When a vehicle hits you while walking, you could and most likely will sustain catastrophic injuries. You could also lose a loved one in a pedestrian accident. Negligent drivers hit pedestrians many times per day across the United States, and Brooksville is no exception.
Dealing with severe or catastrophic injuries or the loss of a loved one is often overwhelming, and the last thing you want to do is argue with an insurance company to recover the compensation you deserve. Instead, you should be concentrating on recovering or handling your loved one's final affairs.
Holliday Karatinos Law Firm in Brooksville can recover the compensation you deserve and make sure the insurance company doesn't violate your rights. Contact Brooksville Pedestrian Accident Lawyer for your free case evaluation.
Why Choose Holliday Karatinos in Brooksville
Our Brooksville law firm is conveniently located in North Tampa. We serve Lutz, Spring Hill, New Port Richey, and Inverness. We also handle pedestrian accident injuries in Hillsborough, Citrus, Pasco, and Hernando Counties.
James Holliday was named "Best Attorney" for Lifetime Charter Members in Florida after going through an extensive screening process. Less than one percent of the attorneys in America receive an invitation. He was also selected as one of America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigators and is a lifetime member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
Ted Karantinos is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and has been published in several publications, including The Florida Bar Journal, The Federal Lawyer, and Barrister Magazine.
Recovering Compensation After a Brooksville Pedestrian Accident
After a pedestrian accident, you could recover two types of damages: Compensatory damages and punitive damages. Compensatory damages have two categories: Economic damages and non-economic damages. Most people recover economic damages after a pedestrian accident. However, in most cases, only those who lost a loved one or suffered long-term or permanent injuries can recover non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Sometimes referred to as special damages, economic damages have a monetary value. Most people recover economic damages, including the following:
Medical Expenses
- Doctors' appointments.
- Surgeries and follow-up appointments.
- Prescriptions and prescribed over-the-counter medications.
- Ambulatory aids.
- Medical equipment, such as oxygen tanks.
- Physical therapy appointments.
- Psychological therapy appointments.
- Cognitive therapy appointments.
- Occupational therapy appointments.
- Accessibility accessories for your car, including but not limited to hand controls and wheelchair lifts and ramps.
- Accessibility accessories for your home, including but not limited to handrails, grab bars, wheelchair ramps, and widened doorways.
Lost Income
Many pedestrian accident injuries could keep you out of work for several months. You can recover lost income for the days that you cannot work due to pedestrian accident injuries. Some injuries cause long-term or permanent disabilities. If your doctor believes you will never fully recover from your pedestrian accident injuries, you could recover compensation for loss of future earning capacity.
Additionally, you could recover loss of partial future earning capacity if your disabilities prevent you from returning to work full-time or force you to take a position that pays less than the job you had prior to the accident.
In all cases, you could recover compensation to compensate for lost earning capacity through the time you would usually retire.
Personal Property
You can recover compensation for personal property that is damaged or destroyed in a pedestrian accident.
Death-Related Expenses
If you lost a loved one in a Florida pedestrian accident, you could recover:
- Funeral expenses.
- Burial expenses.
- Cremation expenses.
- Certain probate court fees.
- Probate attorney's fees and costs.
Non-Economic Damages
Sometimes referred to as general damages, non-economic damages do not have a monetary value.
In most cases, only those who lost a loved one or suffered long-term or permanent disabilities in a Florida pedestrian accident can recover non-economic damages, including:
- Pain and suffering, including emotional distress.
- Loss of quality of life if you have to make life-long changes, such as using ambulatory aids or taking prescription drugs.
- Loss of consortium if you can no longer have a physical relationship with your spouse.
- Loss of companionship if you can no longer enjoy time with your family or attend family activities and events.
- Loss of use of a body part, such as a hand or leg.
- Loss of use of a bodily function, such as your eyesight or bladder function.
- Amputation of a digit or limb.
- Inconvenience if you have to hire someone to do the chores you usually do, including but not limited to lawn maintenance, grocery shopping, home repair and maintenance, and house cleaning.
- Excessive scarring and/or disfigurement.
Punitive Damages
If you can prove the at-fault driver's actions or inactions were grossly negligent, you could recover punitive damages. Unlike compensatory damages, which the court orders in an attempt to make you whole again, it orders a defendant to pay punitive damages as a punishment for grossly negligent or intentional behavior.
You may decide it’s worth the time to recover punitive damages if you lost a loved one or suffered catastrophic injuries in a Brooksville pedestrian accident.
Types and Causes of Pedestrian Accidents in Florida
Pedestrians can suffer injuries from all types of accidents, including head-on wrecks, rear-end crashes, sideswipe accidents, rollover accidents, and even multi-car pile ups.
While most pedestrians suffer injuries when a vehicle hits them while crossing the road or walking on the side of a road, vehicles often hit pedestrians on sidewalks and in crosswalks.
A pedestrian could also suffer injuries if a car-to-car vehicle happens and the force of the accident pushes a vehicle into a pedestrian who cannot get out of the way fast enough.
A driver could hit a pedestrian if the driver is:
- Fatigued or drowsy.
- Driving under the influence.
- Speeding.
- Driving while distracted.
- Driving recklessly or aggressively.
Additionally, a driver might cause an accident with a pedestrian if the driver is:
- Driving a vehicle that is not well-maintained.
- Driving on roads that are poorly maintained.
- Driving too fast for conditions, such as in the driving rain or with the sun in the driver's face.
Types of Pedestrian Accident Injuries
Injuries you could sustain in a Florida pedestrian accident include:
- Cuts, scrapes, bruises, bumps, and scratches.
- Strains and sprains.
- Pulled and torn muscles and other soft tissue injuries.
- Simple and compound fractures.
- Crushed bones and other crush injuries.
- Head, neck, and shoulder injuries.
- Face and eye injuries.
- Traumatic brain injuries.
- Internal injuries.
- Road rash.
- Chemical and thermal burns.
- Back and spinal cord injuries.
- Ear injuries, including deafness, if the accident causes an explosion.
If you have a compromised immune system or an immunodeficiency disease, it is easier for you to be affected by secondary injuries, such as infections, especially while you are in the hospital. The defendant is responsible for any secondary injuries you sustain in addition to the injuries you sustained in the pedestrian accident.
Finally, your accident injuries could exacerbate existing injuries or illnesses. Since you would not have had the extra pain, suffering, and medical expenses for the pre-existing conditions, the defendant is responsible for the additional financial losses and pain you will suffer.
Additionally, insurance companies employ many tactics to deny a claim or offer you a pittance, including:
- Twisting what you say to place the blame on you instead of the at-fault driver.
- Delaying your claim, causing you to miss deadlines.
- Delaying your claim so much that you'll forget about it.
- Telling you that its client is at fault, but "we can only pay this much." This is almost always a lie.
- Ghosting you in the hopes that you will get tired of waiting and forget about your claim.
Insurance companies use these and many other tactics, so they won't have to pay you, especially for claims that might be worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
Furthermore, insurance companies know you are hurting for money since you can't work. They'll insist on offering a low amount, hoping you'll take it. Once you sign a release, you can't go back and collect more money if the settlement you agreed to doesn't cover your medical expenses, never mind the other losses you deserve.
When you work with a Florida pedestrian accident firm, the lawyers work hard to ensure you recover the compensation you deserve – not what the insurance company wants to pay.
What to Do After a Florida Pedestrian Accident
After obtaining medical attention, retain a pedestrian accident lawyer as soon as possible. Florida has a statute of limitations that prevents you from taking legal action after a certain amount of time. The time you have to file a case depends on several factors. Your pedestrian accident lawyer will let you know how much time you have – and that time goes by fast.
We may investigate the accident by visiting the scene or may have to wait for doctors and other professionals to write their reports to prove your injuries, especially catastrophic injuries. We may have to take several other steps, including interviewing witnesses. All of this takes time.
After a Florida pedestrian accident, you may not be able to help your attorneys. However, if possible, or if a loved one can help, you can take several steps to help your case, including obtaining a copy of your police report and medical records. If you have trouble obtaining this evidence, let your attorney know so the firm can help you obtain this pertinent information.
Keeping a journal helps your case. As soon as possible, document everything you remember about the accident. Also, document when you went to doctors' appointments and therapy appointments and what you discussed.
Make sure you keep your pedestrian accident lawyer at Holliday Karatinos Law Firm updated with your journal – forward a copy of the new entries on a weekly basis. While your attorney can't use it in court, it helps your attorney create a strategy to help recover a fair and reasonable settlement or win a trial award.
Additionally, always keep every doctor's appointment and therapy appointment unless it's an emergency. The defendant's attorneys will argue that your injuries are not as bad as you claim if you miss even one appointment unless you can show a good reason for skipping the appointment.
Finally, never post anything on social media, including information and pictures of the accident. Even if you have your profile locked down, keep all of your activities off of social media.
You might be out for an innocent dinner with your family, but the insurance company could troll and hack your profiles and use that to say your injuries are not as bad as you claim. Additionally, someone on your friends list could work for or know someone who works for the insurance company and could tip the insurance company off that your injuries are not as bad as you claim.
Contact a Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in Brooksville, FL
You might be reluctant to retain a pedestrian accident lawyer because you have enough trouble putting food on the table and paying bills. Our initial case evaluations are always free and without obligation. Furthermore, we work on a contingency basis. If you don't win your case, we don't get paid our fees.
Insurance companies will also tell you that if you retain an attorney, the attorney takes a chunk of your settlement. What they don't tell you is that we figure all of your hard costs, such as attorney's fees and medical expenses, into the settlement amount that the defendant pays. They also won’t tell you that in most cases, even after you pay a personal injury lawyer in Brooksville, you will recover more money than the insurance company would have otherwise paid you.
If you suffered injuries or lost a loved one in a pedestrian accident in Brooksville, contact Holliday Karatinos Law Firm at (352) 597-0009 today for your free case evaluation.
