If you witness an accident as it’s happening, you may feel unsure how to handle the situation. If professional help hasn’t arrived yet, you can find yourself in a position in which you’re the only one able to save the victim from suffering more severe injuries. Although you don’t want to put yourself in a dangerous situation unless you can help, not taking action can be detrimental.
Florida’s Good Samaritan Law encourages individuals to take action when they feel they can rescue another from an accident and save a life or prevent further injury. This law protects the rescuer from liability if they suffer injuries during the rescue or accidentally cause further injury to the victim.
If the Good Samaritan Law didn’t exist, witnesses may hesitate to help injured victims out of fear that they’d be held liable for the damage. If you’ve been injured in an accident while attempting to rescue someone else, you can recover compensation for your injuries from whoever originally caused the accident. A person injury lawyer in Lakeland from Lopez & Humphries, PA will file a claim on your behalf.
Although the purpose of Florida’s Good Samaritan Law is to promote intervention by witnesses if they see an accident occur before medical help can arrive, the law only goes into effect when the witness acts in good faith.
For example, if a witness sees a victim in a burning car, they may pull the victim out of the car because leaving the victim in the car until help arrived would cause significant harm, it would not be in good faith for an untrained witness to perform a potentially harmful procedure on a victim if their injuries weren’t time-sensitive.
Because it’s difficult to determine whether a witness has acted in good faith during a rescue, the court evaluates each case under Florida’s Good Samaritan Law individually. The court occasionally rules that a witness is irresponsible and reckless in their actions, but because the law intends to protect witnesses, the court will try to understand their intentions.
If a rescuer can prove they acted in good faith, they can recover compensation for both their medical expenses and lost wages after the accident. The person responsible for causing the wreck should have to pay for both the injured victim’s and rescuer’s damages.
If you were injured while rescuing someone in an accident, you should feel proud of your bravery. Thankfully, Florida has a Good Samaritan Law so you don’t have to regret your actions. After recovering a settlement, you’ll be free of financial stress and able to move on with your life knowing you helped save someone from further injury or death.
If you want to speak with a Lakeland personal injury lawyer from Lopez & Humphries, PA about your case, call 863-709-8500 to schedule a no-obligation consultation or visit our website for more information.
Melodie Lopez and Kevin Humphries have combined trial experience in more than 100 jury trials, 500 trials before court, 500 Social Security Administration trials and over 50 Workers’ Compensation trials. The attorneys of Lopez & Humphries, P.A. have had their own respective trials featured on national media where they have been described as “experienced” and “excellent” by hosts and commentators on their trial performance. Call us now at 863-709-8500... View full business profile here: Lopez & Humphries, PA
