There are about 200,000 car accidents in the state of Florida every year, and not all accidents result in someone getting a ticket. They use the term accident because, usually in these cases, someone didn’t mean to crash their vehicle into your vehicle. It’s called an accident because it was not an intentional act.
One thing that we found with car accidents is, even though it’s not intentional, someone is at fault. They are at fault because of decisions that they have intentionally made. For example, they may have the decision to drive too fast, they may have decided to drive recklessly, or drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or they’ve decided to drive their vehicle when they’re tired and not alert. Sometimes we’ve even found drivers who decided to drive their vehicle while using their cell phones, texting, and sometimes even watching movies while they’re driving the vehicle. So, while it was an accident, they didn’t mean to crash, they did because of their intentional decisions, and that in the state of Florida equals fault. The standard is the failure to use reasonable care. Would reasonable drivers do these types of things? Of course not!
Now, if a ticket wasn’t given, that’s a decision made by the cops. The police decide on their own discretion whether to issue a ticket. A ticket only indicates that the police believe there was a violation of the motor vehicle law. It could be speeding. It could be reckless driving. It could even be failure to wear a seat belt. Even if none of that was done by the police, that does not impact the ability to bring a claim for negligence and for your injuries against the other driver. If they got a ticket or they didn’t get a ticket, most of the time, that’s not going to matter in the decision and the ability to pursue a claim on your behalf if you’re involved in a motor vehicle crash. The cops stand in the place of the state of Florida, they are there to enforce the laws of the state of Florida regarding motor vehicle use and operation. That does not mean whether a driver was negligent or not negligent. So, just because someone was not given a ticket, does not mean you still don’t have a case to pursue the at fault driver, the negligent driver, for injuries that you suffered in a car accident.