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Accidents where a car is speeding

As written about in prior posts, Florida is an at fault state when it comes to fixing the cars that are damaged in an accident, and payment of monies for injuries (other than for certain medical bills and wages that are covered by the no-fault personal injury protection insurance).

And while there are general fault rules that go along with the rules of the road, there are also comparative laws.  Comparative fault basically means that while it is possible that only one car is at fault, it is also possible that two cars can be at fault, even in a two car accident.

There are many accidents in Florida where, after a jury hears the facts and reviews the evidence, they find both cars partly at fault in an accident.  The way this would work is that they jury would have to apportion fault, i.e. 20 percent to one car and 80 percent to the other, or 50 percent to one car and 50 percent to the other; they key of course is that the total fault has to total 100 percent. 

It is also important to understand that in Florida if you are suing the other person and if the jury finds you to be 50 percent at fault and the other car is 50 percent at fault, then you recover 50 percent of your damages from the at fault car.

What happens when an accident is caused in full or in part due to the speed of another car?  This would play into comparative fault.  If for example, a car is stopped at a stop sign and then proceeds forward and the other car is speeding but has the right of way, then the jury would have to decide whether the speed of the other car is fully or partly or not the cause of the accident.

This scenario is something that is seen a lot, where one person is wrong due to the rules of the road (failing to yield like above, etc.) and yet the car claims that the other car caused the accident due to excessive speeding.

Proving that the other car was speeding is usually a difficult thing to prove.  If there is some independent witness that will say the other car was going well in excess of the speed limit and otherwise traveing in a negligent way, that would really help the case.  If it is just the person who failed to yeild saying that the other car was going too fast, that clearly would be self-serving and more difficult to convince a jury of.

Other things could help to prove the speed, like the damages to the car.  If the accident took place in a low speed zone and yet the damages to the car are severe, then that could be evidence to show the car was traveling at excessive speed.

Every case is different and must be judged on its merits. It is a good start to get a complementary consultation regarding an accident case in case this happens to you. The advice contained in this blog is intended to be of general matter and not as to a specific situation, so pelase call a licensed Florida attorney, like the lawyer at Drucker Law Offices, to determine if and how Florida law applies to your case.

If you have been in an accident, please feel free to call Drucker Law Offices for a free consultation. The number is 561-483-9199.  The Boca Raton accident lawyer (also Boynton Beach injury lawyer, Delray Beach accident attorey, Wellington, injury attorney, Deerfield Beach accident lawyer, POmpano Beach, injury lawyer, Lake Wroth injury attorney, Loxahatchee accident attorney) only charges lawyer fees and costs if money is recovered for you.

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