What an Accident Lawyer in Florida Would Say about Road Accidents
Florida has some specific attributes relating to road accidents.
It is, for one thing, the state with the most older-driver deaths. Florida’s teen drivers are the third worst in the country. For four years, Florida could proudly claim to have the most aggressive and angry drivers, although this honor has since passed to New York City. Miami is still, however, the place where people are most likely to read, shave or apply make-up while driving. NHTSA says almost 80% of crashes involved “driver inattention”, with cell ‘phones and drowsiness the principal causes.
In Florida, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Coverage applies only to injury occurring in a motor vehicle accident by the named insurer, relatives living in the same house, people operating the insured vehicle and pedestrians impacted. 80% of reasonable medical expenses up to $10,000 are covered. But this doesn’t apply to motorcycles.
It is wise to purchase medical payments coverage for a motorcycle, and some lawyers, perhaps reasonably, say as much should be bought as can be afforded. This will cover medical expenses to the limit of the policy, regardless of fault. One Floridan accident lawyer adds, “You will thank me later”.
This same lawyer makes a point which, while not specific to Florida, is very interesting: MySpace and Facebook can scupper your case. An insurance company, their adjusters, claim representatives, investigators of lawyers will search for a plaintiff’s name on the Internet, principally MySpace and Facebook.
This lawyer recently participated in a motorcycle accident case where the client replied negatively when asked if he’d previously wrecked his motorcycle. At mediation, printouts were issued of the client’s MySpace page where he boasted of the motorcycle stunts he’d performed, the multiple crashes resultant and the similar injuries that followed.
Florida is a no-fault state, so an insurance company will pay a portion of initial claims for an automobile accident.
Should you be involved in a road accident, the Newlin Law Firm has, it says, recovered millions for accident victims, including a $3.3 million settlement of which, sadly, no details are available.
