Some car accidents in Westminster, CO cause serious harm that goes far beyond property damage to a car. When a car accident causes injuries, it has physical and economic consequences for the injury victims as they struggle to heal from injuries that may make it difficult to work and accomplish their normal daily routines.
There were 688 car accident fatalities in Colorado in 2024, causing devastating losses to their families. Many other car accidents leave seriously injured survivors who require extensive medical care. These economic losses and physical pain, suffering, and disability are the “damages” in a Colorado car accident claim.
Injuries are expensive as well as painful, often causing medical bills to come due at the same time that the injury victim cannot return to work in their previous capacity because of their medical appointments, rehabilitation, recovery time, or a new disability caused by the crash. While nothing can erase the personal injury and trauma, a successful claim recovers compensation for damages such as the following:
Tragically, a significant percentage of car accidents cause fatalities, including in Colorado. When a car accident causes wrongful death to a motorist through no fault of their own, the closest surviving family member can file a wrongful death claim. In Colorado, only a spouse may file a wrongful death claim within the first year following the death.
After that year, another close surviving family member or the representative of the decedent’s estate may file a claim for wrongful death benefits such as funeral and burial costs and the lost wages and benefits of the decedent.
Obtaining compensation for damages in a fault-based accident state like Colorado requires determining the cause of the accident, the negligence that led to it, and the liable party. Then, an injury victim’s attorney files a car accident claim against the liable party and negotiates for the largest possible settlement for their damages.
In most Westminster car accident cases, a careless or reckless driver is responsible for the damages; however, in some cases, both drivers may share a portion of the fault. A driver may recover compensation for their damages as long as they are less than 50% at fault.
Less commonly, other entities may be liable for damages or share fault, such as negligent road maintenance agencies, a city’s road-planning agency, or the manufacturer of a defective auto part.
Proving liability for damages in a car accident claim and compiling a carefully calculated list of damages to recover the maximum available compensation requires experienced legal representation. Call the car accident attorneys in Westminster at Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C., so we can take prompt action to recover compensation for your car accident damages.
