Understanding Car Accident Laws When Speeding in St. Petersburg, FL

Understanding Car Accident Laws

According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration car accidents caused by speeding are up as much as 15% in some areas during recent months. The resulting injuries become worse as your speed increases. This speed is also a significant factor in crash liability.

It should be no surprise that speeding isn’t only common but also quite dangerous. According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately one-third of all deadly crashes occur when at least one of the parties involved has been speeding. What’s interesting is that most drivers don’t think it’s an issue. They’ll even go so far as to make excuses for it.

In reality, driving at a high rate of speed has many dangerous consequences, including:

  • You’re unable to easily maneuver your vehicle around obstructions and curves in the roadway.
  • You need more time and distance so you can stop safely.
  • Since it takes a bit for you to react to your vehicle when you get in an accident while speeding you’re more likely to get injured.
  • You can’t possibly react fast enough to assess just how fast another vehicle is traveling when it’s moving at a high speed.

Undoubtedly, cars traveling at excessive speeds are frequently a liability. Just how big of a liability they are will depend on factors specific to the case.

Defining Speeding

Although this sounds easy, you should know that you could also get a speeding ticket when you’re traveling too fast for the road conditions, even when you’re going under the speed limit. This is why you need to remain alert to any changes in weather conditions. Of course, you also need to watch for congested traffic, roadway debris, poorly maintained roads, and anything around you (e.g., bicyclists, pedestrians, animals).

According to F.S. 316.183, you aren’t permitted to drive your vehicle at an unreasonable speed. As a driver, you’re responsible for controlling your speed so you avoid causing a car accident. This is important to understand because if you’re found negligent you’ll also be found liable. Negligence is defined as not being careful enough to avoid harming someone else. When found negligent you’ll incur fines and points on your driver’s license. You may also be held liable for your actions if someone else gets hurt.

Retaining a Lawyer After a Car Accident

Just because you were in a car accident where someone is injured or killed doesn’t mean it has to go to litigation. Relatively minor injuries can be adequately compensated with the personal injury protection (PIP) part of your insurance coverage. This coverage offers about $10K in coverage for medical and wage loss. No proof of fault is necessary.

When you’re in a car accident that meets the severe injury threshold you may step outside of the no-fault system to pursue a claim with the other driver’s insurance. To do this you must be able to prove the other driver’s negligence. This means that if you can prove that the other driver was traveling at too high of a rate of speed you can prove that they’re breaching their duty of care for others as a driver.

To win your case here you not only need to prove this, but you must also prove that they caused the crash and your injuries. It’s also important for you to defend against accusations that you contributed to the accident and the injuries that were incurred therein.

When you get into a car accident in St. Petersburg, reach out to us at Blenner Law Group. We may be able to forego a lawsuit and still negotiate a fair insurance settlement for you. Put our dedication to the test. Contact us today.

Picture Credit: VistaCreate

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