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Request Your Free Consultation Request Free ConsultationDistracted driving is a top cause of Las Vegas car accidents. Drivers often fail to pay proper attention to the road, resulting in devastating collisions. After a collision involving a distracted driver, accident victims may not know where to turn for advice or assistance. The Las Vegas distracted driving accident lawyers at Koch & Brim, LLP have spent years representing clients in personal injury and car accident cases of all kinds.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a distracted driving car accident, contact a personal injury lawyer at our law firm for a free case consultation. Our car accident lawyers are committed to holding distracted drivers accountable on behalf of injured victims. We can help you pick up the pieces and rebuild your life as much as possible after a devastating distracted driver accident in Las Vegas.
Hiring a car accident lawyer after a collision involving a distracted driver can help you understand and protect your rights. Your lawyer can explain your legal options, such as filing a car insurance claim against the at-fault driver or bringing a personal injury lawsuit. Then, your attorney can take care of confusing legal processes for you, such as filing your claim before Nevada’s deadline and negotiating a fair and full settlement with a car insurer.
A car accident attorney can also help you establish fault and prove your damages. Your attorney will conduct a thorough investigation of the accident to determine causation and identify the defendant(s). Then, he or she will preserve evidence and take steps to prove your case. A law firm will have connections to medical experts and crash reconstructionists, for example, who can testify on your behalf to strengthen your claim.
While most car accident cases reach settlements in Las Vegas, an attorney will also have the power to go to court, if necessary. This may be needed if a car insurance company rejects your claim, denies that its policyholder was driving distracted or refuses to offer a reasonable settlement. You can count on your lawyer to take care of all the legal aspects of your case while you focus on healing from your injuries.
Every motor vehicle driver has a duty to pay attention to the road and fully focus on the driving task. A driver’s hands must remain on the wheel, eyes on the road and mind on operating the vehicle at all times. This is the only way a driver can reasonably prevent car accidents and ensure the safety of others. A driver distraction can refer to any activity that interferes with the driving practice; typically, an activity that involves a cell phone.
Distracted driving significantly increases the risk of a car accident because it interferes with a driver’s ability to notice changing roadway situations and react in time to avoid a collision. For example, a distracted driver may not see a traffic light changing red, a pedestrian crossing the street, or a car coming to a stop in front of him or her. Delayed reaction times can prevent the driver from coming to a stop and avoiding a crash. Distracted drivers are behind some of the deadliest collisions in Las Vegas, including head-on collisions, high-speed rear-end collisions, intersection accidents, and bicycle and pedestrian accidents.
Distracted driving was responsible for the deaths of 3,522 people in the U.S. in 2021, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This was a 12.1 percent increase from 3,142 deaths in 2020 and a 12.9 percent increase from 3,119 deaths in 2019. Cell phone use is the number one cause of driver distraction. According to the National Safety Council, in one decade, the prevalence of drivers using handheld electronic devices increased by 127 percent, from 1.5 percent in 2012 to 3.4 percent in 2021.
Using a cell phone while driving is so dangerous because it encompasses all three forms of distraction: manual, visual and cognitive. Reading an email, sending a text or talking on the phone can simultaneously take a driver’s hands off the wheel, eyes off the road and thoughts off the driving task. One study found that reading a text message while driving (looking at a phone for just five seconds) is the equivalent of driving across the length of an entire football field while blindfolded.
Las Vegas has a lot of sites to see and roadside attractions that can distract motor vehicle drivers. Bright lights, electric billboards, pedestrians, bicyclists, e-scooters and taxis are just some of the external distractions that may divert a driver’s attention from the road. In addition, careless or reckless drivers may be sidetracked by internal distractions, or distracting activities that take place inside the vehicle. Examples include:
Statistics show that teenagers are the most likely age group to cause texting and driving crashes. Other examples of distracted drivers are Uber and Lyft drivers, who often interact with their cell phones to accept rides while transporting other passengers. Delivery drivers may also engage in dangerous distracted driving practices, such as reading address labels and house numbers while driving.
Distracted drivers are behind some of the worst car accidents in Las Vegas and the surrounding area. A distracted driver may not have time to hit the brakes before crashing into another vehicle, bicyclist or pedestrian. This can lead to a high-speed collision that causes catastrophic injuries, such as paralysis or brain damage. At Koch & Brim, LLP, our personal injury attorneys are equipped to handle car accident cases involving all types of injuries, including:
We can help you receive the medical care that you need from top doctors in Las Vegas after a distracted driver accident. Our attorneys will make sure you have everything you need to move forward and recover – physically, emotionally and financially. Then, we will navigate the legal process for you, assessing your damages and fighting for the case results that you deserve based on the extent of your injuries or losses suffered due to a loved one’s death.
Like most states, Nevada has passed cell phone laws to try to decrease the number of distracted drivers on the roads. Nevada law prohibits motor vehicle drivers from texting while driving. Under Nevada Revised Statute, Section 484B.165, it is illegal to communicate using a handheld electronic device while driving.
The cell phone law includes texting, accessing the internet and making calls using a handheld device. Any prohibited cell phone use while driving can result in a fine of $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second offense, and $250 for a third or subsequent offense within seven years. Offenses involving cell phones while driving are class 1 misdemeanors in Nevada.
Nevada is an at-fault car accident state. This means the person responsible for causing a car accident must pay for the damages. If you or your lawyer can prove that the other driver involved in your crash was driving while distracted, this could place financial responsibility on the driver for your medical expenses, property repairs and other losses. You can file a claim with the distracted driver’s auto insurance policy for coverage, up to the policy limit. If the limit does not fully cover your losses, you may seek secondary coverage from your own car insurer.
Nevada has a rule known as modified comparative negligence. Under this rule, if a car accident is deemed to be more than one person’s fault, each party can be allocated a percentage of the blame. If you are given a proportion of fault for a car accident involving a distracted driver, this could reduce your payout by an equivalent percentage.
If you are found to be more than 50 percent at fault, however, you will lose the right to recover any compensation for your losses. If the other driver’s insurance company attempts to place a degree of fault with you, contact an attorney to help you prove the other driver’s liability and protect your right to recover compensation.
After a car accident with a driver who was texting or distracted, you or your lawyer will be given the task of proving fault. Your lawyer must demonstrate with clear and convincing evidence that the other driver is more likely to have caused your crash than not. This is known as a preponderance of the evidence, or the “more likely than not” standard. It requires proof of the driver’s fault with at least a 51 percent certainty. Proving distracted driving may require evidence such as:
A distracted driving accident attorney from Koch & Brim, LLP can help preserve and collect evidence to support your distracted driving accident claim. Our lawyers can obtain a copy of the police report, access the other driver’s phone records, hire experts and crash reconstructionists, interview eyewitnesses and take other steps to build your car accident case. We will use our years of experience to demonstrate the other driver’s fault and your crash-related losses.
In Las Vegas, injured car accident victims have no later than two years from their accidents to file related claims. This is the statute of limitations, or deadline, on most personal injury cases in Nevada. If you attempt to recover damages after two years have passed from the date of your distracted driving car accident, the courts will most likely refuse to hear your case.
With only a few exceptions to the rule, you will forfeit the right to hold someone else accountable and seek financial compensation for your losses if you file late. It is important to speak to an attorney about a potential claim as soon as possible to ensure you file within the required amount of time. A lawyer can make the filing process as easy and efficient as possible.
A successful distracted driving accident claim in Las Vegas could lead to a financial recovery for several of your related economic and noneconomic damages, including:
Discuss the potential value of your case before negotiating settlements with insurance companies. An attorney can give you an accurate idea of how much your claim may be worth.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident involving a distracted driver, our Las Vegas car accident attorneys can help you seek the justice and financial recovery that you deserve. Our texting and driving accident attorneys can guide you through the legal process from start to finish. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.
Our contact information is (702) 451-3900 for both our east office location (4520 South Pecos Rd., Suite 4, Las Vegas, NV 89121) and our west office location (10155 W. Twain Ave., Suite 100, Las Vegas, NV 89147). We also respond promptly to free case consultation requests submitted through our online contact form.
