Fort Lauderdale accident attorney Tag Archives

August 10, 2016

Gearhart v. Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co. – Car Accident With Underinsured Motorist

Auto insurance companies that provide underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage to more than one vehicle in a family don’t want those limits stacked so that it might have to pay three times the limit. Similarly, separate policies that cover the same individuals may have anti-stacking provisions in their plans.

This is totally legal and will be enforced by the courts – so long as the language contained therein is clear and unambiguous. However, if there is any ambiguity in these anti-stacking provisions, the courts will generally decline to apply them. This is important because it can mean doubling or sometimes even tripling the amount to which you are entitled.

Let’s look at one example of this, recently weighed by the Idaho Supreme Court. In Gearhart v. Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co., which involved two separate underinsured motorist policies that covered the same young man. The policies written by the same insurance company, but they were separate, one belonging to his mother and another to his father. The couple had previously divorced. Continue reading

May 29, 2016

Sorenson v. Batchelder – Injury Lawsuit Nixed Due to Misfiled Paperwork

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

In Florida car accident litigation, it’s not just the facts that matter. It’s the procedural details.

The claim has to be properly stated, served and filed. All the elements have to be there – on time – or else you risk forfeiting your right to assert damages, perhaps forever.

This was the unfortunate outcome for plaintiff in Sorenson v. Batchfelder, recently before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Although this is an out-of-state case, the same general principles apply. Continue reading

March 20, 2016

Report: U.S. Drivers are Distracted More Than Half the Time

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

One of the biggest and most precise studies to date on the problem of distracted driving in the U.S. has been released. The results are not good.

Researchers with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, in a new paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that Americans are in some way distracted more than 50 percent of the time when they are behind the wheel. Of all the crashes the study authors observed, almost 70 percent involved some type of “observable” distraction. That means the actual number is probably even higher, as humans can be easily distracted even by their own thoughts.

But it gets worse: The U.S. used to be one of the safest place for motorists. Prior to the early aughts, we had fewer traffic deaths per mile traveled than most other developed countries. Today, we rank 17th out of 29. Continue reading

March 14, 2016

Florida Supreme Court: Insurers Can’t Unreasonably Delay

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The Florida Supreme Court recently made it clear that auto insurance companies don’t have the right to ward off bad faith lawsuits after years of unreasonable delays, denials and non-response by paying the policy limits at the last minute.

In Fridman v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Ill., the court denied a bid by the insurer to assert it couldn’t have acted in bad faith because it did finally pay the insured. But bad faith by insurers can be revealed as much as much by the timing of the payment as the amount.

And in this case, the plaintiff – a man who was injured in a car accident by an underinsured driver – waited four full years to get a check from the insurance company. And even then, it came with settlement agreement language that effectively barred him from taking further action to collect anything further. He refused to accept it, and it was another six months before the insurer sent him another check with no such language.

But by that time, plaintiff was set on pursuing a bad faith insurance action. In Florida, people can file either a first- or third-party lawsuit against insurance companies for delaying or denying reasonable claims for benefits under the policy. If the court finds the insurer was liable for the underlying claim and acted in bad faith toward the insured, it can be made to pay triple damages. That’s not three times the policy limit – that’s three times the actual damages. Continue reading

March 6, 2016

Brown v. Davis – $3 Million Accident Verdict Upheld

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A $3 million damage award for the wrongful death of a husband and father killed in a car accident was upheld recently by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

In Brown v. Davis, decedent was killed on a bridge crossing over the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri. His injuries occurred when a huge “log skidder” tractor fell off of a large truck and onto his vehicle.

The truck was driven by one defendant for his uncle, another defendant, who owned a logging company, also named as defendant. Plaintiff was decedent’s wife and mother of his two children. She alleged defendant’s were negligent because driver failed to exercise due caution, the owner of the vehicle failed to block oncoming traffic and the company was vicariously liable. Continue reading

February 6, 2016

Methadone Clinic, Doctor Settle Drugged Driving Crash Case for $8M

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

You may have heard of Florida’s dram shop law, which allows drunk driving victims in some cases to recover damages from the establishment that served alcohol to the impaired driver. As far as dram shop laws go, it’s not the greatest; it only allows compensation when the driver was under 21 or known to habitually abuse alcohol. Still, it’s an important resource for some victims of these wholly preventable collisions.

Now, given the precedent set by a recent settlement agreement in Minnesota, there may be another alternative for victims of drugged drivers: Action against the doctor or clinic where the driver received prescription medications.

Given the fact that Florida was not long ago labeled the “Oxy Express” and that abuse of prescription painkillers led to an epidemic of opioid addiction and overdose, it’s likely we might see similar cases crop up here. Continue reading

January 12, 2016

Fort Lauderdale Aims High With Vision Zero

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

It seems like an impossible notion:

A full year in Fort Lauderdale with no one killed while crossing the street or riding a bicycle or driving a car. It seems like such a distant reality from the one we are in, where this city is No. 2 in the nation for its pedestrian fatality rate and No. 5 in the nation for its overall traffic fatality rate.

Still, it’s a dream the city’s transportation manager Debbie Griner insists is achievable. Griner recently told The Sun-Sentinel that their offices are committed to changing the perception that such incidents are simply “accidents,” facts of life over which people have no control. Rather, she says, these are incidents that can be avoided. Every single person who lives, works or visits this area has an opportunity to prevent traffic deaths, and Griner believes city leaders can empower them to do so. Continue reading

December 13, 2015

Porsche Points Finger at Paul Walker for Crash That Killed Him

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Nearly two years to the day Fast and Furious star Paul Walker died in a car crash, his father has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against auto maker Porsche. It’s the second such lawsuit against the German car manufacturer. The first was filed by Walker’s teen daughter, Meadow.

The 40-year-old movie star was a front seat passenger in a rare 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, driven by professional racer friend Roger Rodas. The vehicle struck a lamppost and tree in suburban Los Angeles. The vehicle burst into flames shortly after impact, and Rodas and Walker, 40, were burned beyond recognition.

Although investigators with the county and state deduced that high speeds were likely the core cause of the crash, the lawsuit filed by Walker’s father asserts the vehicle lacked important safety features found not just on other high-end racing cars, but on the company’s basic models. Continue reading