If a driver’s carelessness caused your car accident in Miami-Dade County, you may have a case.
Most car accidents in Florida are subject to the same law, regardless of where they occur in Florida. Thus, they are handled in a similar fashion.
Miami-Dade County Car Cases Are Different
There are several big differences that apply to accidents that occur in Miami-Dade County, Florida for vehicle accident cases. I am referring to car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, bike, bus, taxi, Uber and other vehicle crashes.
This article focuses on these differences. Here they are:
At fault driver gets $10,000 credit if you don’t have car insurance
If you own a car but don’t have it insured, the settlement value of your Miami-Dade car crash case may be smaller. This happens because you will likely owe the hospital or doctors money because you don’t get Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits.
The careless driver gets a credit for 80% of your medical bills up to $10,000. This is true even though PIP doesn’t pay for your medical bills, since you don’t have PIP.
This assumes that your car or truck accident happened in Miami-Dade or Monroe County. The case that says this is Cases v. Gray, 894 So. 2d 268 – Fla: Dist. Court of Appeals, 3rd Dist. 2004.
Example – Miami-Dade County Car Crash; Your Car is Not Insured
You own a car in Kendall, Miami-Dade County, Florida. You don’t have insurance on it.
A careless driver crashes into you. You fracture your foot. You don’t have health insurance. Your hospital bills are $12,500.
(If you had PIP, it would pay the hospital $10,000 since PIP pays 80% of the total charge. You would be left with the 20% that PIP didn’t pay, which is $2,500.)
Since you don’t have car insurance, you don’t have PIP. This means that you will owe the hospital the full $12,500.
When you make your personal injury claim against the careless driver, he doesn’t owe you the $10,000 that PIP would have paid. This is because the accident happened in Miami-Dade County and you didn’t have the required auto insurance.
Assume foot fracture pain and suffering component is $25,000
Let’s assume that the full value of the pain and suffering component of your fractured foot is $25,000. Let’s calculate the settlement value of your case.
Settlement value = (Pain and Suffering) + (Bills that at fault driver must pay)
Let’s plug in the amounts that I have used above.
Settlement value = (25,000) + (2,500)
The settlement value of your case would be about $27,250.
Now, if the same accident happened in a county that doesn’t penalize uninsured car owners, your case value is the same. However, you would only owe the hospital $2,500 instead of $12,500.
This would put another $10,000 in your pocket.
Miami-Dade County Car Accident Settlements Are Higher
Jurors in urban cities tend to award higher verdicts than those in small cities. Miami-Dade County is loaded with many highly populated cities.
Miami-Dade County juries tend to award higher amounts for the pain and suffering component of a car accident case than jurors in other counties.
This may be reflected in higher settlement offers. For example, I settled a Hialeah, Miami-Dade County, Florida case for $445,000 where a truck hit my client, a motorcycle rider.
If that same crash occurred in a less populated part of Florida, like Key West, then the settlement may have been smaller.
All that being said, the facts of your case are the driving factor that determines the case value.
Hispanics do better with Miami-Dade County Juries
All things equal, Cubans or any type of Hispanics get a higher personal injury verdicts in Miami-Dade County. This is as compared to Caucasians, African-Americans, Haitians and others.
Ask any personal injury lawyer, insurance adjuster, defense lawyer or judge, and they will confirm this.
I settled a case for $200,000 where a car ran a red light and hit my Cuban client. It happened in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The adjuster may have offered more money because my client was Cuban. This case may have settled for less if my client wasn’t Cuban or Hispanic.
This isn’t to say that people who aren’t Hispanic can’t get a great verdict in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Adjusters are willing to offer fair value in Miami-Dade County car, truck, motorcycle, bike and pedestrian accident cases.
Just look at this $325,000 settlement after a car hit a pedestrian who was a tourist from Europe. He wasn’t hispanic.
But again, adjusters may add more money onto a Miami-Dade County case if the injured victim is hispanic. The same is true for Broward and Palm Beach County cases.
Attorney Must Pay Back Hospital for Owed Medical Bills
An attorney who settles a personal injury case must pay any Miami-Dade County hospital’s accident related medical bills. This is true whether you treat at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Baptist Hospital, Kendall Regional Medical Center, Hialeah Hospital or anywhere else.
This is based on a Miami-Dade County, Florida Ordinance, Chapter 25C – Payment of Costs of Hospital Care, Treatment and Maintenance. Lawyers cannot break the law.
When you hire a lawyer, you are hiring someone who has to follow the law. There are some other counties that don’t require you to pay the hospital from the settlement.
It’s easier for crash victims to find fair doctors
If you’re hurt in a car crash, many doctors:
- Won’t be willing to treat you.
- Won’t speak with your lawyer
- Won’t say write a report that says that the crash caused a permanent injury, if true
- Won’t get involved in a legal case.
However, injured car accident victims will find that there are many doctors in Miami-Dade County who will see them and do the above things. Specifically, there are several orthopedic doctors and neurologists in Miami who will see you.
I am referring to doctors who don’t do most of their “legal work” for insurance companies.
It’s easier to get medical treatment in Miami-Dade County than it is a small town in Florida. Some people in smaller towns in Florida have to drive hours just to get to a doctor who will agree to see them or write a report in the case.
It’s harder to get a doctor in Homestead, Florida. However, there are a couple of orthopedic doctors there who will see injured car accident victims.
No Charge for Miami-Dade County Air Ambulance
As of a few months ago, there was no charge if you’re transported via Miami-Dade County’s air ambulance/helicopter. However, if you are transported via a ground ambulance, there is a charge.
What cities are in Miami-Dade County, Florida?
Now that you know the unique aspects to Miami-Dade County car accident cases, you may want to know what cities are in Miami-Dade County. Here they are:
- Bal Harbour
- Bay Harbor Islands
- Biscayne Park
- Coral Gables
- Cutler Bay
- Doral
- El Portal
- Florida City
- Golden Beach
- Hialeah
- Hialeah Gardens
- Homestead
- Indian Creek
- Key Biscayne
- Medley Town
- Miami
- Miami Beach
- Miami Gardens
- Miami Lakes
- Miami Shores
- Miami Springs
- North Bay Village
- North Miami
- North Miami Beach
- Opa-locka
- Palmetto Bay
- Pinecrest
- South Miami
- Sunny Isles Beach
- Surfside
- Sweetwater
- Virginia Gardens
- West Miami
My office is:
- In Coral Gables
- A 7 minute driver from Kendall
- A 23 minute driver from Hialeah
- A 27 minute drive from Homestead
Call Me Now!
Call me now at (888) 594-3577 to find out for FREE if we can represent you. We answer calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
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