Port St. Lucie Car Accident Lawyer

Millions of Americans drive cars to and from various destinations every day. Most of the time, nothing goes wrong, and people go about their daily business. Unfortunately, sometimes car accidents do happen. While injuries from a minor fender-bender could be mild, more serious car accidents can be incredibly damaging or even fatal.

Our lawyers are experienced attorneys ready to help you fight for what you are owed after a car accident. We can collect evidence, interview witnesses, and represent you in court to give you the best chance possible of getting the compensation you deserve after an accident.

Reach out to the car accident lawyers at The Law Offices of David I. Fuchs, Injury & Accident Lawyer, P.A., at (954) 751-4258 for a free initial consultation.

Types of Car Accidents in Port St. Lucie

Not all car accidents result in the same outcome, and some kinds of accidents are more likely to result in serious injury than others. Discussing your particular accident with our car accident lawyers can help build a strong case for you to take to court. Nonetheless, the following are all common types of crashes our lawyers can help you with:

Minor Accidents

Almost everyone is likely to get in a minor accident at some point. Most minor accidents involve two cars bumping into each other at low speeds, often in parking lots or slow-moving city streets. The only damage one might initially notice could be indentations in the bumper or fender. However, that does not mean that injuries are impossible in these kinds of accidents. Some injuries, especially whiplash or back injuries, might take time to reveal themselves and generally will not immediately be obvious.

T-Bone Accidents

A T-bone accident happens when one car collides perpendicularly with another car. Cars are best situated to take impacts from the front or back because of designed “crumple zones” that are there to absorb the brunt of the impact. When an impact hits the side of a vehicle, the crumple zone is much smaller, and the occupant is more likely to feel the full effects of the impact.

Pedestrian Accidents

Unfortunately, cars hit pedestrians every day. Pedestrians are particularly vulnerable because they do not have a vehicle to shield them from the full force of a car accident. Pedestrians are often seriously injured with broken bones, bruises, and more after a car accident.

Injuries from Car Accidents in Port St. Lucie

Injuries from car accidents could be quite varied. A minor accident could only cause scrapes, small cuts, or even nothing at all. However, a major accident could result in very serious injuries, some of which could be life threatening.

Whiplash

Whiplash is the result of the head and neck moving back and forward at a very fast rate. Reduced range of motion and pain in the neck and shoulders are the most common indicators of whiplash.

Whiplash is an injury that might not manifest itself right away. You might leave a car accident feeling fine, only to be in intense pain the next morning. If you suspect you have whiplash from a car accident, you should seek medical attention right away.

Concussions

Concussions are caused by hard blows to the head that cause the brain to bump against the skill. Concussions can result in sensitivity to light or sound, memory loss, and fatigue. While a person can generally recover from one concussion just fine, each successive concussion makes another concussion more likely and more severe than the last.

In a car accident, there are two chances for a concussion to occur. The first is when the car hits you, and the second is when you hit another object, be that the inside of your car, the street, or something else.

Broken Bones

Broken bones are common in car accidents because of the force of the impacts involved. Severe broken bone injuries like compound fractures could require multiple surgeries to heal properly. In addition, you will not be able to use a broken limb to full capacity for a long time while it heals. Moreover, even after the injury has healed fully, you will likely need to restrengthen a limb to get back its full use.

Burns

Gas and other fuel sources of vehicles have the potential to ignite in a car accident and result in serious burns. Almost all burn injuries will require skin grafts to heal properly and result in persistent pain during recovery. Extremely serious burns could lead to lost fingers or toes or permanent facial disfigurement.

Common Causes of Car Accidents in St. Lucie County

Drivers have a legal obligation to drive safely and obey road rules. When they fail to do so, the people around them are put at risk of injury or death. The following are some common causes of car accident lawsuits:

Speeding

Driving too fast for the conditions is one of the most common causes of car accidents in St. Lucie County. It is also one of the most preventable. Speeding increases the chances of a negligent driver losing control of their vehicle and hitting another driver or pedestrian.

Traffic Violations

Traffic violations are another common cause of car accident injuries. Common traffic violations include running red lights and stop signs, driving on the wrong side of the road, and passing on the shoulder or in a no-passing zone.

Distracted Driving

Distracted driving has become an epidemic on our roads, with many drivers paying more attention to their phones than their surroundings. Some examples of distracted driving include texting or talking on a cell while driving, eating and drinking, and reading or writing notes while driving.

How to Recover Damages for a Car Accident in St. Lucie County

In Florida, drivers are subject to “no-fault” insurance rules in accordance with Florida Statute § 627.736(1). This law requires that all drivers in St. Lucie County and throughout Florida must have personal injury protection (PIP) insurance to cover injuries to themselves or their passengers. This system is referred to as “no-fault” because regardless of who caused the accident, victims file for damages with their own insurance and are compensated from their PIP coverage. However, evidence must be provided to your insurance company to recover compensation. It is worth noting that other states have “at-fault” insurance rules, where victims must file a claim with the insurance company of the negligent driver.

Florida’s No-Fault Insurance Rules

Florida’s no-fault regulations aim to provide compensation to victims without the need for a legal battle in court. However, no-fault insurance has several limitations that our car accident attorneys can help determine if you can overcome. The most important limitation is that PIP insurance will not cover all of your damages but only 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages. Additionally, benefits are only provided up to the policy limit. $10,000 is the minimum coverage limit in Florida, which many drivers have. This means that the percentages of your financial losses will only be covered up to policy limits. If you have minimum coverage, you could be responsible for damages that go beyond $10,000, which is a very low amount when considering the cost of healthcare today.

However, no-fault insurance is not designed to cover non-economic losses, also known as “pain and suffering.” These damages are based on your subjective experiences and the psychological impact of your car accident and resulting injuries. Unlike financial losses that can be easily added up, it is much more challenging assigning a value to your pain and suffering. Because this is often a place of great contention among injured parties and insurance companies, Florida law only allows recovery of non-economic damages in a car accident lawsuit.

The Insurance Company’s Right of Subrogation

When seeking compensation after a car accident in St. Lucie County, it is crucial to take note of your insurance company’s subrogation rights. “Subrogation” is the practice by which insurance providers must be reimbursed for coverage that was paid out for your injuries in the event you recover more in damages in a lawsuit than what was given. This means that if you are awarded $50,000 at trial, but your PIP covered $25,000 in damages, you must pay back the $25,000 to your insurance company, leaving you with the remaining $25,000. This rule is intended to bar victims from receiving double compensation for the same incident.

When You Can Recover Compensation in a St. Lucie County Car Accident Lawsuit

To file a lawsuit in St. Lucie County for pain and suffering damages, you must show that your injuries meet Florida’s “serious injury” threshold. The intent behind this regulation is to prevent the courts from being overwhelmed with car accident lawsuits that involve minor injuries. Sometimes it is clear an injury is serious, and the threshold will not be too difficult to overcome. In other cases, however, it might not be clear that an injury is serious with corroborating evidence to show the injury’s impact on the victim’s life.

Florida’s Serious Injury Threshold

In order to file a car accident lawsuit in St. Lucie County, it is necessary to demonstrate that your injuries fall under one of the categories of “serious injuries” listed in Florida Statute § 627.737(2). As per this statute, you are eligible to file a lawsuit if you have experienced considerable and long-lasting loss of bodily functions or have suffered a permanent injury. In addition, death, significant scarring, and disfigurement can qualify as serious injuries for the purposes of filing a lawsuit. Keep in mind, though, that insurance companies will try to argue that your injuries are not that serious and that your case should be dismissed.

New Deadline to File a Lawsuit

Earlier in 2023, Florida’s governor signed a new law that went into immediate effect, which made critical changes to Florida’s personal injury process. One of the major changes was to Florida’s “statute of limitations,” which is the time limit to file a lawsuit. Before this new law was passed, car accident victims had up to four years to file a lawsuit. That time limit has now been halved, allowing only two years for car accident victims to file their lawsuits in St. Lucie County.

This means that time is of the essence, and you should not delay in initiating your car accident case. You might not need to file a lawsuit for your injuries, but if you do, two years is not much time to gather the necessary evidence and track down witnesses before filing your lawsuit. If your lawsuit has not been filed within two years, the defense attorney will motion for the court to dismiss your case, which it will grant.

Parties You Can Sue in a St. Lucie Car Accident

You might initially think that you can only sue the driver in a car accident lawsuit. That is not the case. There are other parties you can and should sue in your lawsuit.

In some cases, the driver of a vehicle might be what is called “judgment proof.” This means that they do not have enough income to pay your damages. Even if you did win your case, you would not get the compensation you need. This is one of the reasons that plaintiffs are able to sue other parties besides the driver in a car accident lawsuit.

If the driver works as a commercial driver for a company, you might also be able to sue their employer. Employers are often in a better position to compensate plaintiffs than their employees. The trick is that the employee must be doing a work activity when they injured you. For example, if they were driving a company vehicle on the way to a delivery destination when they hit you, the employer will likely be liable. On the other hand, if the driver was driving their personal vehicle to a friend’s house, the employer cannot be liable because the employee was not doing a work-related activity.

Discuss You Case with our St. Lucie Lawyers Today

Talk to our car accident lawyers with The Law Offices of David I. Fuchs, Injury & Accident Lawyer, P.A. at (954) 751-4258 for a free case review.