South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
When someone is thrown from a vehicle in a Florida crash, the injuries are almost always catastrophic or fatal. A recent crash in Santa Rosa County made this brutally clear: a pickup truck carrying six people overturned after an intersection collision near Milton, and two 19-year-olds were ejected and killed at the scene. Three other young occupants were left with serious or critical injuries.
The car accident attorneys at Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada have represented Miami families dealing with the aftermath of serious and catastrophic injury crashes since 1976. Ejection cases raise a specific set of legal questions that families often do not know to ask—about seat belt evidence, vehicle defects, and how Florida’s comparative fault rule can affect what surviving family members recover.
Why Ejection Almost Always Means a Restraint Failure
An ejection injury is a serious bodily injury caused when a vehicle occupant is thrown partially or completely from the vehicle during a crash. In a rollover or violent collision, an occupant who stays inside the vehicle benefits from the protective cage of the cabin and the energy management of seat belts and airbags. An occupant who is thrown out of the vehicle hits the ground, the pavement, or fixed objects at full crash speed.
This is why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration consistently identifies ejection as one of the strongest predictors of death in a car crash. In rollover events specifically, ejection rates climb sharply when occupants are unbelted.
Florida law requires drivers, all front-seat passengers, and every passenger under 18 to wear a safety belt under Florida Statute § 316.614. A failure to comply is a traffic violation. But more importantly for an injury claim, it can become evidence in the lawsuit itself.
How Florida Treats Seat Belt Use in an Injury Claim
If you or a family member was ejected and the at-fault driver’s insurance company finds out the occupant was not wearing a seat belt, expect that fact to come up. Under the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Insurance Co. of North America v. Pasakarnis, a defendant can argue that the failure to use an available seat belt contributed to the severity of the injuries, and a jury can reduce the injured person’s recovery accordingly.
That does not mean the case is over. It means the legal team needs to address it directly. In an ejection case, the analysis usually involves several issues at once:
- Whether a seat belt was actually available and functional in that seating position
- Whether the seat belt failed during the crash (a vehicle defect claim)
- Whether the door latch or roof structure failed and contributed to the ejection
- Whether the at-fault driver’s negligence was so severe that comparative fault still leaves substantial recovery on the table
Florida Statute § 768.81 governs how comparative fault reduces a plaintiff’s recovery. Each of these issues can shift the analysis, and none of them are something an insurance adjuster will volunteer.
Wrongful Death Claims When an Occupant Is Killed
When an occupant is killed by ejection, the family’s claim is governed by Florida’s Wrongful Death Act, found at Florida Statutes §§ 768.16–768.26. Under § 768.20, the claim must be filed by the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate on behalf of surviving family members.
Recoverable damages can include funeral and medical expenses, lost support and services, and mental pain and suffering for surviving spouses, minor children, and parents of a deceased minor. The categories that apply to your specific family depend on the decedent’s age, marital status, and surviving relatives. Florida Statute § 95.11 generally requires a wrongful death lawsuit to be filed within two years of the date of death, so families should not wait to investigate what happened.
Talk to a Lawyer Before the Insurance Company Tells You What Your Case Is Worth
If you lost a loved one or were seriously hurt in a Florida rollover or ejection crash, call Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada at (305) 448-8585 before you speak with any insurance adjuster. The consultation is free, we work on contingency, and you can contact us online any time, day or night.