Sarasota is a beautiful seaside city, humming with exciting cultural scenes, powder-fine beaches, and lots of friendly folks. But the bustling thoroughfares of Fruitville, Bee Ridge, Clark, and Proctor Road, as well as Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41), are no stranger to the sudden crunch of colliding vehicles.
Distraction, impairment, fatigue, and inexperience – all these play a role in Sarasota car accidents.
If you’re injured in a crash, our dedicated Sarasota personal injury lawyers can help you investigate the incident, identify all defendants, file claims for damages, and, if necessary, pursue litigation.
Contact our firm today to get started with a free consultation.
Why Choose Garvin Injury Law?
You’ll almost certainly need to go up against a powerful insurance company to recover compensation after a car accident in Sarasota, FL. Garvin Injury Law is one of the most successful personal injury law firms in Southwest Florida and has recovered millions of dollars for our deserving clients to date.
A few reasons to consider hiring us include:
- You will have a team of experienced Sarasota car accident attorneys working to recover the maximum possible compensation for you.
- Our car accident injury lawyers have over forty years of experience protecting the rights of Florida car accident injury victims and their families.
- We genuinely care about you and helping you move forward and thrive after your car accident.
- Our legal team will keep you updated on your case every step of the way. You will never have to wonder what is going on with your case.
- Our Sarasota car accident lawyers are excellent negotiators who can help resolve your case fairly as quickly as possible.
Learn more about your legal rights and options by contacting us today to schedule a free consultation.
Why Should I Hire a Sarasota Car Accident Lawyer to File My Claim?
Being represented by an experienced Sarasota accident attorney can make a tremendous difference in the outcome of your case. Your chances of recovering maximum compensation are significantly greater when a skilled car accident injury lawyer protects your rights and holds the at-fault parties responsible for paying your damages.
A good Sarasota car accident attorney will carefully investigate your accident to help determine its causes and the liable parties. They will dig deep to find and collect evidence to support your claim and work hard to build your strongest case.
Most car accident lawyers in Sarasota are excellent negotiators who can help resolve your case as quickly as possible. They can also take your case to trial if a fair settlement is not reached.
Insurance companies and defense attorneys will work hard to deny or devalue your claim. Don’t face this challenge without the help of an experienced Sarasota car and truck accident lawyer by your side.
For more than 50 years, our firm has been dedicated to the mental, physical, and financial recovery of our clients here in Florida after a car crash, physical injury, or wrongful death.
From our office in Sarasota all the way to Key West you can be assured that if you hire our firm of dedicated professionals that you will be much more than a number and that we will do our best to represent you as if it was our own family member who had the unfortunate fortune of being injured in a Sarasota car accident.
Understanding No-Fault Laws in a Sarasota Car Accident Claim
Florida follows a no-fault car insurance system. After a crash, you usually turn to your own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage first, regardless of who caused the accident. PIP can help pay for medical bills and part of your lost wages without needing to prove fault.
While no-fault laws are meant to speed up payments, they also limit when you can file a claim against the at-fault driver. In most cases, you can only step outside the no-fault system if your injuries meet Florida’s “serious injury” threshold. This includes permanent disability, significant scarring or disfigurement, or the loss of an important bodily function.
If your case qualifies, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against the other driver to recover damages not covered by PIP, including pain and suffering. Our Sarasota car accident lawyers can review the facts and circumstances of your crash to determine the best way to move forward.
What Is Modified Comparative Negligence?
If you are eligible to bring a claim against the at-fault driver for full economic and non-economic damages, Florida’s modified comparative negligence law can affect the amount you recover. Under this rule, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault for the accident. If you are found more than 50% responsible, you cannot recover anything from the other driver.
For example, if you are awarded $500,000 in damages but are found 10% at fault, your award would be reduced to $450,000. This makes it especially important to have strong evidence on your side, as insurance companies often try to assign as much blame to you as possible to limit what they have to pay.
Our car accident lawyers in Sarasota, Florida, will work hard to protect you from accusations of contributory fault so that you can maintain the full value of your claim.
Steps To Take After a Sarasota Car Accident
The moments after a car accident can be chaotic, but what you do can impact your ability to recover compensation. If you are able, you should:
- Call 911 and ensure a police report is created
- Seek medical attention immediately, even if your injuries seem minor
- Exchange contact and insurance information with all drivers involved
- Take photographs of the accident scene, vehicle damage, and any visible injuries
- Get contact details from witnesses
- Avoid admitting fault or making statements that could be used against you
- Contact a Sarasota car accident lawyer as soon as possible
At Garvin Injury Law, we know how to preserve critical evidence and move quickly to protect your claim. The sooner you reach out to us, the better positioned we will be to build a strong case on your behalf.
How Do Most Sarasota Car Accidents Happen?
The number of motorists on our roads has increased dramatically in the last decade, as has the number of accidents.
Sarasota car accidents have numerous causes. Some of the most common include:
- Distracted driving
- Drunk or drugged driving
- Drowsy or fatigued driving
- Aggressive driving
- Speeding
- Tailgating
- Rubbernecking
- Negligently maintained roads
- Dangerously designed roads
- Malfunctioning traffic signals
- Defective vehicle equipment
- Negligently maintained or repaired vehicles
Determining the cause of your accident is essential to your claim. Our attorneys know how to carefully investigate accidents to determine causation and liability and to help build your case.
What Injuries Are Most Common in Sarasota Car Accidents?
Sarasota car accident injuries vary from minor bumps and scrapes to life-altering injuries.
Some common injuries that occur in Sarasota car accidents include:
Traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, severed limbs, organ damage, and internal bleeding.
Other injuries that occur in Sarasota car accidents include neck and back injuries, facial fractures, broken and crushed bones, burns, scarring and disfigurement, strains, sprains, and bruises.
When not necessarily fatal, a car accident can leave injury victims needing long-term medical care and with disabilities and chronic pain. Many also suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues.
It is essential that your attorney help ensure that all your damages are included and adequately calculated.
What Type of Compensation Can I Get For My Sarasota Car Accident Injuries?
In a successful Sarasota car accident injury claim, you may be able to recover economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages may include current and future medical expenses, current and future lost wages, property damage, and other costs incurred because of your accident.
Non-economic damages may include mental and emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, scarring, permanent disability, and other intangible losses. They are more difficult to quantify but can be even more devastating than economic damages.
If a defendant’s conduct is especially egregious, you may be able to recover punitive damages. However, an award of punitive damages is rare. Florida law only permits them when the defendant is guilty of intentional misconduct or gross negligence.
Our Sarasota car accident lawyers work tirelessly to recover all available damages to maximize your compensation.
Sarasota Car Accident Statistics
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office handles the majority of crash case investigations in the county. According to data from a single recent year, there was a rough total of:
- 11,000 reported car accidents
- 900 DUI-related crashes
- 60+ traffic deaths
Motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians make up a disproportionate percentage of Sarasota traffic deaths. Nearly 1,400 crashes involved hit-and-run drivers, resulting in 300 injuries and 2 deaths. In these tragic cases, our Sarasota wrongful death attorneys can help the families of victims.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports that there are an average of 3,310 car accident injuries in Sarasota each year.
The National Safety Council reports that while crashes between two or more vehicles (as opposed to a single vehicle and a fixed object) account for less than half of the total, they’re cited in 80 percent of injuries.
Avenues of Compensation in Sarasota Crash Cases
Florida (for now) is one of the few remaining no-fault states when it comes to car accidents.
What that means is pursuant to F.S. 627.736, all state-registered vehicles must be insured with personal injury protection (PIP). This provides up to $10,000 in coverage for the insured for medical bills (up to 80 percent) and lost wages (up to 60 percent) related to the crash, regardless of fault.
But “no-fault” doesn’t mean no one can be at fault for the crash or that you can’t pursue damages from the negligent driver. It just means that it’s likely your own insurer that will pay the initial losses.
If you’re driving your own car from out-of-state, you might not even have PIP coverage. If you’re driving a motorcycle registered in Florida, you also won’t have PIP. Our experienced legal team can look carefully at the policies involved to determine where you should start.
Other types of insurance coverage that may apply in your case:
- Liability or Bodily Injury Liability Coverage. BI coverage is insurance vehicle owners/drivers purchase to cover the cost of someone else’s injury as a result of the insured’s negligence. Lots of drivers have BI coverage. However, unlike many states, Florida does not strictly require it except in some cases where the driver has a poor track record (DUIs, prior crashes, etc.). In lieu of BI coverage, drivers can sign a financial responsibility waiver attesting they have the personal assets to cover up to $10,000 for one person’s injuries and $20,000 to cover the injuries of two or more people.
- Property damage insurance. S. 342.022 requires drivers to carry a minimum of $10,000 in property damage liability coverage.
- Medical payment insurance. This is also called Med Pay. It’s similar to PIP in that it’s no-fault coverage for the cost of necessary medical treatments. Not many drivers in Florida carry this because it’s redundant with PIP and health insurance.
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage. This is a critical type of insurance for Florida drivers which kicks in when the at-fault driver doesn’t have insurance, hasn’t been located (hit-and-run) or lacks adequate insurance to cover the full extent of one’s losses. Considering 1 in 4 drivers in the Sunshine State is uninsured and 25 percent of crashes involve a hit-and-run, this kind of coverage is pivotal. Yet similar to BI, it’s not strictly required by the state. It does, however, come standard with most auto insurance policies, and insureds have to sign a written waiver foregoing
- Umbrella coverage. Sometimes referred to as excess coverage, this is usually carried by corporations or people of means with collectible assets. Umbrella coverage helps to further protect their assets in case the amount of damages in a car accident is higher than standard auto insurance policy limits.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of your options, and you may be limited to only a few of them. Every crash case is different. What doesn’t change is our commitment to our clients.
It’s important never to assume that just because you or the other driver has insurance, that actually obtaining a fair payout will be a breeze. Auto insurers are most concerned with their own bottom line.
Contact Our Car Accident Attorneys in Sarasota for a Free Consultation Today
Garvin Injury Law has been helping accident victims in Florida for decades, and we’ve recovered millions of dollars for our clients in the process.
As skilled Sarasota car accident lawyers, we’re dedicated to fighting for the best possible outcome on your behalf.
Contact us online or call (239) 277-0005 to get started with a free consultation.