Mass Transit Crash: Who Covers for My Damages?

Edward Reyes, Esq / November 4, 2019

You were riding the bus, or stopped beside one, when the crash happened. Now you are hurt and facing a confusing question that an ordinary fender bender never raises: who is actually responsible for covering your damages? The answer depends on who owns the vehicle and who caused the wreck, and the rules for serious transit crashes in Florida are unlike any other kind of accident. Here is how it works. The Reyes Firm Injured in a Bus or Transit Crash in Tampa? Figuring out who pays is complicated. We can help. Had a bad day? Contact Us Now $200K/$300K Caps on claims against a government agency Fla. Stat. § 768.28(5) Highest Duty Care a carrier owes its passengers Common carrier law 3 Years To give written notice of a government claim Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6) 2 Years To file a negligence lawsuit Fla. Stat. § 95.11 A crash involving a bus, trolley, shuttle, or train is rarely simple. These vehicles are large, they carry many people, and the entity that operates them may be a private business or a branch of government, which completely changes how a claim works. Understanding the possibilities helps you know where to turn after you have been hurt. Who covers your damages after a mass transit crash? It depends on two questions: who operates the transit vehicle, and who caused the crash. Those two answers determine which insurance policies and which legal rules apply to your case, and they can point to very different sources of recovery. Broadly, there are three possibilities. A private company that operates the vehicle may cover you through its liability insurance. A government agency that operates it may be responsible, but only within strict limits. And when a separate at-fault driver caused the crash, that driver may be responsible directly. In many serious cases, more than one of these applies at once. What counts as mass transit? Mass transit is essentially anything designed to carry a large number of people. That includes public buses like those operated by Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, along with trolleys, streetcars, light rail and trains, airport shuttles, and privately operated charter and tour buses. School buses fall into their own related category. The single most important distinction is not the type of vehicle but who runs it. A privately operated shuttle and a public city bus are treated very differently under Florida law, even if the crash looks identical from the outside. What if a private company operates the transit vehicle? When a private company operates the vehicle, your claim generally works more like a case against any other commercial operator. These companies are typically required to carry substantial liability insurance because they transport passengers for a living, and that coverage is available to injured passengers up to the policy limits. Because buses and similar vehicles are large commercial vehicles, our overview of truck and commercial vehicle accidents covers related territory. Sorting out which policy applies, and whether personal or commercial coverage governs, is often more complicated than it looks. We explain that distinction in our guide to commercial versus personal insurance after a Florida crash. The advantage in these cases is that private carriers usually have real coverage, without the government limits described below. What if a government agency operates it? This is where transit claims become genuinely different. When a public entity operates the vehicle, it is protected by sovereign immunity, an old legal doctrine that shields the government from many lawsuits. Florida has waived that immunity in part under Florida Statute § 768.28, but only up to strict caps. Under that statute, recovery against a government agency is generally capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, no matter how severe your injuries are. Public entities are typically self-insured, meaning they pay claims from their own funds up to those limits. Recovering more than the cap is possible only through a claim bill, a special act that the Florida Legislature must pass individually, which is a difficult and lengthy process. These limits are a major reason government transit claims require experienced handling. ⚠️ Deadline Warning: Claims against a government transit agency carry a strict condition you will not find in an ordinary car accident case. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6), you must generally provide written notice of your claim within three years, and you usually cannot file suit until the agency has denied the claim or 180 days have passed. That is separate from the two-year deadline to file a negligence lawsuit under Florida Statute § 95.11. These rules interact in unforgiving ways, so speak with a lawyer immediately. What if another driver caused the crash? Here is the possibility many injured passengers do not realize they have. If a separate driver crashed into the bus or transit vehicle and caused your injuries, that driver is the at-fault party, and you can generally pursue a claim directly against them and their insurance. You do not necessarily have to go through the transit company’s commercial policy or fight the government’s sovereign immunity caps at all. This can matter enormously, especially when a public agency is involved, because it may let you avoid the $200,000 cap entirely by pursuing the responsible driver instead. And when that at-fault driver does not carry enough insurance to cover your injuries, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may apply. A lawyer can identify every source of recovery available to you, which is often the difference between a capped claim and a full one. You can read more about what drives the value of a claim in our detailed guide. 🛡️ Your Rights Under Florida Law: Under Florida Statute § 768.81, fault can be divided among everyone responsible for a crash, including a transit operator and an at-fault driver, and your own recovery is reduced by any share of fault assigned to you. As a passenger you are rarely at fault, and an experienced Tampa injury lawyer works to hold the right parties accountable for

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Slip, Falls and Premise Liability

Edward Reyes, Esq / November 4, 2019

Liability is when you’re injured inside a premise, a building, a structure of somebody or a company or likewise. It could be that you’re injured in someone’s home. It could be that you’re injured in their yard. It could be that you’re inside a company, like a grocery store, and you slip and you fell. It could be that you’re in an apartment complex, and you slipped and you fell. Or going down the stairs, you may have slipped and fallen because the stairs were improperly placed on that stairway. Premise liability is different than regular car accidents and regular personal injury in the sense that instead of going after car insurance, you’re going after liability insurance that that company or those homeowners may have a homeowner’s coverages, or that company may have it as liability coverage for incidences for injuries. Every case is different, and there’s still a duty to mitigate, which means if you had an injury from falling down, and you decided not to go to the doctor, and you decided not to get help for any reason, and you made the condition worse. Tampa personal injury lawyer Edward Reyes represents people in Tampa and Hillsborough County, Florida who have suffered an injury in an incident or accident type of accident. Speak Directly to Me, At No Cost, Today 813.421.3411 Well, the other insurance company, or the insurance company even though you’re not at fault, is going to deduct part of your injuries and your recovery because you didn’t mitigate or reduce the number of losses that you could’ve saved. As well as, if it was Open and Obvious. If you went to a store, and you saw that the floor was wet, you saw that there was a stack of books there, you saw, or it could’ve been there for a period that you could’ve seen it, and at that point, it’s going to raise an argument of Open and Obvious. That does not mean that it’s a grand slam on the other side, that just means it creates issues when fighting the case because they’re going to claim Open and Obvious. On the flip side to that, if it’s a condition that is not readily visible to you, but it’s been there for a long period of time, that’s also considered constructive notice. So when you’re dealing with premise liability, either slip and falls or just general premise liability, the issues that come up are Open and Obvious on their side and constructive notice. And then, of course, the injuries itself, and the number of damages, and the duty to mitigate. If you have any questions about this, feel free to give us a call. Our number is 813-421-3411. (Transcript from the video, transcribed but not reviewed)

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What Are Moped Accidents and Why Are they on the Rise?

Edward Reyes, Esq / November 4, 2019

You were just riding through Tampa like any other day. Then a careless driver turned across your path and your moped accident changed everything. Now you’re in pain, staring at medical bills, and the at-fault driver’s insurance company is already working to protect their bottom line. Here’s what you need to know before you say another word to them. TL;DR — QUICK SUMMARY Moped use is climbing across Tampa’s dense, walkable neighborhoods, and more riders on the road means more serious crashes with cars and trucks. Moped riders are far more exposed than people inside cars, so even a low-speed collision can cause head trauma, broken bones, and spinal injuries. Florida’s no-fault PIP coverage usually does not protect moped and motorcycle riders the way it protects car occupants, which changes how you recover compensation. Under Florida Statute § 95.11(3)(a), you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. Your recovery typically comes from the at-fault driver’s bodily injury liability coverage and, in many cases, your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. The Reyes Firm Hurt in a Moped Accident in Tampa? Get clear next steps after a serious moped crash. Had a bad day? Contact Us Now 2 Years Florida statute of limitations Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3)(a) 30 mph Top speed that legally defines a moped Fla. Stat. § 316.003 Under 16 Moped riders required to wear a helmet Fla. Stat. § 316.211 50%+ Fault that bars recovery in Florida Fla. Stat. § 768.81 Why are moped accidents on the rise in Tampa? Moped accidents are rising in Tampa because more people are choosing mopeds for short, everyday trips in dense neighborhoods where they live, work, and play within a few miles. Instead of pulling out a car for a quick errand, residents grab a moped, and the result is far more two-wheel traffic sharing the road with cars, SUVs, and delivery trucks. That shift creates predictable danger. Drivers in Tampa simply are not looking for mopeds. They check for other cars at intersections, on University-area streets, and along busy corridors, but they overlook smaller, slower vehicles in the lane next to them. Left-turn collisions, sideswipes, and rear-end crashes follow, and the rider almost always absorbs the worst of it. Can you file a claim after a moped accident in Tampa, Florida? Yes, you can file a claim after a moped accident in Tampa if another party’s negligence caused or contributed to the crash. A driver who turned in front of you, ran a light, or never checked their mirror can be held financially responsible for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. The key is acting before the clock runs out and before critical evidence disappears. Skid marks fade, vehicles get repaired, and witness memories blur within days. The sooner a Tampa moped accident lawyer starts protecting the facts, the stronger your claim tends to be. ⚠️ Deadline Warning: Under Florida Statute § 95.11(3)(a), you generally have two years from the date of your crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. Missing this deadline almost always means losing your right to recover anything. Don’t wait to call a lawyer. Watch: Why moped accidents happen and what to do In this short video, Edward Reyes, Esq. explains why mopeds are out on Tampa roads more than ever and what coverage matters if you are injured while riding. If you still have questions after watching, The Reyes Firm offers a free consultation so you can talk through your specific situation with a real attorney. Why do moped accident injuries tend to be so severe? Moped injuries are so severe because the rider has almost nothing between their body and the road. There is no steel cage, no airbag, and no seatbelt, so the forces of a collision transfer directly to the person instead of the vehicle. That is why even a “minor” crash can leave a moped rider with a traumatic brain injury, a spinal cord injury, broken bones, road rash, or internal trauma. Many of the cases we see look similar to the most serious motorcycle accident claims, because the physics of a two-wheel crash are unforgiving. 💡 Did You Know? Under Florida Statute § 316.003, a true “moped” is narrowly defined as a low-powered vehicle with pedals that cannot exceed 30 mph on level ground. Many vehicles riders call “mopeds” are actually motor scooters under the law, which can change registration, licensing, and insurance rules after a crash. Source: Florida Statutes, leg.state.fl.us. Who is liable after a moped accident in Tampa? Liability after a moped accident depends on who failed to use reasonable care, and it is often the driver of the other vehicle. A motorist who turns left across your lane, fails to yield, follows too closely, or opens a door into your path can be held responsible for the harm they caused. In some cases, more than one party shares fault. A government entity responsible for a dangerous road defect, a business that overserved an impaired driver, or a maintenance shop that botched a repair can all be pulled into a claim. Identifying every responsible party matters, because it often determines how much insurance coverage is actually available to you. 🛡️ Your Rights Under Florida Law: Under Florida Statute § 768.81, your compensation is reduced by your share of fault, and you may be barred from recovery if you are found greater than 50% responsible for your own harm. An experienced Tampa moped accident lawyer works to protect the facts, challenge unfair blame, and keep your percentage of fault as low as the evidence allows. Does Florida no-fault insurance cover moped accident injuries? Usually not in the way riders expect. Florida’s no-fault system, built around Personal Injury Protection under Florida Statute § 627.736, is designed for people injured while occupying a car, not riders on two wheels. PIP benefits generally do not extend to injuries you suffer while riding a moped or motorcycle. That gap is exactly why

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Spinal Cord Stimulation

Edward Reyes, Esq / November 4, 2019

Spinal cord stimulation is not very well known and it doesn’t make sense to a lot of people. But it is is basically a pacemaker for pain. I don’t know if we can see it here but it is a little battery that causes impulses that are taken to the spine through these wires. And they’re going to go to the spine. And they have an effect, a very subtle effect, on the nerves that are going into the brain from the back, for example. It can also be down in the neck and the mid-back. It can alleviate the pain that is otherwise not responding to anything else. And beyond that it serves two major purposes: avoid surgery, particularly on patients that have disc lesions that produce mostly the pain that goes down the legs or down the arms, and also it can rescue patients who have persistent pain after undergoing surgery. As you know, spine surgery has a high incidence of persistent pain after the surgery, and spinal cord stimulation can really help that. So patients who are looking to avoid surgery but they’re having pain – they had an injury and they continue to have pain – this is one of the alternatives that I can offer them. Tampa personal injury lawyer Edward Reyes represents people in Tampa and Hillsborough County, Florida who have suffered an injury in an incident or accident type of accident. Speak Directly to Me, At No Cost, Today 813.421.3411 Those who did have surgery and continue to have pain, this is many times the only choice they have. I think when a lot of people when they think of pain management, and myself included especially before I was an attorney, was they think of prescription drugs and pills and things like that. But this is completely different. This is more of a really get in there and help the person not so much cover-up with medicine. Probably the basic mission of interventional pain medicine is to avoid patients from being on chronic opioids. Call us for more information. (Transcript from the video, transcribed but not reviewed)

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Chronic Opioids are not the Answer

Edward Reyes, Esq / November 4, 2019

Medical treatment after a crash explained

After A Car Accident, Injury

Medial Branch Block (MBB): What It Means After a Crash

Edward Reyes, Esq / November 4, 2019

Your doctor mentioned a medial branch block, and you nodded along without really knowing what it meant. If you were hurt in a crash and now face spinal injections, you deserve a clear explanation, both of the procedure and of what it means for your injury claim. Here is what an MBB is, in plain language. The Reyes Firm Facing Spinal Injections After a Tampa Crash? Make sure your treatment is documented and valued properly. Had a bad day? Contact Us Now Diagnostic An MBB helps pinpoint your pain source Facet joint nerves 6-12 Mo. Typical relief from radiofrequency ablation Varies by patient Permanent Injury finding needed for pain and suffering Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2) 2 Years Deadline to file an injury claim Fla. Stat. § 95.11 After a car accident, back and neck pain can linger long after the bruises fade. When it does, doctors often look to the small joints along the spine as a possible source, and a medial branch block is one of the main tools they use to investigate. Understanding the procedure, and why it matters beyond the exam room, helps you make informed decisions and protect your claim. What is a medial branch block (MBB)? A medial branch block is a targeted injection used to find out whether the facet joints in your spine are causing your pain, and it is a well-established procedure described by resources like Spine-Health. The facet joints are the small joints that connect your vertebrae and allow your spine to bend and twist. Tiny nerves called the medial branches carry pain signals away from these joints, and an MBB places a small amount of local anesthetic near those nerves, usually with imaging guidance to position the needle precisely. The goal at this stage is information, not a cure. By temporarily numbing the medial branch nerves, the procedure tests a simple question: if these nerves stop sending signals and your pain drops, then those facet joints are very likely the source of your pain. How does a medial branch block work as a diagnostic test? The logic is straightforward. After the anesthetic is injected, your doctor asks you to track how much your pain improves over the next several hours while the numbing lasts. Significant temporary relief points to the facet joints as the culprit. Little or no relief suggests the pain is coming from somewhere else, which is useful information too. Because the relief from the anesthetic is short-lived, an MBB is generally a diagnostic step rather than a long-term treatment. Doctors often repeat the block to confirm the result before moving on to a longer-lasting procedure. Your physician will explain how many blocks they recommend and why. What is radiofrequency ablation, and how is it different? If one or more medial branch blocks confirm that the facet joints are the source of your pain, a doctor may recommend radiofrequency ablation, sometimes called radiofrequency neurotomy. This is where the longer-lasting relief comes in. Using needles placed in the same area, the doctor passes radiofrequency energy through a small electrode to create a controlled lesion on the medial branch nerves, interrupting their ability to transmit pain signals. Think of the block as the test and the ablation as the treatment that follows a positive test. Relief from ablation commonly lasts somewhere in the range of six months to a year, though it varies from patient to patient. It is not a guaranteed or one-size-fits-all outcome, and your doctor is the right person to explain what you can realistically expect. Is a medial branch block a permanent fix? Not exactly, and it helps to understand why. Radiofrequency ablation does not remove the underlying injury. It quiets the nerves that carry the pain, and over time those nerves can regenerate, which is why relief eventually wears off and some patients repeat the procedure. That can make it feel like a temporary patch. But there is another way to look at it. These procedures buy real relief while your body works through a slow healing process, and some patients improve enough over time that they do not need to repeat them indefinitely. Whether that will be true for you depends on your specific injury and your body, and it is not something anyone can promise in advance. Your treating physician can give you the most accurate picture. 💡 Did You Know? In a Florida car accident case, you generally cannot recover for pain and suffering unless your injury meets a legal threshold, such as a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability. Diagnostic and treatment procedures like a medial branch block and radiofrequency ablation are part of how physicians document the nature and persistence of a spinal injury. Source: Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2). Why does a medial branch block matter for your injury claim? Insurance companies love to describe back and neck injuries as minor soft-tissue strains that will resolve on their own. A medial branch block cuts against that narrative in a powerful way, because it is objective and diagnostic. When a block pinpoints a specific facet joint as the source of your pain, it connects your symptoms to an identifiable injury rather than a vague complaint, which is exactly the kind of evidence that holds up under scrutiny. These procedures also carry real weight in the value of a claim. They are meaningful medical expenses, they show that your pain was serious enough to warrant an invasive intervention, and when future radiofrequency ablations are likely, the projected cost of that ongoing care can become part of your damages. For serious cases, a life care plan can help account for those future treatments. This is also closely tied to reaching maximum medical improvement, which we explain in our guide to how your case progresses during the pre-suit phase. ⚠️ Deadline Warning: Under Florida Statute § 95.11, you generally have two years from the date of your crash to file a personal injury lawsuit, even if you are still undergoing

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E- Scooter and Car Accidents: The Difference Between the Two

Edward Reyes, Esq / November 4, 2019

Scooters are fun. Scooters are growing. You see scooters now on every corner. In fact, in every area in Florida especially in every major city in Florida, you’ll see scooters growing in popularity amongst every age group. Scooters are unique because you do not need insurance and you do not need a license and you do not need a helmet. Tampa personal injury lawyer Edward Reyes represents people in Tampa and Hillsborough County, Florida who have suffered an injury in an incident or accident type of accident. Speak Directly to Me, At No Cost, Today 813.421.3411 With all that being said, if you’re involved in a scooter accident and you don’t have a helmet on the insurance company that’s protecting their client that’s the at-fault party can and will reduce the damages to your head if the helmet would have reduced the damages. If you do not own a car you can be covered by the person that crashed into you, the at-fault party’s personal injury protection for your medical, your lost wages and we can submit a claim against that party for the pain and suffering that they’ve caused you. Call us now for more information. (Transcript from the video, transcribed but not reviewed)

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Traumatic Brain Injury how is it Caused?

Edward Reyes, Esq / November 4, 2019

When you have the whiplash, motion, either side to side or forward, there’s a liquid, and you can, of course, you know a lot more than I do. We just help people recover from their injuries. But, a liquid inside that protects the brain a little bit but, because of the impact, it crashes back and forth into the skull walls, but if you can just kind of elaborate more on what you’ve seen on the traumatic brain injuries. Well, the brain is swimming in the fluid. There is a number of structures that are anchoring the brain down to the neck, et cetera. And those are the structures that tend to be stretched by the motion of the brain inside the skull. In this, deceleration injuries, you’re going at 80 miles per hour and all of a sudden, you’re at zero miles per hour. Traumatic Brain Injury Your brain wants to keep going. And when it does, it stretches a big number of possible structures inside your skull that can cause the traumatic brain injury. It could be even bleeding from that. Now, and I’ve heard the statistic, and I don’t know how true this is, 70 to 80% of CT scans miss traumatic brain injury, cause CT only shows if there’s hemorrhaging or blood in the brain, but, have you heard anything of each, CT scan has a very low sensitivity for traumatic brain injury, unless there is a bleed, which is, thankfully, not very common because of how strong the skull is. You don’t see evidence of traumatic brain injury in a CT scan, which is what is typically performed in ERs. What do we see, what are common, if somebody was out there, what are the common symptoms, I guess, I would ask, if somebody said, and, you know, we’ve heard, “I just don’t feel right”, or, “I feel dizzy.” What have you found is the most common symptoms, what do you, traumatic brain injury.⁣ Time of the Accident Well, the patient would have an initial loss of consciousness at the time of the accident and then when they come back they, as you said, they don’t feel right, they feel dizzy, they feel this vertigo-like everything is moving around. They can have a severe headache. And then, which is the most concerning, is that these symptoms may dissipate initially, and then they would start having chronic symptoms of traumatic brain injury which would even include emotional liability, problems like that, yeah.⁣ Tampa personal injury lawyer Edward Reyes represents people in Tampa and Hillsborough County, Florida who have suffered an injury in an incident or accident type of accident. Speak Directly to Me, At No Cost, Today 813.421.3411 So, a lot of times, focusing, maybe connecting with loved ones, you know, vertigo, standing up, mood swings, okay, stuff like that. Yeah, cause a lot of people, I think that they’re not really thinking about this traumatic brain injury issue, but it is happening, because even at low impacts, we’ve seen that it does affect people’s mood, they just don’t feel right, in the field. They feel off, that we’ve heard. They don’t understand what is happening. Nobody’s told them they could have a traumatic brain injury. And they just can’t back to their lives and they don’t know why. Call 813.421.3411 for more information. (Transcript from the video, transcribed but not reviewed)

Accident Injuries & why, Legal

Where Do Injuries Come From After a Car Accident?

Edward Reyes, Esq / November 4, 2019

After a crash, the question is rarely just “does it hurt?” It is “why does it hurt here, and why didn’t it hurt yesterday?” The forces in a collision can injure parts of your body you would never expect, and some of those injuries stay silent for days. Understanding where post-crash pain comes from helps you protect both your health and your injury claim. The Reyes Firm Hurting After a Crash in Tampa? Even hidden injuries deserve to be documented and valued. Had a bad day? Contact Us Now 24-72 Hrs When delayed symptoms often appear Adrenaline and inflammation 14 Days Deadline to seek care for PIP Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)(a) Permanent Injury finding needed for pain and suffering Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2) 2 Years Deadline to file an injury claim Fla. Stat. § 95.11 A collision sends sudden, violent forces through the body, and those forces do not stop at the surface. They travel through muscles, joints, the spine, and even the brain, sometimes causing damage that is not obvious for days. Knowing the common sources of post-crash injury helps you take your symptoms seriously and get the care and documentation you need. Where do injuries come from after a car accident? Injuries after a crash come from the rapid transfer of force through your body at the moment of impact. Even a low-speed collision can generate enough energy to stretch, tear, compress, or jolt the structures that hold you together. Because a crash affects the whole body at once, it is common to have more than one injury, and to have injuries in places that took the indirect force rather than the direct hit. That is why post-crash pain can be confusing. The part of you that hurts the most may not be the part that was struck, and the injury doing the most long-term damage may be the one you notice last. What are the most common sources of post-crash pain? Most injuries after a car accident trace back to a handful of structures, each with its own pattern: Muscles, ligaments, and tendons. The classic example is whiplash, where the head snaps back and forth and strains the soft tissues of the neck. These injuries cause pain and stiffness that often build over the following days. Spinal discs. The cushions between your vertebrae can bulge or herniate under crash forces, pressing on nearby nerves and causing back or neck pain, sometimes with radiating symptoms. Facet joints. The small joints that connect the vertebrae can be injured and become a persistent source of spine pain, which doctors sometimes investigate with a medial branch block. Nerves. When a disc, joint, or swelling presses on a nerve, the result can be numbness, tingling, weakness, or shooting pain that travels down an arm or leg. Bones and joints. Fractures and joint damage to the shoulders, wrists, knees, ribs, and pelvis are common, especially where the body braced against the impact. The brain. A traumatic brain injury or concussion can occur even without striking your head, because the same motion that causes whiplash can shift the brain inside the skull. The most severe crashes can cause a spinal cord injury or other catastrophic harm, but even injuries that seem minor at first can have a lasting impact if they are not properly diagnosed and treated. Why don’t injuries always hurt right away? One of the most important things to understand after a crash is that feeling fine at the scene does not mean you were not hurt. In the moments after a collision, your body floods with adrenaline and stress hormones that mask pain and let you function. As those hormones fade over the first 24 to 72 hours, the true extent of your injuries begins to surface. Inflammation plays a role too. When muscles, ligaments, and nerves are injured, the body’s inflammatory response builds gradually, peaking a day or two later. Medical authorities such as the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic note that whiplash and concussion symptoms in particular often take time to appear, which is why so many people feel fine driving away from a crash and wake up in serious pain two mornings later. 💡 Did You Know? Because serious injuries can stay hidden for days, Florida’s 14-day rule matters more than most people realize. You must seek initial medical care within 14 days of a crash to keep your Personal Injury Protection benefits. Waiting because you feel fine can cost you both your health and the coverage you already pay for. Source: Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)(a). Why can pain show up somewhere other than the injury? Post-crash pain often appears in a different place than the injury itself, a phenomenon doctors call referred or radiating pain. It happens because the body’s nerves are interconnected. A herniated disc or an irritated nerve root in your neck, for example, can produce pain, numbness, or weakness that travels into your shoulder, arm, or hand, even though the source of the problem is your spine. This is exactly why the location of your pain does not always reveal its cause, and why proper diagnosis matters so much. Chasing the symptom instead of the source can mean treating the wrong thing, which is frustrating for you and useful to an insurer looking to argue your injury is not serious. ⚠️ Deadline Warning: Under Florida Statute § 95.11, you generally have two years from the date of your crash to file a personal injury lawsuit, even for an injury that took days or weeks to reveal itself. This was shortened from four years in March 2023. Do not let a hidden injury run out the clock on your claim. Why does finding the true source of your injury matter? Finding the real source of your pain matters for two reasons. Medically, an accurate diagnosis is the foundation of effective treatment, since treating the symptom rather than the source rarely resolves the problem. Legally, a documented diagnosis connects your symptoms to a specific injury

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Car accidents are the Most Common Accidents

Edward Reyes, Esq / November 4, 2019

Accidents are the most common forms of incidents on the road. Just in Hillsborough County, there’s close to 3,000 car accidents, per day, in Polk, Pasco, Pinellas. In almost every other county, there is an average of 2,000 to 25, to 3,000 car accidents per day. Even though that number sounds staggering, there are hundreds of thousands of cars on the road every single day. So, the more cars that are on the road, the greater the risk of car accidents happening. Car accidents, many times on bumper-to-bumper traffic, between eight in the morning till six p.m., are typically non-fatal accidents when they’re on regular roads. Car accidents, when they’re on the interstate, because of the higher speeds, there are fewer accidents but they’re typically more fatal than other incidents that are on local roads. Car accidents, if the person that crashed into you, could’ve avoided the accident, due to their negligence of speeding, following to close, careless driving, they would be the one at fault. Florida is a no-clause state, which that means if you’re involved in a car accident, your insurance company covers you for your injuries, and your medical payments up to $10,000 if it’s an emergency medical condition. You do not need to go to the hospital to get the emergency medical condition, you may have to see a physician, or a doctor, or a chiropractic doctor, to evaluate you and then eventually you will have to go to an MD, or a DO, or something like that. MD, which is a medical doctor, and DO is also a form of a medical doctor, as well. To qualify from the $2500 that the insurance company caps you up to the $10,000 of insurance benefits. Car accidents, when the person that crashes into you, if they have bodily injury coverages, that’s the part that helps us, as a law firm, help you recover for your injuries, pain, and suffering, and loss of enjoyment. If the person that crashes into you has non-sufficient insurance or no insurance, if you carry uninsured motorist on your policy, that uninsured motorist will cover you for any offset that the other side did not have. Tampa personal injury lawyer Edward Reyes represents people in Tampa and Hillsborough County, Florida who have suffered an injury in an incident or accident type of accident. Speak Directly to Me, At No Cost, Today 813.421.3411 For example, if you had a, if the person that crashed into you had a $10,000 bodily injury policy, and your injuries are worth $30,000, but you had a $20,000 uninsured motorist policy, that $10,000 would pay for the at-fault party, the person that caused the accident, and the $20,000 would pay for your insurance to make you whole. Not always does it make you whole, because many times if that’s the case, you may not have enough uninsured motorist, or they have enough bodily injury coverage that you don’t have to even impact your own policy. Every case is a little bit different, every auto accident is a little bit different. Auto accidents, it’s easier to find liability when it’s a rear-end collision, however, there are cases where there are T-bone collisions, there are cases where there’s making left-turn collisions, cases where people are making U-turns. So, every case is a little bit different. If you have any questions about auto accidents, feel free to reach out to us, it’s 813-421-3411. (Transcript from the video, transcribed but not reviewed)

November 4, 2019

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