You must know what to do if you’re injured in a skiing accident and need compensation. First, take care of your health and take steps to compile evidence to support your injury claim.
Then, connect with a Salt Lake City skiing accident lawyer who will fight to maximize your settlement or trial award and get you justice.
Take Care of Your Health
The top concern if you’re injured in a skiing accident is your health. You may need emergency transport to a facility. Even if you don’t, you must go to a doctor right away. Have your injuries documented and treated, and comply with all your doctor’s instructions.
This prompt treatment protects you from a worsened condition. For example, ski accidents can cause brain trauma. Sometimes, symptoms do not immediately appear. Delaying care puts you in danger of more serious, even deadly complications.
Prioritizing your health also supports your potential injury claim. The at-fault party could otherwise take the opportunity to blame your injuries on your choice to postpone care. They could argue the injury is not worth damages, or at least not the amount you demand, if it did not require immediate attention. Documentation of your early diagnosis and treatment serves as valuable evidence.
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Preserve Accident Evidence
If you can, start collecting evidence at the accident site. If you are skiing with a companion, enlist their help. Get contact information from accident witnesses. Take photos and videos. Capture the overall scene and focus on elements that could have contributed to your crash. There may be uncleared obstacles, missing warning signs, or other dangers.
Sometimes, accidents involve other skiers or snowboarders. Be sure to get their contact details too. If you speak to them, watch your words. Don’t say anything that could be interpreted as an admission of fault. You need convincing evidence to win a Utah personal injury case, and an attorney can use what you gather at the scene when building your claim.
Report the Skiing Accident and Injury
If you’re injured in a skiing accident, you must report the accident and injuries to the ski facility. Speak to a manager, supervisor, or owner and fill out an accident report. This document can also serve as critical evidence, especially if your situation is a Utah premises liability injury case.
Premises liability claims apply to victims of injuries sustained on someone else’s property. Property owners owe their guests or clients a duty of care. This duty requires them to keep their properties free of known hazards and to warn visitors of potential dangers.
The ski facility owners and managers must keep the slopes and chairlifts safely maintained, mark dangerous trails, and implement safety patrols to enforce safety regulations. If their failure leads to your accident, you can fight to hold them accountable for the resulting damages.
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Get a Lawyer if You’re Injured in a Skiing Accident
Connect with a Salt Lake City ski accident attorney after you’re injured in a ski accident and have secured your safety. The filing deadline for personal injury claims in Utah is typically four years. If you miss the deadline, you risk losing the chance to fight for justice and secure compensation.
Though 4 years is a generous amount of time, forming a legal partnership swiftly serves you best. Accident investigations are more likely to produce evidence when they occur closer to the accident. Once your attorney determines the liable party and compiles supporting evidence, they can file the claim. A prompt filing also speaks to the urgency of your claim, further working in your favor.
You must file against the actual liable party to see a successful outcome. You might think another skier’s dangerous action caused the accident. This assessment could be right, but the fault could rest with the facility if unsafe terrain caused that skier to lose control. An attorney has the resources to uncover the source of negligence and file appropriately.
A Lawyer Knows How Utah’s Negligence Laws Work
An experienced attorney understands how Utah’s comparative negligence system can affect your eligibility to file for compensation and the amount you can collect. The Utah Code 78B-5-818 states that victims must be less than 50% to blame for the incident to be eligible.
If you meet the standard for eligibility but still bear some responsibility, your compensation will be reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to you. To avoid a payout entirely, or at least reduce it, the at-fault party’s representatives will mount efforts to inflate your culpability. Your attorney will anticipate these attempts and prepare to discredit them.
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Fight to Maximize Your Skiing Accident Compensation
Skiing accidents can cause debilitating injuries. Bone breaks, ACL tears, and other soft tissue damage are common. These injuries usually heal, but still require time away from working and earning, and demand costly medical care. They also cause pain and emotional distress. All of these losses warrant compensation.
Unfortunately, some skiing injuries, such as spinal cord damage and traumatic brain injuries, cause long-term devastation. According to the 2023/24 U.S. ski season catastrophic injury fact sheet, there were 49 of these life-changing injuries recorded over a recent year. For these victims, income loss, medical care, and suffering are permanent fixtures in their lives.
Whatever injuries you sustain, you deserve to collect the highest damages that can be recovered in a personal injury claim. We will fight to make that happen, working to recoup your medical costs, lost wages, and any other expenses related to the accident. Your pain, suffering, and diminished quality of life also matter, and we will factor their value into the compensation demand.
We’re Here to Help You Recover and Rebuild
Siegfried & Jensen knows what to do if you’re injured in a skiing accident. We’re here to support your recovery, get you back on a secure financial footing, and help you start rebuilding your life.
Reach out to arrange a free case review with an experienced Salt Lake City skiing accident lawyer. We’re ready to take your call.
Call or text (801) 266-0999 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
