Injured In A Car Accident?

Car Accident Lawyer in Fort Collins, Colorado

Our car accident lawyers in Fort Collins recognize the difficult obstacles facing individuals who have endured a collision. When people are involved in a serious accident, the ramifications can include debilitating injuries, significant financial challenges, and potential emotional hardships. While an injury victim’s medical and emotional recovery typically amount to the top priority, costs related to vehicle repair, hospital bills, treatment and rehabilitation expenses, and lost earnings can have a lasting financial impact on victims and their families.

Why Choose Alhasoon, Glidden & Glidden, LLC in Auto Accident Lawsuits

Our nationally renowned auto accident law firm represents individuals harmed by drivers who fail to exhibit reasonable driving practices and attention to the road. Our law firm has recovered over millions of dollars for personal injury victims, including vehicle occupants harmed by drivers impaired by alcohol, multi-tasking behind the wheel, exceeding the speed limit, or otherwise failing to observe traffic laws and prudent driving practices. The awards and accolades garnered by Alhasoon, Glidden & Glidden, LLC include the following:

• 2017 “10 Best for Client Satisfaction” by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys
  
• 2018 “Lawyers of Distinction”
  
• 2016-2017 “Best Female Attorney for Client Satisfaction” by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys

These reviews and acknowledgements by widely respected legal publications and organizations are just a sampling of the high esteem bestowed on our law firm. Our reputation based on proven success and peer reviews is reinforced by prior clients who appreciate the compassion, diligence, and responsiveness we provide when taking on negligent motorists and the insurance companies that defend their claims.

Legal Theories Constituting a Basis of Liability in Fort Collins Car Accident Lawsuits

Many people involved in motor vehicle collisions have some notion that the legal concept of “negligence” provides the most common legal grounds for a lawsuit involving accident-related injuries. However, this term has a precise legal meaning, which is more nuanced than “carelessness” in everyday language. While this definition will vary to some extent based on the jurisdiction, the term in this context refers to the failure of a motorist to exercise ordinary care that causes reasonably foreseeable harm to a passenger, occupant of another vehicle, motorcyclist, bicyclist, or a pedestrian. The specific elements that must be established include:

• Duty: The party sued must owe a legal duty of reasonable care to the party who suffers injury. Since operating a motor vehicle entails the legal obligation to obey traffic laws and drive in a reasonably safe manner, duty usually will not be an issue in auto accident lawsuits.

• Breach of Duty: When a driver disregards traffic safety laws or otherwise fails to exercise caution and vigilence when driving, the conduct can constitute a breach of a driver’s legal duty owed to others on Fort Collins roadways.

• Causation: While this aspect of negligence refers to “causation” in the common sense of the word, the law also includes a concept referred to as “legal cause.” This term allows a court to find that liability should not be imposed when the relationshp between the conduct of a party and the resulting injury is too remote or attenuated to impose liability. While this form of causation might not be relevant in many car accident cases, sometimes this will constitute a potential defense when injuries are not foreseeable enough to justify imposing liability on the defendant.

• Injury: Because harm must be established to prevail in a negligence lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove personal injury and/or property damage to prevail in a negligence action.

Alternate Theories of Liability in Legal Claims Involving Collisions

Although negligence amounts to the dominant theory of liability in most auto accident lawsuits, certain other theories can be important depending on the circumstances, such as:

Negligence Per Se: This legal theory amounts to a specialized version of negligence law that applies to situations where individuals to be protected by a statute or ordinance suffer injury because of a violation. In the context of a motor vehicle collision, violations of traffic laws or trucking regulations could amount to negligence per se. This legal doctrine eases the process of proving a defendant’s negligence because the unlawful conduct establishes a breach of the legal duty to drive reasonably safely.

Product Liability Law: Collisions might occur because a defective part or system plays a substantial factor in causing a crash. For example, a fault ignition swich might rotate into the off position disabling the power steering or preventing air bag deployment.

Prevailing Causes of Fatal Auto Collisions in Fort Collins, CO

When drivers do not focus on the road and exercise prudence behind the wheel, the consequences can be devastating for other roadway users. A few of the types of unsafe driving that can cause a debilitating injury or the loss of a loved one include:

• Disregarding the speed limit

• Running traffic lights and stop signs

• Dividing attention between driving and other tasks

• Tailgating a vehicle

• Neglecting to adapt driving behavior to existing conditions

• Failing to look before changing lanes or executing a turn

• Fatigued truck drivers and improperly loaded tractor-trailers

• Operating a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs

• Driving recklessly (e.g. street racing)

• Lacking sufficient experience behind the wheel

• Traveling the wrong way

Third-Party Defendants – Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist

Although dangerous or inattentive drivers cause most traffic accident-related injuries, third-party conduct also can contribute to serious collisions. Our Fort Collins auto accident lawyers understand the importance of uncovering all potentially responsible parties and sources of insurance coverage to maximizing financial compensation.

This approach becomes even more imperative in situations where the at-fault driver lacks insurance or carries minimum liability coverage. Colorado State law only requires $25,000 in bodily injury liability coverage for a single victim and $50,000 for all victims. Even if you are the only party injured in a car accident, the hospital bills from a relatively short stay in the hospital will exhaust the $25,000 limit. If multiple people are injured, the policy limits could be exhausted before you even file your claim.

Third-party liability can provide a critical source for financial recovery in these situations. Some of the third-parties we might consider include:

Public Entities: When poor planning or neglected roadway maintenance contribute to motor vehicle accidents, Colorado State or a government subdivision could face financial liability for traffic-related injuries. Confusing signage in a construction zone or visual obstruction from an overgrown hedge at an intersection might lead to an easily preventable accident. Lawsuits against the government can be challenging because injury victims must comply with special legal rules and procedures under Colorado law. Public entities also tend to have extensive resources to defend against liability claims.

Car Owners (“Permissive Use Doctrine”): Under the permissive use doctrine, the owner of a car or other vehicle can be liable for injuries caused by a negligent driver with implied or express permission to use the vehicle.

Automaker Liability: If a vehicle malfunction plays a significant role in causing a collision, companies involved in the design, manufacture, or sale of the vehicle could be a potential defendant under product liability law. Businesses involved in the production-distribution chain of the faulty component or part also could be liable.

Uninsured Motorist/Underinsured Motorist (UM-UIM) Coverage: When the at-fault driver lacks adequate liability coverage, UM/UIM coverage of the injury victim also can provide a source of compensation.

Representation in Many Kinds of Fort Collins Traffic Injury Cases

Our law firm has the legal skills, seasoning, and litigation resources to effectively represent people harmed by irresponsible motorists. Each type of collision involves different causes and legal expertise. Our car accident attorneys in Fort Collins have the expertise to represent individuals and their families injured in a broad spectrum of collisions, such as:

• Front Impact Accidents

• Intersection Collisions

• Vehicle Rollovers

• Sideswipe Accidents

• Roof Collapse Accidents

• Rear Impact Collisions

• Chain Reaction Pileups

• Run Off the Road Accident

• Single Car Accidents

Navigating Insurance Company Traps

Because all motorists in our state must carry liability insurance, vehicle occupants injured in auto collisions will usually deal with an insurance company representing the at-fault driver (or another responsible party). Insurance carriers have a distinct advantage when dealing with an unrepresented injury victim because they handle a high volume of claims. While insurance carriers possess abundant litigation resources and manpower, injury victims must cope with a difficult recovery process, diminished household income, and mounting bills. Insurers usually have no reason to rush to resolve a claim because they can leverage the mounting financial pressure on an injured party.

Our Fort Collins auto accident lawyers recognize that victims of serious auto accident often have little or no experience dealing with insurance companies or the legal system. The decision to retain legal representation at the earliest opportunity can mitigate the risk of significant missteps. Insurance carriers often request an injured party agree to an interview to provide a recorded statement. Participating in this interview without legal advice allows the insurance company to seek information that will compromise the strength or value of an injury victim’s claim. Since it can be difficult to anticipate how seemingly innocent statements might be misused or manipulated by seasoned insurance defense attorneys, allowing Fort Collins car accident attorneys to handle all communications with the at-fault party’s insurance company will maximize your prospects of a positive result.

Fort Collins Auto Collision Lawyers Seeking Damages for Debilitating Injuries

While the severity and types of injuries incurred in an auto collision range from relatively minor to fatal, some injuries that require treatment following an accident include:

• Cuts, Abrasions, Lacerations

• Dislocations, Torn Ligaments, Tendons

• Broken Bones, Fractures, Bone Crush Injuries

• Head Injuries, Concussions, Traumatic Brain Injuries

• Spinal Cord, Vertebrae Injuries

• Neck Injuries, Whiplash

• Paralysis, Paraplegia, Tetraplegia

• Catastrophic Burn Injuries

• Amputation of Extremities

• Impairment or Destruction of Internal Organs

• Wrongful Death

Whether you experienced painful injuries that will eventually heal or permanent debilitating injuries that will adversely impact the rest of your life, the financial compensation that you receive will ease the stress and financial hardships that result from an unanticipated injury. Our law firm carefully reviews medical records, works with healthcare professionals, economists, and other experts, and analyzes the impact on a victim’s life to advocate for the fullest measure of compensation. While the specific facts will determine the compensation in a collision-related injury lawsuit, some types of compensation we might be able to pursue include:

Quantifiable Losses: Medical expenditures, lost compensation from employment, cost of medical appliances, costs of supportive care, prescriptions drug expenses, diminished future earnings, vehicle repairs/replacement, adaptation of home for disabilities, burial/funeral expenses, and other out of pocket costs

Intangible Costs: Mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of affections of a spouse, diminished enjoyment of life experiences

Punitive Damages: Awarded in certain cases to punish and discourage particularly objectionable conduct

Providing Exemplary Legal Services to Car Accident Injury Victims

Our Fort Collins car accident attorneys at Alhasoon, Glidden & Glidden, LLC have been zealously pursuing compensation for parties injured in motor vehicle collisions for decades. We recognize that our clients and their families can have their lives disrupted and futures derailed because of the careless conduct of individuals, government employees, and corporations. Our lawyers work diligently to obtain justice and fair compensation for our clients while holding negligent drivers and others who cause preventable injury to others accountable for their conduct.

If you wish to pursue compensation for your injuries, you must comply with strict legal deadlines. If you or your loved one has suffered an injury in a traffic collision, we welcome the opportunity to answer your questions and discuss your legal options. Call us at 1-720-487-1050 today!