Miami Car Repair Injury

A wide variety of factors cause auto collisions in South Florida, with three types of accidents occurring more often than other types of car accidents.

Rear End

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released a study that showed more than 30 percent of all car accidents involved rear-end impacts. Rear-end collisions can be as minor as a fender bender at the neighborhood grocery store or as serious as a high-speed impact on Interstate 95. Common causes of rear-end car accidents include distraction and driving under the influence. A rear-end vehicle collision is capable of causing serious injuries such as whiplash and brain trauma.

Merging Into Traffic

The rapid growth in Miami’s population has corresponded with the same rate of increase in car accidents. Construction of more roads and highways has not alleviated the congestion that makes merging into traffic difficult to do, especially during the morning and evening rush hour commute. A merging accident typically involves one vehicle slamming into the side of another vehicle. Side-impact crashes are considered the most serious type of car accident because of the lack of protection for both the driver and any passengers.

Head-On

At a high speed of impact, head-on collisions represent the leading cause of car accident fatalities. A strong impact collision can send one or both drivers through the windshield even with the safety protections of an airbag and seatbelt. Property damage is usually more costly because of the large number of expensive parts that sustain significant damage. Driving under the influence and operating a motor vehicle while drowsy are the two most common reasons for head-on auto collisions.

During the free case evaluation that you attend with one of the highly-skilled litigators from Morgan and Morgan, you can expect to learn about three Florida car accident laws. The car repair injury lawyer that we assign to your case will describe the laws in simple terms, which means you do not have to deal with complex legal jargon.

Deadline to File a Civil Lawsuit

The deadline for filing a civil lawsuit for a personal injury case is referred to as the statute of limitations. Every state has established a time limit for plaintiffs to file the proper documents to initiate the litigation process. Most states give plaintiffs between two and four years to file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. However, few states go as high as six years and as low as one year when setting the deadline for the filing of a civil lawsuit. Florida gives plaintiffs four years to file a civil lawsuit for a car accident case.

If you fail to meet the deadline for submitting the correct documents that are associated with a civil lawsuit, you can expect the court clerk to dismiss your case. During the free case evaluation, the Morgan and Morgan car repair injury lawyer assigned to your case will emphasize the importance of filing a civil lawsuit as quickly as possible for two reasons. First, you need to recover the out-of-pocket costs you have paid for medical bills and the work done to repair property damage. Second, your personal injury attorney wants to interview witnesses right after a car accident to get the most accurate descriptions of what transpired before, during, and after the collision.

Sharing Fault in Florida

Not every car accident assigns all of the blame for causing a crash to one party. Florida addresses multiple-party fault by following the comparative negligence doctrine. Comparative negligence means the judge hearing a car accident lawsuit assigns a percentage of blame to both parties. Let’s assume another vehicle struck your car as you tried to merge into traffic. The driver of the car that struck your vehicle normally assumes most, if not all of the blame for causing the collision. However, you failed to use the turn signal to indicate you wanted to change lanes. The judge hearing your case assigns you 20 percent of the fault for causing the collision. If you receive monetary damages of $20,000, you receive just $16,000 because the court deducts 20 percent from your financial award.

No-Fault Car Insurance

Florida car owners have to buy no-fault auto insurance. This means that after a car accident that produces minor injuries, you must turn to your insurance company for financial assistance instead of filing a claim with the other party’s insurance company. No-fault insurance is also called Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and it provides you with compensation to pay out-of-pocket medical costs such as diagnostic tests and prescription medications. If you sustained one or more serious injuries, then you might be able to file a claim with the other party’s insurer. Florida law defines a serious injury as one that is permanent, causes permanent and significant scarring, or a permanent and significant loss of a bodily function.

One of the experienced car repair injury lawyers in Miami from Morgan and Morgan determines whether your injuries meet the serious standards as defined by Florida law.

The ultimate goal of the car repair injury lawyer in Miami that you work with from Morgan and Morgan is to get you the compensation you deserve to pay medical bills and the cost of repairing property damage. Your attorney bases the calculation of monetary damages on three factors.

Economic Damages

Economic damages represent the tangible costs associated with your car accident case. You have the right to recover expenses such as diagnostic tests, treatment programs, and physical therapy sessions. Your car repair injury lawyer in Miami also will ask you for copies of assistive devices and prescription drug bills. You also should seek full compensation for every repair done to restore your personal property to mint condition.

Because a car accident can cause serious enough injuries to force you out of work, economic damages also include lost wages and future loss of earning capacity. Your healthcare provider also submits an estimate for future medical expenses. 

Non-Economic Damages

Here is where calculating monetary damages gets a bit tricky. Non-economic damages represent non-tangible costs that do not come with a price tag. Pain and suffering, which covers mental and emotional distress issues, is the most common type of non-economic damages requested by personal injury attorneys. Getting involved in a car accident can trigger several emotional distress issues, such as fear, anxiety, and mood swings. Your personal injury attorney calculates the value of non-economic damages by referring to a formula that includes the value of economic damages.

Punitive Damages

Although your car repair injury lawyer in Miami will ask the judge for an award of punitive damages if the other party committed one or more acts of negligence, your attorney does not place a value on punitive damages. The judge hearing your case attaches a value for damages that punish the other party for committing one or more acts of negligence. Punitive damages serve two purposes that include deterring the other party from committing the same act of negligence again, as well as making an example of the defendant to discourage others from engaging in the same type of negligent behavior.

The free case evaluation that you schedule with a Morgan and Morgan personal injury attorney should run between 15 minutes and one hour, depending on the complexity of your car accident case. For example, if you got involved in a vehicle collision with more than one other party, the free case evaluation might last longer than normal because of the involvement of multiple parties.

Bring Records and Documents

The car repair injury lawyer in Miami that you consider hiring needs to examine the evidence regarding your car accident. You should bring a copy of the official police report, which contains a detailed description of what caused the auto collision, as well as if one or more parties committed an act of negligence that caused the crash. Your attorney also needs to review copies of your medical bills and the receipts that display how much you paid to repair property damage.
One of the most important documents to share with a Morgan and Morgan personal injury attorney is your auto insurance policy. The lawyer sitting across from you during a free case evaluation has to discover whether your policy covers all of your out-of-pocket expenses.

Write Down Questions

Our teachers used to say, “There are no stupid questions,” and that is particularly true when you have to get up to speed learning legal topics. Before your free case evaluation, write down questions concerning your case, such as how much will the attorney charge for legal services and what you will need to do to file a convincing car insurance claim. One critical question to ask is finding out if the attorney tries to negotiate a settlement before filing a personal injury lawsuit. Negotiating a favorable settlement helps you avoid a costly and time-consuming civil trial.

Honesty Is the Best Policy

The last thing you want to do during a free case evaluation is to embellish your version of events concerning a car accident. An experienced car repair injury lawyer in Miami will detect embellishment, which can erode the trust both you and your attorney need to develop for filing an auto insurance claim and a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. For example, you do not want to submit phony receipts for the repairs done to your motor vehicle.

When you search for the right personal injury attorney, you want to work with one that specializes in litigating car accident cases. At Morgan and Morgan, our personal injury lawyers specialize in litigating different types of cases, from product liability to auto accident cases. You also want to hire a car repair injury lawyer in Miami who works on your case from start to finish. Some personal injury attorneys meet with clients during a free case evaluation, and then delegate tasks for the remainder of the case to a paralegal and/or less experienced litigator.
 

Schedule a free case evaluation with one of the highly-rated personal injury attorneys at Morgan and Morgan.