Arizona Accident Lawyer Blog

When we think about brave police officers being killed in the line of duty, we usually think about gunshot wounds or fights with dangerous assailants. However, far too often our police officers are killed because of negligent drivers on our roadways. According to one report, 132 officers were killed in our country in 2008. Of that, no less than 59 police officers were killed in automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, being hit by vehicles, and train accidents combined. In Arizona, according to reports, 4 police officers tragically lost their lives in 2008.

There is nothing that can replace the heartache and sadness to those families who have lost a police officer in the line of duty. To make matters worse, many police officers are the primary income to their families. Obviously, a police officer and mother/father are much more than just “bread winners.”

Continue reading " 4 Arizona Police Officers Died in 2008 from Negligent Drivers " »

I came across a disturbing statistic recently in an article. Do you know how many people die as a result of automobile accidents in our country every day?

When you consider the fact that most auto accidents are attributable to the negligence of somebody, would it shock you to learn that about 110 people per day are killed on our roadways? What must be done to limit these tragedies? This does not even count the much higher number of people who suffer severe and debilitating injuries as a result of auto accidents in Phoenix every single day on our roadways.

Arizona auto accident lawyers do not just help one individual receive compensation for everything they have been through. Even in the case of wrongful death in Arizona, lawyers help families that come to them receive not just money, not just piece of mind, but some justice.

Continue reading " Auto Accidents in the U.S. Attributed Mostly to Negligent Drivers " »

Insurance companies often attempt to deny claims of rotator cuff injuries after automobile accidents in Arizona. Far too often, these insurance companies attempt to avoid payment to someone who has suffered a rotator cuff injury by pointing out that there is medical literature that shows that the most common cause of rotator cuff injuries is from repetitive use. In other words, most rotator cuff injuries, according to published reports, in some places indicate that rotator cuff injuries do not usually come from one significant serious traumatic event such as a car accident.

However, as skilled Arizona car accident attorneys, we see many rotator cuff injuries in auto accidents. We also see in other situations where there is an outstretched hand or some other unusual twisting or movement of the arm that causes a rotator cuff tear by injuring the rotator cuff tendons.

As personal injury lawyers in Arizona, it is very important that we go beyond just the legal aspects and understand some of the medical aspects our clients confront. It is through this knowledge and experience that we are able to point out to the insurance companies that in fact, there is a traumatic injury.

The same applies to when an insurance company continues to fight and deny the obvious. Information has been shown to juries that demonstrate that when a rotator cuff tear occurs to somebody under 60 years old, that in fact it is usually a traumatic injury. In those cases, it becomes much easier to fight for and correlate the injury to the underlying car accident.

Continue reading " Arizona Vehicle Accidents Can Cause Rotator Cuff Injuries " »

According to a report, car accident injuries are the most common cause of head trauma that lead to vision loss in this country. More than a million Americans have experienced major effects on their lives because of vision changes that started with a head injury.

Other than experienced Arizona personal injury lawyers, how can somebody who has suffered a vision loss as a result of a car accident expect to receive justice or to understand that vision loss sometimes does come from a car accident. Because most of us do not think of vision loss as being a common result from a traumatic head injury in Arizona, and more often because you do not expect a car accident in most cases to cause vision loss, it is expected that anyone who is sued because of a claimed effect on sight to the person that was hurt in the accident will be skeptical.

Even where it is clear that someone has suffered vision loss as a result of a head injury in a Phoenix car crash, one could expect the insurance company to deny the claim hoping that a jury will be skeptical and that they will be able to “muddy the waters” enough that the person whose life has been effected by vision loss as a result of a car crash will not be able to make a claim.

Continue reading " Car Accident Injuries Most Common Cause of Head Trauma That Leads to Vision Loss " »

I will not let the bus industry change the debate. According to the bus industry’s own association, they are trying to frame bus safety in a way that will fit their goals. Bus safety is not about “framing” of a question. The reality is that far too many people suffer very serious injuries in bus accidents in Arizona and throughout the country.

It is far too common to see injuries that were preventable because negligent bus drivers fall asleep at the wheel, were not physically able to drive, were negligent in their driving, or for a host of other reasons. Also, knowing that to be true, the question of whether seatbelts should be installed in buses is an obvious one that ought to be asked as a direct yes or no question. However, it is clear that the bus industry would like to avoid this from becoming a “seatbelts, yes or no”, question.

Why do they want to avoid a “yes or no” on the seatbelt question? Will seatbelts save lives? Are there people that will not have to suffer serious injuries because of bus driver negligence and busing company neglect if seatbelts are installed? Even if installing seatbelts will cost money to the operators of commercial buses and school buses across the company, isn’t that worth the lives it may save?

Continue reading " Arizona Bus Accidents Could Be Prevented With Seat Belt Installation " »

Rollover accidents in Arizona cause a lot of the injuries that we see as Arizona Injury Attorneys. However, we'd like to take this opportunity to warn anybody who is driving to avoid leaving people in the bed of a pickup truck. The bed of a pickup truck is a very dangerous place and yet we see, far too often, people in the back of a pickup in a moving vehicle.

Unfortunately, about 28,000 people die every year as a result of falling against or from a vehicle, according to a report. If you consider the height involved, even allowing children to play in the back of a pickup truck that is not moving could be very dangerous. For instance, as the children stand up, it is easy for them to fall over the truck’s side. They could potentially land on an outstretched arm or, in the most severe cases, land on their head causing terrible, preventable injuries, and even wrongful death.

While one could argue that in the case of people getting hurt in the back of a pickup truck by someone else rear ending them, that it is not the fault of the person who allowed those people to sit in the back of the pickup truck, this does not erase children's injuries in Phoenix.

Continue reading " Arizona Car-Related Injuries Include Pick-Up Truck Beds " »

Is there a formula for determining how much somebody can get from an insurance company after they were hurt in an auto accident in Arizona? Can somebody take their medical bills and multiply them by two or three and then make the claim and expect that to be paid in Arizona? Is there some sort of schedule for injuries and compensation after automobile accidents in Arizona personal injury cases? The answer is no.

Therefore, while I do not know law in every state in the country and I am only a certified specialist in Arizona injury wrongful death litigation, I question some reports that I have found that provide a “compensation calculator.” While I cannot speak intelligently as to how every system in the world works, I will say that I find it unreasonable to believe that there is any set formula for how injury claims are paid.

In workers’ compensation cases there are schedules for how much can be paid out as a result of a certain injury. But workers’ compensation in Arizona is a totally different set of laws and rules on personal injury claims. The reality is that according to Arizona personal injury law, the value of a claim is the fair and reasonable compensation owed to the person who was injured. That is ultimately decided by a jury.

Continue reading " Compensation Calculator and Formulas Are Not Enough to Determine a Claim " »

What happens to someone who suffers severe emotional or psychological trauma after an auto accident in Arizona? What claims can be made for the person who not only suffered a severe physical injury, but has also suffered psychological effects from a serious bodily injury? Well, far too often these types of claims are dismissed as unimportant. Even lawyers who sometimes represent injury victims are far too quick to discount how much those types of injuries – the injuries that are not physical – have affected the lives of those who have been seriously hurt.

I am not talking about the person who has suffered a whiplash in Phoenix and claims that their life has been destroyed. I am not talking about the person who was barely hurt physically but claims that they cannot handle the post-traumatic stress that they have endured as a result of not being able to work out for three weeks. However, experienced personal injury lawyers in Arizona and throughout the country should not discount the value to their clients of the emotional trauma event's incidents.

They also should not discount the importance of discussing with a jury the fact that while physical injuries are clearly a very big deal for people who have suffered tremendously after auto accidents in Arizona and elsewhere, that there are traumatic injuries that may leave “invisible scars.” Now, before you attack this view point as just the beliefs of an Arizona personal injury attorney, consider the fact that the idea of invisible scars was not ours, but came from an article published elsewhere and discussed by Professor Mark D. Rusch, an associate professor and rehabilitation psychologist at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Continue reading " Phoenix Auto Accidents That Physically Injure People Can Have Psychological Effects " »

After suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI) the victim is often put in a terrible position. First, very few people understand the ramifications following a traumatic head injury. Also, the average layperson does not know how to deal with somebody who has suffered a traumatic brain injury. On TV and in the movies, somebody who suffers a traumatic brain injury either dies or they are so severely disabled that they can no longer speak or live life in any way that resembles the life they had before.

The reality is that those who suffer traumatic brain injuries, according to the the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website, will often go on to try to live some semblance of the life they had. People who suffer severe head injuries will often need surgeries to remove or repair hematomas (ruptured blood vessels) or brain contusions (bruised brain tissue). Also, the disabilities that result from TBI will often depend on the location in the brain of the injury, the age of the person who suffered that injury, and a host of other factors.

Now, obviously after suffering a severe traumatic brain injury, people do not immediately consider whether or not they should be consulting with a personal injury lawyer. However, after almost any other accident causing injury, at some point before the statute of limitations runs in Arizona, the person will give thought to whether or not they need a lawyer.

Continue reading " Arizona Traumatic Brain Injury Victims Need Their Families’ Help " »

Why do so many people need to hire Arizona construction accident attorneys? Because according to a report from the federal government, construction is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. Experienced construction accident lawyers are needed because 1,239 people lost their lives in 2006 alone in construction related accidents.

For those that question why somebody who's been involved in a construction accident in Phoenix might seek the help of an experienced injury lawyer, consider all the different ramifications of serious injury or wrongful death at a construction site. In most of these cases, there is a family at home grieving because of the loss of what may have been a preventable accident.

Even getting past the severe emotional trauma to the children, spouses and parents, consider the wages that most construction workers earn and all the people who rely upon the hard work they perform. Now consider the loss of a house, the inability to pay bills, the requirement to change schools, and maybe even needing to move to a completely different area of the city, state, or country, as a result of an unnecessary death.

Continue reading " Arizona Construction Accidents Included in the 1,239 Workers Who Died In 2006 " »

So many personal injury cases in Arizona start with a driver who is speeding and then causes an accident. It seems amazing to us that others would so often vilify a victim who is pursing fair compensation for the injuries they received in an accident. So it is with a recent report of a fatal truck accident in Mesa, Arizona. A driver was traveling at such a high rate of speed that he was thrown so far from the truck after his crash that he could not be found for hours. Certainly, nobody deserves to die because of excessive speed.

We feel terrible for the person involved in this accident. However, there is a constant reminder and lesson involved in this and in so many Arizona traffic accidents. Far too many people in Mesa, Arizona have to file personal injury claims because they are unable to work, unable to pay their bills or unable to go on with their life as a result of somebody else speeding. Too frequently, people are so selfish that they decide to travel at a high rate of speed. They are only worrying about their next appointment and not about the fact that there are other people on the road.

If Arizona drivers would slow down and simply be more careful, we would have far less injury, far less suffering, and far fewer personal injury lawsuits. Arizona car accident lawyers wouldn’t need to bring as many lawsuits as they do. People would not need the compensation that is available through the courts.

Continue reading " Mesa Truck Accident Caused by Speeding Kills Man " »

Arizona Personal injury attorneys do not just help “accident victims” recover money. The truth is, the stories of heroism and courage are heard daily by experienced accident lawyers.

We have all by now heard of the serious bus accident in Arizona that involved Chinese Tourists on their drive towards the Grand Canyon. However, I came across this story recently that is a scary, and yet, in some ways, inspiring as any I have read.

Wu Shougui said that he was the only passenger awake on the bus before the fateful crash that took so many innocent lives because of a negligent bus driver. Forgetting for a minute about the bus accident lawsuits, litigation, and insurance claims that are going to arise from this accident; instead, think about the moment of the crash. Wu was sitting several rows behind his wife and son.

Immediately after the crash you could hear his wife screaming that their son was no longer there. Something was pressing down on her legs and according to the published reports, Wu Shougui had to somehow climb out of this bus through the wreckage. He went through all the terrible sights he must have seen, the sounds and screaming he must have heard, all in the hopes of trying to find his boy who was no longer on the bus. Moments before he had been the only one awake on this bus, and now he was facing the prospect of trying to even find his son in this horrendous wreckage. According to Wu Shougui, “I was frightened to death. I was so scared he was dead.”

Continue reading " Arizona Tourist Bus Accident Story of Missing Boy " »

In Arizona, people are constantly encouraged to put gates around pools to protect toddlers and other children from falling into the pool and drowning. As experienced Arizona child injury lawyers, we have seen far too many times, cases where potential lawsuits have been made against negligent baby-sitters and other family members who failed to closely watch a child and serious injury resulted. However, what is even tougher to explain is a recent report of the potential malfunctioning pool gate that allowed a child to get through into the pool.

Apparently, a three-year-old boy fell into a pool in the 6600 block of North 20th Avenue. According to reports, this poor child was in “extremely critical condition” after the fall. We cannot imagine what the child's poor family is dealing with. We can only hope that the three-year-old boy pulls through and ends up with a complete recovery. When a pool gate is erected, the family undoubtedly feels some assurance and safety in the fact that no one is going to be able to get to the pool.

Continue reading " Phoenix Swimming Pool Accident Puts 3 Year Old In Critical Condition " »

We are absolutely thrilled to see the Tucson, Arizona reports of decreased fatalities in Arizona car accidents. It may surprise people to know that experienced personal injury lawyers in Arizona who make their living helping people would be so happy to see such a report. However, it should not be surprising because anybody that helps people who suffer through the kinds of tragedies we see on a daily basis would give anything to see the unnecessary death end immediately.

According to reports, Arizona traffic accident fatalities were down from 1,071 in 2007 to only 920 in 2008. Yes, 920 deaths is a large number of people that were lost that should not have been. Undoubtedly, most of those deaths were preventable and were caused by the negligence of somebody that could have been avoided.

Continue reading " Tucson Car Accident Fatalities Decrease " »

Car accidents in Phoenix on I-10, Arizona have become so frequent that, according to a latest report of an accident on I-10 in Maricopa County, Arizona has caused 178 deaths over just a five-year period and is the third most dangerous stretch of road in the entire country.

Serious car accidents do not even lead to death, fortunately, in the majority of circumstances. Therefore, while we do not have an exact number from this report, we know if 178 people were killed on I-10 in the Phoenix metropolitan area over that five-year period, countless others suffered serious injury. Almost any Arizona car accident lawyer sees so many repeated injuries that at some point, you feel as though you have helped people hurt in all four corners of the State. That being said, it is sad to see so many repeated serious injuries taking place on I-10 to the point where this roadway has become such a danger.

We can only hope that the Arizona Department of Transportation will take every step necessary to reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths that take place in the Phoenix metropolitan area and throughout the State of Arizona. This report does not place blame; therefore we are in no position to decide whether blame should be placed. We certainly hope that the human costs of these kind of tragedies is taken into account when budgeting time comes up, and that every possible thing that can be done to prevent serious auto accident claims in Arizona is done.

Continue reading " Phoenix Auto Accidents On 1-10 Occur Far Too Often " »

Today, the Arizona accident lawyer blog takes a break from Phoenix insurance claims, Tucson car accidents, Mesa dog bites, Glendale slip and falls, and every other kind of injury we discuss. As those of you who follow our blog know, we do our best to try to educate the public about their rights and, in many cases, their responsibilities. We often talk about the fact that lawsuits not only help compensate the injured but often help deter people from doing things that will cause serious injury or even wrongful death to innocent people in the future. Often times, the best way to keep an insurance company from doing the wrong thing, is to make sure they’re held financially responsible for the serious injuries that they cause.

However, today the story that we use as an example doesn’t relate to car injuries or to car insurance claims in Phoenix or the best injury attorneys available for brain injuries or anything of the like. Instead, today we just applaud a Phoenix police officer and a neighbor who saved the lives of an entire family. According to reports, Officer Aimee Knight-Fogel was running a regular patrol at around 2:00 in the morning when she noticed a house that was on fire. This officer claimed that she was in the right place at the right time.

Continue reading " Phoenix Fire Results In Police Officer Saving 12 " »

Personal injury lawsuits in Arizona and throughout the United States take all kinds of shapes and sizes. An experienced Arizona personal injury attorney should be able to handle not just car accident cases, but handle all sorts of situations where the negligence of one person has caused an injury in ways no one could have imagined.

The reality is that if you do this job long enough – if you dedicate yourself to helping people who have been seriously injured or who have lost a loved one due to somebody else’s negligence, you come to realize that you can never be certain what to expect. You learn after years of helping people that almost any activity can be dangerous if people who are responsible are not careful in what they are doing, especially in auto accidents in Phoenix. In the end, we all rely on each other so much that our own health and lives are tied to the courtesy and responsibility of strangers on a daily basis.

Continue reading " Longest Fingernails World Record Holder Files Personal Injury Claim " »

It has recently been reported what many experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyers already know-- that there are far too many railroad accidents in Arizona. That far too many dangerous railroad crossings are causing the death of innocent people. That the government needs to take more action to prevent terrible tragedies from taking place at intersections with trains that they already know to be dangerous. People who are driving throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area near Grand Avenue should not have their lives in jeopardy every time they head out.

The recent reports indicate that the train crossing at 35th Avenue and Grand Avenue, the railroad tracks that cross at Thomas Road and Grand Avenue, and the 27th Avenue and Grand Avenue train intersection are on the Federal Railroad Administration’s radar, and they have been since 2002. In fact, according to reports there have been more than 30 accidents between trains and cars in a three-year period, alone.

What must be done to protect people from these accidents? What must be done to make these crossings safer. Obviously, whatever is being done is not nearly enough.

Continue reading " Arizona Train Accidents Occur Far Too Often " »

There are many articles that discuss the safety of wearing motorcycle helmets in Arizona and elsewhere. The fact is, Arizona motorcycle helmet laws are much more confusing than many believe. For a motorcycle rider injured in Arizona, the fact that they failed to wear a helmet will be used against them in many cases.

As is reported and discussed in many places, most would agree that motorcycle helmets increase safety. However, even the most staunch advocate must admit that many people are severely injured or killed while wearing motorcycle helmets in Arizona and throughout the rest of the country.

Unfortunately, motorcycle riders in Arizona are led to believe that the law allows them to go without wearing a motorcycle helmet. While this is true – in the sense that they cannot get a traffic ticket for failing to wear a helmet – someone who negligently rear ends a motorcyclist throwing them from the bike and causing them to land on their head can actually use the failure to wear a helmet as a defense against the claim. If there is an available helmet – and if the other conditions that need to be present exist – a badly injured motorcycle rider can lose their claim even though they violated absolutely no law in failing to wear their helmet.

Continue reading " Arizona Motorcycle Accident and Helmet Laws Need To Be Understood " »

One probably does not expect to go to an Arizona injury claim attorney blog and find any discussion of a wrongly convicted person from Texas. However, as Arizona personal injury lawyers who will fight for justice, this case is a reminder of the fact that there are no sure things in any court of law. That even overwhelming evidence – or seemingly overwhelming evidence – can be missed by a jury. That if somebody who is charged with rape can be wrongfully convicted in a situation where the facts clearly show that the man was not guilty, clearly even the most seriously injured person involved in any kind of automobile accident in Arizona or other crash needs the best possible representation to reduce the possibilities of not being fully compensated for what they have been through.

It was reported recently in a story that Timothy Cole was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a 1985 rape that he did not commit. It has since been confirmed by DNA that he was completely innocent, and the DNA points to a man who has confessed to all the crimes. Unfortunately, Mr. Cole not only spent 14 years in prison from 1985 to 1999, but he died in prison and never got to see the light of day.

Continue reading " Wrongly Convicted Man Brings Up Questions " »

As experienced Arizona dog bite lawyers who help people after they have suffered an attack, we have seen the same type of stories unfold on an all too consistent basis. Like many personal injury lawyers that help people who have been severely injured – whether from a car accident or a defective product or a dog bite – we know that some things are consistently dangerous. There are some injuries that happen throughout the State of Arizona that Arizona trial lawyers get used to seeing. Sometimes, you wonder whether or not people will ever use their common sense so that there will not be a need for so many dog bite lawyers to pursue so many Arizona dog bite cases. It has grown tiresome to watch so many pit bull attacks throughout the State of Arizona. Very often, children are bit and attacked by pit bulls throughout Phoenix, Tucson, throughout the State of Arizona and we, as Arizona injury lawyers, come in after the fact to try to help out.

No matter how much work we do and no matter what effort we put in, sometimes it feels as though we're not even making a dent or getting through to the people who do not keep their dogs behind the fence or on a leash. Now, we see a new story about an innocent postal worker was attacked by two pit bulls. Why were these two pit bulls out of the yard? How were they allowed to attack this postal worker who had to be saved by people in the Phoenix neighborhood?

Continue reading " Phoenix Dogs Bite and Attack Postal Worker " »

Passengers bringing injury claims in Arizona car accident cases are in a very different position from the drivers. When the unfortunate situation occurs where there is a passenger who has been hurt, it is extremely unusual that anybody could ever blame a passenger for causing the car crash. In this way, the passenger is not in the position of trying to fight with insurance companies over who was at fault. When a passenger in a motor vehicle accident in Arizona hires experienced personal injury attorneys, that passenger does not have to worry about anybody claiming that their amount of recovery should be reduced because of their own fault.

In many car accident cases the biggest question is who was at fault for the accident. In order to have to pay for medical bills incurred from a serious injury, wage loss to someone who is not able to continue to work after a serious accident, or any other expenses or compensation to someone who has been seriously hurt, a person must first be proved to be negligent.

Continue reading " Arizona Auto Accident Passenger Claims, What You Should Know " »

According to published reports, nearly 100 children in the United States were killed and 2,000 were injured in 2007, alone, when they were backed over by cars. Usually, these terrible and tragic personal injury accidents occurred in residential driveways. That means somebody leaving the driveway of their house that did not see a kid behind them.

First, we cannot ever emphasize enough the importance of being cautious while backing out of a driveway to avoid any kind of auto accident in Arizona. Second, we understand that life moves quickly and that mistakes can happen. Not every tragedy requires a lawsuit or finger pointing. And for those who have ever been in any way involved in such a terrible tragedy, we are in no way pointing the finger.

Continue reading " Children Injury And Death Caused By Cars Leaving Driveways " »

People who are hurt in Arizona because of somebody else's negligence bring personal injury claims, workers' compensation claims, or both. It depends on the situation and it requires the analysis of a lawyer that knows how to help injury victims pursue their claims, where it is appropriate.

However, in the case where somebody is allowed to bring a personal injury lawsuit in addition to making the workers' compensation claim, there are additional and sometimes confusing procedures. For instance, most personal injury lawsuits have a statute of limitations of two years in Arizona. This means, in most cases, the person who was hurt anywhere in the State of Arizona has the right to bring a lawsuit any time within two years of the date of the accident against the person who was negligent in causing them to be hurt.

Unfortunately, there are many exceptions to this and therefore it is vital to at least speak with the best Arizona personal injury lawyer you can find as soon as you can after an accident to make sure you do not lose your rights because you waited too long to pursue your claim. However, when it comes to somebody who has been injured and they have the right to bring both a workers' compensation claim as well as an injury claim, if they do not file their lawsuit within one year, they may lose all of their rights because their claim is assigned to their workers' compensation carrier.

Continue reading " Arizona Workers' Compensation Complexities And How To Understand Them " »

The Arizona Grain Company was the site of a terrible incident in Maricopa, Arizona. Apparently, the side of a grain-loading building was blown apart by two large explosions, according to reports. Also according to reports, two Arizona Grain employees and a truck driver were severely injured with burns to their face and arms.

First and foremost, we hope everybody involved in this Maricopa on-the-job injury heals as quickly as possible. We cannot imagine what these three men and their families must be going through and we hope for the fastest possible recovery.

It is worth mentioning, however, that a truck driver injured in Arizona at a place where he is not an employee may well have rights beyond Arizona workers' compensation rights. All too often, severely injured people are under the assumption that they are stuck with workers' compensation and are not entitled to the many available levels of compensation through a third party personal injury claim in Arizona.

Continue reading " Maricopa On-the-Job Injuries Caused By Grain Company Explosion " »