Florida Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

As personal injury attorneys helping injured victims of car accidents throughout the State of Florida, we always advocate the increased use of seat belts, particularly for rear seat passengers.

Now the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety confirms that rear seat passengers in cars using shoulder belts reduces the likelihood of a fatality by almost 50 percent. Incredibly, for those rear seat passengers in vans and suvs that risk of wrongful death drops by more than seventy percent.

Thankfully many states are now requiring rear seat passengers to be secured with such life saving seat belts. In fact, Illinois just became the 30th such state to require seat belt use for all rear seat passengers. We can only hope that the Florida Legislature will follow suit and require everyone on our roadways to take the necessary precaution to save lives.

In some alarming news, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company recently released a study which found that 10 percent of all teen drivers drive drunk on New Years. Considering New Year's Eve is the most deadly night for car accidents caused by drunk driving, it is alarming that school programs have not work well enough to further lessen the incidents of teens driving under the influence.

The study did find that most of the questioned teens indicated that they would allow a someone else to drive, if so asked. As personal injury attorneys helping the families of those injured or killed in car accidents in Florida, we can only hope that those "friends" speak out and ask their impaired friend not to drive drunk.

Not surprisingly, the study found that those teens whose parents further educate their kids about the dangers of drunk driving were less likely to drink and drive. As with most things, good choices come from outspoken parents.

As personal injury attorneys helping the victims of car accidents in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and throughout Florida, we too are concerned by a recently released study from the NHTSA which revealed that while wrongful deaths from car accidents continue to drop, pedestrian deaths from roadway accidents rose over the last year. The increase in pedestrian deaths is the first in over 4 years.

The deadly increase has the government stumped. Speculation of reasons for the increase include greater numbers of walkers, either for exercise or due to the economy, along multi-lane roadways, which were constructed to help alleviate traffic, but did not adequately consider pedestrian traffic. Sadly, the three most deadly cities for pedestrians are all in Florida.

Other possible causes for the increase in fatalities include pedestrians also being distracted, just like drivers, by using their smart phones while walking near traffic. And, incredibly almost half of all pedestrian wrongful deaths involved alcohol use by either the pedestrian or the vehicle driver. We urge everyone who is walking or riding a bicycle to be particularly careful of the two ton vehicles traveling around them.

According to a recently released study by the NHTSA, more than 3000 people died last year in car accidents caused by a distracted driver. Generally speaking, distracted driving involves texting or using a cell phone while driving. Incredibly, this means nearly 1 out of every eleven car accident related wrongful deaths was caused by smart phone usage while driving.

While many people believe that using their phone in a "hands free" mode is safe, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that such usage is also considered to be a dangerous distraction. This difference of opinion about what is or is not safe is troubling, as most drivers feel it is safe to use their phone as long as their hands remain on the steering wheel. Such driver opinions will certainly make the government's efforts to reduce distracted driving difficult.

As personal injury attorneys in Florida who have too often had to help families who have lost loved ones in such distracted driving accidents, we certainly hope the general public recognizes the dangers of distracted driving, and stop using their phones while behind the wheel.

Believe it our not, more Americans are killed by deer than by any other type of animal. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, deer cause more than a million car accidents every year. And unfortunately, more than 200 Americans die each year in car accidents caused by deer.

State Farm Insurance reports more car accidents involving deer occur in November than any other month. Those car accidents result in more than ten thousand personal injuries and almost a billion dollars in property damage annually. While Florida is not on the list of the top ten states of deer involved car accidents, those of us in West Miami, the Florida Keys and along the Everglades in Broward and Naples, know that we have a large deer population.

Studies demonstrate that if motorists wear the seat belts and pay attention to roadside "Deer Crossing" signs that there is a significant decrease in the likelihood of being in such a crash or being injured. Those studies specifically found that proper placement of such warning signs, at known deer crossings, drop the number of car accidents by more than one third. So add one more thing to the list of hazards on our roads, along with texting driver and drunk drivers, deer.

Seat belts, particularly those in older cars, are not as effective at protecting women, as they are men, from being injured in a car accident. A recent study by the American Journal of Public Health determined that because seat belts were designed for the average person, that women, who are generally smaller than men, are more likely to be injured from airbags and the seat-belts themselves.

One of the reasons for the seat belt size issues is due to the fact that men are much more likely to be in a car accident involving serious personal injuries. Consequently, car manufacturers, relying on the law of averages, build their safety equipment to protect those most likely to be in a deadly accident. Unfortunately, this leaves women more vulnerable when they have an accident.

Thankfully, newer cars have sensors which adjust the safety mechanisms for whomever is driving the car. We hope these technological advances will protect all vehicle occupants.

Many times car accidents happen and there are no independent witnesses to explain who caused the crash. Usually those cases are handled on a "he said - she said" basis, pitting the two drivers' words against one another. However, what many drivers are unaware of is that many vehicle manufacturers have placed event data recorders, known as black boxes, in their cars and trucks.

The vehicle black boxes provide attorneys and accident reconstruction experts with detailed information about the movements of a vehicle just before an accident happens. With such information, including, the speed of a vehicle, whether the gas or brake was being pushed, and what direction the car was moving, the battle of words is becoming a thing of the past in personal injury litigation. While vehicles are constantly monitoring this data, only once an air bag deploys, does the black box actually keep this information.

The information on the black boxes, once difficult to retrieve, has become increasingly accessible. In fact, various companies specialize in downloading this crash data information. Not surprisingly, insurance companies love to access the information, not only to see if their driver was a fault, but also to give themselves a reason to raise that person's premiums if they caused the accident.

We remind all Florida drivers that if you are unfortunately involved in a car accident, be cautious about describing how the accident happened; many times, something else knows too much.

As personal injury attorneys helping victims of car accidents in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Palm Beaches, we are not surprised by the findings of a recent report which indicated that instances of aggressive driving have increased almost ten-fold over the past decade. According to Florida Law Enforcement data, citations issued for aggressive driving increased from about 4,000 in 2003, to more than 23,000 last year.

Aggressive driving involves instances of swerving between lanes of travel, tailgating and excessive speeding. The increase in such tickets is the most pronounced over the past two years, with an increase of almost 90%. The increase may be an indication of our generally impatient population.

Florida drivers who commit 2 or more aggressive driving violations are labeled "aggressive." Those "aggressive" drivers are likely to be assessed greater points against their licenses, resulting in increased insurance costs and the likelihood of having their license suspended.

Not surprisingly, the American Automobile Association determined that more than fifty percent of all wrongful deaths from car accidents and truck accidents were caused by an aggressive driver. For that reason alone, we ask everyone driving on Florida roadways to please slow down.

According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), car accidents involving drunk driving decreased by thirty percent over the last 5 years. Interestingly, the study links the drop in drunk driving, not to greater police enforcement, but to the current poor economy, as the costs associated with drinking at commercial establishments proves to be too expensive.

Yet, despite the significant drop, almost one in fifty of the drivers interviewed admitted that they did drove drunk during the past month. The study noted that at least three hundred thousand people drive drunk every day. Not surprisingly, men between the ages of 21 and 34 are the ones most likely to drink and drive.

The CDC's study comports to similar one conducted by the NHTSA which also showed a decrease in drunk driver, albeit a smaller reduction. Despite these decreases, someone is either killed or injured on our roadways every hour. Clearly, there is still more work to do to save lives.

As personal injury attorneys helping injured victims of car accidents throughout Florida, we are happy to report that wrongful deaths from car accidents fell to the record lows last year. According to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles the car accident death rate dropped to 1.25 deaths per 100 million roadway miles traveled.

The statistics indicate that car accident involved wrongful deaths across Florida fell almost 5% over the last year. Unfortunately, last year in Florida almost 2500 people still died in traffic related accidents. And, deaths of pedestrians increased almost 4% during the same time period.

Regardless of the reasons, whether less people are driving due to the economy, or that vehicles are becoming safer, less traffic fatalities are good news.

In a wake up call to parents who think their kids are protected from suffering personal injuries in a car accident in Florida, a recent study by Safe Kids found that the majority of parents are improperly using their kids car safety seats. The study found that only about thirty percent of parents properly use the tether straps on their kids seats, subjecting them to preventable head injuries.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that car accidents are the leading cause of wrongful death of kids between the ages of three and fourteen. Yet, if parents installed and used their kids safety seats correctly, the risk of such wrongful deaths would decrease by more than half.

The improper use of tether straps, which prevents the safety seats from tumbling forward, were the study's most glaring observation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that proper use of the tether straps would would save lives and prevent more than 3000 car accident injuries a year. We echo the ongoing effort to educate parents about the proper use of car safety seats. We hope that a car accident is not the event which reminds parents to fully protect their children.

As personal injury lawyers representing victims of car accidents throughout the State of Florida, we strongly urge our clients and friends to buy uninsured motorist coverage. Our comments are buoyed by a recent study release by the Insurance Research Council which confirms that one out of every seven drivers have no car insurance.

The study, not surprisingly, found that the financial hardship of the current economy is the primary reason why many drivers have not renewed their car insurance. The study confirmed a correlation between unemployment and the number of drivers with no insurance.

Drivers who comply with their state's law, by having insurance, cover the losses caused by uninsured driver, to the annual tune of almost 11 billion dollars. However, as attorneys representing accident victims for more than 20 years, we have seen too many clients who are unable to recover for their medical bills, lost wages and permanent injuries because they did not have uninsured motorist coverage.

Contrary to the statements of many insurance agents, who tell their customers that they do not need uninsured motorist coverage if they have health and disability insurance, our experience shows that having uninsured motorist coverage is the only way to guarantee a source of recovery should you be the victim of an accident.