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Car accidents are traumatic experiences. They can be frightening, stressful, and disorienting. In the immediate aftermath, when you realize not everyone is Ok, it can be an almost automatic response to blurt out, “I’m sorry.” Even if you know you haven’t done anything wrong, even if you know it was the other driver’s fault, you might still slip and say, “I’m sorry.” Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer

Lots of us were raised to apologize anytime we think someone has been hurt or inconvenienced, even if we didn’t directly cause their pain. And it’s one thing to say you’re sorry if you accidentally bump into someone in the grocery store or step on their toe in a movie theater aisle. But offering a mea culpa following a Fort Lauderdale car accident can cause you problems down the road when it comes to determining legal responsibility for the crash.

To be clear, whatever spontaneous utterances you make at the scene of the crash won’t be the last word in the case. Liability (or fault) is going to be based on the totality of the evidence. But an apology from one of the drivers involved can be used as a piece of evidence. Continue reading

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Florida motorists take on numerous responsibilities every time they get behind the wheel. One of those is carrying the statutory minimum amount of insurance coverage, or having the ability on their own to cover losses up to a certain dollar amount. Unfortunately, there are far too many motorists who fail to do either. Per the Florida Insurance Council, the Sunshine State has one of the highest rates of uninsured motorists anywhere in the country. If the driver who hit you was not insured, you may still have several options for financial recovery. It’s important to discuss these with an experienced Fort Lauderdale car accident attorney.Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer

Florida Law Requires Vehicles Be Covered by Car Insurance

Before you registering a four-wheeled vehicle in Florida, you need to show proof of both personal injury protection (PIP) and property damage liability. PIP is going to cover 80 percent of what are considered “necessary and reasonable medical expenses” up to $10,000 – no matter who caused the crash. The property damage liability will cover damages to another person’s property if you or someone else cause a crash driving a vehicle insured by you.

You may notice that what is not required is bodily injury liability (unless you’re driving a taxi or commercial vehicle or if you’ve been convicted of a DUI). Bodily injury liability is the kind of coverage that will go to cover the expenses of others injured in a crash you cause. Continue reading

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Following a car accident it’s wise to be wary of insurers. No matter how friendly they seem or how much they insist they’re there to help, an agent’s loyalty is to their employer. Saving the insurer money is their primary goal, and they do it by figuring out ways to pay you less.Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer

Protecting yourself involves not providing any details to which they are not entitled. It’s important that you appreciate you do have a contract and legal obligation to honor. You are required to inform the insurance company about the accident. That means providing the basic necessary information. Beyond that, your lips should stay sealed until you’ve talked to a personal injury attorney.

Note too that you don’t have this same obligation to the other drivers’ insurer. You benefit nothing from giving that insurer a statement or signing any paperwork they send you. All you need to do is get the insurance information from the other driver. You don’t need to provide them with information. Continue reading

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Fort Lauderdale pedestrian accidentTaking a stroll in South Florida could be hazardous to your health. Smart Growth America, an organization dedicated to pedestrian safety, ranks the Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach-Miami metro area as 13th in the country for the most dangerous to those  traversing traffic on foot.

In its Dangerous by Design 2021 report, Smart Growth America notes that 1,675 pedestrians have died in Florida from 2010 to 2019, which amounts to 2.8 pedestrian accident deaths per 100,000 residents. The analysis establishes a Pedestrian Death Index to assess the risks and rank the road safety status in cities and states. It looks at how dangerous it is for people to walk in a given area based on the number of people injured and killed in pedestrian accidents controlled for the population and the number of folks who walk to work as a measure of average overall walking in the region. South Florida’s PDI was 171.9. The metro area with the highest PDI was Orlando, with a PDI of 295 and 3 deaths per 100,000 people.

Among states, Florida was once again No. 1, with nearly 5,900 people killed and a PDI of 201.4. Most other states with high pedestrian danger were in the South, including Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas. New Mexico, Arizona and Delaware were also high on the list. Among the top 13 most dangerous metro areas, regions in Florida held nine of those slots. Continue reading

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Florida lawmakers are looking to ditch the decades-old no-fault car insurance law that has dictated personal injury recovery from crashes since the 1970s. As our Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers can explain, the new law, if signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, will do away with requirements to purchase no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) coverage and instead require bodily injury liability coverage. Ultimately, this will fundamentally change the way we pursue damages in Florida car accident cases. Florida car accident lawsuit

Both the Florida House and Senate signed off on SB 54, a bill subject to substantial back-and-forth to close out the end of this legislative session.

Current law requires all vehicle owners to purchase PIP that covers $10,000 for their own medical, disability and funeral expenses if they’re hurt in a crash – regardless of fault. But as any Florida car accident attorney will tell you, $10,000 isn’t nearly enough to cover healthcare costs after most accidents. (The amount hasn’t changed since 1979.) Besides that, only $2,500 is available if injuries don’t require emergency treatment. Furthermore, PIP isn’t always as easy to obtain as it should be, and many injured motorists need assistance from an attorney to ensure they’re fairly compensated. The only way to step outside the no-fault system and pursue compensation from the at-fault driver is if one’s injuries meet or exceed the serious injury threshold, as outlined in F.S. 626.737. Continue reading

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Social media has become a ubiquitous presence in our daily lives, making it second nature to share everything from the mundane to the momentous. Those involved in South Florida personal injury lawsuits know that it can be one of those “big things” that can consume a lot of your physical and emotional energy. It would seem natural, then, to share this with others to whom you’re connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or other platforms. Fort Lauderdale accident attorney

As Fort Lauderdale accident attorneys, we generally advice against this. The problem is that information on social media accounts – particularly anything that relates to your accident, injury or recovery – could undercut your personal injury claim. Such posts can provide defense lawyers with a valuable source of information that refute the cause of your injury, impeach your credibility or poke holes in the amount of damages you claim to have suffered.

This isn’t to say that people posting about their case are lying about anything. In fact, it’s more likely that they post because they feel they have nothing to hide. The problem is you aren’t looking at the information through the same lens as a lawyer. The intent and implications of certain pictures, posts, videos or comments could be twisted by the defense team. It’s better to limit your social media engagement while your case is pending, if possible. If you have questions about specifics, direct them to your accident attorney. Continue reading

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Florida has long held the unfortunate distinction as the being one of the worst (if not the worst) for deadly pedestrian accidents – far too many of those being hit-and-run. As the Governors Highway Safety Association reports, more than 6,500 pedestrian accidents occurred in 2019 – the highest in three decades. Five states – including Florida – accounted for 50 percent of those.pedestrian accident attorney

As our Fort Lauderdale car accident attorneys can explain, victims of pedestrian accidents have several legal avenues for compensation and accountability. These include no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) benefits, as well as bodily injury liability claims against at-fault drivers/vehicle owners/employers and possibly uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

Several recent Florida pedestrian accident lawsuits stem from unspeakable tragedy: Two college students killed and a handful more injured in two pedestrian accidents near the same area just a month apart. Continue reading

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With more than 15 million licensed drivers and even more annual visitors, Florida roads are never wanting in traffic. The problem is not all those drivers are insured. In fact, Florida is No. 1 for uninsured motorists in the country for driving uninsured. More than 27 percent lacking the proper coverage, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers

There are many theories about why this is, but the bottom line for us as Fort Lauderdale injury lawyers is that many accidents involve an uninsured driver. This poses some definite challenges in terms of how we approach an injury case.

You can still often recover damages if you’re injured in a crash with a driver who isn’t insured, but it will depend on your own coverage, the personal finances of the at-fault driver, who owns the vehicle that was driven and whether any third-parties were at-fault. Continue reading

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What do you do when the cost of your Fort Lauderdale car accident injuries exceed the amount of available insurance coverage? It is possible to collect more, but it will depend on the circumstances of your case and the skill of your personal injury attorney.Fort Lauderdale car accident

First, it’s important to explain Florida’s no-fault system of auto insurance coverage and the minimum coverage rates.

The minimum coverage for an auto accident is $10,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) coverage and $10,000 for property damage liability. PIP is the coverage you buy for yourself, per F.S. 627.736, and ensures a portion of coverage for medical bills and lost wages stemming from a crash. This is paid to you (and/or your passengers) regardless of who was at-fault (assuming you didn’t crash intentionally and weren’t committing a felony at the time of the accident). Your passengers may tap into their own PIP, even if they weren’t driving. You may not be entitled to the full $10,000 in PIP if your injuries did not require immediate treatment. Continue reading

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Boating is a way of life in Florida, but it’s also a source of serious injury and even death here in the Sunshine State. The U.S. Coast Guard’s 2019 Recreational Boating Statistics Report released this summer once again named Florida No 1 for annual boating accidents – 679 total that year, leading to 62 fatalities. It’s worth the reminder for caution as we approach New Year’s Eve, given that boating accidents tend to spike during major holiday weekends. boating accident lawyer

After all, it was only one year ago in the early hours of New Year’s Eve that a 42-foot custom speed boat named “Blue Steel” crashed into a jetty near Fort Lauderdale shortly after midnight on Dec. 31, 2019. Continue reading

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