What type of injury have you suffered?
Car Accident
- Car Accident
- Head Injury
- Premises Liability
- Products Liability
- Truck Accident
- Wrongful Death
Car Accident
HABLAMOS ESPAÑOL
(877) 880-4090
Nobody anticipates being in a car accident. Yet every year in Utah, thousands of people become victims of vehicle collisions. If you find yourself in this situation, you have options. You may not have to pay for your medical bills, property damage, and other out-of-pocket losses. There may be someone who is responsible to cover your damages. Our Experienced Taylorsville car accident attorneys at Fielding Law can help you fight for compensation after a serious car crash in Utah. The Fielding brothers are honest, hard working and friendly. We have secured millions for car accident victims and will do everything we can to help you get the justice you deserve.
Do not try to self-represent during car accident insurance settlement negotiations or a jury trial. Although the Taylorsville courts permit self-representation, it is generally not in the auto accident victim’s best interest. You may think it will save you money in attorney’s fees, when really it could cost you thousands when compared to what an experienced car accident lawyer could have negotiated on your behalf. Retaining an attorney with a history of success in your practice area optimizes your odds of maximum recovery. Instead of settling for much less than your case is worth, work with an auto crash lawyer to fight for the compensation your injuries demand.
Call (801) 666-2912 to schedule your FREE consultation or fill out a contact form
One benefit you could enjoy with an experienced Taylorsville car accident attorney from Fielding Law, is personalized and immediate attention from a legal professional. Our team truly cares about our clients. Your success is our success. We prioritize personal service and one-on-one attention while pursuing compensation for personal injuries. You’ll have direct access to your lawyer, with detailed services from beginning to end. We have big-firm resources with small-firm attention, taking on a limited number of cases to guarantee a close eye on your individual case. With help from an accident attorney in Taylorsville, you can truly protect your rights after a car crash in Utah.
Once you are on the road to physical recovery, contact our Taylorsville car accident Lawyers. We can help you gather more information about your crash and pursue just compensation through aggressive settlement negotiations or trial litigation. The team at Fielding Law has helped hundreds of auto accident victims improve their futures with financial compensation for damages. We want you to join our list of satisfied clients. Call (801) 666-2912 to schedule your free consultation. Hablamos Español.
Every state has unique laws concerning wrongful death claims after an accident. Utah’s law regarding this states that only certain “heirs” or family members of a deceased individual may file a wrongful death claim if the death happened due to negligence or an intentionally harmful act. Surviving spouses, adult children, parents, stepchildren under the age of 18 at the time of the death, and any other blood relatives indicated in the state inheritance laws may file the claim.
Whoever decides to bring the claim to court will act as the deceased’s representative. However, if the deceased specifically named a representative in his or her estate, the court will honor the deceased’s wishes and the indicated person will act as the representative.
If your loved one was killed in an auto collision, Utah places a two-year statute of limitations on wrongful death claims against private individuals or companies. The representative may file the claim directly, and a wrongful death claim may run in tandem with criminal prosecution of the defendant from the state.
How an insurance company or the courts treat your claim can depend greatly on the steps you take after your auto accident. Delaying medical care, for example, can tell an insurer that your injuries must not have been serious or very painful. Failing to follow a doctor’s orders during recovery can cause the defendant to argue that you contributed to the extent of your injuries. Not reporting the accident to authorities can erase your chance to have an official record of events. Follow these steps after a crash to protect your rights:
Damages in most car accident claims are similar to those seen in personal injury lawyers claims. However, claimants can secure additional types of compensation that are unavailable in injury claims. Plaintiffs filing a claim after the death of a loved one can be eligible for several damages including;
When fatal car accidents happen, they can send a family reeling from an unexpected death of a loved one. In these difficult times, surviving family members need reliable legal counsel who can handle the legal issues so they can grieve in peace. The Fielding Law team knows how difficult fatal car accident cases are for surviving families, and we go to great lengths to ensure our clients’ comfort and success.
Contact Fielding Law’s Taylorsville car accident Attorneys to schedule a case evaluation for your fatal car accident claim. We offer contingency fee pricing, so claimants do not need to worry about paying legal fees if they do not succeed in their cases. We’ll review the details of your claim and let you know what to expect.
Taylorsville’s infrastructure is unique around the country in that it boasts wide streets and large city blocks. One city block is about the length of two football fields. To put this in perspective, about nine city blocks in Portland, Oregon can fit on one Taylorsville block. The unique grid structure came from early settlers who designed wide, large streets to accommodate homes with plots of land for gardens. Such early settlers believed that by giving the settlers enough space, the city would be more peaceful and free from crime.
Early settlers established the city in 1847 instead. To this day, Taylorsville has extremely wide roads. Even areas of the downtown accommodate six lanes of traffic. The width of the streets and length of blocks contribute to the number of intersection accidents and pedestrian collisions in the city. The roads can feel hostile and the sidewalks dangerous to walk. As a driver, one must constantly be on the lookout for crossing pedestrians, and have the ability to navigate multiple lanes of traffic on the highways and downtown. The strange infrastructure has led to an increased rate of car accidents in the city.
Almost all car crashes are preventable. They stem from distracted, drunk, careless or downright reckless drivers who put others’ lives in danger. Looking at the hard facts about car accidents in Utah can help drivers understand the importance of driving safely. Based on the “Utah Crash Summary 2016,” the most recent data available, here are the latest statistics:
Based on vehicle miles traveled, Utah’s motor vehicle fatality rate is firmly below that of the U.S. as a whole and has been so since 2001.
[wpdatachart id=1]
Driving on Utah’s urban and rural roads is always a risk. Other drivers, roadway conditions, the weather, animals, vehicle parts – these are all factors that could contribute to a car crash. While no one can predict an accident, you may be able to prevent one. The more you know about what causes the most crashes and related deaths in Utah, the better you can protect yourself.
In Utah, the summer months are by far the deadliest for drivers. Over the last ten years, June, July and August have been 1,2 and 3 for motor vehicle fatalities.
The same Utah Crash Summary document analyzed the most common causes of auto accidents and related fatalities within the state. This information aims to point out the most frequent contributing factors in accidents, to spread awareness, and, ideally, bring these numbers down in the future. Avoiding these common causes could greatly reduce your chances of being in a fatal accident. The most common causes of crashes in Utah for 2016 were as follows:
Some car accident factors are deadlier than others. While many car accident victims will walk away with non-fatal injuries, others are not so lucky. Most people in Taylorsville know at least one person who has passed away in a fatal car accident. Spreading awareness of what causes these crashes most often in Utah can help others from becoming statistics. According to the 2017 deadly crash summary, the five most common causes of accident fatalities in the state are:
Obeying the law could prevent virtually all of these accidents. Drivers should stay within the posted speed limits (or slower depending on conditions), follow restraint usage laws, never drink and drive, yield the right-of-way when appropriate, and stay within lanes unless safely making a change. Simply obeying Utah’s traffic laws can be the best way to minimize your chances of being in a wreck.
Auto crash data allows researchers to identify certain types of collisions that are more common than others. Identifying your type of auto accident can help pinpoint its proximate cause. For example, rear-end collisions often stem from following too closely or distracted driving. An investigation can give you a more definite answer to what caused your collision, but understanding the common types can be a good starting point. Here are the five most common types:
If you find yourself the victim of any type of car accident in Utah, speak to an Taylorsville car accident attorney. Whether the crash was minor or major, you may have sustained injuries that lead to medical bills, missed time at work, physical pain, and emotional suffering. These are compensable damages in the eyes of the law, making you potentially eligible for financial recovery through a personal injury claim.
Other types of car accidents claim that our Taylorsville attorneys handle:
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Utah is number 34 in the country for the amount of deaths every year caused by car accidents. In 2016, nearly 300 people were killed in car wrecks.
In Utah, it is possible to recover monetary compensation for your car accident even if you were partially at fault. Fault for a collision alone is not enough to bar you from recovery. As long as the courts find you at least less than 50% responsible for causing the crash, you are eligible for partial recovery. Comparative fault can appear in many cases; especially those where the defendant uses the plaintiff’s shared fault as a defense. Find out how the Taylorsville courts assign fault for a car accident and how you can increase your odds of compensation even if you contributed to the crash.
Utah abides by a modified comparative negligence law in deciding compensation for car accident claims. The comparative negligence principle states that a party’s fault for an accident will not bar that party from seeking damages as long as the percentage of fault is less than the other parties’ combined percentages of fault.
The Utah legal system recognizes that most accidents do not stem from only one party’s fault. In any personal injury claim, the courts can divide fault among as many parties as necessary to serve justice. The defendants, however, are not the only parties who can face liability for an accident. The plaintiff, or party seeking recovery, may also share fault. As long as the plaintiff’s percentage of fault does not exceed the fault of the other parties, the plaintiff may still recover.
Don’t assume you can’t recover if you were negligent in some way that probably contributed to the accident. Talk to a car accident lawyer about comparative negligence laws. It may surprise you to find that you’re still eligible for compensation, as long as the courts find you less than 50% responsible for the car accident.
In cases that involve a plaintiff’s comparative fault, the courts will diminish the plaintiff’s compensation award by an amount proportionate to his or her percentage of fault. Take this example: In a case involving two drivers, the courts assign the plaintiff with 10% of fault for speeding, while the defendant receives 90% fault for running a red light. The total compensation award is $10,000. The plaintiff would take home $9,000 of this award, or the total minus the 10% fault ($10,000-$1,000). A plaintiff can still recover some compensation all the way up to 49% fault in Utah.
It can be difficult to establish comparative negligence. To use your own fault as a defense, the defendant must show proof you contributed to the crash. Both parties will need to investigate the accident and understand what happened in as much detail as possible. In general, if an investigation uncovers that one party was particularly negligent or careless, this party will bear the majority of fault for the collision. Assigning exact percentages, however, can be a complex legal process.
It is often up to the attorneys involved in the case to gather evidence and present facts to a judge or jury. A car accident lawyer can paint a picture of how the crash happened, including its most likely cause. Recreating the accident, hiring expert witnesses to testify, and interviewing eyewitnesses can all make a case stronger. Insurance companies can also conduct their own investigations and lend their findings to a case. Both parties will have to prove the other party’s fault for the accident for a comparative negligence claim.
Negligence is at the heart of all car accident claims. Utah is a no-fault state in terms of insurance settlements. This means you have to recover through your own insurance company regardless of who caused the crash. There are, however, certain scenarios in which you can sue outside the confines of the no-fault laws. You could pursue a negligence-based claim against the other driver or a different party if your medical bills exceed $3,000. These claims depend upon the injured party’s ability to prove fault.
There are four main elements you need to prove negligence in Utah:
Every driver owes all other drivers duties of care on the roadways. If you get behind the wheel in Taylorsville, you’re taking on automatic duties to obey the rules of the road, drive safely, and reasonably prevent car accidents. It’s typically easy to prove that another driver or other entity owed you a duty of care in an accident.
Breach of duty is often the most difficult element to prove in a car accident claim. The defendant’s breach of duty, or act of negligence, can be anything that fails to fulfill the expected standards of care the defendant owed the plaintiff. A breach of duty can be drinking and driving, texting and driving, falling asleep behind the wheel, speeding, or some other act of negligence.
You must then show a causational link between the defendant’s breach of duty and your car accident. For example, you probably would not have a claim against a driver if a pothole made your vehicle lose control, even if the driver wasn’t paying attention. The defendant’s actions must be the proximate, or main, cause of your accident.
Finally, you must have evidence of real and compensable damages as a result of the collision. Real damages in the Utah court system include personal injuries, property damage, lost wages, and pain and suffering. You can seek recovery for both economic and non-economic damages in Utah.
This is what our former clients are saying about us:
“After the auto accident, we could not have done better than to have Mitchell Fielding represent us. He is knowledgeable and does the research. He will talk to you any time and lets you know that he is there to help with anything. This man will go the extra mile and then some. I hope we never have another situation like this, but if we did, Mitch is our go to guy.” -Debra White