West Palm Beach Road Rage Accident Attorney

This West Palm Beach Road Rage Accident Lawyer can help you if you’ve become the victim of crime. Road rage occurs when a driver on a road way drives in an aggressive way as a result of anger.

Road rage can be highly hazardous. Drivers who take actions out of anger can easily cause accidents and resulting injuries.

Road rage is unfortunately extremely common in South Florida. This is probably due in part to the fact that there is a lot of traffic on South Florida roadways. Due to this traffic, drivers can easily became frustrated – which can lead to road rage.

Drinking and driving (DUI) and driving while using drugs can also cause road rage.

As a victim of road rage, you should stay calm. Reacting to the angry driver does no good, and can easily aggravate the angry driver and cause an escalation of bad behavior.

If you’ve been the victim of road rage occurring anywhere in the State of Florida (including Miami, Miami-Dade County, Broward County or Fort Lauderdale), contact Mr. Quackenbush at 954-448-7288 to talk about your case for free.

If you’ve been the victim of road rage, the insurance company of the bad driver may refuse to provide coverage and give you compensation for your injuries. This is because the insurance company may consider the road rage an “intentional tort.” Intentional torts are defined as actions that are intended and cause injuries (either physical or mental/emotional). Many insurance companies include provisions in their policies excluding coverage for intentional torts, including road rage.

Therefore, if you’ve been the victim of road rage, you may not be able to recover compensation from the insurance company of the bad driver. If this is the case, you may be stuck pursuing the personal assets of the other driver. These may include bank accounts, vehicles, properties, etc. You also may be able to garnish the future wages of the bad driver.

However, in the State of Florida, if the bad driver lived in a property that he or she owned, then that property will typically be protected by the “Homestead” Act. This means that you will likely not be able to take the homesteaded-property of the other driver in order to satisfy your judgment.

However, second homes, condominiums and apartments are typically not protected and, as such, you might be able to take them.

If you’ve been the victim of a road rage accident, you might also be able to acquire compensation from the uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) policy of the other driver. Uninsured motorist coverage protects you and provides compensation to you in the case that you are injured by an uninsured driver. Underinsured motorist coverage, on the other hand, covers you if you’ve been injured by a driver that didn’t have enough insurance coverage.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage may be “stacked” or “unstacked.” Stacked uninsured motorist coverage means that the policy limits will be multiplied by the number of vehicles in your house-hold. Policy limits represent the amount of money you may be able to recover in case of a crash. For example, if you have an uninsured motorist insurance policy with $100,000 of coverage, then you might be able to recover up to $100,000 in compensation for your injuries. However, if your uninsured motorist policy is stacked, then you will be able to multiply it by the number of vehicles in your household. For example, if you have two vehicles in your household, then you will be able to recover up to $200,000. If you have three vehicles in your household, then you will be able to recover up to $300,000, etc.

If you don’t have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage but a “resident relative” (a family member you live with) does, then you may be able to recover compensation from that person’s UM policy.

If the bad driver who caused your road rage crash was intoxicated or drunk at the time of the crash, then you may be able to pursue a “dram shop” case. A dram shop case results when a business establishment (such as a bar, nightclub or restaurant) serves alcohol to a person 1) under 21-years-olf-age or 2) known by the business establishment to be “habitually addicted to alcohol” (i.e., an alcoholic) and the person then goes out an causes a wreck and injuries as a result.

If the bad driver was working at the time of the accident, then you may be able to pursue a case against the driver’s employer. The employer may try to argue that the driver wasn’t acting in the scope of his or her employment at the time of the road rage. After all, while employers are generally responsible for their employees’ actions/behavior under a theory of “respondeat superior,” they are typically only “vicariously liable” for those actions/behaviors if the employee was acting in the scope of his or her employment at the time of the accident/injuries.

Finally, should the bad driver be arrested and charged with the road rage, you may be able to get compensation in the form of “restitution” from the bad driver. That is, the bad driver may receive probation in his or her criminal case, and the Judge can order that the driver pay restitution as a part of that probation.

If you are the victim of a road rage wreck, you may be able to pursue punitive damages. Punitive damages are intended to punish the other driver and deter future bad behavior; they aren’t designed to compensate you.

Compensatory damages, on the other hand, are intended to compensate your for your injuries. They come in the form of pain & suffering, medical bills and lost wages.

Should you be hurt in a road rage collision happening anywhere in Palm Beach County (including Belle Glade, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Greenacres, Jupiter, Lake Worth, Lantana, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Springs, Riviera Beach, Royal Palm Beach and Wellington), Mr. Quackenbush can help. Contact this Palm Beach County Road Rage Accident Law Firm at 954-448-7288 today.