Articles Posted in Car Accidents

On average, there are more than 380,000 Florida car accidents reported annually. If you’re involved in one of them, preserving the possibility of a Fort Lauderdale personal injury claim means knowing not only what to do in the aftermath, but what NOT to do. Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer

As a longtime Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer, I’ve sadly seen viable damage claims undermined because the person involved made some missteps early on. And it’s understandable – you’re traumatized, maybe disoriented, and possibly overwhelmed.

That’s why it’s always a good idea to contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after a crash, particularly one that involves serious injuries. We’ll help walk you through every aspect and fight for you to receive full and fair compensation.

Note that while Florida is a no-fault state when it comes to car accidents, that does not mean you’ll only be dealing with your own insurance. If your injuries are serious and the other party was at-fault, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to step outside the no-fault system and file a claim against the at-fault driver’s insurer.

Top 4 “Don’ts” After a South Florida Car Accident

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As Broward car accident lawyers, we may be able to represent more than one person involved in the same car accident – but only when there is no conflict of interest between them. The problem, however, is that not all conflicts of interest are immediately apparent.

Defining a Conflict of InterestBroward car accident lawyer

As noted in Florida Rules Regulating the Florida Bar 4-1.7, some ethical conflicts of interest for lawyers exist when:

  • The representation of one client would be directly adverse to another.
  • There’s substantial risk that representing one or more client would be materially limited by the lawyer’s responsibilities to another client, former client, or third person by a lawyer’s personal interest.

Such conflicts can sometimes be waived if the lawyer believes they can provide competent and diligent representation to all clients, the representation isn’t barred by law, and each affected client gives informed consent.

When Interests May Conflict for Broward Car Accident Victims

When it comes to Broward car accident cases, the most obvious conflict of interest would involve representation of one driver suing another for negligence. That would likely never happen.

Similarly, it’s highly unlikely a Broward car accident lawyer could ethically represent both an injured passenger and the driver being sued for the negligence that caused the passenger’s injuries.

Where the lines become a bit more blurred is when two people in the same crash are suing a third party for negligence that caused both their injuries. For example, it might make sense for two family members injured in the same car accident to hire one lawyer if the other driver was mostly if not entirely at-fault. This is particularly true if you’re a parent of minor children.

However, it’s important to understand that if a driver and passenger suing the same driver for the same act of alleged negligence, a conflict can arise because the money will be paid from the same pot. If the injuries of one person are more severe, fairness would stand to reason that they should get a larger chunk of the money. An attorney representing both clients may find themselves with a conflict of interest because they’re advocating for the maximum payout for each.

Also bear in mind that there are few South Florida car accidents in which one driver is entirely, 100 percent at-fault for the crash. There are often several factors. If you are a passenger in a car with a driver who was just partially at-fault, you may have viable claims against both drivers. In that situation, it would be a conflict of interest for a Broward personal injury lawyer to represent both you and the person who was driving the car you were in.

Florida Bar Ethics Opinion on Car Accident Lawyer Conflicts of Interest

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One of the more unique elements of Florida injury law is the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. It essentially allows the owner of a vehicle to be held legally responsible for damages inflicted by negligent operation of that vehicle, even if it wasn’t the owner who was driving. As a Broward injury lawyer can explain, it’s an important path to compensation when a negligent driver is young, poorly insured, and/or lacking in personal assets. Broward injury lawyer

Recently, the Florida Supreme Court was asked to weigh in on whether a claimant could pursue claims of dangerous instrumentality against two parties – both parents of the driver, one the title holder and the other the “bailee.” The “bailee” is one who gains possession/control of property but does not actually own it. Here, the father of the negligent, 21-year-old driver was the title-holder. The mother was the bailee; she was the primary driver of the car, but both parents frequently permitted their son to drive it as well.

According to court records in Emerson v. Lambert et al., the young man was driving home from dinner when he struck a motorcyclist, who is the plaintiff in this case. The crash was catastrophic, leaving the motorcyclist a quadriplegic.

In the subsequent Florida injury lawsuit, plaintiff named the driver and his parents as defendants, the latter two allegedly vicariously liable under the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. Continue reading

Large trucks are the lifeblood of our economy in Florida and throughout the U.S., a vital cog in virtually every supply chain wheel in the country. But they can also be incredibly dangerous to other motorists, as well as vulnerable road users such as bicyclists and pedestrians. When crashes with big trucks do occur in South Florida, there are some key differences in the way those cases unfold compared to your typical car accident case. As longtime Broward truck accident lawyers, we’re committed to holding truckers and trucking companies accountable when negligence results in irreversible consequences to others on the road. Broward truck accident lawyer

Florida Truck Accident Statistics

Every day, operators of large trucks traversing our nation’s roads are the cause of serious crashes resulting in extensive property damage, serious injury, and tragic deaths. The term “large trucks” refers to medium or heavy trucks (excluding buses and motor homes) with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000+ pounds. This can include both commercial and non-commercial vehicles.

According to the National Safety Council, there were 5,700 large trucks involved in large crashes in 2021 – which represented an 18 percent increase from 2020 and a nearly 50 percent increase over the last decade. Part of the explanation for this rise is the fact that there are more large trucks on the road. But even so, the involvement rate per 100 million large truck miles has also increased – up 7 percent from 2020 and 22 percent over the last 10 years.

Big trucks are involved in 9 percent of all fatal crashes.

Specifically in Broward County, there were a total of 4,111 commercial vehicle crashes in 2021. These resulted in 820 injuries and 12 deaths. That’s just a snapshot of a single Florida county, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Statewide, according to the NHTSA, large trucks were involved in more than 350 traffic deaths in a single recent year.

Differences in Broward Truck Accident vs. Car Accident Claims

If you’re injured in a Broward truck accident, you may have grounds for filing a civil claim for financial compensation – same as you would if you were involved in a car accident. You’ll still need to prove negligence (and strongly dispute any allegations of contributory negligence), as well as the extent of your injuries to establish your right to collect damages. But there are a number of ways in which truck crash cases differ from your typical car accident claim.

Among them: Continue reading

If you’ve recently been in a Fort Lauderdale car accident, you may be wondering whether this ordeal will eventually wind up in a courtroom trial.Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer

While every case is different, the most probable answer is: No.

That’s not to say it’s impossible. But the truth is, most Fort Lauderdale car accident cases never even become lawsuits – let alone make it all the way to trial.

There was a reason motorcyclists were motivated by the hundreds in a show of political might to cram into the Florida Capitol building last month: Tort reform. motorcycle accident lawyer

The controversial bill (House version HB 837 and Senate version SB 236) was fast-tracked through the legislature and signed by the governor within hours of it hitting his desk. It undercuts a laundry list of rights for personal injury plaintiffs – but those in Florida motorcycle accidents will suffer a particularly outsized impact.

Essentially, the measure imposes sweeping limitations on Florida lawsuits, most of those broadly and unapologetically shielding insurers and big businesses from payouts in injury cases – at the expense of those most seriously hurt. Many of the motorcyclists who turned up to protest, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, are “diehard, staunch DeSantis supporters, Trump supporters, and lifelong Republicans.” But as several of them noted, “This is bad for everyone.”

What exactly is the change motorcyclists are most upset about? The shift in the comparative fault standard.

As our Fort Lauderdale motorcycle accident lawyers can explain, for years under F.S. 768.81, Florida followed a system of pure comparative fault. Essentially, that means everyone is responsible for their own share of the fault. If you are hurt in a car accident and are 40 percent responsible for what happened, you can still hold the other driver accountable for their 60 percent share of the blame. In a pure comparative fault standard system, this fair share liability principal goes all the way to 99%/1%. So if a plaintiff is 99 percent liable and the defendant 1 percent, the plaintiff can still collect on that 1 percent in damages. (That’s not an ideal outcome, of course, and injury lawyers paid on a contingency fee basis were already less likely to take on weaker cases for this reason, as they are paid a portion of the damages ultimately paid out. This is one of the reasons the argument about “frivolous lawsuits” being problematic holds little water. It’s not easy to win – or get paid – for a Florida injury lawsuit that isn’t strong on its merits.)

This new law turns pure comparative fault on its head. Now, Florida has a standard of modified comparative fault with a 51 percent bar. This means that if the plaintiff is more than 50 percent responsible for their injuries, they can’t collect a dime from the other at-fault party. So if the other driver is 49 percent at-fault, they pay nothing. The financial burden rests solely with plaintiffs.

Why do motorcyclists care so much?

Because a motorcyclist can be faulted for their own head injuries if they don’t wear a helmet. Continue reading

Florida is a biker’s dream – long, flat roads, sunny skyways and blissful sea breezes. Not only do a lot of Floridians own motorcycles (about 550,000), but riders from all over the country flock to our roads regularly. (The Insurance Highway Safety Institute reports California and Florida have the largest number of registered motorcycles in the U.S. – and by a large margin.)Broward motorcycle accident lawyer

The sheer volume of motorcycles in the Sunshine State is part of why the Florida motorcycle accident rate is so high. It consistently ranks at the top of the charts for motorcycle crashes, serious injuries, and deaths. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Florida outranks every other state – even California, which has nearly double the population – for the highest number of motorcycle fatalities. There were 600 motorcycle accident deaths reported in Florida just in 2020 alone. California ranked No. 2 with 539. The lack of motorcycle awareness by other motorists as well as Florida’s high speed limits don’t help matters.

But there are several ways in which suing after a Florida motorcycle accident is different compared to other types of crash cases.

Here, our Broward motorcycle injury lawyers explain.

What Sets Motorcycle Accidents Apart From Other Crashes?

There are several unique factors with motorcycle accidents that alter the way personal injury lawyers and wrongful death attorneys approach these cases. A few of those include: Continue reading

Rear-end collisions are one of the most common types of Fort Lauderdale car accidents, and such circumstances create a rebuttable presumption that the driver in the rear was at-fault. But brake-checking – when a driver purposely slams on their brakes in order to scare or intimidate another driver – can be the basis to refute such claims. Fort Lauderdale rear end collsion

As our Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers can explain, brake checking is essentially a form of road  rage. It can be done in response to someone following the brake-checker too closely, a practice called tailgating. Or it can simply be an aggressive driving tactic intended to annoy or scare the driver behind them for other reasons. The intention is rarely to cause a crash, but that’s a very real risk with brake-checking.

Brake checking is illegal. The Florida law on tailgating, F.S. 316.0895, explains that drivers can’t follow other motorists more closely than is reasonable and prudent. They must also have regard for the speed of traffic and road conditions. Sudden braking is a known potential on any road as hazards can quickly arise or conditions can abruptly change. That’s why the law requires drivers to maintain a reasonable distance from the car in front of them. However, if the driver in the lead intentionally or improperly slams on the brakes or stops, this can be used as evidence to effectively rebut the presumption of rear driver negligence in the event of a crash.

In the 2019 case of Fonger v. Nall, the Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal noted that if left unrebutted, the presumption in rear-end collisions is that the rear-driver was negligent and at-fault. Rebutting the presumption requires proof of one of the following:

  • A mechanical failure affecting the rear driver’s vehicle.
  • A sudden stop by the lead driver.
  • A sudden lane change by the lead driver.
  • An illegal or improper stop by the lead driver.

Brake-checking would fall under the second or fourth point here. Continue reading

Large trucks pose an outsized safety risk on Florida roads, mainly because of the size disparity compared to other vehicles and the fact they frequently travel at such high speeds. But there’s another – often overlooked safety issue that truck crashes present: The risk of underride.truck underride accident

As our Fort Lauderdale truck accident lawyers can explain, underride collision truck accidents occur when a passenger vehicle collides with a semi truck and is forced underneath the trailer. Whereas an average passenger vehicle is about 40 inches high, the lowest point of the average trailer is about 45 inches off the ground, meaning the smaller vehicle can get trapped underneath. During these crashes, the trailer or truck might “intrude” into the passenger compartment, which almost always leads to either severe injuries or death.

Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized a rule updating two Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards intended to bolster protections for drivers and passengers in rear underride crashes where the front end of the smaller vehicle crashes into the back of a larger vehicle (such as a semi truck) and slides under that vehicle.

Noting that truck underride crashes are often fatal, the new rule requires rear impact guards on trailers and semis with sufficient strength and energy absorption to protect occupants of passenger vehicles in multiple crash scenarios, keeping drivers safe and preventing deadly crashes. The final rule amends FMVSS No. 223 and FMVS No. 224 pertaining to rear impact guards and rear impact protection.

In addition to setting these new standards, the rule also requires more research on these crashes and establishes an advisory committee on underride protections. Rear impact guard designs are going to be more closely studied, with state tracking of underride crashes more systematic. Continue reading

Florida is a no-fault state when it comes to car accident claims. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t pursue monetary damages from negligent drivers. It also doesn’t mean you can’t be held responsible (at least partly) for your own injuries. The seat belt defense is a good example of the latter, as our Broward car accident lawyers can explain.Broward car accident lawyer

Let’s start with the fact that with very few exceptions, seat belts are required by Florida law for all drivers and passengers in motor vehicles.

Florida’s no-fault car insurance law holds that all vehicle owners must carry personal injury protection (PIP) coverage that provides up to $10,000 in compensation for any insureds injured in a crash with that vehicle – regardless of who was at-fault in causing the crash. An injured person can step outside the state’s no-fault PIP system and pursue a claim for additional monetary damages against any at-fault parties IF their injuries meet the serious injury threshold. As set forth in F.S. 627.737, they must prove their injuries – caused by the crash for which the defendant is responsible – resulted in significant/permanent loss of a bodily function, permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant/permanent scarring/disfigurement or death.

It’s worth noting that Florida is recognized as a pure comparative fault state when it comes to negligence claims. Per F.S. 768.81, that means each person/entity can only be held legally responsible to pay for the damages they caused. So for example, if one suffers $100,000 in damages and Defendant A is responsible for 40 percent and Defendant B is responsible for 60 percent, Defendant A will be ordered to pay $40,000 and Defendant B will be ordered to pay $60,000.

But what if one of the people responsible for a plaintiff’s injuries is the plaintiff themself? That is what we call contributory negligence. By way of their own negligence, they contributed to their own injuries. So if you suffered $100,000 in damages – but are 20 percent responsible for your own injuries – the most you can expect to be awarded is $80,000.

That brings us to the seat belt defense. Continue reading

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