At Breyer Law Offices P.C., we were surprised to hear of an incident involving a USPS truck hitting a woman in a motorized wheelchair on December 22 at about 1:30 p.m., according to a news report published in Fox 10. The accident occurred near 51st Avenue and Indian School Road. Witnesses attempted to lift the semi to free the woman who became trapped underneath it after the truck hit her, but they were unsuccessful. Fire crews had to pull her out with an extrication tool. Thankfully, the woman wasn’t killed despite being in such a traumatic accident. She did suffer what appeared to be a fractured arm and leg. We wish her a quick recovery and all of the helpers should be commended for trying to aid her.
Causes of This Phoenix Accident
This Arizona truck accident occurred when the USPS driver attempted to turn right and didn’t make sure the path was clear as the woman was crossing at a designated crosswalk. The semi truck was pulling a large trailer, so it is possible the driver had difficulty seeing the woman. However, it is the driver’s responsibility to make sure there are no pedestrians crossing before they turn into a crosswalk. The intersection where this accident happened was listed as one of the most dangerous intersections in Phoenix, according to a report in AZ Central. The intersection was the site of 35 Phoenix pedestrian and car accidents in 2009. There were 525 pedestrian accidents in Phoenix in 2009 and 589 in 2008, according to a study published in AZ Central.
Contact a Phoenix Personal Injury Lawyer
An experienced Phoenix truck accident injury lawyer would begin by investigating the scene of the accident. Many times, cases like these require an expert in accident reconstruction. These types of claims also are most successful when lawyers can interview witnesses and take pictures of the scene of the accident. For an absolutely free consultation, call the Husband and Wife Law Team. We are here to answer all of your legal questions.
A truck has the capabilities of causing a massive accident because of its force and ability to destroy anything in its path. This is one of the reasons that 17.90% of truck accidents resulted to injuries. But the fatality rate is only at 1.06%. This may be because there is enough reinforcement in the car to protect the drivers and passengers of large vehicles.
Although the fatality rates are low, tragic accidents still occur. This became evident in an accident at north Phoenix. A man was killed after a collision between a pick-up truck and a dump truck.
The man was not killed on impact, but suffered serious life threatening injuries that lead to his death. The accident took place because the pick-up truck driver turned and crossed the opposite lane, it was hauling a 20-foot trailer with it. The trailer has landscape debris in it. It was hard for the pick-up truck to maneuver through a curve because it was hauling a long trailer. But authorities have reported that this was due to both vehicles traveling at a high speed.
It is hard to drive a truck, especially if the truck has a trailer attached at the back. The longer it is the harder it is to maneuver. The best advice for this is to drive slowly because it is not maneuverable enough. Call our truck crash lawyers in Phoenix at (602) 457-2463 if this is your case.
Did you know that only 1 percent of fatal truck accidents were DUI-related on the part of the truck driver as compared to other types of fatal crashes? In 2009, out of 45,435 vehicles which were involved in fatal crashes, only 17,902 or 39.4 percent were light trucks (NHTSA-FARS). In Arizona, 395 light trucks were involved in fatal crashes. That is 39.2 percent of the 1,008 vehicles in 2009, a decline from 516 light trucks in 2008.
Around 9:40 a.m. last Saturday, a speeding truck was involved in an accident near a Phoenix shopping mall (AZ Family 02/19/11). The truck ran a red light and hit three other vehicles on Cactus Road and Paradise Parkway in front of the Paradise Valley Mall.
Phoenix police on the scene said that one victim, a young woman, was confirmed dead at the scene and four more people were taken to the hospital. Two of them were currently in critical condition due to the severity of the injuries.
Meanwhile, the driver of the Toyota pickup that caused the wreck was walking around the accident scene and was acting delusional according to Phoenix police. He will face charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault.
An accident involving a truck and another vehicle or pedestrians often results to a very tragic end. One careless mistake that might cause an accident that can change the lives of those involved. Thus, following even the simplest traffic rules is vital.
If you or a loved one has been a victim in an Arizona truck crash, call our Phoenix truck accident lawyers at (480) 753-4534 to schedule your free consultation. We may be able help you in getting the payment you deserve for the damages you or your family member has acquired.
Did you know that 17,902 light trucks and 3,215 large trucks were involved in fatal truck crashes in the United States in 2009 (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System)? In Arizona, the total number of light and large trucks involved in fatal crashes in 2009 was 395 light trucks and 67 large trucks.
Research has shown that only one percent of fatal truck accidents are DUI-related on the part of the truck driver. However, large trucks are more prone to be involved in fatal multi-vehicle crashes than passenger cars and about 27 percent of large truck drivers involved in a fatal truck accident had at least one previous speeding conviction.
However, a recent truck accident involving a 61-year old man was not because of speeding or DUI. The tragic Mesa truck accident happened when he left his landscape truck and trailer in park and running on the street while he walked up to unlock a side gate (ABC15 1/7/11). Unfortunately, the truck slipped out of park and into reverse. The truck pinned him under the front wheels and the man sadly died at the scene. Family members believed that a transmission problem was the cause of the accident, knowing that the victim was planning to get his truck fixed on that same day.
This is an all-too-tragic reminder of the importance of proper vehicle maintenance. Check engine light on? Are your brakes squeaking? Do your tires squeal? Please get these simple maintenance things taken care as soon as they arise to help prevent such freak fatal accidents from happening.
If you or a loved one is a victim of an trucking accident in Arizona, call the Mesa truck crash lawyers at The Breyer Law Offices now at 623-930-8064 for your initial consultation free of charge. If we agree to represent you, you don’t pay unless we recover funds for you.
Tractor-trailers were involved in 3,215 fatal truck accidents across the U.S. in 2009 (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System). While dwarfed in comparison to the number of passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes (18,350), there are significantly fewer large trucks registered in the U.S.
In the west valley last Tuesday, a person was killed in an Arizona tractor-trailer accident (Associated Press via ABC 15 12/28/10). The small car they were riding in with two other passengers hit a large truck and became wedged underneath it. It is not known if the other two passengers were injured in the wreck, but the accident is still under investigation.
Driving on the valley highways and especially those outside of the valley, drivers must share the roads with many large trucks. It is important to remember a few safety tips when driving around these large vehicles.
- Remember these trucks are a lot heavier than the typical passenger vehicle, it takes much longer for them to come to a complete stop. For this reason, drivers must never tailgate a tractor-trailer truck and leave extra room when changing lanes in front of trucks.
- Tractor-trailers have many blind spots. To stay in the “safe zone,” always stay in the area where you can see the trucks’ mirrors. If you can’t see the mirrors, there is a good chance the driver can’t see you.
- When taking turns, tractor-trailers must start their turns very wide, sometimes even pulling the opposite direction before they turn. But the trailer does not have steering on most trucks, so very often it cuts the turn very narrowly. If you find yourself around a tractor-trailer taking a turn, slow down to let them turn in front of you or get out of the way so they can turn behind you.
If you or a loved one have suffered an injury in a tractor-trailer truck accident in Arizona, you may deserve compensation. Call the Phoenix truck crash attorneys at Breyer Law at (480) 753-4534 to have your questions answered and hopefully we will be able to help you.
It may sound a little bit self-serving for a law firm that specializes in personal injury law to say that the first thing to do after any serious Arizona trucking accident is to find the best truck accident attorney you can find in the state. We do understand as veteran Arizona injury trial lawyers that far too many lawyers try to pressure potential clients into hiring an attorney immediately. Though it is not true that someone who has been in a serious truck accident does not have to hire a lawyer immediately, the reality of the situation is that over-the-road trucking companies are extremely organized and tend to put together their defense team from the moment the accident has been reported. Typically, a car accident will not have a lawyer involved until many months after the accident occurred. As experienced AZ truck accident lawyers, we have seen situations in which our clients suffered serious injuries or in which a family member was killed, and the trucking company’s lawyers were at the accident scene before the police had even finished taking photographs. We have even seen situations in which the trucking company took more photos than the police!
Since the trucking companies are so efficient and organized, hiring an experienced specialist in personal injury law can be vital. In order to ensure that your rights are protected in any truck accident case, however, it is important to at least speak to an experienced and knowledgeable accident injury attorney. It is important to make sure that the trucking company does not destroy any documents that could prove that they were at fault or, even worse, that their driver had violated federal law by driving more than the number of hours a trucker is allowed to drive.
If you have any questions regarding a top Arizona truck accident lawyer, we invite you to contact us today. We will give you an honest evaluation of your case and answer your questions candidly so that you can make the best possible decision for you and your family about how to proceed with your claim.
In the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure there is such a thing allowed called an Independent Medical Examination, or IME. As experienced Arizona personal injury lawyers, we know that an “Independent” Medical Examination is a misnomer. Both insurance defense attorneys and injury lawyers with experience know better. It is too often the Arizona victims of a terrible accident who are deceived by that word “independent” as they go through a medical exam funded by the defense for the insurance companies.
We know that in a situation such as a personal injury auto accident or other accident caused by someone else’s negligence, the injury victim will clearly seek to be treated by trained and trusted medical professionals. In theory, the insurance company deserves to get the opinion of a doctor other than those treating the plaintiff. Yet when the insurance company refuses to pay a claim to an Arizona resident, even if it is wrongfully denying payment for an injury caused by the insured party’s negligence, they have the right to call for an IME with any personal injury case.
What the personal injury victim does not know is that doctors who conduct an IME for Arizona auto accident victims have a vested interest in the outcome, as it is the insurance company that pays the doctor doing the examination. Some doctors earn more than half a million dollars per annum just from these exams. The question that often crosses our minds is whether doctors who conduct such examinations would continue to be paid by insurance companies if they find the victim’s injuries are indeed serious.
The truth is that insurance companies knowingly use IMEs to deny claims to personal injury victims throughout Arizona in order to avoid paying for an insured party’s negligence. Whether it be a truck accident in Mesa, Arizona, a bicycle accident in Yuma, a Phoenix bus crash, or any other accident in Arizona, insurance companies deny compensation to people who have the legal right to receive it. Often, it is IMEs that are to blame. In reality, what they are is “Insurance Medical Examinations.”
This is why we strongly encourage those who are asked to go to a doctor who is being paid by an insurance company to contact a skilled Arizona personal injury lawyer who has the knowledge about deceitful insurance company practices such as IMEs. Too many innocent victims of Arizona car accidents and other accidents in the state are prevented from collecting the compensation they legally deserve.
A common error for those locally who have been in a serious trucking accident is a delay in contacting experienced Phoenix truck accident attorneys. It is understandable, as people who experience a serious injury due to a truck accident generally consider worrying about paperwork as less important than their recovery. Besides which, many are under the impression that there is no rush as they have two years to file a claim after an accident involving a large truck.
Federal trucking regulations, however, favor truck drivers and trucking companies. Some records may be destroyed six months after the accident, and many trucking companies have their own investigators or lawyers looking at the scene of the collision even as the police are investigating. This puts the plaintiff in a serious tractor-trailer accident at a disadvantage.
According to an account by a local ABC affiliate, a compact car collided with a semi-truck on Arizona Route 74 near Castle Hot Springs Road in Peoria, AZ. The driver of the car was critically injured and, though the truck driver was not, the entire truck was consumed by fire. A delay in contacting Arizona auto accident lawyers who deal with serious personal injuries in such a case can mean the difference in collecting compensation for lost wages, medical bills, and other expenses related to a serious truck collision or collecting nothing at all.
If you or a loved one has injured in an Arizona truck accident or any other kind of auto accident, our experienced Arizona truck accident lawyers are available to help. Do not throw away your chance to see if you have a claim to collect compensation. Contact Breyer Law Offices, P.C. as soon as possible to get your questions answered so that you can make the best decision relating to your specific case.
Our sympathy goes out to the family of a nine-year-old boy struck by a pickup truck on a busy street in West Phoenix before the school bus had come to pick him up. Reports say he died later that morning at the hospital. It is always sad to hear about the death of a child.
People often ask us why we pursue personal injury claims in Arizona in cases like these, as money certainly cannot nullify such a loss.
We have put a lot of thought into this issue, and know that money can never take back what has been done. Yet, there are financial implications when a child is lost. If the child’s death is even partially the result of a driver’s negligence, why should a negligent driver not be penalized? The same goes for the insurance company that covers a negligent driver. It is not a question of undoing the damage to the family in cases like these, but lessening the financial impact upon the surviving members of the family.
All sorts of questions, including whether or not the family should pursue a wrongful death claim, follow tragic fatal truck accidents in Phoenix and other personal injury accidents like these. However, even though the law may permit a wrongful death claim to be pursued does not necessarily mean it should be. It is not the law, but instead the family’s unique situation that should be taken into account, even if another party’s negligence or neglect caused the death of an innocent victim. Filing a lawsuit is not the best decision for everybody. This being said, others who have suffered the tragic loss of a child want justice. They want someone to be held accountable. They want to know the loss of the child was not in vain. They want someone to say in open court that the life of the child that was lost had value, and that he or she was important. For some people, not filing a wrongful death claim will leave the family even more unfulfilled if there is no measure of justice for their loss.
We never try to convince a family to file a wrongful death lawsuit unless it was in their best interests, even though we are experienced Phoenix Arizona wrongful death attorneys. As practiced and certified specialists in injury and wrongful death, we understand the emotional process parents go through when they lose a child, and feel they should speak with a veteran lawyer who will not try to persuade them, but who will actively answer their questions so that they can decide what is right for them. Nothing can bring back this nine-year-old boy, or any other child who dies in an accident in Arizona or elsewhere. We should not, however, judge those who pursue their rights under the law.
It looks as if Arizona wrongful death and personal injury claims for collisions involving tractor trailers may increase soon.
We hope that this will not be the case, but recently, truckers are taking on unprofitable loads just to fill their trucks will make it likely that more truck drivers will increase the number of hours they drive beyond what federal regulations allow and thus drive while fatigued. A major reason for suits against trucking companies comes from truckers driving while fatigued, as the drivers attempt to push the limits of their bodies to make more for themselves or their companies. Claims of Phoenix truck accident wrongful death or serious personal injury revolve around this issue, and we see too often how Arizona trucking companies allow truckers to drive in excess of the number of hours allowed. When a trucker falls asleep at the wheel, it is often at the expense of innocent people who by chance happen to share the same roadway with professional drivers who are not getting enough sleep.
Trucking cases are complex, and deciding whether to file a claim requires a consult with the best Arizona personal injury trucking lawyer you can find. A good attorney with the knowledge of the federal regulations regarding trucking is imperative for anyone who has sustained personal injury in an accident involving a semi-truck. The right lawyer will be able to not only file a lawsuit, but also answer any questions the person or family has such as whom to bring the suit against and what the total financial and emotional implications of a truck accident are to truck accident personal injury victims and their families.
We help those victims of trucking collisions and their families through the whole process of a lawsuit. We feel it is important not just to be successful in pursuing lawsuits, but also to ensure that our clients understand the process and their rights, and that they are kept fully informed throughout. It is our efforts to communicate that encourages our clients to contact us whenever they have questions, whether after a trucking accident, automobile accident, motorcycle accident, or any other wrongful death or serious injury claim.
