Distracted driving, especially texting while driving, can cause serious vehicular accidents. Drivers must have full attention on the road to safely operate their vehicles.
If you were injured in a texting while driving car accident in Jacksonville, you deserve compensation from the reckless driver. An experienced attorney like Millicent Daniels at the Daniels Law Firm can explain your legal options and fight for your rights.
Florida Statute §316.305 bans drivers from inputting or reading text messages on their wireless communication devices while operating their vehicles. The law establishes that texting while driving is a traffic infraction, although it is legal for people to use their phones in hands-free mode.
Law enforcement personnel cannot confiscate a driver’s phone to look for evidence of texting without a warrant. However, when a vehicle accident results in death or injury, they could obtain the right to examine a cell phone’s billing records or elicit testimony from a cell phone company employee to establish that a driver was texting immediately before an accident.
When a driver was texting when they got into an accident with you, it might seem obvious that they are responsible for the wreck and obligated to pay you for your losses. However, you and your Jacksonville lawyer must prove that someone else was texting while driving and negligently caused the car crash.
Under Florida’s “pure comparative negligence” system, the court will also evaluate your actions leading up to the crash. If the court believes you were partially responsible for a crash, you can only recover the percentage of damages attributed to the other driver(s). For example, if you are found 30 percent at fault, you can only recover 70 percent of the available damages. Our knowledgeable attorney can further explain this concept after a texting while driving collision in Jacksonville.
Additionally, Florida requires all drivers to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP). Their PIP will pay 80 percent of their medical costs up to the coverage limits. You can bring a legal claim for compensation if your PIP is inadequate to cover your injuries.
In some cases, you might receive punitive damages. Your lawyer must prove that the texting driver acted intentionally to cause harm or was grossly negligent. The circumstances surrounding the wreck will determine whether punitive damages might be awarded in a particular case.
After a car wreck, you could hold the other driver accountable by proving that they were negligent. Negligence is a failure to observe a level of care that a reasonable person would employ in similar circumstances.
Proving negligence requires you and your local attorney to demonstrate that the other driver had a duty to keep their attention on the road and violated that duty by texting while driving. You must also show that the driver’s divided attention caused the accident that led to your injury. Finally, you must show that you suffered actual harm because of your injury.
Depending on the circumstances, our legal team might prove that the texting caused the accident. Alternatively, we might argue that the driver made another error that caused the accident, and the other error resulted from their distraction. If the texting driver is proven negligent, they are responsible for paying the damages of anyone they harmed through their negligence.
After a car accident, representatives from other drivers’ insurance companies might attempt to contact you under the false pretense of offering a settlement. The insurance company representatives will use anything you say or do to diminish the value of your claim.
Consult a skilled Jacksonville attorney like Millicent Daniels as soon as possible after a collision with a texting driver. She can handle communication with the insurance companies involved and prevent you from making statements that could hurt your case. Legal counsel also has a more accurate sense of your damages and can ensure that any settlement they offer is fair.
Insurance companies and their attorneys work aggressively to limit their payouts to injured people. You need a dedicated legal ally who will be just as aggressive in seeking appropriate compensation for your injuries.
Protect your interests after a texting while driving car accident in Jacksonville. Contact the Daniels Law Firm right away.
Millicent Daniels the Peoples Attorney
