5-Figure Settlement Paid to Mother Hit by Rental Car

Collision with a Rental Car

Early one Spring morning in 2022, our client, we’ll call her “Jane,” was driving down a county road in Gainesville, Florida with her little boy in the back seat. It was a normal day. Jane was driving down a road she had driven down many times, and her baby was in his car seat playing, just like any other day.

Defendant driver, we’ll call her “Dana,” was on that same stretch of road that morning. She was driving ahead of Jane. Behind Dana’s vehicle was Dana’s boyfriend, who we’ll call “Barry Boyfriend.” Barry Boyfriend was following Dana in a separate vehicle and driving in front of Jane.

The Rental Car Driver Made an Improper U-Turn Out of Nowhere

As Jane was driving down the road behind Dana and Barry Boyfriend, Dana suddenly and without warning decides to make an abrupt illegal U-turn. When Dana makes the U-turn, she suddenly stops in the middle of the road, and Barry Boyfriend suddenly and unexpectedly swerves out of the way to avoid running into Dana. Jane was unable to avoid a collision, and she plowed into the back of Dana’s vehicle.

We Overcame the Insurance Company’s Graves Amendment Argument

Dana, the at-fault driver, was driving a rental car at the time of the crash. The insurance company tried to assert the Graves Amendment, which shields rental car companies from vicarious liability. Hence, they said they didn’t owe our client any money for her injuries.

We fought them on this point. After doing our investigation, we learned that Dana, the driver of the rental car, had a long history of traffic violations and car accidents. We pointed out to the insurance company that, had they done a reasonable check into the driver’s history, no reasonable company would have ever rented her a car. She was dangerous behind the wheel, and the rental car company only needed to do a quick check into Dana’s driving history to learn that for themselves. They didn’t do their due diligence, and our client was injured as a result. The insurance company got scared when we brought up Dana’s driving record, and our Florida car accident lawyers were able to overcome their Graves Amendment argument.

We Overcame the Florida Presumption That the Rear End Driver is Liable

The insurance company tried to argue that Jane was at fault because, in Florida, there is a presumption that a person is negligent if he or she rear ends a vehicle. They argued that Jane must have been negligent because she rear-ended the driver in front of her.

We overcame the Florida rear end presumption of negligence because Jane did nothing wrong, and she could not possibly avoid running into Barry Boyfriend’s vehicle. Ultimately, we were able to get policy limits on the case before filing suit and within six months of the crash.

Securing Recovery for Our Clients

In this case, as with many injury cases involving atypical insurance policies, the insurance company tried to play games to avoid paying just compensation to our client. They count on us being lazy. They count on us giving up and not fighting for our clients. They were wrong, and we let them know our client would get just compensation, or we would take them to court.

Ultimately, the insurance company had no choice. It had to pay up or face going to court and risk paying a much high price down the road, in addition to paying their attorneys to go to trial. We got our client just compensation as quickly as possible so she could move on with her life.

We are here to help make sure all responsible parties are held accountable. If you have been injured in a car accident, contact our office today for a free consultation. We would be honored to talk with you and advocate for you and your family.

Schedule a Free Consultation with a Florida Car Accident Attorney

The attorneys at Spetsas Buist have years of experience handling car accident cases. Our job is to handle the legal side of your car accident while you and your family focus on recovering and getting better. We offer free consultations with attorneys at our firm. All you have to do is contact us and set up your free consultation, and you’ll get a call from one of our car accident lawyers.