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Key Takeaways
- Three types of overlooked case evidence are the black box data of your vehicle and of the other vehicle involved in your Florida car accident, prompt and consistent medical care, and the traffic crash report.
- An experienced lawyer knows exactly what types of evidence can make or break your Florida car accident case, from traffic camera footage and police reports to medical records and witness statements. They can act quickly to preserve this information before it’s lost or destroyed, ensuring your claim stays strong.
- Call Hancock Injury Attorneys at 813-915-1110 to schedule your free consultation. Our experienced team of legal professionals will help you understand your options moving forward after a Florida car accident, connect you with trusted doctors, and fight for the compensation you deserve.
Florida car accident evidence can disappear quickly after an incident. Surveillance footage gets taped over, eyewitnesses' memories fade; every second you wait to start building your personal injury claim, the weaker it gets. Not gathering the right evidence can have a negative effect on your ability to get a fair recovery for your damages.
Video Transcript:
Ever wonder how they come up with those big settlement numbers? Let me explain how personal injury claims are calculated. Personal injury claims basically follow the same pattern no matter what the injury is, what causes the injury, whether it's a car accident, a slip and fall, a trip and fall, any other type of product defect case causing an injury, the evaluation and calculation of damages is always the same.
Let's take a car accident case, the most typical type of personal injury case. In a car accident case, the first thing we're going to do is look at who caused the accident. Is it extremely 100% clear that the other person was the sole cause of the accident or are we dealing with a situation where our client is partly at fault also? or in some cases we have multiple defendants that contributed to the cause of the accident.
First we're dealing with fault. Oftentimes it's 100% the fault of the other driver. Let's say in a car accident case in Florida we follow something called a contributory fault which means that even if the driver admits that they're at fault they can also claim that our client was partly at fault themselves. So that gets taken into account.
The second thing that is put into the evaluation and calculation of a personal injury claim is the amount of your damages. And your damages are essentially broken down into economic damages and non-economic damages. And the economic damages are generally medical bills up to the date of a settlement. We call those past medical bills and then a calculation of what your future medical bills are going to be as a result of your injuries.
So, we're taking all of that past and future medical bills into account. We're also taking into account the extent of your lost wages. And when we go to resolve your claim or settle your claim, anything from that day in the past is called past lost wages. Anything in the future that you haven't yet lost but are expected to lose is called loss of earning capacity.
A perfect example would be a client who works a manual labor job. Let's say they build homes. They're a brick layer. And as a result of the accident, they can no longer be a brick layer making $50,000 a year and they don't have the other educational background to go out there and do a job making the similar amount of money. So those clients sometimes have a loss of earning capacity. They're not going to be unable to work for the rest of their lives. They're just going to be unable to make as much as they did prior to the accident.
We calculate that loss of earning capacity. We use experts such as vocational rehabilitation experts to help us determine what the loss of earning capacity is. And then to calculate those damages, we also bring in an economist which is required under the law to bring all of that future loss of earning capacity back to present value.
Those are the economic damages, the medical bills and lost wages, past and future. Then we have the non-economic damages that are broken down into what is generally referred to as pain and suffering. But in Florida, pain and suffering is really seven different elements. You’ve got compensation for your pain, your suffering, your mental anguish, your inconvenience, your loss of enjoyment of life, and your disability and scarring. Pain and suffering is the term we commonly use, but it’s really seven different elements.
We then also figure out what your past pain and suffering is worth. We also work with your doctors and other experts, we figure out what type of non-economic pain and suffering damages you're going to have in the future. So that goes into the evaluation of your future pain and suffering.
So all of those things start with how the accident happened. One of the things that are really important in car accident cases is what does the damage look like to the cars? Is it just a tiny dent on the bumper or is your car total? All of those factors go into the evaluation and calculation of damages in a personal injury claim.
If you have any other questions regarding the calculation or worth of your personal injury claim, please give me a call at 813-915-1110. I'll be happy to discuss it with you. The consultation's always free. We can do it over the phone. I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Why Florida Car Accident Evidence Is Key To Your Claim
In a personal injury claim, your word isn’t enough to secure you a settlement; you need strong evidence. Documentation, such as photos of the scene and witness statements, can make all the difference in proving fault and the extent of your injuries after a Florida car accident. The more thorough and organized your evidence, the stronger your case becomes when negotiating with insurance companies or presenting your claim in court.
Commonly Overlooked Evidence That Strengthens Your Case
When you think of gathering evidence at the scene of a Florida car accident, you may think of taking pictures of the vehicles involved, talking to anyone who may have witnessed the incident happen, or seeing if there were any nearby surveillance cameras that caught the incident unfold. While you should always do those things, there are also other forms of accident evidence you can collect to help bolster your claim.
The following are three types of widely overlooked accident evidence:
Vehicle Black Box Data
Black boxes are in almost every car on the road today. They record crucial data about your vehicle’s operation before and during the crash. This includes your vehicle's speed, braking application, and steering input.
Prompt and Consistent Medical Care
Let’s say you don’t seek medical treatment as soon as possible following a Florida car accident and then file a personal injury claim. The at-fault party’s insurance company can use this as an excuse to say your injuries aren’t as severe as you claim them to be and, therefore, they shouldn’t give you the settlement you deserve. They will try to make the same excuse if you also don’t keep up with your medical treatment.
The Traffic Crash Report
When a car accident occurs, and police are called, they will arrive, survey the scene, ask questions of all involved parties, and then write a traffic crash report. If you were in a car accident and are looking for a copy of your traffic crash report, you can get it here. The traffic crash report can be a key piece of evidence in your personal injury claim because it will list the name and address of everyone involved, including that of eyewitnesses.
How to Collect and Preserve Critical Evidence
Collecting evidence after a Florida car accident is much simpler with the help of an attorney. An experienced lawyer knows exactly what types of evidence can make or break your case, from traffic camera footage and police reports to medical records and witness statements. They can act quickly to preserve this information before it’s lost or destroyed, ensuring your claim stays strong. With an attorney handling the details, you can focus on recovering while they focus on building the solid foundation your case needs.
When to Contact a Lawyer for Help Gathering Proof
A lawyer will be able to help you collect Florida car accident evidence to bolster your claim.
If you’ve been hurt in a car crash and need help building your claim, don’t waste any time. Call Hancock Injury Attorneys at 813-915-1110 today to schedule your free consultation. Our experienced team of legal professionals will help you understand your options moving forward, connect you with trusted doctors, and fight for the compensation you deserve.
FAQs
Why is evidence important to my personal injury claim?
In a personal injury claim, your word isn’t enough to secure you a settlement; you need strong evidence. Documentation, such as photos of the scene and witness statements, can make all the difference in proving fault and the extent of your injuries. The more thorough and organized your evidence, the stronger your case becomes when negotiating with insurance companies or presenting your claim in court.
What if the traffic crash report lists me as the at-fault driver? Do I still have a claim?
Yes, just because the traffic crash report lists you as “Vehicle 1” (the at-fault driver) does not bar you from making a personal injury claim. The policemen listed you as the at-fault driver because that was their opinion at the time they made the report, but they don’t have the final say in this matter. A Hancock Injury Attorneys' lawyer can help you collect evidence and build your claim against the true at-fault party to secure a fair settlement.