Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

According to news reports an 18-year old was in critical condition after a traffic crash landed him in Tampa General Hospital with serious injuries. According to the preliminary reports, the driver allegedly attempted to merge into traffic at State Road 54 from the shoulder and lost control of his Volkswagen. Ultimately his Volkswagen hit a utility pole and a tree according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

At the time of this post, neither the driver, nor any of other drivers were charged in the accident. It does appear that the 18-year old was wearing his seat belt, however, liability for the incident has not yet been determined from the State of Florida’s point of view.

Most drivers who are injured in accidents that they are written traffic citations for believe that they forbidden from recovery in civil court for injuries. In fact, the liability or fault of any accident rests solely with a jury and no insurance company or judge can ever tell someone that because they were ticketed that they aren’t entitled to compensation. It is well-settled under Florida law that the jury is the lone determiner of liability and to that end, the fact that a citation was written in an accident is actually inadmissible in a trial.

Continue reading " Wesley Chapel Personal Injury Lawyer news Update: Youth Injured in Pasco County Car Crash " »

Reports indicate that a Brooksville, FL car accident involving a 2003 Toyota resulted in a car slamming against a tree several miles east of town. Florida Highway Patrol is investigating this Brooksville car crash, but preliminary reports show that the accident only allegedly involved one motor vehicle.

Legally speaking, there are two probable legal actions which will accrue from this event. There could be wrongful death action if it can be shown by the personal representative of the estate of the driver that the accident was caused by another motorist or defect in the road or the car he was driving. In addition, the passenger of the vehicle has been listed in serious condition and would have a viable motor vehicle negligence action if applicable insurance policies exist. As a passenger, of course, it is extremely rare that any liability could be attributed to him, so the real legal issue is how much are his damages (injuries) worth and whether or not they can be linked to the accident (causation).

Many folks are confused by these types of cases, but as an example, the passenger of the motor vehicle could bring an action against the driver’s BI coverage and then, if applicable, could have a remedy available against both the driver’s UM and his own UM.

Continue reading " Brooksville Personal Injury Lawyer News Update: Driver Dies and Passenger in Serious Condition in Brooksville Car Accident " »

As reported by the Hernando Times, a local VFW commander and family man was driving his truck home and lost control, slamming the vehicle into a tree. According to the Florida Highway Patrol this single-car fatality is still under investigation, but preliminary notes show the accident to have occurred around 1 a.m.

It is not uncommon in single-car fatality crashes to learn that not all vehicles suddenly go out of control. If an investigation or reconstruction shows that a motor vehicle car crash is as a result of another driver or flaw in the road construction, design or engineering, than a Wrongful Death action could begin.

Often times, people ask, how you can make a financial recovery for a grieving family when a loved one dies at the hands of an unknown driver? Who do you sue? Simply put, this is exactly why when purchasing car insurance, one must purchase under or uninsured motorist protection or also called UM or UIM. For instance, in the above mentioned fact pattern, should it be learned that this driver was merely avoiding another driver who was traveling on the wrong side of the road, then by definition an action could be brought on behalf of the Personal Representative of the Estate of the deceased individual. Because we do not know the identity of the other driver, he is by definition underinsured or uninsured – in the injury legal community, we refer to this driver as a Phantom Vehicle.

In addition, there have been matters brought due to the lack of maintenance or the poor engineering of a road in a single car accident. These are more conventional legal actions, as the Florida Department of Transportation or the local County or Municipality will have hopefully have insurance for their roads and maintenance and engineering.

Continue reading " Hernando County Wrongful Death Attorney News Update: Hernando Beach, Florida Man Dies in Single Car Accident " »

Hernando County was stunned when 42-year old Captain Scott Bierwiler was struck and killed in a head-on collision with a Hernando County youth while driving to work.

Reports indicate that the Hernando County law enforcement official was traveling to work at 5:45 a.m. when a 16-year old driver crossed over the median with his parent’s Mitsubishi Montero. The accident occurred on Powell Road, just south of Brooksville, in unincorporated Hernando County.

Legally, a Wrongful Death action could be filed by the Personal Representative of the Estate of Captain Bierwiler against the family of the driver of the Mitsubishi vehicle. It is also possible that a potential Worker’s Compensation claim could be made against Hernando County Worker’s Compensation carrier.

Continue reading " Hernando County Wrongful Death Lawyer News Update: Hernando County Sheriff’s Captain Killed in Car Crash " »