Personal Injury Lawsuits and Potential Lifelong Disability
The lawyers of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton put the needs of their clients first. Our team of experienced personal injury attorneys understands how an injury can change the course of a life forever. Because of this, we always offer strong legal representation that seeks just damages in each case. Damages are an especially important consideration when an injury is catastrophic in nature. By that we mean the injury leads to a disability of some kind. Paralysis, the loss of a limb, or serious brain damage can have lifelong repercussions for the accident victim as well as the victim’s family. Severe Injuries Have Lasting Repercussions When a person suffers a minor injury, they tend to recovery rather quickly. Even significant injuries such as a broken bone or a serious laceration tends to heal up in a normal amount of time. There may be scars and pain, but the person will still be mobile and able to get around without major changes. Major injuries, however, can lead to lifelong problems with mobility and able-bodiedness. Severe spinal cord injuries can result in paraplegia or quadriplegia, for instance, connfining the accident victim to a wheelchair for the rest of their lives. The loss of a limb or multiple limbs can make daily life extremely difficult. Severe head trauma can lead to a brain injury that has lifelong effects on your cognition, mood, and motor skills. When these kinds of severe injuries occur, a lawyer can help you seek compensation from the negligent party responsible. Limitations to Your Career Path A severe injury that results in disability can alter your career path in innumerable ways. You may not be able to perform routine manual labor tasks because of your disability. Physically demanding jobs may not longer be an option after a severe injury. For quadriplegics in particular, there are very few jobs that they can do given the severe limitations imposed upon them. Changes To Your Day-to-Day Life Simple tasks that we take for granted each day can be severe burdens for people with a disability. Simply feeding, dressing, washing, and and cleaning around the home can become very challenging, and in some cases impossible. Your home may need to be changed to address your new needs given your disability. You may find yourself dependent on family members and loved ones throughout the day. The Need for Physical Rehabilitation Following a catastrophic accident, injury victims will often undergo physical rehabilitation and therapy to help restore movement and strength. Sessions can be taxing and difficult, though they are an important part of the recovery process and moving forward. These sessions can also be costly. Bills can add up fast. Additional Medical Treatments and Assistance Additional medical care and even professional medical monitoring and help are often required following a severe accident. Surgeries and additional doctor visits are a common fact of life, for instance. In the the case of quadriplegics, having a medical professional present in case of an urgent issue is also part of your daily life. As with physical therapy and rehabilitation, this can be quite expensive. Compensatory and Punitive Damages When seeking damage from the negligent party who caused your serious injury, our attorneys will consider both compensatory damages and punitive damages. Compensatory damages will cover actual material losses associated with your injury. This includes medical treatments, lost wages, lost future earning due to a career change, and the cost of therapy. Punitive damages will seek to punish the negligent party for their actions and make sure similar tragedies do no happen again in the future. While the damages will not undo the injury, they can help you and your loved ones live with dignity as you face the challenges ahead. Learn More About Your Legal Options For more information about your legal options after a major accident, be sure to contact our team of personal injury attorneys today. The lawyers of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton will work closely with you in your time of legal need.
Car Booster Seats and Auto Accidents: Potential Dangers
The dangers of auto accidents are many, and it’s possible for a collision to seriously impact the lives of drivers, passengers, and bystanders. This is why the lawyers of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton take these kinds of accidents so seriously. We are committed to helping the people of Provo in their time of legal need, fighting for damages to cover injuries and other expenses. Auto accidents can be especially troubling when children are involved, though thankfully there are special safety seats to protect your child from harm. We’d like to focus on these matters right now, particularly with regard to flaws in these safety and booster seats that may be grounds for a product liability lawsuit. Proper Use of Car Safety Seats Child safety seats and booster seats are designed to protect young passengers in vehicles when they are too small to safely use regular seat belts. In most cases, this means children up to the age of 6 or 7 years old. Proper use of car safety seats means noting the age range and the height for the various products. There are safety seats designed specifically for children of certain ages. The product instructions will also specify how to properly secure the device in the backseat. For very young passengers, it’s best to have the child safety seat facing the back of the car rather than the front of the car. In the event of a collision, this positioning helps prevent serious neck and spinal cord injuries. Should I Replace My Safety Seat After an Accident? In most cases, the answer is yes. In serious collisions, car safety seats may be seriously damaged at a structural level. If there are cracks, chips, or other kinds of damage to the booster seat or child safety seat, it should be replaced. For minor fender benders or collisions that do not result in major injuries or damage to the car safety seat, you may be able to keep the seat and use it again. Be sure to follow any instructions regarding the seat provided by the manufacturer. Use your good judgment as well. Defective Car Safety Seats: What Consumers Should Know There are some cases in which booster seats and child safety seats may be poorly made and potentially dangerous. In these cases, the car seat may not protect a child from harm to its fullest ability. The seat itself may break and fracture, with plastic shards and components causing cuts and bruises to the child. Potential Flaws with Car Safety Seats When it comes to flaws for child safety seats, the problems tend to be related to poor design or bad manufacturing practices. It’s also possible for problems during shipping and distribution to lead to unsound safety seats. There is also a matters of bad instructions or improper labeling, such as selling a safety seat not designed for a child of the age and height specified. How Product Liability Attorneys Can Help You Product liability lawsuits can be complicated matters given what must be proven and the legal teams that major companies have in place. By working with our attorneys, you will have experienced professionals on your side, offering guidance through every step of the litigation process. While we help you by handling filings and paperwork, you can focus on recovery and moving forward with the challenges of daily life. Contact the Lawyers of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton For more information about your legal rights and options, be sure to contact our team of injury attorneys today. The lawyers of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton will work closely with you and offer sound legal counsel in your time of legal need.
Highway Auto Accidents Can Cause Serious and Fatal Injuries
Highway driving presents a number of dangers that simply are not found on city streets or in the suburbs. First of all, there are far more vehicles on highways. Second, drivers travel at higher speeds, making auto accidents on the highway much more dangerous. If a collision occurs, the injuries can be severe and even fatal. The law firm of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton can help. Let’s take a moment to consider the dangers of highway collisions. We will then cover how our attorneys can help clients in their time of need. Statistics on Highway Auto Accidents Looking at 2015 statistics from the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Highway Safety Office, there were a total of 60,012 motor vehicle crashes. These collisions involved 151,237 people. Of these total crash numbers, there were 258 fatal collisions. These fatal accidents claimed 278 lives. It’s also worth noting that collisions on rural highways can be quite harrowing. Emergency personnel may require additional time to get to an accident scene. Delays in urgent medical attention could mean all the difference between life and death. Potential Causes of Highway Auto Accidents There are many different potential causes of highway auto accidents. These include the following: Excessive Speed – When people driver faster than the posted speed limit, they run a much higher risk of striking other drivers and losing control of their own vehicle. Reckless Driving – Constant lane changes, erratic driving, and other risky behaviors on the highway can lead to major single-vehicle and multi-vehicle accidents. Drunk Driving – If you drive while you are drunk or under the influence of other controlled substances, this can affect your decision-making and motor skills. Driver Fatigue – Driving while you are sleepy can be just as bad as driving while drunk. If you are drowsy, be sure to rest rather than stay on the road. Texting While Driving – Texting while driving distracts your attention. With your eyes off the road at highway speeds, you can cover the length of a football field in just a matter of seconds. Poor Road Conditions – When a road has debris in it, lacks proper lane markers, has obscured signs, or is otherwise unsafe, accidents are more likely to happen. Inclement Weather – When it’s raining or snowing, the roads are slick. Drivers are more likely to lose control even if they are being safe. Vehicle Defects and Malfunctions – Sometimes automakers or makers of auto parts make dangerous products that fail while in use. These defects can lead to serious collisions. How Our Attorneys Can Help Following a major collision, our attorneys can help you seek damages to cover medical expenses, damage to your vehicle, lost wages, and more. In the case of the death of a loved one, we can seek damages for funerary expenses as well as emotional pain and suffering. While we focus on legal matters and offer expert counsel, you and the people you love can focus on each other and what is necessary as you move forward in life. Contact the Attorneys of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton For more information about your legal options following a serious motor vehicle collision, we encourage you to contact our team of injury attorneys today. The lawyers of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton will help you and your loved ones in their time of legal need.
Auto Accidents and Utah’s Deadliest Rural Roads
If you think that most auto accidents in the state of Utah occur in urban areas, you would be correct. Our populated metropolitan centers with their crowded highways and busy city streets do suffer more than their fair share of car, truck, and motorcycle accidents. However, you may be surprised to learn that the most devastating auto accidents in the state are likely to occur on our rural and country roads. If you or a member of your family has been injured in an auto accident on a rural road, or if you have tragically lost a family member in such an accident, the personal injury attorneys of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton can help. When it comes to litigating claims involving auto accidents and rural roads, our Provo, UT lawyers have the resources, accident reconstruction and investigation skills, and pure tenacity to present the most compelling cases possible on behalf of our injured clients and their families. We invite you to put our experience and long history of success to work for you. In the meanwhile, please take a look at some of the startling facts about Utah’s dangerous rural roads and realize that you are not alone. Our attorneys have helped victims just like you, and it would be our honor to now help you. The Dark Side of Country Roads While the term “rural” conjures up idyllic visions for many of us, rural roads represent the deadliest of our nation’s roadways. According to a 2009 National Highway Safety Administration report, 56 percent of all fatal auto accidents that occurred in 2008 took place on rural roads. Tellingly, an article published by NPR at that time singled out Utah’s own Highway 6, linking Spanish Fork and Green River, as one of the most notoriously deadly roads in the United States. “I would think that there is not anybody in the community that doesn’t know someone fairly closely that has been killed on Highway 6,” Brad King, a vice president of the College of Eastern Utah, told NPR. Things have not improved significantly since then, according to the 2013 Utah Crash Summary published by the State of Utah Department of Public Safety: Although rural crashes accounted for only 16 percent of all crashes in the state of Utah, they represented 39 percent of all fatal crashes. Altogether, 79 people were killed on rural roads in Utah during 2013. The report found that rural crashes were “3.3 times more likely to be fatal than urban crashes.” Occupants of vehicles involved in rural crashes were 2.1 times more likely not to be wearing seatbelts compared to occupants of vehicles involved in urban crashes. Roughly one-fifth of rural crashes involved animals. Arrange for an Evaluation of Your Auto Accident Case If you or someone you love was injured in an auto accident on a rural road, and you would like to arrange for an evaluation of your case, please contact the law firm of Flickinger Sutterfield & Boulton today.