Pounding waves, bright sun, and incredibly soft sand make Florida beaches almost impossible to resist. Affordable, fun, and with tons of activities, Florida’s beaches are the place to be.
However, accidents aren’t exactly uncommon. Poor maintenance and careless beachgoers can rain on your fun. If an accident occurs, you may find yourself navigating a Florida beach accident claim.
While most of the steps aren’t too complicated. You may run into trouble trying to determine liability. Before you can file an injury claim for your Florida beach accident, you need to know who’s responsible for causing your damages.
Florida Legal Guide: Beach Accident Liability and Your Rights to Compensation
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Establishing the Key Elements of Negligence
Just because you think someone’s responsible for your beach accident doesn’t necessarily mean they’re liable under Florida law.
Regardless of who you’re naming as the liable party, you must prove their actions and/or behavior meet the key elements of negligence. Yep, this applies whether you’re naming the beach owner or a beachgoer as the defendant in your personal injury claim.
Duty of Care
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Everyone owes someone a duty of care. This essentially means acting or behaving the same way you expect from a reasonable person in the same situation. Beach owners owe visitors a duty of care to ensure the property is free from all known hazards and ones they should reasonably know about.
Beachgoers also owe other visitors a duty of care. All visitors should act and behave in a way that doesn’t knowingly or unknowingly place others at risk. An example can be refraining from leaving a surfboard lying on a designated beach path. The surfer may be liable if someone trips over their board.
Breach of Duty
A breach of duty occurs when someone violates their duty of care. If the beach owner ignores hazards like broken steps or railings, this can be considered a breach of duty. Beachgoers not following posted rules can also be viewed as a breach of duty.
The law defines a breach of duty as not acting or behaving the same way as a reasonable person. A reasonable person will fix a broken step, while an unreasonable individual ignores the potential hazard.
Causation
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While proving the first two elements of negligence can be tricky, showing causation is usually a little easier. All you’re doing is showing the defendant’s breach of duty is the direct cause of your accident.
If you’re not sure if the defendant’s actions or inactions are the real cause of your accident, try using the ‘but for’ scenario.
My broken leg wouldn’t have happened but for the broken railing at the beach. If you can’t use those two little words in a sentence, you may not have grounds for filing a personal injury claim. With that being said, don’t automatically give up. Talk to a Florida personal injury attorney about your beach injury claim.
Damages
This is usually the easiest element of negligence to prove. All you’re showing is that your damages can only be caused by the accident. Things like your medical records and property damage estimates are usually enough to satisfy this final element of negligence.
Determining Liability On Public vs Private Florida Beaches
While your fellow beachgoers can be liable for your financial damages, most injury claims name the beach owner. The beach owner is responsible for all maintenance and is generally liable if an accident occurs.
Public beaches in the Sunshine State are usually owned and managed by local governments. The City of Daytona takes care of Daytona Beach while Miami manages its stretches of sand. Some beaches may also be owned by the state. A couple of examples include Big and Little Talbot Island State Parks. The Sunshine State is responsible for ensuring these beaches are safe for visitors.
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However, before you file an injury claim against a government entity, Florida Statute 768.28 may come into play. This rule can limit liability against government entities but it doesn’t prevent you from filing an injury claim. What the statute may do is impose some strict notice requirements. Typically, you send a few more legal notices when you’re filing a personal injury claim against the government.
Holding the owner of a privately owned beach follows a similar process. You may run into liability problems if the owner is opening their privately owned beach to the public for free. Since you’re not a paying guest, the owner’s liability requirements tend to be limited.
Talk to a Florida Injury Attorney About Your Beach Accident
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Accidents at any of Florida’s beaches can happen but don’t let it ruin your visit. You should be able to recover compensation but it can be complicated. Working with a Florida accident attorney can help simplify the process.
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