According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 26 percent of adults ages 16 and older will be injured in a car accident at some point in their lives. Many of those injuries stem from collisions that take place in Phoenix, other areas of Arizona, or that involve residents of the area. Those who are fortunate enough not to be involved in an accident likely know someone who has been hurt in a crash, or worse, who lost their lives in a motor vehicle collision.
In a city as large as Phoenix, multiple car accidents happen every day. They range anywhere from a minor collision where no one is injured to fatal accidents where one or more individuals are killed. Often, the person hurt in the crash is not the one responsible for causing the accident and is merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.
When an accident is caused by negligent conduct on the part of someone involved, whether it is a driver, owner of a car, or company or city entity operating the vehicle, those injured victims may be entitled to legal relief for their damages. Speaking with a lawyer who handles personal injury cases may help you understand the legal ramifications of your accident and whether you have a valid claim. Often, relief is possible even if no traffic tickets were issued following the accident or if an at-fault driver flees the scene, never to be located.
But in the worst cases, no amount of relief can properly compensate a family for the damages they sustain. This is always true when a crash turns fatal which unfortunately is far too often in Phoenix. Two people lost their lives after a wrong-way accident on Sunday night, leaving friends and families to mourn them and a community to be reminded of the dangers associated with driving.
Citizens began making calls of a wrong-way driver on the Loop 101 at Cactus. They reported a driver operating northbound in the southbound lanes. Police were alerted and officers attempted to stop the driver before a collision occurred; unfortunately, though, they were unable to stop the driver who allegedly merged onto 51, merged onto 10, and then collided with a second car on an on-ramp.
The sole occupant of the second car was an off-duty Mesa police officer who was on his way home for the night. Both the police officer and the driver of the wrong-way car were killed in the crash.
Authorities are still trying to sort out the facts of the collision to determine why the first driver was traveling in the wrong direction and why he was able to do so for approximately 35 miles before the crash happened.
If you have been hurt in a car accident, make sure your legal rights are protected by calling the lawyers at Abels & Annes, P.C. today. We will provide you with a free, no obligation telephone consultation and we are standing by 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to take your call. Everything discussed will be kept confidential and we will help you understand whether you are entitled to relief. If you have been hurt or your loved one has been killed, call us toll free at (855) PHX-LAWYER or locally at (602) 819-5191 now.
Prior Blog Entry:
School Bus Accident in San Tan Valley Leaves One Injured, Phoenix Injury Lawyer Blog, published April 30, 2014.
Resource:
Wrong-way driver, off-duty Mesa officer die after crash on freeway ramp, Fox 10 News, published May 13, 2014.