Were you recently involved in a car accident in Northern Colorado? Are you left without a vehicle, facing high medical bills and unable to work due to your injuries? Did you lose a loved one in a car crash? If so, do not despair. Instead, get help from a compassionate, skilled, and experienced Fort Collins car accident lawyer who will work hard to help you move past this difficult time. Get in touch with Steve Ray Law, PLLC in Fort Collins today.
Our Car Accident Attorneys Can Help You:
- Thoroughly investigating your case
- Documenting all of your physical, emotional and financial damages
- Dealing directly with insurance companies on your behalf
- Seeking full and fair compensation for you through a settlement or verdict
- Disbursing the funds you are owed in as efficient a manner as possible.
Attorney Steve Ray is a former Marine Corps judge and now fights for the rights of accident victims in Fort Collins and Northern Colorado. If you have been seriously injured in a car accident, he brings more than 35 years of legal experience and military discipline to pursuing your claim for compensation.
He will meet with you to discuss your case and, if a claim is possible, pursue the maximum financial recovery available. If we cannot recover money for you, you will pay nothing for our legal services.
It all starts by getting in touch with us by phone or through our online form. We can provide a free, timely and confidential legal consultation in Northern Colorado. Connect with us today.
What Steps Should You Take First After a Car Crash in Fort Collins?
As you move ahead after your auto accident in Fort Collins, we suggest that you take the following steps in order to protect your health and your legal rights.
Seek medical treatment. For the sake of your health – and your legal claim – your injuries should be diagnosed and documented as soon as possible.
Get a copy of the accident report. This report can serve as a starting point for the investigation of your claim. You can go to the police who responded to your crash or request a report online.
Gather all potential evidence. You should collect all crash scene photos, witness names, and bills and receipts for all of your accident-related medical treatment and other costs. You should also make sure you have a copy of your auto insurance policy.
Write down what you recall. It is always helpful to put down on paper everything you can remember about your accident. It will help to jog your memory as your case proceeds.
Don’t talk with the insurance company. You should never give a recorded statement or access to your medical records or accept a settlement offer from an insurance company unless you talk first with your lawyer.
Get in touch with us. From the moment we take on your case, we will protect you and your legal rights. We also will move as efficiently as possible to seek a positive outcome for you.How Can Our Fort Collins Car Accident Lawyers Help You?
At Steve Ray Law, PLLC, we know that you will have issues that need to be addressed right away after being involved in a crash. We want to help you.
Medical treatment – We can work with your health care insurance provider or treating physician to make sure that you get the medical care you need for your injuries while your legal case is being resolved.
We can also guide you towards other services in Fort Collins and the surrounding area that can help you to get through the challenges you are facing.
We will truly “have your back” and do whatever we can to alleviate the stress and burdens you are facing in the aftermath of an auto accident.
How Will We Investigate Your Fort Collins Car Accident?
As Steve Ray Law PLLC moves forward with handling your case, we will focus at first on the investigation of your auto accident. Our aim will be to determine liability and the amount which should be sought in damages.
Liability will depend on whether another’s negligence caused your crash. Examples of such negligence include:
- Speeding
- Tailgating
- Making a dangerous pass or failing to yield
- Turning without a signal
- Driving drunk or driving while impaired by drugs
- Driving while fatigued
- Driving while distracted by passengers, cell phones or text messaging
- Any other act that put others on or near the road in danger.
In order to determine legal liability, we will gather and analyze all pieces of evidence, including:
- Crash scene evidence (including photos and an inspection of the scene)
- All vehicles involved in the crash
- Electronic data recorder (EDR, or “black box”) information
- Witness statements
- The other driver’s cell phone records
- The other driver’s toxicology reports
- Surveillance or red light camera footage.
We often consult with experts in accident reconstruction who can help us to identify the causes of an accident and to prepare exhibits that illustrate an accident for the insurance company or for a jury.
Additionally, we can review your medical records and consult with medical and life-care planning experts to determine the nature and extent of your injuries and how they have impacted you.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Your Car Accident Injuries in Colorado?
It will be crucial to identify all of those who should be held liable for the physical, emotional, and financial damages you have suffered in a Fort Collins crash. Depending on the facts of your case, those parties may include:
- The other driver
- The other driver’s employer (if the driver was working at the time of the crash)
- The bar, restaurant or store owners who sold alcohol to a minor or visibly intoxicated person who hit you
- The auto manufacturers or automotive parts company who sold a defective product that caused your crash
- A government agency (or its contractor) who failed to design or maintain a safe road, leading to your accident.
A lawyer from Steve Ray Law, PLLC, also will need to examine whether your own negligence contributed to your crash. If so, you will not be barred from recovering compensation unless your fault was equal to or greater than the fault of the other driver or drivers in your crash.
What Can You Recover in a Colorado Car Accident Claim?
As we investigate and prepare your case, we will seek a recovery of all of the damages you have suffered as the result of your car accident. Under Colorado law, those damages may include:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Income you have lost while unable to work
- Diminishment of your future income due to an accident-related disability
- Pain and suffering, including physical harm, disfigurement, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life.
In some cases, punitive damages may be pursued as well. These damages may be available if you were harmed by another person’s especially egregious misconduct.
If you lost a loved one in a car accident in Colorado, we would seek a different set of damages on your behalf. This is known as a wrongful death claim. The compensation typically sought in such claims includes compensation for the loss of financial support that your loved one would have provided.
What Types of Insurance Can Cover Your Car Accident Injuries in Colorado?
Several years ago, Colorado moved to a “fault-based” system for recovering compensation after an auto accident. As a result, your first option after a crash is to seek a recovery of your damages through the at-fault driver’s liability insurance.
Under Colorado law, all drivers must carry this liability coverage in certain minimum amounts:
- $25,000 per person for bodily injury
- $50,000 per accident for bodily injury
- $15,000 per accident for property damage.
In many situations, a driver may have insurance that exceeds those minimum amounts.
However, we can also explore other coverage that may be available through your own auto insurance policy, including:
Medical payment (med-pay) coverage – Unless you have rejected it in writing, your own policy should cover at least $5,000 in medical expenses – regardless of who caused your wreck.
Other insurance coverage – We can also seek funds for you through other insurance coverage you may have. For instance, repairing or replacing your vehicle could be covered by your own collision coverage.
The role of your Northern Colorado lawyer from Steve Ray Law, PLLC, will be to seek the maximum amount available under the different insurance policies that are involved in your case.
Will Your Auto Accident Case Settle or Go to Trial?
The reality is that most of the auto accident cases that our firm handles for clients in Fort Collins and surrounding areas are resolved through settlements.
In a settlement, another party agrees to pay for your damages in exchange for being released from any future liability. It avoids the need to go to trial.
We will also closely evaluate any settlement offers and advise you on whether accepting the legal settlement would be in the best interest of you and your family. The decision of whether to accept a settlement, of course, will be yours to make.
If a settlement cannot be reached, our highly experienced trial lawyers will be ready to present your case in court, where a jury will determine whether you are entitled to a recovery and how much you should recover.
Keep in mind: Settlement negotiations may continue through trial, and a settlement could even be reached after a verdict is returned.
When we secure a settlement or verdict, we can take immediate steps to collect the amount, resolve any liens attached to your recovery and disburse the funds owed to you in either a lump sum or through a series of payments.
