As a injury lawyer in the Central Florida area, I represent injured clients who fall down flights of stairs. Falling down a flight of stairs can result in catastrophic injuries and even death. Be Careful and be aware of your surroundings because all stairways are not created equal.
The next time you are walking down a flight of stairs take a moment to notice what you are walking on. Most staircases are made of concrete and metal. If the staircase is exposed to the elements then the stairs are often painted. Painted stairs are often slicker than their unpainted counterparts. If there is any liquid on the stairs from rain or otherwise it is a recipe for disaster. There is a gritty sand-like compound that is supposed to be mixed in with the paint prior to its application to the stairs. If this is not done or done incorrectly the staircase becomes a hazardous condition that will likely result in serious injury or death depending on the fall.
So please buy shoes with soles that have good traction. Always hold on to the handrails so you can catch yourself in the event of the fall. But most of all please be aware of your surroundings so you prevent the fall.
Ron Zimmet Jr
Sometimes you need an attorney for your auto accident case and sometimes you don’t. As a Daytona Beach Auto Accident Attorney, I have represented injured people throughout the Central Florida Area. After you have been injured in a auto accident, there are many different layers of automobile insurance that you can look to for compensation. If you don’t have an attorney it is hard to know where to look to find all available coverage. I will talk about some types of insurance that some people may not be aware could cover them in the event they are involved in an accident.
Most types of auto insurance covers more than just the person who purchased the coverage. In Florida, there is a resident relative coverage provision that applies to PIP, Bodily Injury and Uninsured Motorist coverage. This means that coverage is extended to the insured’s relatives residing in the same residence at the time of the accident. Relative is defined by most policies as “kinship by blood or marriage but not to relationships terminated by divorce.” So if you have not purchased your own auto insurance check to see if any of your family members living in the same residence have. At the same time, it is important to check and see if the person who caused the accident has any resident relatives who have purchased a policy that could cover your injuries.
Another detail for injured clients to look at is whether or not the insurance company can provide a signed uninsured motorist rejection form. If the insurance company cannot provide documentation of uninsured motorist rejection, then it is obligated to provide uninsured motorist coverage in the same limits as the Bodily Injury coverage on the policy.
There are many other ways to find coverage when you may think that no coverage exists. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call me.
Ron Zimmet Jr
As a Daytona Beach Personal Injury Attorney, I have people inquire about how the legal principle applies to Car accident cases. Sovereign Immunity is a legal doctrine that has roots extending back to England. Originally it meant that the King could not be sued in his own courts. In the United States, this has transformed into the principle that the government cannot be sued. However, the Florida State government has partially waived this right throught the enactment of Florida Statute 768.28. In Florida, a person seeking redress from a govnermental entity may sue the entity in a court of law. However, there are limits to the damages that the person can collect. A general principle is that the government can only be sued for $100,000.00. For a claimant to collect over $100,000.00 he or she must first acheive a verdict for over that amount and then convince the state legislature to pass a claims bill for the excess.
There are many different goverment entities that are covered by this immunity. Some examples are: counties, municipalities, legislature, judicial branch including the public defender and special taxing districts such as Halifax Medical Center. All of these entities have employees and all of these employees have cars. If a governement employee causes an autoaccident through negligence while in the course and scope of employment then sovereign immunity will apply.
These are more complicated cases than dealing with a private individual who causes an accident. There are more proceduaral requirments including filing a 768.28 notice with teh state. If you have been involved in a car accident with a government employee and you have questions, dont hesitate to call.
Today, in Daytona Beach, a Fifteen year old boy stole a truck and crashed it into a vehicle injuring a father and his six year old son. The father is considerend to have life threatening injuries. The son was injured as well although not as severely. The car thief will be going to jail for a long time, but that does not help the father (if he survives) pay for the mounting medical bills. His jailtime will not help the six year old cope with life without a father. I am confident in saying that there is no way that the fifteen year old criminal has any assets or any insurance to pay for the damage he has caused.
Florida law does not require motorists to buy insurance to pay for the damage they cause.
If you are in a car accident in the Central Florida area, you may think that your “full coverage” will pay for all of the damages you sustained. As a Daytona Beach personal injury attorney, I see insurance policy exclusions that allow the insurance company to aviod paying for some of the damages a car accident victim sustainted. In this blog I will talk about some of the common exclusions from liability coverage.
There are common exclusions that allow insurance companies to deny coverage if the motor vehicle is being used to carry persons for a charge, if the motor vehicle is being used in the automobile business, is the parties are in a fellow employee status at the time of the accident, if the party filing the claim is an employee of the insured or if the person injured and filing the claim is either a member of the insured’s family. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list but rather examples of some common exclusions.
There are many other ways that insurance companies deny coverage. This Daytona Beach Personal Injury Lawyer believes that if you are involved in an accident it is important to become informed and not trust that your insurance adjuster is acting in your best interest.
Parents are generally not responsible for car accidents caused by their children. However, there are some circumstances where a parent can become liable. A child under the age of 18 must have the drivers license application signed by a parent. If the minor is negligent in the operation of a motor vehicle before reaching 18, the person signing the application is jointly and severally liable with the minor for the minor’s negligence.
If the minor is operating a motor vehicle owned and insured by the parent, liability coverage will extend to both the parent and the minor unless the minor at the time of the accident, the child does not reside with the parent. Therefore, if a parent signs the drivers license application on behalf of a minor child who does not live in their household, then the parent can be liable for the negligent acts of the minor and not have any coverage under their automobile insurance policy to pay for it.
Parents should also know that after the child reaches 18 then the parents are no longer responsible for the child’s negligent operation of a motor vehicle unless the parent owns the vehicle or is listed as a co-owner.
So make sure that the parent who lives with the child is the one who signs the application so that if the child causes an accident then at least there will be insurance to cover it. Also, it is a good practice to make sure that the child owns the vehicle that he or she drives individually and in his or her own name.
In the course of my Personal Injury Practice, I see all types of reckless behavoir. I represented a client who was rear ended by a careless driver who was speeding and ran into the back of my clients vehicle causing severe damage. Running into a stopped vehicle while speeding is reckless in it own right. However, the at fault driver was even more reckless because he did not have any auto insurance to cover to damage he caused. Luckily, my client had the foresight to protect herself from this situation and purchased uninsured motorist coverage.
As a result of the accident, the reckless driver lost his license. During the course of my represention, the reckless driver believed that I had the power to help him get his license back by signing a particular document. He came to my office with a story about how he had a young child and he needed to have a license to get to work. I could not sign the document because what was stated on the ducument was not true. Therefore, it is my belief that he was an unlicensed, uninsured motorist when he caused a crash months later in which he killed himself and two passengers.
He was driving late at night and challenged another vehicle to race. The vehicles drove in excess of 100 mph and the reckless driver ran into a concrete telephone pole. This person had no respect for his own life or the lives of anyone else on the road. He left a young child without a father. These people are driving right next to you on the road. Be careful, pay attention and buy uninsured motorist coverage to protect yourself.
Florida does not have a law banning any type of cell phone use while driving. Here is a link to a chart which shows which states have enacted restrictions on cell phone use while driving. It is quite alarming that Florida does not have anything in place to restrict texting and driving. This means that even school bus drivers can text while driving bus loads of our children to school.
There are tests that show that texting while driving is more dangerous than drinking and driving. States should enact laws that completely ban this behavior. The state of Utah is taking a stand. Utah passed the nations toughest law to crack down on texting and driving. The new law penalizes a texting driver who causes a fatality as harshly as a drunken driver who kills someone. The Utah legislators believe that texting and driving is a willful act. While there are issues concerning how the violators will be prosecuted, this Daytona Beach Accident Attorney believes that Utah is on the right track with this issue and Florida should follow suit.
I am a personal injury attorney in Daytona Beach Florida. I represent people involved in car accidents throughout the Central Florida area. I’m going to talk to you today about how technology can help you in you car accident case.
It seems that everyone in Florida has a cell phone. A vast majority of those cell phones have built in cameras. A lot of the phones even have video cameras. If you are involved in an accident and you are well enough to use these cameras, you should do so. If you are involved in a car accident and someone in the car is severely injured please use these cameras for them.
Having photographic evidence of the aftermath of a car accident greatly reduces the chances that the event will later be misconstrued.
Take photographs of the damage to the vehicles. This prevents insurance companies from later diminishing the severity of the impact.
Take photographs of the other vehicles license plate and VIN number. Look for the VIN number on the frame of the driver’s door and on the dash near the windshield. This information will help locate the driver later if he or she is trying to evade you. You should also take pictures of the at fault driver’s drivers license card for identification purposes.
Take pictures of the skid marks on the road and any parts of the vehicles that became dislodged in the accident.
Take photographs of the entire scene including things that you think are not important. You do not know what an accident constructionist may later need to analyze the crash.
Take photographs of the people involved in the accidents and any injuries that they may have sustained.
Take videos of any statements made by the other people involved in the crash.
The more photographic evidence you can collect at the scene of the accident the better.
For more information about what to do after a car accident go to zqlawyers.com
A factually interesting case was recently decided in Florida involving a back up on I-75. There was a truck accident on southbound I-75 that caused the southbound lanes to back up. Around an hour after the wreck, about a mile away from the original accident a flat bed truck slowed down as he approached the accident using his gears to downshift instead of using the brakes on the truck. Because he uesd the gears there were no brake lights. A driver driving a car came over the hill and slams into the back of the nearly stopped truck and instantly died.
The deceased man’s family brought a lawsuit to determine who was at fault for causing his death. Was it the person who caused the original crash which caused the back up? Was it the truck driver who slowed down without using brake lights? Was it the deceased driver himself for not recognizing the stopped traffic in time?
The trial court decided that the person causing the original crash could not be responsible for the subsequent death. The court reasoned that the separation of time and distance were substantial enough to relieve the person who caused the original crash from liability. Upon appeal of that decision, the appellate court reversed the trial courts decision stating that a question of fact for the jury existed as to whether the original crash and subsequent pile up on the interstate caused the drivers death. The court reminded that large separations of time and distance are not enough standing alone to completely relieve the original driver for liability.
Therefore, the case is back at the trial level and this Daytona Beach Personal Injury Attorney is curious to see how the jury decides.
