What makes I-95 so dangerous to Florida travelers?
Florida’s portion of I-95 is ranked at 8/10 of the most dangerous highways in America, with an estimated 0.637 deaths per mile of highway – specifically, the deadliest city is Jacksonville, FL with 48 deaths. In 2019 there were over 2,950 fatal accidents in Florida according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. I-95 spans a distance of 1,908 miles through Florida, with a speed limit of 70 miles per hour, many car accidents result in permanent injury due to the impact of high speed accidents.
Common types of car accidents that occur on Florida’s stretch of I-95
Between 2005-2015, Florida’s stretch of I-95 experienced 16,526 car, truck and motorcycle accidents regarding north and southbound travel:
- Over 5,600 rear end crashes
- Over 2,700 sideswipe crashes
- Over 1,150 fixed object crashes
- Of which, 59 fatal crashes occurred
- Including 6,992 injury crashes
- Fatal & injury crashes ranged from 31% – 57%
Florin|Roebig has car attorneys who can help you regardless of the type of accident, and can help victims get the compensation they deserve.
Who’s at fault for my injuries?: Understanding what happens in an I-95 car accident
Under Florida’s current no fault law, each policyholder is required to have $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP). This coverage pays medical expenses and lost wages incurred by the insured regardless of who is at fault in the accident, hence the term “no-fault.” To cover this, all Florida drivers must have PIP insurance included in their car insurance policy. If serious injuries incurred exceed the law’s “injury threshold”, or exceed PIP coverage, drivers may desire to file a lawsuit to cover expenses. Injury victims can seek compensation by getting a free case evaluation at the law offices of Florin|Roebig.
Steps to take: What to do if you have an interstate 95 car accident
Step 1: Take detailed notes
Take note of the other driver’s name, driver’s license number, insurance information license plates of both vehicles, any visible injuries to you and/or your passengers and obtain any official documents, especially police reports.
Step 2: Take photos of the scene
If you or a loved one have been in a car accident, it is important to document the scene with photos to give proof to your notes. Taking photos at the scene may be difficult for injured parties who are taken directly to the hospital. In this case, send a friend or family member to survey the scene to photograph for documentation. Be sure to include pictures of the car accident, including both vehicles, focusing on the damage.
Step 3: Seek medical attention
Even if you do not sustain any injuries which exhibit themselves visually at the scene of a car accident, you should seek medical attention for examination as soon as possible to determine whether any internal injuries have been sustained.
If you or your passenger is injured in a car accident, you may file a liability insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit. With Florida’s no-fault law and your PIP coverage, you can seek medical attention right away, without waiting for the insurance companies to decide who is responsible. The personal injury lawyers at the law firm of Florin | Roebig can provide you with a free consultation to review your legal rights.
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What’s the value of my I-95 accident claim?
The value of your I-95 accident claim may vary greatly depending on whether the accident results in a permanent injury. Serious injuries, such as spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries may exceed what Personal Injury Protection (PIP) covers and you may wish to file a lawsuit to cover damages. A personal injury lawyer can help determine the value of your accident claim.
- Fatal accidents – While traffic has increased 15% since 2005, the number of fatal and injury motor vehicle accidents have neither increased or decreased averaging about 5.3 fatalities on I-95 in South Florida, each year.
- Traumatic brain injury – TBI after a car accident often occurs when a motorist strikes their head on the steering wheel, window, dashboard, etc. during the accident. However, whiplash, when the head is thrown violently backward and then forward due to a force from behind, the brain can still be injured by the brain striking the inside of the skull at high speed. Car accidents are the second leading cause of TBIs, making up 17.3% of the 1.7 Million TBIs each year, right after falls, which make up just over 35% of traumatic brain injuries.
- Spinal cord injuries – A spinal cord injury, damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal, is a serious injury which often causes permanent changes in strength, sensation and other body functions below the site of the injury. Motor vehicle accidents, including motorcycle accidents, are the leading cause of spinal cord injuries, accounting for half of new spinal cord injuries annually.
- Fractures – Physical trauma, such as car accidents, are a leading cause of fractures (broken bones). You are likely to have a bone break in a car accident because your body absorbs a large amount of impact during a collision. A person’s bones weaken with age, increasing an individual’s risk of sustaining fractures in an accident.
- Sprains – Each year, over two Million Americans experience whiplash, also known as neck strain or a sprain. Sprains occur during car accidents when the sudden impact jolts your body so greatly that your ligaments that connect your bones become overstretched. Often a sprain resulting from a car accident will likely occur in your neck. In some cases, you may even experience tears in the ligament
- Mental trauma – Thousands of car accidents occur in the state of Florida each day, leaving many motorists with emotional distress, or trauma to deal with. It is normal during the healing process that you may begin to notice signs of increased stress such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, anguish, fearfulness, issues with sleep, recurring nightmares about the crash, etc. These intense emotions can lead to avoidance: avoiding having to drive again by avoiding going to work, appointments, events, school, etc. due to fear of getting into another accident. When symptoms start getting in the way of day to day functioning it may be a sign to take action and seek professional help from a mental health provider.
If you or a loved one are involved in a motor vehicle accident, it is crucial to get medical attention regardless of how you are feeling. Insurance companies will fight against you if you claim no injuries and later seek medical care. This could complicate pursuing the at-fault party for your personal injury claims. Seeking medical care immediately after a car accident, or a truck accident, can protect you in the short run, while the personal injury attorneys at the law firm of Florin | Roebig can help in the long term when it comes to receiving compensation in your personal injury case.
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Florin|Roebig: Working on your Florida car crash claim
The law firm of Florin | Roebig has an elite team of car accident attorneys, here to help you with your crash and injury claims in the state of Florida. Personal injury cases often require an auto accident attorney, and Florin|Roebig Miami car accident lawyers offer free case evaluations and are local to the state of Florida. Serving South Florida:
- Fort Lauderdale is the largest city of Broward County with an estimated population of 182,437. Of the 341,331 vehicle accidents across Florida in 2019, there were more than 41,000 auto accidents in Broward County alone. Of those collisions, more than 5,400 occurred in Fort Lauderdale, the second-highest number throughout Florida cities only behind Miami. The car accidents in Fort Lauderdale are statistically deadlier than in the rest of the state with an estimate of 45 of the 3,183 fatal crashes in Florida occurring in Fort Lauderdale in 2019 accounting for .015% of fatal accidents in the entire state of Florida
- Miami-Dade County has the largest population of any city in Florida at 2,716,940. With 51,536 auto accidents occurring in Miami-Dade County during 2019, a total of 320 were fatal accidents
- West Palm Beach has experienced 177 fatal accidents out of the 22,099 vehicle accidents in Palm Beach, 2019
If your accident exceeds the “injury threshold” call Florin|Roebig today for a free consultation to see how you can get your medical bills covered, as well as compensation for lost wages. The Miami car accident lawyers at the law offices of FlorinRoebig are familiar with Interstate 95 and the severity of high-speed I-95 car accidents and truck accidents. The personal injury attorneys at Florin|Roebig can help you to navigate the complexities of insurance policies in motor vehicle accidents and give the peace of mind of your legal rights. A free consultation with an accident attorney at Florin|Roebig can ensure you receive the compensation required for medical treatment for your accident case with injury claims beyond Personal Injury Protection (PIP) for property damage, or in the case of wrongful death in the fatal accident of a loved one.