that the treatment was not consistent and that the plaintiff therefore was either not hurt from the car accident or that they were not that hurt because otherwise they would have sought more medical care.

In fact, it is the people who are most strong and who do not want to bring a lawsuit or sue someone for a billion dollars type of thing that are the ones that are most likely to have these gaps in treatment because they are not trying to “build” a case. Unfortunately, it is these strong and admirable people who most get hurt by the insurance company because their treatment is not consistent.

As lawyers, we understand what insurance companies are going to do to try to get away with offering the least amount possible. As a result, we do everything possible to make sure that there are no holes in the case so that the claimant will get the best settlement.

The lack of consistent medical care is just one thing that as lawyers we do. There are many other things that we do to make sure that the insurance company offers the best settlement possible but this is one of the things that we do go over with our clients. Ultimately, it is the clients decision as to what doctors to go to and how often but we let them know our legal opinion of the doctors and the medical care.

Continue reading " How Phoenix Car Accident Lawyers Get Better Settlements " »

After being involved in a Phoenix car accident where he was rear ended, a young fellow called today to seek some legal advice. He was concerned because he needed a vehicle and the adverse insurance company was still investigating liability. He had called the claim into his insurance company but was unsure of what to do because his vehicle was at a storage lot, he needed a vehicle to get to doctor’s appointments, and had not heard from the insurance company.

Generally, in these situations if you have car insurance, especially rental car insurance, we advise that you make a claim through your own insurance company. Many people when they have been involved in a Phoenix car accident don’t want to make a claim against their own insurance or they are concerned that their rates will go up. According to the insurance regulations, your rates cannot increase unless you are at fault for the accident. Of course, the insurance company can increase your car insurance rates for something else but if you are not at fault for an accident and choose to use your own insurance, your rates should not go up.

If you do make a claim and use your own rental car coverage or even if the adverse party puts you in a rental car do not get the additional insurance offered by the rental car company. If you do purchase additional insurance after you have been in a car accident in Arizona, you will not be reimbursed for the amount of money each day you spent on insurance, and generally the additional insurance amounts to about $12.00 extra a day and can vary depending on what type of car you rent.

When calling your insurance company we do not advise not to give a recorded statement – at least to wait until you have spoken to an attorney. Also, when you ask that you be provided a rental car the insurance company will probably direct you to a rental car company. Tell your insurance or if you receive the rental car from an adverse insurance that you want a direct bill. A direct bill will serve so that the bill goes directly to the insurance company. You may still have to put your charge card down for identification but this way your card should not be charged and the insurance company will be billed directly during the time that the investigation is being completed and the status of your car is being determined.

Over the course of the next few blog entries, I (Alexis) will talk more about property damage and how you can make sure that you are not stuck with a big bill. In terms of making an insurance claim on your own insurance though, again, if you are not at fault for the car accident then your rates should not go up by using your own insurance. If your rates do go up you should ask your agent or insurance company to show you why they went up. If they do not have reason as to why they went up, they can be reported to the Arizona Insurance Department of Regulations and/or they should be lowering your rates.

Every once in a while what will happen if your rates do increase it will be because your insurance company coded the accident as your fault when it was not. Sometimes it is just a simple phone call to make sure that the accident was not codes as your fault. Still, we have only had one circumstance where our client was not at fault where her rates went up and it was just because they coded it wrong and immediately her rates went back to where they were.

Feel free to ask us any questions on Arizona personal injury and wrongful death law.

The fatal motorcycle accident last week that claimed the lives of 4 innocent victims and others who were injured is becoming more tragic as the investigation proceeds. According to reports the driver, Michael Jakscht, of the dump truck had methamphetamine’s in his system at the time of the motorcycle crash.

Driver of deadly motorcycle accidend found to have drugs in his system on day of crash

At first, police thought it was an accident from the driver shuffling papers and not paying attention, but now news reports are indicating that the driver had illegal substance in his system at the time of the motorcycle crash. Further, it is reported that the driver had received two speeding tickets a couple of days before the motorcycle crash and his driving record indicates that he has had five tickets in the passed, some for carrying too much weight in the truck.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the families of this fatal motorcycle crash

My thoughts and prayers again go out to these families. This is certainly a tragic accident. Some motorcycle accidents are just accidents. When reports were that he was shuffling papers I thought that is very careless driving behavior but in some respects in it an accident – still deserving of punishment but something a lot of drivers do is get distracted and do not pay attention.

Justice must be served

Given the current reports and if they are true, I think this driver deserves to be convicted of every count that he is charged with for killing these Arizona motorcycle riders. Of course, we are all innocent until proven guilty, but if these reports are true this man was driving while under the influence of illegal substance and has ruined the lives of many families, which extends to probably hundreds of people when you consider the spouses, parents, children, siblings, friends, and even grandchildren.

Innocent lives have been destroyed

In reading some of the obituaries, it reminded me again how fragile life is. This man has destroyed lives of beautiful families and justice must be served. We can never bring back these motorcycle riders, but these families need to make sure that they have lawyers on their side fighting for them and that this driver is punished for what has been done.

Punitive Damages

In reading that the driver received citations for carrying too much weight, it makes me think that the company might have some liability as well regarding why the truck caught on fire. I will admit this is all assumptions and speculation based on all of the prior cases we have handled, but I wonder if there was too much material on the truck and that is why the truck caught on fire. This needs to be looked into right away.

Legal experts must be retained immediately

An expert regarding trucks, weights, and accidents, needs to look at the biomechanics of this accident and truck to see if there is any liability on the company for carrying too much weight. There may be others responsible as well. This is not to say that the driver should not be held accountable, I just wonder if there are other factors out there that make others responsible as well.

Spoilation of evidence

The first thing that needs to be done is that this truck needs to be kept in a place where the evidence is no spoiled. The truck needs to be examined and put in a place – storage area – where experts can look at it and investigate further as to why this truck caught on fire and if anyone else is responsible for taking the lives of these innocent individuals.

A letter needs to go out immediately to the company owners and the insurance company for the spoliation truck letting them know that if the truck is tampered with the parties will look to the spoliation law in Arizona, which basically says when you are put on notice not to tamper with evidence, if you do tamper with that evidence the Court can instruct the jury to look at the tampering of evidence in a negative light.

Arizona case law for those lawyers who are looking for authority on spoliation of evidence

There are a long line of Arizona cases that indicate the Court should instruct a jury that it can draw a negative inference against the party who fails to preserve evidence. For those injury and wrongful death lawyers that may follow this blog for legal tips, if anyone wants to check our an Arizona case on point it is State v. Willits, 96 Ariz. 184, 393 P.2d 274 (1964). Other legal cases that can be reviewed for destruction of evidence include Souza v. Fred Carries Contracts, Inc., 191 Ariz. 247, 955 P.2d 3 (App. 1997), Nat'l Ass'n of Radiation Survivors, 115 F.R.D. at 557 (citing Cecil Corley Motor Co. v. General Motors Corp., 380 F.Supp. 819, 859 (M.D. Tenn. 1974)) and Alexander v. Nat'l Farmers Org., 687 F.2d 1173, 1205-06 (8th Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 937, 938, 103 S.Ct. 2108, 2110, 77 L.Ed.2d 313, 314 (1983).

Expert Arizona injury and wrongful death lawyer

Of course, I am biased since all we do is practice injury and wrongful death law in Arizona, but especially in this fatal motorcycle accident, it is imperative that these families hire the best motorcycle accident lawyer that they can find. If you have questions about this article or accident, call our office and we can review with you how the law affects this case.

Expert Arizona Injury and Wrongful Death Lawyer on Arizona Motorcycle Accidents

Mark Breyer is a certified specialist in injury and wrongful death law in Arizona, which only 2% of all lawyers in Arizona have achieved as awarded by the State Bar of Arizona. He has been names Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona by ATLA and has achieved top legal ranking for legal ability and legal ethics from Martindale-Hubbell, a renowned legal source for over 100 years known throughout the United States. We offer a no fee guarantee and can assure all clients that we represent you will get the representation that you would expect from a top Arizona injury and wrongful death law team with the communication you would expect from a husband and wife law team. We are a top notch legal team and Mark has achieved his awards from getting the results and justice that our clients deserve.

Society should never forget the innocent victims of fatal accidents

Most importantly our thoughts are with these families. It is clear that this was a special team of motorcycle riders and that justice needs to be served. All of these riders are very special and as a society we all have to work together to make sure that innocent victims of fatal crashes like these are not forgotten and that society understands the dangers of driving while distracted and that those who are driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs will be punished by the full extent of the law. There is no tolerance whatsoever for this type of chosen driving behavior which kills innocent victims.

Phoenix car accident victims check out this legal article I (Alexis) wrote on the 5 things every Arizona car accident victim should know regarding their case. Of course these things are just the surface of what is covered in our Arizona accident book entitled, "The 13 Biggest Mistakes That Can Destroy Your Arizona Injury Case: The Master Guide to Arizona Injury Claims." Still, it is an easy read and something all Arizona car accident victims should know when pursuing a legal claim. To read the article click HERE and you will be connected to the website with the article. As always, if you have any questions, let me know.

Thank you all the to positive comments that you have posted on this blog, I've had a couple of people ask to know a little bit more about me and Mark. I know some lawyers do not like their clients to know anything about their personal lives, but I am happy to share with all my readers and clients. To answer your questions, we began Breyer Law Offices in 1996 and have always focused entirely on injury and wrongful death law. Our firm has rapidly grown through the years based on our reputation and cases that we have handled successfully. I'll tell you about Mark's awards in the upcoming weeks but to let you know about our personal life, you may be surprised to know we have 7 children: 4 girls and 3 boys. One thing I can tell you is being an injury lawyer is a lot easier than being a mom to 7 kids... as to all you really curious people, yes they are all ours and no there is no religious reason behind the kids - just like looking at all their little faces! If you'd like to read some funny stories about the kids check out www.HusbandAndWifeLawTeamBlog.com or click HERE and subscribe to receive our newsletters!

If you have any questions on Arizona injury and wrongful death law and would like me to answer them feel free to email me at alexis@breyerlaw.com or fill in a case submission form on this site. Even though you may not have an Arizona injury case and may just have a question you can still ask the question through the case submission form.

As an Arizona personal injury lawyer, I (Alexis) receive many calls each day. Today, I received a call from a woman who was involved in a Phoenix car accident with three of her children. The mother had general discomfort throughout her entire body – no broken bones but a lot of stiffness. Generally, we refer to this as soft tissue injuries. Her children were also feeling discomfort, but mostly emotional pain because the car had spun around. Everyone was taken by ambulance to the hospital and required follow up treatment. The mother was concerned that one of the kids might have hit their heads as she had been complaining of head pain.

A mother and her kids are involved in an Arizona auto crash

The mother wanted to speak to a lawyer and I spoke to her for sometime. In the end, she asked me if I could tell her everything she needed to know to get the best settlement for her and her children. She didn’t want to hire a lawyer to help her instead she wanted to speak to a lawyer for an hour and have the lawyer tell her everything she needed to know to pursue her and her children’s claims. Since she did have a serious injury, I explained to her that we would not be able to help her but I would strongly recommend to her that she speak to an attorney and to hire a lawyer.

An Arizona personal injury lawyer cannot explain every detail on how to get the best settlement possible in an hour

This brings me to talk about two things. The first is why it is not possible for an Arizona injury lawyer to explain to someone everything they need to know to get the best possible settlement for their Arizona car accident claim. Think about it this way what if you asked a doctor to tell you exactly how he would perform surgery or a pilot to tell you everything that needs to be done to fly a plane or a pro basketball player to tell you exactly how he scores all his points. This is very similar to asking an Arizona personal injury lawyer to tell you exactly what needs to be done so that you get the best possible settlement on your claim. Handling a personal injury claim is complex. The best injury lawyers cannot explain to you everything that they would do in an hour to get their clients the best settlement. Even if an injury lawyer were to write a book on how to get the best settlement possible, the injury lawyer would still get a better settlement. Why is this?

Getting the best settlement for an injury claim requires an expertise

For some reason many people think that handling an accident claim is something that does not require expertise. In fact, there are many complex laws when dealing with accident claims. The statutes in Arizona make up volumes of books and a lawyer could never go through all the different laws that might apply in one case. Further each accident happens in a different way, when interviewing witnesses proceeding in a case depends on what each witness will say which always varies, some accidents have skid marks – others do not, each doctor is different in terms of how they write their medical records and what diagnostic codes that they use, each person’s injury is different, and these are just some variables that make each claim different from another. Depending on each branch, a lawyer will react or act in a different way.

Not hiring a lawyer in some cases can cost a victim tens of thousands of dollars - even millions

Now in this particular case where all the parties had soft tissue injuries and were not undergoing serious injuries such as broken bones, surgery, or other life threatening or fatal injuries, it is not the end all be all as even though an injury lawyer would get more money for this Phoenix car accident claim, in the end the settlement even from a lawyer will not alter the parties’ lives or be the difference of tens of thousands of dollars. In contract, when a person has been in the victim of an Arizona car accident and sustains serious injuries or incurs thousands of dollars in medical bills or will need continued future care, or incurs thousands in lost wages, now we are talking a different story. Now if these are the circumstances hiring a lawyer could be the difference of tends of thousands of dollars in a victim’s pocket – sometimes millions.

I tried to talk to the mom about the importance of hiring a lawyer but she was adamant that she could handle it on her own. As explained above in the end although a lawyer would get her more her decision although I think not smart is not a devastating one as the injuries were relatively minor. At the same time, I just don’t understand how someone thinks when they have never gone up against an insurance adjuster how they can get a better settlement than professionals who have gone through law school and deal with insurance companies every day. Yet many people do think this. Some people have told me that they think the insurance company will offer the same amount. Others have said the attorney’s fees are too high.

An insurance company study showed lawyers get more money than accident victims who handle their own claims

I have seen thousands of cases and I am very confident that when a claim is being handled by the best Arizona injury lawyer that the victim will get more money from the insurance company, including the attorney’s fee being deducted, compared to if the victim handled the claim on their own. In fact studies have been done on this before and the insurance company study found that those victims that had lawyers representing them in their personal injury claims had settlements far exceed those who did not hire a lawyer. Maybe that is why insurance companies try to deter victims from hiring lawyers.

Try answering these questions - do you have the knowledge to handle your own car accident claim?

So if you are every in a car accident and you think to yourself I can do this on my own, ask yourself some of these questions 1) do you know the best accident reconstructionist to hire to prove liability 2) if liability is not an issue do you know the best doctor who will write you a narrative report on your injuries 3) Do you know what is considered reasonable treatment by the insurance companies 4) Do you know which doctors work for the insurance companies 5) Do you know what a conditional lien is 6) Do you know what a balance billing lien is and what A.R.S. statutes apply to lien law in Arizona 7) Do you know what subrogation for medical payment coverage is 8) Do you know what an insurance rejection page is or a certified declaration page 9) Do you know how to find out if a driver was working for a company at the time of the accident 10) Do you know how to handle a conservatorship hearing and when it is required under Arizona law for Arizona car accidents.

These are just some questions I throw out there as almost all of these questions apply to the above case where the mother was in an Arizona car accident with her children and really to almost all Arizona car accidents. I do think the woman was smart to at least call around for an attorney. I just think that people need to really think about the role of a lawyer and the complexity of laws.

There have been sometimes I do not think a lawyer can help a victim at all and if a person does not want to pursue a claim and get the best settlement possible for their car accident claim, I understand that they do not want to hire an Arizona personal injury and wrongful death lawyer; however, if a car accident victim wants to get the best settlement possible it is unrealistic to think that you can get a better settlement than an injury lawyer and be protected and have the same understanding of all of the car accident laws in Arizona compared to an Arizona injury and wrongful death lawyer.

So in answer to my question as to how you can get the best settlement possible for your Arizona injury claim, it is no surprise that my answer is to consult with a Phoenix injury lawyer and if they think you can benefit from hiring a car accident lawyer, listen to their advice if you want the most money possible in your pocket. Of course, you can always talk to a couple of injury lawyers as well to get second opinions. With that being said, if you are seriously injured or a loved one has been in a fatal accident, we are here to answer all questions. We only accept a small amount of cases, but we are available to answer everyone’s questions and give them our honest opinion of their case and whether or not they really do need an Arizona personal injury lawyer.

Eliseo Viramontes was killed in a car accident on Friday. News reports are indicating that his son was driving the vehicle and that his son had his permit. It appears his son was in critical condition as well. Seeing that I am an Arizona personal injury lawyer, I have read much news reports and comments about this accident and want to bring some things to light about the law in Arizona.

Before we talk about the law, our prayers go out to this family and everyone involved in this accident. No matter whose fault this car crash was a horrible tragic event has occurred and people involved will never be the same. In our line of work we see this every day and deaths due to car accidents are always very difficult to see, even as the Phoenix car accident lawyer who represents the families.

It is always an emotional time after a car accident for families of loved ones. As far as the boy and his father, I have seen a lot of reports blaming the boy and sometimes the father. At this time, I do not think anyone should comment on who was at fault. It may be the other drivers and it may be the boy but no one knows until a thorough investigation has been completed.

Arizona law

With respect to the law, when someone gets a failure to yield ticket it does not mean that they do not have a legal claim. As a passenger, a passenger always has a legal claim as they cannot be at fault. Well, I should say almost always a passenger will have a claim because they are not the driver and typically as a passenger you cannot be at fault for an accident. I can only think of some very limited circumstances that a passenger would be liable. In the same sense though, just because someone is cited with failing to yield does not mean the car accident is all their fault. In fact, in a court of law the citation of failure to yield does not even come into evidence.

In Arizona, we have a comparative fault state which means that a person can collect for pain and suffering the amount of percentage they are not at fault. In other states, they have different laws such as maybe you have to prove that you are at least 51% not at fault or in other states proving that you are 100% not at fault. Arizona’s law is that a person can collect for whatever percentage they are not at fault.

An example of comparative fault

For example, if you are 50% at fault for an accident you can collect 50% of the total value of your claim. If it is a fatal car accident and the person who died was 90% at fault, they still have a claim for 10% of their damages. In a fatal accident, 10% of damages can still be a significant claim as it is still 10% of someone's life, 10% of someone's lost wages, 10% of the entire claim.

How to prove someone is at fault for an Arizona car accident

In proving that a driver was at fault or not at fault you have to look at the skid marks on the ground, the police report, the witness statements, the vehicle themselves, along with other evidence. Many times we have to hire an accident reconstructionist to examine the speed limits of the vehicles, the light sequence, and other vehicle information. Sometimes a case can come down to which lawyer hires the best expert.

An accident like this is always very difficult where injuries are involved and a death is involved. At the same time, it is probably that these families will begin to get calls from the insurance companies. We recommend not talking to the insurance company. It is usually best to have a family member or a friend talk to the insurance adjuster. That is because many times it is difficult for a loved one to talk to the insurance company during such an emotion time. If you are seriously injured, it is not a good idea to talk to the insurance company either because then your pain and discomfort may get in the way of having a complete conversation.

Never give a recorded statement

Also, a recorded statement with the insurance company can only hurt a claimant as the insurance company will use this statement against you even if you believe that you told the truth. For example, if you say I’m doing OK the insurance company can take that one sentence totally out of context.

Setting up insurance claims

I would recommend that the people involved in this accident have a family member set up the claims with all the insurance companies of the vehicles involved. Assuming there are vehicles in storage steps needs to be taken to have the vehicle removed from the storage facility as soon as possible so that the owners of the vehicles do not incur storage charges. Pictures should be taken at the scene of the accident if they have not already been taken by the police and photos should be taken of the vehicles as well. These are just some preliminary things that need to be completed. Most important, our thoughts and prayers are with all of the families and victims involved in this tragic Arizona car accident.

Continue reading " Tragic Phoenix Car Accident Claims The Life of a Phoenix Arizona Man " »

Arizona is filled with attorneys who claim to be expert motorcycle accident lawyers because they ride motorcycles. You can go to multiple sites and they will have an attorney on their claiming to be an Arizona motorcycle lawyer because they ride. You may see a picture of an attorney on a motorcycle. The attorney may have a motorcycle in his office. These are all things in my (Alexis) opinion that lawyers use to obtain clients who have been in an accident with a motorcycle. They are basically ploys to get people who are injured in a motorcycle accident to hire an attorney who is on a motorcycle. This gets away from the issue of hiring the best motorcycle lawyer in Phoenix and throughout Arizona.

Finding the Best Arizona Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Think about it carefully. If you are in a motorcycle accident, you or your family need to find the best lawyer who can handle your motorcycle accident claim. There are many elements to finding the best attorney who can get you or your family the best settlement possible and seek justice. When a seriously injury is involved or the loss of a loved one in a motorcycle accident, you can never bring back the loved one and you may not be able to get back to pre-accident condition but you can hire an attorney who will do the best job possible and get the best settlement possible.

Legal Elements That Show You Are Hiring The Best Motorcycle Accident Attorney

Back to the elements needed to finding the best motorcycle accident lawyer. There are many elements but none of these elements have to do with riding a motorcycle. Legal competence has nothing to do with owning a motorcycle or riding a motorcycle. Legal competence has to do with understanding the dynamics of motorcycle accidents and having the skill and knowledge to effectively pursue a claim for someone who is injured or killed on a motorcycle. Understanding what skid marks mean on a police report, or what a light sequence means, or the speed of the cycle, or the dynamics of how the accident happened, or if there is a defective road design – these are all of the things and more that are needed to be the best lawyer on a motorcycle claim.

More legal knowledge that a motorcycle accident lawyer needs to know

Knowing the best legal experts to hire in a deadly motorcycle claim in Arizona is what is necessary or knowing what legal pleadings need to be completed or having experience in front of a Judge and jury – these are more things that a lawyer needs to be the best Arizona motorcycle accident lawyer – not sitting on a motorcycle.

In my opinion those lawyers that preach that they are good lawyers because they ride are just trying to make the client feel more comfortable by selling their services with the fact that they ride not the fact that they are the best motorcycle lawyer. Riding a motorcycle has nothing to do with the law. If an attorney tells you that ask him how does riding a motorcycle have to do with hiring the best accident reconstructionist or preparing to argue in front of a jury.

Do not be misled when looking for a Phoenix motorcycle accident attorney

If you are looking for a Phoenix motorcycle lawyer because your loved one has been involved in a fatal motorcycle accident in Arizona or you have been seriously injured do not be misled by this type of advertising or marketing. Meet with different attorneys and hire the attorney who you feel will do the best legal job not who is in your same motorcycle club or lawyer who tells you they ride as well. Meet multiple attorneys. Interview the attorneys and ask them hard questions regarding their experience in front of a jury and their verdicts that they have won. Ask them what kinds of motorcycle claims they have handled. Make sure the lawyer will be handling the case. Ask the lawyer their strategy for pursuing the claim.

You would not not pick your surgeon just because he rides a motorcycle so don't pick your lawyer that way either

I do understand why hiring a lawyer who rides would make a person feel comfortable but there are a lot of other attorneys a motorcycle rider can feel comfortable with. There may be attorneys out there who ride and are the best motorcycle lawyers but it is important to make sure you are not hiring a lawyer just because they ride.

Think about it. Would you hire a surgeon based on whether or not the surgeon rode a motorcycle or was in a certain motorcycle club? No one would pick their surgeon that way and no one should choose a personal injury lawyer based on whether they ride a motorcycle. This type of marketing I think can be misleading and confusing for the motorcycle rider who is seriously injured or for the family who has lost a loved one.

Bottom line is motorcycle accident victims need to use good judgment and ask good questions when interviewing lawyers to find the best motorcycle accident attorney. You only get one chance at achieving justice and the best settlement possible and you can only do that with the best motorcycle accident lawyer.

Clyde Nachand, Stephen Punch, Daniel Butler and Dayle Veronica Downs-Totonchi were killed this week in a motorcycle crash. Investigations into this Arizona motorcycle crash are still on going. Reports are indicating that Michael Jakscht was driving a Blue Sky Sanitation truck when he was looking at some papers and collided into a group of motorcyclists that were stopped at a red light.

Many times when cars, motorcycles, or trucks collide there are fires that ignite. In this case the firefighters did have to put out a fire in the sanitation truck. Initially there were three fatalities and six other motorcyclists were transported to the hospital, some in critical condition.

Video that was taken from the scene of the accident showed that the motorcycles were caught underneath the truck. The motorcycle crash took place at approximately 27th Avenue and carefree Highway on Thursday afternoon.

Phoenix Fire Captain, Ernie Lizarraga, was riding that afternoon with the group as well. He was reported to be in critical condition and was undergoing a surgery.

Our hearts go out to the friends and family members of all of these motorcycle riders who were involved in this tragic crash. Please keep these victims and families in your thoughts and prayers

As lawyers who handle many motorcycle claims and just injury and wrongful death law claims, it is a strong statement to say that the accident last Thursday was one of the most tragic motorcycle accidents we have heard of in Arizona.

Motorcycle Accident Statistics

Every year there are approximately 50,000 motorcyclists who are injured in motorcycle accidents. Nearly 2,000 motorcyclists are killed each year tragically in traffic accidents. Male riders compile 90% of those riders that are killed.

Claim for Compensation

Victims of the families would be well advised to speak to a lawyer regarding making sure their rights are protected and having a representative who will keep up on the continued investigation. It is possible that there was a roadway design or light sequence issue which would enable their to be a claim against the City as well. City claims and government claims comes with a 180 day statute of limitations.

Punitive Damage Claim

There also may be a punitive damage claim against the driver and sanitation company depending on the outcome of the investigation. If the driver were to have been fatigued or had been working over hours, it may be necessary to make sure that the sanitation truck is preserved and held in confinement as this could be a monument piece of evidence in proving one’s claim for punitive damages. An experience injury and wrongful death lawyer could be there for the families to help them pursue this claim and make sure justice is served as much as it can be under these tragic circumstances.

Breyer Law Offices is a law firm that focuses on injury and wrongful death law. We do not represent the parties discussed above. If you have been involved in this incident or a similar motorcycle car crash we recommend you consult with an Arizona personal injury lawyer. The best law offices will offer a free consultation and will answer all of your questions. You should seek to consult with a lawyer who is a certified specialist in injury and wrongful death law. The best attorneys will have high legal ratings for legal ability and legal ethics. When hiring an attorney, it is important to ask many questions about their ability to handle an accident claim. Breyer Law Offices only accepts a small amount of cases. Mark Breyer is a certified specialist by the State Bar of Arizona, highest legal ratings from Martindale-Hubbell, 10/10 superb raking by Avvo and Top 100 lawyers in Arizona by ATLA. Anyone can call our office for a free consultation. If we are able to help you, we will give you our no fee guarantee which is that we will not take a fee unless we settle your claim. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who have been involved in tragic accidents like these.

Most people are not involved in Arizona car accidents. Most people never have to talk to an Arizona injury and wrongful death lawyer. Most people will never have to know what is involved to make an injury or wrongful death claim with the insurance company. These are the lucky people.

Unfortunately, there are many others who are involved in Arizona car accidents. These people may have either been seriously injured or lost a loved one from a fatal Phoenix, Arizona car accident. Maybe it wasn't in Phoenix, maybe the car accident was outside of Phoenix, such as a car accident in Chandler or Ahwatukee or Tempe, or all the surrounding areas that are in Phoenix, Regardless of where the accident is, these are the unlucky people. It is better to be ignorant of the law and the insurance claims but unfortunately many people are forced to learn about it and forced to seek out an experienced Arizona accident and injury lawyer.

Currently, the insurance companies have been successful in convincing society that people who are injured and seek money damages are greedy. I (Alexis) want to tell everyone about a situation that recently happened with one of our clients and you tell me who is the greedy one!

Our clients were involved in a car accident and let's call him "Joe" who was the driver. Joe was very seriously injured. He was transported by ambulance to the hospital where he remained in ICU for a couple of weeks. During this time, his wife was at home caring for their children and trying to go back and forth between the hospital and tend to all the kids at home. Meanwhile, Joe's vehicle was towed from the scene of the accident while Joe was being taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries. Joe's car was old so he did not have collision coverage on the vehicle. The insurance company of the person who was at fault who hit Joe's vehicle would not do anything because they said they had to get in touch with their insured first and investigate as to whether or not their insured was at fault. Where was their insured? In jail. Their insured had been taken to jail from the accident scene because he was driving drunk and was found to be at fault for the car accident.

The insurance company took 8 weeks to investigate the car accident and talk to their insured. After 8 weeks they admitted liability and said they would pay for Joe's total loss. Sounds fair? I suppose that part is fair. But here is the unfair part. Joe's vehicle sat in storage the entire 8 weeks because the insurance company would not move it out of storage. They told Joe to move it himself. Yes, Joe who was in ICU for part of this time. If not Joe, then his wife they expected to take care of it. Joe and his family could not afford the storage charges, the towing charges, and where would thye have had their totaled vehicle moved to - Joe's family would have had to move their totaled vehicle to another tow yard place that would also have charged for storage charges.

This makes absolutely no sense - does it? But these are the types of things that insurance companies try to get away with it. They won't get away with it here though because Joe hired our office and we sent the insurance company multiple letters indicating that they had to remove the vehicle or they would be responsible for the storage charges. If the insurance company doesn't pay for Joe's storage charges plus Joe's loss of use for his family not having a rental vehicle what will happen and what can you do as an accident victim?

You file a lawsuit. Some Arizona injury lawyers might not want to file a lawsuit but that is exactly what we do. You have to file a lawsuit to show these insurance companies that they cannot bully you and your clients around. We have had some cases where insurance companies try to do this and we have received 3-4 times the value of the vehicle in the end because the insurance company has to pay interest and so many other charges when they are found at fault for their actions.

The bottom line is this is an excellent example of how an innocent person can be taken advantage of by the insurance company. Next time someone tells you a person who pursues an injury claim is greedy tell them this story and let them know that if you've never been involved in an Arizona car accident and been hurt and had to make an Arizona injury claim or had to hire an Arizona injury lawyer to get what is fair then you do not know what our legal system is all about. Remember this story and how the insurance company is the one who is greedy.