Articles Tagged with car accident injury

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The first thing you feel after being in a car accident where no one got injured is relief that the accident was not worse than it was. Only then do the worries about finances start. How much will it cost to fix your car? Will you be able to get to your job while your car is being repaired, and if so, how much will you have to pay for alternative transportation, such as rideshare rides or a rental car? Do you have the money to pay your insurance deductible? How much will your car insurance premiums increase as a result of the accident? If you have to go to court, how much time and money will that cost? Your options for the most cost-effective way to pay for property damage vary according to the circumstances of the accident. Freeman Injury Law can help you choose the best course of action.

Florida Car Insurance Basics

Everyone who registers a vehicle in Florida must have two kinds of insurance. The first is Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance, which covers medical bills and injury-related lost income only; it does not pay for property damage. The other is property damage liability insurance, which pays for repairs to the other driver’s car if the accident is your fault. What do you do about repairing your own car, then? It depends.

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You probably have some kind of car insurance, since the law requires it. However, oftentimes you may not know what your car insurance actually pays until it’s too late. After a car accident, you call your insurance company, they might ask you follow-up questions by mail or phone, and then a month or more later, one of the people involved in the accidentgets a check covering the some of their eleigible expenses. Just what are all those details that the insurance companies are working out before they decide how much to pay? Different types of car insurance pay for different things, and in some cases, they can even cancel each other out. If you are not sure if the amount that the insurance company offered you after your accident is correct, contact an attorneybefore you accept the settlement offer.

What is PIP Insurance?

All registered vehicle owners in Florida must carry PIP insurance, as well property damage liability insurance. PIP stands for Personal Injury Protection, which covers up to $10,000 of medical expenses and lost income when someone gets injured at an accident, regardless of who is at fault for the accident. In order to get PIP insurance to cover your accident-related expenses, you must seek medical treatment within 14 days of the accident. If a driver collides with a pedestrian or bicyclist who does not own a car (and therefore does not have PIP insurance), the driver’s PIP insurance might also pay the medical expenses and lost income of the pedestrian or bicyclist. If the drivers involved in the accident have additional optional car insurance, such as bodily injury or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, then the amount covered by PIP gets subtracted from what the other types of insurance must cover. This is called the PIP setoff.

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A Florida car accident injury lawsuit against an uninsured motorist coverage insurer  will proceed once more, following a state appellate court ruling that the trial court improperly tossed the claim and deprived plaintiff of the right to refile. Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal held the lower court abused its discretion by imposing the “extreme” sanction of dismissal with prejudice after plaintiff’s willful disobedience in going ahead with a scheduled surgery before undergoing a compulsory medical exam (or CME) at defendant insurer’s request. 

Although plaintiff’s injury claim can proceed, our car accident attorneys in Fort Lauderdale know disregarding a court’s order can be fatal to a civil case, and is generally never advisable. Even the 5th DCA didn’t disagree that what the plaintiff did was out of line and potentially worthy of sanctions. It was just that the dismissal with no chance to refile is one of the most severe sanctions that can be imposed – and here, the punishment didn’t fit the crime.

According to court records in Faris v. Southern-Owners Insurance Company, plaintiff filed his car accident injury lawsuit following a September 2014 crash, wherein an uninsured motorist ran into his car while they were both traveling on a highway in Georgia. Fortunately, plaintiff had auto insurance through his own insurer that came with $250,000 in uninsured motorist coverage. Unfortunately, the auto insurer denied the claim. Plaintiff then filed a breach of contract claim, alleging his insurer wrongfully denied his claim.

Sanctions in Florida Car Accident Injury Lawsuit for Failure to Comply With Discovery Requests Continue reading →

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The sunroof is a popular vehicle feature, especially in Florida, where it can be enjoyed virtually year-round. However, a recent court case and New York Times report have highlighted safety concerns about the sunroof, particularly in rollover crashes and even when the window is closed. 

For anyone who may not be familiar, a sunroof is a panel on the roof of a car that can be opened for additional ventilation and light. The panel is non-removable, though some can be opened completely to allow for an open window in the roof. A moonroof is a type of sunroof that will tilt open slightly to allow in fresh air, but won’t open completely like a sunroof. It’s estimated 7 million (or 40 percent of all 2017 model cars and light trucks) are sold with a sunroof, compared to 33 percent for the 2011 model year.

The issue, as the Times reported, is that while these features have gained immense popularity, the government regulations regarding them have remained unchanged – which is to say, there are no regulations. It’s estimated there are hundreds of sunroof ejections that happen each year, many of those resulting in serious injury or death. Some automakers are even introducing “panoramic” sunroofs, which stretch the entire span of the vehicle’s top. This is touted as a luxury feature, but the reality is it can be extremely dangerous, particularly when made with glass that isn’t laminated. Some car makers have on their own made laminated safety glass standard for newer models. Others are working on devices that will help reduce the odds of ejection in the event of a rollover. However, those features aren’t required and motorists and passengers continue to be at heightened risk in the event of a rollover because numerous studies have shown vehicle occupants are safest in a rollover if they can stay in their vehicle. Continue reading →

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Vicarious liability is the legal means by which we can pursue action against a vehicle owner or an employer for the negligent and injurious actions of those driving their vehicle or employees acting on behalf of the company. It’s not just long-haul truckers who fall into this category. 

Recently, DNCE singer Joe Jonas was named a defendant in a car accident lawsuit that occurred when his assistant was driving his vehicle in Hollywood, CA. According to TMZ, plaintiff alleges the assistant made a left turn into an intersection, t-boning plaintiff, who had the right-of-way. There was no police report filed and there were reportedly no witnesses, but the plaintiff did take down the license plate number, which her injury attorney later traced back to Jonas. The assistant gave her name as the driver, though it’s unclear if Jonas was in the car at the time.

But even if Jonas wasn’t there, he could still be liable because not only was the vehicle his, but the person driving it was reportedly acting in the course and scope of employment. Both situations would fall under the umbrella of vicarious liability. She is seeking damages for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, medical expenses and lost wages.  Continue reading →

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We know that 2015 and 2016 were record years for auto recalls, fueled largely by defects in airbags and ignition switches. This rush of recalls began over the last couple of years after it was revealed a number of potential fatal flaws – often ones that could have been fixed for just a few dollars per vehicle – were hidden from the public, in some cases for decades.

Unlike the typical Orlando car accident lawsuit, those that involve defective vehicles name a product manufacturer, as opposed to another driver, as the defendant. In some cases, litigation will name both. Defective vehicles or flawed vehicle parts are always a possibility that our best accident attorneys in Orlando explore following a crash, given the pervasiveness of these problems, which include everything from wiring and fuel problems leading to fire hazards to airbags that fail to deploy – or deploy with explosive force – putting drivers, passengers and other motorists at serious risk of injury or even death.

Just since the beginning of this month, Cars.com has issued nine vehicle recall notices. That doesn’t necessarily encompass the full number, but it gives you a sense of the fact that these problems are near constant and ongoing. A dedicated accident attorney will not overlook this critical fact when reviewing the details of your accident and injury.  Continue reading →

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The best Orlando car accident attorneys know that when it comes to the burden of proof in crash cases, your word alone may not be enough to prove fault or damages. That’s why it’s so critical to involve a lawyer early on in the process, someone who can help you investigate the facts, gather evidence and build a strong case. The sooner we get involved the better, as this gives us time to conduct an independent analysis of the facts, identifying possible witnesses, relevant photos or videos and consulting with expert accident reconstructionists and auto engineers.

Even in cases where liability seems relatively straightforward (for instance, in a rear-end collision where there is a rebuttable presumption the rear driver was responsible), there are still elements of the case that are going to require some independent backing.

This is not to say that conflicting evidence will kill your case, but the more you have to prove the key elements, the stronger your chances of recovering just compensation.

A recent case before the Rhode Island Supreme Court underscores the importance of fathering sufficient evidence at the scene to prove liability.  Continue reading →

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A 30-year-old North Fort Myers woman suffered a double leg amputation after she was struck by a vehicle along I-75 in Fort Myers as she was helping another motorist who had crashed into a guardrail. 

Now, her family has set up a GoFundMe account, and is asking for assistance for the woman, who is a mother to five children under 10, including three foster children. Friends and family have pitched in to help with the children while the victim is hospitalized. According to USA Today, the woman had already spent several weeks in the intensive care unit, with one leg amputated at mid-thigh and the other just above the knee.

Complicating her situation even further is the fact that she did not have health insurance. Now, she faces mountains of medical bills for care and future prosthetics, which would be the only way she will ever walk again. According to ABC News, the cost of a single prosthetic leg can be anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 – and even the most expensive are only built to withstand about three to five years of wear-and-tear. That means they have to be replaced numerous times over the course of one’s life – a cost few people can afford even with decent health insurance.  Continue reading →

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Although we often think of distracted drivers as being teens exchanging light-hearted banter via text messages, the truth is one of the major causes of distracted driving is the constant demand top stay connected at work. Employers expect their workers to be available at a moment’s notice – whether by email, text message or phone call. This creates a powerful and constant incentive for employees to be checking messages and responding to calls. 

This is not only dangerous to employees, but also to the rest of us who share the road with them.

Although many company leaders are socially aware and mindful, they are also concerned about their bottom line. That’s why they push workers to maintain this level of availability. But it’s also why they may be receptive to a growing chorus of advocacy directed at the business community to reduce distracted driving. These types of crashes could make companies vulnerable to civil liability. Continue reading →

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Two students from Florida State University will killed one recent weekend in a pileup on Florida’s Turnpike. 

As the Tallahassee Democrat reports, the chain reaction crash claimed the lives of a 20-year-old woman and an 18-year-old man and also resulted in more than a dozen injuries. The Florida Highway Patrol reports the two decedents are from Weston and both graduated from Cypress Bay High School.

Any time there is a chain reaction crash, there are often serious injuries, particularly when they happen on the highway, because of the high speeds and number of vehicles involved. Chain reaction crashes can be difficult in terms of financial recovery because it is not always clear who was at-fault. Making this determination typically requires extensive investigation, and it may be that several parties are to blame. This is why it is so essential for individuals in these cases to hire an attorney with experience.  Continue reading →

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