Traffic laws were made to prevent traffic accidents. When drivers respect the rules, car accidents don’t happen. When an accident happens, it is sure that someone has made a mistake. The most common causes leading to car accidents occurring in Tampa Bay include, but are not limited to overspeeding, tailgating, texting or other use of mobile phone while driving, intoxicated, drowsy, or other impaired driving, distracted driving, and others. As you may notice, negligence and recklessness are the most common behavior leading to car accidents and personal injuries.
Having that mind, from the first conversation with your Tampa Bay auto accident lawyer you can expect him to tell you the following:
- You have a personal injury case only if you were hurt or went through stress
- Your injuries have to pass a certain threshold set by Florida laws
- You have to prove both that you were injured and it was someone else’s responsibility
- You have to prove your damages. You’re likely to need a doctor testimony to prove your injuries. You’ll need evidence for both physical and emotional injuries.
- The driver who was overspeeding is responsible for the accident. If both drivers were overspeeding, both of them are responsible.
- In a rear-end crash, the one who is behind is almost always responsible
- If someone passed on a red light, the crash is his or her responsibility. If both of you passed on red, you would share the responsibility.
- If someone has turned left in front of you, it’s likely it was their fault.
- You have to file for wrongful death within two years of the accident
- You have to file for personal injuries besides wrongful death within four years of the accident
- If you are an uninsured motorist, you can file within five years of the accident
- No one wants to pay compensation for car accident injuries. Everyone wants to get by, so you’ll have to do the work to recover.
Auto Accidents Liability
Drivers have a driver duty. That means that they have to operate the vehicle safely, showing an awareness of the drivers and people around them. When they breach this duty, most often due to negligence, that can cause personal injuries, wrongful death, property damages. Breaching the duty makes them liable for the consequences of the accident.
If you want to prove that the accident wasn’t your fault and the other person is liable for paying for your injury-related harms and losses, you’ll have to prove the following:
- That you were driving according to the laws and didn’t do any mistake
- That the other driver violated the traffic laws
- That the violation of the traffic laws by the other driver has caused the crash
- That the crash has caused you personal injuries
Once you prove all of this, you’ll be set to get compensated as you deserve. It will be a challenging task, but with the right Tampa Bay auto accident lawyer on your side, you can expect to recover the following damages:
- Medical bills for the accident-related injuries. These include both permanent and temporary injuries. You have the right to claim financial recovery for treatment expenses, such as doctor visits, surgeries, medications, prosthetics, dentures, and any other medical equipment you need to recover from the injuries.
- Disability allowance. You can claim disability allowance if you are to never recover from the injuries you’ve sustained.
- Compensation for scarring and disfigurement
- Compensation for stress and emotional pain. Auto accidents are not a pleasant situation and leave traces on the victim’s emotional state, especially when there is wrongful death involved.
- Funeral expenses, if the accident caused a wrongful death of a loved one.
- Lost Wages. If the injuries require time off for recovery, you have the right to get compensated for lost wages.
- Loss of support. The dependants of an injured or deceased person might lose the financial support due to the auto accident-caused injuries or wrongful death. They can get compensated for the loss of support.
At the Law Firm of Edward J. Reyes we’ve seen many good and honest people taking the wrong steps to recovery, thinking it will be easy as it sounds. But you should know that no one will eagerly pay you for the harms and losses due to a car accident. People always think they were right and it was other driver’s fault, hence refuse to be cooperative and pay. You’ll have to work your way to recovery, or even better, let an experienced Tampa Bay auto accident lawyer take care of it for you. Call us at 813-421-3411
