car accident lawyer Fort Lauderdale Tag Archives

December 10, 2018

Florida Uninsured Motorist Benefits Affirmed After Road Debris Deemed Left by “Phantom” Vehicle

An appellate court recently affirmed a Florida car accident victim’s right to uninsured motorist benefits from her insurer after successfully arguing a 12-foot ladder left in the road had fallen from a truck whose owner/ driver were not identified. This personal injury case before Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeals was interesting for the fact that:

It involved a phantom motor vehicle;
The court inferred the ladder in the road had fallen from a pickup truck that had parked in the right emergency lane;
The court inferred the ladder had fallen into the road (causing a chain collision) due to negligence in securing the ladder.

These conclusions were based primarily on circumstantial evidence and witness statements. Plaintiff’s uninsured motorist (UM) insurance carrier argued there was no proof of those last two points, the assertion relying wholly on circumstantial evidence and failing to exclude other possibilities. Defense sought a directed verdict in its favor. The court denied the motion and jurors decided the case in favor of plaintiff. The phantom vehicle was found 60 percent at-fault for the collision, while the soda company truck that rear-ended plaintiff’s vehicle when she made a sudden stop on the highway was 40 percent at-fault. The UM carrier is liable for damages caused by the “phantom vehicle. Continue reading

August 29, 2018

How Florida Injury Lawsuit Plaintiffs Prove “Loss of Life Enjoyment”

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A South Florida woman has filed a car accident lawsuit in Broward Circuit Court, alleging negligence resulting in serious injury, pain, disability, disfigurement and something known as “loss of life enjoyment.” car accident attorney Fort Lauderdale

Such damages are typical to seek in Florida crash injury claims, but this last one is what we want to focus on here. While serious injury, disability and medical costs can be established with documentation such as medical records, bills, bank statements, pay stubs and tax returns (among other types of evidence), loss of life enjoyment is a little trickier because it is highly subjective. It’s also sometimes referred to as “hedonic damages,” “loss of life’s pleasures” or “lost value of life.” It is a type of non-economic damages, which means there is no clear-cut value for the loss, as opposed to economic damages, which are the result of monetary losses suffered as a result of an injury or wrongful death.

In this case, as reported by the Florida Record, the motorist alleges defendant struck her vehicle in December 2016, causing her to sustain severe injuries that required hospitalization and ongoing nursing care. It also had the effect of exacerbating an existing medical condition. Details of the injuries and crash circumstances weren’t given in the initial complaint, except that it occurred at an intersection of the southbound I-95 ramp in Fort Lauderdale and plaintiff alleges defendant failed to maintain control of her vehicle or exercise proper lookout for other vehicles. Continue reading

October 6, 2016

Holt v. DOT – Court Upholds $3M Verdict Against State

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers understand that the negligence of some parties does not necessarily negate the negligence of others.

This was the claim argued recently before the North Carolina Supreme Court, where the families of three people killed (including a mother and her 2-year-old daughter). Families of the decedents argued the state was negligent in failing to take action to install a traffic light at an intersection that was known to require it. The state, in turn, argued the sole cause of the crash were two drag racing drivers. Continue reading

September 4, 2016

Countryway Ins. Co. v. United Financial Casualty Ins. Co. – Insurers Wrangle Over Who Should Pay UM Coverage

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Uninsured motorist coverage is essential for all drivers in Florida, though it is not required by law. With 1 in 4 drivers in the Sunshine State not insured, uninsured motorist coverage provides a safety net if you are struck by one of those drivers.

In some situations, drivers may have more than one uninsured motorist policy that applies in an accident. Although some may see this as a good problem to have, warring insurance companies – each trying to get the other to pay – can delay payment to the injured car accident victim. An experienced injury lawyer can help to ensure your rights and best interests are protected.

In the case of Countryway Ins. Co. v. United Financial Casualty Ins. Co., recently before the Kentucky Supreme Court, two auto insurance companies were fighting each other over which should cover the damages incurred by an insured who was riding in the passenger seat of her son’s semi-tractor trailer when it was struck by the uninsured driver of a passenger vehicle. Continue reading

April 8, 2016

Hughes v. Farmers Auto Ins. Ass’n – Per-Accident Insurance Limits

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

In many Fort Lauderdale car accident cases, the amount of damages available will be determined by how much insurance coverage is involved.

Auto insurance policy limits are generally expressed as:

Amount per person;
Amount per accident.

So let’s say there is a policy that allows $100,000 per person and up to $150,000 per accident. That would mean if only one person is hurt, he or she could collect up to $100,000. However, if two people equally suffer $100,000 in damages, the most either could collect would be $75,000 – because the policy limit is $150,000. Continue reading

February 23, 2016

Florida Bill Seeks End to Traffic Crash Drownings

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Last year, a University of Central Florida student left a friend’s house to pick up her mother and grandmother from the airport at 4 a.m. She never arrived. After reportedly falling asleep at the wheel, 21-year-old Chloe Arenas careened off the road and into an unguarded retention pond. Having lost consciousness from the impact of the crash, she drowned.

Now, her best friend is advocating for legislative change on her behalf. She has spoken out to lawmakers in support of a Florida bill that would require state and local transportation officials to install barriers near retention ponds and other bodies of water identified as dangerous or where other motorists have died after leaving the roadway.

The measure, called Chloe’s Law, is named after the young Orlando woman who “died in a completely preventable accident.” The bill has passed its first House committee. Continue reading

December 6, 2015

Fatal Florida Car Accident Reported During Test Drive of a Vehicle

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The Florida Highway Patrol has launched an investigation into a fatal accident that involved a vehicle owned by a local car dealership. Based on the preliminary investigation, the FHP reported, it seems the vehicle was being taken for a test drive, with the employee and two passengers inside.

The crash, which occurred in Stuart, about 90 minutes north of Fort Lauderdale, killed an 83-year-old man named Donald Maloney, who was a passenger in the Honda CR-V. That Honda had just been taken out for a test drive, though the dealership employee was behind the wheel at the time of the crash, according to WPBF ABc-25 News.

Investigators say the dealership employee was traveling south and then turned left at an intersection – and into a Chevy Tahoe. The sport utility vehicle impacted the passenger vehicle on the right front passenger seat. That’s where Maloney was sitting. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading