Despite the many measures across Phoenix to help prevent drunk driving incidents, including numerous checkpoints that travelers may encounter regularly, Phoenix nevertheless sees regular drunk driving incidents.
Did you suffer injuries in a drunk driving accident in Phoenix, coming back from the Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour, or heading down Seventh Avenue on your regular business? A Phoenix DUI injury accident attorney may be able to help you learn more about your right to compensation.
Contact us today to discuss your drunk driving accident injuries and the compensation you may deserve.
Table of Contents
- Speak to a Car Accident Injury Lawyer
- Hutzler Law can Help with Your Phoenix Drunk Driving Accident Claim
- Compensation in Phoenix Drunk Driving Accident Claims
- Phoenix Drunk Driving Accidents: What You Need to Know
- FAQ
- Drunk Driving Accident Injuries? Contact Hutzler Law Today
Hutzler Law can Help with Your Phoenix Drunk Driving Accident Claim
Hutzler Law’s status as a top-rated Phoenix personal injury lawyer can make you feel confident about your claim following a drunk driving accident in Phoenix. Our team of attorneys blends aggressive representation with compassionate support for the victims of drunk driving accidents in Phoenix.
Convenient Consultations
Hutzler Law is conveniently located near St. Joseph’s Hospital, where many Phoenix drunk driving accident victims may receive treatment for their injuries. Our team of compassionate attorneys will also offer virtual or telephonic consultations that may make it easier for you to get legal help no matter where you are.
Personalized Attention
Each drunk driving accident victim has their own unique story. You need an attorney who will allow you to tell that story and provide you with unique, customized support based on your specific needs and the challenges you may still have ahead as you recover from your drunk driving accident injuries.
Free Consultations and Contingency Fee Claims
At Hutzler Law, you do not pay unless we win, period. As a result, many of our clients feel much more confident in pursuing and accepting the legal support they need to maximize the results of their claims.
Compensation in Phoenix Drunk Driving Accident Claims
You may struggle financially after your Phoenix drunk driving accident. Unfortunately, drunk driving accidents often cause severe injuries, which may require ongoing medical treatment and lead to extensive medical bills.
While we cannot guarantee the compensation you will recover for your drunk driving accident injuries, we can provide you with a comprehensive breakdown of the compensation you likely deserve.
Medical Bills
Your medical bills will serve as a vital foundation that establishes what injuries you sustained and what financial losses likely went along with those injuries after your accident. Medical bills will often depend highly on the extent of your injuries and the losses you have faced. Talk to your lawyer about the specific medical bills you may have had to contend with, including the cost of any ongoing medical treatment for serious injuries.
Lost Income
Did you miss out on income, often because of lost time at work, as a direct result of your Phoenix drunk driving accident? Many employees find that they do not have adequate paid time off work to cover the time they have to recover from severe injuries, which means they may have substantial income losses while recovering.
Pain and Suffering
Drunk driving accidents often lead to substantial, ongoing suffering. You may have a long road to recovery filled with physical pain and limitations that may prevent you from doing what you would otherwise do. At Hutzler Law, we fight to help our clients recover compensation for the non-financial losses that likely went along with drunk driving accident injuries.
Punitive Damages
Some drunk driving accident claims may involve punitive damages in addition to the damages designed to help you recover compensation for your losses. The court assigns punitive damages to the drunk driver directly, usually due to severe injuries caused by the driver’s extreme negligence in getting behind the wheel while intoxicated.
Phoenix Drunk Driving Accidents: What You Need to Know
Phoenix sees an estimated 1,189 alcohol-related crashes yearly, and 33 of those crashes result in fatalities, while around 688 injure people. This represents a high percentage of the alcohol-related accidents across Arizona each year. Holidays, including Memorial Day and Labor Day, can ramp up the danger of encountering a drunk driver on the road.
Alcohol use may substantially slow drivers’ reaction times and make it much more difficult for drivers to safely control their vehicles. Unfortunately, Arizona sees a higher number of drunk drivers than other states. Phoenix drivers may see a heavier level of inebriation due partly to the tourist traffic coming through the city.
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Why Do Drunk Driving Accidents Occur?
Drunk driving accidents may happen for several reasons.
Drunk drivers struggle with many challenges that may make them more dangerous on the road, including:
- Difficulty with tunnel vision or blurred vision. Frequently, drunk drivers have difficulty perceiving what takes place around them, which may increase the odds that they will completely miss the presence of a hazard that could interfere with their progress on the road.
- Slowed reaction times. Drunk drivers frequently struggle to react properly to the situations they may face on the road.
- Decreased reasoning skills. Frequently, drunk drivers will engage in risky behaviors that they would not change if not inebriated. Unfortunately, very intoxicated drivers may fail to recognize the dangers they present.
- Unpredictable behavior. Often, other drivers will struggle to predict what drunk drivers will do next, which raises the odds that the drunk driver will end up involved in a serious accident.
- Coordination problems. In many cases, drunk drivers will struggle to control their vehicles at all due to decreased overall coordination.
Unfortunately, drunk drivers often end up in deadly collisions with other drivers, many of which can cause severe injuries.
Drunk Driving Accident Injuries in Phoenix
Drunk drivers can cause a variety of injuries. Often, drunk driving accidents involve more severe injuries than other car accidents because drunk drivers cannot control their vehicles and may not respond appropriately to an accident. Injuries may include:
- Head injuries, including traumatic brain injury
- Back and neck injuries
- Amputations
- Burns
- Severe lacerations
- Multiple broken bones
Many accident victims will require substantial medical treatment following a drunk driving accident.
Fighting the Insurance Company After a Phoenix Drunk Driving Accident: What to Expect
After a drunk driving accident, you may find yourself fighting with the liable party’s insurance as you pursue much-needed compensation for your injuries. Drunk driving accidents often involve substantial property damage and serious injuries with ongoing medical needs. The insurance company often does not want to accept liability and pay out the full compensation you may deserve for those injuries.
The drunk driver’s insurance company may deny coverage and liability for the accident by trying to shift liability to you or might deny the full extent of your injuries and the treatment you required. In many cases, the insurance company may try to pressure you into accepting a low settlement offer, although the offer does not reflect your needs from the accident.
At Hutzler Law, we help our clients fight insurance companies to maximize the compensation they may recover after a drunk driving crash.
What to Do After a Drunk Driving Accident?
You got into a drunk driving accident. You reported it to the police and let the police deal with the drunk driver. You may already have received information about the drunk driver’s inebriation status at the time of the accident.
Now what?
As the injured party, you need to protect your right to compensation as much as possible so that you do not miss out on the funds you may need to cover your medical bills and take care of your other expenses during your recovery.
To do so:
- Keep up with your medical bills from the drunk driving accident. File any receipts for medical treatments you may have received.
- Get a copy of the police report, including any report about the driver’s inebriation status. Correct any inconsistencies about the accident.
- Notify your insurance company about the accident. Many insurance companies have policies that you need to report any auto accident, regardless of who caused the accident.
- Talk to our lawyers about recovering compensation.
Your lawyer can help protect your right to compensation. At Hutzler Law, we help our clients maximize the compensation they can recover for drunk driving accident injuries.
FAQ
If the driver who caused my Phoenix drunk driving accident is not convicted of driving while intoxicated, can I still file a claim?
A criminal case for drunk driving and a civil case involving a drunk driving accident, even if they involve the same incident, may look very different. In a criminal case, the state must establish that the driver was intoxicated. If the officer that responds to the scene does not properly collect or maintain the chain of evidence or clearly document the drunk driver’s dangerous behaviors, the driver may not end up convicted of driving while intoxicated.
In a civil drunk driving accident claim, on the other hand, your lawyer will focus on establishing that the drunk driver’s negligent actions led to your accident. Driving while intoxicated can lead to many dangerous behaviors, including swerving over the road, ignoring the rules of the road, or engaging in reckless driving habits.
You may find it easier to establish that the driver caused an accident than that the driver suffered from intoxication at the time of the accident. While you can use the driver’s criminal DUI conviction to establish your right to compensation, you do not need a drunk driving accident conviction to file a civil claim.
What should I do if I do not discover that I suffered injuries in the drunk driving accident until well after the accident?
You should always, if possible, get medical attention immediately after any accident, especially a drunk driving accident. If your vehicle suffers significant damage, you should have a doctor check you over for injury. However, sometimes, people may walk away from the accident scene without realizing that they sustained serious injuries.
First, have a doctor check you over as soon as you notice signs of injury. If you have lingering pain days after the accident, the doctor can confirm whether you suffered injuries and what you need to do to maximize your odds of making a full recovery.
Next, contact a lawyer as soon as possible. At Hutzler Law, we can help you fight for compensation for drunk driving accident injuries even in cases where it may prove more difficult to determine exactly when your injuries occurred.
How should I handle my medical bills after a drunk driving accident in Phoenix?
When you seek medical treatment for drunk driving accident injuries in Phoenix, you must make payment arrangements. If you carry MedPay insurance, you can use your MedPay coverage to cover the initial cost of medical bills after an accident, regardless of who caused the accident. However, MedPay frequently has a relatively low limit, and you may find that you have a deductible to cover before MedPay kicks in.
If your treatment costs exceed the coverage offered by your MedPay protection, you can pursue compensation through the liable driver’s insurance company for any further medical expenses. Talk to an attorney to include your medical expenses in your claim.
Drunk Driving Accident Injuries? Contact Hutzler Law Today
If you suffered injuries in a drunk driving accident, working with an experienced personal injury attorney can make it easier to obtain the compensation you may deserve for your injuries.
Contact Hutzler Law today at (602) 730-4530 for your free consultation that will help you learn more about your right to compensation.
Hutzler Law, PLLC – Phoenix Car Accident Lawyers
4323 N 12th St, Suite 101,
Phoenix, AZ 85014
480-841-9761