Orlando Car Accident Wrongful Death Lawyers

Over the last several decades, advances in science and technology have given us valuable safety features that are now standard in most new vehicles. Despite these additional safety features, car accidents can result in serious, even fatal, injuries to the occupants of the involved vehicles. In 2021 alone, 3,733 people lost their lives in a motor vehicle accident in the State of Florida, according to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV). If you lost a loved one in a car accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your loss.

The Orlando car accident wrongful death lawyers at Bailey Fisher understand that no amount of compensation can replace your loved one; however, if another party’s negligence caused or contributed to a fatal car accident, they should be held accountable, and you should be compensated for the trauma and financial hardship that death caused. Our Orlando car accident wrongful death lawyers are dedicated to pursuing justice for the surviving loved ones of victims who were fatally injured in a car accident.

Orlando Car Accident Facts and Figures

The Orlando metropolitan area is home to over two million residents and hosts over 70 million visitors each year, which means there is an exceptionally high number of vehicles on Orlando’s roadways at any given time. The combination of heavy traffic and an unusually high number of motorists who are unfamiliar with the city contributes to frequent collisions on Orlando’s roadways, as the following 2021 Orange County facts and figures published by the FLHSMV indicate:

There were 27,422 crashes.
13,818 crashes resulted in injuries.
Collisions resulted in 23,094 injuries.
There were 203 fatal crashes.
218 people were killed in a collision.
20 people were killed in an impaired driving collision.

What Is Florida’s No-Fault Insurance Law?

Florida is a “no-fault” insurance state, meaning drivers are required to carry a minimum amount of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance coverage that pays their medical bills (up to $10,000) if they are injured in an accident without regard to who was at fault in the collision. If you are seriously injured in a car accident, however, you can pursue a traditional personal injury lawsuit to recover compensation for damages. The same applies if you are a surviving family member of someone who was fatally injured in a car accident.

What Is a Wrongful Death in Florida?

When a car accident results in fatal injuries to a victim, the surviving family members and loved ones suffer emotionally and financially. The law allows survivors to pursue compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit. In the State of Florida, the Florida Wrongful Death Act (FWDA) governs wrongful death lawsuits, defining a wrongful death as “…the death of a person that is caused by the wrongful act, negligence, default, or breach of contract or warranty of any person, including those occurring on navigable waters, and the event would have entitled the person injured to maintain an action and recover damages if death had not ensued…”

Am I Entitled to Compensation for an Orlando Car Accident Wrongful Death?

The Florida Wrongful Death Act allows for the recovery of monetary damages for the loss of a family member if you are one of the following:

The decedent’s spouse.
The decedent’s child.
The decedent’s parent.
A blood relative or adopted sibling if you were partly or wholly dependent on the decedent for support or services.
The decedent’s child born out of wedlock, but not the child born out of wedlock of the father, unless the father has recognized a responsibility for your support.

In a Florida wrongful death lawsuit, the decedent’s Personal Representative (typically the Executor of the Will) must file the lawsuit and is entitled to recover damages for both the estate and eligible survivors.

What Type of Compensation Is Available in an Orlando Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Damages in a Florida wrongful death car accident lawsuit may be payable to the estate of the decedent as well as to surviving family members. The estate may be entitled to damages for:

Medical and funeral expenses paid directly by the estate.
Lost wages, benefits, and other earnings, including the value of lost earnings that the deceased person could reasonably have been expected to make if he or she had lived.
Lost “prospective net accumulations” of the estate, or the value of earnings the estate could reasonably have been expected to collect if the decedent had lived.

Survivors may be entitled to damages that are intended to compensate for the emotional trauma and financial hardship suffered because of the death and may include:

The value of support and services the deceased person provided to the surviving family member
Loss of companionship, guidance, and protection provided by the deceased person
Mental and emotional pain and suffering due to the loss of a child
Medical or funeral expenses any surviving family member has paid for the deceased person.

Get Help from Experienced Orlando Car Accident Wrongful Death Lawyers

If you are the surviving family member of someone who was fatally injured in an Orlando car accident, it is in your best interest to speak to the experienced Orlando car accident wrongful death lawyers at Bailey Fisher Law as soon as possible. Florida law limits the time to initiate legal action in a wrongful death lawsuit to just two years. Let our experience and resources help you pursue compensation for the loss you have suffered and ensure that the party (or parties) responsible for your loss is held accountable.

Call us at 407-628-2929 or submit our online form today. One of our experienced Orlando car accident wrongful death lawyers will evaluate your case for free. For viable personal injury cases, we will follow up with the necessary legal action to hold the responsible party accountable for their negligence and recover the financial compensation you deserve for your pain, suffering, and losses.