Florida Personal Injury Defense Law: Transportation

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Florida Law

Florida Personal Injury Defense Law: Transportation

Personal Injury Defense Law: Transportation

Personal Injury Defense Law: Transportation

Though accidents can occur virtually anywhere and under any circumstances, some of the most serious and costly accidents occur while people are involved in transportation-related activities. This chapter provides a brief overview of the laws and issues regarding automobile, maritime, railroad, and aviation accidents. Tort litigation involving transportation-related activities can be extremely complicated. Retaining an inexperienced lawyer may result in a defendant incurring substantial liability or even losing a lawsuit. It is important that a business faced with defending such a lawsuit choose an attorney with experience and familiarity in transportation law defense.

Automobile Accidents

Like any state, Florida has its share of serious automobile accidents. In 1994, for example, there were 206,183 serious automobile accidents in Florida, resulting in 223,458 injuries and 2,722 deaths. Recognizing that accidents often lead to lawsuits, Florida adopted a no-fault insurance system in which insured persons receive payment for injuries or damages from their own insurance company regardless of who was at fault. No-fault insurance permits people to receive payment for most medical, disability, or death expenses promptly and without having to sue in court.

Under Florida's system, each person who operates a vehicle in Florida for more than 90 days must have what is known as "personal injury protection" (PIP) insurance. PIP insurance covers the insured, the insured's relatives residing in the same household, anyone driving or riding in the insured's car, and anyone not in a motorized vehicle who is hurt as a result of the use of the insured's car. PIP coverage is limited to $10,000 per person. This $10,000 may be used for losses resulting from: (1) medical expenses, (2) lost income and earning capacity, and (3) funeral, burial, or cremation expenses. The insured has no personal liability to the extent that PIP benefits are payable for an injury.

After receiving a PIP injury claim, an insurance company has 21 days in which to send the claimant a "bill of rights" explaining the benefits to which he or she is entitled and how quickly the company must pay them. The Florida Department of Insurance is authorized to fine insurance companies for late payment of benefits. If a person has a dispute with an insurance company over PIP benefits, he or she may demand mediation before going to court. A request for mediation can be made to the Department of Insurance.

It is important to note that no-fault insurance does not prevent a person at fault in an automobile accident from being sued. If a person causes an accident resulting in any of the following injuries, he or she can be sued for tort damages in court:

Significant or permanent loss of an important bodily function
Injury that is permanent within a reasonable degree of medical certainty
Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement
Death

Auto Accident Checklist
If you are in an accident, particularly if someone is injured or there is a great deal of property damage, try to collect the following information from the other driver(s) involved in the accident:
Name and address License plate number Make, model, and year of car Driver's license number Had any driver apparently been drinking? Any verbal statements made by other driver(s) as to the cause of the accident Names and addresses of passengers in other car(s)
Before moving any of the vehicle(s) involved in the accident, attempt to note:
Position of your vehicle Position of any other vehicles Location of any tire marks, blood, broken glass, etc., on the road or side of the road Location of point of impact in relation to the center of the road Road conditions Traffic conditions Weather conditions
While the accident is still fresh in your memory, write down:
Date and time of accident Location of accident Speed of your car just before the accident Direction of your car and other car(s) involved in the accident Was either car turning? Did the car turning have its turn signal on? If the accident occurred at night, did you have your vehicle lights on? Did other car(s)? Any other pertinent facts

Maritime Personal Injury

Recreational boaters, cruise ship passengers, seamen on commercial ships, longshore and harbor workers, and off-shore oil employees may at some point in time become injured and sue the person or business they believe to be responsible. When choosing an attorney regarding a maritime matter, it is very important to choose someone experienced in maritime law. The law governing maritime issues is a complicated jumble of federal statutes, United States Supreme Court decisions, and centuries-old common law. A general practitioner unfamiliar with the dips and turns of maritime law may have difficulty properly representing a client.

Railroad Accidents

The October 1995 deaths of seven high school students in Fox River, Illinois, whose school bus was hit by a commuter train at a railroad crossing, is a reminder that railroad accidents remain an all-too-frequent occurrence. By law, railroad carriers have a duty to maintain the reasonable safety of their tracks, particularly around railroad crossings. A railroad carrier can be held liable if an accident occurs where there are defective or insufficient numbers of warning lights and signs. Additionally, railroad engineers and crews have a duty to keep a lookout for potential problems and to sound the train's blowhorn when approaching potentially dangerous areas. Persons crossing or near railroad tracks also have a duty to act reasonably. Florida recognizes the doctrine of comparative negligence. If a person is partially responsible for an accident, any damage award he or she receives can be reduced by the extent to which he or she was responsible. A railroad employee who is hurt on the job is entitled to recover damages from his or her employer under the Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA). FELA is similar to a workers' compensation program for railroad employees. FELA enables railroad employees to recover for any injury "resulting in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents, or employees of [the railroad], or by reason of any defect or insufficiency, due to its negligence, in its cars, engines, appliances, machinery, tracks, roadbeds, works, boats, wharves or other equipment." Recovery under FELA is the exclusive remedy for railroad employees injured on the job.

Aviation Accidents

While travel by commercial aircraft remains the safest way to travel long distance, accidents do happen, and the litigation that follows an airline crash is notoriously complicated. Lawyers defending aviation lawsuits must consider a number of issues. For example, he or she must determine whether federal or state law governs the action and tailor the defense accordingly. The attorney may have the option of removing a case brought in state court to federal court, resulting in the application of different procedural rules. An attorney may want to challenge the appropriateness of a class action lawsuit, and argue that the members of the class should be forced to bring their own suits. Another consideration faced by defendants is whether to bring in other potentially liable parties not named by the plaintiff. Possible defendants include the aircraft manufacturer, operator, owner, airport operator, corporate officers, and component part manufacturers. Of course, the attorney selected should be familiar with the defenses to the various theories of recovery a plaintiff may allege in an aviation lawsuit, which include strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, and statutory provisions. It is obvious, therefore, that when choosing an attorney to represent defense interests after an airline accident, it is best to choose someone with experience in airline tort litigation.

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