Negligent Driver Sends Elderly Man to Local Hospital

An 82-year-old man is in critical condition after a motorist struck his electric scooter as he tried to cross the street.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers say the man was riding a battery-powered scooter across Indian River Drive when a man operating a Buick Park Avenue collided with the left front portion of the scooter. The force of the impact propelled the scooter to the other side of Indian River Drive. First responders rushed the victim to a nearby hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Investigators are trying to determine a cause.

Medical Issues in Scooter Accidents

Medical bills are usually very high in vehicle-on-scooter collisions, mostly because scooter riders have no protection from oncoming cars. As a result, they often sustain serious injuries like:

• Spine Injuries: When riders fall off their scooters, they often land on their backs or sides. The jarring motion alone is enough to knock the spine out of alignment, and the physical trauma makes the injury even worse.
• Blood Loss: Exsanguination is usually the official cause of death in scooter accidents, and internal bleeding accounts for much of this blood loss. When internal organs smash against each other, they often bleed profusely. And, this bleeding is very difficult to stop.
• Head Injuries: Even if they wear helmets, scooter crash victims often sustain head injuries, largely due to the aforementioned motion. The skull is basically a water tank full of cerebrospinal fluid which suspends the brain in space. During a vehicle collision, the brain violently slams against the inside of the skull.

Other injuries, such as broken bones, are not life threatening. However, they often require many months of physical therapy. These bills can be almost as high as medical treatment expenses.

To increase the chances of full compensation, it’s very important for victims to see doctors within a few hours of the accident. Otherwise, insurance company lawyers may later claim that the victim’s injuries must not have been very bad.

Prompt medical attention is also important for health reasons. Many of these injuries, especially head injuries, get much worse if they are not treated properly.

Attorneys help ensure prompt medical care. A Port St. Lucie personal injury lawyer sends letters of protection to medical providers. Since these letters guarantee payment when the case is resolved, doctors agree to defer billing. So, victims pay nothing upfront for top quality medical care.

Additionally, these letters create negotiating leverage. If an attorney can reduce the amount, which is usually possible, the victim keeps more of the settlement money.

Legal Issues in Scooter Accidents

These letters are only effective if the victim has a solid claim for damages. This claim usually involves either ordinary negligence, which is a lack of care, or negligence per se, which is a violation of a safety law.

Distracted driving is a good example of the difference. Texting while driving is illegal in some circumstances. So, if drivers are texting when they cause crashes, the negligence per se doctrine may apply. But in most cases, distracted driving claims are ordinary negligence claims in Florida.

Port St. Lucie personal injury attorneys are not the only legal professionals working for their clients. Insurance company lawyers do the same thing for their clients. These attorneys look for legal loopholes, like the contributory negligence defense, which could reduce compensation.

Contributory negligence shifts blame from the tortfeasor (negligent driver) to the victim. For example, one motorist might have been speeding, and the other one might have made an illegal lane change.

Contact a Tenacious Lawyer

Negligent Florida drivers often cause serious injuries. For a free consultation with an experienced Port St. Lucie personal injury lawyer, contact Eighmie Law Firm, P.A. Home and hospital visits are available.

Resource:

tcpalm.com/story/news/local/martin-county/2019/08/07/jensen-beach-man-critical-condition-after-car-crash/1942216001/

https://www.eighmielawfirm.com/port-st-lucie-crash-kills-pedestrian/