Whether it happens at highway speeds, while you are completely stopped at a stop light or sign, or at any speed in between, getting rear-ended is an intensely jarring and potentially dangerous experience. Even minor injuries like whiplash can linger for weeks and substantially interfere with your personal and professional life. More serious injuries can lead to financial and personal losses lasting for months, years, or even decades.
Because of how Florida state law approaches car accident litigation, recovering fairly for every form of harm you suffered through a rear-end car accident in Clearwater can be more difficult than you might expect. Fortunately, you have help available from dedicated car accident lawyers with a long track record of helping people just like you get positive results. Call Perenich Law Injury Attorneys to learn more.
Common Causes of Rear-End Accidents
A rear-end accident can have many different causes. It is usually associated with a driver’s behavior, but other factors, such as dangerous road conditions or equipment issues, can also lead to a rear-end crash.
The driver rear-ending someone can be responsible because of their own mistakes. They could be driving recklessly, such as road raging or tailgating, or they could be impaired by fatigue, drugs, or alcohol. A driver rear-ending another could also just be distracted, such as by texting while driving or adjusting the radio.
In terms of road conditions, slippery road surfaces from rain or ice can cause one car to slide into another, especially at higher speeds. Low visibility, such as foggy, rainy, and stormy conditions, can also increase the risk of a rear-end collision if one driver cannot see another car stopped or slowing down.
Faulty or poorly maintained car equipment can also cause an accident. Brake failure can let one car roll into another even if a driver acts in time, and other defective parts can distract a driver or cause them to lose control before hitting another car.
While any of these circumstances could result in a rear-end car crash in Clearwater, you might not know exactly what happened in the initial aftermath of your wreck. Any one of us at Perenich Law Injury Attorneys could help you understand what caused a particular accident and gather evidence to help your case.
What Damages Could Be Recoverable?
The first step in the recovery process after a rear-end car wreck in Clearwater is filing a claim under your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage within your car insurance policy. After that, your right to go outside the no-fault system and file suit may depend on how serious your injuries are and how long those injuries are expected to last.
If you have grounds to file suit, you can demand compensation for various losses your insurance policy did not cover. On the economic side of things, this typically means recovering in advance for the estimated costs of future medical care that you will need for your accident-related injuries, as well as things like:
- Lost earning capacity
- Personal property damage
- Out-of-pocket costs for disability assistance
What may be more important, though, are the non-economic damages that a comprehensive claim can factor in; not just physical pain but also:
- Lost consortium
- Emotional distress
- Lost enjoyment of life
- Effects of psychological conditions like PTSD
A qualified legal professional could go into further detail about your potentially compensable losses during a private initial meeting.
What Might be Your Payout for a Rear-End Accident Claim?
Every rear-end collision has its own circumstances and complications, such as the cause and possible damages. Your specific case will have a unique value based on those factors and who might be at fault. Whether insurance covers all of your damages can also determine a claim’s worth in court or through a settlement.
Most importantly, the severity of loss—whether injury, death, or property damage—will affect the payout from an accident claim. Some accidents result in hundreds of thousands of dollars because of extensive medical costs, property damage, and pain and suffering. Others may only have values in the thousands of dollars if injuries are minor and the accident does not severely damage the vehicle.
In some cases, a rear-end crash lawsuit can also lead to punitive damages, which are added to other types of damages to punish or deter especially dangerous behavior. In Florida, only intentional misconduct or gross negligence—actions with reckless disregard for life—can lead to punitive damages, and those damages are capped by Florida Statutes § 768.73 at the greater of $500,000 or three times your other damages.
Our Clearwater attorneys could value your rear-end accident claim based on the specific facts of your case, your injuries, and the behavior of responsible parties. Our goal at Perenich Law Injury Attorneys is to give you the one-on-one attention you need to file your claim and take care of you and your loved ones.
Who Is At Fault if You Get Rear-Ended in Florida?
No one can recover civil compensation for any type of injury unless they can prove someone else is at fault for causing that injury—and cases based on rear-end car collisions in Clearwater are no exception. These claims can be more complicated than many might think since courts do not automatically assume that the rearmost driver is always to blame for a backside crash.
For instance, if someone slams on their brakes suddenly because they missed an exit, they would likely hold some or even most of the blame for someone rear-ending them. This is a big reason why working with seasoned legal counsel to build a strong claim could be crucial to maximizing available recovery.
Talk to a Clearwater Attorney About a Possible Rear-End Car Accident Claim
No one deserves to get hurt because another driver acted irresponsibly behind the wheel. Unfortunately, that exact type of behavior leads to far too many rear-end car accidents in Clearwater every single year, many of which have devastating and even life-altering repercussions.
You have rights after getting injured in a crash like this, and retaining skilled legal representation could be essential to enforcing those rights effectively. Call Perenich Law Injury Attorneys today to learn more about how our team of three brothers helping others could help you.
(727) 669-2828