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Passenger Injuries in Orlando Car Accidents

Passenger Injuries in a Florida Car Accident: What Are My Rights

Passenger injuries in a car accident may cause major physical pain, emotional stress, and monetary loss to you and your family. They can disrupt the normal flow of your personal and professional life. This is especially true if your injuries prevent you from working in full capacity or if you spent a significant sum on medical expenses.

Whether your injuries are major or minor, you should be aware of your legal rights as an injured party. Find out what your rights are in case you sustained passenger injuries in vehicular accidents. Learn how you can successfully file a personal injury claim with the assistance of a competent accident lawyer in Florida.

How Are Passenger Injuries in a Car Accident Legally Classified?

A passenger injury is considered a form of personal injury. A personal injury describes all types of damage that negatively affects the physical, mental, emotional, or social condition of a person. It is sustained because of the intentional or unintentional action or non-action of an individual or organization.

Passenger injuries are classified under personal injuries which cause bodily harm. The American Bar Association considers automobile accidents as one of the most common circumstances when most personal injury actions occur.

Aside from vehicular accidents, other situations that also lead to personal injuries with bodily harm include workplace accidents and product defect accidents.

Passenger Injuries in Orlando Car Accident

What Are Your Rights if You Sustained Passenger Injuries in a Car Accident?

You must familiarize yourself with your legal rights in case you became injured because of an automobile accident. These are your rights as an injured party:

1. You Have the Right to File a Personal Injury Claim

You have the option to file a personal injury claim in case you got hurt because of a car accident. The personal injury claim is categorized under civil law. Personal injury law is also called tort law.

The goal of this legal claim is to hold the culpable party responsible for the personal injury sustained by a person. It aims to require the culpable party to provide fair financial compensation to the injured party through a direct payment or insurance payment.

Take note that three grounds allow you to file a personal injury claim:

Negligence

Negligence is one of the most frequent reasons behind personal injury claims. It is rooted in the failure of an individual or organization to exercise the normal amount of caution on the road. The negligence of the culpable party may lead to bodily harm or non-bodily harm of the injured party.

According to the Cornell Law School, some examples of negligence by drivers that could result in passenger injuries are speeding, distracted driving, and ignoring pedestrian lanes.

Intentional Wrongs

Intentional wrongs refer to the intentional actions of a person or company which may cause vehicular accidents. These include the willful refusal of drivers to follow the traffic rules and regulations and driving through private property without permission.

Strict Liability

Strict liability describes the intentional or unintentional acts of an individual or organization that brings physical or emotional harm to others. An example of strict liability is a product defect in a vehicle that may lead to an automobile accident. The manufacturer of the car may be held liable for passenger injuries even if the company did not intend for the product malfunction to occur.

2. You Have the Right to Receive Compensation for Your Passenger Injuries

It is your right to be provided with the proper compensation if you become injured because of a vehicular accident. If your injury claim is successful, these are the three types of compensation that you may receive:

Lost Income

You may be offered financial compensation for lost income in case your injuries prevent you from working during a particular time frame. You and your lawyer can use HR data and pay slips to prove that you have experienced a loss of income because of the car accident.

Medical Expenses

You could receive a certain amount to cover the medical expenses that you incurred during the treatment of your passenger injuries. Some examples of healthcare costs are hospitalization bills, rehabilitation treatments, lab tests, and professional fees of physicians or surgeons.

Non-Economic Damages

You may request non-economic damages which do not have a predetermined value. It is advisable to request the help of a personal injury lawyer in Florida to prove the legitimacy of these damages because receipts, bills, and other documents do not typically support their existence.

3. You Have the Right to Settle Your Case

You have the option of settling your personal injury case if you prefer. If you settle a case, you are agreeing to receive money in exchange for dropping the case against the culpable party. You will be required to sign a release document that frees the other party from further liability.

There are two main reasons which could motivate you to settle your case:

You and your lawyer believe that the offer from the culpable party is reasonable.
You and your attorney have assessed that there is a small chance that your personal injury claim will be successful because of the lack of evidence.

Keep in mind that the final choice to accept a settlement offer is up to you, not your lawyer.

Contact the Law Offices of Pardy & Rodriguez to Maximize Compensation for Passenger Injuries in a Car Accident

Passenger injuries can harm your life. Do your best to exert efforts so you can start recouping your losses. Nevertheless, you do not need to fight the legal battle on your own, whether you plan to pursue the personal injury claim or settle the case.

Connect with an accident lawyer in Florida who can thoroughly explain your rights as an injured party. The Law Offices of Pardy & Rodriguez can make it possible for you to receive fair compensation for the injuries you sustained. Our skilled legal team is experienced in handling personal injury cases involving automobile accidents.