St Petersburg Personal Injury Attorney Blog

Pinellas Park can be a dangerous place for all types of injury accidents. I have handled countless cases over my career from Pinellas Park and understand what it takes to help people and recover as much money as possible. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in car accidents from Pinellas Park . Our office is less than a 10 minute drive from the edge of the City. Because of our experience, I have compiled a list of tips that will help you with your injury claim. Get Immediate Medical Attention If you have a question about whether to go to the hospital, err on the side of caution and go. Northside Hospital or St. Pete General are good options and are convenient. If your injury does not rise to the level of requiring a hospital visit, then go to an Urgent Care or Walk-In clinic. The key is to get checked out immediately. Not only will this emergency medical treatment give you peace of mind, it will help the value of your personal injury ...

Regardless of the severity of the auto accident, the chances that you suffer a neck injury are high. The force of a sudden stop or crash is enough to throw your head in a motion that your neck is not designed to withstand. As a result, two people who are involved in the same collision can suffer different injuries depending on how their neck is able to handle the shock. This is most notable between genders. I often have husbands and wives or boyfriends and girlfriends involved in the same auto accident sitting next to each other. It has been my observation that women suffer more neck injuries . But, a neck injury is common and can happen to anyone from an auto accident. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in auto accident injury claims . We have handled countless of these cases successfully over the years. We understand how to help people suffering from these injuries and how to maximize the value of each claim. This article is written t...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In car accident cases, this phrase couldn’t be more accurate. Photographs that support a claim are the difference between recovering maximum value and getting a low ball offer. Immediately after a car accident, it can be chaotic. You may be in pain or in shock. You may be thinking about how to contact law enforcement, what will happen to your car, or how bad your injuries are. Many people do not think to take pictures at the scene and miss an opportunity to change the course of their claim. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in car accident injury claims . We have handled countless cases in and around Tampa Bay, Florida. We know firsthand how important photos are to every injury claim . This article will discuss the importance of these taking photographs after an accident and provide valuable information to the public. Why are Car Accident Photos Important? During the presentation of a cl...

If you have been injured in a car accident in Florida , you may have realized by now how little insurance, if any, most drivers carry. Lack of coverage to pay for the injuries that a driver causes to another person is a significant problem that has plagued Florida for years. But, year after year, no changes are made to either strengthen the protections or to actually enforce the existing laws. As a result, approximately 33% or more of all car accidents have insignificant insurance limits to fully compensate victims. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we have successfully handled every type of car accident claim that exists. Our track record for recovering maximum value is unmatched in the area. If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a car crash and are looking for aggressive and honest lawyers, then please contact us immediately. What Are the Car Insurance Coverage Requirements in Florida? As mentioned above, Florida’s car insurance sy...

How Dangerous Are Dump Trucks? Every year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) tracks the amount of crashes and deaths involving dump trucks . In 2016, there were 8,206 accidents nationwide involving dump trucks where the vehicle had to be towed. The number of injuries related to those crashes rose to 5,483. In 2017, FMCSA compiled statistics on all large trucks, which include all of the dump truck accidents . While they did not break down the dump truck specific accidents, they published some alarming details on the number of crashes, injuries and deaths involving these large trucks. In 2017, they found 450,000 crashes involving large trucks that were reported to the police in the US. Out of this figure, there were 4,237 fatal crashes and 344,00 injury crashes. Crashes that involved one vehicle, a bicyclist or a pedestrian made up 20% of all of the deaths. Obviously, it doesn’t take a government agency to compile statistics to explain how dump trucks can be da...

Florida rain storms are the biggest cause of car accidents every year. According to the US Department of Transportation , 1,235,000 crashes in the US each year are weather-related. Out of these crashes, 418,000 people are injured and 5,000 are killed. 70% of all the rain related crashes are on wet pavement while 48% occur during the actual rainfall. This number is staggering when you compare them to winter conditions. Only 18% of weather related crashes happen during snow or sleet and only 13% on icy pavement. When you think of unsafe driving conditions, you would certainly expect ice, snow and sleet to dominate the list. But rain and wet roads are actually the most dangerous, statistically. We know just how dangerous wet roads can be in Florida. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we have handled countless car accident injury claims arising from wet driving conditions. Whether cars have skidded into another, hydroplaned, or simply been driving too fa...

Interstate 275 in St. Petersburg can be a dangerous stretch of road. Although the lanes of travel are flat and straight, except for the downtown area, there are still a number of crashes daily. Most of these accidents are caused by driver error, or in legal terms, negligence. Improper merging, careless driving, distracted driving, and speeding all contribute to regular accidents on I-275 that injure people . Hazardous Area on Southbound I-275 One area that has caught my attention as a particular hazard is on the Southbound lanes on I-275 just past the Tropicana Field Exit 22. As traffic passes Tropicana field on the left, I-175 and I-275 merge. At this merge point, there are two lanes of traffic on I-275 southbound and one westbound lane of traffic coming from I-175. When it rains, the point where the lanes merge has a tendency to accumulate water and cause cars to lose control. Over the years, I have personally handled multiple accidents on this very stretch of road. I have also se...

A tear of the meniscus of the knee is a serious injury. It can affect your life in many negative ways and can cause many long term effects. If you or a loved one has suffered this injury in a personal injury accident, you may be able to recover compensation. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in personal injury claims . Injuries to the knee can occur in virtually any type of auto accident , slip and fall , or trip and fall where the knee is compromised in a sudden and forceful movement. We have handled countless claims involving tearing to the meniscus of the knee. This article is written to provide information if you have questions regarding your injury and about starting an injury claim. What are Meniscus Tears? The meniscus is a padded structure in the knee made of fibrocartilage. It divides the joints in the knees. There are two types of menisci, the medial and the lateral. They help to keep the knee stable. Between the two menisci...

An unfortunate reality of our system in Florida is that not everyone has car insurance. Yes, everyone is required by law to have insurance and their driver’s license is supposed to be suspended if they don’t, but anyone reading this article knows that the system is flawed. It has been my experience as a personal injury attorney in St. Petersburg, Florida for the past 20 years that at least 33% of everyone on the road does not have insurance. I’m not talking about whether they have full coverage or not, I mean no coverage. This is an estimate based on checking for insurance for car accidents dozens of times a month for decades. It is a scary proposition that simply isn’t getting any better. One would think that Florida has so many uninsured drivers because of the number of illegal immigrants who simply can’t get driver’s licenses. While this fact is always an issue, I find that illegal immigrants are not the main culprits. In fact, the vast majority of people who drive without insu...

If you have been injured in an auto accident due to no fault of your own, you are likely upset at the person that caused the incident. Those feelings are understandable and expected. But no one other than your family is going to feel sorry for you or simply hand over money to pay you. And the driver who caused the accident has insurance that will pay for your losses. Other than paying a $500 deductible and getting a ticket, that person will not suffer any consequences. The reality is that auto accident cases are fought against insurance companies who simply don’t care about your well-being. You are simply a statistic to them. Insurance companies hire teams of actuaries , or people who analyze claims to determine the risk. Their goal is to reduce their risk, pay you as little money as possible, and make money. Their formula is as simple as that. So, how do you level the playing field? The best way to level the playing field and make sure that you win your auto accident claim is to ...

If you have been injured in a car accident in Largo , you are likely overwhelmed by the unexpected shock. You are probably wondering how this will affect your family, who will pay for your medical bills, fix your car, and a host of other unwanted repercussions. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we have helped countless families get their lives back on track after a Largo car accident injury . Over the years, we have handled car accident cases on East Bay, West Bay, US 19, Belcher Rd., Starkey Rd, Indian Rocks Rd., Keene Rd., Clearwater/Largo Rd., on Seminole Blvd and the Ulmerton intersection near the Largo Mall, and countless other side streets in town. We know how Largo Police Department investigates accidents, how to get the accident reports, and how to handle the insurance companies that get involved thereafter. Because of our experience in handling car accident injury claims in Largo , this article seeks to provide guidance on how the process w...

Pinellas Park is at the epicenter of many of the personal injury accidents in Pinellas County. It is a small city, but located in the center of the most densely populated county in Florida, it is a hub for through traffic. In fact, car, truck and motorcycle accidents are perhaps more common in this area than anywhere else in the county. It has been my experience that the number of highways and commuters have contributed to an explosion of accidents. You can tell that there is a high incidence of accidents by all of the personal injury law firms lined up along Park Blvd N ! At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in Pinellas Park personal injury claims. We have observed that many injured people do not know exactly how a personal injury attorney can help, therefore I wrote this article. I hope it helps explain what we do and how your claim will work. What Types of Cases Does a Pinellas Park Personal Injury Attorney Handle? The types of cases ...

At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas , we periodically are asked this question by people who have never been injured in an accident before. Some clients have never had to hire a lawyer before, or perhaps they had help with some other unrelated legal issue. Some people do not understand what type of clients we represent, get confused about how we charge, or simply do not understand the types of cases that we handle. Our name is what we do. But, our name doesn’t explain everything. This article is my attempt to clear up any misunderstandings that a potential client may have. When you are researching a personal injury lawyer in St. Petersburg, hopefully this information will assist you with your selection. Types of Cases that a St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorney Handles A personal injury attorney handles virtually all claims involving injury to a person. These cases are founded on a theory of negligence because that is what insurance policies provide...