Car accidents can result in significant distress to the victim and his or her family. Florida is a no-fault injury state. This means that if you are in a car accident, you will first need to file a claim with your own insurance company to seek compensation, regardless of whether or not the other party was at fault. However, crashes that result in permanent injury or significant scarring or disfigurement can take your claim beyond the no-fault system. The experienced motor vehicle collision attorneys at the Dean Law Firm can help improve your chances of compensation following a wreck in Ocala or elsewhere in Florida.
The most common injuries in a collision are those inflicted on the back, brain, face, and neck. Because of the shock of getting into a crash and the pain and suffering that may follow, psychological issues are also very common after a crash.
Back injuries are probably the most common injuries sustained in a car accident. The impact of the crash can result in issues that are immediately apparent, such as sprains, strains, and fractures. It can also result in a soft tissue injury, disc injury, or spine injury, which may need to be treated with anti-inflammatories, pain medication, or even surgery. Sometimes back injuries, particularly disc injuries, can take months or a year to manifest, and they can last for the rest of a victim’s life.
Closed head injuries and brain injuries are also quite common. These can range in severity from mild concussions to traumatic brain injuries, even if you have no visible signs of head damage.
Victims of motor vehicle collisions caused by the careless behavior of another driver have the right to file a claim for compensation. This usually take the form of a negligence lawsuit, which consists of four main elements. The victim starts by showing that the defendant had a duty of reasonable care and breached it by engaging in some careless behavior, such as texting while driving, running a red light, or breaking some other traffic rule. Any behavior that falls short of what a reasonable person would do in the same circumstances may be viewed as a breach.
Once duty and breach have been established, the remaining elements consist of causation and damages. Causation requires the victim to prove that he or she would not have been hurt if the defendant had met the reasonable-person standard, and that his or her injuries were a sufficiently foreseeable result of the breach. It is also essential to identify quantifiable damages that resulted from the accident, which can compensate for both economic and non-economic types of harm. Car accident victims often seek reimbursement for the costs of past and future medical treatment in addition to lost income, damage to a vehicle, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
Any negligence claim must be brought within four years of the accident giving rise to it, or within two years if it is based on a tragic death. If you do not take action within this time period, your right to seek compensation likely will be barred permanently.
If you have been hurt by a negligent driver in Ocala or one of the surrounding communities, you may want to take the time to discuss your options with the car accident attorneys at the Dean Law Firm. Sometimes, even a minor accident can result in major injuries that require significant and expensive medical treatment. The Dean Law Firm works hard to pursue compensation for victims in Crystal River and The Villages as well as other areas of Citrus, Marion, Lake, Levy, and Sumter Counties. Contact us at 352-387-8700 or via our online form for a free consultation.
