Car accidents happen for various reasons in Brandon and the surrounding communities of Florida each year. The aftermath of any accident can be difficult to navigate and presents several complex legal questions the average person will not be able to answer on their own. Additionally, navigating any civil suit in Florida is likely to mean encounters with specific legal terms you may have trouble understanding. However, this does not mean you cannot pursue legal recourse against the driver who hit you. If insurance alone cannot compensate your losses and you have sustained a serious injury, you have the right to file a personal injury claim against the driver who caused your accident. We take time to develop individualized legal strategies in every case we accept, addressing each client’s unique needs and concerns. If you experienced a minor accident and you can fully recover through insurance alone, then proving fault will not be a concern in the aftermath of your accident. It appears there are new reports of inattentive drivers causing serious accidents on their daily commutes along the I-4 and other major roads in the Brandon area. Even slight inattention is enough to cause a devastating crash. Your Brandon car accident attorney can help gather the evidence you need to firmly prove liability for the accident you recently experienced, such as the other driver’s cell phone records. In 2023, Bay News 9 published an article articulating the frustration of many Brandon residents with the traffic and repeated car accidents on I-75. (See link to news article: Drivers frustrated by traffic on I-75 in Brandon (baynews9. com). In 2022, ABC Action News published an article about the concerns about Brandon’s car accidents on Lumsden Road due to the lack of traffic signals. (See link: Brandon intersection needs traffic light to be safer, neighbors say (abcactionnews. com). Drivers on SR-60 and other busy roads in the Brandon area are expected to use care and caution at all times, respecting traffic signals and signs posted at all intersections and merge points. Traffic camera recordings and witness testimony are often crucial for proving fault in these types of car accident cases. For example, car accidents near Brandon Mall on Brandon Town Center Drive often result from distracted driving or the failure to stop at a stop sign. This is a criminal act punishable by fines, jail time, and driver’s license suspension. DUI is also incredibly dangerous, especially when drivers are intoxicated on roads with higher speed limits like SR-60 and I-75. While police officers in the Brandon area are often able to identify and apprehend intoxicated drivers before they cause accidents, this is unfortunately not always the case. Penalties for DUI offenses in Florida increase substantially when a defendant has injured or killed someone by driving under the influence. There is quite a lot of traffic in the area from workers commuting to and from downtown Tampa, suburban families running errands every day, and various other forms of local travel. The most recently available Florida State Highway Safety Report is from 2021, which reported more than 3,700 traffic fatalities throughout the state for that year, an all-time high for the state of Florida. So far in 2023, Hillsborough County alone has reported 127 fatalities from crashes and 12,558 injuries from crashes. If you have an accident in Brandon, your PIP will cover your own medical expenses, and PDL can cover the other driver’s repair costs if you cause the accident. The Frank Santini Law Firm has extensive professional experience confronting insurance companies on behalf of our clients in the Brandon area, and we know the tactics they often use to try to justify the lowest possible settlement offers. To succeed with this claim, you must identify the defendant who caused your accident and then prove the full range of damages they caused. You must also be prepared to establish “causation” between the defendant’s actions and your claimed losses. It’s important to understand that the term “damages” does not strictly apply to the physical damage inflicted on your vehicle in your recent accident. This is a legal term that defines all of the losses you suffered in your recent accident. “Damages” in any civil suit can be either economic or noneconomic in nature. Economic damages are losses that can be proven in solid figures with the appropriate documentation. PIP may provide some coverage for your medical expenses, but the defendant who caused your accident is liable for any remaining medical treatment costs not covered by insurance. This includes the cost of any future medical care you will require for a serious injury. Many serious personal injuries will require some measure of ongoing care. Unfortunately, some victims of car accidents are left permanently disabled, unable to return to their jobs or work in the future. If your earning power has been diminished due to the severity of the injuries the defendant caused, they are responsible for your lost future income as well. When you choose The Frank Santini Law Firm to represent your case, our team can review all the details of the accident and examine the scope of its effects on your life. The purpose of pain and suffering compensation is to address the plaintiff’s intangible losses they sustained due to the defendant’s actions, namely their physical pain, emotional distress, and psychological trauma. First is the multiplier method, most often used for plaintiffs who have suffered severely damaging injuries that entail some level of permanent harm. The attorney multiplies their client’s total economic damages by one to five in most cases, so it is likely for the plaintiff’s pain and suffering compensation to amount to more than the total of their claimed economic damages if they suffered a life-changing injury. Second is the method whereby their attorney calculates a suitable daily compensation rate and then multiplies this amount by the number of days it takes them to fully recover. They would simply lose a percentage of the case award that reflected their shared liability. This rule has changed, and now Florida upholds the modified comparative negligence rule. This means that any party who shares fault for a personal injury is assigned a fault percentage that dictates how much of the total damages they are accountable for repaying. As long as the plaintiff’s fault is less than 50%, they can still recover compensation. For example, if the defendant caused the accident through some illegal or intentional misconduct, they could owe punitive damages or restitution along with the plaintiff’s other claimed damages. If you are worried about going to court, the truth is that most of the personal injury cases filed each year are not resolved through litigation. As long as both parties are willing to compromise, it is possible to settle a car accident case in a fraction of the time that litigation would require. However, litigation may be necessary if the defendant refuses to accept liability, disputes the scope of compensation sought by the plaintiff, if the plaintiff’s insurance carrier fights their claim, or if settlement negotiations between the plaintiff and defendant prove fruitless for any other reason. In every case we accept, we take time to learn about our client’s individual needs and concerns, helping them feel more confident about the proceedings ahead. The sooner you secure legal counsel you can trust, the sooner you can recover your losses and ensure accountability for the harm you suffered. The Frank Santini Law Firm is ready to provide the comprehensive legal counsel you need in this situation. He’s very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. My phone calls are always returned promptly. We’ve worked hand-in-hand on cybersecurity projects, including sensitive data breaches. He has an established reputation as a great personal injury attorney. We couldn’t be happier with all they’ve done for us. He put my mind at ease and allowed for a smooth experience. I highly recommend Frank Santini and would use him again. He kept me informed every step of the way with my case. His ability to simplify things and fight for everything and anything for the common person is second to none. Very friendly and prompt with communication. I found Frank extremely patient to deal with and extremely knowledgeable in the specific legal issues I was dealing with. He was great to work with, very responsive, and personal while helping me through my case. He was also very informative throughout the process. He is so easy to work with from beginning to the end. . . . . so helpful. Always responds quickly, prompt in returning calls and messages. He’s awesome, knowledgeable and he knows how the legal community works. He even showed concern about the procedures I’ve had and just my overall well-being. I really wasn’t sure there was a case, but Frank really explained everything to me. Santini is a true professional. Accountable, knowledgeable, and a great communicator. All Rights Reserved.