More People are on the Road

Summer months are the perfect time for workers to take a vacation. Some families take road trips, visiting national monuments or family members in other states. But even if people stay in Florida, they are more likely to be on the road during their days off than if they were working in their cubicles all day. Because of the crowding on the roads in August, accidents are unavoidable.

To protect yourself, give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination. Also drive defensively—yield the right of way, drive the speed limit, and do not get distracted.

More Teens are Driving

Instead of being bored in study hall, more teens are out on the road in August, enjoying their last month of freedom before school starts again. Some teens have also just received their licenses and are anxious to spend the summer behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Unfortunately, teens are statistically the most dangerous group of drivers. According to federal government statistics, drivers aged 16-19 are the most likely to be in an accident. These drivers are three times as likely to crash as those over the age of 20.

The Hot Weather Impairs Driving

Florida’s punishing heat can impair both drivers and their vehicles. It is well known that drivers who are overheated make rash decisions and often feel dizzy or light-headed. As a result, they are more likely to cause an accident by making a serious error behind the wheel.

Hot weather can also punish your vehicle. For example, your engine might overheat, which can strand you on the side of the road for hours as you wait for your car to cool down. Also, the heat can inflate the air in your tires, causing blowouts. As a result, you might lose control of your vehicle and crash into someone else.

To protect yourself, always travel with a bottle of water so that you can stay properly hydrated. At the first signs of heat stress or heat stroke, pull over to the side of the road and rest in a cool place.

You should also protect your vehicle by taking it to the mechanic for a tune-up before summer even begins. Rotate your tires and ask the mechanic to check the pressure. If your tires are worn, you should replace them.

Stay Safe, and Call a Daytona Beach Car Accident Lawyer if a Crash Occurs

Summertime accidents are unfortunately unavoidable. If you or a loved one has been involved in a crash, you will need confident legal representation. At Bundza & Rodriguez, our car accident lawyers in Volusia County have helped countless victims receive compensation for their injuries. To learn more about whether you have a valid legal case, please set up a free consultation. You can call 386-252-5170  or submit our contact form.

Resources:

cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html

firesportal.com/Pages/Public/QuickStats.aspx

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Benefits

After a car accident, state law requires that you first turn to your own insurer to receive compensation for medical care and lost wages. Every motorist must carry PIP benefits up to $10,000. Because Florida is a no-fault state, you don’t need to show that the other driver injured you negligently to access the benefits. However, you do need to see a medical provider within 14 days of the accident.

PIP benefits are skimpy. At most, they cover up to 80% of your medical care and 60% of lost wages. In a particularly serious accident, medical care alone will eat up the $10,000, leaving you without the necessary funds to continue to pay bills. And it is not uncommon for injured motorists to receive almost no reimbursement of lost wages, since there is no money left once medical expenses are paid.

You also will not receive any compensation for non-economic harms like:

• Physical pain
• Inconvenience
• Emotional distress
• Negative changes to your marriage, such as a loss of sexual intimacy

These non-economic injuries can be substantial. For example, someone suffering from a head or spinal cord injury might be in an incredible amount of physical pain and distress, yet PIP benefits do not provide any compensation.

Permanent Injuries

All is not lost if you suffer devastating injuries in a car accident. Florida’s law provides a big exception for people who suffer a permanent injury, such as:

• Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function.
• Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement.
• An injury that within a reasonable degree of medical certainty will be permanent, other than scarring or disfigurement.
• Death.

In these situations, you can sue the motorist for non-economic damages, as well as for full reimbursement of any medical bills and lost wages not covered by your PIP benefits. The key will be to show that your injury qualifies as permanent under the statute.

For example, you might break bones which require the insertion of a permanent steel plate or pin. This injury might qualify as “permanent” under the statute, whereas suffering some temporary neck pain likely will not.

Speak with a Daytona Beach Car Accident Lawyer Today

Injured motorists need compensation to cover expenses and provide for their families. At Bundza & Rodriguez, our team will carefully review your medical history and analyze whether you can bring a lawsuit for non-economic damages under Florida’s statute. We also will help you negotiate with insurance carriers—whether your own or the other driver’s. Contact us today for a free consultation at 866-785-5470 or send a message online.

Resource:

leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699/0627/Sections/0627.736.html

Florida’s seat belt laws require individuals in the front seat and anyone under 18 to wear a seat belt, regardless of where they’re sitting. However, even for individuals older than 18 in the backseat, it can help prevent serious injury and make a difference for personal injury claims.

How Not Wearing a Seat Belt Might Affect Your Personal Injury Claim

Personal injury claims can be complicated, particularly for car accidents, because it isn’t always clear which party is at fault or which other factors could have caused the accident. When looking at personal injury claims, courts typically consider several factors, including:

• Which party caused the accident
• Whether negligence on the part of the person making the claim could have avoided injury
• The medical and insurance costs associated with the accident
• The emotional stress and non-monetary pain caused by the accident

When making a personal injury claim from an accident in which you didn’t wear a seatbelt, the other side may be able to argue that not wearing a seatbelt was the cause of your injury rather than the accident itself. The repercussions may also extend beyond your personal claims court. For example, insurance companies also consider negligence when distributing funds from insurance claims.

Every personal injury case is unique, even if the circumstances around the accident appear similar. For this reason, hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer can maximize the chances you are awarded damages to help cover the cost of the accident.

What Impacts the Total Damages Awarded in a Personal Injury Claim

Another factor to consider for making a personal injury claim from a car accident is that courts recognize that the damage done extends beyond the physical trauma, medical cost and vehicle damage in the accident. The courts recognize “pain and suffering” as contributing factors when deciding how much is acceptable to award.

The catch is that the financial equivalent of pain and suffering is much harder to determine, because it includes subjective factors like emotional stress and mental trauma. One of the easier ways to calculate this is simply to multiply the total cost of medical bills and vehicle damage by a number. For example, your lawyer may take the sum of all these costs and triple the amount when arguing for your case to account for pain and suffering.

Again, every case is unique, so determining the number to multiply by is not always clear cut. If you were the victim of a car accident, contact Bundza & Rodriguez, P.A. in Daytona Beach, Florida for a consultation. We also have experience fighting for victims of a variety of accident types, including car, bicycle, truck and boating accidents. We understand that the total damage of an accident isn’t just the financial loss, and we will fight to make sure all the damage you’ve experienced is compensated.