Distracted driving causes many accidents throughout the United States and specifically in Alaska. While the smart phone is an amazing invention capable of some superior things, it is also clearly responsible for an uptick in accidents in Alaska and other parts of the planet. If someone fails to exercise such a reasonable level of care, such as driving while distracted, and you are injured as a result thereof, there are Attorneys In Anchorage Alaska able to help you recover compensation for your injuries, something that will help you and hopefully deter others from acting in such a dangerous manner.
So how do you prevail in a personal injury case? Simply, with the help of your Attorneys In Anchorage Alaska, you must prove two things: negligence and damages. But what does that actually entail?
“Negligence” claims are proven by demonstrating that a person or entity failed to exercise the degree of care a reasonable person in that situation would ordinarily use.
If you are driving a car and another person collides into you because he was on his phone or texting, this is negligence.
If a business owner failed to remove debris from the front of his store and you slipped and fell, this is negligence.
If a doctor prescribed you incorrect medication, this is negligence.
If an airline maintenance company failed to properly fuel a plan, causing a crash, this is negligence.
But proving negligence is not enough. As your Attorneys In Anchorage Alaska will tell you, “damages” must also be proven. In short, damages are injuries.
And in Alaska, there are two types of damages. “Economic” damages are made up of provable damages such as medical expenses, loss of income, rental cars, property damage and the like. These are fairly easily substantiated through invoices, receipts and other documentation.
“Non-economic” damages, however, take a little more work. Pain and suffering, loss of services, loss of consortium, etc., are subjective so that a judge or jury must decide the value of these losses. While medical records and other documents might serve as evidence of these non-economic damages, they must be accompanied by a story that describes how devastating these injuries were to you, how you were in too much pain to do anything you used to, how your spouse had to work doubly hard to make up for what you could no longer do.
And even if you can demonstrate negligence and damages, you also have to show “causation.” Indeed, if you cannot prove that the wrongful acts of the defendants caused your injuries, you cannot prevail at trial.
For these reasons, it is very important to retain a qualified personal injury attorney to give you the best chance at achieving a maximum recovery.
