Florida Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

According to a report release today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, new mid-size cars fared much better, than prior year's testing, in protecting victims of side-impact car accidents. The tests were done to determine what type of injuries, serious or otherwise, occupants involved in a variety of accidents would suffer.

While testing demonstrated improvements in side-impact crashes, which are mainly attributed to side-impact air bags becoming standard equipment in most vehicles; unfortunately, the same vehicles did not perform as well in preventing injuries, such as rib fractures and internal organ injuries, in rear-end accidents. Rear-end collisions are more likely to occur in stop and go commuter driving, such as most of us face in Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

The Institute believes better head restraints, and seats which work better with those restraints, would go a long way in protecting occupants. As the Vice President of the Institute said "it is not a major feat of engineering to design seats and head restraints that afford good protection." We could not agree more.

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Given the increasing number of police officers injured and killed in car accidents, while they are involved in traffic stops along Florida highways, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Broward County Sheriff's Department are starting a zero tolerance initiative to enforce the State's "Move Over" law.

Florida's "Move Over" law mandates drivers leave the lane nearest to a stopped emergency vehicle, whether it is a police officer, fire truck, Road Ranger or tow truck, or if they are unable to move over, motorists are required to drive 20 m.p.h. below the posted speed limit. The Florida Legislature initially passed the law to protect police officers, of whom more than 150 wrongfully die annually while attending to other motorists on the shoulders or sides of roadways.

We too often represent police officers and tow truck drivers, or in many tragic situations, their surviving families, who, while providing a necessary public service, are struck down in the line of duty due to the carelessness or inattentiveness of a driver. We urge all Florida motorists to pay attention to emergency workers and give them the protection they deserve.

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In what we truly consider the epitome of a wrongful death and clearly a tragedy, a 19 year old from Oakland Park, a city adjacent to Ft. Lauderdale, who was wearing her seat-belt, died in a car accident Sunday evening.

The accident which occurred on the ramp heading from southbound I-95 to 595, was caused when a "phantom vehicle" swerved into the 19 year old's lane, causing her to take evasive action and strike a large sign post. The vehicle rolled over and the driver died at the scene.

A "phantom vehicle" is what we refer to as a vehicle which causes or contributes to a car accident but leaves the scene of the accident without being identified. The vehicle is a "phantom," rather than a hit and run, because there was no contact between the two vehicles.

We can only pray for the driver's family, as their daughter did everything she could to protect herself. And, we hope that others will not be dissuaded from using their seat-belts, because of this senseless tragedy.

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Friday was a deadly night on the MacCarthur Causeway, the main roadway from Miami to South Beach, as a three car accident resulted in the wrongful death of an occupant of one of the vehicles. The accident occurred when a Toyota sports car collided with a Chevy Blazer and then rolled over.

According to police, they are still trying to determine who was driving the Toyota, because, unfortunately, the occupants of the Toyota were not wearing their seat-belts. The other occupant of the Toyota was taken by Fire Rescue to Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove.

We are truly saddened by the continuing failure, particularly of young people, to wear their seat-belts. While some serious injuries and deaths occur even with the use of seat-belts, many more lives would be spared with the constant use of such life saving devices.

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In a wake up call for Florida drivers, a student on his way to class at Hallandale High School, located in a suburb of Broward County, was the victim of a serious car accident, when a van, driven by an unidentified female, struck him. According to police and witnesses, the student was within the school zone when the van struck him.

Witnesses characterized the impact as significant, as they said the van was driving in excess of the school zone's speed limit of 15 m.p.h. , which is why the driver was arrested. Given the force of the impact and amount of blood loss suffered by the student, it is unfortunately likely he sustained a spinal cord or brain injury. The student was taken by emergency medical services to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.

In our practice we have represented many families whose children were struck by vehicles speeding in and around schools, including the Bustillo family. We remind all drivers that our children are precious, and it is imperative that everyone obey school zone speed limits and pay particular attention while driving around schools.

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In a wake-up call for pedestrians, separate car accidents resulted in the wrongful death of a 71 year old woman in Delray Beach, a suburb in Palm Beach County, and critical injuries to a man in Ft. Lauderdale. Both accident victims were pedestrians.

An SUV being operated by a driver with a suspended license struck the Delray Beach victim. As we see too often in our practice, the driver had multiple prior violations; in this case, her was license suspended on six prior occasions. Clearly, this is an example of how the leniency of the traffic court system allows habitual traffic offenders to freely drive and endanger other Floridians.

The most disconcerting fact about this car accident is the fact that the pedestrian was within the crosswalk. According to the investigating traffic homicide police officer, two witnesses saw the pedestrian in the crosswalk, and indicated that the SUV driver should have easily seen her. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's office referred the matter to the State Attorney's Office for further investigation into criminal charges.

As for the Ft. Lauderdale victim, police found him in the street and transported him with critical injuries to Broward General Medical Center.

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A family trip ended tragically when a head-on car accident in Deerfield Beach resulted in the wrongful death of one driver and spinal cord injuries to two others.

The accident, which happened at the 300 block of S.E. 10th Street, in northern Broward County, occurred when the driver of one of the cars veered into oncoming traffic. The injured driver and passenger, who were returning from Disney World, were taken to North Broward Medical Center.

In our practice we too often see such catastrophic injuries from preventable car accidents. With New Years Eve almost upon us, we again caution everyone to be overly careful. And, while this tragedy does not appear to have been the result of intoxication, with the biggest night for drunk driving almost upon us, we plead for everyone to use a designated driver, so we may all have a healthy and happy new year.

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In a wake up call for pedestrians throughout the State of Florida, a man from Davie, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, died after being involved in a truck accident this past weekend. The pedestrian was attempting to cross West Stirling Road when he was hit by an SUV.

According to the Davie Police Department, who investigated the evening truck accident, the pedestrian, who was wearing dark colored clothing, was not walking within the marked cross-walk. The pedestrian was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, and later pronounced dead.

In our practice we see these types of deadly results too often. Unfortunately, many pedestrians wrongfully believe that drivers will automatically yield to them, regardless of where they are crossing the road. We urge all pedestrians and bike riders to be mindful of vehicle traffic, and further urge them to obey all traffic control devices and use marked cross-walks, which are purposefully intended to warn drivers of people possibly crossing a roadway.

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In continuing with our last entry about local alcohol related accidents, two South Florida residents, one from Miami and the other from Sunrise, died in separate car accidents when each of them were struck by cars driven by apparent drunk drivers.

The first victim was a tow truck driver who was attempting to help some motorists, who themselves had an accident. Despite placing warning cones on the roadway, essentially closing off two lanes of the Palmetto Expressway, a driver ignored the cones, drove through them, striking and killed the defenseless tow truck driver. The motorist violated Florida's "move over" law which was implemented to try and prevent police, rescue and tow truck drivers from being injured or killed while helping others on the side of the road.

The second accident occurred on the Gratigny Expressway when a motorist drove the wrong way, against westbound traffic, striking another vehicle head-on, killing the other driver.

We again remind everyone that during this festive time of the year, to use a designated driver to help prevent senseless tragedies such as these.

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In some great news for Florida drivers, the Florida Supreme Court held that homeowners may be liable for personal injuries and wrongful death from car accidents which are caused by the landowner's failure to prevent their landscaping from overlapping into a public right of way and obstructing other traffic or traffic signs and signals.

In reviewing the case of a 1997 truck accident, which claimed the life of a driver, the Supreme Court extended the liability, which already exists for commercial property owners, to homeowners who improperly allow their trees and bushes to extend over their property-line and into a public right of way. As South Florida personal injury attorneys, we believe that this codification of the law will truly benefit all those traveling on Florida roadways.

The minimal costs and effort now mandated upon private landowners, is greatly outweighed by the life saving benefits to Florida drivers. Finally, victims of Florida car accidents, whose cases were previously denied as unavoidable, now have the right to collect damages from private landowners who disregard the growth of their landscaping. On Thanksgiving, this is certainly something for which all Florida drivers should be thankful.

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Due to a disproportionate number of deadly car accidents involving commercial trucks, the Florida Highway Patrol is heightening enforcement of aggressive tractor trailer drivers in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. The so-called "Operation Safe Ride" is part of the state's ongoing efforts to reduce wrongful deaths and personal injuries on Florida highways.

According to the Director of the Florida Highway Patrol, due to the size and weight of those commercial vehicles, drivers of smaller vehicles are at a greater risk for mass destruction and serious injuries. While commercial trucks are involved in about eight percent of all Florida roadway crashes, they are involved in almost thirteen percent of all deadly collisions.

On behalf of our numerous clients who were unfortunately seriously injured as a result of the recklessness of some tractor trailer operators, we applaud the highway patrol's efforts, and wish them success in their battle to safe the lives of our fellow Floridians.

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Florida drivers are urged to be extra cautious today, the seventh annual "Put The Brakes on Fatalities Day." The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, in an effort to help reduce the more than 3,365 wrongful deaths which result from car accidents in Florida each year, is joining in the national observation of this special day.

Considering nine people die each and every day on Florida roads, we willingly promote initiatives like this to help educate Florida drivers about the dangers associated with driving a car, and how some additional driver responsibility will help safe lives. The initiative includes educating drivers about keeping their cars in good working condition, not using cell phones while driving and always using seat belts.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, there are more than 43,000 people who die in car accidents every year in the United States. Hopefully, initiatives such as "Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day" will help reduce this horrific loss of life.

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You can file this one as more news than my opinion, this afternoon the Florida Legislature passed a new version of the so called "PIP," personal injury protection law, which will apply to all Florida drivers and car accident victims effective January 1, 2008. As everyone, particularly in Miami, Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale, which was the focus of complaints regarding alleged fraud, are probably aware, the PIP law "sunset" on October 1, 2007.

The new law provides many of the same provisions previously mandated in Florida. Apparently, the most important differences include a medical fee schedule which will limit most medical providers reimbursements to 200% of Medicare's reimbursement rate; and a require $5,000.00 of the medical benefits be initially reserved for hospitals and their doctors who treat injured car accident victims.

Of course, due to the fact that from October 1, 2007, through January 1, 2008, there will be no PIP, anyone suffering a personal injuries in a car accident during that time will be entitled to pursue their claims under a strict tort system. Rather than being limited to the "no fault" threshold, apparently those injured car accident victims will not have to prove they sustained a permanent injury. As we already have a number of such injured clients, it will certainly be interesting to see how the courts will handle those who fall into this new category.

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In what we can only describe as great news for Florida car accident victims, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which covers Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, declared a Federal Law, which prohibited personal injury lawsuits against car rental companies, as unconstitutional.

The law, known as the Graves Amendment, which the U.S. Congress passed in 2005, gave rental car companies immunity if one of their renters injured someone in a car accident. The amendment was contrary to Florida Law which had always allowed personal injury cases against car owners, if the person they allowed to drive their car, negligently caused an accident, this doctrine is known as "dangerous instrumentality."

We in Florida are particularly affected by the Court's ruling, given the high number of foreign tourists who rent cars, do not pay for insurance, and drive carelessly on our roadways seriously injuring and, in too many occasions, killing others.

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In some good news for most of Florida, the death rate for victims of car accidents on Florida Highways fell to new low in 2006. According to the State of Florida Motor Vehicle Department, this is the first time in the last ten years that deaths from car accidents deceased. Unfortunately, both Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties saw an increase in car accident fatalities.

In 2006, there were 3,365 deaths throughout the State of Florida due to traffic related accidents, including car accidents, bicycle accidents, motorcycle accidents. As we unfortunately expected, more than a third of all such deaths involved alcohol.

Our greatest concern and disbelief is that there was an almost 30 percent increase in the number of children who were killed in such car accidents while not using seat belts or safety seats. As the executive director of the Motor Vehicle Department succinctly stated "even one...fatality, is one too many." We could not agree more.

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In tragic car accident, a Miami Man, who was not wearing his seat-belt, was run over, when he was thrown from his SUV after it rolled-over on the Florida Turnpike. The SUV swerved several times, and rolled-over at least twice, when the driver was ejected onto the road. Unfortunately, the driver of another car did not see the ejected man on the roadway and struck him.

Too often in our personal injury practice, we see horrific accidents, in which lives may have been saved, if only the drivers and passengers wore their seat-belts. Although Florida Law requires all car and truck occupants to wear their seat-belts, as evidenced by national and state studies and statistics, too many drivers ignore the known risks associated with car accidents, and fail to wear their safety belts.

Of greater concern, are the parents and custodians of young children who disregard their own children's safety by either not using child seats or boosters, or by failing to properly use them. While every adult has the right to make choice, albeit bad ones, which affect their lives, they should be held to a higher standard when making such poor choices for their unknowing children.

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In some good news for Florida car accident victims, Governor Crist just signed into law, a bill which will require all drivers convicted of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, to carry a minimum of $100,000.00 in bodily injury liability insurance and $50,000.00 in property damage insurance.

This new law, known as Florida House Bill 359, significantly increases the amount of car accident insurance convicted drunk drivers are required to have, as the old law only required $10,000.00 in bodily injury liability insurance. This new law will further protect Floridians, by requiring the convicted drunk driver to keep this insurance in effect for a minimum of 3 years, assuming they have no other similar drunk driving issues.

In our practice, we have had too many occasions to represent the innocent victims and surviving family members of such car accidents. Having seen our clients suffer brain injuries, personal injury and death, we are all too familiar with the escalating medical costs and damages caused from these types of accident. We are certainly thankful that the Florida Legislature took up this matter and mandated this increased protection for all Floridians.

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