When one reviews a recent collection of jury verdict reports from Nevada civil trials, a striking pattern emerges that highlights the powerful role that Nevada vehicle negligence plays in the legal landscape of our state. A recent report by the legal publisher West's Jury Verdicts shows that of 21 recent civil legal actions in the state of Nevada, nine involved lawsuits around Nevada vehicle negligence cases. In Clark County, the figure was seven Nevada vehicle negligence suits out of only thirteen legal actions.
Another trend that makes itself evident is that Nevada vehicle negligence lawsuits often are decided in favor of the plaintiff. Out of the nine trials, only one resulted in favor of the defendant. Plaintiffs in the other eight Nevada vehicle negligence trials received jury awards totaling more than $300,000. The average award was jury verdict for the plaintiff in one of these Nevada vehicle negligence cases was $37,731; the largest award was for $74,651, and the smallest was for $9,000. An experienced Nevada vehicle negligence lawyer can thus help you to get a suitable compensation for the damage.
It should not surprise us that Nevada vehicle negligence cases often end up favorably for the injured party, nor that do the jury awards tend to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. It is thus necessary to hire a Nevada vehicle negligence attorney. Although it is easy to forget with our daily commute and the monotony of trips to the grocery store or our kids' soccer practice, the reality is that every day, hundreds of thousands of Nevadans with virtually no formal training and only a baseline certification of driving competence get behind the controls of large, multi-ton vehicles and operate them at speeds of 30, 40, 60 miles per hour. We have become so used to our participation in this mass transportation frenzy that we seek out other things to do -- we make phone calls, eat our lunch, fiddle with the radio, clip our toenails. The danger of this behavior is that we daily commit acts of Nevada vehicle negligence but only an unfortunate minority of us deals with the danger head-on, when it results in devastating accidents.
The verdicts discussed above were for injuries sustained in automobile accidents caused by Nevada vehicle negligence. Generally speaking, these incidents did not result in any loss of life, which is why the cases were litigated under a personal injury framework rather than as wrongful death trials. Unless the accident resulted in a permanent loss of quality of life or ability to work, or in a condition that will produce long-term or lifelong chronic pain, the damages deemed appropriate by the jury tend to compensate the victim for loss of property and money. We see this in the scale of the jury awards, which are roughly equivalent to the cost of serious but not life-saving medical interventions and major repairs to automobiles damaged when a car accident results from Nevada vehicle negligence.
No two motor vehicle accidents resulting from Nevada vehicle negligence are the same, but there are some "accident archetypes" that help us understand how to approach different tragedies and to analyze how current victims might be compensated based on how past accidents have played out. One tragically common fact pattern is when the at-fault driver is operating the car in a compromised state, such as while under the influence of drugs or alcohol or dealing with sleep deprivation. As we all know, conditions such as these impair our ability to drive safely, and when we make the choice to drive anyway we run the risk of being found responsible for Nevada vehicle negligence if we are involved in a motor vehicle accident. Other common cases include accidents caused when one driver exhibited excessive speed, did not use due care, or ignored posted warnings or special road conditions. In one recent Las Vegas case, a driver abruptly made a left turn with only a narrow clearance in front of a driver who was speeding in the oncoming direction. The oncoming driver swerved into oncoming traffic and hit the plaintiff head-on. The driver who had made the reckless turn was found to have harmed both other drivers in a chain-reaction collision due to his Nevada vehicle negligence.
If you or your family need legal advice in the wake of an accident involving Nevada vehicle negligence, contact us for a consultation at one of our Las Vegas offices.
About the Author:
James Blatt is a Las Vegas based legal consultant. He advises people who have been injured in a vehicle negligence case to take the help of an expert Nevada vehicle negligence lawyer.
