An accident is never planned or expected, but it happens. A person can cause an accident to themselves or others because of their negligence resulting in damages amounting to thousands of dollars. Injuries, when they occur, they alter a person’s life completely. If one can avoid injuries, it is the best thing to do. One can get injured on the road, at their place of work, visiting a private or public premise, among many others. You go to the hospital after suffering an injury expecting to get treated and go home, but instead, you suffer more injuries.

In Florida, an injured victim can seek compensation for damages from their Personal Insurance Protection cover or from that of the party responsible for the injuries. If you are injured in East Palatka, contact the Jacksonville Personal Injury Attorney to obtain the maximum compensation possible.

Types of Personal Injury Liabilities in Florida

As stated before, injuries can happen to anyone at any place. Some of the common areas where accidents occur, leading to injuries are:

  • Traffic accidents
  • Medical malpractice accidents
  • Workplace accidents
  • Premise accidents

The state of Florida has provided for statutes that deal with injuries sustained from any of these places. If you suffer injuries from any of these areas, you have a right to compensation for the losses you suffer getting treatment for them. Getting a local East Palatka Personal Injury Attorney to pursue your claims will help make sure you get rightfully compensated.

Traffic Accident Liability in Florida

With a highly populated state like Florida, accidents on the roads are common. Some of the common accidents in our Florida roads are:

Car Accidents

Regular car drivers get involved in an accident with other road users or pedestrians. Every driver is expected to exercise the duty of care and be mindful of the road to avoid accidents. A car can get involved in various types of accidents. Head-on collisions typically result in some of the worst injuries to the victims. Catastrophic or traumatic injuries are common with these types of accidents, especially where the vehicles involved in the collision were moving at high speeds. These accidents, just like rollover accidents, also result in fatalities of the victims.

When involved in such an accident, you receive damages due to the injuries sustained. Getting in touch with a local East Palatka Personal Injury Attorney is essential to getting your losses from the road accident.

Truck Accidents

Trucks are used for the transportation of goods. Some of the products transported are toxic or hazardous. Accidents involving trucks are some of the most devastating when the impact is forceful enough. For instance, when a pedestrian is hit by a truck, in most cases, they suffer fatalities if not traumatic injuries. Likewise, a regular passenger vehicle involved in an accident with a truck can result in catastrophic injuries to the car occupants and severe damage to their car.

Bus Accidents

The devastation following a bus accident is overwhelming. This is primarily because the victims are more than those of standard vehicles. Bus accidents can also result in significant injuries for those involved. Pursuing claims following a bus crash is complex and needs an experienced East Palatka Personal Injury Attorney to assist you.

Pedestrian Accidents

A pedestrian gets knocked down while walking on the highway, crossing the road or when the vehicle loses control and veers to the walkway. Damage compensation is also available to victims of pedestrian accidents, just like those of vehicle accidents.

Bike Accidents

Bikes involve both motorcycles and bicycles. Accidents involving cyclists or motorcyclists result in catastrophic injuries. The forceful impact directed at their body leaves them with multiple injuries that are fatal in some cases.

Types of Injuries Following a Traffic Accident

Injuries victims sustain cost thousands of dollars in treatment. Other injuries are life-altering with some victims requiring constant assistance in everything they do for the rest of their lives. Irrespective of the severity of the injuries, the victims experience unpleasant changes in their lives. Although money cannot bring back a loved one or repair their body back to how they were before the accident, it helps alleviate the burden of treating the injuries caused.

Some injuries commonly sustained in traffic accidents are:

  • Head and neck injuries – these are common with head-on collisions, rollover accidents and those involving bikers and cyclists. Pedestrians also sustain such injuries. These kinds of injuries often leave the victim permanently affected or in a vegetative state requiring total care. The expenses in treating and caring for such a victim is very high.
  • Broken bones – most traffic accident victims suffer from fractured or broken bones. Some of these injuries may require a victim to undergo a surgical procedure to repair the bone.
  • Amputations – some accidents can result in the amputation of limbs. Victims of such injuries end up getting prosthetics to replace their missing body parts.
  • Internal organ damage – when a blunt object forcefully hits a person, it may result in them suffering losses to their internal organs. These injuries, in most cases, require surgery and take longer to heal.
  • Cuts and bruises – broken glass and contact with the road surface or vehicle body will result in cuts and bruises. These injuries are not always severe and get easily treated.
  • Spine and back injuries – injuries to the spine mean damages to the nerves. Victims of such injuries often end up suffering from partial or complete paralysis. These injuries change the victim’s life forever as well.

With regard to the above injuries, it is clear most of them require lots of money to treat. For this reason, you need the insurance company to compensate you for the damages as adequately as possible. Getting an East Palatka Personal Injury Attorney to seek your claims ensures you get the best compensation possible.

Compensation Following a Road Accident

Florida is guided by the no fault rule when it comes to vehicle accidents. This means a victim of an accident does not need to wait to get compensation for damages from the insurance provider of the driver to blame. Every person is expected to have a personal insurance protection cover. From this PIP cover, you can receive damages for the injuries you suffer following an accident.

When your insurance cover is unable to cover your damages adequately, the law permits you to seek damages from the at-fault party. This would bring challenges, making it essential to hire an East Palatka Personal Injury Attorney for your claims. Your lawyer knows the requirements and how to make sure you receive the damages rightfully owed to you.

While seeking damages from the at-fault party, the states observe the pure comparative negligence rule. This means fault must be established in totality or partially to facilitate costs. For instance, if a person is solely to blame for the crash, they will carry 100% responsibility for the damages. If  you are 20% to blame for the collision, you will get 80% of losses and pay the other driver 20% damages.

Workplace Accidents

Accidents also happen at the place of work. When you get injured while on duty, you must report the injury to your employer, who will pick the doctor, you must see. When visiting the doctor, you must outline all the symptoms of your injury.

Every employer must have a worker’s compensation cover to compensate their employees in case of an accident. When injured at the place of work, you do not have to establish fault according to the law. Whether the injuries were out of your negligence or not, you are entitled to get compensated for the damages.

Workplace deaths also get compensated fully without the question of negligence. The family of their loved one gets compensated for the cost of burying their loved one and their benefits as well as for wrongful death. In case your employer or their insurance company is trying to escape compensating you, getting in touch with a lawyer is crucial.

Premise Accident Claims

Sometimes you can get injured in a private or commercial property. These kinds of injuries can also be significant, requiring expensive medical procedures for treatment. The law in Florida allows for victims of such accidents to seek damages due to the injuries from the property owners or business owners.

Damages, in this case, can get complicated to receive. This makes it critical to have a local East Palatka Personal Injury Attorney to represent you. Before you get awarded damages, you must establish the following with the help of your attorney:

  • The defendant occupied, controlled, owned or leased the property
  • The defendant owed you a duty of care
  • The defendant was aware or should have been aware of the dangerous situation on the property and ignored taking action against it despite having had time to do so
  • Because of the negligence of the defendant, you got injured
  • The injuries you sustained resulted in the losses you are asking.

Cases on-premise accidents get even more complicated when it is a commercial entity. Your lawyer will need to produce additional evidence, according to Fla. Stat.768.0755. This involves showing the defendant had actual knowledge of the condition and neglected to take the necessary precaution in correcting it. In this case, you must show:

  • The situation was in existence over a long period giving the defendant enough time to know and deal with it
  • The condition happened regularly, and the commercial entity must have been aware of it because they knew of its chances of happening again.

Once this is proven, it becomes easier to receive damages from such an accident. However, you must also do your part in ensuring you win your case. Following this type of an accident, you need to:

  • Inform the premises owner or if a commercial property, talk to the manager or supervisor. This is essential in getting a report generated of the injuries
  • The next step is to get treated for the injuries sustained. Always remember to make your health a priority
  • If you can take photos of the accident scene or get a person to do it, it is crucial to prove your damages. Having the photos time stamped is vital to avoid denial of the time and date
  • If there was a witness, get their contact details and ask them if they would testify on your behalf if called to. If possible, ask them for a written and signed statement
  • Get a lawyer and inform them of the accident. Provide your lawyer with all the necessary documents and evidence regarding the accident

Medical Malpractice Accidents

Ironically, you can get injured when you have gone to a hospital. Accidents do happen even when medical practitioners take care to avoid hurting you. There are various ways you can get injured in a hospital or by a medical practitioner. Some of these include:

  • Diagnosis – this is the first step when you get to a hospital. You describe your symptoms to the doctor to enable them to diagnose you. Unfortunately, a doctor can fail in their diagnosis or delay in diagnosing your case. Either way, it is dangerous for you because you could end up getting treated for the wrong illness or getting more injured because you are not treated on time. If you can establish either of these happened, then you can seek damages as a result.
  • Wrong medication – when a doctor gives you the wrong medication, it can react and cause more damages that you never had.
  • Unnecessary treatment – this happens when one has been misdiagnosed of an illness. People have been found to undergo unnecessary procedures subjecting them to pain and later told it was wrong. When this happens, the mistake is squarely on the doctor, and you deserve to get compensated for the damages.
  • Surgical errors – mistakes also happen during surgery. You can get operated in the wrong place, or in some cases; doctors can leave foreign bodies in you that will cause more damage to you.

These, among others, are various ways mistakes can happen when getting medical treatment. Medical malpractice accidents are serious, with some of them resulting in wrongful deaths. When this happens, the family of the deceased can seek compensation for their wrongful death as well as other damages. Getting an East Palatka Personal Injury Attorney to pursue your claims is essential.

Find a Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me

The stress and frustration of injuries are overwhelming, let alone following insurance providers to pay you for damages suffered from an accident. Getting a lawyer to pursue your claims increases your chances of getting better compensation and relieving you the stress of doing it yourself. If you are in East Palatka, Jacksonville Personal Injury Attorney law firm will assist you in winning your claims. Reach out to us at 904-800-7557 and allow us to obtain your claims for you.