Zachar Law Blog

3 simple tips to keep you safe when traveling this 4th of July

This July 4th is set to be the most traveled, ever! 

 

That means more vehicles on the road, which also means driving safe is going to be key for you and for others on the road. 

 

Unfortunately, The 4th of July is notorious for also being the deadliest day of the year. Why? Drunk driving. 

 

 

Below are just a few tips to keep you and your loved ones safe this long holiday weekend:

 

- Don't use your phone: Distracted driving is becoming more of an issue every year. The simple idea that you can just put the phone down while behind the road, will make driving safer for everyone. Just don't do it. 

 

Fact: You travel the length of a football field while looking at your phone for 5 seconds. Would you drive 100 yards blind-folded? 

 

- Don't drink and drive: Drinking and driving has always been the biggest contributor to auto accidents in America. There's no reason to drive drunk. With Uber and Lyft becoming a more popular option, you have no excuse to be behind the wheel while drinking. 

 

Fact: Every 51 minutes in America, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash. That equates to 27 people every day.

 

- Stay alert: When you're traveling for a long amount of time, drivers tend to get complacent. Stay alert. You're behind the wheel of a vehicle. You are in charge of how the vehicle reacts to situations. Staying alert will keep you and your loved ones safe. 

 

If you feel any of the following, it's time to pull over and take a break:

 

• Difficulty focusing, frequent blinking, or heavy eyelids
• Daydreaming; wandering/disconnected thoughts
• Trouble remembering the last few miles driven; missing exits or traffic signs
• Yawning repeatedly or rubbing your eyes
• Trouble keeping your head up
• Drifting from your lane, tailgating, or hitting a shoulder rumble strip
• Feeling restless and irritable

 

Fact: According to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, people who sleep six to seven hours a night are twice as likely to be involved in such a crash as those sleeping 8 hours or more, while people sleeping less than 5 hours increased their risk four to five times.

 

Remember, enjoying the July 4th holiday can be safe and fun for everyone. You just need to do it in a smart manner. Please. Drive safe and drive smart. Don't become another statistic. Happy 4th! 

 

Read More: What are the laws in Arizona regarding distracted driving?

When a “Slip and Fall” Personal Injury Claim Makes Sense to pursue?

A viable slip and fall claim typically requires several key elements, all of which must be present:

There must be an unreasonably dangerous condition (not just dangerous, but unreasonably dangerous)

The condition must be unknown or undiscovered by the victim

For example, certain conditions (pot holes) are open and obvious. If one didn’t see it, they should have.

The condition must be known or discover-able by the property owner or manager

For example, a condition has to have existed long enough that the property owner or manager knew, or should have known of its existence.

Another example, if you couldn’t perceive a puddle of liquid on the floor, then on what basis should the property owner or manager have known it was there?

The victim must have suffered injuries

Because the aforementioned elements are often so hard to prove, the resulting injuries should be rather significant, in terms of injury severity, treatment, and/or permanency/residuals.

Read More: Everything you need to know about slip and fall injuries in Arizona. 

How to write a personal injury demand letter: What you need to know.

Writing a personal injury demand letter (How is this done? Can this be done on my own?)

A demand letter usually sets out the relevant facts of the case in chronological order. Yes, you can write your own (although we recommend at least consulting, if not retaining, an attorney).

- Liability – How the at-fault party was negligence; how their negligence caused your injury. Technically, you would establish the defendant’s duty of care and their breach of that duty.

- Damages:

- Summarizes the injuries (symptoms, medical attention/diagnosis & treatment/prognosis upon release – both in terms of frequency, duration, and treatment modalities

- Summarizes the medical bills/charges

- Summarizes any other out of pocket expenses (prescriptions, lost wages, etc)

- Summarizes pain & suffering (adverse impact on lifestyle because of injuries, treatment, and any residuals)

- Includes an initial demand (inflated above the case’s actual value to allow for negotiations upon receiving the defendant adjuster’s initial offer (which is usually well below the case’s actual value)

Remember, having a personal injury attorney helping you through this process can make all the difference in your case. Get the facts. Stop guessing. 

Read More: What is the personal injury claim process in Arizona? 

Video: Animal attacks and resort liability. Is there any real recourse?

With resorts that span the valley, it brings up the question, what happens if a visitor is attacked on resort  property by a wild animal? Is there any recourse? What exactly can be done? 

Dave goes into detail of what recourse if any can be done. Remember, even on vacation, you can never let your guard down. 

Read More: What happens if you are injured while on vacation?

INFOGRAPHIC: Do's and Don'ts if You're in a Car Accident

Every auto accident is different, but there are some things that should always be done (and/or avoided) in most scenarios:

-Take photos of the damage done to both cars, preferably before and after any vehicles are moved. If possible, capture both the point of impact between the vehicles as well as on the roadway.

-Call police, especially if the other driver is at fault. If for some reason, the police aren’t called, have the at-fault driver report the accident (and their fault for causing the accident) to their insurance while you are both still at the scene.

-Get the at-fault driver’s insurance information. Ask any police that come and investigate it to procure it for you.

-Identify any and all witnesses and procure their contact information yourself. Do not trust that the police will get it.

-Do not admit to no injury, or deny any injury, at the scene. Better to defer to such a question (“I’m not sure”) because many symptoms don’t manifest until hours or days after a collision (after one’s adrenaline has died down)

-If contemplating consulting an attorney (which we of course recommend), we suggest doing so before you speak to an insurance adjuster, if possible.

-If contemplating consulting an attorney, do some research (ask friends, relatives, and co-workers) and make sure you are consulting an experienced, qualified, reputable, and competent attorney, who will litigate your case if necessary (many attorneys associate with other firms to litigate cases they can’t settle)

Below is an infographic that we've included with our post to help spread awareness on what you should and shouldn't do after you've been in an accident. Follow these tips closely.

 

 

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<p><strong>Please include attribution to ZacharAssociates.com with this graphic.</strong><br /><br /><a href='zacharassociates.com'><img src='http://zacharinjuryblog.typepad.com/phoenix-arizona-personal-injury-tips.png' alt='Do's And Don'ts If You're In A Car Accident' width='540px' border='0' /></a></p>

How Do You Prove My Car Accident Case?

For any car accident case, there are 4 essential things to prove:

1. A collision occurred;
2. The other driver is at fault;
3. That our client sustained injuries and damages; and
4. The nature, extent, duration and value of the damages.

Generally, it is not hard to prove 1) that a collision occurred.  This most often gets documented by a police agency.

Proving 2) who is at fault can sometimes be a challenge.  What happened?  Do all stories make sense?  Does the damage pattern of the vehicles fit the other driver’s story?  What do independent witnesses say?

Investigation of these cases, the scene, the vehicle and the witnesses AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after a collision can often be crucial for our client’s case. 

As for 3) proving that our client sustained injury/damage is not usually the hard part.  Rather, proving 4) the nature, extent, duration and value of the damages is where the experience of your attorney makes all the difference.

When the at-fault driver’s insurance company cannot deny fault, then they turn to the damages, arguing that they aren’t that bad or aren’t related at all.

Again, this is where the experience of your attorney will mean the difference between a low settlement and a good settlement.

Find an attorney who is EXPERIENCED.

Find a TRIAL ATTORNEY for your case.

Better yet, look in Arizona for a CERTIFIED SPECIALIST IN INJURY AND DEATH LAW. 

How does personal injury mediation works: What you need to know

You were in an auto collision—the other guy’s fault.

You were not able to settle with the at fault driver’s insurer: the insurer offered to pay X, and you were demanding Y.  You were at odds.

However, because you hired a trial attorney (an attorney who is not afraid to work for a living), a lawsuit gets filed to fight for you.

Now the parties have completed most of their litigation discovery, and the time is right to sit down and talk about settling.

What is the best way to do this? Often, the best way is called “mediation”.

In a mediation, both sides come together, willing to discuss settling the case.  They jointly select and hire a “mediator” (usually an experienced attorney) to assist in the process.

The parties are placed in separate rooms, and the mediator goes back and forth, discussing the facts, the disputes, the law and everything else that might need to be resolved to help the parties settle the case.

If the lawsuit seeks money damages, then the goal is to find a number that everybody agrees they can live with to resolve the case.

The Defendant agrees to pay Z to settle, and the Plaintiff agrees to accept Z to settle.  If that happens, then the mediation is deemed successful, and the case settles.

Read More: What you do personal injury lawyers do?

Bicyclist killed in hit and run in Arizona

A 73-year-old bicyclist was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on Higley Road early Tuesday morning.

The crash occurred on Higley Road about halfway between Chandler Heights and Ocotillo roads.

The victim was hit in a southbound lane by a gold sedan between 5:30 a.m. and 5:45 a.m., according a Gilbert police spokesman.

A 17-year-old was detained by officers in connection with the accident.  There is no further information regarding the facts of the crash just yet.

Zachar Law Firm has represented victims and their families many times in these unfortunate circumstances. 

In addition to aiding the police in the criminal process, our investigation includes both

1) all circumstances of the crash,

2) background investigation on the at fault driver and

3) investigation of all insurance policies applicable to the loss. 

These case can be hard fought, and an early investigation is often crucial to being able to bring a successful claim for the injured victims.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the families affected by this tragic incident.   

Parents, beware: These are the 100 deadliest days for teens

Memorial Day kicks off what's known as 100 deadliest days for teen drivers. Memorial Day through Labor Day is the deadliest time for teen drivers, and nearly 60% of teen crashes involved distracted drivers.

Here's a sobering statistic for the unofficial start of summer, when we gear up for picnics, barbecues and our kids having more free time on their hands:

From 2010 to 2014, more than 5,000 people died in crashes involving teen drivers in those 100 days.  Over the past five years, the average number of crashes involving drivers ages 16-19 increased 16% per day during the "100 deadliest days," compared with other days of the year.

Some of the reasons for the spike make sense. Teens are driving more during the summer, and it might be more recreational than purposeful.  For instance, instead of driving back and forth to school, they might be driving to the beach, lake or river, and heading down roads they haven't driven before.

But one of the biggest reasons for the summer risk increase is that teens might be driving more frequently with more of their friends.

Teen dies drafting text: 'Where u at' 06:00

"We have always known that passengers were a big risk for teens, but what we're really finding out now is that passengers may be one of the most important risks for teens, even more so than things like texting.

Think about it this way:   Passengers are a distraction the entire time a teen is driving, whereas the distraction from texting is probably limited to the seconds or minutes they're looking at screens instead of the road.

In fact, statistics show that passengers increase the risk of a teen driver having a fatal crash by at least 44%.

A majority of states have laws on the books regarding the number of passengers allowed for new drivers. Some states don't allow any for the first six months or year after getting a license; some allow one passenger. 

Arizona restricts non-family member passengers to one in a teen driver’s vehicle for the first 6 months of licensure. 

A 2014 study found that loud conversations and horseplay between passengers were more likely than technology to result in a dangerous incident involving teen drivers.

50% of teens feel addicted to their phones, poll says

The study by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center tracked 52 high-school age drivers in North Carolina who agreed to have cameras installed in their cars.  When there was loud conversation in the car, teen drivers were six times more likely to need to take actions like making an evasive maneuver to avoid a crash. When there was horseplay in the vehicle, they were three times more likely to get into a similarly serious episode, according to the study.

How to keep teens from texting and driving

The best advice for parents is to understand the risks about passengers and drive with them so they can get accustomed to having people in the car. Parents also need to consider the risks of driving at night.

It's not the time of night, but rather, how dark it is. That's really the risk here, and I think too many parents think of night driving as a social curfew.

The best thing parents can do is to teach teen drivers the best we can; lessons learned and the education is what they will fall back on when they get behind the wheel on their own and/or encounter any situation on the road.

Read More: What are the texting and driving laws in Arizona?