Fort Lauderdale Distracted Driver Accident Lawyer
Fort Lauderdale Distracted Driver Accident Lawyer
Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer on the Relationship Between Driver Distraction and Car Accidents
Distraction has been a problem since the earliest days of driving, but it has become worse in recent years with the proliferation of cell phones and even smartphones which make it possible to read and write text messages and emails and even to visit websites and watch videos on the go. The danger that these things bring about is not worth it, talking to someone or sending an email can wait until you are off of the road. If you have questions about a distracted driving accident, a skilled Fort Lauderdale distracted driver accident lawyer can help.
over
10+
of Millions Recovered
Other common forms of driver distraction include eating, reading, grooming in the rearview mirror and adjusting the car stereo, any of which can dramatically increase the likelihood of being involved in a car accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that distraction was a factor in 18% of car accident injuries in 2010, and driving while texting has been compared by a study conducted at the University of Utah to driving with a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08%. Also, in 2011 there were over 3,000 deaths due to distracted driver accidents.
Being distracted while on the road is life-threatening not only for the driver but for everyone else on the road as well. There are three different categories of distraction that can take place while driving, any of which are very dangerous and can increase the risk of an accident:
- Visual distractions
- Manual distractions
- Cognitive distractions
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.
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:
Committed and Passionate Legal Representation
If your collision was caused by a distracted driver, do not hesitate to contact our firm for help in claiming the financial compensation you deserve. Proving liability in a car accident depends on establishing that the crash was caused by the other driver’s negligence or recklessness, which can be accomplished through a witness testimony, the police report or even by making use of the driver’s cell phone records. With 30 years of combined experience, the lawyers at our firm are familiar with this process and are able to guide you through every step.
Get Free Advice From An Experienced Car Accident Lawyer.
At Ace Your Case, our Fort Lauderdale injury attorneys are dedicated to defending the rights of the injured, and we believe that if you have been hurt by a distracted driver you deserve the support of a committed advocate. We deliver personalized service to every person we represent because we know that while we represent many clients throughout the region, you have only one attorney. You will not owe us a cent unless we are successful in your car accident insurance claim, so you have nothing to lose in seeking our help for securing the justice you deserve. If you have been injured in an accident because of a distracted driver, call our firm today to schedule a free consultation where you can ask questions and talk about your case with an experienced Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer.
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.