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Car Accidents
We frequently post blogs on information relating to Florida accident cases. Visit this page often to read blogs on such topics as car accident, truck accident, bicycle accident, motorcycle accident and bus accident cases in Palm Beach County and throughout Florida.
Class II insureds are not permitted to stack coverage for vehicles under a policy that insures him/her as a Class II insured.
This does not limit the type of doctor the insurance carrier can choose to perfrom your IME (independent medical examination) and you cannot unreasonably refuse to attend an IME on the grounds that the doctor is not licensed under the same chapter. The doctor does not have to be agreed upon by the insurance company and your attorney unless the doctor is questionable. If you unreasonably refuse to attend an IME then the insurance carrier will no longer be liable for subsequent personal injury protection. You have the right to have a 3rd party present and to videotape and record the exam.
Once the attorney receives the policy, he/she must review it and determine whether the carrier has engaged in any bad faith settlement conduct. The attorney must decide if there is a claim against the insurance company itself for misrepresentation or other wrongful conduct which may support a bad faith claim. A skilled West Palm Beach bad faith attorney may be able to exceed the policy coverage otherwise available to you.
If you have been in a Palm Beach County car accident with an uninsured motorist, you can collect from your own UM policy and your insurance company can then go after the person who injured you to get their money back. To do this, you must have UM coverage.
If collateral sources are provided pursuant to a subrogation or reimbursement provision such as with your health insurance, there shall be no reduction. Instead the provider shall receive actual amount of collateral source money recovered minus the pro rata share of attorney's fees and costs for recovering against the tortfeasor. Any disputes as the to the amount, shall be determined by the court. The claimant must send notice to the provider of the collateral sources, that he/she intends to seek damages from the tortfeasor and the provider must send notice back asserting their right to subrogation or reimbursement. If the provider fails to comply, they have waived their right to subrogation or reimbursement.
You should not worry if you were not wearing a seat belt when you were injured in your West Palm Beach car accident. However, it is important to have an experienced West Palm Beach accident trial attorney who understands the seat belt defense and how it could be used against you by the defendant in an effort to reduce the defendant's liability and your recovery.
The defendant must plead and prove that the plaintiff had an available and operational seat belt; failure to use the seat belt was unreasonable and the plaintiff's injuries would have been prevented if he/she had used a seat belt.
Typical invasive intervention includes myelograms and discography. With myelograms contrast is injected into the thecal sac so that compromised areas can be better seen. Discography is used when the exact source of pain is difficult to determine. Contrast is injected onto intevertebral discs considered to be a source of pain. X-rays and CTs after injections can also show small defects in discs filled with contrast material.
Other treatments can be given to determine or treat various spinal injuries. Usually a combination of anesthetics and steroids are used for determining immediate effectiveness and to reduce inflammation of tissue in hopes of achieving long-term pain relief. Epidural injections and facet joint injections may also be used.
Spinal surgeries typically fall into two categories: fusions and decompressions which involve either removing tissue around the spinal cord or stabilizing two or more vertebral level to relieve compression. Advances in medicine are moving toward less invasive procedures for victims of West Palm Beach/Delray Beach car accidents including electrothermal therapy and endoscopy.
Sometimes a complication known as a non-union occurs. These occur when instead of a callous forming between fracture fragments that are eventually replaced by bone, fibrous tissue replaces it. The tissue allows for movement at a fracture site and can cause a lot of pain. Surgical intervention is often required to address these.
Malunions are another complication which occur when bones heal but fractures were malaligned during healing, so bone is abnormally angled and aligned. Other issues that can arise are disruption of blood supply to the bone or bone fragment, bone growth, or myositis ossificans.
If you have suffered serious injuries such as the ones described here in your Palm Beach County car wreck, make sure that your get the right personal injury attorney who understands your medical treatment needs and who knows how these injuries will affect you long-term.
1. A witness implying that the defendant received a ticket in the collision in response to a question.
2. A Palm Beach Coutny car crach attorney advises the jury in opening statements that the investigating highway patrolman talked to everyone at the scene and stated that "I think the evidence will show that no one claimed the plaintiff was responsible."
3. Someone testifying that "We don't have no ticket for that accident."
4. An invetigative officer responding affirmatively to an attorney's question of whether a traffic citation had been issued.
5. An attorney in opening statements stating that no citations were issued.
6. A witness' negative response to his attorney's question of whether he had been cited for a traffic violation.
7. A lawyer answering to the judge, "Unfortunately, yes" when asked in the presence of the jury as to whether the parties agreed that what happened in traffic court was of no concern to the jury.
Having a Palm Beach County accident trial lawyer who knows what they are doing is critical to your car crash case. It is as much about knowing what not to do as knowing what to do. A West Palm Beach accident attorney who is not informed as to the admissibility of certain evidence at your accident trial could do you a real disservice and even create a situation where the judge must declare a mistrial.
An excess judgment action bears some contract aspects, but it is strictly speaking not one and therefore, Florida law would apply to the the out-of-state insurance contract in a 3rd party bad faith case. The statute of limitations for a bad faith claim is four years as a tort as opposed to 5 years as a contract. Also keep in mind, that wrd party bad faith claims are not limited to auto accidents but can be applied to other personal injuries such as slip and falls and traumatic brain injuries.
Direct liability would be where a managing agent of the corporation got drunk and killed someone. Vicarious liability requires that you prove wilfull and wanton conduct by an emplyee with fault on the part of the employer which could have foreseeably caused the plaintiff's injuries. Ordinary negligence is sufficient . An example is where the employee got drunk and killed someone and the employee was negligently hired by the corporation. This is a landmark case and one every Delray Beach car accident attorney should be familiar with.
1400 were alcohol related
178 resulted in fatalities
15,694 resulted in injury
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reported a total of 252,000 auto accidetns in 2004 which means that 17% of accidents in Florida occured in Palm Beach County. The Florida Department of Motor Vehicles estimated an average of 43 auto accidents per day on 2004. In the years 2000-2003, the number of accidents in Palm Beach County remained steady averaging around 15,000. Therefore, it is likely that number give or take a few is accurate today.
When more than one person's conduct led to the injury, the "but for" test is not applicable. Instead the Florida courts use the "substantial factor" test. For example, if Palm Beach County was negligent in maintaining a bicycle path that caused a thirteen year-old to veer from the path and into an adjoining street into an oncoming vehicle that struck and killed him, the "but for" test would not apply and the court would use the "substantial factor" test. The substantial factor test means that a defendant's conduct in an action for personal injuries is considered a cause of the event if it was material anda substantial factor in bringing it about.
Once this standard is established for the jury, the West Palm Beach personal inury attorney can show further eveidence of what happened by using charts and diagrams detailing the movement of the vehicles or using an expert to testify to external and internal force within the vehicle and the torqueing of the spine and lumbar/neck area. If your Palm Beach Coutny car crash attorney can prove to the jury that the wrongdoer violated a Florida law, then he/she can ask the court to issue jury instructions for deliberation purposes stating that the wrongdoer's violation of the law is prim facie evidence of fault.
The attorney representing the car accident insurance company may try to prove that there were extenuating circumstances so the jury should put aside evidence o fault. An example is that the wrongdoer ran a redlight becuase the injured was driving the wrong way on a one way street.
Mass effect is important because it means a particular injury is serious enough to affect other and adjacent areas of the brain. Mass effect is usually evident in the form of a decrease in size of the the ventricles adjacent to the primary area of injury. Meaning that an injury to one side of the brain is so bad it cause compression on the other side of the brain. Mass effect may also cause brain herniation. Transtentoral or uncal herniation is important because the brain stem in this area is responsible for heart rate and breathing. Compression by herniated brain tissue could result in death.
Subtle brain injuries are those that are barely visible or not visible via traditional imaging. They are typically referred to as shear or diffuse axonal injuries.
Understanding the medical terminology and significance of different categories of brain injuries is critical for you and your Palm Beach County personal injury lawyer. The nature and extent of your injury, the long-term effects, pain and suffering, etc. are all factors that determine both your Lake Worth accident attorney and the insurance company will look when examining your damages and entitlements.
Car Accidents
Difference Between Stacked and Non-Stacked Coverage and Your Palm Beach County Car Accident: Part II
Under Florida Statute, insurance companies may offer policies that prohibit stacking and limit coverage to a vehicle occupied by an insured at the time of the Palm Beach County car wreck. This means that if the insured is occupying a non-owned vehicle, the injured may recover under a policy covering the occupied vehicle and as excess, under a policy affording the highest coverage to the injured as a Class I insured which includes the named insured, the named insured's spouse, and resident relatives). If the insured is not an occupant of the car at the time of the accident, the insured may select the coveage on any one vehicle inder a policy providing coverage. Class I insured can stack limits of all vehicles under a policy in which they are Class I insureds and can add to that policy in which they are class II insureds.Class II insureds are not permitted to stack coverage for vehicles under a policy that insures him/her as a Class II insured.
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PIP Benefits and Mental and Physical Examinations After Your Delray Beach Car Accident
Your insurance carrier may be able to choose the doctor who performs your physical/mental exam after a Palm Beach County car accident. Sometimes the insurance carrier uses this right under Florida Statute 627.736(7) to stop paying claims. An insurance company can only withdraw payment from a treating doctor when they have obtained a report from a doctor licensed inder the same chapter whose treatment authorization is sought to be withdrawn.This does not limit the type of doctor the insurance carrier can choose to perfrom your IME (independent medical examination) and you cannot unreasonably refuse to attend an IME on the grounds that the doctor is not licensed under the same chapter. The doctor does not have to be agreed upon by the insurance company and your attorney unless the doctor is questionable. If you unreasonably refuse to attend an IME then the insurance carrier will no longer be liable for subsequent personal injury protection. You have the right to have a 3rd party present and to videotape and record the exam.
Determining the Defendants and Extent of Coverage in Your West Palm Beach Car Accident Case
One of the first things your Palm Beach County car accident attorney should do is determine the coverage available on your case. Sometimes the UM carrier or tortfeasor's insurance company has folded and under Florida Statute there is a one year limitation for filing cliams against insolvent insurance carriers. Quick determination of coverage also means getting your claim looked at sooner. A skilled Palm Beach County accident attorney must review all possible policies to correctly assess your claim. An insurance company has 30 days to produce certified copies of liability coverage and other important documents after receiving written notice from your attorney.Once the attorney receives the policy, he/she must review it and determine whether the carrier has engaged in any bad faith settlement conduct. The attorney must decide if there is a claim against the insurance company itself for misrepresentation or other wrongful conduct which may support a bad faith claim. A skilled West Palm Beach bad faith attorney may be able to exceed the policy coverage otherwise available to you.
Subrogation Rights and Releasing a Tortfeasor: What You Should Know About UM Coverage and Your Palm Beach County Accident Case: Part I
Subrogation means taking the legal rights of someone whose debts/expenses have been paid. Subrogation occurs when an insurance company who has paid off its injured claimant takes the legal rights of the claimant agaisnt a 3rd party that caused the injury to recover what the UM carrier paid. A UM carrier has a common law right to subrogation against an uninsured motorist.If you have been in a Palm Beach County car accident with an uninsured motorist, you can collect from your own UM policy and your insurance company can then go after the person who injured you to get their money back. To do this, you must have UM coverage.
Who Can You Sue if the Other Driver is Uninsured or Underinsured?
If you are injured in a West Palm Beach car accident and the other driver is uninsured/underinsured, you may have a claim against the UM carrier (Uninsured Motorist Coverage). This is coverage the Plam Beach County accident victim has through his/her own insurance carrier. There is a 5 year statute of limitations on suing a UM carrier versus a 4 year statute of limitations on suing the other driver or tortfeasor.
UM coverage acts like a replacement insurer for underinsured motorists. This is why you need to be particularly careful when choosing UM coverage. GET PLENTY OF IT! The other guy is only required to have $10,000 in personal injury protection coverage or PIP. Florida statute allows the UM carrier who has paid the amount offered by the tortfeasor upon final resolution of the UM claim to seek subrogation against the underinsured motorist for the amounts paid.
Collateral Source Payments and Your PIP and Health Insurance Coverage
If you receive PIP benefits after being injured in a Delray Beach car accident, evidence supporting a setoff against your award must be presented during trial and the jury or finder of fact must calculate the setoff unless the parties stipulated to let the court determine it post-judgment.If collateral sources are provided pursuant to a subrogation or reimbursement provision such as with your health insurance, there shall be no reduction. Instead the provider shall receive actual amount of collateral source money recovered minus the pro rata share of attorney's fees and costs for recovering against the tortfeasor. Any disputes as the to the amount, shall be determined by the court. The claimant must send notice to the provider of the collateral sources, that he/she intends to seek damages from the tortfeasor and the provider must send notice back asserting their right to subrogation or reimbursement. If the provider fails to comply, they have waived their right to subrogation or reimbursement.
Difference Between Stacked and Non-Stacked Coverage and Your Palm Beach County Car Accident: Part I
Stacking occurs when an insured involved in a West Palm Beach car accident combines uninsured motorist benefits (UM) from more than one source. There are two ways this occurs. First, an insured covered under two or more policies may combine or stack the UM coverage from each policy. Second, an injured party involved in a Palm Beach County car accident who is insured under one policy that covers two or more vehicles is permitted to combine or stack coverage for each vehicle on the policy. In Florida, the number of coverages is limited to the number of premiums paid. If the premium is not paid, then there can be no stacking.Collateral Source Payments: What are they and How do they Affect Your Car Accident Money
Collateral source payments are received by a plaintiff in a Palm Beach County car crash case for compensation benefits from a party not involved in the lawsuit to compensate the plaintiff for damages suffered in their accident. Pursuant to Florida Statute, a court must reduce the amount of such awards by the totatl of all amounts paid or which are otherwise available to the claimant from all collateral sources (i.e. social security benefits, public programs, health and auto insurance, PIP, disbaility insurance, etc.) in a judgment. Worker's compensation, Medicaid and Medicare payments are excluded. It is important that the issue of collateral source payments is handled carefully by a competent Lake Worth car accident attorney as these payments can affect your judgment and prevent you from getting a fair trial and the money you deserve.HIPAA and Your Right to Privacy in Your West Palm Beach Car Accident Case
As a West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County car accident victim, you're medical records are protected under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) and any authorization for their release must contain the following:
--a detailed description of the specific information to be disclosed
--the name/i.d. of the person authorized to disclose the info (health care provider)
--name/i.d. of person to whim health care provider may make the requested use of disclosure (your Palm Beach County car accident attorney
--description of the purpose of requested use/disclosure
--expiration date or expiration of event for authorization that relates to the individual or purpose of the use or disclosure
--signature of individual and date signed (if authorization is signed by the attorney there must be a description of the representative's authority to act for the individual)
--individual's right to revoke the authorization, any exceptions to the revocation and a description of how the individual may revoke
-- a statement that the health care provider may not condition treatment, payment, enrollment or eligibility for benefits on whether individual signs authorization
--potential that information to be disclosed may be subject to re-dislcosure and no longer protected under the privacy rules
It is important that you know all of your rights as a car accident victim. Make sure you discuss with your West Palm Beach car crash attorney your right to privacy.
Getting Your West Palm Beach Car Accident Attorney Your Prior Medical Records and Disclosing Prior Injuries
It is important to provide your Palm Beach County accident attorney with prior medical records( prior to current accident) and to put them on notice as to any pre-existing injuries you may have to determine if you have any similar conditions that match your current complaints. BREATHE. Prior similar injuries DO NOT automatically hinder your case. Prior injuries may be minimized before a jury by arguing that any pre-existing condition was aggravated by the current accident. You should also be aware that your medical records are protected under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996). You are afforded privacy rights and any request for records should be accompanied by authorization that complies with the privacy rules of HIPAA.The Seat Belt Defense and Your Palm Beach County Car Crash Case: Part II
A Palm Beach County car accident defendant who pleads the seat belt defense has the burden of proving that the vehicle the plainitff was driving contained seat belts and that they could have been used. Plaintiff may rebut this by showing that the seat belts did not work. However, even if the defendant is able to show that the plaintiff had an available and operational seat belt, it is not the end of the plaintiff's case. A jury must still consider such factors as whether the plaintiff would have suffered the same or similar injuries which could depend on the angle of impact; position of the plaintiff; the plaintiff's physical build; the type of seat belt; whether the plaintiff's injuries would have been significantly different of he/she were wearing a seat belt and if so, to what extent should the plaintiff's recovery be reduced.You should not worry if you were not wearing a seat belt when you were injured in your West Palm Beach car accident. However, it is important to have an experienced West Palm Beach accident trial attorney who understands the seat belt defense and how it could be used against you by the defendant in an effort to reduce the defendant's liability and your recovery.
The Seat Belt Defense and Your Palm Beach County Car Crash Case: Part I
The seat belt defense is an affirmative defense a defendant in a Palm Beach County car crash case may raise to show that your failure to wear a seat belt contributed to your injuries and therefore, you should be found comparatively negligent. The defendant must specifically and timely plead the seat belt defense or else it is waived at trial and the defendant may not introduce evidence of the plaintiff's failure to wear a seat belt to the jury.The defendant must plead and prove that the plaintiff had an available and operational seat belt; failure to use the seat belt was unreasonable and the plaintiff's injuries would have been prevented if he/she had used a seat belt.
Option and Choices: Spinal Cord Surgery for West Palm Beach Car Accdient Victims
There are a number of treatments for spine injuries suffered by West Palm Beach/Delray Beach accident victims. Some are minimally invasive and others are not. Many surgical procedures are highly invasive and require disruption of many tissues in and around the spine to treat.Typical invasive intervention includes myelograms and discography. With myelograms contrast is injected into the thecal sac so that compromised areas can be better seen. Discography is used when the exact source of pain is difficult to determine. Contrast is injected onto intevertebral discs considered to be a source of pain. X-rays and CTs after injections can also show small defects in discs filled with contrast material.
Other treatments can be given to determine or treat various spinal injuries. Usually a combination of anesthetics and steroids are used for determining immediate effectiveness and to reduce inflammation of tissue in hopes of achieving long-term pain relief. Epidural injections and facet joint injections may also be used.
Spinal surgeries typically fall into two categories: fusions and decompressions which involve either removing tissue around the spinal cord or stabilizing two or more vertebral level to relieve compression. Advances in medicine are moving toward less invasive procedures for victims of West Palm Beach/Delray Beach car accidents including electrothermal therapy and endoscopy.
Finding A West Palm Beach Brain Injury Attorney
It is important to undertand the injuries sustained by you or a loved one who has been in a west Palm Beach car accident. Why? Well, to receive proper treatment you need to know what is wrong with you. Once that is established, a treatment plan can be devised to insure you receive the care you deserve. Treatment is also extremely important to your lawsuit in that it will help demonstrate the nature and extent of your injuries, future medical bills, pain and suffering, etc.
Subtle brain injuires are usually treated with rehabilitative intervention. However, there are a number of ways to treat intracranial injuries most of which are performed to relieve pressure on the brain. Intracranial pressure monitors are placed inside the skull after a hole is drilled in the skull to allow the monitor to measure pressure in the brain. Sometimes craniotomies (creating a hole in the skull) or craniectomies (removal of portion of skull) are performed to remove areas of hemorrhage or to allow swollen brain tissue to protrude in order to relieve pressure on the brain. Make sure to talk with your Palm Beach County accident attorney about your injuries and find an attorney that knows how to litigate your traumatic brain injury case.
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Florida Car Accident Law and What You Should Know About PIP Benefits Before Filing a Lawsuit
Florida law requires that you use your own PIP or personal injury protection benefits first and have permanent injury before you can file a lawsuit in your Jupter, Florida car accident case. The first $10,000 of your bodily injury damage is paid by your own PIP coverage. You must also have significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function (like a herniated disc in your back) or permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability (other than scarring or disfigurement), scarring or disfigurement, or death. You may recover damages sustained in your Palm Beach County car crash case against the owner, registrant,operator, or occupant of a motor vehicle or and organization responsible for his/her acts or omissions if you have any of the following: pain, suffering, mental anguish, inconvenience for bodily injury, sickness or disease if the injury or disease as outlined above results in significant loss of an importatn bodily function, permanent injury within a reasonable degreeof medical probability other than scarring and disfigurement, scarring and disfigurement, or death.Labels:
Complications Associated with Fractures Sustained in Your Lake Worth Car Accident: Get the Right Attorney and Treatment
Fractures sustained in your Lake Worth car accident can be serious and require future treatments, surgical interventions, or result in permanent debilitation. One of the most frequent complications is traumatic arthritis which can affect any joint in the body. Joints consist of thick, shock-absorping cartilage covering smooth bone. The joint is comprised of ligaments that contain an inner lining of fluid that lubricates the joints. During a traumatic event, fractures occur through the joint or joint surfaces driven together and resulting in injuries to cartilage or bone. The trauma begins a series of events that result in varying degrees of breakdown of cartilage leading to abnormal growth of bone and excessive synovium. This can worsen over time and lead to joint fusion or replacement.Sometimes a complication known as a non-union occurs. These occur when instead of a callous forming between fracture fragments that are eventually replaced by bone, fibrous tissue replaces it. The tissue allows for movement at a fracture site and can cause a lot of pain. Surgical intervention is often required to address these.
Malunions are another complication which occur when bones heal but fractures were malaligned during healing, so bone is abnormally angled and aligned. Other issues that can arise are disruption of blood supply to the bone or bone fragment, bone growth, or myositis ossificans.
If you have suffered serious injuries such as the ones described here in your Palm Beach County car wreck, make sure that your get the right personal injury attorney who understands your medical treatment needs and who knows how these injuries will affect you long-term.
Understanding PIP Benefits When You've Been in a West Palm Beach Car Wreck
PIP benefits or personal injury protection benefits are important in your West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County car wreck because you are self-insured for the first $10,000 of your damages. The rule of law is that an insured tortfeasor is entitled to a set -off for PIP benefits payable to the injured driver who was uninsured in contravention of Florida's no-fault laws. However, if you are injured while occupying another's vehicle and do not have PIP beneifts, you can treat under the vehicle owner's policy.Preparing Your Lake Worth, Florida Car Wreck Case for Trial
Once your Lake Worth, Florida car accident attorney files a lawsuit, he/she knows that defense counsel will submit certain interrogtory questions and requests to produce to the accident victim. At the Sharmin & Sharmin, we know the importance of preparing our Palm Beach County accident victim clients early for trial. That is why we do not wait until the commencement of a lawsuit to put our clients to work on their case answering interrogatory questions and collecting documentation of their injuries, lost wages, medical bills, etc. Therefore, when the defense counsel asks for these things, they get an answer within days instead of a month or more. The defense counsel anticipates you will wait the full 30 days to respond or that you will ask for an extension. This only prolongs your case. Preparation ahead of time and cut down on the discovery period by as much as two months. The defense counsel loses comfort time and it demonstrates to them that your Lake Worth accident attorney is serious amd willing and able to take your case to the jury. It also makes a great first impression and can lead to geting top dollar for your accident case.Using Evidence of A Ticket at Your Palm Beach County Accident Trial
One of the most important things a skilled trial lawyer will know is what not to say. It is very difficult to demonstrate to the jury that the accident victim got hit by someone who received a traffic citation at the scene of the accident. Your Palm Beach County accident attorney should know the following about traffic tickets before setting your case for trial as these can lead to a mistrial:1. A witness implying that the defendant received a ticket in the collision in response to a question.
2. A Palm Beach Coutny car crach attorney advises the jury in opening statements that the investigating highway patrolman talked to everyone at the scene and stated that "I think the evidence will show that no one claimed the plaintiff was responsible."
3. Someone testifying that "We don't have no ticket for that accident."
4. An invetigative officer responding affirmatively to an attorney's question of whether a traffic citation had been issued.
5. An attorney in opening statements stating that no citations were issued.
6. A witness' negative response to his attorney's question of whether he had been cited for a traffic violation.
7. A lawyer answering to the judge, "Unfortunately, yes" when asked in the presence of the jury as to whether the parties agreed that what happened in traffic court was of no concern to the jury.
Having a Palm Beach County accident trial lawyer who knows what they are doing is critical to your car crash case. It is as much about knowing what not to do as knowing what to do. A West Palm Beach accident attorney who is not informed as to the admissibility of certain evidence at your accident trial could do you a real disservice and even create a situation where the judge must declare a mistrial.
Florida 3rd Party Bad Faith and the Out-of -State Insurer
What if a driver causes injury to a Florida resident and the insurer is an out-of-state insurance company? Does 3rd party bad faith still apply? In Government Employees Insurance Company v. A.C. Grounds, 311, So 2d. 164, the Court held that while usually the law of the state where the contract was made would apply, a bad faith case is more like a tort action stemming from a contract case.An excess judgment action bears some contract aspects, but it is strictly speaking not one and therefore, Florida law would apply to the the out-of-state insurance contract in a 3rd party bad faith case. The statute of limitations for a bad faith claim is four years as a tort as opposed to 5 years as a contract. Also keep in mind, that wrd party bad faith claims are not limited to auto accidents but can be applied to other personal injuries such as slip and falls and traumatic brain injuries.
Getting Punitive Damages Against a Corporation in Your West Palm Beach Car Accident Case or Other Personal Inury Case
Under Florida case law, Schropp v. Crown Eurocars, Inc., punitive damages, also known as punishment damages, are capless for intentional torts such as battery and injury to another while driving drunk, can be awarded against a corporation in one of two ways: vicarious liability and direct liability. Vicarious liability is based upon wilfull and malicious actions of an employeee with a finding of independent negligent conduct on the part of the corporation. Direct liablity is bases upon the wilfull and malicious actions of the managing agents of the corporation.Direct liability would be where a managing agent of the corporation got drunk and killed someone. Vicarious liability requires that you prove wilfull and wanton conduct by an emplyee with fault on the part of the employer which could have foreseeably caused the plaintiff's injuries. Ordinary negligence is sufficient . An example is where the employee got drunk and killed someone and the employee was negligently hired by the corporation. This is a landmark case and one every Delray Beach car accident attorney should be familiar with.
Palm Beach County: 15,000 auto accidents in 2004
In 2004, the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles conducted a study of the number of auto accidents in Palm Beach County, Florida. That was the last year data was collected for the county. 15,778 auto accidents were reported. Of the 15,778:
1400 were alcohol related
178 resulted in fatalities
15,694 resulted in injury
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reported a total of 252,000 auto accidetns in 2004 which means that 17% of accidents in Florida occured in Palm Beach County. The Florida Department of Motor Vehicles estimated an average of 43 auto accidents per day on 2004. In the years 2000-2003, the number of accidents in Palm Beach County remained steady averaging around 15,000. Therefore, it is likely that number give or take a few is accurate today.
Proximate Causation: The But For Test and Your Palm Beach County Accident Case
A Palm Beach County car accident victim must prove the following in a personal injury lawsuit: a duty owed to the injured, a breach of that duty, injuries as a result of that breach and damages (property or physical). Injuries as a result of the breach is also known as proximate causation and it means that something happened which is directly linked to the car accident victim and the injuries associated with that car crash. Florida court call this the "but for" test. "But for" means that but for the other guy's driving skills, Lake Worth injury victim would not have been injured. There must be a natural and foreseeable, direct and continuous sequence of factual events between the negligent act and the victim's injuries.When more than one person's conduct led to the injury, the "but for" test is not applicable. Instead the Florida courts use the "substantial factor" test. For example, if Palm Beach County was negligent in maintaining a bicycle path that caused a thirteen year-old to veer from the path and into an adjoining street into an oncoming vehicle that struck and killed him, the "but for" test would not apply and the court would use the "substantial factor" test. The substantial factor test means that a defendant's conduct in an action for personal injuries is considered a cause of the event if it was material anda substantial factor in bringing it about.
Who Got the Ticket and How Does that Affect My Palm Beach County Car Accident Case
Violation of a traffic law or regulation is prima facie evidence of negligence that can be rebutted by other facts and circumstances in determining ultimate liability in your Palm Beach County car accident case. Usually the person who got the ticket violated some Florida law or Palm Beach County traffic regulation. Your West Palm Beach car crash attorney can use statutes to indicate the standard os care applied to someone operating a motor vehicle in Palm Beach County.Once this standard is established for the jury, the West Palm Beach personal inury attorney can show further eveidence of what happened by using charts and diagrams detailing the movement of the vehicles or using an expert to testify to external and internal force within the vehicle and the torqueing of the spine and lumbar/neck area. If your Palm Beach Coutny car crash attorney can prove to the jury that the wrongdoer violated a Florida law, then he/she can ask the court to issue jury instructions for deliberation purposes stating that the wrongdoer's violation of the law is prim facie evidence of fault.
The attorney representing the car accident insurance company may try to prove that there were extenuating circumstances so the jury should put aside evidence o fault. An example is that the wrongdoer ran a redlight becuase the injured was driving the wrong way on a one way street.
Suffering a Traumatic Brain Injury in Your Lake Worth, Florida Car Accident
In litigation, brain injuries are often divided into two categories: obvious and subtle. Obvious brain injuries are those that show clear evidence of injury via imaging. These may include intraparenchymal injuries within the brain itself or intracranial which are outside the brain but inside the skull. Intaparenchymal injuries are hemorrhage, contusion or edema wtihin the brain matter. Intracranial are injuries within the skull but not within the brain matter and are usually hemorrhage or hematoma. Injuries within and around the brain are often describes as being associated with mass effect.Mass effect is important because it means a particular injury is serious enough to affect other and adjacent areas of the brain. Mass effect is usually evident in the form of a decrease in size of the the ventricles adjacent to the primary area of injury. Meaning that an injury to one side of the brain is so bad it cause compression on the other side of the brain. Mass effect may also cause brain herniation. Transtentoral or uncal herniation is important because the brain stem in this area is responsible for heart rate and breathing. Compression by herniated brain tissue could result in death.
Subtle brain injuries are those that are barely visible or not visible via traditional imaging. They are typically referred to as shear or diffuse axonal injuries.
Understanding the medical terminology and significance of different categories of brain injuries is critical for you and your Palm Beach County personal injury lawyer. The nature and extent of your injury, the long-term effects, pain and suffering, etc. are all factors that determine both your Lake Worth accident attorney and the insurance company will look when examining your damages and entitlements.
Labels: accident victim attorney brain matter car accident contusion diffuse axonal injury edema hemmorhage herniation insurance company intracranial intraparenchymal Lake Worth mass effect obvious brain injury Palm Beach County personal injury shear injury subtle brain injury traumatic brain injury
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