A glance at a phone near U.S. 1 or Kanner Highway can be enough to miss stopped traffic, a turn, or a changing light. A distracted driving accident lawyer in Stuart can help determine whether that lapse played a role in your crash.
The Schiller Kessler Group brings over three decades of experience to Florida injury cases, including collisions where the real dispute is what the other driver was doing in the seconds before impact.
A Stuart car accident lawyer can step in when the insurer starts asking questions, challenging fault, or minimizing what happened. We can review the crash and explain where the claim goes from here. Give us a call today.
Driver Distraction Does Not Always Mean Texting
Texting is only one kind of distraction. A driver can miss what is happening ahead because they are looking somewhere else, thinking about something else, or handling something inside the car. A Stuart personal injury lawyer can help determine whether that loss of attention contributed to the crash.
You may remember the other driver looking surprised right before impact or never touching the brakes at all. Those details can help explain whether their attention had drifted somewhere else.
Distraction can come from something inside the vehicle, something outside it, or simply a lapse in attention. What matters is whether the driver stopped giving the road the attention the situation required.
More people choose The Schiller Kessler Group because they know that we're a cut above other personal injury law firms.
Florida Law on Phones and Driver Attention
Florida puts a legal limit on what drivers can do with a phone while the car is in motion. Under Florida Statutes § 316.305, drivers cannot manually type, read, or send certain nonvoice communications while operating the vehicle.
The law covers conduct such as texting, emailing, and instant messaging. A citation can help show what happened, but police do not have to issue one for distraction to become part of the claim.
Florida Statutes § 316.1925 also requires drivers to operate vehicles in a careful and prudent manner. A distraction that leads to an unsafe turn, missed signal, rear-end collision, or another dangerous move can become important even when § 316.305 does not apply.
No matter what time of day it is, you can contact The Schiller Kessler Group to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.
Finding Signs of Distraction After a Stuart Crash
A driver’s phone can answer some questions, but it is not the only place we look. A crash can leave clues in records, video, witness accounts, and the vehicles themselves.
Sources we can review include the following:
- Cellphone records when legally available
- Photos or video from nearby businesses
- Witness statements
- Vehicle data
- Police reports
- App or navigation records when relevant
The timing in those records can help us understand what the driver was doing in the moments before impact. From there, we can look at whether their attention was elsewhere when traffic changed or another driver entered their path.
How Insurance Companies Challenge Distracted Driving Claims
An insurance company might accept that the driver was looking at a phone and still argue that it had little to do with the crash. The insurer could claim the driver had already looked back at the road or had enough time to react before impact.
The insurer could also argue that you share some responsibility for the crash. Florida follows modified comparative negligence, so the percentage of fault assigned to you can reduce what you recover. If you are found more than 50% at fault, Florida law can bar recovery.
A driver who never admitted to being distracted gives the insurance company another argument to use. The company may try to minimize the issue even when the circumstances raise serious questions about where the driver’s attention was.
Losses After a Distracted Driving Accident in Stuart
A distracted-driving crash can affect your finances, your work, and what you are physically able to do each day. Medical care can become part of your routine, and time away from work can create additional pressure while you recover.
Those losses can include the following:
- Medical expenses
- Future treatment costs
- Lost income
- Reduced earning capacity
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
Florida law generally requires an injury to meet the state’s serious injury threshold before an accident victim can recover pain and suffering and other non-economic damages.
Our attorneys also look at the ways your injuries have changed daily life outside of work and medical appointments. Needing help at home, sleeping differently, or giving up activities you handled before the crash can help explain the personal impact of your injuries.
How Stuart Distracted Driving Accident Lawyers Handle the Claim
Our Stuart distracted driving accident attorneys keep the claim moving while you focus on your recovery. We handle communication with the insurance company, track deadlines, and make sure the claim reflects the injuries and losses connected to the crash.
We also keep you updated when something changes. If the insurer makes an offer, requests more information, or raises a new issue, we explain what it means before you have to make a decision.
From there, we can negotiate for a resolution that reflects the claim or file a lawsuit if the insurance company refuses to make a reasonable offer. We will explain what each step involves before the case moves forward.
Contact The Schiller Kessler Group Today
The Schiller Kessler Group has helped more than 30,000 Florida injury victims pursue compensation. We have seen how a few seconds of driver inattention can leave someone facing medical care, time away from work, and changes that can last for months or longer.
A distracted driving accident lawyer in Stuart can review how the crash happened, deal with the insurance company, and explain what the claim could include. You can come to us with questions, records, or simply what you remember from the collision.
We offer free, no-obligation case reviews and work on a contingency basis. You pay no upfront attorney fees, and we collect only if we recover compensation for you. Home, office, and hospital consultations are available if coming to us is difficult. Call us today.
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