Tulsa Car Accident Lawyer
Have you suffered a serious injury in a car crash in Tulsa, OK? Car wrecks are a leading cause of accidental injury and death in Oklahoma. They leave thousands of people each year with potentially life-changing injuries. If someone else’s negligence caused your accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering, lost earnings, medical bills, and more.
For over 30 years, McGuire Law Firm has represented accident victims and their families in Tulsa County. Contact our law office today for a free case review with an experienced Tulsa car accident lawyer ready to help you. We put more than 60 years of combined legal experience to work on your behalf.
How McGuire Law Firm Can Help After a Car Accident in Tulsa
If you were in an accident in Tulsa, Oklahoma, you should remember, the insurance adjuster is not on your side. The profit-driven insurance company does not care how seriously you were hurt. Its only focus is avoiding or minimizing its payouts. Insurance adjusters may use your statements against you, blame you for your accident, minimize the severity of your injuries, or claim you can return to work when you know you cannot.
You deserve a compassionate Tulsa personal injury lawyer who can help you level the playing field. That’s where McGuire Law Firm comes in. Our founding attorney, Kent R. McGuire, has more than 30 years of personal injury experience, including thirteen years as an insurance company defense lawyer. Our small family-run law firm knows how to stand up to insurance companies and deliver big results for our clients.
Martindale-Hubbell has awarded us the prestigious AV Preeminent rating for our dedication to our clients. Likewise, the National Academy of Jurisprudence has awarded us the Premier 100 designation, a distinction shared by less than 1% of the 1.2 million practicing attorneys in the U.S.
Choose McGuire Law Firm to represent you, and we will:
- Give you compassionate support and sound legal advice to help you make important decisions about your case
- Handle all communications and administrative tasks
- Conduct an investigation to gather and interpret evidence to build your case
- Work with specialists as needed for expert testimony
- Calculate the true value of the damages you sustained for more effective negotiations
- Negotiate on your behalf to seek the full compensation you deserve
- Present a compelling case to a jury if the insurance company refuses a fair settlement offer
You do not need to fight the insurance company alone. Resist the temptation to accept the insurance company’s initial offer. Once you accept, you cannot go back for more. Contact McGuire Law Firm today to schedule a free consultation with a Tulsa car accident lawyer prepared to fight for you.
How Common Are Car Accidents in Tulsa, OK?
The Oklahoma Highway Safety Office reported 73,267 crashes in Oklahoma in 2019. Over 9,760 of these crashes caused fatalities or injuries. These accidents resulted in 12,304 injuries and 640 deaths. Nearly one-third of people killed in fatal accidents were not wearing a seat belt.
Tulsa County is the second-largest county in Oklahoma after Oklahoma County. It had 13,388 reported traffic accidents in 2019, involving 35,046 people. The county had an accident rate of 102.74 crashes per 5,000 residents, higher than the Oklahoma average of 92.58 crashes/5,000 people. Still, there are seven counties with a higher crash rate, including Oklahoma, Noble, Garfield, Love, and Cotton.
Of the 13,000 crashes in Tulsa county, 4,786 were injury crashes, and 50 were fatal accidents. Over 300 of the injuries were serious, around 1,710 were minor, and 2,771 were reported as “possible injuries.”
Of the 50 fatal accidents in the county, 36 occurred in the City of Tulsa and killed 38 people. The city had 9,789 of the county’s 13,400 crashes.
What Is My Car Accident Case Worth?
The value of all car accident claims are highly dependent on a range of unique factors. The value of your economic damages is often used as a starting point to value your case, but other factors can indirectly influence your claim’s value.
Important factors that influence the value of your case include:
- The severity of your injuries and the type of injuries you sustained
- How clear liability is and the strength of your negligence case
- The amount of insurance coverage available
- Whether you contributed to your accident or injuries
- Whether you are able to return to work or need future medical treatment
- How your quality of life and abilities will be affected
- Whether you were disfigured
- Whether your case settles or goes to court and the circumstances of the crash
The best way to understand the value of your case is to consult with an experienced Tulsa personal injury attorney. There is simply no calculator, formula, or chart that can tell you what your case is worth without an adequate investigation.
What Kind of Damages Are Available to Accident Victims?
There are three broad types of damages you may recover after a motor vehicle accident in Oklahoma:
- Economic damages are almost always available if your claim is successful. These damages cover the financial costs you incurred due to your accident, including property damage, medical bills, and lost wages.
- Non-economic damages compensate you for personal, non-financial losses after an accident, such as pain and suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life.
- Punitive damages are a rare type of compensation. A jury may award punitive damages to punish the defendant rather than compensate you for your damages.
Under Oklahoma law, you are entitled to seek compensation for the following:
- Property damage
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Diminished or lost earning capacity
- Non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement
At McGuire Law Firm, we will fight tirelessly to seek the full compensation you deserve. We will calculate the full value of the damages you suffered, including your future losses. Do not allow insurance companies to make low settlement offers that do not fully compensate you for your losses. Once a settlement is final, you cannot pursue more compensation in the future — even if the settlement was unfair.
Can I Recover Compensation if I’m Being Blamed for a Car Accident in Oklahoma?
You are still entitled to recover compensation if you are found partially at fault for a car crash in Oklahoma. The state uses a modified comparative negligence doctrine with a 51% bar. This means you are entitled to recover compensation unless you are 51% or more at fault for the crash. In this case, you cannot recover anything from the other party.
Even if you are under 51% at fault, your damages can be reduced to account for your share of blame. For example, if you are found 30% at fault and suffered $40,000 in damages, your recovery will be reduced by $12,000 (30%).
It’s crucial to work with an experienced Tulsa car accident injury lawyer if you are being blamed for your accident. Insurance companies use contributory fault to their advantage. They will try to shift as much blame to you as possible because it reduces their liability. If they can shift 51% or more of the blame to you, they do not have to pay anything.
Note that you can be assigned fault for any behavior that contributed to the crash and for your failure to mitigate damages. For instance, if you did not seek prompt medical care or failed to follow your doctor’s advice, you can be assigned more liability for your damages.
We’ll Fight to Recover Compensation for All of Your Car Accident Injuries
At McGuire Law Firm, we fight for car accident victims and their families who have suffered all types of injuries, including:
- Brain injuries
- Back injuries
- Catastrophic injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Amputation
- Internal injuries and organ damage
- Seat belt injuries
- Chest injuries
- Soft tissue injuries
- Nerve damage
- Broken bones
Do not let the insurance company minimize the severity of your injuries. Contact our law office today to discuss your case with a Tulsa personal injury lawyer who can help you.
What Causes Most Car Accidents in Tulsa, Oklahoma?
Many factors contribute to car accidents, but almost 94% are caused by human error.
The 2019 Oklahoma Highway Safety Crash Facts Book specifically examined the following crash factors:
- Drunk driving. Over 160 of the 640 traffic deaths in Oklahoma in 2019 were related to alcohol. Fifteen of the fatal crashes in Tulsa County were linked to alcohol, and there 571 alcohol-related crashes total in the city. The City of Tulsa had eight fatal drunk driving crashes and 430 total drunk driving accidents.
- Speeding. About one out of six traffic deaths in the state were related to unsafe speed. In Tulsa County, 2,355 crashes were caused by speeding. Around 2,045 of these accidents occurred in the City of Tulsa.
- Distracted driving was a factor in 1,318 crashes in Tulsa County, 864 of which were in the City of Tulsa in 2019.
However, other forms of human error and negligence are also frequently to blame for car crashes.
Examples of other crash causes include:
- Failing to yield the right-of-way
- Tailgating
- Improper lane use and lane change
- Inattentive driving
- Misjudging stopping distance
- Unfamiliarity with the road
McGuire Law Firm will help you investigate your crash to determine how it happened. This is crucial to proving causation and negligence and to recovering the compensation you deserve.
How Do I Prove Negligence After a Car Accident in Tulsa, OK?
Recovering compensation from the person responsible for your car crash requires proving they were negligent.
There are four elements to negligence in a personal injury lawsuit:
- The other party owed you a duty of care.
- They breached their duty.
- The breach of duty caused the accident.
- You suffered actual damages as a result.
The easiest element to prove is that you were owed a duty of care. All motorists owe others a duty to obey traffic laws, drive with reasonable care, and exercise caution. Proving causation, i.e., that the breach of duty caused the accident, is much harder. For instance, the other driver may have breached their duty by speeding, but you must also show that their speeding was likely a primary factor in the collision. Just because a driver was violating a traffic law at the time of the crash does not mean that the violation necessarily caused the collision.
To prove negligence and causation, McGuire Law Firm will conduct a thorough investigation into your crash. We will gather evidence and work with experts to interpret it and create the strongest possible negligence claim.
Evidence may include:
- The police report, which may include the responding officer’s observations and opinion about the cause of the accident
- Whether any arrests were made or citations issued, such as a DUI arrest or speeding ticket
- Witness statements
- Traffic, security, and dash cam footage
- Photos of the accident scene and vehicle damage
- Expert testimony based on evidence recovered from the scene
At McGuire Law Firm, we have more than 60 years of combined experience building cases against negligent drivers. We will give your case the personal attention it deserves.
How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit After a Car Accident in Oklahoma?
You have a limited amount of time to file a personal injury lawsuit after a car accident. The statute of limitations in Oklahoma is two years for personal injury cases. You will lose your right to recover any compensation from the at-fault party if you miss this deadline. The same 2-year statute of limitations applies to wrongful death claims.
If your accident involved a government employee or entity, you have an even shorter amount of time to file a claim.
It’s crucial to consult with an experienced Tulsa car accident attorney as soon as possible. Your accident may require a careful investigation, expert testimony, and thorough analysis of your damages. Delays can make it difficult to gather the evidence needed to build a strong negligence claim.
Contact a Tulsa Car Accident Lawyer for a Free Consultation
If someone else caused your crash, you should not have to battle for the compensation you are owed. Unfortunately, that is exactly what many car accident victims in Tulsa face after a crash. An experienced Tulsa car accident lawyer can help you fight back against the insurance company’s tactics and build a strong claim for damages.
Contact McGuire Law Firm today for a free consultation. We work on a contingency fee basis. You pay no out-of-pocket costs or attorney’s fees unless we recover money for you.
