Hitting the open road can be fun and entertaining, particularly in the scenic state of Utah. But if a negligent motorist causes an automobile accident, a leisurely weekend drive or pleasant daily commute can quickly take a turn for the worse.
If you’ve been in a car crash and have suffered severe injuries, you have the right to receive financial compensation for your injuries and other losses. However, you may not know how to recover compensation for your damages. That’s where Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers come in. Our dedicated and experienced Utah car accident lawyer has been representing injured victims in Utah for more than 30 years. Our successful track record speaks volumes of our dedication and perseverance in helping our injured clients get back on their feet. When you choose us, you can expect our legal team to fight to recover all damages you’re owed by the at-fault party.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with one of our Utah car accident attorneys at (801) 845-0440.
Contact a Team of Aggressive Utah Auto Accident Lawyers Today
Being injured in an accident can add a whole new degree of anxiety to a situation where no one is fully prepared. You will need a personal injury attorney to assist you through the steps toward your recovery.
Our Utah car accident law firm has been helping car accident victims with their accident claims. Here’s why you should hire one of our auto accident or personal injury attorneys:
• We will inform you about your legal options.
• We will suggest a course of action.
• We will work hard to achieve a favorable outcome in your situation.
• We offer free consultations.
• We work on a contingent fee agreement.
• We will obtain medical treatment or assistance for you.
• We will negotiate with an insurance company on your behalf.
• We have more than four decades of experience in the field of personal injury law.
With a car accident attorney representing your legal claim, you will be working with the top car accident lawyer in Utah to fight for the compensation you deserve.
We’ll Help You Prepare a Compelling Utah Car Accident Claim
We take pride in our more than four decades of experience in handling Utah personal injury cases.
Whether you were injured in a head-on collision, rear-end accident, a side-impact crash, a multi-car pileup, or any other type of motor vehicle accident, Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers can build a compelling car accident claim for your compensation recovery. Our automobile accident attorneys will help you by:
- Launching an investigation to prove that your car crash was the result of another motorist’s negligent actions;
- Obtaining evidence that details the full extent of your injuries and the resulting economic and non-economic losses;
- Developing a solid legal strategy for maximizing the amount of monetary compensation you receive;
- Handling the insurance company negotiations and, if necessary, fighting to protect your rights in court.
Utah Car Accident Laws
Any automobile accident in Utah can result in someone being harmed or your vehicle being damaged. You’ll undoubtedly want to know your alternatives for achieving a fair settlement. These Utah laws could have a significant impact on any vehicle accident claim you file, including:
• Vehicle accident injury lawsuits have a four-year deadline for filing.
• Lawsuits for car or other property damage have a three-year time limit.
• Utah’s modified comparative fault rule allows financial recovery only when the claimant was less at fault for the car accident than the opposing party.
One should know that Utah is a no-fault car insurance state. It means that, regardless of who caused the crash, everybody who was involved must generally file a claim under their own personal injury protection coverage to recover compensation for medical expenses and other financial damages. A claim against the at-fault party can only be done in certain scenarios.
Things You Need to Do Right After Your Utah Car Accident
Car accidents are almost always devastating. At the scene, emotions are running high, and confusion reigns supreme, but there are essential procedures you may take to protect yourself and any claim you may make later.
A. Get to the Safety Zone
If you are involved in an automobile accident, you should first check yourself to ensure you are not injured. You can also get your vehicle off the road and out of harm’s path if you are able to. Getting out of the automobile is necessary if you don’t see or detect any apparent injuries. If you can’t get your automobile out of the path but are safe, get out of the car as soon if possible. Check for injuries in any passengers, pedestrians, or other drivers involved in the incident once you’re sure you’re not hurt. If anyone was hurt in the vehicle accident, call 911 immediately to receive immediate medical care.
B. Contact the Police
Calling the cops does not imply that you have acknowledged responsibility or assigned blame to another driver. Obtaining a police record of the crash should be in your best interests. It will eventually assist your insurance company in processing your accident claim. Make every effort to assist the responding officer and answer questions truthfully.
C. Never Accept Blame or Responsibility
If you admit responsibility or liability for the accident, your insurance company may deny your claim. Worst case scenario, you may believe it is your fault only to discover afterward that the other driver caused it. If it’s not essential, don’t disclose any information, but try to be kind and helpful. Talk to the police, medical personnel, insurance adjuster, or any other professional involved in the collision exclusively about the vehicle accident.
D. Exchange Contact and Identification Information
While you wait for the police to arrive at the scene, make sure to get essential details of the other driver, such as:
- The driver and passenger names
- License plate number
- Driver’s insurance info
- Make, model, and year of the vehicle
- The location of the collision
- The responding police officers’ names and badge numbers
Also, try to find any witnesses and get their contact info.
E. Take Pictures of the Accident Scene
Take pictures of the crash site, the cars involved, and the damages resulting from the collision. Make sure to photograph from as many different angles as possible. Make sure the photographs are clear.
F. Claim Your Insurance
After speaking with the police officer and receiving all necessary contact information, you should contact your insurance carrier to file an accident claim. Always be diligent, on top of the process, and provide the insurance adjuster with any required information. They will most likely assess your car for damages. You should get your estimates if you disagree with the amount the insurance adjuster valued your vehicle or the amount of damage it experienced.
G. Keep Track of Your Medical Expenses and Treatments
If you were hurt in a vehicle accident, you should keep a close eye on everything. Keep track of your injuries, the doctors you’ve seen, and the treatments you’ve received in a journal. Keeping copies of your medical bills is part of this. Keep track of how many days you missed school or work due to your injuries and how you felt after the accident. Keep a journal, take notes, or use a mood tracking app to document your feelings daily while recovering from your injuries. If you end up going to trial, it can be difficult to prove “pain and suffering.”
That is why you need to retain the services of a Utah car accident attorney to protect and manage your case so that you can receive fair compensation for your injuries.
Car Accident Statistics in Utah
As per the Utah Highway Patrol, human error is the leading cause of mortality in car accidents. Two of the most common causes of car accidents are speeding and distracted driving. Wild animals also cause several crashes. Many accidents occur due to people neglecting to pay attention to the weather and other dangerous conditions warnings. Drunk driving and not wearing a seatbelt are other factors.
Utah recorded 61,483 motor vehicle collision fatalities in 2021. 11.2% and 2.34% of these suffered from minor and severe injuries respectively. On the other hand, 0.4% fatality was recorded.
Common Causes of Car Accidents in Utah
The following are the five most common causes of car accidents in Utah:
A. Speeding
Excessive speed is still the leading cause of deadly car accidents in Utah. Over 11,000 speed-related accidents occurred in 2016, with over 100 people killed.
• Speed-related collisions accounted for 38 percent of all fatal collisions and were 2.7 times more likely to result in a fatality than other auto collisions.
• As per Utah Highway Patrol, every 5% increase in speed increases the risk of a crash by 10% and a fatal accident by 20%.
• Exceeding the speed limit increases your chances of being involved in an accident and a possibility of death.
To ensure that you are driving safely, always obey the posted speed limit and consider the road and traffic circumstances.
B. Driving While Distracted
In Utah, distracted drivers are still one of the leading causes of car accidents. Authorities feel the problem is more widespread than what’s recorded due to drivers’ reluctance to report themselves and the inherent difficulties in establishing specific types of circumstances. Here are examples of distracted driving:
- Texting or calling while driving
- Eating or drinking while driving
- Adjusting the radio
- Feeling tired
C. Teenage Driving
Statistics show that teen drivers are more likely to be involved in car accidents. While the overall number of car accidents involving a juvenile driver stays relatively constant throughout the year, the number of fatal accidents roughly doubles from May to June.
D. Weekend Traffic
Sadly, many people on the road contribute significantly to Utah’s automobile accidents. During the summer months, Saturday afternoon to the early evening is the most dangerous time to travel.
E. Not Wearing Seatbelts
Seat belts save lives. But people are still too lazy to put their seatbelts on. Drivers not wearing seatbelts during the collision were involved in half of the fatal summer car accidents in 2016.
Common Injuries in a Utah Auto Accident
According to the National Highway Automobile Safety Administration, approximately 3 million persons are injured in traffic accidents in the United States every year. This applies to both catastrophic and mild injuries. The following are the most common injuries that a car accident victim may suffer:
- Head and brain trauma
- Neck and connective tissue injuries
- Back and pelvis injuries
- Permanent disability
- Spinal cord injury
- Internal organ damage
- Limb injuries
- Chest injuries
- Minor injuries
Someone else’s negligence frequently causes these injuries, whether drunk driving, distracted driving, speeding, reckless driving, or another factor. Medical expenditures can quickly mount if you’ve been wounded in a car accident.
If you have suffered injuries in a Utah auto accident due to someone’s negligence, seek legal help from an auto accident lawyer to help with your car accident compensation claim.
Pursuing Compensation for Your Utah Car Accident Damages
If someone else is responsible for your car crash and your injuries, they should be held accountable. The legal team at Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers can make that happen. Our experienced automobile accident attorneys will be aggressive in pursuit of compensation, and we’ll work hard to maximize your financial recovery.
Under Utah law, injured victims can recover economic damages for monetary losses and non-economic damages for mental and emotional damages. You may be entitled to recover compensation for the following economic and non-economic damages:
- Past-due, present, and future medical bills
- Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
- Chronic pain, suffering, disfigurement, and scarring
- Mental anguish, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment
- Compensation for repair or replacement of your vehicle
Choose Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers, an established Utah personal injury law firm, and we’ll put our decades of experience to work for you. Our legal team will employ our skills through settlement negation or in the courtroom, whatever your case requires. You can count on us to fight for every single dollar to which you are entitled.
We Handle All Types of Utah Car Accidents
Auto accidents are one of the most common causes of personal injury cases. No matter what kind of car accident you have been in, we can take care of you. We’ve handled hundreds of car accidents, including rear-end collisions, side-impact or T-bone collisions, head-on collisions, and collisions at intersections. These accidents may incur many injuries, including fatalities, soft-tissue injuries, broken bones, paralysis, and brain injuries. We have dealt with uninsured drivers, drunk drivers, unlicensed drivers, and distracted drivers.
What to Expect from the Car Accident Claims Process in Utah
Once you’ve decided to hire us, we get busy right away setting up your car settlement or insurance claim.
We open your case in our case management software, send letters of representation to all applicable insurance companies, and begin investigating the accident.
The investigation includes visiting and documenting the scene, talking to witnesses, and collecting evidence. We collect pieces of evidence that include the following:
- Investigative reports
- Witness statements
- Photographs
- Video footage
- Insurance policies
- Medical records
- Medical bills
In addition, our Utah car accident lawyer will gather any other helpful documentation that helps us understand the accident, such as local traffic rules or ordinances.
In order to succeed with your car accident claim, we need to show that someone else broke the traffic rules, meaning he or she was negligent and that you were injured in the accident. Then, we collect all the information necessary to articulate the extent of your damages.
Your damages in a car accident may include:
- Property damage
- Past and future medical bills
- Past and future lost wages
- Loss of the ability to earn money in the future
- Pain and suffering
- Impairment
- Scarring or disfigurement
- Inconvenience
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of companionship and relationship
- Emotional distress
No matter what type of damage you suffer, we will work tirelessly to get you every dollar you are owed by the at-fault party.
Utah Car Accident FAQs
How long will my case take to settle?
The length of time it takes to conclude a personal injury case is influenced by several factors. Severe injuries and severe losses, for instance, could lengthen the time it takes to achieve a settlement with the at-fault party’s insurance provider.
When should I contact a Utah auto accident lawyer?
The sooner your auto accident attorney begins working on your case, the better. Waiting too long may endanger your legal right to seek justice and make obtaining the compensation you deserve more difficult.
When you give your lawyer the approval, their defense counsel can begin investigating your case and obtaining crucial evidence. The longer you delay, the more difficult it will be to make a compelling case.
The at-fault driver’s insurance provider may try to contact you and ask for a recorded statement. They can then use everything you say in your statement against you to dismiss your claim or reduce your settlement sum. Similarly, the insurance company may try to negotiate a low settlement amount with you to avoid paying the total amount of your damages.
What if I was partially to blame for my car accident in Utah?
Because Utah is a no-fault state, anyone involved in an accident can seek compensation through their insurance. When someone is hurt, they may be able to file a personal injury claim. An insurance adjuster may not use comparative blame as a reason to deny a claim. However, since Utah adopts the modified comparative negligence rule, a victim’s compensation may be lowered by their percentage of fault. However, if the victim is 50 percent or more to blame for the accident, they are barred from obtaining compensation.
Can I afford to hire a Utah Auto Accident Attorney?
Getting the maximum monetary compensation is much likelier when an experienced automobile accident attorney has your back, and working with a legal team makes the claims process much easier.
But what if you don’t have the money to pay for legal representation?
No problem! Most personal injury law firms, including Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers, operate on a contingency fee basis. As such, you can hire our attorneys without paying any upfront costs. If we win your claim for compensation, we’ll take our legal fees out of the funds you receive. If we don’t, you won’t have to pay for our services. It’s that simple.
The real question is, can you afford not to hire a car accident attorney? Insurance companies make it their mission to downplay injuries incurred in vehicle accidents, as that gives them a reason to deny or devalue a claim. An experienced car accident attorney won’t let a pushy insurance adjuster take control of the valuation process. Without legal representation, you may very well end up getting much less money than you deserve.
Who can be held responsible for my Utah car accident damages?
After a Utah car accident, any party whose actions cause or worsen the accident can be held accountable for damages. This could indicate that another driver is to blame. It could also indicate that a construction company was irresponsible in failing to post warnings or that an auto manufacturer was negligent in designing functional airbags. Based on the unique circumstances of the event, it’s critical to investigate to identify who can be held liable for damages.
What is the value of my Utah car accident case?
Your case worth is based on your injuries’ intensity, how much time you missed from work, and their restrictions.
In a car accident case, the quantity of insurance available is also a factor. If someone hits you and you’re gravely hurt, but they only have $25,000 in insurance, it won’t go you very far. Ensure you have adequate underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage to protect yourself.
Contact Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers to Schedule a Free Consultation With an Experienced Utah Car Accident Lawyer
We’ve been helping injured clients obtain just compensation from insurance companies or others who have wronged them in Utah since 1978. Our goal is to alleviate as much strain as possible in your life so that you can concentrate on recovering. We will not stop unless you have been fairly rewarded for everything you’ve gone through.
Contact Parker & McConkie Personal Injury Lawyers for a free, confidential consultation if you have been harmed in an accident due to someone else’s negligence. Our experienced Utah commercial vehicle accident lawyers will strive to give you the most satisfactory solutions as soon as possible during this challenging time.
You can reach us at (801) 845-0440 or fill out our online contact form.
