ATV Accident Victim Receives Recovery from Dell & Schaefer

Author: Attorney Daniel Villalobos

Client Injured By An Ambulance

Our Client, a middle aged man, was riding an ATV on the road one sunny morning. As he entered an intersection with a four way stop sign, suddenly and without warning an ambulance ran a stop sign and struck our client on the ATV. The impact was very hard and our client was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with severe injuries. The ambulance driver admitted he ran a stop sign but was adamant that he had his ambulance emergency lights on. Our client states the ambulance never had the lights on and simply ran the stop sign. Because there was no independent witnesses to the accident it was difficult for our firm to prove that the ambulance was at fault. But we welcomed the challenge!

The State Of Florida Has Immunity From Lawsuits

Under Florida Law, state agencies have sovereign immunity. This means that a state agency cannot be sued for monetary damages by ordinary citizens. There are a few exceptions to this rule. The state has waived immunity in certain personal injury claims up to $200,000 per person, and $300,000 total per accident. Because the ambulance worked for a state agency, our firm was capped at $200,000 for damages that we could recover for our client.

Dell and Schaefer Negotiate A Settlement

Our firm quickly took the case and filed a bodily injury claim with the state agency responsible for the ambulance. Our firm sought damages for bodily injury, pain and suffering, aggravation of a preexisting injury, loss of consortium, disfigurement, disability, mental anguish, property damage, past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and impairment of ability to earn future wages. After a lengthy negotiation our firm was able to secure a full tender of the $200,000 limit from the government. Our client was ecstatic that our firm went the extra mile and was able to get the best recovery possible under Florida Law.