Depending on their make and model, passenger cars can weigh anywhere from one to two and a half tons—in other words, from 2,000 to 5,000 pounds. Even comparatively small vehicles are still heavy enough to cause significant structural damage to anything they come into contact with, which makes it vital for every person operating one of these machines to be attentive and responsible while doing so.
Unfortunately, distracted driving car accidents in Gilbert still happen fairly frequently, and many of them cause life-altering injuries that the people who suffer them did nothing to deserve. If you have been hurt under circumstances like this recently, you have help available from the auto accident lawyers at Phillips Law Group with understanding and then enforcing your right to civil recovery.
Being distracted behind the wheel—whether it is due to a cell phone, a beverage, a conversation with someone else in the car, or simply an ill-timed lapse in concentration—qualifies as a breach of the duty all drivers in Arizona have to act responsibly behind the wheel at all times. This means if someone injured in a distracted driving car crash in Gilbert can prove the other driver’s distraction was the main and direct cause of the incident, that injured person has grounds to file suit against the distracted driver based on their legal negligence.
Importantly, though, proving that someone else was distracted prior to a traffic collision does not make them automatically 100 percent at fault for ensuing losses. As a qualified attorney can further explain, any amount of comparative fault an injured person holds for causing their own injuries through their own negligent conduct may be held against them as a proportional reduction from the value of whatever settlement or demand award they ultimately receive.
Another legal obstacle worth knowing about in advance is the statute of limitations for personal injury claims in Arizona. According to Arizona Revised Statutes §12-542, most people who get hurt in any context through another person’s negligence have a maximum of two years after initially sustaining harm to file suit, or else they will be permanently time-barred from ever receiving civil compensation for that particular incident.
This can be a deceptively short period of time to build a strong civil claim over a distracted driving car wreck in Gilbert, especially since there may not be a specific traffic ticket or other offense to point to as objective proof of the distracted driver’s misconduct. Once again, support from knowledgeable legal counsel can be vital to finding, preserving, and effectively utilizing evidence like witness testimony, crash scene photos, surveillance/dashboard camera footage, and even input from accident reconstructionists to establish civil fault for this sort of accident.
Looking away from the road while driving for even a second can dramatically increase your chances of getting into a wreck. As you may have learned the hard way, though, not every driver in the Grand Canyon State takes this lesson to heart, and some of them cause traumatic and sometimes catastrophic wrecks as a result.
At Phillips Law Group, we understand how devastating incidents like this can be and are ready to work tirelessly to get you the compensation you deserve, even if that means taking your case to trial. Call today to speak with one of our team members and discuss your options following your distracted driving car accident in Gilbert.
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