Minor Car Accident Lawyers
The latest Traffic Crash Report issued by the FLHSMV shows Florida has a staggering 17,077,316 licensed drivers and more than 400,000 vehicle crashes occurring within the year. This accounts for almost 1,100 crashes occurring each and every day across the state. Many thousands of these are low-impact car accidents. Most drivers will experience a minor fender-bender at some point in their driving career, but many of these incidents go unreported because a small scratch or dent is deemed no great concern.
However small a damage may appear, they can often create underlying issues that can result in major repairs. A fender bender can wreak havoc on various components that might take weeks or months to fully materialize.
Beyond the costs of your vehicle are the “human costs” of the accident. These include possible injuries that might not be noticed during the stressful event surrounding a collision. Soft tissue injuries are some of the worst we help clients with because these types of injuries do not always show up on an X-ray or MRI and yet, they can cause tremendous and ongoing pain. The position with which you are sitting in the vehicle, or looking out the window, or even holding the steering wheel can all be deciding factors in the severity of your injuries. When a vehicle is struck, even at slow speeds, the force of thousands of pounds-worth of cars impacting each other is transmitted through the vehicles and into your body. Many injuries can take time to be fully realized, which makes getting medically checked out after a car accident vital. Worse maybe than physical pain is the pain of loss of an ability, whereby the accident’s injuries have left you unable to do an activity you once loved, or even to perform the functions necessary to do your job.
Providing expert legal counsel for minor car accident victims is a top practice area for our firm. If you’ve been involved in a minor car accident, contact us however is convenient – call, chat, email, or in-person – and let us handle the entire process of fighting for the compensation you deserve.
Making a Claim After a Fender Bender
When you are involved in an accident, you have the “duty to give information and render aid” says Florida Statute 316.062. The law dictates that any person that is involved in a vehicular crash that results in injury, death, or even just damage, is required to give their information – things like name, address, registration, and license to drive. The information can be given to the parties that were injured or had their property damaged as a result of the crash, or to an officer, if present. However, the law goes further to say that if these parties are not in a condition to receive the information or if a law enforcement officer is not able to be on-scene, it is the driver’s responsibility to self-report the incident to the nearest police station.
When an officer is on the scene, Florida Statutes 316.066 specifies how and when a Florida Traffic Crash Report should be filed after an accident. Accidents can fall into either a long-form or short-form requirement. The long form is completed when:
- There’s been a death or injury, or even simply complaints of injury;
- There was a hit and run (and other violations of Florida Statute 316.061) or some form of D.U.I. (and other violations of Florida Statute 316.193);
- A vehicle was immobilized and a tow vehicle had to remove it from the scene;
- The vehicle was a commercial motor vehicle such as a semi-tractor trailer.
It is very important after a crash to call the police and have a crash report filed. Even when injuries and damages appear minor, a crash report is a solid information source from which our skilled and experienced minor car accident lawyers can begin to build your case. When injuries appear weeks later, it can be a simple bending over that finally causes a herniated disk to inflict permanent nerve damage. In your car, a right turn may be all it takes to cause a tie-rod damaged by the accident to fail and you suddenly lose steering. Florida is a No-Fault state, meaning it doesn’t matter who’s at fault in an accident, the parties’ insurance companies cover the losses. However, when damages are above what the insurance company is willing to provide, the law permits action to be taken against the at-fault driver.
Remember, after an accident, call the police, get a copy of the crash report, immediately see a doctor, and document any damages. To make certain your vehicle is safe to drive after a crash, a mechanic can help spot any issues that might present themselves. When you’ve been involved in an accident it is your absolute right to seek fair and just compensation. Our firm has both the resources and experience to handle even the most complex vehicle accident cases. Our experience gets put to work in helping you seek the maximum compensation for your losses.
A Minor Car Accident Law Firm You Can Trust
Having your bumper run into in the parking lot at Costco might seem like a minor inconvenience at the time but even small cosmetic damages can be the beginning of much larger problems for your vehicle, or even for your health. Rather than having to focus on filing insurance paperwork, handling negotiations with claims adjusters, getting your vehicle back online, and the myriad other tasks that suddenly become urgent after a crash, a trusted fender bender lawyer takes the burden off your shoulders so you can focus on getting things back to normal in your life.
At Farah and Farah, our relationship with our clients is everything. Our team will focus all of their attention and energy on you – on coming alongside and supporting you during the process and seeking the maximum compensation you deserve under the law for your injuries and damages as a result of a car crash. We absolutely understand how stressful this process is and so pride ourselves on listening first and then preparing the perfect case plan together to move your case towards settlement. We’re here all day, every day to answer any questions and walk you through what the process looks like.
When you’ve been in a minor car accident, our firm stands ready to help you navigate the road to getting whole. Get in contact for a free legal consultation regarding your minor car accident today.
