Have you suffered a personal injury accident in the State of Florida? Being the victim of one of these tragic events can be one of the worst positions to be in. These incidents can occur at any given moment in our lives. Since these events happen without prior notice, individuals may never be prepared to confront the aftermath of a personal injury accident.
These incidents can significantly affect a person’s well-being as well. Depending on the accident, you could sustain injuries in different areas of your body. Picture yourself being injured while still having to comply with your daily obligations. That same combination of issues will surely affect your peace of mind as well.
Additionally, these accidents may cause you severe financial distress. Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may require medical procedures that could force you to miss workdays while you complete the recuperation stage. As you may know, medical services are quite expensive in our country. For this reason, people may have a hard time paying their medical bills off.
Florida is a state that has over 20 million people in population. The state’s largest cities Orlando, Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville all possess big highways and public spaces. Consequently, the likelihood of encountering dangerous conditions and reckless individuals will be quite high.
It is important to mention that in the vast majority of cases, personal injury accidents are caused by someone else’s lack of care and responsibility. That is why these incidents are known as “cases based on negligence”. Since the accident was produced by someone else, you are entitled to receive compensation to ease your physical, emotional, and financial damages.
Unfortunately, achieving compensation is not such a straightforward task. The other parties involved in the accident will not make it easy They will also have their say in the legal process. So, it will be your word against theirs. That is why you will need to be represented by the best personal injury attorney in Florida.
By hiring one of these lawyers, your rights and interests will be protected by a highly skilled professional. We kindly ask you to stay tuned throughout this article, as we will discuss the legal standards of the most common personal injury accidents in the sunshine state. Furthermore, we will finish it by delving into the benefits of having an attorney on your side during a legal dispute.
Legal Standards of The Most Common Personal Injury Accidents Seen in The State of Florida
The majority of these cases are governed by specific state laws. As a result, it is crucial to comprehend the legal framework of personal injury accidents in the State of Florida.
- Car accidents are the most common and dangerous personal injury accidents, not only in Florida but in the United States as well. These incidents can be significantly tragic because the severity of your injuries is directly related to the intensity of the collision.
Apart from speeding, the most common causes of auto accidents are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, reckless driving, running red lights, and operating vehicles while utilizing electronic devices. In order to recover damages, victims must prove that the defendant was lacking responsibility when the crash occurred.
- Although the term “slip and fall” refers to a fall, it encompasses any accident suffered on someone else’s premises. Due to the unexpectedness of these incidents, the damages endured in a slip and fall can be very severe.
By law, establishment owners must keep their properties free of any potential hazards. These can range from debris on the floor, broken tiles, slick floors, snow, objects on stairways, and many more.
Having in mind that the torts law protects people who were lawfully within the premises. This means that landlords are not obligated to keep their properties safe if there are trespassers. However, they cannot intentionally harm these individuals.
- Dog bites can take place in both public and private spaces. Most dogs have the ability to create serious injuries to people such as fractures, damage to nerves, and infections.
If the accident took place in a public space, the dog owner will be declared liable for the victim’s damages, regardless of the dog’s previous behavior. However, if the bite occurred at a private residence, the dog owner will be liable if the plaintiff was lawfully on the property.
- Defective products can lead to several injuries depending on the product’s malfunction. In order to decide if someone is responsible for the buyer’s damages, a court will often discuss two types of theories: product liability and negligence.
Product liability refers to the product itself while negligence focuses on the actions of the manufacturer, seller, and distributor. To prove that a defendant should be found responsible for your damages, it is imperative to demonstrate that the object had a defect that produced an unreasonably dangerous condition. Products can be considered defective for their design, marketing, and manufacturing defects.
- Assault can be defined as an intentional act of inflicting fear or physical harm to other people. For that reason, victims of these actions can suffer life-lasting consequences.
Most state criminal codes consider assault a misdemeanor punishable by fines and up to one year in the county jail. Cases involving death threats or severe bodily harm are known as “aggravated assault”. The defendant could serve a sentence of ten to twenty years as these are felonies. In civil tort cases, the amount of compensation that the victim could receive is calculated based on the defendant’s actions.
State Laws That Regulate Personal Injury Claims in Florida
Each state imposes a series of mandates that can affect the compensation that you are entitled to receive. So, let’s learn about Florida’s personal injury laws:
- Comparative Negligence Law: This mandate identifies each party’s contribution to the accident. Furthermore, your compensation will be reduced based on your fault percentage. For instance, you are expected to be compensated with $100,000. However, you were 10% liable for the accident. This means that your award will be reduced by 10%.
- Florida Statute of Limitations: This law sets the time limit to submit a personal injury claim. If people file their lawsuits after the deadline, the court may surely deny their claim. In Florida, plaintiffs are given a maximum of four years from the date of the accident to file their lawsuit.
- Discovery Rule: This mandate indicates that the statute of limitations does not begin to go into effect until the official date on which a plaintiff discovers an injury or loss.
- Damage Caps: These declare the monetary amount limits of compensation. However, these are caps meant for non-economic damages. For example, mental trauma and distress can be covered by these amounts. For most personal injury accident cases, Florida limits punitive damages to three times the amount of compensatory damages or $500,000.
This Is Why You Need a Personal Injury Attorney
- Personal injury attorneys do work on a contingency fee basis. This means that they will not cost you a single dollar if your case is not settled.
- Personal injury lawyers have been educated to understand the formalities and procedures with these cases. In consequence, they will help you to correctly file a claim and allow you to comprehend the laws that may affect your interests.
- One of the major problems that surround these claims is that insurers can be difficult to negotiate and communicate with. They are companies after all, so they may try to save themselves a few dollars. Insurance firms may offer you low amounts of compensation. However, injury attorneys have worked on several cases similar to yours and know how to properly calculate your compensation.
- A crucial step towards achieving compensation is proving that your damages were caused by someone else’s recklessness. An accident lawyer can seek the necessary evidence for your case such as medical reports, street camera footage, and eyewitness testimonies.
- After initiating your legal process, you will receive phone calls from your insurance company and other interested parties. Additionally, you may be asked to attend meetings to settle your case. This all can be very stressful especially if you are injured. An injury attorney can represent you while you recover from your damages. Having this service will definitely give you peace of mind while you focus on recuperating.
Contact a Personal Injury Attorney Right Away!
We would like to thank you for taking your time to read this article. This information has been brought to you by the law offices of Scott J. Senft. Scott and his team are the best lawyers in the state. These are expert lawyers that have more than two decades of experience in this field. Scott’s team is aware of the hardship and troublesome nature that personal injury accidents inflict upon the individual.
They want to be there for you and accompany you throughout the totality of this process. Stop thinking that you have to deal with this whole issue on your own. The truth of the matter is that you do not have to be that way. The solution is actually in your hands but all you have to do is call them right away.
