Who Can be liable for The Injuries Caused in an
Automobile/Motorcycle Accident?

Every three seconds an automobile or motorcycle accident occurs. Unfortunately, in many of these accidents people suffer severe personal injury and damage to their property. In addition, those who have suffered personal injury may incur medical bills, pain and suffering, the inability to perform routine daily activities and loss of income and rental car expenses.

People who operate automobiles have a duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances. Failure to use reasonable care is the most common reason a driver will be held liable for the injuries caused in an accident. In addition to a careless driver the following parties can be held liable for the injuries caused in an automobile/motorcycle -accident:

• Individual
  
  
• Owner of the vehicle
  
  
• Automobile Manufacturer or Part Supplier
  
  
• Leasing Company
  
  
• Rental Car Company
  
  
• Automobile Repair Shop
  
  
• Corporation which owns vehicle involved in the accident
  
  
• Municipality
  
  
• Property owner of the location where the accident occurred or owners of real estate in the immediate vicinity.

The "Cellular Phone" Automobile Accident Example

Imagine that several people are injured when the driver of a red convertible crashes into the backside of a green dump truck. The driver of the dump truck had an operators license but not for a truck of this weight. At the time the accident occurred, the red convertible driver was dialing a number on the cellular phone and did not realize that the green dump truck, had suddenly cut into his lane. After the red convertible hit the green dump truck, three additional automobiles slammed into the rear of the red convertible. The green dump truck was owned by a Corporation. The driver of the red convertible and the three drivers that subsequently hit the red convertible were severely injured. The questions listed below are a brief example of the factual and legal analysis that our law firm would perform in order to determine who should be liable for the injuries caused in this accident :

• Did the driver of the green truck fail to use due care when changing lanes?
  
  
• Would it be relevant that the driver of the green truck was not licensed to operate a dump truck?
  
  
• Where the breaks on the red convertible properly maintained?
  
  
• Were the drivers of the vehicles involved in the accident wearing a seatbelt?
  
  
• Could those drivers not wearing a seatbelt assume the risk of injury and waive their right of recovery?
  
  
• Should the three drivers that hit the red convertible be liable for injuries sustained by the red convertible driver and the driver of the green truck?
  
  
• Can the passengers of the red convertible sue the driver of the red convertible or any of the other drivers?
  
  
• Should the cellular phone manufacturer be liable for failing to advise the red convertible driver about the dangers of driving and talking on a cellular phone?
  
  
• Who should be responsible for the property damaged caused to each vehicle?
  
  
• Are there any additional remedies available for an injured person, if a liable party does not have sufficient insurance to cover the amount of damages?
  
  
• Who should be responsible to pay the medical bills and lost wages of each motorist and their passengers?
  
  
• After an extensive factual investigation, our law firm would determine if and how a potential client is entitled to recover for the injuries suffered in the automobile accident.
  
  
• In order to determine liability, we will frequently work with engineers, investigators, industry experts, and accident reconstructionists. Under Florida Law, more than one person or company can be held liable for the injuries caused in an automobile accident.

Things you can do after an automobile/motorcycle accident in order to resolve a case in your favor:

If liability can be clearly proven, it is probable that a settlement can be obtained at early value. In resolving an automobile/motorcycle case, those in which critical evidence has been obtained will facilitate counsel in obtaining a favorable resolution. If a jury trial becomes necessary, this evidence becomes the crucial factor in proving liability and damages. Here are some things you can do to ensure that you have maximized your potential for recovery:

• Critical Information Under Florida law, if any personal injury or property damage occurs in an auto/motorcycle accident, a police report must be filed. If a police report was not taken at the scene of the accident, contact the police in the city where the accident took place, as soon as possible.
  
  
• Write down the drivers' information and license plate numbers of the vehicles involved in the accident.
  
  
• Try to get the name, phone number and address of any people who witnessed the accident. Please allow only your lawyer to contact the witness(es).
  
  
• Go to the hospital emergency room immediately if you are in any pain whatsoever. Do not be afraid to tell the doctor about every area of your body in which you are experiencing pain.
  
  
• Contact your insurance company and inform them of the accident.
  
  
• We strongly advise you to have no communications with the other driver's insurance company. Instruct them to contact your attorney.
  
  
• Once our law firm is retained, we will send our investigator to take photographs of the vehicles involved, the accident scene and take witness statements.
  
  
• If you or someone else in the vehicle sustained visible injuries, (i.e., cuts, bruises, stitches) permit our investigators to take photos of those injuries.
  
  
• Take your vehicle for a repair estimate. Obtain written estimates from at least two repair shops. You are not required to use a repair shop suggested by your insurance company. We suggest that you obtain at least one estimate from a repair shop that was not suggested by an insurance company. Contact your attorney prior to authorizing any repairs to your damaged vehicle.

What are the Florida Automobile/Motorcycle Insurance Requirements?

Motor Vehicle Insurance Requirements

Florida law requires drivers to have at least $10,000 in personal injury protection or PIP (see following section for details) and $10,000 in property damage liability, which pays for damages you cause with your car to other parties' autos and property. Nearly everyone should have substantially more than these minimum amounts of insurance including medical payment coverage and enhanced property liability and many of the items described below.

PIP - Personal injury protection is a no-fault type of coverage that pays you and covered family members for certain accident-related medical expenses regardless of who caused the accident. Basic PIP covers these items, up to the dollar limits of your coverage:

• 80 percent of reasonable medical expenses.
  
  
• 60 percent of lost wages and replacement services, such as childcare, home or even yard cleaning.
  
  
• $5,000 for death benefits.
  
  
• For higher premiums, you can purchase medical payment coverage and lower or eliminate deductible.
  
  
• Different insurers may offer different PIP packages, so check with your agents or do some comparison shopping on your own.

Deductibles are an important element of PIP coverage. Florida insurers are required to offer PIP deductibles of $0, $250, $500, $1,000, and $2,000 (they may offer more choices at their discretion)? You do not have to accept any deductible if you want what's often called "first dollar" protection.

Optional Additional Insurance (we highly recommend): Additional PIP more property damage coverage, substantial bodily injury protection, collision and comprehensive and uninsured motorists (UIM) coverage are all good ideas for most drivers. In Florida you can get UIM coverage in what are called "stackable" and "non-stackable" forms.

Stackable - coverage means the UIM coverage limits for each car covered on your policy can be added together. So, if you insure three cars and have stackable UIM of $10,000 per person and $20,000 per accident usually states as "10/20" the actual protection if one of these vehicles were involved in an accident with an uninsured motorist would be "30/60".

Non-stackable - coverage is a cheaper form of protection that limits coverage to individual vehicle limits, Insurers are not required to offer non-stackable coverage.

Although Florida has no-fault PIP, you can get more complete coverage by paying additional amounts for medical payment coverage. One benefit here would be to pay the 20 percent of expenses not covered by PIP.

PIP claims - If you file a claim under the PIP portion of your coverage, your insurer must provide you with a notice of your rights, including available benefits, exclusions and limitations of PIP coverage plus information about when payments are due. Once the insurer has received written notification of PIP losses the company must pay you or your medical provider within 30 days or you are entitled to earn 10 percent interest on the amount of your loss until it is paid. The Law Offices of Marc S. Schiller, P.A. has handled numerous claims of Bad Faith against insurance companies for failure to pay benefits in full or in a timely manner.

Motorcycle Insurance

In Florida the required coverage for a motorcycle is quite different from that required for a private passenger vehicle. In fact, there is currently no need to have insurance coverage on a motorcycle in order to register or operate the motorcycle in the State of Florida.

This creates quite a problem for the motorcyclist involved in a collision with a passenger car, another motorcycle, or who loses control of his/her motorcycle. In these cases medical bills are paid by the injured parties health or hospitalization insurance, if the claimant is lucky enough to have such coverage. If not, a motorcyclist's bills could remain outstanding until the conclusion of his or her case at which time medical bills can be paid out of settlement proceeds.

Medical payment coverage which differs from Personal Injury Protection (discussed in the previous section) is available to the motorcyclist. We recommend that all motorcyclists purchase medical payment coverage on a motorcycle. This coverage will pay reasonable and necessary medical bills as incurred up to the policy limit of coverage.