Car Accidents

February 13, 2025

How Are Damages Calculated in Car Accident Injury Claims?

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A car accident victim may have to deal with a variety of physical and financial hardships. As a result, victims may be eligible to collect a wide range of damages. These damages are typically classified into two types: economic damages (also known as special damages) and non-economic damages (which are sometimes referred to as general damages). Non-economic damages are related to more subjective types of harm, whereas economic damages take into consideration objective money losses. Economic damages include things like medical bills, prescription costs, and lost income, whereas non-economic damages include nontangible things like pain and suffering, emotional harm, and mental anguish.

Finding out how much your claim is worth will help you determine whether an insurer’s settlement offer is reasonable. Unfortunately, there is no simple formula for calculating damages, and damages vary depending on a variety of conditions. Some insurance companies base their overall payout on the economic losses incurred by the victim, then double that amount by two or three to account for non-economic damages like as pain and suffering. This strategy, however, is arbitrary, and you should not expect an insurer to make decisions based on this method. Our Florida Car Accident Injury Lawyers at Whittel & Melton can provide you with a rough estimate of what we believe your case is worth based on our previous experience with other clients in similar situations. No two cases are exactly alike, which is why we utilize experts to help place a dollar amount on the full scope of your injuries so that you are taken care of now as well as in the future.

How Are Medical Expenses Calculated?

February 13, 2025

News: Pasco County fire truck responding to crash collides with pickup

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

PASCO COUNTY, FL – Two people were injured when a Pasco County fire truck was involved in a collision last Wednesday evening, Feb. 5, according to Pasco News Online.

The truck was responding to a previous fatal accident and was headed south on Little Road with its emergency lights activated. At the same time, the driver of a Honda pickup truck was going north on Little Road at a high rate of speed.

As the driver of the fire truck turned left into a private drive, the driver of the pickup was not slowing down or stopping, and crashed into the fire truck.

February 11, 2025

News: 2 killed, 2 injured when vehicles collide at Pasco County intersection

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

PASCO COUNTY, FL – Two vehicles were involved in a deadly collision in Pasco County last week, Fox13News reports.

The incident occurred Feb. 5 at the intersection of Little Road and San Miguel Drive in New Port Richey. The Florida Highway Patrol stated that the driver of a Dodge Ram pickup truck was going south at a high rate of speed at about 7 p.m. when a Toyota 4Runner heading north on Little Road turned into the path of the Dodge.

The vehicles collided, causing the Dodge to catch fire. The Toyota driver and a passenger were killed while another passenger in the Toyota was seriously injured. The Dodge driver, a 27-year-old man from Port Richey, was also seriously hurt.

February 10, 2025

News: Fleeing driver collides with tractor-trailer after Alachua County pursuit

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL – A vehicle pursuit by law enforcement authorities ended in a crash in Alachua County last Tuesday, Feb. 4.

According to a release from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office at 1:52 p.m., deputies from the sheriff’s office and Gainesville Police officers were dispatched to the scene at SW Williston Road and the on-ramp to Interstate 75.

That is where a suspect who was being pursued crashed into a FedEx tractor-trailer. The suspect was injured and taken to a hospital pending multiple felony charges.

February 7, 2025

News: Driver dies after vehicle crashes into utility pole on State Road 50

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

HERNANDO COUNTY, FL – A single-vehicle accident in Hernando County killed the driver of a pickup truck, according to WFTS.

The crash took place early Sunday morning along State Road 50 near U.S. Highway 19 at about 12:42 a.m. The Florida Highway Patrol’s investigation found that a man driving a Toyota Tundra westbound was not able to negotiate a curve in the roadway. The vehicle entered the road’s north shoulder, where it collided with a utility pole, then came back across to the south shoulder and flipped.

The driver was ejected and died after being transported to a local hospital. The FHP said the victim was a 23-year man from Weeki-Wachee.

February 6, 2025

News: Webster man, 45, dead after collision with dump truck in Sumter County

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

SUMTER COUNTY, FL – A van and a dump truck were involved in a deadly collision in Sumter County early Tuesday morning, according to WFLA.

The Florida Highway Patrol’s investigation found that the driver of the dump truck was going east on County Road 476 at about 5:40 a.m. when he went through a stop sign at the intersection with State Road 471. The dump truck collided with a Chevy van that had been heading north on SR-471.

The Chevy driver, a 45-year-old man from Webster, was pronounced dead after being taken to an area hospital. The driver of the dump truck, a 63-year-old Florida City man, was not injured in the wreck.

February 4, 2025

News: 1 driver dead, 1 injured after head-on crash on County Road 484

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

MARION COUNTY, FL – A fatal collision in southwest Marion County Saturday morning is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol, reports the Ocala StarBanner.

Two vehicles were involved in the wreck that occurred shortly before 7 a.m. in the area of County Road 484 and San Pedro Boulevard in Dunnellon.

According to the FHP, a Kia Sorento was going eastbound while a Kia Forte was traveling west, and one of the drivers crossed over the double yellow line, resulting in a head-on collision.

January 29, 2025

News: Multi-vehicle wreck on State Road 44 leaves 1 dead, 2 injured

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

SUMTER COUNTY, FL – A multi-vehicle accident in Sumter County last week left one person dead and two others injured, reports WKMG.

The Florida Highway Patrol was called to the scene Jan. 23 on State Road 44 in the area of Industrial Drive. The FHP’s crash report stated that the driver of a truck did not slow down or stop for traffic ahead of him and rear-ended a Honda Civic at about 12:45 p.m. The truck also collided with a Ford F-150 ahead of the Civic as well as a Toyota Rav4 in an adjacent lane.

The Honda driver, a 50-year-old man from Wildwood, suffered fatal injuries. The truck driver, a 40-year-old man from New Jersey, and the Ford driver were hospitalized with minor injuries.

January 28, 2025

You Have Been Involved in a Car Crash with a Cop – Now What?

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

Car accidents can happen to anyone on the road, and police officers on patrol are not immune to these incidents. While law enforcement officers are probably more carefully trained drivers than the rest of us on the roads, unexpected car crashes can happen. Maybe they were involved in a high-speed chase with another driver when they side swiped your car, perhaps they were looking at their laptop and rear-ended you, or maybe they were distracted while responding to a call and failed to notice a traffic light change. Whatever the reason, the process of how to handle the accident is not that different than your normal accident with a non-police officer.

First, you should remain calm and call 911 for a new officer to be sent to the scene of the crash. You do not report the accident to the law enforcement officer that hit you. You want a new officer to come to the scene so that you can relay what happened to them and they can file a crash report. The officer that was involved in the accident is not someone that you need to make small talk with or discuss fault. Now, the odds are that the officer involved in the crash and the cop that arrives at the scene know each other. Be polite and answer any questions truthfully, but do not divulge any information that is not necessary. Do not admit any fault or speculate as to what you think happened – just stick to the basic facts of the events leading up to the crash.

If you are injured at all, you should absolutely seek medical care as soon as possible. If you do not have any severe injuries that take you away from the crash site immediately, then take photos of the scene with your phone so that you have documentation of the crash site before any evidence is erased. You should get checked out by a doctor after any crash, minor or major, as some injuries may not present themselves right away. Make sure you follow up with your doctor after a car accident and observe any instructions they provide.

January 24, 2025

News: State troopers searching for driver in fatal Sumter County collision

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

SUMTER COUNTY, FL – New details have been released in connection with a fatal hit-and-run collision in Sumter County, reports WESH.

The Florida Highway Patrol released information regarding the vehicle being sought in the incident, which occurred Jan. 17 in the area of County Road 475 and State Road 44 at about 5:30 p.m.

The FHP’s investigation determined that the driver of an unidentified car was heading south on C.R. 474 while approaching a stop sign and did not yield when entering the intersection. The driver of a Nissan Altima going west on S.R. 44 swerved to the left to avoid a collision with that vehicle and entered the eastbound lanes, where the car crashed into an eastbound Chevy pickup truck. The Nissan and the Chevy both caught fire.