ATV Accident Lawyers Edmonton

Riding all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) is a favourite local pastime. Residents of Alberta own nearly a quarter of the country’s off-highway vehicles, despite accounting for roughly 12% of the national population. You may enjoy riding your ATVs with family and friends. Many Edmonton residents look forward through the cold winter months to the warmer summer weather in anticipation of opportunities to ride their quads, dirt bikes, and other kinds of ATVs. Nothing beats the thrill of an ATV.

As fun as riding an ATV is, they can also be dangerous. Many of these accidents involve a single ATV, while some are more complicated and can involve multiple ATVs. Some people injured in an ATV accident may be at fault for the accident. Some people, however, are not. If you are a passenger on an ATV or an innocent rider or pedestrian struck by a negligently driven ATV, then it is unlikely you are at fault for the accident.

If a negligent ATV rider injures you while engaging in any form of wrongful conduct while operating their off-highway vehicle, then you may have a legal claim against that rider. The negligent ATV rider could be liable to you for resulting damages. Contact our Edmonton ATV accident lawyers for immediate legal help if you have sustained serious injuries in an ATV accident in or around Edmonton, Alberta.

Negligence in ATV Accident Claims in Edmonton

Common forms of negligence that are frequently responsible for injury-causing ATV accidents near Edmonton include:

• Riding under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs
• Speeding
• Carrying passengers on single-rider vehicles
• Riding an ATV inappropriate for the operator’s age, weight, and experience level
• Straying from trails
• Operating the off-highway vehicle on highways
• Failing to use headlights while riding at night
• And more

Off-highway vehicle operators in Alberta must have liability insurance. Therefore, if you are injured by a rider’s negligence, the at-fault driver’s insurance policy should cover the costs associated with your injuries. Just like in motor vehicle accident cases, sometimes the at-fault rider is a family member or friend. The reason why statues are enacted that require liability insurance in certain situations – like ATV riding – is to ensure that victims of negligent riding have a source of compensation, whether the negligent driver is a family member or friend.

However, insurance companies are also allowed to use the full extent of the law to dispute the claims of injured ATV accident victims. If there were no witnesses present at the time of the collision, the insurance company might assert the accident was your fault even if it was not. Insurance companies frequently try arguing that the ATV accident was partially caused by wrongful actions committed by the injured accident victim. If they can prove that an accident victim was contributorily negligent, then the amount of damages they must pay could be drastically reduced.

How can our Edmonton ATV accident lawyers help with your lawsuit?

If you have been injured in an ATV accident, then you may face numerous challenges, including financial hardship. Faced with substantial financial losses resulting from their injuries, injured ATV accident survivors may feel overwhelmed and unsure of options for compensation that should be available to them.

Our lawyers are able to help you with your ATV accident in many ways. We deal with the insurance company so you don’t have to. We have knowledge and experience dealing with clients who have sustained serious injuries. We can help make sure that you are able to receive the treatment you need and, if there are barriers for you receiving that treatment, we can help remove those barriers. We are able to identify what evidence is important to prove your case. We can secure witness statements and other photographic or documentary evidence that will be necessary in your case. When it comes to medical evidence, the law requires expert opinions to prove what the injuries are and how the injuries have affected you. We can secure independent medical assessments with the right specialists to ensure you have the medical evidence you need to prove your case. We can negotiate with the insurance company for a fair settlement. If the insurance company is not offering you a fair settlement, we can take your case to trial.

By taking advantage of a cost-free, no-obligation first meeting with our lawyers, you could receive beneficial, case-specific legal advice and learn about options for economic recovery that might be open to you. Call Preszler Injury Lawyers today to book your free initial consultation with our Edmonton ATV accident lawyers.

Common injuries stemming from ATV accidents and what that means for your lawsuit

Due to the vulnerable nature of an ATV rider accidents involving ATVs can cause many varied types of injuries.

Some examples of injuries include:

1. Orthopaedic injuries;
2. Nervous system injuries;
3. Internal injuries;
4. Soft tissue injuries;
5. Chronic pain conditions;
6. Brain injuries;
7. Lacerations; and
8. Psychological injuries.

Some examples of orthopaedic injuries include broken bones and ligament tears. For example, many common types of injuries in ATV accidents include broken legs or broken arms. These can take the form of undisplaced fractures that require a cast or boot to heal, or displaced fractures that require surgery and the insertion of hardware such as rods and screws to hold the bone together for healing. Ligament damage affects the joints, such as the shoulder or knee. Orthopaedic injuries are typically observable on scans such as X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans or ultrasound scans. Since they are observable, they are sometimes called objective injuries, to differentiate them from the types of injuries that are difficult or impossible to observe on a scan.

Nervous system injuries can take many forms. They are frequently associated with injuries to the back. They can include orthopaedic injuries to the spine, or soft tissue injuries to the muscles and ligaments around the spine. The spine is part of the central nervous system, and transports signals to and from the brain to the extremities. Injuries to the nervous system such as the spine can result in nerve irritation with nerve pain travelling into the extremities. Depending on the location and nature of a nervous system injury, it can result in loss of bowl function, nerve pain, or even paralysis.

Your body has many internal organs and structures that can be injured in an ATV accident. Internal lacerations to the kidneys, liver or spleen, or even hernias can result from ATV accidents.

Soft tissue injuries are injuries to your muscles and ligaments. These injuries tend to be microscopic and not directly observable in scans. These types of injuries are common in ATV accidents and will typically be present in any serious accident. Soft tissue injuries are unpredictable and variable in how long it takes you to recover. Most soft tissue injuries fully resolve within weeks or months. Some, however, do not. These injuries become chronic and may never resolve. Since these injuries are hard to see, and are mostly based on self-reporting, your credibility in a claim is important whenever soft tissue injuries are being advanced. Insurance companies know you have the burden to prove your injuries and will hold you to that burden in ATV accident involving soft tissue injuries.

Brain injuries are physical injuries to your brain. A concussion is an example of a brain injury and is synonymous with a mild traumatic brain injury. Similar to soft tissue injuries, mild traumatic brain injuries are hard to impossible to detect in scans. That makes your credibility important as your words about your symptoms are the best and most direct evidence of your injuries. Also, like soft tissue injuries, insurance companies will hold you to your burden of proof to prove your concussion and may question your credibility.

Lacerations include the scraps and cuts you have experienced as a result of an ATV accident. Lacerations tend to be a more minor part of the claim at the end of the day because lacerations tend to be more superficial and typically heal quickly without complication. They are still important injuries, as photos of the lacerations taken shortly after an accident will illustrate some of the trauma you have experienced. They can also lead to scarring.

Psychological injuries are also common injuries in ATV accidents. If you have been in an ATV accident, then you have experienced a traumatic event that will stay with you in one form or another. Post traumatic stress disorder, or another type of anxiety disorder are the types of injuries we commonly see after an ATV accident. If you are unfortunate enough to develop chronic pain after an ATV accident, then we mgiht see additional psychological injuries surfacing including depression or somatic symptom disorder.

Compensation available for ATV accident victims in Edmonton

The broad category of damages available to victims of ATV accidents in Edmonton include:

1. Pain and suffering;
2. Loss of earning capacity;
3. Out-of-pocket expenses; and
4. Loss of housekeeping capacity.

Pain and suffering is a type of damage available to victims of somebody else’s negligence. The amount of pain and suffering damages you can get in a claim depends on the severity of your injuries to date, as well as an assessment of your future prognosis. Putting a dollar claim on someone’s pain and suffering is a not an act of science. Rather, your circumstances will be compared to past cases where the injuries appear similar to determine a range of possible damages a court might award.

Loss of earning capacity has a past and a future component. Past loss of earning capacity includes all the lost work you have incurred to date, but it also includes any lost opportunities for additional work, overtime, promotions, other jobs or educational activities etc. We look at all the real and substantial possibilities that might have happened had the ATV accident not occurred and put a number to those losses.

The future component of loss of earning capacity uses the same principles as the past but tries to look forward to what could have been with what is going to happen now given your injuries. This will also look at overtime possibilities, layoff possibilities, promotion possibilities, as well as other contingencies such as the possibility that you would have become independently sick or impaired even if the accident did not happen.

Out of pocket expenses are for things like treatment costs, parking, mileage, medical aids and braces. There is a future out-of-pocket claim as well for those expenses we expect you to incur int he future.

Finally, there is a loss of housekeeping capacity claim, that is sometimes put forward as a legally separate but similar claim called an in-trust claim. The idea of both types of claims is similar. A loss of housekeeping capacity recognizes that productive unpaid labour such as cooking and cleaning adds economic value to a household. It is unfair to the person who performs most household tasks if they are injured but not entitled to wage loss. Their contributions to household tasks usually allow other members of the household to perform remunerative work. As such, it should be valued in a way that recognizes its economic value. A similar type of claim, called an in-trust claim, is when you cannot perform your regular activities in your injured state, and a friend or family member steps up and goes beyond the regular, expected call of duty to care for you. In those circumstances, the court can award an in-trust claim that is awarded to recognize the labour contributions of the friend.

Book Your Free Initial Consultation With Our Edmonton ATV Accident Lawyers

Our lawyers are standing by to review your case and answer any questions you may have. By contacting our law firm today, you will have the opportunity to speak with a member of our legal intake team for free to go over your case details and ask any questions you may have. Get started with your free consultation today.