Fort Wayne Reckless Driving Lawyer

How Our Fort Wayne Lawyers Prove Recklessness and Maximize Compensation

Establishing reckless conduct means connecting the driver’s choices, crash dynamics, and your injuries in a single, fact-driven record. Here’s how our team builds that foundation:

• Driver conduct and witness accounts. We review the crash narrative, citation data, and firsthand statements that show intentional risk-taking, such as racing through yellow lights, tailgating, or refusing to yield half the roadway.
• Scene and video evidence. Our investigators track nearby business and traffic cameras, map skid patterns, and analyze event data recorders to document speed and reaction windows.
• Behavioral aggravators. Prior violations, erratic phone use, and time-stamped texts often reveal distracted or aggressive driving. Indiana has identified mobile distraction as one of the most common risk multipliers in serious wrecks, which is why our attorneys reference proven research on the dangers of distracted driving when framing liability.
• Medical and economic documentation. We build a complete damages profile, including ER records, imaging, physical therapy notes, wage statements, and future-care projections, to show both the immediate and lifelong cost of reckless behavior.
• Expert testimony. Accident reconstructionists, biomechanical engineers, and vocational specialists reinforce your story with technical precision, translating physical data into clear, persuasive evidence for insurers and juries.

Every piece of documentation we collect (from police video to black-box data) fits into one argument: that the crash resulted from conscious disregard, not mere mistake. This approach positions your claim for full recovery, including punitive damage consideration where the facts support it.

Using this approach, we have recovered multimillion-dollar settlements for our clients, as you can see in our case results. If you were injured in a car accident caused by someone else’s negligence, we invite you to schedule a free consultation with a reckless-driving lawyer to learn more about your options.

Our Accident Attorneys

Tina M. Bell

Partner

Meet Lee C. Christie

Partner

Laura J. Conyers, RN

Associate

Meet Kevin P. Farrell

Of Counsel

Meet Kathy A. Lee

Retired

Meet Kyle L. Christie

Partner

Katherine M. Marshall

Partner

Christopher D. Simpkins

Associate

Speak with a personal injury lawyer today. Call: 317-488-5500

What to Do in the First 48 Hours After a Fort Wayne Reckless-Driving Crash

Timing is everything after a serious collision. The first two days often decide whether critical footage or witness contact survives long enough to support your claim.

1. Call 911 and secure your police report number. Once the Fort Wayne Police Department files your report, retrieve it directly through BuyCrash. The report establishes time, location, and officer observations that shape both liability and insurance negotiations.
2. Document the crash scene thoroughly. Take photos of your vehicle, visible injuries, and road layout. Include skid marks, debris, and signs of impact such as broken guardrails or scattered glass. If you notice nearby cameras at intersections or storefronts, list them immediately; most systems overwrite within 72 hours.
3. Get medical attention immediately. Even if you feel fine, symptoms like neck strain or internal bruising may appear days later. Having contemporaneous records links your injuries to the event, something insurers scrutinize closely.
4. Report the crash, but stay cautious with adjusters. Notify your insurer promptly but avoid recorded statements or speculation about speed, distance, or fault. Adjusters often ask questions designed to limit liability.
5. Check the accuracy of your police report. If the narrative omits key facts or misstates your account, submit written corrections early. This ensures your claim aligns with the official record and prevents insurers from twisting incomplete details.
6. Contact legal help before evidence disappears. Local attorneys can move faster to request footage, witness interviews, and data preservation orders. Acting early prevents video loss and strengthens causation proof long before litigation begins.

Once we take over, our team integrates this evidence into a detailed reconstruction that quantifies both fault and loss, forcing insurers to see the full impact of reckless behavior.

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What Indiana Considers Reckless — and Why It Matters in Civil Claims

Recklessness under Indiana law involves knowingly operating a vehicle in a way that endangers people or property. The legal standard goes beyond ordinary negligence and requires proof that the driver consciously disregarded safety.

• Excessive speeding: Driving well above the posted limit or reasonable traffic flow, especially in adverse conditions or high-risk zones.
• Dangerous passing: Overtaking on hills, curves, or in no-passing zones where visibility is limited and collision risk is high.
• Aggressive lane changes: Weaving between lanes without signaling or cutting off other drivers in ways that create immediate hazards.
• Distracted driving overlap: Texting or using a phone while speeding or navigating work zones, which reflects deliberate disregard rather than momentary inattention.
• Impaired operation: Driving under the influence adds another layer of liability under Indiana’s drinking and driving statutes, reinforcing claims of aggravated fault.
• Punitive damages potential: When conduct is especially egregious (such as racing or ignoring construction workers), Indiana law permits consideration of punitive damages beyond compensatory recovery.

The challenge in these cases is proof. Insurers routinely argue that reckless behavior was “momentary error” or “misjudgment.” That is why our reckless driving lawyers pull prior moving violations, analyze event data recorder downloads for acceleration spikes, and cross-reference weather or traffic data to show the driver had clear visibility and time to react. We also use phone records and eyewitness testimony to connect distraction with dangerous driving, strengthening both liability and punitive-damage arguments.

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Who May Be Liable in a Fort Wayne Reckless-Driving Case

Reckless-driving cases rarely stop at the driver. Multiple parties can share legal or financial responsibility, depending on ownership, employment, or roadway conditions at the time of the crash. At Christie Bell & Marshall, we follow the evidence wherever it leads.

• The reckless driver remains the primary liable party when their conduct (such as speeding through intersections or ignoring lane control) creates foreseeable danger. Our investigation pairs officer reports with dashcam and business video to confirm intent and visibility.
• Vehicle owners or employers may share fault if the driver was performing job-related duties or if the company negligently entrusted the vehicle to someone with a known record of reckless violations.
• Road contractors and municipal entities can be accountable when improper work-zone design, missing signage, or failure to maintain safe detours contributes to the crash.
• Your own insurer may enter the picture under uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, particularly when the at-fault driver lacks sufficient policy limits.

We examine every layer of liability (from the driver’s personal policy to corporate or municipal coverage) to ensure that no recovery source is overlooked. This approach often turns what insurers label “policy limits” cases into claims that access additional compensation through secondary defendants.

Damages You Can Recover After a Reckless-Driving Crash

We know that a reckless driver’s split-second choice can change every aspect of your life. When you partner with us, your attorney will pursue full compensation that reflects both the economic and human costs of that decision.

Medical and Future Care

We recover costs for emergency treatment, imaging, surgery, therapy, and ongoing rehabilitation. When needed, we consult treating specialists and rehabilitation experts to project lifetime medical expenses.

Lost Income and Earning Potential

Our firm uses wage statements, employer verification, and vocational expert analysis to measure both past and future earning losses.

Out-of-Pocket Costs and Home Support

Transportation, prescription expenses, and household replacement services all add measurable financial strain. We include these in the valuation from the outset, supported by receipts and daily-impact logs.

Pain, Suffering, and Life Impact

Physical pain, emotional distress, and the inability to engage in daily or recreational activities are among the most undervalued aspects of any claim. Our attorneys ensure these are documented through detailed medical notes, testimony, and mental-health records when appropriate.

When conduct rises to extreme recklessness — such as drag racing, texting while speeding, or ignoring construction workers in an active zone — we preserve the option to seek punitive damages as allowed under Indiana law.

Common Injuries Resulting From Reckless-Driving Crashes in Fort Wayne

The injuries we see most often in these cases are not the kind that heal in six weeks. They are catastrophic, and expensive. Here is what reckless driving does to real people:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord damage and paralysis
• Severe fractures and orthopedic injuries
• Internal organ damage
• Soft-tissue and whiplash injuries
• Burn injuries and scarring
• Psychological trauma

We have seen clients who went from running their own businesses to needing help getting dressed. We have sat with families whose loved ones will never speak the same way again. These injuries are not abstract medical terms on a chart — they are the reason someone cannot pick up their child, return to their career, or sleep without reliving the crash. And because the at-fault driver’s conduct was reckless, not merely careless, the law recognizes that higher degree of fault.

That distinction matters when we build your claim, because it opens the door to punitive damages and forces insurers to confront the full gravity of what their policyholder did.

Contact Christie Bell & Marshall for a Fort Wayne Reckless-Driving Case Review

When a reckless driver changes your life, you deserve a firm that moves fast and fights strategically. At Christie Bell & Marshall, we start by preserving every shred of evidence, documenting your losses, and engaging insurers from a position of strength.

We invite you to schedule a free initial consultation to review your case, explore your recovery options, and see how our results-driven approach can help you move forward.

FAQs About Fort Wayne Reckless-Driving Crashes

Does a reckless-driving ticket in Fort Wayne automatically prove civil fault?

Not by itself. A traffic citation helps demonstrate fault but doesn’t guarantee success in a personal injury claim. Civil liability depends on showing that the driver’s conduct caused your injuries and losses. We secure the full police narrative from the Fort Wayne Police Department, gather any available dashcam footage, and align that with your medical documentation to connect the reckless act to your damages.

How long do I have to file a reckless-driving injury claim?

You generally have two years from the crash date, according to Indiana Code § 34-11-2-4. Filing early lets your lawyer obtain surveillance footage, contact witnesses, and request electronic data before it’s lost. Many Fort Wayne intersections now have camera feeds that overwrite within days, so the sooner we start, the stronger your evidence position will be.

Can I still recover if I was partly at fault for the Fort Wayne crash?

Often yes. Under Indiana Code, you may still recover compensation if you’re found less than 51 percent responsible. Your award is reduced by your share of fault, but reckless behavior by another driver — such as excessive speeding, illegal lane changes, or running red lights downtown — can outweigh minor mistakes you might have made. Our goal is to show the jury or insurer that the other driver’s choices were the primary cause of harm.

What evidence helps prove reckless driving?

The best evidence combines police documentation with physical and digital proof. Crash reports from the Fort Wayne Police Department, dashcam video, event-data recorder downloads, and nearby business surveillance can pinpoint speed, distance, and reaction time. When combined with medical records and expert reconstruction, this proof establishes both how the collision happened and why the resulting injuries deserve full compensation.