Fort Lauderdale Auto Defect Accident Lawyer
Fort Lauderdale Auto Defect Accident Lawyer
Liability Claims for Automotive Defects
Not all car accidents are the result of a driver’s mistakes or negligence. Defects in the design, manufacture or assembly of vehicle components will sometimes lead to a sudden breakdown or malfunction, which is capable of causing major collisions resulting in severe injuries or death. The victims of such accidents are often able to sue the automobile manufacturer for damages to receive compensation for medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. A Fort Lauderdale auto defect accident lawyer can help you get started on your claim today.
Get Free Advice From An Experienced Car Accident Lawyer.
Defective Automobile Parts
When a car is built, it is required to pass certain testing and meet safety standards before it can be released to the general public. There is the possibility of parts not working properly and malfunctions occurring while driving the car on the road.
Mistakes like these can happen with various parts of the vehicle including:
Tires
Today’s tires are often more durable than those used in the past, yet they still need maintenance. On occasion, the tire itself is faulty to being with and does not provide adequate protection to the vehicle and its inhabitants. Tires that are under-inflated are said to be the number one cause of failure, with worn down tires coming in at a close second. Fatalities have occurred due to malfunctioning tires that do not hold up to their standards.
Brakes
While brake failure is not extremely common, it can still happen and result in detrimental consequences if it occurs on a larger truck. Overheating and problems with hydraulic lines not being properly attached can cause the brakes to become faulty and damaged. Manufacturers of automobiles have had to recall thousands of cars in the past for potential brake failure problems because it can have such horrific end results.
Steering & Suspension
If a car is built with a fault design, it may experience issues with the steering wheel and the suspension. These two components are extremely vital to the overall safety of the vehicle because they manage where and how it moves when it is driving. In cases where the steering wheel gives out, this can cause drivers to go through dividers, hit other vehicles and pedestrians, and cause other horrendous accidents. Without a balanced suspension, the car’s tires may not connect with the road properly, resulting in hydroplaning during rain or other mishaps.
Great guys who take their job seriously. They took care of me when I had my accident and made sure I was walked through 100% of the way.
– Joshua M.
Receiving Financial Compensation in Your Fort Lauderdale Auto Defect Accident Case
You may have seen news reports of widespread recalls being issued by the major car makers on the discovery of defective vehicle components such as airbags that fail to deploy, tire sidewalls that blow out or pedals which become stuck. Many such recalls began after a single person in your position decided to take legal action.
By filing an auto product liability lawsuit with the help of an attorney from our firm, you may not only be able to recover a settlement to cover your losses but may also be able to safeguard other drivers and their families from suffering further injuries through your actions as a whistleblower.
over
10+
of Millions Recovered
Suing the Automobile Manufacturer for Damages in a Fort Lauderdale Auto Defect Accident
A skilled Fort Lauderdale auto defect accident lawyer will investigate the circumstances of your single vehicle accident to find proof that it was directly caused-or contributed to-by the malfunction or failure of vehicle components, rather than to human error. Our firm represents many individuals throughout the region, but we realize that you have only one Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer. We strive to provide you with personalized service throughout the process of your claim, answering all your questions and advocating aggressively on your behalf.
Contact our office today to receive a free consultation of your case without being obligated to anything!
Plantation Personal Injury FAQs
When Is It the Right Time to Call a Personal Injury Lawyer?
The right time to call is as soon as possible after your accident. There are many reasons why you need to begin the legal process as quickly as you can. The legal process may even begin without you, with many calls from the insurance company trying to either rush you or to pressure you to give a statement. They may try to catch you unaware and trick you into compromising your legal rights. Hiring an attorney could prevent this from happening.
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Equally important, as time passes from the time of your accident, the evidence that could help your claim can become harder to find. People might quickly clear the scene of the accident, and you may lose the ability to contact witnesses. The witnesses that you have may begin to lose their recollection of what they saw. When you hire a personal injury lawyer, they will get to work immediately to gather the evidence before it is lost.
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Calling a lawyer to get started on your case is a crucial step in the legal process. Knowing that you have someone on the job with the experience and tenacity to fight for you can give you at least some peace of mind during an undoubtedly difficult time.
How Do Insurance Settlement Negotiations Work?
An insurance claim is just like any other negotiation. You have a number in mind for what you think that you should receive for your injuries, and the insurance company has a much lower number in mind for what it wants to pay. Your insurance claim begins when your Plantation personal injury attorney files a demand letter with the insurance company. This is when the adjuster goes to work to try to save money for their bosses.
The insurance adjuster may outright deny your claim or question liability. They may come back with a settlement offer. When the number seems low, and it will, know that this is just their opening offer. Your Plantation injury attorney will likely reject the offer and respond with your own demand.
Eventually, you will lower your number, and the insurance company will raise theirs, and you could meet somewhere in the middle. This is a time-honored dance that personal injury lawyers have been doing with insurance companies since the advent of courtrooms. Even when you seem very far apart from the insurance company, most cases eventually will settle.
What Happens After I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Filing a personal injury lawsuit is an early part of the claim process. Most cases will never go far enough to see the inside of a courtroom. Statistically speaking, a vast majority of personal injury cases are settled out of court. However, if your case does make it to court, you should expect going into it that the trial process may take one to two years to complete. The legal system is far from rushed, as courts and judges have busy schedules and full dockets.
In the short term, you can expect motions and attempts to obtain evidence. Many people associate a lawsuit with a trial, but that only happens after many months of the nuts and bolts of the legal system. The phase of your case that will take the longest time is discovery. This is when the two sides obtain evidence that the other has in their possession. At this point, you may even need to sit for a deposition.
Filing a lawsuit will not cut off settlement negotiations. As was previously mentioned, most cases will settle without a trial. If anything, litigation may give each side more incentive to settle. The two parties usually continue negotiating right up until the point when the jury is seated.
What Evidence Can Prove My Injury Claim?
Negligence is the basis of every personal injury claim. When you file a lawsuit in court, you have the burden of proof. It will be up to you to show that what you say is more likely than not to have happened. You need to back your claim up with evidence.
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Your Plantation personal injury lawyer will work to gather things that can backup your side of the story, including:
— Witness statements from people who say your injury or accident
— Pictures of the scene of your accident
— Security camera footage
— Expert witness testimony that could reconstruct the accident
— Maintenance logs of the area or vehicle involved
— Medical records that can help prove damages
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These are things that can be difficult to get on your own and piece together to tell the story of what happened. Injury lawyers in Plantation, Florida, know how to both get the evidence and use it to prove that someone else was responsible for your accident.
What if I Cannot Work Due to My Injuries?
Your personal injury damages include both economic and non-economic compensation. Economic compensation aims to pay you back for the actual money that you lost. This includes bills that you paid and earnings you lost. This specifically pays you back for lost wages from your job when you are unable to work. Since you would have worked, this is money out of your pocket.
Lost wages in a personal injury settlement are much broader than you think. Of course, this includes the time that you have already missed from work. It also encompasses time that you will miss from work in the future. You do not need to outright miss work to receive compensation for this. For example, if you were qualified for a promotion but cannot get it now because your injury limits you in the type of work that you can do, you can get compensation for the reduction in your earning capacity.
Lost wages are often a very contested part of your personal injury claim because you can bet that the insurance company will see things differently to try to lower its bill. They may dispute what your possible earnings are or use a lower rate of inflation to calculate what they may be in the future.