Whether you were a passenger in a taxicab, a pedestrian, or in another car, you may be due compensation for your damages from a collision involving a cab.
A car accident lawyer in West Palm Beach, FL at the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can help you file a personal injury claim to get you on your feet and collect the compensation you deserve. Taxicab accidents differ from typical accidents, and you may be unsure of where to start. Our services begin with free consultations in which we examine the circumstances of your case and walk you through your options.
Call our West Palm Beach team at 1-800-747-3733 for your free consultation.
Recoverable Compensation in Your West Palm Beach Taxicab Accident Claim
An important detail separating taxicabs accidents from usual car accidents is their status as commercial vehicles. Florida is a no-fault state meaning you must usually go through your own insurance company to obtain damages in car accidents. But this does not apply to commercial vehicles like taxicabs.
That opens up a more extensive variety of damages you could collect if you win your case. A West Palm Beach personal injury lawyer can help you obtain the following:
- Medical expenses including therapy and medication
- Lost income
- Cost of long-term medical expenses
- Lost earning potential
- Property damage if you were hit by a taxicab
Determining Liability in a West Palm Beach Taxicab Accident
Like most traffic accidents, your ability to collect compensation for damages depends heavily on proving liability. In a taxicab accident, that begins with determining who owns and operates the vehicle and if negligence contributed to your accident.
The first thing separating taxicab accidents in West Palm Beach from standard accidents is ownership. The two most common scenarios are:
- The driver owns and operates his vehicle; or
- The driver works for a taxicab company
Knowing who owns the taxicab is significant as we approach your personal injury claim. If the driver works for a taxicab company, the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can potentially pursue damages directly from the taxicab company. Due to vicarious liability laws, employers are often liable for their employees’ actions, so long as the employee took those actions in the scope of their employment.
We Prove Negligence in a West Palm Beach Taxicab Crash
To recover compensation for injuries and losses from a West Palm Beach taxicab accident, we must prove negligence<. Doing so requires us to establish:
Duty of Care
To owe you damages, the at-fault party must have owed you a duty of care. As a passenger riding in a taxi, the taxi driver owes you a specific duty of care. While duty of care applies to every vehicle on the road, the standard duty of care is even higher for taxis because they are common carriers.
Florida codifies this higher duty of care for common carriers in its 2017 Florida Statutes. Moreover, the Florida Supreme Court states:
The reasonable care required of a common carrier for the safety of a passenger is the highest degree of care that is consistent with the type of transportation used and the practical operation of the business of a common carrier of passengers. Negligence of a common carrier is doing something that a very careful person would not do under like circumstances or failing to do something that a very careful person would do under like circumstances.”
Essentially, this means we can establish the can driver owed you an elevated duty of care simply by showing that you requested a cab and the driver picked you up.
Breach of Duty/Negligence
Once we establish duty of care, we must show that the at-fault party breached that duty by behaving negligently. Negligence can lead to a cab crash in the following ways:
- Inexperienced Drivers: Taxicab drivers must undergo extensive training before taking the wheel. If we discover that the driver did not have the adequate experience necessary, we may be able to hold the cab company liable for negligent hiring or negligent training.
- Poorly Maintained Vehicles: Taxicabs must meet specific requirements to be roadworthy. If the cab you were riding in did not receive regular maintenance (and that lack of maintenance led to the accident), you may be entitled to compensation.
- Speeding: Speeding is an all too common cause of traffic incidents. And taxicabs are not exempt. If you were involved in a taxicab accident in which the driver was speeding, then you likely have a good case for negligence.
- Distracted Driving: If the cab driver was using a phone while driving, toggling GPS, or looking for another passenger to pick up, you may be entitled to compensation.
Causation
Once you have established that the other party behaved negligently, you must prove the negligence caused your accident and injuries.
Damages
We must also prove that you suffered some type of financial, emotional, or physical damages.
Call Us Today For Your Free, No-Obligation Case Review
Every accident is a traumatic event that leaves you anxious to make ends meet and return to normalcy. The injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine attempts to make this process easier by offering free consultations to West Palm Beach residents. Once we lay out what you can expect from us and your options, we will represent you to the best of our ability. Call us at 1-800-747-3733 for your free consultation.
We Can Help.
