ORLANDO CAR REPAIR INJURY

Many types of property damage done to a car are easy to see. For example, you quickly detect the need to repair a cracked windshield and a seriously damaged hood. However, some types of car damage are not as easy to detect, if you can detect the damage at all. Before you agree to have an auto repair shop repair the damage done to your car, verify that the auto repair shop has discovered every type of damage.

Here are three types of car damage that a car repair shop might miss.

Frame

A car frame represents the primary support structure for the rest of the auto components. A sound comparison is to refer to the car frame as the vehicle’s skeleton. The frame provides structural support to keep the wheels properly aligned, as well as stabilize the suspension when your car moves over undulating terrain. Ask your attorney for a referral to schedule an appointment with a certified collision expert to receive a comprehensive inspection that detects hidden frame damage.

Wheel Alignment

Misalignment of the wheels is one of the most common issues that arise because of an auto collision. However, diagnosing a wheel misalignment is difficult to do by simply looking at each of the four wheels. Common signs of wheel misalignment include your car pulling to one side, as well as loud vibrations coming from under the vehicle. A wheel misalignment also can produce noisy steering and tires that squeal when you accelerate from a stop sign or traffic signal.

Electrical System

Even a low-impact vehicle collision that appears to cause minor structural damage can disrupt the electrical system. The wires connected to accessories like tail lights and the heating/cooling system can loosen enough to impact the source that powers the car accessories. Without a thorough inspection and subsequent repairs, a minor electrical problem can morph into a major car repair investment. 

When you sit down with one of our Orlando car repair injury lawyers, you can expect to receive a summarized version of Florida accident laws. You should have some idea about how three important Florida car accident laws work.

Florida No-Fault Insurance

Applied to just car accidents, Florida has created a no-fault car insurance system that requires vehicle owners to first turn to their own insurance companies for financial assistance after a vehicle collision. If you sustained injuries and have to deal with property damage caused by an auto crash, your insurance company should take care of expenses if both the injuries and property damage are considered to be minor. However, if you sustained serious injuries and the property damage is defined as significant, then you might qualify to submit a claim with the other party’s insurance company.

Florida defines a serious injury in three ways: permanent, significant and permanent scarring, or significant or permanent loss of a bodily function. To determine whether the damage done to your car is considered serious, consult with one of the Orlando car repair injury lawyers at Morgan & Morgan.

Florida Statute of Limitations

Every state has set a statute of limitations for the filing of a personal injury lawsuit. The purpose of a deadline is to encourage plaintiffs to file civil lawsuits as quickly as possible after a car accident. Most states have established a statute of limitations for personal injury cases between two and four years. Nonetheless, a few states have set a deadline as long as six years and as short as one year. 

In Florida, you have four years to file a civil lawsuit that seeks compensation for a car accident case. The clock starts ticking for the statute of limitations on the day when you sustained injuries because of a vehicle collision. If the symptoms associated with your injuries did not develop until several days after the collision, ask the Orlando car repair injury lawyer from Morgan & Morgan to confirm when the deadline is for filing a civil lawsuit.

If you fail to meet the four-year deadline set by Florida for filing a civil lawsuit, you can expect the court clerk processing your lawsuit to remove it from the court docket. Although four years is a considerable amount of time to file a convincing civil lawsuit, you should act with a sense of urgency by filing your civil lawsuit as soon as possible. You have to recover the financial losses you suffered because of injuries and property damage. Your Orlando car repair injury lawyer also wants to interview witnesses right after a car accident to receive the most accurate account of what transpired before, during, and after the vehicle collision.

Florida Comparative Fault

The legal foundation for any personal injury lawsuit is to prove another party committed one or more acts of negligence. Because not every auto crash is the result of one party’s negligence, Florida has adopted the comparative fault legal principle for personal injury cases. Comparative fault means that each party assumes partial responsibility for causing a car accident. For example, another vehicle struck you from behind, and in most cases, the other driver should assume full legal liability for causing the rear-end crash. However, your tail lights did not work at the time of the car accident and the judge hearing your case determines that you should assume 25 percent of the blame for causing the rear-end collision. If the judge awards you $60,000 in monetary damages, you receive just $45,000 because the court subtracts your 25 percent of the fault for causing the collision.

One of the most important reasons to hire an experienced personal injury attorney from Morgan & Morgan is to prove the other party committed at least one act of negligence. Your legal counsel must prove negligence by demonstrating the presence of four elements.

Duty of Care

Duty of care represents a legal principle that requires a party to assume responsibility for your well-being. The prime example of the duty of care doctrine involves healthcare providers. Any healthcare professional who diagnoses, treats, and rehabilitates an injury has a duty of care to prevent you from suffering any additional harm. The operators of motor vehicles have a duty of care to operate their vehicles safely and thus, prevent other drivers from sustaining injuries and property damage.

Violation of the Duty of Care Doctrine

Although demonstrating another driver has a duty of care to protect you from harm is easy to do, the same cannot be said for showing the other party violated the duty of care doctrine. Demonstrating the presence of the second element of negligence requires the submission of physical evidence, as well as the statements made by witnesses. For example, if another driver failed to signal a left turn and the result was a side-impact auto collision, your attorney must submit evidence such as video footage to prove a violation of the duty of care principle.
Morgan & Morgan will send one of our accomplished investigators into the field to prove the presence of the second element of negligence.

Causation

Once we establish the other party breached the duty of care doctrine, the next step for proving negligence involves showing the breach caused you harm. Copies of medical records such as the results of diagnostic tests can provide the link between the car accident and your injuries. The attorney representing the other party will try to poke holes in your claim that the other driver caused you harm. For example, let’s say you got hurt earlier in the week by falling off a bicycle. You cannot link the bicycle incident injuries with the car accident. The injuries you sustained must have developed as a consequence of the vehicle collision.

Financial Losses

Now that you have demonstrated a breach of the duty of care doctrine has caused your injuries, the last element involves proving the injuries have led to financial losses. Records of medical bills and the receipts associated with car repair expenses are the two most important types of documents you must submit to demonstrate the car accident produced financial losses.

What are the criteria you should use to hire the best Orlando car repair injury lawyer? The first criterion is experience. For more than three decades, the personal injury attorneys at Morgan & Morgan have represented clients during the insurance claim process, as well as when the time comes to file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. You also want to work with a personal injury attorney who responds promptly to all forms of communication. At Morgan & Morgan, we return emails, phone calls, and text messages within 24 hours of receiving them.

Another factor that you should consider concerns how invested your lawyer is in litigating your case. Some personal injury attorneys meet with clients during a free case evaluation only to disappear until the case concludes. You want to work with an experienced and Florida licensed car accident attorney from the day of the free case evaluation to the day when a judge issues a decision concerning a civil lawsuit. One of the most important questions to ask is do the Orlando care repair injury lawyers on your shortlist specialize in litigating car accident cases? Litigating car accident cases is a bit different than litigating other types of personal injury cases such as slips and falls. Working with an experienced attorney who specializes in handling car accident cases gives you a better chance of getting the outcome that you want.

Finally, the Orlando car repair injury lawyer you hire should be a highly-skilled negotiator. Negotiating a favorable settlement helps you avoid a costly and time-consuming civil trial.

Schedule a free case evaluation with one of the car accident attorneys at Morgan & Morgan.