BROWARD COUNTY DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENT ATTORNEY

Your actions immediately following a motor vehicle collision determine how your Broward County DUI lawyer approaches a car accident case involving an intoxicated motorist.

Call 911

Calling 911 should be the first response after most car accidents. Unless you get involved in a minor fender bender, you should activate the local emergency response system after a motor vehicle collision. Report the location of the auto crash and your medical condition, such as whether you suspect that you sustained whiplash and/or a bone fracture. If you suspect another driver is impaired, mention the condition of the impaired driver to the dispatcher taking your 911 call. When the nearest law enforcement agency arrives at the scene of the accident, officers secure the scene of the auto crash and conduct a thorough investigation that eventually leads to the filing of the official police report.

Seek Medical Attention

As part of the emergency response team responding to the car accident, medical personnel determine which collision victims require emergency medical care. If you sustained one or more serious injuries, you can expect to travel right away to the closest hospital for emergency care. Otherwise, you remain at the scene of the auto crash to answer questions posed by a law enforcement officer. This is the perfect time to describe any erratic behavior exhibited by another motorist involved in the motor vehicle collision. You should eventually get treated for your injuries, even for minor ones. If you do not get treated for injuries in a timely manner after a car accident, the insurance adjuster processing your claim might rule that you do not deserve compensation for healthcare expenses.

Take Photographs

As part of the official police report, the officer submitting the report includes physical evidence, such as photographs of tire marks and the damage done to motor vehicles. If you feel healthy enough to remain at the scene of the collision, use your Smartphone to capture images of the accident scene. Your attorney does not receive a copy of the official police report until a few weeks after the crash, which means the photographs that you take can provide your Broward County DUI lawyer with a head start with conducting a detailed investigation.

Obtain Witness Information

Witnesses do not provide physical evidence to boost the strength of an insurance claim or a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. Instead, witnesses explain what transpired before, during, and after a motor vehicle collision. You do not have to interview witnesses after a car crash, but you should obtain their names and contact information for your Broward County DUI lawyer to have when the time comes to conduct interviews.

Schedule a Free Case Evaluation With a Morgan and Morgan Broward County DUI Lawyer

Knowing the order of steps to take after an auto crash is important, especially when it comes to contacting a Broward County DUI lawyer. Many insurance companies take advantage of policyholders that do not retain legal representation when filing a claim. If you do not hire a personal injury attorney, the insurance company you have to interact with might deny a valid claim or approve a claim for a value worth much less than what you deserve in compensation. Contacting a Broward County DUI lawyer right after a car accident sets the wheels in motion for your attorney to conduct an investigation that includes collecting physical evidence and interviewing witnesses.

To file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages, your Broward County DUI lawyer must prove the presence of four elements.

Duty of Care

The duty of care doctrine holds one party responsible for the safety of another party. For example, the owner of a convenience store owes customers and visitors a duty of care to protect them from sustaining injuries while on the owner’s commercial property. Motorists operating all types of vehicles owe other drivers and passengers, as well as bicyclists and pedestrians, a duty of care to protect them from harm. This means following safe motor vehicle operational practices, such as using a turn signal and following the posted speed limit.

Violation of the Duty of Care Doctrine

As the second element of proving negligence, your attorney must show the judge or jury hearing your case that another party violated the duty of care doctrine. This is the element that requires your lawyer to prove another party committed one or more acts of negligence. For a car accident case involving an intoxicated driver, your Broward County DUI lawyer submits the results of the sobriety and toxicology tests performed by the responding law enforcement agency. If you can prove the other party operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of the auto crash, you should pass the litmus test for proving the second element of negligence.

Causation

After you demonstrate the other party violated the duty of care doctrine, the next element to prove involves presenting evidence that shows the car accident caused your injuries. Copies of medical bills and the results of diagnostic tests represent compelling pieces of physical evidence that demonstrate causation. The other party’s attorney might claim you sustained your injuries as the result of another activity, which means submitting physical evidence is vital for demonstrating the vehicle collision caused your injuries.

Financial Losses

The fourth element of negligence is just about as easy as the first element to prove. Presenting car repair receipts, as well as copies of medical bills and timekeeping records, should be enough physical evidence to show the judge or jury that you suffered financial losses as a result of your injuries.

A Broward County DUI Lawyer provides several types of legal support. One of the most important types of legal support involves ensuring you file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages before the expiration of the statute of limitation.

Every state has established a deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit. Most states have set the deadline between two and four years, with Florida opting to go with four years for plaintiffs to take legal action. The clock typically starts to tick on filing a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages on the day of a personal injury incident. However, you might qualify for an extension if you sustained injuries that developed delayed symptoms.

Four years gives you plenty of time to put together a strong case. However, you should act with a sense of urgency for two important reasons. First, you can quickly fall into a deep financial hole as a result of mounting medical bills. Unless you set up a medical lien arrangement with your healthcare creditors, you can expect to be held liable for all medical-related debts. Second, since witness accounts tend to be more reliable the closer they are given to the day of a personal injury incident, your Broward County DUI lawyer wants to get witness statements as soon as possible after the car accident.

Florida operates under the comparative negligence principle, which states all parties involved in a personal injury incident can share legal liability for causing the incident. In the case of a DUI-related car accident, the intoxicated driver should assume all of the legal liability for causing the crash. However, if a second motorist also tested positive for alcohol and/or drugs or the second driver committed one or more acts of reckless driving, the second party can assume part of the blame for causing the accident.

Let’s say you get involved in a car accident with an intoxicated driver, and you must assume 20 percent of the blame for failing to signal a right turn. If you receive a favorable legal judgment valued at $50,000, the judge or jury hearing your case takes $10,000 off the top for a net award of $40,000. 

Learn more about how a Broward County DUI lawyer can help you receive the compensation you deserve by scheduling a free case evaluation with Morgan and Morgan.