The answer to this question changes from state to state.
In Arizona, driving without insuranceis not a limitation or a bar to an injured person obtaining a recovery in a car accident case.
Essentially, the lack of insurance has no bearing on how the crash occurred and/or who did what wrong. That is what is important.
Though insurance is mandatory, we know that as many as 20% of drivers do not have it.
Regardless, your right to seek a legal recovery for an accident is still based upon the concept of FAULT in Arizona.
If you are in a crash, and not at fault, you should be able to obtain a full settlement for your damages.
Is a personal injury attorney 100% necessary in an auto accident with clear liability?
It is a fact: An attorney is not 100% necessary. But does that mean that you should not have one?
If in a crash, you will be dealing with insurance company people. Are you comfortable with this?
If possible, they will pay you nothing. If they cannot pay you nothing, they will pay you as little as possible.
What should you say? What should you not say? Do you know? If you make a mistake, it could be very detrimental to your case.
The statistics show that having an experienced injury attorney will increase your settlement amount by 30% or more. Essentially then, the presence of an attorney more than pays for itself and gets you more money in your pocket. If so, why would you want to handle the case on your own?
Again, it is not 100% necessary to use an attorney. But given the above information, why would you take the chance?
You were injured in an accident and have decided tohire a lawyer.When should you do it? Earlier is better than later. While a lawyer can handle your case at any time during the process, the more you do before you hire a lawyer, the fewer options the lawyer may have in helping you with your case or claim.
In addition, the longer you delay in retaining a lawyer, the longer it will take for the attorney to address and resolve your case or claim.
If you handle the case yourself and ultimately decide to hire a lawyer, the lawyer may have to address and attempt to resolve any mistakes you may have created or caused in handling the case.
In addition, all claims have a statute of limitations or pre-set time periods that extinguish your rights if a claim is not filed or served within the set time period. For example, if an at-fault driver caused your injuries, you generally have two years from the date of the accident to file your case or you lose your claims forever.
If that at-fault driver is a government employee or agent, your claim may need to be served on the entity within 180 days of the accident or the claim may be lost forever. The time to file or serve your claim is dependent on the claim itself or on the status of the person or entity that caused your injuries.
Waiting to hire a lawyer may put your claim or case in jeopardy. In addition, many attorneys are hesitant to take your case if there is an impending deadline that must be met immediately. Thus, waiting to retain a lawyer may limit your ability to hire an attorney or hire the attorney you want.
The longer you wait to hire an attorney the longer it will take for the attorney to address and resolve your case. If a client hires an attorney early in the matter, the attorney can immediately begin to work on the case and work on it without having to account for potential mistakes or problems that the client may have caused or created.
Traffic fatalities on Arizona’s roads and state highways climbed higher for the second straight year. Per ADOT, driver behavior continues to be a leading factor in motor vehicle collisions.
In 2016, 962 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes, 65 more than the year before, representing a 7.3 percent increase. The number of collisions also went up, rising 8.6 percent to 126,845. The increases in motor vehicle crashes and fatalities in Arizona follow national trends.
The Motor Vehicle Crash Facts report is a compilation of traffic crash reports provided to ADOT by law enforcement agencies around the state. A glance at the report reveals how better decisions made by motorists can save lives. Seat belts, speeding and reckless driving, and impairment are among the leading factors in traffic fatalities:
Buckle up – 250 of those killed last year weren’t using a seat belt.
Pay attention and obey speed limits – Speeding too fast for conditions is the most common driver violation and rear end is the most common manner of collision.
Don’t drive impaired – Annually, impaired driving crashes account for about 4 percent of all collisions and one-third of fatal collisions. Crashes involving impairment related to alcohol, illegal drugs or prescription medication killed 406 people and injured 4,089 in 2016.
Too many people make the deadly decision to drive impaired, whether by alcohol, prescription pills or other drugs and put all of us at risk. None of us should accept this selfish behavior and it’s everyone's business to stop impaired drivers from getting behind the wheel.
For the second year in a row, 406 people were killed in impaired driving-related collisions. However, alcohol-related fatalities decreased – falling from 329 people killed in 2015 to 307 in 2016 – while fatalities related to illegal drugs or prescription medication increased – rising from 77 in 2015 to 99 people killed in 2016. The gains made in reducing alcohol-related crashes and fatalities are steps in the right direction, but there is still much work to be done.
Impaired drivers continue to take the lives of our loved ones and it is time for the community to spread the message that impaired driving is unacceptable. Friends and family members must make every effort to take the keys away from impaired individuals or to call 911 for help when intervening.
Pedestrian-involved crashes and fatalities spiked in 2016. The number of pedestrians killed rose to 197 in 2016 from 163 the year before and crashes increased by 16 percent, from 1,408 in 2015 to 1,637 last year.
The number of motorcycle operators and passengers killed in traffic crashes went up in 2016 to 144 from 134 the year before.
Here are other figures from the 2016 Arizona Motor Vehicle Crash Facts report:
574 fatal crashes occurred on other roadways, such as county roads or city streets, and 291 fatal crashes occurred on the state highway system.
525 fatalities occurred in urban areas and 437 deaths occurred in rural areas.
Of all alcohol-related crashes, 78.8 percent occurred in urban areas and 21.2 percent in rural areas.
Among fatal crashes related to alcohol, 67 percent occurred in urban areas and 33 percent occurred in rural areas.
One person was killed in a motor vehicle crash every 9.11 hours.
Seven in 10 crashes occurred during daylight hours.
More crashes occurred in March than any other month with 11,391.
Friday was the peak day of the week for all crashes during 2016 with 22,133, while the most fatal crashes – 150 – occurred on Saturdays.
While we agree that driver behavior is the #1 causes of crashes on Arizona’s roadways, it is not the only factor.
There are many roads and highways in Arizona that are simply not safe. Crashes continue to occur, injuries and fatalities are on the rise and for some of these dangerous roads, ADOT does nothing.
We ALL need to work together to make our roads safe, but a paramount responsibility is on the State agency whose job it is to keep the roads and highways safe.
In the past few years, many lawsuits have been filed and won against our State agency for their negligence in maintaining the highways.
Drivers certainly need to be more responsible, and each and every driver can control this circumstance.
It is time for ADOT to quit blaming drivers for all of the crashes.
Step up and do what you know needs to be done to make our roads safer!
Zachar Law Firm has moved! Our new location is now at 714 East Rose Lane, Phoenix, Arizona 85014! Our phone and fax numbers remain the same! Be sure to drop in and take a tour of the new location!
You are entitled to be placed in the same position you were before the accident occurred. What does this mean?
Your car was damaged and you were physically injured. Thus, there are two types of damages you incurred: (1) property damage and (2) physical damage. As a victim, the law requires that the person that inflicted these damages return you to the position you were in had the accident never occurred.
While it is impossible to rewind time to place you back into the position that you were in prior to the accident, the law requires this return to your pre-accident state through a financial equivalency, i.e. an amount of money that equals all of the losses you sustained as a result of the accident.
Property damage
If your car is damaged but repairable you are entitled to receive compensation for repair of the vehicle. In addition, you are entitled to compensation for the diminished value of the vehicle as well as loss of use of the vehicle for the time that you are without it. This includes the value of a replacement vehicle during this time. If the vehicle is determined to be unrepairable (i.e. a total loss), you are entitled to compensation in an amount the vehicle is worth in the relevant marketplace, as well as tax and licensing fees.
Bodily Injury
You are entitled to your full medical expenses regardless of whether your health insurance paid a portion of the medical expenses. You are entitled to mental and emotional damages, including pain and suffering both physically and mentally caused by the accident.
You are entitled to wage loss and even loss or damage to your credit, etc. provided that you can demonstrate the damage amount (without speculation) and that such damages were caused by the accident.
What you are legally entitled to and what you can prove was caused by the accident remain two separate issues. Again, the law entitles you to all damages you incurred because of the accident. Whether you can demonstrate or prove a specific injury or damage is a matter of proof and remains a separate issue.
Nearly 740 wrong-way drivers have been reported on Arizona freeways this year according to the state Department of Public Safety.
“This isn’t multiple calls. This is incidents,” DPS Director Col. Frank Milstead said. “We only count one call per incident. This isn’t 50 people called in on one guy.” Milstead said his agency had received calls about eight wrong-way drivers in the past 24 hours alone.
One of those slammed into another car head-on Tuesday night on State Route 51, killing two and injuring one. Of the hundreds of wrong-way driving incidents that have been reported this year, four have been in fatal crashes and eight others have involved injuries. Nearly 40 of the drivers have been arrested.
Milstead claims that Arizona is on the forefront of making changes to prevent wrong-way drivers. (Note: This is a complete lie.)
“As a state, we’re trying to do everything we can and keep people alive,” he said. (Note: Not sure why he is saying this.)
Milstead explained the Arizona Department of Transportation was mulling ideas to add a two-part system of lights that would let drivers know they are driving the wrong way or a type of photo enforcement at the bottom of ramps. (“Mulling”??? What exactly does that mean? It means thinking about it but doing nothing.)
But Milstead said the state can only do so much. Some of the responsibility falls squarely on the public. (Yep. There you go. Blame the victim.) “I think all too often people want to make this a road design issue or an enforcement issue,” he said. “There are obviously places where we can do better in both of those areas, but, really, this is a social responsibility issue.”
Milstead is wrong. It is also a road design and law enforcement issue. And on that front, Arizona has failed miserably.
ADOT has a responsibility to all drivers on the public roadways to provide reasonable measures for safety. Over the years, there have literally been HUNDREDS of these wrong way crashes, and it seems that they are getting more frequent. In 1985, the California Department of Transportation studied the problem and enacted measures that have cut their number of wrong-way crashes by more than 50%. Did ADOT do the same? Nope. Nada. Zip.
Not all crashes can be prevented. ADOT cannot guaranty safety on the roads. But that does not mean that ADOT can ignore this problem. Many of these can be prevented with proper measures.
When will ADOT stop, listen, learn and act? For everyone’s sake, we hope this happens soon.
What action can be done if a loved one has been a victim of a wrong-way crash? Call us.
We are presently prosecuting several wrong-way fatality crashes in Maricopa County Superior Court. We have gathered a huge amount of data and will be happy to sit down with you to discuss your legal rights.
Following the recent onslaught of deaths related to wrong-way drivers on the state highways, Gov. Doug Ducey released a statement addressing his public safety concerns given that the injuries and deaths have already surpassed those from previous years.
"I have instructed the Department of Transportation, the Department of Public Safety, and my Office of Highway Safety to convene IMMEDIATELY to increase efforts to mitigate and prevent this public safety issue," Ducey says.
In his statement, Ducey says he wants all of Arizona to know the state is taking this issue "extremely seriously." "Our goal is to reduce fatalities and save lives, and we will take every appropriate measure in order to do so," Ducey said.
COMMENT: IT’S ABOUT TIME!!!
Question: What are ADOT and our DPS doing to prevent these wrong-way crashes?
Answer: Very little.
Zachar Law Firm and The Leader Law Firm have brought multiple negligence actions against ADOT for its failure to deal with the wrong-way driving problem. California has had a separate division to deal with wrong-way freeway collisions since the late 1980s and has been very successful in significantly reducing the number of wrong-way crashes. In the same 30+ year time period, Arizona has largely ignored this problem.
According to ADOT's own studies, countermeasures are available that would automatically detect wrong-way drivers and automatically warn oncoming traffic. This seems like a practical and sensible solution. ADOT was aware of these technologies years ago, and we cannot understand why it wasn't been implemented before the catastrophes that befell our clients.
Wrong way crashes continue to happen, and seemingly are increasing. With such high numbers of cars on Arizona's freeways and highways, Arizona must take a stand and do something. Governor Ducey clearly agrees and has ordered ADOT and the DPS to do something about this problem.
What else can be done by you? Here are some tips:
Get off the highway. If you learn there is a wrong way driver on the highway, get off.
Slow down. When 2 vehicle going opposite directions each collide at 60 mph, that is the equivalent of hitting a brick wall at 120 mph.
Stay or get to your right. The statistics show that most wrong way drivers are driving towards their right-hand side of the road (i.e. the HOV lane). If you cannot get off the road, then slow down and get as far to your right (and away from the wrong way driver) as possible.
Pay attention to the electronic highway signs. Sometimes ADOT will post warning messages.
ADOT has a responsibility to all drivers on the public roadways to provide reasonable measures for safety. Over the years, there have literally been HUNDREDS of these wrong way crashes, and it seems that they are getting more frequent. In 1985, the California Department of Transportation studied the problem and enacted measures that have cut their number of wrong-way crashes by more than 50%. Did ADOT do the same? Nope. Nada. Zip.
Not all crashes can be prevented. ADOT cannot guaranty safety on the roads. But that does not mean that ADOT can ignore this problem. Many of these can be prevented with proper measures.
When will ADOT stop, listen, learn and act? Maybe now, with Gov. Ducey’s order, this issue will finally get some attention from our state officials.
Apple's new mobile operating system will include a 'Do Not Disturb While Driving' mode in its latest ios 11 this fall.
Distracted driving has become an epidemic. There are countless examples of accidents that could have been avoided if it weren't for drivers using their phones while behind the wheel.
When iOS 11 comes to iPhones (and iPads) this fall, the new operating system will include a "Do Not Disturb While Driving" mode users can turn on. Once the feature is turned on, your iPhone can tell when you may be driving and automatically mute your notifications so your screen remains dark.
You can also set up your device to send your favorite contacts an automatic reply to tell them you are driving and will get back to them when you arrive.
"It's all about keeping your eyes on the road," Apple says.
When you are driving you don’t need to be responding to these kinds of messages. No word yet on whether Bluetooth will still work and/or whether an emergency call can get through. Still, it will be your choice to use or not use it.
Pretty sure I will be using it, and 100% sure my kids will be using it.
You were in an accident that was not your fault and is not sure how you are going to pay for the mounting debt it caused. Most people assume that the at-fault driver’s insurance will automatically take care of it, leaving them with a false sense of security. The reality is that you need to be proactive, which likely includes retaining an attorney to assist you through the process.
Medical bills (which typically represents the largest expense) can be paid in a variety of ways but they must be paid. I advise my clients to use their health insurance to cover their medical expenses when possible. In so doing, the bill is initially paid by the health insurance leaving the client to pay the co-pay or deductible. The client is then required to pay their co-pay or deductible.
If the client has medical pay or PIP (personal injury protection) as part of their own auto insurance policy, they can and should immediately demand it. This money is theirs, regardless of having to prove liability for the accident. This money can be used to assist the client in paying for expenses not covered or in excess of what their health insurance paid.
An accident victim is entitled (among other things) to the full reimbursement of the medical expenses incurred as a direct result of the accident, regardless of whether the expense was actually paid by them. Thus, if a medical bill is $1,000 and the client’s health insurance paid $500 and the client paid a $100 co-pay, the client remains legally entitled to recover for reimbursement of the full amount of the medical bill ($1,000) not merely the $100 the client actually paid out of pocket.
Unfortunately, the client will not recover this amount until after the case has been resolved. In addition, under Arizona law, the medical provider is also entitled to recover the full amount of the medical expense regardless of the fact that they received a portion of the payment from the client’s health insurance company.
By way of the prior example, if the medical bill was $1,000 and health insurance paid $500 of that expense, the medical provider is entitled to receive the remaining $500 not paid by health insurance. The medical provider is given this right to reimbursement by statute, though the provider’s right to reimbursement is only against the potential recovery the client may receive from the at-fault driver and not against the client personally.
Consequently, if the client fails to recover against the at-fault driver, then the medical provider receives no further compensation for their bill and the client owes nothing further to the medical provider. In order to be compensated for the remaining part of the bill, the medical provider must adhere to certain statutory requirements, which requires the provider to record the remaining debt owed (lien) with the Recorder’s Office in the county in which the services were provided by a certain deadline. Failing to do so may result in the provider’s inability to recover against the client’s potential recovery (for the amount not previously paid by the health insurance).
If a client does not use their health insurance to pay their bills or health insurance does not pay for the medical provider’s services, the client still must pay the provider’s bill regardless of whether or how much they recover from the at-fault driver.
The debt the client owes to the medical provider is contractual and remains owing regardless of how the debt was incurred. In other words, the client received medical treatment and services from the provider and it makes no difference as for how the debt was incurred (accident or otherwise). It may need to be paid directly from the recovery received from the at-fault driver, or it may not. Either way, the debt remains and the provider can use all legal means to collect the debt.
Often times the client can make financial arrangements with medical providers prior to receiving treatment using a potential recovery as an agreed upon method of payment. Some medical providers understand and accept this type of arrangement while others will not.
For example, a client can explain to a medical provider that he/she needs medical care but that because the client has no health insurance or health insurance does not cover the type of treatment provided, the client will agree to pay the provider out of a potential recovery. This is commonly referred to a care on a “lien basis.” If such an arrangement is made between the client and the medical provider, then the client must pay the provider directly out of any recovery the client might obtain.
All expenses (medical or otherwise) a client may have incurred as a direct result of an accident are debts the client should and must pay, regardless of the manner in which they were incurred. These debts should be addressed with the people or entities owed prior to resolution of the case, as some may be paid through health insurance, others through medical payment provisions in the client’s automobile policy, still others through lien arrangements or by payment plans.
