Many people imagine a simple story of a personal injury. The victim is clearly one person, while the other is clearly another. Truth isn’t always neat, particularly when it comes Florida. Often, the lines of responsibility can be blurred. Both drivers make mistakes. Both the store owner and customer may have missed an obvious danger. Even though the law is intended to guide, it reflects real life’s messy nature.
The answer is comparative negligence. Florida’s legal system divides responsibility for accidents when more than one person is at fault. Bonardi & Uzdavinis LLP have walked clients through the rules and they ask the same question: What does it do to my case? What is the impact on my compensation, and does it seem fair?
What is comparative negligence?
It’s easy to understand comparative negligence: it all comes down to percentages. A judge, jury or insurance adjusters may decide the percentage of blame that each party is responsible for in an accident. These percentages can reduce or even eliminate compensation claims.
Imagine a pie chart. One slice belongs to one driver and the other slice belongs to the second. The size of the pie will determine how much compensation you receive. If you are at 30% fault, your damages will be decreased by 30%.
The principle is this: Particularly since Florida recently changed its approach, details matter.
Florida’s recent shift in the law
Florida has been operating under the comparative negligence system for many years. It meant that an injured party was entitled to compensation, even if the person who caused the injury was at fault. They would receive only 1% of damages.
The law changed in March of 2023. Florida has modified relative negligence. The new rule says that you cannot recover damages if you’re more than 50% at fault. Zero.
This small change has a big impact on cases of personal injury. The argument over whether you were or weren’t at least 49 percent responsible for an accident can make the difference between thousands and nothing.
Examples of Everyday Life
Using examples can be a great way to understand a concept.
- Intersection Accident
- Imagine that one driver ran through a red traffic light and another driver, distracted by texting, did not see the accident until it was too late. Drivers who run red lights may be held responsible for 80% of the accident, while drivers distracted by texting are only 20%. If the distracted driver sues, they can recover only 80% of their damages.
- In a shop, you can slip and fall.
- Unattended spillage at a supermarket. The shopper wore inappropriate footwear and did not heed warning cones, according to the evidence. A jury may assign 60% of fault to the retailer, and 40% to their customer. The amount that a shopper gets in compensation would be cut by 40%.
- Pedestrian Injury
- Driver speeds through a crosswalk while a pedestrian crosses against the light. Both parties are equally responsible. Florida’s new law states that if a pedestrian is found 55% responsible, then they receive nothing.
These are real cases, not hypothetical ones. These cases also demonstrate how thin the border is between compensation and denial.
How is fault determined?
How do these numbers get determined? Calculators don’t produce exact numbers. Evidence, testimony, or sometimes negotiation is used to determine the fault.
- Reports from the police are frequently used to assign initial blame.
- Eyewitnesses can be used to shift responsibility.
- Expert Analysis: Accident reconstruction specialists break down details like speed, distance and reaction times.
- Comparative Conduct: Have both parties acted in a reasonable manner?
Sometimes insurance adjusters are able to reach an agreement. Sometimes, a jury decides. It’s not always a neat process. Two people can have very different perspectives on the same incident.
Insurance Companies and Comparative Negligence
Comparative negligence is a favorite of insurance companies. Why? Why?
If you are found to be 25% at fault, your claim could be worth $75,000. If you raise that percentage to say over 50%, then they will not be liable under the new law.
Insurers often attempt to increase your liability. This has nothing to do about fairness. Limiting the payouts is all that matters. People who don’t understand comparative negligence could accept settlements far below what they deserve.
Challenges for Victims
Comparative negligence is a double-edged sword for those who have been injured. You are already suffering from pain, hospitalization and loss of wages. The court now tells you it was partly your fault.
It can feel like you are being blamed correctly. It’s possible. This is not unusual.
These percentages are not just a concept, they have a direct impact on your financial recovery. Arguments that lower them from 40% to 30 % can make a difference between tens of thousands of dollars.
Legal Representation: What is it?
Experienced lawyers are important. Bonardi & Uzdavinis LLP does not just gather evidence, but also fights exaggerated allegations of blame. We hire experts to reconstruct scenes and challenge narratives which unfairly blame our clients.
In a case of comparative negligence, nuance is needed. You do not have to prove you were injured. You don’t have to prove that you were hurt. It’s not enough to show that you were injured. You also need to prove that the other party was at fault, or your share of blame should be as low as possible. It is a very different form of advocacy, but it’s equally important.
The Ambiguity Layer
It is important to admit that comparative neglect doesn’t work. It tries to assign fault logically but accidents are often chaotic. Human behavior rarely can be neatly divided by percentages.
The jury’s decision may reflect not only the evidence but also its own opinions about what people should be doing. The results can be very different. In one courtroom a victim might be found 30% responsible, but in another, the same facts may result in 45%. The system is structured but also unpredictable.
What Victims should do
If you have been injured in Florida, and you believe that comparative negligence could be a factor for your case, you should take the following steps:
- Document all evidence. Photos, videos and the names of witnesses can be very important.
- Be cautious with your words. Be careful with your statements.
- Seek medical attention immediately. If you delay treatment, it may be interpreted as a sign of neglect on your part.
- Get legal advice early. Consult an attorney as soon as possible to increase your chances of recovering inflated fault assignments.
Final Thoughts
It is easy to dismiss comparative negligence until you have experienced it. On paper, percentages seem very clinical. These percentages are what determine whether or not a family can afford to pay medical bills, or if a worker injured will be able replace lost wages.
These percentages are more important now that Florida has switched to a modified version of the system. If you are found to have a claim that is just above the 50% threshold, your case will be over before it has even begun. It is a harsh reality, but it also serves as a warning that these cases should be taken very seriously.
Bonardi & Uzdavinis LLP believes that victims deserve to be treated as more than just a statistic on a graph. They should be given a fair presentation of the facts, and protected from insurance tactics which take advantage of their complexity. It is true that comparative negligence is the norm. However, this does not mean that it must be the end. With the right evidence, and with guidance from a lawyer, justice can win.
This post was written by a professional at Bonardi & Uzdavinis, LLP. Bonardi & Uzdavinis, LLP is a boutique, full service law firm providing its clients with a wide range of representation. Our primary areas of practice include real estate, tampa probate attorney, personal injury, construction, and commercial litigation. If you are looking for a real estate attorney or personal injury attorney in Tampa Bay contact us today for a case evaluation today!
