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No one wakes up in the morning hoping to be involved in a car accident. Accidents are unintentional occurrences that happen unexpectedly and leave injury and trauma in their wake. But if no one wants them to happen, why do millions of car crashes occur across the U.S. every year? Sometimes they are due to forces beyond the drivers’ control, like poor weather, darting animals, damaged roads, or plain bad luck. But many times, accidents are caused by drivers who are not driving properly. They may be late and in a hurry, or their attention may be elsewhere when it should be focused on the road. While you can’t always avoid every crash, no matter how well you drive, knowing the main ways car accidents happen and how to be a safer driver may help you avoid causing accidents yourself.

What Are Five Frequent Causes of Car Crashes?

There are hundreds of reasons for crashing a vehicle, some more obscure than others. People have blamed everything from the appearance of ghostly apparitions to choking on a piece of fruit for causing their car accidents. However, some reasons are much more commonly cited than others. These include:

• Distracted driving: Often cited as the number one cause of accidents in the U.S., driving while distracted can be blamed for thousands of crashes yearly, and almost every driver has been guilty of it at some point. Whether you are checking your phone, changing your music, or taking a sip of coffee, anything that takes your attention away from your driving can lead to a crash.
• Speeding: Driving over the speed limit decreases the time you have to react to anything in front of you and increases the likelihood of losing control of your vehicle.
• Driving while intoxicated: Anything that changes your ability to function mentally, including alcohol, drugs, and prescription or over-the-counter medications, can slow your reactions and impair your driving skills.
• Reckless or aggressive driving: Not following the rules of the road and driving without consideration for others can put everyone at risk of an accident.
• Tailgating: If a rear driver does not leave enough space to stop, they can easily run into the vehicle ahead if they slow down or hit the brakes.

How Can You Protect Yourself From Accidents?

While you cannot control the actions of others, you do have control over your own driving. There are some steps you can take to mitigate the risk of an accident. These include:

• Ridding yourself of distractions while driving.
• Obeying the speed limit.
• Avoiding abrupt movements like last-minute lane changes or overcorrections to your steering.
• Driving defensively and anticipating possible hazards.
• Avoiding unprotected left-hand turns when possible.
• Using public transportation or rideshare services if you are too fatigued or intoxicated to operate a vehicle safely.
• Retaining a three-second gap between yourself and the vehicle ahead.
• Approaching intersections and stop lights with caution.
• Slowing down and giving other drivers extra space during bad weather.

If You’ve Been Injured in a Car Accident, How Can a Lawyer Help You?

Suffering injuries in a car crash can be not only painful but incredibly frustrating, especially if you were doing everything possible to drive safely. You deserve fair compensation from the at-fault driver because their negligence led to your injuries. However, insurance companies may still try to shift some of the blame onto you to decrease the amount of damages they have to pay. A Miami car accident lawyer can negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf and help you get the maximum compensation you deserve. Call today to learn more about your rights and options regarding your car accident claim: 305-692-0125

Seatbelts have been standard equipment in American cars since the 1960s. Since then, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) credits them with saving over 350,000 lives. Seatbelts make it much less likely that you will be ejected from a car during a crash and help your body decelerate with the vehicle instead of continuing your forward motion until you hit the steering wheel or dashboard. It has been shown through testing that seatbelts can prevent many serious injuries.

But what if you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of your motor vehicle accident? Some people forget to put a seatbelt on or neglect it because they only planned on a short drive. While your failure to wear a seatbelt can have an impact on your claim, it does not necessarily mean that you will be unable to recover damages.

What Does Florida Law Say About Wearing a Seatbelt?

Under Florida statutes, it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle or be a passenger without being restrained by a safety belt at all times. There are limited exceptions for mail carriers, garbage truck drivers, school bus passengers, and others who are precluded from wearing seatbelts due to the nature of their vehicle or job. However, these do not apply in most car accident situations. Basically, if you weren’t wearing a seatbelt at the time of your accident, you were breaking the law.

If I Wasn’t Wearing a Seatbelt, Can I Still File a Claim?

Even though not wearing a seatbelt is against Florida law, that does not mean you would be unable to file a claim. Florida is a pure comparative negligence state. Under pure comparative negligence, even if you are partially to blame for an accident, you are still eligible to receive some compensation. The amount of your fault will just reduce that compensation. For example, if you were hurt in an accident caused by another driver, but it is determined that your failure to wear a seatbelt made your injury 30% worse, then you would still be eligible to recover 70% of the damages you experienced from the crash.

Can a Lawyer Help Me if I Wasn’t Wearing a Seatbelt During My Accident?

A skilled personal injury lawyer can assist you with your case even if you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of your crash. The critical thing to remember is that your lack of a seatbelt did not cause the accident. The at-fault driver caused the accident.

The defendant will likely try to use the “seatbelt defense” to reduce the amount of their liability. It is then incumbent upon the at-fault driver and their insurance to prove that there is a direct link between your non-use of a seatbelt and your injuries from the crash, which involves a careful study of your injuries and opinions from medical professionals. Even if they manage to prove causation, it does not invalidate your case against the at-fault driver. It will likely just reduce the amount you are eligible to recover. A knowledgeable attorney will assist you in getting the maximum possible compensation for your injuries, no matter the circumstances of your accident. To discuss your unique case with an attorney, call: 305-692-0125

Semi-trucks are a necessary part of this country’s infrastructure, hauling goods and materials of every imaginable type across the country for businesses and consumers. We encounter them on the roads most days, but we don’t usually consider the dangers of a semi-truck crash.

Unfortunately, an accident involving a semi-truck is usually catastrophic for the passengers in a car. In medical terms, a catastrophic injury is one that will change the rest of a person’s life. Victims will require protracted medical care and may not regain many of the functions they had before the crash. Sadly, these are not the worst possible outcomes from a semi-truck accident. Many individuals tragically die in these accidents every year, and in 97% of fatal truck accidents, the deceased individuals were riding in the car. But why are semi-truck accidents so much worse than car accidents?

What Makes Semi-Truck Accidents So Deadly?

 The main reason why a semi-truck causes more damage in a crash with a car comes down to physics. A semi-truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds fully loaded. The average passenger car weighs less than 4,000 pounds. The mass of a truck traveling at speed is difficult to stop, and braking takes much longer for a semi, preventing them from avoiding a crash. When a collision happens, the force of the truck will transfer to the small vehicle, likely crushing it. Car safety features such as crumple zones are designed to disperse the energy of a typical crash. However, truck accidents are anything but typical, and the safety features provide little protection against the violent impact.

A smaller car may also get stuck under the semi, or the top of the vehicle may get sheared off entirely in a type of crash called an underride accident. The accidents often lead to fatalities for passengers in the car. Since the 1950s, semis have been required to have underride bars to prevent this type of accident. They are also known as Mansfield bars because their regulations were tightened after actress Jayne Mansfield died from an underride accident in 1967. However, some trucking companies do not adequately maintain their Mansfield bars and fatalities still occur each year from underride accidents.

What Injuries Can Be Caused When a Semi-Truck Hits a Car?

 The harm caused by a semi collision is often more significant than a car accident due to the much larger forces involved. Vehicles, and the human body, are not designed for that kind of impact. The injuries experienced by victims can be numerous and severe and may include:

• Broken bones and fractures
• Back, head, and neck injuries
• Burns
• Crush injuries
• Dislocations
• Head trauma
• Lacerations and contusions
• Paralysis
• Severed limbs
• Soft tissue damage
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Whiplash

Permanent disability or death may also result from a semi-truck crash. Those who survive may face trauma-related mental health issues such as nightmares, phobias, anxiety, and PTSD.

Why Hire a Lawyer if You’ve Been Involved in a Semi-Truck Accident?

 A truck crash can be a life-altering experience for you and your loved ones. But filing a semi-truck accident claim can be challenging because of all the different parties and their respective insurances who could be involved. The driver, the trucking company, the semi manufacturer, the maintenance crew, those who loaded the cargo, and more may all share liability in the crash. An experienced truck accident attorney will painstakingly investigate your truck accident claim to properly hold all the at-fault parties responsible for the negligent actions which resulted in your serious injuries. If your loved one died as a result of a truck accident, you may be eligible to file a wrongful death suit for the losses you’ve experienced due to their passing. Call a reputable attorney for truck accident cases in Miami today for a free consultation to see how we can assist you: 305-692-0125

• A Guide to Truck Accident Liability in Florida
• How to File a Truck Accident Claim in Florida

Whiplash is a prevalent injury. The Spine Research Institute of San Diego estimates that nearly three million Americans suffer from whiplash yearly. While some will bounce back from their injury within a couple of weeks, roughly half of victims will experience chronic pain from their whiplash injury. This pain can be severe enough to cause disability, and many victims have to quit their jobs. Others face many months of expensive therapy and medications before they are able to regain their normal levels of activity.

With these serious consequences, it’s no surprise that many people will file claims for their losses caused by whiplash. It can be challenging to establish what your claim may be worth, however, because the amounts awarded can vary widely from a few thousand to several million, based on the circumstances of the injury. Consulting with a knowledgeable personal injury attorney is often the best way to determine how much you could receive from a whiplash settlement.

What is Whiplash?

Whiplash is a neck injury caused by the head moving in a forceful back and forth motion similar to the cracking of a whip. It is also known as a neck sprain. It can be caused by sports injuries, slip and fall accidents, and domestic violence, but it is most commonly seen as a result of car accidents, especially rear-end collisions. Whiplash can cause many symptoms, including:

• Pain in the neck, back, shoulders, or arms
• Limited range of motion
• Severe headaches
• Tingling and numbness in arms
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Blurry vision
• Difficulty sleeping
• Ringing in ears

These symptoms can cause significant disruptions to your life, including a lack of concentration, memory issues, irritability, and depression. If the motion of the head and neck was violent enough, there could be fractured vertebrae in your neck, which could lead to spinal cord damage or paralysis if left untreated. It is always essential to seek immediate medical attention after an accident to identify potentially dangerous injuries.

How Much Can You Expect for Your Whiplash Settlement?

Like any car accident injury, there can be wide variations in how much is paid for damages. The amount is usually based on the severity of the injury and how long it is anticipated to affect you. Many whiplash injuries are painful but heal within a few weeks with rest and anti-inflammatory medication. However, other cases can be much longer lasting and affect a victim’s ability to return to their job or complete daily tasks.

The average amount for a whiplash settlement is around $10,000 to $20,000 for a minor injury. However, severe and life-changing whiplash injuries may be settled for $1 million or more. Having an experienced lawyer on your side who can evaluate the extent of your injuries and determine precisely how much you may be entitled to in damages is key to getting fair compensation for your whiplash claim.

How Can You Improve Your Chances for a Higher Settlement?

Because whiplash is one of the most common types of insurance claims, there have been documented instances of fraud. Due to this, insurance companies tend to scrutinize whiplash claims very closely, and they will likely offer a relatively low initial settlement. While much of the settlement amount you are eligible for is based on the severity of your injuries, you can give yourself the best chance of getting the maximum compensation by following these guidelines:

• Get immediate medical attention: Having a diagnosis of whiplash that can be definitively tied to your accident is critical. Don’t delay getting treatment, and be sure your doctor has done all the necessary tests, including x-rays and MRIs, to determine the full extent of your injuries.
• Keep detailed documentation of your injury: Collect all bills for tests, treatments, therapy, and medication.
• Contact an experienced car accident attorney: They can tell you how much your injury is worth and prevent you from accepting a settlement that is too low.

If you’ve experienced a whiplash injury, contact our office today to learn more about your rights and options: 305-692-0125

If you have suffered a serious injury in a car accident, boating accident, or other, it has likely taken a heavy financial toll on you and your family. Many victims face skyrocketing medical bills and may find themselves struggling to pay them after missing work due to their injury. You may feel a lot of anxiety and stress and may be impatiently awaiting the end of your personal injury case when you can hopefully put it all behind you. But how long does a personal injury case take? Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to this question. A case can take anywhere from a few months to a few years to settle. It all depends upon the details of your case, your healing process, and other factors.

What Are the Steps to a Personal Injury Case?

Understanding the process of a personal injury case can help you grasp where you are in the timeline of your claim and how much longer it may take. Your lawyer should also give you frequent updates, so you know where you stand. Every case is different, but they mostly follow the same general steps:

• Get a medical evaluation: Get medical attention as soon as possible after your accident to protect your well-being and officially record your injuries and the treatment they will require.
• Enlist legal representation: Schedule a meeting with a lawyer to understand the value of your claim and get advice on your next steps. Your lawyer can begin dealing with the insurance company so you can focus on your healing.
• Negotiate with the insurance: Your lawyer will act as your representative for negotiating a settlement with the insurance company. Their goal is to get you the maximum compensation for your injuries. It can take time, but the majority of cases end here.
• File a lawsuit: If you cannot come to an agreeable settlement with the insurance, your lawyer will file a lawsuit with the civil court to seek damages. Depending on the location and complexity of the case, it may take one to two years from the time of filing to when the trial occurs. During this time, pre-trial steps such as discovery and mediation will happen, and a settlement may be reached.
• Go to trial: The trial itself may last anywhere from a day to a month. Once a verdict is reached, your case will be over unless there are appeals.

It is important to remember that not every case will involve all of these steps. Over 95% of cases are settled before they ever get to trial, significantly shortening the timeline.

What Factors Can Influence the Length of Your Case?

Your lawyers will always try to bring your case to a satisfactory conclusion as soon as possible, but any case can hit a roadblock that may cause it to take longer than expected. Some of the common reasons why cases take longer to complete include:

• Waiting for maximum medical improvement: If you have been severely injured, you want to avoid settling until you are done with your medical treatment or have an official estimate of your future medical costs.
• Encountering legal issues: Sometimes, legal challenges require your lawyers to investigate further and gather more evidence to support your claim.
• Negotiating a large claim: Insurance companies are for-profit businesses and want to limit their losses as much as possible, so securing a large settlement can take a lot of skillful negotiation and time.

Why Consult a Lawyer?

An experienced personal injury lawyer can look at the details of your case and give you a better understanding of the merits and challenges of your claim and how long it may take to litigate. They will work to understand your situation and needs. Their goal is to get you the compensation you deserve in the shortest amount of time. However, if you are in an emergency situation and need to settle immediately, they can explain your options for closing your case quickly, such as a short settlement. Whatever your situation, a lawyer can helpfully answer all your personal injury claim questions. Call today to learn more: 305-692-0125

Whether purchasing a fun, new item for ourselves, like a power tool or a car, or buying a mundane product like cough medicine, we expect that the product will do what it claims and won’t cause us harm if we use it correctly. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The product may have a design flaw, or the assembler may have put it together incorrectly. Whatever the reason, if the defect caused you injury, you may have a valid product liability case.

What is Product Liability?

When a product is put into the hands of consumers, it should not be defective or dangerous. If a product causes harm to a buyer or user of a product or any nearby individuals, those who have been injured can file a product liability suit against the manufacturers or sellers of the product. Anyone in the distribution chain could be held liable for the injuries, including the manufacturer of the product, manufacturers of parts within the product, assemblers or installers, wholesalers, and retail stores.

To prove your case, you must show that the product was not only defective but that the defect directly caused your injuries. A table that arrives broken but causes no harm is not eligible for a product liability case. However, a table with an improperly attached leg that causes it to collapse and break your foot could be the subject of a product liability case.

What Are the Three Categories of Product Liability?

There are many specific ways that a product could be defective, but nearly all product liability cases fall into one of three categories:

• Defective design: This type of defect will typically be found in every example of the product because they were all originally designed in a way that is inherently dangerous to the user, even when they are manufactured correctly. An article of clothing that is excessively flammable or a top-heavy cabinet that can easily fall over are both examples of defective designs.
• Defective manufacturing: These defects usually only affect a few items. The issues occur when the product is being made or assembled. For example, if a part on your product was not welded properly, causing it to break and cause injury, that is a manufacturing defect.
• Marketing defects: If an item is dangerous to a user in a non-obvious way, the manufacturers and sellers must provide proper warning and instructions on how to use it safely. They could also be liable if they make false claims about the product or if they advertise people using the product in an unsafe way. For this reason, car ads almost always have the disclaimer that the drivers in the ad are professionals on a closed course.

What Are Some Common Items Involved in Product Liability Cases?

While any product can theoretically be the subject of a product liability case if it has caused harm to someone, some items are seen in these cases more often than others. These products include:

• Medical devices: Because these items are implanted into a person’s body and play a vital role in their health, any defects can be incredibly harmful. These products are held to high standards, and defects trigger massive recalls and difficulties for patients.
• Automotive parts: Defective car parts can cause serious consequences. For example, some vehicles’ gas tanks have been found to be faulty, leading to explosions during crashes.
• Kids toys: Everyone wants their children to be safe while playing. Toys made with hazardous materials or toys that pose a choking hazard that are not adequately labeled are examples of products that could be held liable for injuries.
• Tools: Most types of machinery come with some hazards for the user, but if the buyer is not sufficiently warned or instructed, the manufacturer or seller could be held responsible for damages.

If you have experienced injuries caused by a defective product, contact a personal injury attorney today to learn more about your rights and options: 305-692-0125

In the digital age, we put personal information about our private lives onto the internet through social media and apps, often without thinking twice. However, most people still have strong feelings about other individuals and government entities finding out personal information about them. Surprisingly, the legal idea of a right to privacy is a relatively new concept, even in the U.S., where we strongly value our right to be left alone, and it is not part of the law in every country worldwide. So what rights do you actually have regarding privacy?

What Are the Basic Rights to Privacy Under Law?

In the U.S., in most cases, an individual has the right to be left alone in their private space. They should be free from unwanted publicity, and the public should not concern themselves with their private matters if they are not of public importance. There should be no intrusions upon anyone’s personal matters that could reasonably cause embarrassment, shame, or offense to them.

A person can usually take legal action for damages if their privacy rights are infringed upon in certain ways. However, this can depend on what privacy laws are recognized by the state where the invasion of their rights occurred. The four main recognized types of invasion of privacy are:

• Intrusion upon seclusion
• Appropriating another’s name or likeness for gain
• Painting someone in an unreasonably false light through publicity
• Giving unwarranted publicity to someone’s private life

For an invasion of privacy case to be valid, the defendant must have intentionally interfered with the plaintiff’s rights to seclusion for their person or their private affairs. That intentional interference must have also been in a manner that would be offensive to a reasonable person. The only time the standard for offense does not apply is in cases where someone’s name or likeness has been appropriated.

What Rights to Privacy Are Protected by the Constitution?

The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly discuss the right to privacy, but the Supreme Court has cited some Amendments as being indicative of an implied right to privacy. In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court ruled that the personal protections stated in the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments created a “zone of privacy” for individuals. The Fourteenth Amendment is also cited in many well-known right to privacy cases.

Generally, the privacy interests that are often noted as being constitutionally protected involve the individual’s right to keep personal matters from being publicly disclosed and their right to make certain important life decisions on their own, without government interference. However, as with many aspects of case law, this is subject to interpretation and change.

What Can a Lawyer Do if Your Right to Privacy Has Been Invaded?

Right to privacy cases can be complex and require substantial documentation and proof from plaintiffs. Courts often balance the individual’s right to privacy with the right to free speech, especially in cases involving media coverage. It is essential to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer if you believe you have experienced an invasion of your privacy rights. They can help you decide on the best course of action to remedy the harm you’ve experienced by an unwarranted intrusion into your personal matters. Call a lawyer today to schedule a case evaluation: 305-692-0125

Everyone has a right to privacy, whether they are public figures or average citizens. With the rise of social media and the everyday use of the internet by most people, many aspects of our lives that used to be private are now in the public sphere. However, as long as you control who has access to your information, you still theoretically have privacy. When others begin to encroach upon your private life and personal affairs, then it can be considered an invasion of privacy, and you may be able to take legal action. Knowing the most common types of invasion of privacy can help you protect your rights.

What is an Invasion of Privacy?

An invasion of privacy is any unwarranted or unwelcome intrusion into a person’s private life. Basically, everyone has the right to be left alone if they choose. If a person knowingly consents to put their private affairs out into the world to a selected audience, such as through social media, then that is not an invasion of privacy. The press also has some freedom to report on people’s private lives without censorship. We’ve all seen tabloids and TV shows that discuss celebrities’ home lives. But the press walks a fine line, and they could face civil charges if their coverage is deemed unwarranted. Free speech must be balanced against an individual’s rights to their privacy.

What Are the Four Legally Recognized Types of Invasion of Privacy in Florida?

For an individual to bring a case to civil court, the alleged invasion of privacy must fall into one of four legally recognized categories:

• Intrusion upon seclusion: This applies if someone invaded your personal affairs in a way that would be objectionable to a reasonable person. Examples can include trespassing to take pictures of you in your home or intercepting private phone calls.
• Appropriation of likeness or name: If someone uses your name or image without your consent to benefit themselves, that is an invasion of privacy. A person can’t legally claim that a celebrity uses or endorses a product they’re trying to sell without the celebrity’s permission.
• Public disclosure of private facts: Publications cannot print stories with non-newsworthy private facts about a person that could reasonably cause severe offense or embarrassment. This typically includes facts about a person’s finances, sexual relationships, or private health matters.
• False light publicity: Many types of media frequently embellish stories to make them more exciting or eye-catching. However, if the exaggerations create a false narrative around a person that paints them in a negative way that would be offensive to a reasonable person, then a civil suit may ensue.

How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Help if You’ve Suffered an Invasion of Privacy?

If someone has intruded into your personal life in a way that has caused harm to your reputation or made you feel deeply uncomfortable, you may be able to bring a civil case against them. Having good documentation of the invasion of privacy is crucial, and you should be prepared to articulate how it negatively impacted you. It can be very uncomfortable and alarming to experience an invasion of privacy, and those responsible should be held accountable for their actions.

Contacting a skilled and compassionate personal injury lawyer should be your first step after discovering an invasion of privacy. You want to be certain you file your claim within the statute of limitations. Otherwise, you lose your right to seek compensation. Call us today at 305-692-0125 to learn more about your legal options.