Texting And Driving Accidents
Texting and driving is one of the most common—and most dangerous—types of distracted driving in the United States. Talking on a phone was unfortunately determined to be involved in 20% of crashes, or 1.1 million crashes in 2013. In addition, the NSC estimated that an additional 6% or more crashes, or a minimum of 341,000, of crashes in 2013 involved text messaging. Thus, a total of a minimum of 26% of crashes involve drivers talking and texting on cell phones. From these statistics alone, you can get a sense of how serious a problem mobile devices are for keeping our roads safe for all those who travel along them.
Hire an Attorney For Your Accident Claim
You do not deserve to be shouldered with the financial burden of an accident that you did not cause, especially if the other driver was texting while driving, or otherwise using their mobile device as a distraction. Fasig | Brooks has a history of successful cases and legal experience that can be a significant advantage to your own insurance claim as soon as possible. We know that you may be overwhelmed by the legal process you will need to go through in order to get the money you deserve, which is why we are here to take on that fight while you focus on your personal recovery.
Read more below about some information pertaining to texting and driving accidents, such as how fault is assigned and how we will calculate the money you actually deserve. Contact us now for a free initial consultation and case evaluation, where we will be able to speak in detail about your experience, your injuries, the accident, any actions that you have already taken, and then get an understanding of how it will feel to have our award-winning team by your side every step of the way.
What To Do After a Texting and Driving Accident
No two accidents are alike, which is why Fasig | Brooks works with each of our clients with a unique approach that is specifically tailored towards the support that they need, while we fight for the money they deserve. However, the following are a few general steps that you will want to consider after your own texting and driving accident, whether in Florida or anywhere else.
Call 911
After any accident, the most important thing is to make sure that you and everyone else at the scene gets the care that you need, which requires contacting 911 and alerting them to the crash. Once alerted, police, fire, and EMTs will be dispatched to the scene and be able to secure the area while mitigating any additional hazards and administering any emergency medical treatments. At this time, it is important to let the police officer know that the other driver was texting in the moments leading up to the crash.
Get Medical Care
Whether you take an ambulance to the emergency room or you are able to leave the accident on your own, you still need to see a doctor as soon as possible. The most obvious reason for this visit is to ensure that you get the care you need in order to recover, but it is equally important that you establish a record of your injuries so that we will be able to clearly connect them with the accident. Otherwise, the insurance company will attempt to question the relationship between an injury and the accident if there is no clear documentation.
Hire an Attorney
Many people believe that the first administrative step they should take after an accident is to file an insurance claim, but be aware that from the moment you initiate your claim, the insurance company will be looking for every excuse to reduce your settlement amount. When you have an attorney who can handle every interaction with the insurance company from the start, you can be confident that each communication will be done with legal experience and attention to detail in order to maximize your negotiation power.
Calculating Damages After a Texting and Driving Accident
As with any accident, we will need to establish that the other driver is at fault for the accident, which, in this case, will require that we prove that they were texting while driving. Once we have established fault in order to avoid your settlement being reduced according to comparative negligence, we will be able to initiate negotiations for both the economic and non-economic damages in your case.
Economic damages are the basis of our case, and include all of the financially-measurable impacts of your accident, including things like medical bills, lost wages, and other costs and losses that you have incurred as a result of the crash. Non-economic damages are more complicated to calculate, and are more likely to be contested by the insurance company as such; they include things like the actual pain and suffering that you have endured from your injuries, as well as any emotional trauma that the accident may have caused you.
While some damages may be easier to understand than others, they are all equally important, which is why we will fight tirelessly to get you a fair settlement, or be prepared to take the next step and fight for your rights in a trial in the Florida courts.
