Phoenix Reckless Driving

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Reckless drivers violate the duty of care that is expected of all licensed drivers in Arizona. This means that you as the injured party (the plaintiff) have the right to seek recovery for damages such as medical bills, lost salary, pain and suffering, and other damages.

An injury lawyer for accidents caused by reckless driving in Phoenix works on a contingency basis only. You do not pay attorney fees unless and until we successfully get you the compensation you may be entitled to receive.

For a free, confidential consultation at your home or the hospital, please call Zanes Law at (833)-629-7684.

Reckless Driving Injuries Can Change Your Life

While car accident statistics focus on fatalities, they often do not grasp the impact of an injury on the life of an accident victim. Thousands of other people each year are injured in reckless driving accidents throughout the state. When someone suffers injuries in a car accident, it can uproot their entire life. Car accident injuries can keep them from working and enjoying life as they did before the accident.

Reckless driving can impact anyone at a moment’s notice. All it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time around the wrong driver. You and your passengers have no control over what some other driver on the road does, but it can change your life in an instant. Someone else with no regard or concern for your safety can cause you serious injuries.

In fact, reckless driving accident injuries can be far more serious than in the average car accident. When someone else is driving recklessly, you have far less of an ability to try to take defensive measures. Usually, you end up in a collision at high speed or when you least expect it. The other driver’s actions raise the danger level for you based on a choice that they made. You have no control over the situation. The other driver’s selfishness and lack of regard for anyone else can place you and your family in danger.

Types of Car Accidents Caused By Reckless Driving

When someone is driving recklessly, they have far less control over their car. They cannot respond appropriately to prompts on the road, and they will be far more likely to injure others.

Here are some types of collisions that can happen due to reckless driving:

Head-on collisions – drivers can be reckless by trying to pass on a two-lane road, hitting a car in the oncoming lane.
T-bone collisions – when a driver runs a stop sign or a red light, they can hit a driver on the broad side of their car, causing serious injuries.
Rear-end collisions – traveling at high speeds can cause a driver to miss the fact that a car in front of them has stopped or is traveling more slowly.
Sideswipe accidents – an overly aggressive driver making a lane change can fail to see a driver in their blind spot and hit them on the side, or they can misjudge a lane change.

Reckless Actions Are Worse than Negligence

There is a difference between negligence and reckless driving. Negligence can involve “garden variety” carelessness. It does not even require any thought. An absent-minded driver can be negligent when they do something, such as not checking their blind spot before making a turn or not seeing a stop sign. Drivers can be negligent and not intentionally set out to do so.

Reckless driving is not necessarily intentional, but the driver chooses how they act.

In Arizona, reckless driving is:

“A person who drives a vehicle in reckless disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.”

Arizona Law Punishes Reckless Driving

Someone makes a conscious choice in how they drive when they are reckless. Even if they are not intentionally trying to place other people in danger, they are deliberately doing something that can endanger someone else’s life or property, no matter what their intention is beforehand.

Reckless driving is a Class 2 misdemeanor. When someone is convicted of reckless driving, they will lose their driver’s license for up to 90 days. If they were convicted twice within 24 months, they will serve a minimum of 20 days in jail.Zanes Law Holds Reckless Drivers Accountable

Car accidents are devastating to your physical, emotional, and financial health. Your life changes in a matter of seconds because a reckless driver did not obey the rules of the road. You have already been injured. You should not have to continue to suffer with bills and expenses that you cannot afford.

Zanes Law has recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our clients. Some of our results include:

$1.3 million for victims of a drunk driver who ran a stop sign.
$1.1 million for a motorcycle rider struck by a careless driver.
$250,000 for a client rear-ended by a reckless driver.

Your individual situation may have a different outcome. However, an injury lawyer for accidents caused by reckless driving will protect your rights and allow you to seek recovery if you qualify.

The Responsible Driver Should Pay for Your Injuries

Even though reckless driving is a crime, it does not deprive you of your right to a financial remedy from the driver responsible for your accident. While there are some connections between the criminal and civil process (see below), you can receive financial compensation even if the other driver is not charged or convicted for their actions.

If the driver is convicted, it does not get them off the hook from having to pay damages. It is entirely legal that they face two penalties for what they did. Even if they went to jail for the crime, they must still pay you compensation. Their insurance company does not get to avoid paying damages because the driver was reckless. Their policy covers reckless and even drunk driving, and it should cover your injuries in full.

If the Other Driver Gets a Ticket, It Can Help Prove Your Case

One thing that will help your case greatly is if the police come to the scene of the accident and charge the other driver with reckless driving. If the other driver received a citation or faced criminal charges, a conviction will help prove your case that they are to blame for the accident.

Negligence per se means negligence on its own, and you need no further proof. If you can show that the other driver broke a traffic law, it is proof of their fault. After that, you will have to prove that their wrongful actions were the cause of your injuries. Here, you will still need to show that the other driver’s reckless actions were the cause of your accident to receive payment for your injuries.

Understanding Compensation in a Reckless Driving Accident

An injury attorney for accidents caused by reckless driving in Phoenix will seek compensation for your injuries and damages. Zanes Law will file a claim against the liable driver’s insurance coverage, not the driver personally.

Arizona requires minimum insurance on all motor vehicles that drive on public roadways. These mandatory insurance levels include golf carts, motorcycles, and mopeds.

According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, the state’s minimum levels of coverage are:

$15,000 bodily-injury liability for one person and $30,000 for two or more people
$10,000 property-damage liability

Hopefully, your injuries caused by the reckless driver are minor. You still deserve compensation. If you were severely injured, your health and ability to work can be forever altered. An injury lawyer with Zanes Law will work hard to get the compensation you deserve.

Please call our firm at (833)-629-7684 to request a free, personal consultation at your home or the hospital.

Damages in a Reckless Driving Case

Your injury lawyer will negotiate a settlement with the insurance company. We do not recommend that you seek compensation on your own. Our firm understands Arizona’s liability laws and what kind of damages you be entitled to receive.

Here are damages that we have recovered for other car accident plaintiffs:

Medical bills, including co-pays, hospital bills, surgeries, medications, and outpatient treatment
Pain and suffering
Lost income
Loss of earning potential
Mental anguish
Property damage
Disability
Disfigurement or scarring
Loss of consortium
Wrongful death

Because reckless driving accident injuries tend to be more serious because of the speed involved, your claim may be higher than in other types of car accidents. This requires a lawyer to fight for you to get everything that you legally deserve.

Damages in a Reckless Driving Wrongful Death Lawsuit

If your loved one passed away in an accident with a reckless driver, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver. This will pay your family back for what they lost when the reckless driver’s actions killed your loved one.

You can seek:

The wages that your loved one would earn for the family had they lived
Compensation for the loss of guidance and support of your loved one
Payment for the emotional trauma that you experienced from losing a loved one

Punitive Damages Are Possible in a Reckless Driving Case

When you have been the victim of a reckless driving accident, you might make a case for punitive damages. This type of damage is very rare in a personal injury case, especially when you are dealing with car accidents. Juries use punitive damages to send a message to the defendant about their conduct. They usually will not include these in a verdict in a “standard” negligence car accident case.

However, reckless driving shows more of a conscious disregard for human life and safety. The driver has acted far worse than carelessly. They have made a conscious decision to drive their vehicle in a manner that places other people at risk. This puts them in a territory where their actions may anger the jury, especially when injuries are severe or the driver was drunk. The more reckless conduct a driver has shown, the greater the chance that a jury will award punitive damages. If you settle your case with the insurance company, they will not pay out punitive damages.

Insurance Companies May Try to Rush You to Settle Your Claim

Insurance companies may not fight you as much on liability for reckless driving claims because what happened is more settled (assuming you have the proof that the other driver was reckless). However, you need to be very careful of dealing with insurance companies in these types of cases. When they have a claim on their hands that involves a driver who acted very badly, they may try to rush you into a settlement agreement. They know the potential consequences if you were to file a lawsuit, and they try to dispose of these cases quickly.

This is where the insurance company will make you an initial low settlement offer and pressure you to accept it. You need to resist their pressure to hold out for what you deserve. If an insurance company makes you a settlement offer, it is crucial to have your attorney review it before you do or say anything.

Your lawyer will know whether the offer is low and how far off it is. An insurance company understands how a jury will view the case when they see the facts of exactly what their policyholder did. They have every reason to be afraid of a jury in these cases. We will use this as leverage to fight for what you deserve.

The Legal Process Takes Time, so Get a Fighter on Your Side

This is all to say that a reckless driving settlement will not happen overnight. It will take months of negotiation if you can even reach an agreement with the insurance company to settle the claim. You may even need to file a lawsuit to get the full amount of compensation that you deserve. The one certain thing about your case is that you know that we will be with you every step of the way, ready to stand up for your legal rights. We are not afraid of insurance companies. If anything, they are the ones who fear us.

If a reckless driver injured you, you can and must take strong legal action to get the money you need to pay for your injuries. A Phoenix car accident lawyer can be both your guide to the legal process and your fiercest advocates who will fight for you. Reach out online to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case. We will review your case and lay out a roadmap for how you can recover compensation for your injuries.

Why You Should Not Delay Calling a Lawyer in Phoenix

Our injury attorneys at Zanes Law recommend that you call for your free consultation as soon as possible after the accident. There are several reasons why we urge you to act without delay:

Evidence can be more difficult to gather as time passes (for example, witnesses should be questioned while their memories are fresh).
There is a statute of limitations of two years to file a personal injury lawsuit in Arizona.
Most medical bills and other accident-related expenses are due within 30 days of receipt.

An attorney for accidents caused by reckless driving will compile the necessary documents for a comprehensive insurance claim. These documents may include:

Police accident reports
Witness statements
Photos and/or video evidence
Proof of your injuries
Driving history of the liable motorist
Statement from your healthcare provider

There are many steps in filing an insurance claim. Let Zanes Law take care of everything so that you can focus on recovering from your injuries. To request a free, confidential consultation, please call (833)-629-7684.

Common Examples of Reckless Driving

According to the U.S. Census, most Phoenix households own or operate two cars. As our population continues to grow, it is safe to assume that the number of vehicles on our roads will also increase. Sadly, reckless driving statistics will also grow.

The most common forms of reckless driving are:

The most common example of reckless driving involves speeding. Traveling faster than the speed limit is reckless. In Arizona, going 20 miles per hour over the speed limit is considered criminal speeding.
Excessive lane changing when a driver weaves in and out of traffic
Traveling too close to the back bumper of another car (tailgating). This risks a rear-end car crash when the other driver stops in front of them.
Running stop signs or red lights – sometimes, people will run a red light by accident. This would not be reckless. However, when a driver intentionally ignores a signal or sign that exists to protect other drivers, it would be reckless.
Drunk driving – here, the driver has made a conscious decision to get behind the wheel inebriated, presenting a danger to everyone else on the road.
Road rage – there are a growing number of road rage incidents where drivers intentionally target another driver who they think has wronged them in some way.
Racing – many others end up injured when two drivers decide to race their cars on city streets.

If a reckless driver harmed you, you deserve a compassionate lawyer who will pursue recovery. To arrange for a free, confidential consultation at your home or the hospital, please call Zanes Law at (833)-629-7684.

Every year, reckless driving causes thousands of fatalities in car accidents across the country. Roughly one-third of the people who die in car crashes perish in accidents where reckless driving is a factor. In a recent year, 281 people lost their lives in Arizona in crashes where speed was a factor. In addition, countless others died in drunk driving accidents, another example of reckless driving.

There are a few freeways in the Phoenix area that are particularly dangerous when it comes to reckless driving:

I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix, which has commuter traffic so heavy that it often reaches maximum capacity and is also a hotbed for drunk drivers. This stretch of interstate highway is one of the deadliest in the United States.
I-17 connects Phoenix to Flagstaff, and the 30 miles of this interstate within the Phoenix city limits has regularly changing road conditions and fatalities due to crashes, many of which happen due to reckless driving.

If you or a loved one have been injured by a reckless driver anywhere in the Phoenix area, you are entitled to financial compensation.

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