Speeding Accidents

If you were involved in a motor vehicle accident, there’s a good chance speeding played a role. Speeding is a factor in more than 3,600 injury-producing crashes in Florida each year.

When you or a loved one is the victim of a car crash that is caused by another individual, you know first-hand the devastation the injury or death has caused. You deserve to be justly compensated for your losses.

Orlando car accident lawyer, Frank M. Eidson, P.A., is here to help. We have more than 25 years of experience with assisting car accident victims and their families in Winter Park, Orlando and throughout Central Florida. Contact us today and allow us to provide a free review of your case.

How Do Speeding Accidents Happen in Florida?

Your right to recover after an auto accident will depend on whether another driver’s careless or reckless conduct directly caused the crash and your losses. A driver’s speeding typically falls into this category. For example:

• Speeding can make a driver lose control of a vehicle – A driver who is going too fast can spin out of control. The driver’s choices can impact others as his careening or rolling car can strike other vehicles, motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians.
• Speeding increases stopping distance – When a car is going faster, it has more momentum and takes longer to stop. This increases the chances that a speeding driver will rear-end another car or will be unable to avoid an obstacle.

In these and other situations, you may pursue a claim for accident compensation if the excess speed resulted in a collision that seriously injured you or killed your loved one.

Establishing a Speeding Accident Claim

When you make a car accident claim, you will need to show that the other driver was negligent.

For example, an average reasonable driver wouldn’t drive 90 miles per hour in the middle of a storm or when fog reduces visibility. By showing that the driver’s excess speed was unreasonably careless in such conditions, you can prove the other driver was negligent and thus liable for your losses.

There is also a legal doctrine in Florida called negligence per se. This means that if someone broke a safety rule and caused an injury, there is a presumption that the person was negligent. Rules setting a maximum speed limit are safety rules. So, if you can prove the other driver exceeded the limit, you don’t have to do anything else to establish the driver’s negligence.

No matter which theory you based your claim on, you will need to establish the driver’s speed at the time of the crash. There are several ways to do this, including:

• Eyewitness information – Witnesses can testify that the driver was going too fast.
• Police report data – Police will come to the scene of the collision and will write a report about what they think caused the wreck. In some cases, they may even issue a citation. The accident report can be used to prove the other driver was breaking the rules or taking dangerous risks, or it can serve as a starting point for the investigation of your crash.
• Testimony of an accident reconstruction specialist – Experts can review the accident scene, skid marks on the road, damage to the vehicles and other available information to reconstruct what happened and to determine how fast the at-fault driver was going.

Contact a trusted Orlando Car Acccident Attorney Today

An attorney with experience representing victims of car accidents in Winter Park, Orlando and elsewhere in Central Florida will know how to investigate your crash and determine whether speeding or other factors contributed to it.

Auto accident attorney, Frank M. Eidson, P.A., will work hard to identify the cause of your accident and will strive to recover full compensation for your losses. From the beginning to the end, you can count on our legal team to provide personalized attention to your case. Call or contact us today to get started.

Sources / More Information

• Florida Traffic Crash Facts, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles