Articles Posted in Personal Injury

As electric bikes and scooters become more popular, accidents and injuries associated with them are naturally also on the rise. These injuries can occur when the rider is struck by another vehicle on the road, but they can also occur from unsafe surfaces or from a manufacturer’s defect in the e-vehicle or in your protective equipment. If you’ve been injured riding an e-bike or e-scooter and you think someone else’s negligence contributed to your injuries, you may be able to receive financial compensation for your injuries and damages.

Reasons for increased injury

One of the differences between electric bikes, scooters, and even skateboards is that they can go significantly faster than their non-electric counterparts. Drivers may not be prepared for the sudden appearance of someone on a micromobility vehicle, and riders may not be aware of the seriousness of injury that can occur when falling off one of these electric devices.

When a person buys insurance in Florida, whether it is auto insurance, home insurance, fire, flood, or hurricane coverage, they expect to receive financial compensation when they have a claim, as stipulated by the policy, and receive it in a timely manner. Unfortunately, that is not always the case when a policyholder submits a claim. Sometimes, insurers use various tactics to delay, deny, or under-compensate claims. This is not acceptable behavior; it is considered acting in “bad faith,” and you have legal recourse to recover your full policy coverage plus damages.

Florida has laws that govern how insurance companies interact with their policyholders. In a nutshell, bad faith actions may include:

  •  Unreasonable delays in responses and payments

When you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence in Florida, you may have the right to compensation for your injuries, lost income, and other losses. This includes injuries sustained in any type of vehicle accident (on land, sea, or air), from unsafe premises, including hotels and public places, and from animal attacks and product malfunctions. It also includes recreational accidents (such as extreme sports, amusement parks, and other recreational activities widely available in Florida) and medical malpractice.

Whatever the source of your injury, it is critically important that you and your friends and family avoid sharing any information on social media that may jeopardize your case.

Proving negligence

You’ve been injured in Florida by someone else’s negligence, whether due to a vehicle accident, a slip and fall, medical malpractice, or a product malfunction. You’re not happy with the settlement being offered, you’re rightfully angry, and you want your day in court. You think a judge will easily see your side and award you a big win. But it isn’t that simple.

Sometimes, going to court is the best option, but usually, negotiating a settlement with the help of an expert personal injury attorney will result in significant financial compensation without the expense, hassle, and delay of going to court.

No case goes to court unless both parties have tried to come to an agreement first. The typical steps taken in a personal injury case, if it goes to court, are as follows:

Insurance companies provide a very valuable service, and there are certainly many well-intentioned people who work for insurance companies, but the companies would not stay in business for long if they didn’t do their best to offer the least payout that they can get away with when it is time for them to settle a claim. If you have a Florida insurance claim, you should not accept the insurance company’s offer without first consulting with an attorney.  

The insurance company’s offer

Insurance companies have attorneys fighting for them and expert negotiators who know the ins and outs of every policy and all the loopholes that were carefully crafted to give them leverage to minimize your settlement offer. They use legal terms and jargon to confuse you and make it seem as if this is the best offer you are going to get. They may even try to intimidate you into believing that if you don’t accept what they’re offering now, you may not get anything. This manipulative behavior is frightening to someone who really needs the money right away to pay medical bills or to recover financially from lost wages due to the accident.

When you have been hurt in an accident, medical care may begin immediately, and you may be worried about how you will pay your medical bills before you have received a financial settlement. At Quackenbush Law, our team works quickly to assess the situation, review all documentation and statements, advocate with insurance companies, and negotiate on your behalf.

PIP first

The first medical insurance coverage that kicks in is PIP – Personal Injury Protection – which is required on all auto insurance policies in Florida. If you don’t have auto insurance, you can seek coverage from the insurance policy of a family member with whom you live or that of the vehicle you were riding in at the time of the accident, depending on your individual situation. Regardless of what insurance company is paying your medical bills, you must see an approved medical provider within 14 days of the injury to qualify for PIP coverage.

When you have been seriously injured in Florida due to an accident, product malfunction, or medical malpractice, your severe injuries may leave permanent damage impacting all areas of your life. At The Quackenbush Law Firm, we fight for you to ensure that you receive the compensation you deserve.

I leave no stone unturned when I investigate and evaluate every aspect of the accident and its consequences in order to determine, based on all the facts, how this will impact your future life.  My goal is to ensure that you will have the resources to not only compensate for past expenses and take care of your immediate needs but to guarantee that you have the funding for ongoing medical care and fair compensation for your pain, suffering, and lost future earnings.

Long-term consequences

Unless you are an expert in negotiating personal injury claims or taking them to court, you need an expert personal injury attorney to help you with your personal injury lawsuit. Injured individuals are no match for the insurance companies, big business, big government, and big medical institutions that have the knowledge, know-how, and strategies to keep them from having to pay you fair compensation for all that you have suffered. Don’t try to face them without an expert standing between you and them, fighting for your rights.

Preparing a bullet-proof case

I became a personal injury lawyer because I believe in “fighting for the rights of the little guy” against the highly lucrative businesses, insurance companies, and medical institutions that have the financial resources to squash your efforts to recover damages due to their negligent behavior or faulty products.

Vicarious liability, also called imputed negligence, is a legal doctrine that assigns responsibility for one person’s actions to another person if the two have a particular legal relationship that transfers power or authority from one person to the other. This can apply to the relationships of parent and child, husband and wife, owner of a vehicle and the driver, or employer and employee. 

Types of vicarious liability

In a parent-child relationship, if a minor child holds an underage drinking party on the family property, even if the parents do not know, and someone is injured due to the party, the parents are responsible for the breaking of the law and for any harm that may come from it. The minor may also be held responsible for his or her own actions, but the legal burden is upon the parents. 

If you are seeking an attorney to help you with a wrongful death lawsuit, allow me to first offer my deepest condolences for your loss. During this time of mourning, the pain of your loss is heightened by the conviction that it could have been avoided. 

As an experienced Florida personal injury attorney with extensive experience helping clients recover compensation for injury and death, I can help you through this difficult time, respectfully and gently collecting from you the information I need while at the same time aggressively and persistently demanding justice from those whose negligence caused the death of your loved one.

When can you sue for a wrongful death?

Contact Information