What to Do After a Phoenix Car Accident
It is easy to feel a sense of confusion and overwhelmed following a car accident, especially if a serious injury is involved. At the same time there are time-sensitive steps you should take to ensure both your physical well-being and the validity of a car accident injury claim, including talking to our experienced and trusted Phoenix car accident lawyer team.
We’ve broken down the three crucial steps to take following a car, truck, motorcycle or other vehicle accident injury in or around Phoenix:
- Get Immediate Medical Attention – Many car accident victims don’t realize they have been injury until the day after the accident or later. Not seeking medical attention can result in a potentially serious injury being left untreated. A doctor will also provide hard copies of your injury that can be directly linked as being caused by the car accident.
- Document the Accident Scene – It is rare when one of our car accident victim clients was not traveling with a cell phone. After exchanging insurance information with the other party, take pictures of the accident scene, all damage to the vehicle, and whether airbags properly deployed. While the police will oftentimes document the scenes themselves, it’s good to have your own records of the damage and scene as well.
- Contact Goldberg & Osborne – Insurance company employees are trained to pay you, the accident victim, as little money as possible. Speaking with the Goldberg & Osborne car accident injury team first — for absolutely free — will help you understand your rights, protect your rights, and fight to get you all the money you deserve. We’ll deal with the insurance companies and endless paperwork so you can concentrate on mentally and physically healing.
Arizona Car Accident Statute of Limitations
In the state of Arizona including Phoenix, car accident victims have only two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. If a car accident victim or their family waits a day longer than two years then they will not be able to file a claim for damages.
Since Arizona is a comparative fault state, the driver at fault in a car or vehicle accident is responsible for paying any damages that resulted from the accident. Goldberg & Osborne works exclusively with clients who were injury victims in a car accident and not at fault for the accident.
Insurance Companies Are Not on Your Side
When you contact your car insurance company after an accident, it is the adjuster’s job to ensure you are paid as little money as possible from your policy.
Adjusters will even try to charm you into thinking you don’t need a personal injury lawyer. Why would they do this? Because they know the involvement of a personal injury lawyer means they’ll have to pay you more, and they make more money if they pay you less.
Why Chose Goldberg & Osborne’s Phoenix Car Accident Lawyers
Since 1989, Goldberg & Osborne has been Arizona’s leading injury law firm. Here are some of the reasons why:
- Over 100,000 injury claims successfully settled
- Recovered over $2 billion dollars for our clients
- As many Certified Specialists in Personal Injury and Wrongful Death as any other Arizona injury law firm
- More office locations than any other Arizona injury law firm
- Over 2,000 positive Google and Facebook reviews from our clients
You might have come to Goldberg & Osborne because you were searching for the “best car accident lawyers near me” or something similar. If you did then feel confident that you made the right choice in selecting the Goldberg & Osborne Phoenix personal injury lawyers to evaluate your potential injury claim.
Evaluating all the possible causes of a serious motor vehicle accident is a job for an experienced Arizona car accident attorney. In addition, automobile injury victims may also need a lawyer’s help to find an appropriate medical specialist or to arrange for the specialist to wait for payment until the lawsuit is settled.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a motor vehicle accident, call or text (602) 808-6100, or send us an email to begin your free case review.
You Owe Nothing Until the Case Settles or Is Won in Court
One of the first questions we often receive from our clients is how much do they have to pay in order for Goldberg & Osborne to represent them for their car accident case.
Goldberg & Osborne works on a “contingency” fee basis. This means that our Phoenix car accident lawyers do not charge our clients a single penny until their case is either successfully settled with the insurance company or companies, or won in a court of law.
Uber and Lyft Vehicle Accidents
With a rise in Uber and Lyft vehicle accident injuries and successfully handled rideshare car accident injury cases already under our belt, Goldberg & Osborne is positioned to settle or win these types of cases involving the driver and/or passenger(s).
Do I Need an Accident Lawyer?
The short answer is yes. Auto insurance companies are backed by large corporations and have extensive resources to ensure their clients are paid as little as possible. An experienced and aggressive Phoenix auto accident attorney, like Mike Moldoveanu at Goldberg & Osborne, has spent many years fighting insurance companies to obtain the compensation accident injury victims deserve. This is true for not only your insurance adjuster, who is the person the insurance company assigns to handle your accident claim. But also the insurance adjuster for the other driver’s insurance company.
Since 1989, it has been Goldberg & Osborne’s mission to ensure our auto injury clients are treated with utmost care and respect, and not taken advantage of by either insurance company involved with the injury claim or lawsuit. Please call or text us at 602-808-6100 to receive a free evaluation of your potential Phoenix auto accident case.
What are the Arizona car accident Statue of Limitations?
The Arizona Statue of Limitations for all personal injury cases, including Phoenix vehicle wreck injury cases, is exactly two years from the day the injury due to someone else’s negligence was sustained. The only exception is when the injured party doesn’t realize an injury occurred until well after the accident took place. A Goldberg & Osborne accident injury attorney can walk through the specifics of this law as it pertains to a potential injury case.
How do I find the best Phoenix car accident lawyers?
A common question our clients ask before finding or hiring Goldberg & Osborne is “how do I find the best Phoenix car accident lawyers?” Many of our clients come to us through a combination of referrals from past clients, our advertisements, and general word-of-mouth backed up by a long history of excellence. Do not be fooled by gimmicks including awards and badges from online organizations where the attorney or law firm simply pays to be honored. Look at the law firm’s track record and how long they have been in business. Online reviews are important as they paint a picture of how a firm treats their clients. However, do not be deterred by negative reviews from prospective clients who felt shunned because they thought they had a legitimate legal claim and they did not. This unfortunately happens often.
How long will my automobile accident claim, or lawsuit take?
There is no single, definitive answer Goldberg & Osborne can tell our clients when asked this question from the onset of a case. Each case has many unique parts that ultimately affect how long it will take to conclude. For example, the severity of our clients’ injury or injuries will determine how long they require medical attention and treatment, and that will help inform the amount of money we’ll request from the insurance company or companies in a settlement. In some cases, if a settlement cannot be reached in a reasonable amount of time, we will file a lawsuit against the insurance company or companies and try the injury case in civil court.
Factors Contributing to Car Accidents and Injury
Most automobile accidents are caused by driver error. If more drivers would reduce their speed and drive less aggressively, there would be fewer accidents. More Arizona accidents are a result of motorists driving too fast for conditions than any other driving violation.
However, there are other factors which may play a part in causing motor vehicle accidents. For example, some vehicles have design flaws, which can cause an accident. A stuck gas accelerator or tendency to roll even when driving appropriately for conditions are just two examples. Poorly designed or manufactured parts or overall vehicle design may lead to an accident or aggravated injuries.
Defective manufacturer-installed parts such as safety belts, brake devices, tires, and other vehicle components have all been implicated as factors in allowing injuries to become more severe than they might have been. While government requirements continue to recognize consumer desire for safer cars, many manufacturers wait until these important safety features are mandatory before implementing them.
For example, when your car is running, some car models require you to hold the brake down before you can select Drive or Reverse. If the vehicle manufacturer has installed this feature, you have the right to expect it to work. People have been killed in car accidents because some automobile manufacturers have left out this safety device.
Likewise, some drivers have had the transmission slip into reverse when their automobile was running in park. A part costing less than $5.00 could have prevented the accident. Similarly, design flaws in seat belts and air bags make car accidents even more catastrophic when these safety devices fail.
Car accidents may also be caused by poor mechanical work. For example, shortly after a tire change, a tire falls off, and the driver loses control of the vehicle. The garage doing the work could be held liable for any property damage or personal injury caused—both to you and any other party.
Finally, motor vehicle accidents may be caused by poorly maintained roads and poor road design. This can include banking the road so centripetal force works against the vehicle, even at speeds that would normally be expected. Failure to keep damaged areas repaired and allowing drains to become blocked so water stands on the road are additional safety hazards. Lack of traffic control measures in areas of high traffic and confusing traffic control signals also contribute to automobile accidents. In all of these examples, governmental entities may be held accountable when serious injury or death occurs due to these factors.