After a Golf Cart Crash in Tempe, Talk With a Golf Cart Accident Lawyer

A golf cart has no airbags, usually no doors and often no seatbelt. At low speed that sounds harmless, but a tight turn, a downhill roll or a bump can throw a passenger onto pavement or turf, and a collision with a car can be a collision with a vehicle many times its weight. The injuries we hear about are head injuries, broken bones, and in worse cases neck and back injuries.

The second difference is the paperwork. A car crash has a standard insurance setup. A cart might be covered by a homeowner's policy, an auto policy, a course or venue's liability coverage, a rental company's policy, or none of the above. Part of our job is finding out which, and that depends on the wording of the policy and the facts. Valley Accident Law is a Scottsdale firm with no Tempe office. We start by phone and the first call is a free case review.

Rules about where a cart may be driven can vary by street, by property and by community, so we read the rules that apply to the actual spot instead of guessing. We will not tell you something is legal or illegal in Tempe until we have checked the specific road or property.

An ATV accident in Tempe raises a similar set of questions about ownership, supervision and equipment. One Arizona rule we can state: a helmet is required for riders under 18 on motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and motor-driven cycles, and operators need eye protection unless there is a windshield (A.R.S. 28-964). Whether an injured person followed that rule is something an insurer may raise, and fault is decided on the facts. Arizona uses pure comparative fault (A.R.S. 12-2505), so shared blame lowers a recovery but does not bar it.

A golf cart lawyer in Tempe often finds that the first step is a phone call to an insurer who is already asking for a recorded statement. Be careful about agreeing to one before you understand your legal rights. Our guide to talking with insurance adjusters explains what they ask and why.

If a claim reaches court, claims of $10,000 or more go to Maricopa County Superior Court and smaller claims to justice court, with small claims up to $5,000. We start by phone, about 8 miles from downtown Tempe by road. We also have cart pages for Mesa, Chandler and Scottsdale, and the statewide guide to an Arizona golf cart accident lawyer. For more on Tempe claims generally, see our personal injury lawyer in Tempe page. You pay no attorney fee unless we recover money for you.