Injury attorney in Ft. Lauderdale can help you get compensated.

There are accidents that can cause injuries that are not the fault of anyone but the injured party. However, there are many that are caused by wrongful action or neglect by other parties, which deserve compensation for medical and other expenses resulting from them.

The most common types of personal injury claims are:

• traffic accidents
• accidents at work
• tripping and slipping accidents
• assault claims
• accidents in the home or on a cruise ship
• product defect accidents (product liability)

What to do after an accident or injury

The first thing that you should always do after being injured in an accident is to look after your health. Get medical and/or emergency care and treatment.  It’s important to note that if you do not seek medical treatment within fourteen (14) days of the accident, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) typically will not cover any of your medical bills. If you have suffered an “emergency medical condition or EMC,” PIP will generally pay 80% of your medical expenses and 60% of lost wages, subject to the limitations of the policy. If you have not suffered an emergency medical conditions are generally capped at $2,500.

After you have received any necessary medical treatment, then there are a number of steps that you can take that will help preserve your right to file a claim for your personal injuries. These steps are valid in most situations and there is no “right” order to take. (Note: if you need to file a claim against the government or a government agency, there are other specific steps that should be taken).

• Collect evidence that can help prove who caused the accident, as well as the damage caused by the accident. Photographs are useful here.
• Report the incident to the proper authorities (for example, animal control for a dog bite or the local sheriff’s or police department for a boating accident).
• Keep a record of everything that has happened to you after the accident. This includes things like medical bills, hospital visits, any lost work or wages, etc. Keep receipts of any of these services you paid out of pocket.
• Be sure to get the names and contact information of any witnesses who may have observed the accident. Contact these people to confirm their contact information.
• If you speak to other people that were involved in the accident, be sure to take notes about your conversation, and their contact information.
• Tell anyone that you may file suit against that you are planning on filing a claim for your injuries and property damage.

What Kind of Damages Would an Injury Lawsuit Cover?

If you can prove another person was at fault for injuring you, you may be entitled to be compensated for your losses. Those losses include:

• Past, current, and future estimated medical expenses
• Lost wages from work, including time spent going to and from medical appointments and therapy
• Any property damaged because of the incident
• Any permanent disfigurement or disability
• The cost of hiring someone to do household chores when you could not
• Your emotional distress, including any anxiety and/or depression
• Interference with your family relationships, called loss of consortium
• Any other costs that were a direct result of your injury

Injury attorney Adam Franzen knows the Florida laws on accidental injuries.

The Franzen Firm will assist in filing your personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver. A lawsuit may give you the opportunity for compensation in addition to the benefits provided under your PIP policy; however, you must have suffered permanent injuries tin order to be eligible to file a claim.

Don’t take the word of the insurance companies–they may attempt to classify your injuries as non-serious or purely temporary injuries. Our law firm can gather evidence to prove that your injuries are serious enough to qualify you for additional compensation through a lawsuit.

Adam Franzen knows the Florida laws on accidental injuries and how to represent you if you are in an accident. Call Mr. Franzen at (954) 462-5790, or visit his website to learn more about how he can help you with your accidental injury cases.

Bicyclist Rights

Millions of people bicycle safely on public roads. But many are scared away because motorists sometimes pass too closely, honk, or tell cyclists to get off the road. Though these behaviors are not the most common source of injuries to cyclists, they are unsafe and illegal. The traffic law says that drivers must pass at a safe distance. When a travel lane is not wide enough to share, safe bicyclists move to the middle of the lane to insure that motorists use the next lane over to pass or wait until it is safe.

Motorists can help prevent crashes with cyclists by taking care to follow the rules on yielding and turning. Make sure to yield to cyclists when turning left or entering the road from a side street, driveway, or parking lane. Merge completely to the far right edge of the road in advance of making a right turn. Wait for any bicyclist ahead to clear the intersection before you make a right turn — do not turn across the path of the cyclist. Even if there is a bike lane, you should merge into the bike lane before turning right.

Cyclists, in turn, can make themselves safer and respected. Competent cyclists politely cooperate with other drivers by yielding when required, choosing the correct lane at intersections, using lights at night, and otherwise following the same traffic laws as motorists. Such cyclists are far safer than inexperienced cyclists.

The Five Tips to Bicycling Safety

1: Control Your Bicycle (Don’t fall or collide with others)

If you can skillfully control your bike by starting, stopping, and turning properly, you will not fall down all by yourself or run into others. Do this and you cut out about half of your injury risk. To ride in groups, a cyclist must have good bike handling skills.

2: Follow the Rules (Don’t cause traffic crashes)

Follow traffic laws, obey signs and signals, use headlights and taillights at night, and use the correct lanes for turns and through movements, and you won’t cause a collision with a motorist. About half of cyclist/motorist crashes are caused by cyclists who violate the basic rules of the road.

3: Lane Positioning (Discourage other driver’s mistakes)

Knowing when to use the full lane or to share a lane is something few cyclists fully understand. Your position in a lane is the best way to make yourself conspicuous, to tell drivers what you are doing, and to discourage them from making unsafe movements. Many of these effective lane positioning principles have been forgotten by the modern cycling community, so they may be contrary to what you’ve been taught! Combine Tips 1, 2 and 3 and you cut out about 99% of all potential crashes.

4: Hazard Avoidance (Avoid the other driver’s mistakes)

There are evasive maneuvers you should know that can help you avoid major motorist mistakes or dodge obstacles. Knowing how to stop and turn quickly helps you avoid motorist mistakes that aren’t discouraged by lane positioning. These skills are not instinctive and must be taught.

Layer 5: Passive Safety (Protection when all else fails)

This is actually the least effective tip in injury avoidance. Helmets and gloves protect your most vulnerable body parts as a last resort in case of the very rare failure of Tips 1 through 4, but they do nothing to help you avoid crashes.

Bicycle attorney Adam Franzen knows Florida bicycle laws.

You may follow all laws and tips to bicycle safety, but may still be involved in a bicycle accident that is not your fault.  In that case, call Adam Franzen at (954) 462-5790. Visit his website to learn more about how he can help you with your bicycle and other personal injury cases.