Eric Shapiro is a highly successful and well-known personal injury and wrongful death attorney who represents individuals and family members who suffered harm as a result of someone else’s actions.
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Blog Post
Taxi-Related Personal Injuries: Frequently Asked Questions
Even taxi services that use experienced drivers and state-of-the-art technology can get involved in accidents, some of which may result in personal injuries. If you have suffered a painful injury that prevents you from earning a living or enjoying life, you may have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit against the responsible parties.
Since any kind of automotive personal injury case can include numerous complexities, you’ll need to understand how these cases work, from the assembly of relevant facts to the assignment of liability. Have a look at the answers to these frequently asked questions on taxi-related personal injuries.
1. What Kinds of Personal Injuries Can a Taxi Incident Cause?
A collision or other incident involving a taxicab can wreak havoc on the taxi’s occupants. If your cab slams on the brakes or collides with a solid object while you sit in the passenger seat, you can sustain such common auto accident injuries as whiplash, lacerations, fractured ribs, and impact damage to your arms or legs.
Face, neck, and head injuries commonly occur in pedestrians hit by vehicles, mainly due to direct impact with the vehicle’s hood or windshield. If a taxicab hits you, you may sustain a concussion, brain damage, multiple cuts, injured vertebrae, a broken jaw, or a dislocated shoulder among other serious injuries.
2. How Do Taxi-Related Personal Injuries Happen?
Taxi drivers may speed, weave through traffic, change lanes without signaling, or make sudden U-turns that trigger accidents. Drivers may also get distracted when using GPS devices or talking to dispatchers. In some cases, a poorly maintained taxicab may experience mechanical issues that cause or contribute to a personal injury accident.
Some taxi-related personal injuries have little or nothing to do with the taxi or its driver. For instance, a pedestrian who runs into the street or another vehicle that runs a red light may force the taxi driver to screech to a halt, injuring passengers.
3. How Do You Build Your Case as the Injured Party?
You should try to collect as much information as possible at the scene of the incident. Obtain insurance information from other parties involved, gather statements and contact information from witnesses, and take a photo or record video of the damage. Don’t forget to give a detailed account to the police.
Your attorney may combine this data with other evidence to determine whether you have a strong personal injury case. Additional evidence may include medical treatment records, medical expense documents, prescriptions for medication or therapy, and permanent disability ratings from qualified medical experts.
4. Who Do You Bring Your Personal Injury Lawsuit Against?
Don’t assume that you should target the taxi driver as the recipient of your lawsuit. Depending on the circumstances of your taxi-related personal injury, you may need to sue the driver of the taxicab, the taxi company associated with that driver and vehicle, a third-party driver, or some other individual or entity involved in the incident.
The issue of whether to sue the driver or the taxi company hinges on which party has insured the vehicle and the employment relationship between the driver and the company. It may also depend on whether you rode as a passenger in the taxi or actually got hit by the taxi, either while driving your own car or as a pedestrian.
If your cab got hit while you rode as a passenger, with the driver of the other vehicle at fault, you may find that the other driver lacks sufficient insurance coverage to compensate for your injury, so a lawsuit may be your best option.
5. How Do Arizona Courts View Personal Injury Liability?
Arizona assigns liability according to the principle of comparative negligence. In other words, if you hold 20 percent of the fault for the incident, then you cannot collect more than 80 percent of your requested compensation from the other parties, which may divide that remaining responsibility according to their relative fault.
Shapiro Injury Law (Formerly know as Shapiro Law Group)
can provide you with the legal expertise you need for your taxi-related personal injury case. Contact our office today.
