If you happen to suffer a personal injury in Florida, many forms of compensation are available, as provided by Florida law. Personal injury may comprise permanent damage, loss of bodily function, disfigurement, or significant or permanent scarring or death. It is, however, essential to seek legal counsel before filing a personal injury claim. The Clay County Personal Injury Attorney is ready to help. It is also vital to act soon after the injury as there is a time limitation to make your claim. An experienced personal injury lawyer will help you decide whether the personal injury meets the threshold that warrants legal action. Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace Personal Injury Attorney can offer you legal advice and argue for your case.
Frequently Reported Personal Injuries in Florida
There are various forms of negligence cases in Florida, negligence results when the person harming you fails to extend a duty of care to you. The most common causes that result in personal injury include:
Motorcycle Accidents
If you are personally involved or injured in a motorcycle accident or a loved one or family member dies in a motorcycle accident, you can lodge a lawsuit against those who caused the accident. A motorcycle accident may result from faulty bike brakes or other parts, driver's recklessness, or dangerous road conditions. The person who causes the accident may be answerable for your injuries. This could be another motorcyclist, a driver, pedestrian, or even the city for poor road conditions. In case of injury in a motorcycle accident, you can file a claim. In doing so, you will recover damages for motorcycle damage, physical injuries, medical bills, future treatment, lost earning capacity, lost wages, disfigurement, or loss of limbs, scarring, and the resulting pain and suffering.
In cases where death arises out of motorcycle accidents, a successful wrongful death lawsuit ensures relatives' compensation for their loss. Family members, including a surviving spouse, children, a domestic partner, grandchildren entitled, and any other person entitled in succession according to Florida laws, may file a wrongful death claim. Any costs that arise with the loss of the victim, including funeral and burial expenses and lost monetary rewards in the absence of death, are available as damages. For a spouse or domestic partner, a type of damage known as loss of consortium to compensate for the loss of intimate relationship and companionship is available under Florida laws.
When involved in a motorcycle accident, it may not be easy to establish the real cause of the motorcycle accident, especially if you are significantly injured or death results from the accident. For you or your family member to lodge a successful personal injury claim, you need to prove that the other driver failed to give you a duty of care and that he or she was negligent. Questions may arise as to whether negligence acts led to a violation of the traffic laws leading to an accident. In such an assessment, acts that may entail reckless driving include failure to yield, speeding, running a stop sign, following too closely, and texting while driving. Distracted driving and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs may also be forms of reckless driving.
In some instances, the other driver may want to shift the blame to you and wrongly accuse you of causing the accident or being partly to blame for the accident. This may be difficult to argue, especially if in pain. Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace Personal Injury Attorney can help you organize your case and recover damages.
Bus Accidents
Bus accidents can be fatal, sometimes leaving the victim with fractured limbs, substantial medical bills, a lot of pain, suffering, and at times even death. In Florida, bus accidents mostly result from negligence on the part of the driver or even the bus company. A personal injury resulting from bus accidents might warrant a claim for damages or any bodily harm or injuries caused by accident. The main perpetrators of bus accidents may include bus drivers, bus owners, school bus operators, tour bus operators, bus top property owners, bus maintenance companies, city/county agencies, charter bus operators, bus driver supervisors, or even bus part manufacturers. In claiming for personal injury from an accident involving a bus, you must establish that the driver or the person who caused you the accident was obligated to fulfill his/her duty of care to you.
All drivers owe a duty of care to all road users, and hence it is not difficult to prove your point if the defendant did not honor his/her duty of care. However, the breach must be substantial enough to cause the accident. A drowsy driver who causes an accident may also be liable for charges for driving for too many hours and may be responsible for a misdemeanor. Bus accidents involve school buses, tour buses, and most public transport buses. Unlike other vehicles, buses do not enjoy the safety features endowed in other vehicles like airbags, seat belts, crumple zones, bucket seats, and rollover protection. The orderly manner in which passengers in other cars adopt may also not be available on a bus. Depending on the number of passengers a bus is carrying, it is common to spot some passengers standing, some sitting facing backward and others sideways or facing forward.
When an accident occurs, it is common for passengers to bounce around and inside the bus hitting other passengers and seats and even some on the bus floor and windows. Several fatalities result from bus accidents, which include loss of limbs, broken bones, neck injuries, paralysis, internal injuries, head injuries, crushing injuries, and even burns.
Pedestrian Accident
Pedestrian accidents do happen in Florida, resulting in Personal Injury, many accidents involving pedestrians occur from bikes on the sidewalk, vehicles not yielding to pedestrians, uncontrolled dogs, and other pedestrians' knockdown or even tripping. To have a personal injury claim and get damages, you have to show someone else's negligence. Another person's negligence may make him or her liable for your injuries, even if you are not sure that they are to blame. Consulting a Personal injury attorney may help establish who is responsible for your damage and get compensation. Cars hit people on the road, crosswalk, and even in the parking lot. In such cases, the drivers' negligent act makes them liable for any injuries caused to the victim.
Most vehicle/pedestrian conflicts result from drivers' failure to yield the right of way to pedestrians. Failure by drivers to yield the right of way to pedestrians at an intersection or in any marked crosswalk is a violation of United States laws. The pedestrian does not necessarily have to be in the crosswalk for the driver's negligence to be manifest. Other acts by drivers, which may include going around a stopped school bus, speeding, failure to yield, and texting while driving, are used to show the driver's culpability. The list includes running a stop sign, hitting a car in the breakdown lane, failure to give room to pedestrians boarding a parked car, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs also warrant the driver's to be liable.
Several other factors, apart from cars, do cause pedestrian accidents, which lead to injuries. Some buses or trucks have large side mirrors that can hit you on the sidewalk. Playing kids running all over, busy people distracted by earphones or even chatting on phones, large groups of people during festivities, fighters settling it out on the streets, and even joggers and runners on the sidewalk are some other factors that lead to pedestrian accidents.
If you are a regular walker or even if you occasionally walk on the sidewalk, in the streets, or anywhere in a public place, you could be prone to a pedestrian injury. Injuries vary depending on the impact of the pedestrian accident and the place of the injury and the people involved. A fall may result in so many varying injuries. The most common pedestrian injuries sustained include facial trauma, back pains, bruises, cuts and lacerations head knock, and even brain and internal injuries. In some cases, the age of the victim also is a significant factor in determining the level of damage sustained. Older people are more prone to bone breakage than their younger counterparts are in case of a fall. Other factors that contribute to most fatal pedestrian injuries include drunkenness, lack of intersections, urban tarmacked or cemented areas, or like in the case of small children.
People usually ignore a minor fall or a knockdown that does not pain as much immediately; however, the best approach in such a case is to seek medical treatment at first if you notice even a minor injury. What you may term as a minor issue may prove more complicated later and cause you more harm. In most cases involving a pedestrian accident, the people involved tend to either shift the blame on you or apologize profusely. It is always good to seek advice from an experienced attorney and claim for damages in case of negligence on the perpetrator. Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace Personal Injury Attorney can be of help.
Trucking Accidents
Truck drivers or trucking companies are involved in accidents in Florida. If involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer or semi-truck, you may sustain serious injuries and financial losses. You could file a personal injury claim if the truck driver or the trucking company were negligent on their part. You can get compensatory damages that comprise both the damages with economic value and those without. Exemplary or punitive damages can also be awarded where the harm was intentional, or the driver's recklessness was evident. In granting such damages, the intention is to punish the defendant. The truck driver's negligence is easy to establish in case of a trucking accident.
The truck driver owes the other motorists and road users a duty of care. In case of breach of that duty of care, the truck driver becomes liable if the breach contributes substantially to the victim's harm. The truck driver must use the utmost care when operating the truck, must be on the lookout for obstacles, other vehicles, and pedestrians and also control his truck's movement and observe the speed limit.
Some other instances that portray negligence on the truck drivers include improper lane changes, ignoring traffic signs, being distracted when driving, over speeding, failure to yield the right of way, texting while driving, and driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. Some truck drivers also fail to comply with the law limit on the number of driving hours spent on the road per twenty-four-hour day. Such drivers give false information on the number of hours on the road and end up risking their lives and those of others.
Negligent driving also results when truck drivers are under pressure to meet strict delivery deadlines. Such drivers end up violating the laws or failing to observe traffic rules to impress their customers and, in some cases, their employers.
Trucking companies are also at fault when they act negligently on their part, and a truck accident results from their acts. A trucking company is liable when an intentional violation of laws and traffic rules is evident. Intentional violations include acts like failing to service trucks or trailers, hiring unqualified or inexperienced truck drivers, and overloading trucks or trailers. Also, negligence entails a failure to observe safety laws, allowing drivers to exceed the hour and sleep limits, and also failing to control overweight vehicles. In the event of an accident in such cases, the trucking company will be liable and punitive measures imposed. The extent of personal injury and damage from truck or trucking accidents can be devastating and complicated. It is always wise to seek assistance from a qualified attorney familiar with such cases. Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace Personal Injury Attorney can professionally handle such cases.
Wrongful Death
When a person dies because of someone else's wrongful act, it is known as wrongful death and is recoverable through damages by the family members or loved ones. The damages may include burial and funeral expenses, the income the deceased may have made as income, and compensation for lack of support and companionship. Wrongful death claims can be lodged in the event the deceased suffered a car accident. The claim is also valid in instances such as being hit by a drunk driver, drowning, child neglect or abuse, an assault or battery, elder neglect, and abuse, accidents that involve falling, and even medical malpractice. A dog bite or mauling or defective products in Florida also warrant liability even if the defendant were not negligent on their part. However, the dependents can only sue this under strict liability.
Wrongful death attracts economic and non- economic damages. Though not limited to these, they include the expected financial support the deceased would have given to the families in their lifetimes, funeral, and burial expenses. The loss of benefits the dependents would have expected to receive and reasonable household services that could have been provided in the deceased's lifetime are too non-economic damages.
The loss also warrants non-economic damages, which include protection, moral support, sexual relations, affection, society, and companionship and also training and guidance. In the event you have lost a dear one in the act of wrongful death in Florida, it is comforting to know that avenue does exist for redress and compensation. You just have to seek legal counsel of an attorney familiar with United States laws.
Medical malpractice
Professional negligence is a term mostly used to describe medical malpractice. This entails an act of omission or negligence on the part of a licensed medical practitioner in his line of duty that causes personal injury or wrongful death. This liability extends to all licensed healthcare providers and facilities, including doctors, nurses, psychologists, anesthesiologists, podiatrists, chiropractors, pharmacists, hospitals, laboratories, and clinics but not limited to these.
If you suffer a personal injury resulting from medical malpractice, you can recover compensatory damages. These may include home health care, physical and occupational therapy, medical bills, lost earning capacity, and non-economic damages such as suffering or pain.
Medical malpractice cases are complicated due to their very nature of awarding damages. It is difficult to put an economic value to losses such as loss of limbs or other body organs, disfigurement, scarring, loss of ability to enjoy life, inconveniences, and also suffering and pain.
To earn damages in case of a personal injury resulting from medical malpractice, whether for yourself or a loved one, you need to show negligence on the medical practitioner or facility. Negligence manifests when the healthcare provider fails to use his or her skill and knowledge in the execution of his or her duty. If other reasonable healthcare providers would apply such care in similar events as the health provider failed to apply, he or she failed in his duty of care. Medical malpractice cases are difficult to prove if you are not a doctor. Before lodging for damages, it is always wise to consult an attorney experienced in handling such cases. Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace Personal Injury Attorney might give you good advice.
Contact a Personal Injury Attorney Near Me
Personal injury claims vary from compensatory to punitive in Florida. If you have suffered an injury due to someone else's negligence, or your loved ones have suffered a similar fate or died, Clay County Personal Injury Attorney can help you handle the case. Call us at 904-494-8242 and talk to an experienced Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace attorney for advice.
