Nobody leaves home in the morning planning to get into a car accident, but unfortunately, there are a staggering number of car accidents in Miami-Dade County each year. The most recent statistics available from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles are from 2018, when there were a total of 64,627 car accidents in Miami-Dade County, with 293 fatalities and 31,270 injuries reported. If you find yourself included in one of these many accidents that occur each year in our county, or one of the more than 400,000 accidents throughout the state of Florida each year, it is important that you know your rights – especially if you are the victim of someone else’s reckless or negligent driving behavior.
Personal injury law covers the victims of car accidents, and there is a clear legal framework for victims to seek compensation from the responsible driver, who is typically covered by insurance (although nearly 1 in every 4 drivers in Florida are uninsured, and many more underinsured) that you will be able to file a claim with. It is important to understand that when you are working with an insurance company, though, that you are working with a company who is entirely focused on protecting its own financial interests, meaning that you will need to advocate for yourself and negotiate aggressively in order to get the money you actually deserve.
Contact 1-800-Injured Today To Find a Car Accident Attorney in North Miami With Ease
Trying to find an attorney after being hurt in an accident can seem like too much to handle, especially when there are all sorts of mandatory steps that you will need to take such as contacting your insurance and the other driver’s insurance, caring for your injuries, handling the impacts on your work, and more. However, once you are partnered with an experienced car accident lawyer in North Miami, you will have a lot more emotional space where you can focus on your own needs, with the added benefit that there is a legal professional fighting to get the money you deserve, and not just what the insurance company wants to pay.
1-800-Injured is an attorney and medical referral service. Contact us as soon as possible to be connected with an attorney in your area with ease. This step should be taken before you even initiate your insurance claim, if possible, so that you have legal counsel for absolutely every step of your case, and therefore limit the possibilities that you make an innocuous statement that the insurance company then uses against you.
Read more below to get a better idea of car accident law in North Miami, and contact us as soon as possible to get the help that you deserve for your case.
Who Is At Fault For Your Car Accident?
The two major issues that will need to be resolved in order to get you the money you deserve are the questions of fault and of compensation. Each will be examined concurrently, and each is equally important. In Florida, there is a rule called Pure Comparative Negligence that allows for a victim to be found partially responsible for an accident and still be entitled to compensation, which is much better than the previous arrangement where a victim would lose access to any compensation if they were found to be even 1% responsible for the accident.
Pure comparative negligence works by assigning a percentage of fault to each party involved (be assured that it is very possible for a victim to be found 0% responsible). Once these percentages have been agreed upon by all parties, the victim’s final award is reduced by the amount that they were at fault. For example, if you are in an accident and accept 10% of the fault for not taking proper defensive actions to avoid the crash, then your final award will be reduced by 10%.
Pure Comparative Negligence is a Double-Edged Sword
Pure comparative negligence is an important tool, and it protects victims who would otherwise be left with no legal recourse. However, insurance companies will use this rule in order to shave off as much money as possible from the final award that they will need to pay to you. It is important that you have an attorney who can gather all of the relevant information (accident reports, eyewitness testimony, footage, etc.) to make sure that if you do accept any fault, that you are not held responsible for more than is realistic.
How Much Are You Owed In a Settlement?
Once the matter of fault has been addressed, the other major factor to determine is that of the actual compensation you are owed, known as actual damages in a legal case. When you leave it up to the insurance company, there will be many damages that they either underpay or avoid mentioning completely, but if you work with a personal injury attorney you will be shocked at the difference between their calculations and the amount that the insurance company offers you as a settlement.
Damages are divided into two types: economic, and non-economic. Each of these damages seeks compensation for actual damages that you have suffered, but only economic damages have readily available costs associated with them. Non-economic damages will require an additional step, and the insurance company will be more inclined to dispute non-economic damages because of this fact.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the basis of a personal injury case, and seek compensation for the damages that have measurable dollar values. These include things like your wages and all other work-related impacts, including any sick leave or vacation time that you used in order to cover missed time at work. In addition, these include your medical bills and all associated expenses.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are just as important as your economic damages and include things like the actual pain and suffering of your injuries, the emotional impacts that such a traumatic experience has on you, and more. Because they are more abstract and difficult to calculate, the insurance company is much more inclined to push back on paying them. When you are trying to defend your calculations without the support of a car accident attorney, this can feel like an impossible task.