Summertime in South Florida typically sees a drastic increase in traffic accidents. People who drive during this season stand a greater chance of being in a wreck than during any other season of the year.
When you plan on hitting the road this summer, you need to be aware of this increased chance and learn more about the common five reasons behind it. You also need to be ready to call an experienced Florida car accident lawyer to represent you if you find yourself involved in any of the Florida car accidents this year.
1. More Teenage Drivers
Once school is out for the year, teenagers relish in the opportunity to drive themselves and their friends all over town. Their eagerness to be independent and get behind the wheel of a car often leads to serious car accidents. In most instances, they lack the maturity, reflexes, and foresight to avoid hitting other motorists and pedestrians.
When you have been involved in an accident with a teenage driver, you need to act quickly to protect yourself and your legal and financial interests. Your attorney can get to work immediately to file a Florida car accident claim against the insurer of the teen driver or his or her parents. Your expenses could be covered entirely by the responsible teen driver’s insurance company.
Alternatively, if you share some blame in the accident with the teen driver, you still need an attorney to protect your rights. Your lawyer can be instrumental in negotiating a fair settlement with the teenager and his or her parents. Your lawyer can also prove that the teenager’s exuberance and inexperience could have contributed to the accident’s occurrence.
2. Construction Season
Once summertime hits, the orange traffic cones denoting construction zones seem to pop up out of nowhere. Major thoroughfares that you drive on every day can suddenly be torn up, narrowed to one lane, and fraught with unfamiliar detours.
To some degree, work crews enjoy immunity if motorists are in accidents while in construction zones. Still, your lawyer could be able to prove that someone on the crew acted with either negligence or malice toward motorists. Your legal team could establish that you were not at fault for the accident and that the construction company owes you compensation for your suffering and inconvenience.
However, if you caused an accident that caused damage to a construction zone, you need your experienced Florida car accident lawyer to defend you. Your lawyer could show that you were unable to control causing the damage because of the dimensions of or road conditions in the work zone.
3. More Vacation Drivers
Summertime is definitely the time for families to take to the road and head out on vacation. When they drive in busy, unfamiliar areas, they often have no idea of where they are going or what road challenges could lie ahead of them. They become hazards to other motorists and pedestrians.
As you prepare to drive this summer, you need to be aware of vacation drivers and their possible lack of experience driving in the city where you live. When you spot out-of-state license tags, you need to give them plenty of room on the road and drive defensively to protect you and your vehicle. If you are involved in a wreck with a vacationing driver, you also need to call your attorney to file an immediate Florida car accident claim on your behalf.
4. Increased Number of Motorcyclists
Summertime is also the season when motorcyclists take to the road in greater numbers. The sunny skies combined with warm weather make for ideal motorcycle driving conditions.
However, it can be challenging to share the road with motorcycle drivers, especially when traffic is congested already. Some motorcycle drivers are not willing to share space with other motorists. Likewise, some car and truck drivers are not aware of the rules for sharing roadways with people on motorcycles.
When you are in a wreck with a motorcycle driver, you need to find out quickly who is to blame and what you can do to protect yourself. Rather than leave the situation to chance, you need to contact a skilled local car accident lawyer and allow him to take over your representation. Your lawyer can make sure your rights are protected and also ensure that you uphold any responsibilities that you might have, such as disclosing your account of what happened or providing your insurance information to the other involved party.
5. Vehicle Malfunctions
The summer heat and humidity are no friend to your vehicle. They cause your car to experience more frequent malfunctions like overheating and stalling. The hot roads also cause your vehicle to blow its tires or develop flats more often.
Your vehicle’s malfunction can in turn cause serious car accidents. If your vehicle stops in the middle of the road, you put other motorists around you at risk of crashing into you. Likewise, if your brakes go out or you blow a tire, you could risk crashing into other motorists or pedestrians.
You realize that you have no control over situations like these. Still, other drivers, especially those that are affected by your car’s malfunction, may not be so understanding. They want you held accountable for their damages and inconvenience.
It is important that you do not attempt to negotiate with anyone affected by your car’s malfunction by yourself. You do not want to incriminate yourself in something that you have no control over or no knowledge of.
Instead, you need to call a reliable and skilled traffic accident lawyer. Your lawyer can not only act as your intermediary between the affected drivers, their lawyers, and you. He can also obtain evidence to show that you were not at fault for what happened and act to try to shield you from fault.
The summertime invites a whole new season of Florida car accidents. When you find yourself involved in one, do not handle the situation on your own. Contact a knowledgeable and assertive Florida car accident lawyer to represent you today.
