Spokane Car Accident Lawyer - Getting Compensated After an Injury - CCD Law

CCD Law of Spokane safeguards victims after they’ve been forced into car accidents and injured. We hold at-fault drivers and their auto insurance providers fully responsible for their negligence that leaves victims with painful injuries and medical debt. Contact a skilled Spokane Car Accident Attorney to get a free case consultation. It’s an easy, no-obligation way to determine how to hold an insurance company fully responsible for your hardships after a frightening accident.

Do I Need a Car Accident Lawyer?

If serious injuries are involved, you will often receive drastically more compensation with an experienced, local attorney than you would without one.

That said, not every accident or fender bender in Spokane or Spokane Valley requires an attorney. If your accident only involves vehicle damage, you may not need a lawyer’s help. Fortunately, there’s an easy, no-strings-attached way to determine if you could benefit from a Spokane Car Accident Lawyer’s help. Contact us for a free case review.

We will only offer our assistance to you if it is going to help you. While some scrapes and bruises heal easily, other accidents, especially interstate accidents, such as wrecks on I-90, often result in more severe, traumatic, and life-changing injuries. These outcomes lead to longer recoveries and higher doctor bills. This triggers car insurance companies to fight you even more to avoid having to take the blame.

We investigate your accident and collect the powerful evidence necessary to make sure the blame stays with the reckless driver who caused the collision. Then we will tenaciously pursue financial compensation so you can pay for your recovery and rebuild your life.

What To Do After an Injury in a Spokane Traffic Accident

Your actions after an accident should include a call to 911 no matter how minor you feel the incident is. Let officers write up a collision report and verify information from the at-fault driver. You should also let paramedics know where you are hurting. You must head immediately to the hospital if necessary.

There are a few other investigative details you can secure on the scene if you aren’t hurt too badly:

Take plenty of photos. Pull out your cellphone to capture the damage to cars, any property damage along the road, and your personal items. Take pictures of any visible injuries.
Discuss what happened with witnesses. Find out what they saw. Get their contact information.
Note if there may be any security cameras in the area that were rolling during your accident. Jot down the addresses or names of businesses that have cameras.
See your own doctor in the days that follow. Have the physician check any new pains that arise in the days after the collision. Follow all of the directions the doctor gives you and see any recommended specialists.
Don’t talk about what happened. Discussing fault in the accident or the severity of your injuries with the other driver or with their insurance representatives will hurt your case. Insurance companies can use your statements (especially recorded statements) as ammunition to cast doubt on your claim.
Call an established and well-regarded local law firm. You can forfeit valuable evidence and thousands of dollars in compensation when you don’t start preparing your case right from the start. Allow a skilled attorney to oversee the legal side of things for you while you focus on healing. This service provided by a personal injury attorney includes handling insurance companies and combating their tactics designed to rob you of compensation.

What Type of Support Can I Receive for the Pain I Suffer in an Accident?

Beyond the compensation for the medical bills, a serious injury comes along with, you should also receive support for the non-economic damages left in the wake of an accident.

You should also receive support for the pain you are forced to endure and may have to live with for a prolonged period. This can include physical pain from back strains, ligament tears, and broken bones. However, that pain also includes the mental trauma many collision victims experience. These types of damages are known as “pain and suffering.”

Patients can struggle with anxiety and depression while they must deal with a long, difficult recovery. They will definitely feel a loss of enjoyment of life if they lose their mobility and can’t enjoy hobbies and family activities as they once did. Impact victims may also have to cope with extreme PTSD symptoms and constantly have the moment of impact replaying in their heads.

Victims should receive monetary help to overcome the anguish that a careless accident and injury can cause. Your attorney would make sure these factors were considered when determining the size of your settlement check.

There are many other hardships that definitely have to be considered when deciding how much you and your family should receive:

The size of current medical bills and those expected in the months to come.
Estimates on costs for lifelong support for victims left with a permanent physical disability.
How many paychecks victims must forfeit while they can’t work.
The cost of travel and the hardship of getting to medical appointments while victims are unable to drive and perhaps on crutches.
Wrongful death benefits for families who lose a loved one to a tragic car collision. Close relatives, such as a spouse or children of the victim, may ask for financial help with funeral costs and any remaining medical bills. A wrongful death claim also seeks to protect the family financially in the future by replacing the wages and income the deceased can no longer provide to support close relatives.

Spokane Car Accident Dangers

Spokane drivers have gotten good at dealing with traffic congestion and staying out of the way of bad drivers. Unfortunately, motorists can’t always avoid the mistakes of others. A distracted driver might ram a car from behind at one of the stop lights on Division. A reckless driver might veer over the center line on Sprague causing a life-threatening head-on impact.

Generally, accidents happen for two reasons. They occur because motorists aren’t watching the road. Or when motorists are acting recklessly, causing them to lose control of their cars, SUVs, or Trucks.

These are some of the most common causes of accidents in Spokane:

Speeding
Distracted Driving
Drivers Using Cellphones
Switching Lanes Without Looking
Aggressive Driving
Road Rage
Driver Alcohol or Drug Use
Anxious Drivers Attempting Left Turns
Drivers Blowing Through Stop Signs and Red Lights
Drivers Not Paying Attention to Traffic or Road Construction Slowdowns
Semi-Trucks Taking Up More Than One Lane

When drivers make these errors in judgment and cause collisions, they are liable for the damage they cause. This can include the costs to repair vehicles and property. It can include the medical bills that victims collect while they are lying in a hospital bed. At-fault drivers also have a duty to help victims stay afloat financially while their injuries prevent them from working and earning a paycheck.

Unfortunately, car insurance companies can work harder to pin the blame (and costs) for an accident on someone else. This is done instead of providing assistance to injured victims who need help the most. It’s why some car accident victims will need a lawyer’s help to avoid being made to wait and possibly even denied recovery help that’s only fair.

Read up on the car insurance tactics you may be hit with after a car accident.

How Many Car Accidents Happen in Spokane?

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) reports that Spokane has averaged 3,854 car accidents a year over a five-year span (2020-2024).

Spokane saw fewer car accidents in 2024 than in recent years with the figure at 3,679 crashes.

Unfortunately, the number of fatal crashes was higher than the two previous years. These accidents don’t just represent the tragedy of a lost life. Fatalities also represent families who lose loved ones, lost friends, and a great loss for the local community.

Overall, Washington documented 46,505 car accidents in 2024. At least 352 of those accidents involved a fatality.

Spokane County figures showed the county, including Spokane Valley, Cheney, Fairwood, Mead, and Airway Heights, was the scene for 6,648 traffic accidents, with at least 52 of those crashes involving a fatality.

Learn more about what Spokane car accident data shows by reading The CCD Law collision study.

Spokane Traffic Laws to Keep Drivers Safe

Washington enforces the state’s many traffic ordinances to try to keep our roads safer for travel. Spokane authorities follow these laws and enforce them.

One of the biggest causes of Washington Accidents is distracted driving. Lawmakers have attacked the problem by making it illegal for drivers to hold a cell phone while driving. Drivers must use hands-free devices. If Spokane Police Officers see you holding a phone, even while stopped at a red light, they can pull you over and ticket you. New drivers with instruction permits can’t use cellphones, even if they are hands-free, unless it’s an emergency.

The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) explains that you can’t use a cellphone and then define what’s considered “using” one:

RCW 46.61.672 Using a personal electronic device while driving.

(1) A person who uses a personal electronic device while driving a motor vehicle on a public highway is guilty of a traffic infraction and must pay a fine as provided in RCW 46.63.110(3)…

…(c) “Use” or “uses” means:

(i) Holding a personal electronic device in either hand or both hands;

(ii) Using your hand or finger to compose, send, read, view, access, browse, transmit, save, or retrieve email, text messages, instant messages, photographs, or other electronic data; however, this does not preclude the minimal use of a finger to activate, deactivate, or initiate a function of the device;

(iii) Watching video on a personal electronic device.

Another state law instructs that the posted speed limit isn’t always the speed limit. Drivers must adjust for conditions, and in Spokane, that would include taking action during snowy and icy conditions.

Drivers can be charged in winter weather accidents even if they skidded on ice and into another vehicle. They’d be responsible if they didn’t slow down enough for road conditions and weren’t able to stop to prevent an impact.

RCW 46.61.400 Basic Rule and Maximum Limits.

No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing. In every event speed shall be so controlled as may be necessary to avoid colliding with any person, vehicle or other conveyance on or entering the highway in compliance with legal requirements and the duty of all persons to use due care.

Confusion at Spokane 4-way stop signs can also cause confusion and lead to accidents. The state instructs the driver who stops at the intersection first to go first. It also covers the right-of-way. when cars arrive at virtually the same moment.

RCW 46.61.180 Right-of-Way at Stop Signs

(1) When two vehicles approach or enter an intersection from different highways at approximately the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right.

But with an eye on safety, lawmakers also instruct drivers to always yield to a car that’s already in the intersection, even those drivers who go before their turn. It’s more important to avoid accidents than worry about what’s fair.

Car Accident FAQ

How long do I have to file a car accident injury claim in Washington?

Three years. Victims have three years from the date of a car accident to file, but they shouldn’t wait. Alert your lawyer as soon as possible. Your lawyer needs to collect evidence while it’s still available and find witnesses before they become harder to locate.

What If I Can’t Afford to Pay a Good Spokane Car Accident Attorney?

Paying CCD Law shouldn’t be one of your worries while you recover from an accident. Our car accident lawyers don’t charge anything upfront, and we only get paid if we win your case. Then, you still don’t have to touch your savings to cover our fee. After a win for you, our fee is paid out of the money that a car insurance company must provide to you and your family.

Can you File both a Civil Suit and a Wrongful Death Claim After a Family Member Dies in an Accident?

A wrongful death claim is a civil lawsuit. In Washington, the victim’s family seeks a wrongful death action when someone’s negligence has contributed to the death of a loved one. A legal representative for the estate asks the negligent party’s insurance provider for financial support. This support is intended to cover hardships like the cost of a funeral, ambulance fees, and emergency response charges. A wrongful death claim can also compensate the family for future hardships when the deceased can no longer provide guidance and monetary support. A civil claim, like a wrongful death lawsuit, is very different from a criminal case. Criminal charges generally result in the punishment of the guilty party after a criminal trial. A criminal verdict does not award any money to the family of the deceased victim. Only a civil case can earn families the support they need to protect themselves financially. The two cases are separate and families can earn compensation from a negligent party through civil proceedings even if the party isn’t found guilty of a criminal act.

What if the person who hit me lives in Idaho?

People from Idaho drive through Spokane Valley, Spokane and other parts of Washington on a daily basis. If you have been injured near Spokane you will want a Spokane car accident lawyer.

What if I was injured by a rental car or driver from Uber?

Turo, Lyft, Uber and other car sharing or ride sharing applications are great but present new challenges. If you are injured by a driver using one of these services, a taxi, or a classic car rental agency such as Enterprise or Budget you should still be able to be compensated.

Who causes accidents in Spokane?

Many collisions in the Washington, Idaho, and the rest of the United States are a result of the negligent actions of a driver. Negligence can be anything from driving on bald tires to driving while intoxicated or being distracted. Distracted drivers could be texting, watching Snapchat, eating fast food, or even playing with their radio instead of looking at where they are going. Sometimes there are additional contributing factors to accidents such as road defects. It is important after any serious injury to have an experienced attorney look at all aspects involved in the wreck. Rear end accidents, head on collisions and T-Bone accidents are very different.

Should I speak to the other party’s insurance company after an accident?

Most insurance companies have one thing in mind when contacting you after an accident and that is to pay out as little money as possible. If there are injuries or fatalities involved in the accident do not speak to them at all without consulting an attorney.

What if I am partially at fault in the car accident?

Washington is one of the few states which has adopted pure comparative negligence. If you are injured and partially at fault or even mostly at fault you may still be able recover damages due to the percentage of fault another driver has caused.

Does it matter if tickets were issued?

Traffic citations are unsupported opinions of police officers that a traffic offense occurred. Traffic court proceedings generally aren’t considered to be reliable and thorough enough to be used against you in a personal injury case.

Will my car accident case need to go to trial?

Unlike some settlement mill style attorneys, our highly trained personal injury lawyers and staff will work closely with you to understand the circumstances surrounding your accident. With the help of expert witnesses, including accident reconstructionists and medical specialists, we will build a strong case supported by facts. Our firm is prepared to fight for your rights, while the majority of cases are settled without a trial, we will not hesitate to bring your case to trial to obtain a fair and favorable outcome in your case.

Contact a Car Accident Lawyer Serving Victims in Spokane and Across Eastern Washington

After a serious accident involving a reckless driver, please speak with an experienced Spokane Car Accident Lawyer. Your attorney battles frustrating auto insurance companies to make sure you and your family receive the maximum in compensation.

Crary, Chuang & Domanico, P.S., has been protecting accident victims for over 70 years. You can trust CCD Law attorneys to give you an honest assessment of your case and tell you what you should receive in financial support. We then help you get the full attention of unhelpful car insurance companies and demand what’s fair for what you’ve been through.

Contact CCD Law to schedule a free, no-obligation case consultation. We serve victims across Eastern Washington and are also licensed to represent victims in Northern Idaho after car accidents.