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Car accident victims – those who are able and well enough to engage in social media after the accident – must be cautious about the things they post after the accident. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to go over some ground rules with your attorney, once you’ve secured representation.

At first, many clients are puzzled by this. After all, why would it matter? The facts of the case won’t be altered by a few posted photographs or smiley faces, right?

Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. Of course, what happened at the crash site won’t change. But what’s really at issue is proof of the injuries suffered, which can directly affect how much compensation you receive in the event you win your case.

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A husband and wife out for a leisurely stroll in their neighborhood would never return home the same again. It was a summer day in Maryland in 2009. As they passed a residential driveway, a driver in his 20s backed out of the driveway without looking.

In so doing, the driver struck the couple. The wife screamed and, as she would later allege in her complaint, hit the vehicle with her hand to alert the driver and make it stop. She reportedly then made eye contact with the driver, who stopped momentarily and then nevertheless seeing what had happened, continued moving his car, backing over her husband in an attempt to flee the scene.

Both husband and wife sustained serious injuries, though the husband had the worst of it. His injuries included a traumatic brain injury and other severe head injuries, as well as injuries to his neck, body and limbs. He was transported to a local hospital and then, later to a rehabilitation center, where he died two years later.

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Dozens of auto insurers are facing a federal lawsuit brought in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando by hundreds of auto shops in 36 states alleging the insurance industry forces unfair, illegal and unsafe auto repairs for consumers in order to reduce expenses.

Insurance industry representatives insist they are doing nothing wrong, and say they are simply trying to save on repair costs, which in turn keeps customers’ premiums at a reasonable level.

But according to the 92-page complaint, insurers insist that auto repair shops use replacement parts that are off-brand, after-market, used, recycled or, in some cases, even counterfeit, on any repairs made. Of course, this does keep costs down. The concern, however, is that those parts won’t provide the same degree of protection as manufacturer replacements. Beyond that, customers usually have no idea the parts used may be substandard.

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In car accidents, as in life, events often unfold as a result of a series of actions or inaction. What this means for accident lawyers is there is often more than one responsible party in these cases, and that’s why litigation stemming from a seemingly simple crash can end up being quite complex.

Take for example the case of 40-year-old actor Paul Walker. The handsome, popular actor was tragically killed in a fiery crash in a suburb of Los Angeles in 2013 after a charity event. An investigation revealed the 2005 Porsche Careera GT driven by Walker’s friend, a professional race car driver, careened out of control before slamming into a grouping of trees and a utility pole. The sports car ignited and both men died.

Coincidentally, Walker was in the midst of his seventh installment of a successful movie series about illegal street racing of expensive sports cars.

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Florida law – specifically F.S. 316.614 – requires all front seat passengers and anyone under the age of 18 to be restrained by the proper safety belt system, whether that’s a seat belt or a car seat or a booster seat.

There are a few exceptions (school buses, farming vehicles, large trucks, motorcycles, etc.), but generally, most vehicles are included in this requirement.

In addition to the fact that wearing one’s seat belt is a legal requirement and is known to reduce injuries, there is another key incentive: Failure to do so in Florida could result in a finding of comparative negligence, which could reduce the overall damages to which you may be entitled in a traffic accident lawsuit. This is true even when the injured person had no other responsibility in causing the crash.

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Most motorcycle accident lawsuits hinge on the basic duty of care owed by one motorist to another (or the driver to the passenger) to operate the vehicle in a reasonably safe manner.

The recent case of Towe v. Sacagawea, Inc. is different in that it involves premises liability. The reason the standard is different is because of where it occurred – on a private access road, rather than a public thoroughfare.

The lawsuit, recently considered by the Oregon Supreme Court, was the result of a motorcycle accident in which the rider, on site to examine a for-sale property as advertised from the public road, crashed after being tripped by a cable that had been laid about a foot off the ground by one of the property owners.

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An overloaded 15-passenger van careened off a rural Florida highway and into a water-filled ditch, killing eight passengers and wounding 10 others.

The group was on an unlit stretch of road in Glades County shortly after midnight, on their way back to Fort Pierce following a church revival on the coast of Southwest Florida. Passengers ranged in age from 4 to 89. The 4-year-old, who survived, was listed in stable condition.

The National Safety Transportation Board has launched an investigation into the accident, something that literally only happens in 1 out of every 1 million accidents, according to news reports. Factoring into that decision was the high number of deaths and the fact that this was a 15-passenger van, a vehicle with a notoriously spotty safety history.

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Prevailing in an auto accident case means you have to prove more than negligence of the at-fault driver. It means you have to show the injuries you sustained – those for which you are seeking compensation – were the proximate result of that crash.

This can be especially challenging for individuals who suffered prior health problems or injuries that occurred subsequent to the accident.

Such claims will require extensive medical records, expert witness testimony and the aid of an experienced car accident lawyer.

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In order to operate their motor vehicles safely, drivers need to be able to see what’s in front of them – and coming at them from the side.

Part of this is the job of traffic engineers and city planners. However, it’s also up to property owners, both commercial and private.

When overgrown shrubs, tree limbs or other landscaping features obstruct the view of motorists and result in a crash, the property owner may be held liable for damages. However, it must be proven that the landscaping feature was a known (or knowable) hazard as well as a proximate cause of the crash.

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When it comes to auto insurance policies, too many Florida motorists purchase only the bare minimum required, so as to keep their monthly premiums low. A quarter of Florida drivers don’t have any insurance at all.

The trouble with this is two-fold. First, if you are involved in a crash with someone who is uninsured or underinsured, you will not be able to collect from them or the insurer the amount necessary to compensate you for your losses. And if you also have limited insurance – or no UM/UIM coverage – it may be extremely difficult to collect damages.

The good news is that while drivers aren’t required to carry UM/UIM coverage, insurance companies have to get a written waiver from drivers in order to drop it from the policy. Most drivers don’t do this, and that means most have UM/UIM coverage.

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