Tulsa Speeding Car Accidents: A Complete Guide

Speeding car accidents cause devastating injuries and often end in tragedy. In some cases, serious injuries are so severe they can lead to a lifetime of disability and chronic pain.

Tulsa speeding car accidents are easily prevented. When drivers choose to go over the speed limit, particularly ten miles or more over the legal limit, their actions go beyond negligence and are considered reckless.

Why is it Important to Have an Oklahoma Speeding Car Accident Lawyer?

Speeding car accident claims can be worth significantly more than other car accident claims. When a personal injury case has higher financial stakes, insurance companies are less likely to settle. The success of a speeding car accident claim will rest on the skill and experience of the car accident lawyer.

Speed-related car crasheades frequently result in tragedy, leaving family members behind to seek justice on behalf of the deceased through a wrongful death claim. Those who survive these particularly devastating collisions will often suffer catastrophic injuries.

A catastrophic injury refers to permanent or life-altering bodily damage. For example, car accident victims typically suffer some type of head injury.

At high rates of speed, a person may suffer a traumatic brain injury, leading to permanent loss of cognitive abilities and motor skills.

Catastrophic injuries require life-long medical care, increasing the financial stakes of a speeding accident claim. When injury victims suffer sever injuries due to speeding car accidents, they need a strong litigation attorney with years of experience.

At Graves McLain Injury Lawyers, our speeding car accident attorneys have a long track record of successfully litigating high-stake financial claims. Our law firm will:

• Fully investigate the claim with attention to detail
• Identify all liable parties
• Gather critical evidence supporting the seriousness of the injuries and proof of liability
• Speak to witnesses
• Accurately assess the value of a claim, including future estimates of medical care
• Prepare the extensive paperwork and file the claim within the deadlines
• Retain necessary medical experts and investigators
• Send demand letters, if necessary
• Negotiate a fair settlement

If an insurance adjuster refuses to offer fair compensation, we will aggressively advocate for our client’s best interests and fight to obtain the verdict they deserve. Our compassionate attorneys have been helping speed-related injury victims get the medical attention and resources they need to move forward with their life.

Are Speed-Related Car Accidents That Common in Oklahoma?

While Oklahoma has not released speed-related car accident data in recent years, national studies indicate excessive speeding is a growing problem. More than a quarter of fatal car accidents are caused by speeding every year. In addition, speed-related fatalities have increased by 17% in the last reporting year.

According to a newly released comprehensive driving study, speeding resulted in the deaths of:

• 7% of large truck drivers
• 18% of passenger car motorists
• 31% of motorcyclists
• 14% of small truck drivers

Over the last two decades, more than half of all car accidents have been caused by speeding motorists. Tens of thousands of people are seriously injured each year.

Excessive speeding can cause significant damage.

Why Do Speeding Car Accidents Lead to Serious Injuries to You?

Speeding car accidents result in some of the most severe and deadly car crash injuries. According to a crash speed study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

• Small increases in speed can significantly increase the risk of death or serious injury
• Higher speeds, notably over 50 miles per hour, render vehicle safety features ineffective
• At 40 miles per hour, vehicles suffer minor exterior damage
• At 50 miles per hour, the integrity of the vehicle is compromised and can collapse into itself

Common speed-related injuries often include:

• Spinal cord damage
• Loss of limb or amputation
• Severe head injuries or traumatic brain injuries
• Lacerations
• Internal organ damage
• Broken and dislocated bones

Serious injuries from speeding car accidents can be life-altering. A driver’s reckless behaviour can impact a negligence injury claim.

Why are Reckless and Negligent Drivers considered different?

The difference between a reckless driver and a negligent driver is the intent to cause harm. While both types of behaviour can cause serious injuries, willful acts of harm may entitle the victim to punitive damages:

• Negligent Driver: Negligent driving refers to accidental acts of harm (e.g., failing to use a turning signal, falling asleep at the wheel)
• Reckless Driver: Reckless driving refers to acts of harm that are knowable and foreseeable (e.g., excessively speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs)

Every Tulsa motorist is required to operate their vehicle with a basic level of consideration and safety towards other drivers. A negligent motorist drives carelessly.

Whether negligent drivers forget to put the parking brake on their car up a hill or fail to yield the right-of-way, the act of harm is unintentional.

Reckless motorists understand the consequences of their actions.

A reckless driver understands the potential for harm yet continues to engage in dangerous behaviour. Whether the motorist runs a red light or speeds through a roadside construction zone, the potential for significant damage is enough to qualify as intent to do harm.

During a Tulsa speeding car accident claim, the distinction between negligent driving and reckless driving has a profound effect on the value of an injury claim. Most damages are awarded based on the extent an accident victim suffers as a result of the collision.

However, punitive damages are awarded as monetary punishment in a civil case.

What Remedies Are Available in a Speeding Car Accident Claim?

Remedies in a speeding car accident claim largely depend on the severity of injuries, property damage, and pain and suffering the accident victim has endured.

Some of the most common remedies, i.e., damages, in a speeding car accident include:

• Full compensation for medical bills and expenses: Medical debt is one of the leading reasons for bankruptcy in America. Healthcare costs can skyrocket into the millions for:
  • Inpatient care and hospital stay
  • Surgeries
  • Medical equipment
  • Home modifications
  • Ambulance
  • Physical therapy
  • Occupational therapy
  • In-home services (e.g., wound care, continuing physical therapy)
• Lost wages if you cannot work: When people are seriously injured, medical debt is not the only economic burden they can experience. Recovering from a speeding car accident may take several weeks or months. With longer healing times, an injury victim could potentially miss months of earnings.
• Loss of future income: If a speeding car accident victim suffers life-altering injuries, they may not be able to return to the same type of work they did prior to the collision. Some permanent injuries are not so debilitating as to warrant disability, but they may considerably reduce future job possibilities and opportunities.

  When injuries limit prospects for advancement or the length of time a person may have worked, they may be entitled to loss of future earnings potential.

• Disability: If an injury victim sustains permanent injuries and can no longer work in any capacity, they may be entitled to disability.
• Pain and suffering damages: The amount of pain or suffering an injury victim experiences is highly subjective. Some parameters to help calculate the potential worth of pain and suffering damages include:
  • The physical pain from the speeding car accident
  • Pain during medical treatment and surgery
  • Pain during the healing process
  • Painful ongoing medical treatments and therapy
• Emotional distress: While most accidents can cause some level of emotional response, emotional distress requires a specific diagnosis from a mental healthcare professional. Examples of qualifying mental diagnoses include:
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Anxiety and sleep disorder
  • Clinical depression

Speeding is a form of reckless driving and is considered more severe than a negligent accident.

Should I File a Wrongful Death Claim Against a Speeding Driver?

The compassionate lawyers of Graves McLain Injury Lawyers understand there are no words for losing those we love in an easily preventable accident. Grief can be overwhelming.

Speeding is a choice, not a negligent act. Our law firm fights for the rights of accident victims every day.

When accident victims cannot represent themselves, surviving family members can seek justice on their behalf.

By filing a wrongful death claim against a speeding driver, those responsible for the death of a close friend or relative one can be held accountable in civil court. In many cases, a tragic car crash can lead to both civil and criminal legal action.

In a wrongful death claim, surviving family members may be able to recover:

• Medical bills and treatment
• Funeral expenses
• Burial costs
• Loss of future income
• Pain and suffering damages
• Loss of consortium
• Possible punitive damages

No settlement or verdict can replace those we love. The goal of a wrongful death claim is to hold responsible parties accountable and deter others from engaging in similar reckless behaviour. The extent of wrongdoing by the guilty party is shown by the amount of compensation awarded.

When injury victims need serious results, contact the car accident attorneys of Graves McLain Injury Lawyers at (918) 359-6600 and schedule a free consultation.

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