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Did a drunk driver ruin your Florida vacation?

On Behalf of | Jul 2, 2022 | Car Accidents |

If you have been dreaming of vacationing in Florida, you may have been so full of excitement as the departure date grew nearer that you could hardly sleep at night. Perhaps, like many people, it took you several years to save up money for a family vacation at a beautiful beach in this state. Not only were you planning on strolling along the sea shore but walking through the coastal towns or riding bikes, as well. If a drunk driver ruined your vacation, you’re not alone.

Drunk drivers are menaces to Florida roadways, especially during prime tourist seasons. If you or your loved one survived getting hit by a motor vehicle as a pedestrian, you may have suffered severe, even life-threatening, injuries.

Emergency care for pedestrians often includes these injuries

If you’re an adult and a car hit you while crossing the street or after it hopped a curb, there’s a good chance that your legs bore the brunt of the initial impact when struck by the vehicle’s bumper. Leg injuries, including broken bones, are common in pedestrian collisions. The force of impact may have also caused your body to become airborne, then hit against the hood or windshield of the vehicle.

Depending on how fast the car was moving when it hit you, you may have suffered a traumatic brain injury or injuries to your internal organs, neck or spine. The point of impact on the body in a pedestrian collision is typically different for an adult than it is for a child. Sadly, when a moving vehicle strikes a juvenile pedestrian, injuries are often fatal.

Assessment of injuries during triage can help a pedestrian victim survive

If you were enjoying a Florida bike ride or taking a walk with your family on vacation when a drunk driver hit you, local rescue response may have included a medical emergency aircraft to fly you to the nearest trauma center that was equipped to handle your injuries. Triage at the scene of the collision likely included “ABC” assessment, which means that rescuers checked your airway, breathing and circulation to help determine the level of care you might need.

It is not uncommon for a pedestrian hit by a motor vehicle to be a multi-trauma victim, meaning you might have more than one serious injury. There are also risks for permanent disability in a pedestrian accident, especially if you have suffered a neck or spinal cord injury.

Were criminal charges filed against a driver after he or she hit you?

There is no way to replace the loss of a loved one. If you or your family member have survived a drunk driving accident, there is no way to give you back the time lost when an irresponsible driver caused a collision that sent one or more people to the hospital in need of emergency care.

Time is irreplaceable; however, many recovering victims obtain financial recovery for such losses by seeking restitution in a civil court against the drunk driver whose negligence was responsible for damages. If you filed criminal charges against the driver, the court may require evidence of that fact.