Articles Posted in Car, Truck & Motorcycle Accidents

Companies make billions of dollars leasing and renting motor vehicles. One might expect that with such profits would come a corresponding responsibility to compensate innocent people injured through the negligent operation of those vehicles. They don’t. The Florida Legislature once believed they should. It may still believe so, but its will has been overridden by…

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage – governed by section 627.727, Florida Statutes – is first-party insurance designed to compensate insureds for both economic damages (such as medical expenses and lost wages) and non-economic damages (such as pain and suffering) resulting from motor vehicle accidents caused by uninsured or underinsured drivers. Although every automobile insurer authorized to…

Disabled commercial vehicles pose significant hazards to motorists. Although approaching drivers often bear much of the blame for rear-end collisions, commercial vehicles that become disabled in active lanes of traffic frequently contribute to serious and fatal accidents—often through little or no fault of the approaching motorist. These crashes occur not only at night or in…

Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the terms of a Florida motor vehicle insurance policy govern the rights and obligations of the parties—the insurance carrier and the insureds. Florida’s Dangerous Instrumentality Doctrine is a long-standing legal principle that makes the owner of a motor vehicle vicariously liable for injuries caused by someone else driving that vehicle…

In 1958, Florida joined a small number of states in adopting a legal presumption of negligence against trailing drivers involved in rear-end motor vehicle collisions. This shift was established in McNulty v. Cusack, 104 So.2d 785 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958), and later endorsed by the Florida Supreme Court in Bellere v. Madsen, 114 So.2d 619…

It is common for health and disability (lost wages) insurance carriers to pay benefits to their insureds who are injured due to someone else’s negligence. Many of these policies include reimbursement provisions allowing the insurer to recover payments from any personal injury settlement or judgment obtained by the insured. How Much Must Be Repaid? The…

It is not uncommon for employees to be injured in motor vehicle accidents while acting within the course and scope of their employment. Such incidents frequently implicate multiple layers of insurance coverage. Regardless of fault, injured employees may be eligible for benefits including workers’ compensation, Personal Injury Protection (PIP), and health insurance (including Medicare). Workers’…

Much has been written about the type of insurance coverage available to Uber passengers and other third parties for accidents caused by Uber drivers. Less has been written about the coverage available to Uber drivers and their passengers for injuries caused by third parties such as other drivers. Currently, we are handling a case for…

Everyone is familiar with the idiom, “Keep your eye on the ball.” What it means, quite simply, is to keep one’s attention focused on the matter at hand. Lawyers must remember this during intense situations. Last week we experienced just such an intense situation. In a case involving severe personal injuries sustained by our client,…

Not infrequently, both a workers’ compensation case and a personal injury liability case will arise from the same accident. For example, a construction site supervisor involved in a motor vehicle crash while traveling to Home Depot for supplies can pursue workers’ compensation benefits from the employer and civil liability damages from the at-fault party. Florida…