Car Accident Lawyers Serving the Orlando Area
Texting While Driving Accidents – Were You Harmed?
Texting while driving in Orlando, Florida is illegal and yet many drivers on the road continue this reckless habit. Not only is this practice illegal, it’s incredibly dangerous. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 3,300 people were killed in 2011 and 387,000 were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver. Were you recently involved in an accident by a driver that was distracted while texting? With a combined 30 years of legal experience, our Orlando Personal Injury Attorneys can work diligently to make sure you get the justice you deserve.
Contact Legally Pink Law to speak to a skilled injury attorney today!
Teen Drivers Are Especially to Blame
Emerging data shows that teens are often the cause of many of these kinds of accidents due to texting while driving. Teens are used to being constantly connected to friends and family by their cell phones; often times they’re unable to unplug.
Unfortunately, many teens think that they are fine to text and drive. This results in them driving negligently and choosing to text and drive with no caution of the safety of others.
Studies have shown that:
- 46% of teen drivers admit to texting while driving.
- 77% of teen drivers think that they can safely drive while texting
- Teens who do text and drive spend approximately 10% of the time driving outside of their lane
This is not to say that adults do not also text and drive. It is a problem that is increasingly causing more and more accidents on the road, not just in Orlando but throughout Florida. If you have been in an accident due to a driver who was texting on the road, let us help you pursue the compensation you need so that you can recover.
Get the Justice You Deserve
Being involved in a car accident can leave your body injured and your wallet empty. As your legal advocates, Legally Pink Law can help you recover medical costs, lost wages, and other expenses caused by another driver’s negligence. Contact us today to request a complimentary case consultation from our Orlando car accident lawyers.
Call us at (407) 792-2478 today to speak directly to a member of our team.
Have Questions? GET ANSWERS
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What types of damages can I claim?
In all cases, there are two general categories of damages – economic damages and non-economic damages. You can be compensated for both past and future economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are things such as wage loss, mileage expense to go to doctor appointments, prescription costs, co-pays on insurance, over-the-counter medications, diminution in value to your car, etc. The other category is non-economic damages, which may include things such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, etc.
The non-economic damages are often greater than the economic damages if the injuries are significant enough. Consult with an attorney for a full explanation of these types of damages.
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Are there deadlines for filing claims?
Yes. Under Florida law, there are very specific, detailed deadlines to file claims. If you do not meet these deadlines, you may be forever barred from bringing your claim forward.
These time restrictions are known as statutes of limitations, and they vary depending on the type of claim you are bringing. It is critical that you consult with an attorney as soon as possible after your incident so you can receive good legal advice on the time limits for filing a personal injury claim.
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How can I recover lost wages?
Wage loss is paid out under your Personal Injury Protection benefit, which happens to be mandatory coverage for auto insurance in the State of Florida. There are exceptions, such as when you elected to have your wage loss reimbursement excluded on your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefit when you obtained your policy.
Normally, people who have their wage loss benefits excluded are those who are not employed for some reason or another. You can also elect to have a standard PIP (which covers wage loss at 60%) or extended PIP (which covers wage loss at 80%).
You will need to provide proof of income in the form of a paycheck stub, income tax return, or some other verifiable means. The remaining percentage of your wage loss not covered by your PIP insurance will become part of your claim against the defendant driver.
When cases do not involve PIP coverage, the wage loss becomes part of the demand to the at-fault party. In most cases, proof of lost income is rather simple if the injured person receives a paycheck. For our clients who are self-employed, we work very closely with them to help them assemble the necessary documentation to prove the wage loss claim. Tax returns can be helpful in instances where clients are self-employed.
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How can I recover my out-of-pocket expenses?
Out-of-pocket expenses are always made part of your claim and are part of your economic damages that we seek to recover from the at-fault party. When your claim is presented to the at-fault party, we include your out-of-pocket expenses as part of the demand package.
If your case does not settle in what we call the "pre-suit phase," then your case will proceed to court where we will ask a jury for your out-of-pocket expenses as part of your economic damages on the verdict form.
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Will my insurance premiums increase if I report an accident to my insurance company?
Your insurance premiums should not go up if you are not at fault for the accident. It will be part of your insurance record, but if you are not at fault, your premiums should not increase.
In most situations, your own insurance company will go after the insurance company that insures the at-fault party to recover the costs it may have paid to you for things such as car repairs or additional medical expenses.
