Miami Car Accidents Attorney
For fifty years the rate of car accidents in the US declined every year. Then a few years ago, they started climbing again and have been increasing every year since. The most likely explanation is the increase in distracted driving due to cell phones, smart phones and in-vehicle infotainment technologies, along with the persistence of speeding and drunk driving as the traditional mainstays of car accidents. Around 400,000 car accidents occur in Florida every year, and Miami-Dade County is by far the county with the most car accidents, including injury accidents and fatalities. More than 15% of all crashes in the state of Florida happen in Miami-Dade. For car accidents in Miami and beyond, attorney Michael Goldfarb and his team at Goldfarb Law provide strong, effective representation to accident victims to secure full and fair compensation for their injuries.
Pursuing the full range of damages under Florida car insurance law
Florida provides a no-fault insurance system to get you benefits after a crash. This means you can apply for benefits without having to prove the other driver was at fault or prove you weren’t at fault. However, these benefits (known as Personal Injury Protection or PIP) only cover 80% of your medical expenses and 60% of your lost earnings, and only up to a total of $10,000. Additionally, your benefits can be capped at only $2,500 if you didn’t seek treatment for an “emergency medical condition” within 14 days of the accident.
While PIP benefits may sound attractive at first, they never fully cover the costs of your injuries, and they are really more about limiting civil lawsuits than providing benefits to accident victims. The law does allow you to pursue a negligence claim against the at-fault driver if you were seriously injured, which under Florida law means one of the following:
- a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function,
- a significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement,
- a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, or
- wrongful death
Goldfarb Law can help you pursue a negligence claim in the event of a serious injury. Recovering adequate compensation requires proving the other driver’s negligence or fault as the cause of the accident and proving the full extent of your injuries and damages. It also requires being able to face down challenges from the insurance company about the cause or serious nature of your injuries, or allegations that your own negligence caused or contributed to the accident. Miami personal injury attorney Michael Goldfarb is experienced in litigating car accident cases and takes an aggressive approach toward achieving a satisfactory settlement or jury verdict in your favor.
Helping Miami car accident victims hit by uninsured drivers
Florida does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability insurance except in certain circumstances, and Florida leads the nation in uninsured drivers, with more than one in four Florida drivers on the road without insurance. If you are hit by an uninsured driver, you might be left with the discouraging choice of filing a lawsuit directly against the driver and trying to collect from him or her personally. However, another option is to file an uninsured motorist claim with your insurance carrier.
Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage pays you benefits when you are hit by an uninsured driver, or if you were the victim of a hit and run and the driver cannot be identified or located. Insurance companies are required by law to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage when you buy liability insurance. Some people decline UM/UIM to save money, but the additional cost is minimal compared to the risk you are taking with the large number of uninsured drivers on Florida roads.
You may still have difficulty getting the full amount of benefits from your UM/UIM coverage, as the insurance adjustors will still try to downplay the serious nature of the accident. Goldfarb Law can represent you in negotiations with the insurance company and help you get the best result. We can also represent you in a direct action against the uninsured driver in appropriate cases if you do not have uninsured motorist coverage.
Get Help from Goldfarb Law after a Miami Car Accident
If you have been injured in a car accident in Miami, call Goldfarb Law at 305-433-3200 for a free consultation with an experienced and successful Miami personal injury attorney. There is no fee unless we recover for you.
