For anyone hit by a commercial vehicle, there are obstacles beyond those faced in other vehicle accidents.  When you get into an accident with a commercial vehicle, it means you are up against a company.  Even in a case where an insurance company insures the commercial vehicle, since a company generally has greater resources it is likely that they will hire a lawyer immediately to deal with the situation and help them avoid responsibility.  Often, there are at least three insurance companies involved in such cases: yours, the driver’s, and the company’s.  In such cases, the insurance companies may squabble over who should pay.

Also, as commercial vehicles are often trucks and trucks tend to be bigger and heavier than most passenger vehicles, any collision between a smaller vehicle and a commercial vehicle raises the risk of catastrophic injuries.

The good news in such cases is that when a business is liable for your injury, you are more likely to collect the compensation to which you are entitled.  Just as with individuals, a business is legally at fault when it makes a reckless decision.  This could be the case if a commercial vehicle has a mechanical problem that contributes to the accident or if it hires a driver without a valid commercial driver’s license.  Holders of commercial driver’s licenses are also under special federal rules, and their employers must ensure that they comply.  Businesses are also more likely to have much more insurance than individuals, making them more able to pay on a claim.  Yet, it also means you need to act quickly, and retain the best personal injury lawyer possible.

If you have an accident with a commercial vehicle in the Phoenix area, it is important that you contact experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyers like Breyer Law Offices, P.C. as soon after the accident as possible.  Insurers of commercial vehicles and businesses know that accidents are expensive but, unlike your family, insurance companies are not dealing directly with issues that surround a serious personal injury.  They may contact you in order to settle the claim quickly, before you understand the full value of the claim, your rights, or any long-term consequences stemming from accident related injuries.  It is important not to sign any documents that you do not understand fully, as it may mean you are signing your rights away, and it is just as important not to accept money from an insurer before you even have time to consider your options.  It is best to speak first with competent Arizona injury and wrongful death lawyers who have ample experience with commercial vehicle accidents.

We urge you to contact us for an obligation-free, no cost consultation.  When we learn more about your case, we will give you our professional legal opinion and let you decide how to proceed.

Today, this Arizona accident lawyer blog will take a short vacation from reporting on Phoenix insurance claims, Tucson car accidents, Mesa dog bites, Glendale slip and falls, and every other kind of personal injury we have been known to discuss. As those who follow our blog know, we attempt to educate people about their rights and responsibilities. Lawsuits help compensate seriously injured people, but they can also help deter others from causing serious injury or wrongful death at some point in the future. It is often in an insurance company’s best interests to do the right thing, especially if they know they could be financially penalized for not doing it.

Today, we are not going to venture into the realm of car accident related injuries, car insurance claims in Phoenix, or even who might be the best personal injury lawyer for brain injuries in Gilbert, or any other Arizona town for that matter. We want to take this space to applaud the bravery of a Phoenix police officer and a neighbor who saved the lives of an entire family. Reports indicate that the officer was on a regular patrol when she saw smoke coming out from the roof of the house. She and a 36-year-old neighbor were able to wake the family of three adults and nine children.

A tragedy could have happened that night that would have killed twelve people. Though this officer humbly said that she was merely at the right place at the right time, it was her actions and the actions of the family’s neighbor that kept them from harm. It is for this reason that we salute this Phoenix police officer from the Phoenix Police Department.

Though there was extensive damage to the property, the lives of as many as twelve were saved, and this is more important than any loss of property. Still, as personal injury lawyers in Arizona, we note that there though we understand that there were huge financial losses due to this incident, we are thrilled that no one was harmed.

Now, instead of having to figure out what kind of personal injury claim would have to be made against whatever caused that fire but led to the tragedy; a tragedy has been averted and instead we can just all be thankful for the Officer and all of the responding neighbors and anyone else who helped avert a tragic ending on that day.

We are pleased that, as Phoenix wrongful death lawyers, we will not be dealing with any kind of personal injury or wrongful death claim due to this house fire, and can instead applaud the actions of the officer who was in the right place at the right time and who acted nobly in the right manner.

You may wonder why we are bringing up the case of a wrongfully convicted man in Texas on an Arizona blog dealing with personal injuries. As lawyers that fight every day for justice for our clients, this case proves to us that there are no sureties in any court of law. It is a tragedy that despite evidence, which seemed overwhelming and was overlooked by the jury, an innocent man was convicted for a rape of which he was not guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison. These facts show that even when there seems to be clear negligence in an automobile accident in Arizona, there is still a very real chance that a person will not be fully compensated for everything they went through.

This story tells of a man who went to prison for a 1985 rape that he did not commit, and was proved innocent by DNA analysis while the DNA evidence points to a man who confessed to this crime. The man who was proved innocent unfortunately was not released, as he died in prison due to heart problems associated with an asthma condition. This asthma condition should have helped prove that he was not the rapist, as the man who committed the rape was a chain smoker. The wrongly accused man would never have been able to smoke in the manner he was alleged to, and probably not at all.

It is because of this that we understand that even the best Arizona personal injury lawyer cannot guarantee success. We are convinced, however, that an experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyer can certainly improve your chances to receive full and fair compensation if you are seriously injured due to someone else’s negligence.

There are issues far more complex than automobile accidents in which Arizona personal injury attorneys can help. People can be negligent in a number of ways, and each person must be responsible to do everything possible to avoid causing serious injury or wrongful death to others, and particularly when it comes to children’s injuries in Arizona.

Incidents where children drown or nearly drown in backyard swimming pools occur far too often in Arizona. We know that not every such occurrence should lead to prosecution, and we know that there is not always someone to blame when it happens. Yet, we also know that a caregiver or neighbor may sometimes not be paying attention, and gates or fences may not function correctly to keep a child out of a dangerous area. Negligence in these situations may be caused by the manufacturer of the barrier put up to prevent access or with the person responsible for caring for the child.

When we see reports about how a 2-year-old boy nearly drowned in a swimming pool in Camelback recently, this brings these issues to the forefront.

We are happy to hear that, according to early information, the 2-year-old is okay. That is the most important thing, though we also know that the hospital bills still need to be paid by someone.

As this happened at a neighbor’s house, and the homeowner may have been negligent, the owner’s insurance could help pay for the child’s medical expenses. This Arizona child’s injury should not lead to the bankruptcy of the family nor should it mean that the boy’s family should accept substandard medical care, as too often happens in many cases.

First and foremost, we would hope that the particular 2 year old, and every child who gets anywhere near water, gets completely better and that tragedies can be avoided. Second, once the worst tragedies are avoided or in any such situation, a skilled Arizona child injury attorney may be able to help the family avoid financial ruin through the homeowner’s insurance of the at fault party.

We hope this 2-year-old boy recovers fully and leads a normal, healthy life after this incident and hope that because of this, worse tragedies can be avoided. For those who have suffered, skilled Arizona child injury attorneys may help families like this one avoid financial ruin.

Mark Breyer, Arizona personal injury attorney, continues his discussion of requirements that are incumbent upon any personal injury plaintiff to prove to win their case.

Fortunately, most negligent acts do not result in an injury. It is also fortunate that even where an injury occurs to an innocent person, and even where that injury was caused by someone else’s neglect, the injury is often minimal. Most injuries that are inconsequential are not worthy of bringing an Arizona personal injury claim.

To have a valid personal injury claim, it is not enough that a negligent act caused an injury. Instead, the victim must be able to prove that he/she suffered an injury as a result of another’s negligence. While the allegation of a new injury (or aggravation of prior injury) must be true, it must also be able to be proven with evidence.

We frequently get calls from people that were involved in an Arizona auto accident caused by the negligence of someone else. Though these individuals were not injured, they are understandably angry that their lives were impacted by another’s carelessness or, sometimes, outright recklessness. We are asked by these people whether they can bring a personal injury claim. The answer is no.

Of course, to whatever degree their lives were impacted by the event, they have a theoretical right to make a claim. The defendant or insurance company for the defendant may be willing to offer a small settlement in order to close the claim to and eliminate financial exposure for a belated injury claim. However, to have a personal injury case one must be able to prove an injury resulting from the initial incident. If someone cannot prove they suffered an injury, they have not met this necessary element of a personal injury claim.

This type of question from someone who was not injured in an incident most often takes the form of someone who was involved in a Phoenix car accident. The people who raise this question are usually relieved that they were among the lucky ones who were not hurt. However, they may need their car repaired, or need a rental car, or have a need to get the car declared a total loss so they can purchase a new car. Of course, the law does provide protection to someone with car damage or any type of property damage, due to another person’s negligence; however, this is not really a “personal injury” action, but a “property damage” claim.

The insurance industry – both in the insurance policies they write and in the way they process the claims – usually treat property damage separate from an injury claim. Anything related to a rental car, items damaged in a car at the time of an incident, loss of value to a vehicle, and so forth often are handled as distinct claims from an injury claim.

From a practical standpoint, it is usually lawyers that handle personal injury claims that also take care of these property damage claims for their clients. The legal issues are similar, the factual issues are similar, and it simply makes the most sense for one law firm to handle these issues for their clients.

However, it is important to understand this distinction between a personal injury claim and the related property damage claim: if no injury can be proven, no “personal injury” action exists.

Mark Breyer, Arizona personal injury attorney, continues his discussion of requirements that are incumbent upon any personal injury plaintiff to prove to win their case.

A personal injury claim only exists when someone other than the injured person recklessly or negligently causes an injury to the victim. For instance, over the years we have talked to people who wanted to know if they could make a claim where they were injured in an Arizona auto accident that they, themselves, caused. By way of example, one mother called us after her daughter negligently drove into the rear end of another vehicle. The mother wanted to know if her daughter could make a claim through her insurance policy as a result of the medical bills incurred by her daughter.

We explained that it is possible that the daughter may be able to receive reimbursement of her medical bills from their own insurance company, depending on which insurance coverage had been purchased prior to the incident. However, the first step in a personal injury claim begins with being able to prove that another person was negligent. Well, in this example there was someone that was negligent: the mother’s own daughter. An injury victim that was the cause of her own injuries has no personal injury claim. Since no one else caused the injury, the potential “case” would not make it past this first requirement in the analysis.