Personal Injury Attorney Archives

Do’s and Don’ts After a Personal Injury Accident

There are hundreds of vehicle accidents in Tampa Bay every day. In 2017, Pinellas County saw 17,966 total crashes with 11,111 injuries, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. This means that many St. Petersburg residents are at the risk of being in a collision at some point. If you sustain an injury, call a personal injury attorney and keep the following do’s and don’ts in mind.

Do: Document the Scene

After a collision, once the scene is safe, you have checked for injuries, and everyone has the necessary medical attention, call the St. Petersburg police to file a police report. You should then begin to document the scene thoroughly. Take pictures of the vehicles, the scene of the incident, the road conditions, debris, injuries, skid marks, and any property damage. Gather the contact information of anyone else involved as well as any witnesses. Record information like the location, the weather, and what you were doing before the incident. The more detail, the better. Take pictures with your phone, record video, and use a notepad to write things down like license plate numbers, driver’s license numbers, vehicle make and model, and more. However you can, record the information and hold onto that data. Your personal injury attorney will be able to use it to help build your case.

Don’t: Post on Social Media

You may be tempted to post online that you were in a fender bender to alert friends and family, but use caution when it comes to posting about your accident. Once something is online, it can’t be erased completely. Avoid talking about anything related to the accident, including your car, your personal injury attorney, the other people involved, or your injury. Insurance companies may have investigators and claims adjusters looking at your social media to find evidence that can diminish the value of your claim.

Do: Call a Personal Injury Attorney

After an accident, call a personal injury attorney in St. Petersburg as soon as you can. The other party may ask you for in-depth information like how much insurance coverage you have, what your deductibles are, and more. Instead of providing them with this information, your lawyer can advise you to give them only the necessary information and the basic details of the accident. This goes for the insurance companies as well. In fact, before you talk to any insurance companies, talk to your lawyer. You do not have to speak with insurance companies if they contact you. Anything you say, even if it is to your own insurance company, can be used to lower the settlement you may eventually receive.

Call Berkowitz & Myer in St. Petersburg for Professional Legal Help

If you were in a car accident in St. Petersburg, call a personal injury attorney to discuss compensation for your injuries. You may be able to recover damages for your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. To speak with a professional at Berkowitz & Myer, call us at (727) 344-0123 or contact us online.

Common Car Accident Injuries

Car accidents are extremely common in the United States, accounting for more than 37,000 deaths per year. Although most car accidents are not fatal, they still cause thousands of injuries every year. These injuries can range from minor bruises to broken bones and traumatic brain injuries, which can have lifelong health implications. Below, we’ll take a look at some of the most common injuries that motorists sustain in car accidents and how they are caused.

Head and Neck Injuries

The most common neck injury in car crashes is whiplash. Whiplash is an injury to the soft tissue of the neck and upper back, and it occurs when the muscles and ligaments of the neck and upper back are stretched due to sudden movements. This stretching is often caused by the sudden jerking of the head, which can occur when one vehicle strikes another.

Head injuries are caused by the same forces as whiplash. If the force of an impact in a collision is great enough, it can cause an occupant’s head to strike nearby objects, including the steering wheel, dashboard, console, or windows. In some cases, this can cause traumatic brain injuries, a very serious condition in which the brain tissue is damaged from hitting the inside of the skull. Traumatic brain injuries can lead to health problems, including nausea, fatigue, headaches, seizure, and cognitive or physical impairments.

Arm and Leg Injuries

Due to their exposure and relatively free movement, an occupant’s arms are at great risk of striking nearby objects or getting scraped or cut by projectiles. For example, the force of an impact in an accident often causes occupants’ knees to hit the dashboard or the seats in front of them. Glass, airbags, dash-mounted GPS systems, cell phones, coffee mugs, purses, or anything else that is not physically attached to the automobile can cause scrapes and cuts to the arms and legs in an automobile accident. Loose objects automatically become projectiles in a vehicle collision, and the severity of the injury depends on the type of object that strikes you.

Chest Injuries

The force of a collision can cause injuries when the chest strikes a nearby object. Chest injuries are particularly dangerous for the driver because of the steering wheel’s position. Blunt force trauma to the chest in a car accident can cause broken ribs, collapsed lungs, cardiac arrest, and damage to internal organs, the pelvis, and the abdomen.

Emotional Distress

Car accidents frequently cause emotional distress, which can manifest itself in many ways, including anxiety, depression, and even post-traumatic stress disorder. Young children especially can develop a fear or phobia of cars and driving after an accident, and suffer from nightmares and flashbacks. While the physical wounds from a car accident can often heal fairly quickly, emotional injuries are much more complicated and can take months or even years to dissipate.

Contact a St. Petersburg Car Accident Attorney for Help

If you were injured in a car accident, you may recover compensation for your injuries through an insurance claim or a personal injury action. Contact the car accident lawyers at Berkowitz & Myer for a free consultation by calling (727) 344-0123 today.

Who Is Responsible For Your Child’s Swimming Pool Accident?

In general, property owners are obligated to keep their properties safe for anyone who might visit them. And should they have a swimming pool on their property, that obligation extends to the condition of the pool itself and almost anyone who might use it.

When it comes to swimming pools, property owners may be deemed liable for almost any personal injury involving someone who was allowed to enter the pool. This includes patrons who use a hotel’s pool while they’re staying there as well as guests who swim in the pools at private residences. In either case, the property owner must, at a minimum, be in full compliance with all the applicable state and local laws and regulations concerning swimming pools, regularly inspect the pool and surrounding area, warn anyone who may use the pool of any known dangers, and fix any unsafe conditions within a reasonable period of time.

Swimming pools are almost always deemed to be an “attractive nuisance”. This means, among other things, that a property owner’s liability for a pool-related accident – especially one involving a child – may even extend to trespassers on the property.

Pool-Related Personal Injuries

The most common types of pool-related personal injuries are as follows:

Drownings and other submission-related injuries;
Dive-related injuries;
Drain-related injuries; and
Slip-and-fall injuries.

Causes of Pool-Related Injuries

Many pool-related personal injuries are the result of one or more foreseeable circumstances, such as the following:

Inadequate Supervision: Whenever children are swimming, there should be an adequate number of adults on-site whose primary focus is to oversee the children. These adults should not be consuming alcoholic beverages or distracted by other activities.
Inadequate Fence/Barrier Around Pool: Although there are no federal laws regarding pool fencing, many states and local municipalities have developed their own laws and/or regulations. In Florida, there is a pool fence statute that applies to public-use pools – and another, more recent one that sets fence requirements and standards for residential pools.
Faulty Swimming Pool Design Or Construction: A poorly designed – or poorly installed – swimming pool can result in a wide variety of injuries. This is especially true with respect to the drainage system on a pool.
Rough-Housing & Rowdiness: Negligent or reckless behavior in and around pools can cause drownings and other serious injuries. The person who is responsible for the pool must make clear that such behavior is dangerous – and ensure it does not occur.
Pool Toys: These can be fun to have at a pool but if they are used improperly, they can cause serious personal injuries. Once again, the person who is responsible for the pool must make sure that all pool toys are used in a safe manner.

What To Do If Your Child Has Had A Swimming Pool Accident

If your child has been involved in a swimming pool accident, you may want to consult with an attorney who specializes in personal injury accidents involving swimming pools. To schedule a free case evaluation with one of our specialists, call Berkowitz & Myer at (727) 344-0123 today.

Tag: Personal Injury Attorney