Was The Single-Driver Car Crash Your Fault?
This past February, a 16-year-old boy from Mount Dora was in a car driven by a 19-year-old man. The driver crashed into a telephone pole. The driver sustained minor injuries while the 16-year-old passenger was sent to Florida Hospital Apopka with serious injuries. A short while later, the passenger died. The situation seems cut and dry: a single vehicle crashed, it was the driver’s fault, end of story. Sometimes it happens like that, and liability is a no-brainer. Other times, however, other factors come into play, and what one may assume to be clear liability is anything but.
In Florida, if you were involved in a single vehicle collision, it is not automatically your fault. The state leaves room for the unexpected, such as an animal in the road, a bicyclist that comes out of nowhere, a ball rolling across the street, or other events. If you were in a single vehicle accident in Florida, it does not hurt to reach out to the Miami car accident lawyers at Spencer Morgan Law regarding your rights. You may be pleasantly surprised to learn that liability could be placed on another person or entity.
Unpreventable Situations
If you have been driving for a few years, you have likely learned to expect the unexpected, and while you may have learned how to safely react to the unexpected, some situations are impossible to avoid. Some common, unavoidable situations that have been known to cause car accidents include:
- Bicyclists who swerve into the driving lane or who pass unexpectedly;
- A pedestrian who jumps out into the road;
- A door that suddenly opens on a parked car;
- Litter in the road or litter thrown out of the window of the car in front of you;
- An animal that enters your driving path; or
- A ball that rolls into the street with a little kid chasing behind it.
There are dozens of situations that may have occurred that caused you to veer off the road and hit a tree, a fence, another parked vehicle, or, in the worst case, a person. If any of these things happened, you may not be held liable for injuries sustained.
Dangerous Road Conditions
Dangerous road conditions are a common cause of single vehicle accidents. Potholes, missing road signs, malfunctioning lights, lack of signage, or other issues are all issues that fall within the federal, state, or local government’s jurisdiction. Though filing a claim against the government can be difficult, if you can prove that the road hazard existed for a certain period of time, that the governmental body should have known that it existed, and that it did not take measures within a reasonable time frame to make the necessary repairs, you may be able to sue the organization for damages. When suing the government, however, there are several restrictions you need to know about, each of which can be found in a paper from Georgetown University Law Center.
Contact a Skilled Miami Car Accident Attorney
If you were involved in a single vehicle car crash, do not automatically assume responsibility. Unless you were doing something overtly negligent such as drinking and driving or texting and driving, there should be no reason why liability could not fall with someone else. Call the Miami car accident lawyers at Spencer Morgan Law to schedule a free evaluation of your case.
Resources:
.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-seth-hoover-dead-accident-zellwood-20180222-story.html
scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1111&context=facpub