Motor-Vehicle Accidents

We handle every type of motor vehicle accident including:

• Car and Truck Accidents
• Tractor-Trailer and Commercial Trucking Cases
• Motorcycle accidents
• School and City/Charter Bus Accidents and Injuries
• Pedestrian vs. Vehicle Accidents
• Bicycle vs. Vehicle Accidents
• Road Construction and Uneven Pavement Cases
• Drunk Driving, Racing and Aggressive Driving
• Golf Cart, Go-Cart, Tractor and Other Motorized Vehicle Wrecks
• ATV Crashes

Quick Tips: What to Do If You Are Involved In a Motor-Vehicle Accident

• Call 911. It is important to get a traffic crash report from a law enforcement agency to verify the facts of the accident. This is especially important in a hit-and-run case.
• If possible, move your vehicle out of the lane of traffic to a safe area and wait for the police to arrive.  If possible, safely photograph the vehicles with your cell phone or other camera before they are moved.
• Assess any injuries to you, any passengers or any other drivers. Do not move anyone who is hurt unless they are in danger.
• If someone is hurt, alert the 911 operator and ask him or her to send an ambulance.
• Exchange driver and insurance information among all parties involved.  Also, get the names, addresses, contact information and description of all witnesses to the crash that you speak to.  The police often do not list the witness information in their crash reports.
• Document damage to all vehicles with photos as soon as possible. You may also want to take photos of the accident scene.  Remember most cellular phones have camera and video capability.
• Contact your insurance company and report the accident.
• If you are injured, go to an emergency room or your regular physician as soon as possible for an evaluation.  If you are offered emergency transport, you should usually accept.
• Follow your doctor’s recommendations for continuing medical care.
• If you own a car and are insured in the state of Florida, you have PIP insurance. This insurance allows you to be seen by any doctor you chose following an accident so you get the treatment you need. It can also provide partial repayment of any lost wages you may incur from the accident.
• Do not wait to retain an attorney. The evidence trail grows colder everyday. From the physical evidence at the scene of the accident, to the 911 tapes, to the location of eye witnesses; you must retain a law firm with the experience and resources to aggressively investigate your accident now.  The more serious the crash, the more important early representation becomes.  At the Camerlengo Law Group, our initial consultations are absolutely free and we handle these cases on a pure contingency fee basis.  That means if there is no recovery, you do not owe us any money for attorney’s fees or costs.

What You Need To Know About Auto Insurance

Purchasing insurance can be confusing. Many insurance agents mislead you into thinking you have purchased ‘full coverage” when, in fact, they have sold you inadequate coverage.  Often, people purchase basic coverage and believe that they are fully protected from all possible financial consequences of an accident. In reality, basic coverage can leave you exposed to unpaid bills, unreimbursed lost wages and financial hardship.

A policy of insurance may contain many different coverages, which leads to confusion. Different coverages under an automobile policy include bodily injury coverage, collision coverage, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and no-fault or PIP coverage. A combination of the coverages described below may be right for you and your family. Make sure each vehicle and each driver in your household is covered.

Florida is a no-fault state. For instance, PIP coverage is no-fault insurance that pays 80% of your medical bills and 60% of your lost wages, no matter who is at fault for the accident. Most PIP policies will pay up to $10,000 in benefits.

PIP applies to medical treatment and lost wages from bodily injuries to you, to relatives who live in your home and to passengers who are not required to have PIP. It also applies to licensed drivers who drive your vehicle with your permission. PIP insurance protects you if you are injured as a pedestrian or bicyclist, as long as the injury results from a crash involving a motor vehicle.  It can also provide coverage if you are injured while repairing or maintaining your vehicle.

• Property Damage: Property damage coverage protects you if you negligently damage someone else’s property with your car. It does not protect you from a claim made by a person you injure due to your negligence, nor does it pay to repair the insured’s car.
• Med-Pay Coverage: Medical Payments coverage supplements your PIP benefits.  Med-pay coverage is significant in two notable ways: (1) it pays the twenty percent of medical bills PIP does not pay; (2) it allows the insured to have more PIP coverage available to pay lost wages. This coverage can be very helpful in the event that the accident causes a lengthy absence from work.
• Uninsured Motorist: UM/UIM is a type of coverage that protects you if the at-fault driver does not have bodily injury coverage or if his insurance is not enough to cover your injuries. UM coverage also covers your injuries caused by a hit-and-run driver. If there are multiple cars on your auto policy, we recommend the purchase of “stacked” UM coverage, which increases the coverage for each car on the policy. UM insurance is valuable coverage that you should have to protect you and your loved ones, as thousands of drivers in Florida either have limited or no bodily injury insurance available to you for injuries they cause.
• Bodily Injury Coverage:  The amount of Bodily Injury coverage available on your auto policy is the maximum amount of money the insurance company will pay to other individuals for damages they have incurred as a result of a covered loss.  A covered loss is usually property damage, bodily injuries and/or death caused by the negligence of a person or vehicle insured under the policy.  Many auto policies in the State of Florida either have no bodily injury coverage at all, or the coverage is $10,000, $25,000 or $50,000.  In the event you or someone driving your car causes injuries that exceed your bodily injury coverage, the injured parties may pursue legal action against you personally and may be able to collect against your personal assets.  Likewise, if someone injures you and they have limited bodily injury coverage and collectible assets available, your recovery from the crash will be limited.  That is why we recommend purchasing as much bodily injury coverage as you can afford and corresponding uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in the same amount.  In addition, the protection of a personal excess or umbrella policy with uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is also worth the small annual premium to protect your family.

Tractor Trailer and Commercial Trucking Accidents: If you are in an accident with a commercial truck or tractor trailer, it is imperative that you immediately retain counsel that has experience handling such claims. There are numerous federal, state and local laws that govern the safe operation of commercial trucks in the state of Florida and the documentation that is required to be kept by the driver and owner of such vehicles. These cases are extremely costly and time intensive. You must retain a law firm like the Camerlengo Law Group with the experience and resources to aggressively investigate and pursue your claims.

Motorcycle Accidents: If you are involved in a claim with a motorcyclist or while riding on a motorcycle, there are unique facts and circumstances that may apply to your case. From the applicability of the motorcycle endorsement to whether or not a helmet was in use, you need a law firm like the Camerlengo Law Group with experience handling motorcycle claims.

School Bus Accidents: Depending on the nature of the injury and the locality, school bus cases can be very complex. Where the city has outsourced the school bus services to a private entity, there are significant contractual, local, state and federal requirements that apply. If your child is injured or killed while on a school bus, hire a firm like the Camerlengo Law Group that has handled school bus injuries and wrongful death claims.

Boating and Personal Watercraft Accidents: With regard to any maritime or boating accidents involving injury, there are specific state, federal and potentially international laws, tariffs and other governing rules that may determine who is at fault. In the context of rented or loaned vessels, there may be contractual, vicarious or other liability concerns. If you or a loved one are faced with such a claim, hire a law firm like the Camerlengo Law Group with experience handling maritime claims.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents: If you or a loved one has been injured while a pedestrian or while operating a bicycle, there are a number of issues unique to these types of claims. It is imperative that your attorney have experience in such cases to insure that your rights are protected and that you receive full recovery for your injuries. 

Road Construction Accidents:  Similar to trucking accidents, road construction cases and crashes involving faulty traffic control devices are very complex. Usually there are potential claims against government entities that involve shorter time limitations.  In addition, there are usually potential private defendants that must be identified. There are significant local, state and federal rules and regulations governing road construction, as well as industry standards that apply.  In any road construction, the contractor is required to propose and the state has to approve a maintenance of traffic plan. In essence, the road construction contractor must provide a proposed plan to allow vehicles to travel safely through the construction site during the construction process, and especially during lane shifting and lane closures. Often times, the maintenance of traffic plan is either negligently designed or implemented by the contractor. Given the complexity of a road construction case, you must retain a law firm like the Camerlengo Law Group with experience handling road construction cases.