Vero Beach Pedestrian Accident Claims
With countless options for shopping and dining and abundant access to beaches, parks, arts and culture, Vero Beach is a great walkable city. Unfortunately, the increased use of smart phones, in-vehicle navigation/infotainment display screens, and social media activity has led to more distracted driving and more pedestrian accidents. As a dedicated Vero Beach pedestrian accident attorney, personal injury lawyer Keith Bregoff knows how to prove the driver’s negligence and fault in a pedestrian accident and recover the significant compensation needed to deal with the tragic after-effects of a pedestrian crash.
Your No-Fault Auto Insurance Protects You in a Pedestrian Accident
If you aren’t intimately familiar with your no-fault auto insurance policy, it may not even occur to you that no-fault benefits may be available to you when you are injured as a pedestrian. However, Florida’s no-fault insurance law was specifically written to cover individuals injured in pedestrian accidents. Florida Statutes 627.736 states that insurance policies must provide “personal injury protection to the named insured, relatives residing in the same household, persons operating the insured motor vehicle, passengers in the motor vehicle, and other persons struck by the motor vehicle and suffering bodily injury while not an occupant of a self-propelled vehicle…” This means that you can make a no-fault insurance claim after being hit by a car without regard to who was at fault in causing the accident.
What No-Fault Insurance Covers, and What it Doesn’t
No-fault insurance may seem attractive at first, but it never fully compensates you for your claims. First, no-fault benefits only pay 80% of your reasonable and medically necessary medical expenses, and they only pay 60% of your lost income for time you missed work or if your earning capacity has been diminished by disability.
Second, these benefits are capped at $10,000, and that’s only if you received initial services and care within 14 days of the accident for an “emergency medical condition,” which is defined under the law as:
“a medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity, which may include severe pain, such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in any of the following:
- Serious jeopardy to patient health
- Serious impairment to bodily functions
- Serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part”
If your injuries did not meet this requirement, you are limited to receiving at most $2,500 from your no-fault insurance policy.
In the event a pedestrian accident resulted in the death of the accident victim, surviving family members can receive a one-time payment of $5,000 to compensate them for the loss of their loved one.
Our Pedestrian Accident Attorney can Help in Cases of Serious Injury or Wrongful Death
Florida law does allow certain accident victims to step outside of the no-fault system and pursue a negligence claim against the driver who hit them. In these cases, the negligent driver’s insurance company could be liable to you for the full amount of your medical expenses and the full amount of your lost income, as well as compensation for pain, suffering, mental anguish and other damages typically associated with a serious pedestrian accident. These civil tort lawsuits are only available if the accident resulted in one of the following:
- Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function
- Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement
- Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement
- Death
Sadly, a pedestrian accident is more likely than not to result in one of the above conditions in a majority of cases. If this occurs, Vero Beach pedestrian accident attorney Keith Bregoff can help you by putting together a strong case that proves the driver’s liability to you for the full amount of your damages. The Law Offices of Keith Bregoff will negotiate a full and fair settlement with the insurance company on your behalf or take your case to a jury trial if the insurance company isn’t playing fair.
Attorney Keith Bregoff is Here for You after a Vero Beach Pedestrian Accident
If you or a loved one has been injured in a Vero Beach pedestrian accident, contact The Law Offices of Keith Bregoff PA at 772-492-8967 for a free consultation and immediate assistance getting the compensation you need and deserve after being hurt by another’s negligence.
Our personal injury attorney in Vero Beach, Florida handles cases in the following practice areas:
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