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If you have lost a loved one in a fatal car, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian, or truck accident, we offer our sincere condolences. You are dealing with a tragic situation that no one should ever be forced to endure. Sadly, fatal car and truck accidents are far too common, and far too many family members find themselves struggling to understand exactly how they are going to move on. This is a fact that each Fort Myers wrongful death lawyer at Spivey Law Firm knows all too well.

There are several aspects to the recovery process after a fatal car, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian, or truck accident. Along with making sure you get any help you need and spending time with your loved ones, it is also important that you speak with a lawyer about your legal rights. Fatal car, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian, and truck accidents can lead to significant financial and non-financial costs—and recovering these costs can be crucial for your family’s coping process and managing your family’s long-term financial needs. Family members are also entitled to damages for mental anguish and emotional pain for the loss of their loved one. 

When You Can (and Should) File a Claim for a Fatal Car, Motorcycle, Bicycle, Pedestrian, or Truck Accident in Florida

Families will have wrongful death claims after fatal car, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian, and truck accidents in many cases. Under Florida’s wrongful death law, eligible family members can file claims to recover the financial and non-financial costs resulting from their loved one’s death in a wide variety of circumstances.

In most cases, families’ claims will be based on negligence. Florida law holds drivers, trucking companies and other employers liable when their negligence leads to fatalities on the road. Insurance policies cover all forms of negligence, and as long as insurance coverage is available, wrongful death claims will generally involve dealing with the at-fault party’s insurance company.

What is Negligence?

In Florida, all drivers have a legal duty to exercise due care on public roadways. Likewise, companies have a legal duty to exercise due care when choosing who to hire, maintaining and loading their vehicles, and deciding how many hours their drivers should spend behind the wheel. Breaching this duty constitutes negligence—and when it leads to an unnecessary death, it establishes a clear claim for financial compensation.

Negligence can take numerous different forms. Drivers routinely make mistakes, and luckily, many of these mistakes turn out to be harmless. But, in some cases, drivers’ mistakes have fatal consequences. The following are all common examples of driver negligence that can result in fatal car, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian, and truck accidents:

• All forms of careless driving (including speeding, tailgating, dangerous passing, and road rage)
• Driving while talking on the phone, texting, or scrolling social media
• Driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, prescription medications, or other drugs
• Driving while drowsy or fatigued (or falling asleep behind the wheel)
• Running red lights and stop signs, failing to yield the right of way, and attempting to turn or cross in front of oncoming traffic

As we mentioned above, trucking companies and other employers can often be held liable for negligence after fatal car and truck accidents as well. Some examples of negligence in these cases include:

• Failing to adequately maintain their trucks or other business vehicles
• Hiring inexperienced or unqualified drivers
• Hiring drivers who have a history of traffic infractions or accidents
• Requiring or allowing drivers to spend too many hours behind the wheel
• Requiring or allowing drivers to engage in non-driving-related tasks behind the wheel

As a general rule, companies can be held “vicariously liable” for their employees’ negligence as well. This plays an important role in many fatal car and truck accident cases. Under Florida’s vicarious liability law, employers are liable for their employees’ negligence within the scope of their employment. So, if your loved one was killed by a negligent driver who was working at the time of the crash, then your family may have a claim against the driver’s employer.

The reason why this is important has to do with insurance coverage. Under Florida’s “no-fault” auto insurance law, most drivers are not required to carry liability insurance (though there are exceptions for rideshare drivers and some others). However, most companies that employ drivers have substantial insurance policies that protect them in the event that one of their drivers causes a serious or fatal accident. In some cases, other entities can be held liable for negligence leading to fatal car accidents as well. 

Fatal Car, Motorcycle, Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Truck Accident Claims Based on Road and Vehicle Defects

While most fatal car and truck accident claims are based on negligence, families’ claims can also be based on road and vehicle defects in some cases. When a fatal accident is the result of a defect, proof of negligence is not required. Instead, the manufacturer of the product that led to the victim’s death is “strictly liable.” Product designers, retailers (i.e., tire companies, car manufacturers ), and other companies can potentially be held strictly liable as well. In strict liability cases, if the family’s Fort Myers wrongful death lawyer can prove that the defect caused (or contributed to causing) the victim’s death, this is enough to establish a claim for financial compensation.

An Overview of the Claims Process

This brings us to the claims process. Most fatal car and truck accidents involve insurance claims, as we mentioned above. The specific steps that families need to take in order to file a claim depend on the circumstances surrounding their loved one’s death. Since there are some key differences, we will cover fatal car accident claims and fatal truck accident claims separately:

The Wrongful Death Claims Process in Car Accident Cases

Just like non-fatal car accidents, most fatal car accident cases involve dealing with auto insurance companies. If the driver who caused your loved one’s accident has liability insurance, then your family’s Fort Myers wrongful death lawyer will file a claim with the driver’s insurer.

What if the driver who hit your loved one is not insured? Unfortunately, this is a very real concern in Florida. Unlike many other states, Florida does not require that drivers carry bodily injury liability insurance—and many drivers don’t. In this scenario, you may need to rely on your family’s uninsured motorist (UM) coverage if you have it.  It is critical to hire a Fort Myers wrongful death lawyer to determine all sources of recovery that your family has available. Depending on the circumstances, these options may include:

• Filing a claim against the driver and the vehicle owner
• Filing a claim against the driver’s employer
• Filing a claim against the driver’s rideshare company
• Filing a claim against a vehicle manufacturer or dealership
• Filing a claim against a road construction contractor
• Filing a claim against a government agency
• Filing an uninsured/underinsured motorist claim

Regardless of the claim (or claims) your family can file, it is important that you take action promptly. The sooner you hire a Fort Myers wrongful death lawyer to investigate and start the claims process, the better. After conducting a thorough investigation, your family’s lawyer will file all available insurance claims, negotiate for a fair settlement, and take the insurance company (or companies) to court if necessary.

The Wrongful Death Claims Process in Truck Accident Cases

In truck accident cases, filing a claim usually involves dealing with the truck driver’s employer, truck owner, motor carrier, and their insurance company. If the truck driver was negligent, the employer’s vicarious liability will come into play. If an issue with the truck itself led to the crash, then the employer may be directly liable for its own negligence.

In either case, establishing your family’s right to financial compensation will involve using the available evidence to convince the insurance company that it has a legal obligation to provide coverage. As you might expect, this is easier said than done. Truck accident cases can be highly complex, and as a result, using the available evidence to prove fault requires highly experienced legal representation. It is critical to immediately hire an experienced Fort Myers wrongful death lawyer to preserve evidence before it is gone.  This evidence includes the truck, trailer, electronic data recording devices, driver’s cell phone records, driver’s employment file, etc.

Other factors can play a role in fatal truck accident cases, too. For example, just as issues with the road can lead to fatal car accidents, they can lead to fatal truck accidents as well. Additionally, cargo-related issues contribute to causing fatal truck accidents in many cases, and truck drivers often carry cargo that has been loaded and secured by other companies.

An experienced Fort Myers wrongful death lawyer will be able to sort through these issues and determine which claim (or claims) your family is entitled to file. Your family’s lawyer can then deal with the appropriate insurance companies and use the available evidence to seek a fair settlement. While most successful claims settle, some families will need to take their claims to court. This is a bridge that you and your family’s lawyer can cross when you come to it, if necessary.

Understanding the Compensation Your Family May Be Entitled to Recover

Regardless of the circumstances surrounding your loved one’s death, a key step in the claims process will be understanding the costs that your family is entitled to recover. Losing a loved one too soon can have significant financial and non-financial impacts, and it can affect different family members in different ways.

To understand (and calculate) your family’s recoverable losses, you will need to work closely with an experienced Fort Myers wrongful death lawyer who can assess the long-term financial and non-financial impacts of your loved one’s untimely death. While different families’ circumstances vary, the types of losses that are generally recoverable include:

• Medical expenses for treatment prior to death
• The victim’s pain and suffering prior to death
• Loss of the victim’s income and benefits
• Family members’ own pain and suffering as a result of experiencing their loved one’s untimely death
• Family members’ loss of companionship, consortium, services, and support

Families can also recover their funeral expenses in wrongful death claims under Florida law, as well as any other out-of-pocket expenses they incur as a result of their loved one’s passing. Punitive damages awards may also be justified in some cases.

What if the Insurance Companies Blame Your Loved One for His or Her Own Death?

An unfortunate circumstance that many families encounter when pursuing wrongful death claims after fatal car and truck accidents is having the insurance companies blame their loved ones for their own deaths. The insurance companies will fight to avoid liability by all means available—and this includes claiming that victims are responsible for their own fatal injuries.

If this happens in your family’s case, you should not let it deter you. The insurance companies investigate fatal accidents and handle wrongful death claims with their own best interests in mind. They are not on your side, and if they can do anything to make it harder for your family to recover just compensation, they will.

When you hire a Fort Myers wrongful death lawyer to represent your family, your family’s lawyer will conduct an unbiased assessment of the evidence and then deal with the insurance companies on your behalf. If the insurance companies try to blame your loved one for his or her own death, your family’s lawyer will counter these assertions with the evidence. Your family’s lawyer will not back down, and your family’s lawyer will not let the insurance companies treat your family unfairly.

Ultimately, while asserting your family’s legal rights may not be easy, there are procedures and protections in place, and you can hire a lawyer to represent your family at no out-of-pocket cost. With experienced legal representation, you can maximize your family’s chances of achieving justice as efficiently as possible.

Speak with a Fort Myers Wrongful Death Lawyer for Free

 If you need to know more about filing a wrongful death claim after a fatal car or truck accident in Florida, we invite you to get in touch. We provide free initial consultations and do not charge any out-of-pocket fees or costs. To speak with experienced Fort Myers wrongful death lawyer Randall L. Spivey in confidence as soon as possible, please call 888-477-4839 or send us a message online at Spiveylaw.com today.