Articles Posted in Car Accident

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In 49 states in this country – including this one – plus the District of Columbia, it’s illegal to drive without insurance. Even so, about 12 percent of all drivers in the U.S. are not insured.

Florida has one of the worst rates of uninsured drivers nationally. Here, 1 in 4 drivers has no insurance.

That has meant that uninsured motorist claims, which are filed when someone is injured by a driver who lacks insurance, totaled $2.6 billion in 2012. That was an increase of 75 percent from 10 years earlier. Continue reading →

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A 6-year-old boy is the only survivor in a two-car auto accident in Florida that claimed the lives of three sisters, their friend and the child’s mother.

Although the cause of the crash, which occurred on State Road 70, just east of Arcadia, is still under investigation, officials have said the pickup truck driven by the boy’s mother was hydroplaning across the highway when it rotated and crossed the center line, slamming head-on into the vehicle carrying the three sisters and their friend. One of the sisters, who was driving, tried to avoid a crash by steering into the grass shoulder, but the truck still struck the back of her vehicle.

The sisters and their friend had been returning from a faith convention in Fort Pierce to their home in St. Petersburg. Their father, a pastor, and their mother had attended the same convention, but were returning home separately. Continue reading →

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Defendants in car accident lawsuits aren’t always other drivers and their insurance companies.

There are many entities – both on and off the road – that can play a role in causing a crash. For example, a bar that serves alcohol to a minor driver can be named a defendant under Florida’s dram shop laws. A manufacturer of a vehicle or vehicle equipment can be named for defective design resulting in a critical failure resulting in either a crash or exacerbated injuries in the crash. The owner of a vehicle can be named even if he or she wasn’t driving at the time of the wreck, per a theory of negligence known as vicarious liability.

The list goes on. Continue reading →

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A man who suffered significant injuries as a result of a Florida car accident prevailed recently in 5th District Court of Appeals.

Appellate justices in Bodiford v. Rollins ruled that not only were the $1 million in damages appropriate, but the finding that plaintiff was 30 percent comparatively at-fault was erroneous.

That means plaintiff is likely to collect the full amount in damages. Continue reading →

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Emergency crews are the first responders on scene to aid those who are seriously injured, ill or in trouble. However, some of those same workers may be imperiling innocent people by engaging in actions that do little to promote public safety.

Specifically, we’re talking about police and high-speed chases.

A recent report from USA Today found that from 1979 through 2013, nearly 5,100 innocent bystanders and passengers have been killed as a result of high-speed chases. Tens of thousands more have been seriously injured. Those figures do not include the number of officers killed, nor do they include the number of suspects who eluded authorities, initiating the chase. Continue reading →

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A car accident that resulted in severe head injuries to one man resulted in a liability verdict of $25 million at trial.

However, because of comparative negligence, collateral source set-offs and taxable costs, the final judgment was for about half that – $12.8 million. Now on appeal, the liability of one of those two defendants – who was found to be vicariously liable for loaning the vehicle to the driver who caused the crash – has been further reduced.

Per F.S. 324.021(9)(b)3, an owner of a vehicle who is a “natural person” (as opposed to a business) and loans a motor vehicle to a permissive user and that user causes a crash, the owner can be liable for up to $100,000 per person or $300,000 per incident for bodily injury and $50,000 for property damage. However, if that permissive user is uninsured or underinsured, the owner can be liable for an additional maximum $500,000 in economic damages arising from use of that motor vehicle.

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The recent case of Zaldivar v. Prickett, before the Georgia Supreme Court, dealt with issues of vicarious liability and negligent entrustment as they relate to car accident litigation.

Vicarious liability is a kind of strict, secondary liability that originates from the doctrine of respondeat superior. That isthe responsibility of a superior for the tortious acts of a subordinate. A person or business can be vicariously liable even if they haven’t actually engaged directly in any negligent behavior.

Negligent entrustment, meanwhile, is a direct form of liability that asserts one party negligently provided another with a dangerous instrumentality, and the person entrusted with that dangerous instrumentality caused injury to a third party with that instrumentality.

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It was supposed to be one of the most joyous times in the young couple’s lives. They were recently married and had won a trip through their church to attend a marriage retreat in Fort Lauderdale. They were also expecting their first child, a boy, who was due within two months.

But they would never see that day. While standing outside the hotel cabana, located at the corner of a sharp curve with lots of fast-moving traffic, the pregnant wife was struck by a drunk driver. Both she and her unborn son were killed. Her husband, who had been in a nearby restroom, sustained only minor injuries. But his life would never be the same.

Jurors in the civil lawsuit against the drunk driver and the hotel determined husband/plaintiff should be awarded $24 million for his losses. In apportioning fault, jurors determined the drunk driver was 85 percent to blame, while the hotel was 15 percent responsible. If the verdict withstands an appeal (to which the hotel as alluded), it will owe $3.6 million.

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Emergency responders – including police officers – are given an enormous responsibility to make it to emergencies quickly. However, there is also an expectation that they will do so as safely as possible. 

These government workers are given a great deal of latitude in terms of liability, but only so long as they are acting within the scope of their employment and only as long as they are behaving reasonably under the circumstances.

Still, when the public is placed in jeopardy as a result of these actions, there may be grounds for litigation. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates there are approximately 250,000 high speed chases annually. Of those, between 6,000 and 8,000 end in crashes, claiming the lives of 500 people and injuring some 5,000.

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Defendants in personal injury cases are tenacious when it comes to rooting through the records of the plaintiff.

Of course, there are often legitimate purposes served in these efforts, primarily in determining whether the causation and extent of injury are as claimed by plaintiff. But many of these efforts go too far.

Luckily, we do have the court system to keep it in check. Still, you can’t count on the judge to fight for your best interests and privacy concerns. That’s the job of your attorney.

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