Tampa Injury Lawyer - Damages part one

By Nicholas Dorsten

An article I found on the Bay News 9 website reminded me of an issue that often comes up in the Tampa Personal Injury world....

TREASURE ISLAND --
A pedestrian was killed when police said he was hit by a drunk driver as he tried to cross Gulf Boulevard.

Police said the deceased, and his fiancee were crossing Gulf Boulevard in Treasure Island shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday when he was hit by a car.

The man was taken to Palms of Pasadena Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short while later. The fiancee was not hurt.

Police said the driver of the car, a female, failed field sobriety tests at the scene of the crash. They said her blood alcohol was measured at .263, more than three times the legal limit.

She was booked into Pinellas County Jail on charges of DUI manslaughter.

The question that comes up is...what type of Personal Injury case is this? Is it a car accident or a wrongful death case? The short answer is it doesn't matter! This case can be filed as a typical automobile accident complaint and deal with it as a normal car accident case.

The second and more important question that comes up....can the Defendant driver be punished for her reckless behavior (ie drinking and driving)? The answer to that is YES. In the next part, I will be talking about punitive damages and how it can affect your Tampa or Pinellas personal injury case.

For more information, or to speak directly with an experienced Personal Injury lawyer, please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the attorneys your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com