The Florida Highway Patrol believes the drop in deaths is directly linked to a new Florida Law which permits police officers to stop and ticket drivers and passengers solely for not wearing a seat-belt. Before this law went into effect in 2009, police officers were only allowed to ticket someone if they pulled them over for another violation.

Other reasons for the decline in such accident related deaths include better roads, more guard rails and better driver education. Regardless of the reason why, as personal injury lawyers practicing in Florida, we applaud anything which reduces preventable deaths.

According to the study, there were about 1.73 deadly accidents for every mile along I-95 during the years 2004 through 2008. The Florida Highway Patrol's own evaluation of our deadly roadway, blames such accidents and deaths on driver's being distracted by activities like using cell phones and navigation devices. Those of us who endure the daily commutes along I-95 in South Florida are all too well acquainted with those drivers who are clearly paying attention to something other than their driving.

The Florida DOT also believes that the sheer number of vehicles on the limited number of lanes on I-95 in Miami and Broward Counties is an obvious reason why our highway is so deadly.

As personal injury lawyers in Ft. Lauderdale we again urge everyone to be particularly vigilant to reckless drivers, especially during this summer travel season.

In something that probably is more than a mere coincidence, the only person to survive the collision was the driver, who according to police, was wearing a seat belt. The deadly car accident occurred on I-95, when according to the highway patrol, the tread on one of the cars' tires separated, causing the driver to loose control and roll-over. All of the passengers in the SUV were ejected in the crash.

As attorneys practicing personal injury law throughout Florida, too often we see innocent victims suffer debilitating and deadly injuries, which might have been prevented, if they only "click it." Over this summer season we again urge everyone to use their seat belts, and to make sure that children use appropriate car seats.

For too long, those who suffered severe and life altering injuries as a result of the negligence of sovereign employees, such as police officers and bus drivers who cause many car accidents due to careless driving, and doctors who commit malpractice at State funded hospitals, were limited in their recovery to the wholly inadequate sum of $100,000.00. Any additional damages required the legislature to pass a "claims bill," a process which places an undue burden, with little chance of success, upon the injured victim.

These new damage limits, assuming the Governor signs the bill into law, will go into effect for accidents occurring after October 2011. While these damage limits remain too low to adequate compensate those victims whose lives are turned upside down when a government employee carelessly disregards their obligations, at least the accident victims have an opportunity to receive some more compensation.

The new law requires that the injured victim of a slip and fall prove that the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the condition which caused them to slip, and that the business should have taken some action to prevent the fall. This law places the burden upon the injured victim, rather than the business owner, who under Florida Law since 2001, had the burden on proving they maintained their floors in a safe condition.

While is generally impossible to prove that a business had actual knowledge of a dangerous condition, the law allows the victim to use circumstantial evidence to prove that the dangerous condition existed long enough so that the business should have known of it.

This law will require most slip and fall cases to be litigated, increase the expenses associated with such matters, and further congesting our already crowded court system. Yet another blow against the rights of innocent injured Floridians.

Amazingly, 11.1 percent of all pedestrians, and 17.4 percent of all bicyclists, killed in traffic accidents across the United States, die in Florida. The results, while shocking, are not surprising as this marks the ninth consecutive year that Florida has ranked in the top three deadliest states for pedestrian and bicyclist deaths.

As personal injury attorneys practicing in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, we certainly hope our legislators take a hard look at these figures and institute greater safety awareness programs to turn the tide against such tragic losses.

While no one knows who many accidents are caused by commercial driver texting while driving, it is a certainty that such behavior is dangerous and creates a high-risk of accidents. Considering drivers who text generally take their eyes of the road for more than 4 seconds, there a known likelihood of increased collisions.

The federal ban comes on the heals of the actions of many state laws which are being enacted to hopefully curtail this deadly practice. As personal injury lawyers practicing in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach, we are always glad to hear of laws which help protect fellow Floridians from deadly accidents.

The texting ban is supported by the American Trucking Associations and American Bus Association.

The study found that texting to be more dangerous than simply talking on a cell phone, determining that drivers can better split their attention between a call and driving, rather than texting, which causes the driver to concentrate more upon typing or reading a message. This research, from the journal Human Factors, ultimately determined that drivers increased their risk of being in a car accident by thirty percent when texting.

Most of these deadly car accident occur when a car slips off the edge of a road onto the shoulder, causing the driver to overreact and lose control. Generally these drop-offs are the result of roadway contractors negligent failure to smooth out the sides of roads they recently paved.

Sadly, there are few regulations requiring such safety measures along highway work zones. Consequently, few fines are levied against contractors, who, due to either their own carelessness or desire to save money, continually violate these guidelines.

Given the recently enacted Federal Stimulus Package, which is intended to promote additional highway construction, we certainly hope Florida Officials will take a hard look at these dangerous and too often neglected safety issues before more Floridians are hurt.

The study indicates that because our roads were designed to speed up traffic, people walking along any given road in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are most at risk of being involved in a car accident. People who do walk in Miami and Fort Lauderdale face a relatively high risk of being struck by a car and killed. Our pedestrian fatality rate is 3.04, with a danger index level, which consists of the average pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 residents over a two-year period and the percentage of residents who commute to work by foot, is 181.2.

Apparently suburban growth, with roads designed to assist vehicular traffic, many without sidewalks or adequate crosswalks, is the main reason for the increase in fatalities. Not surprisingly, more than half of fatal vehicle crashes occurred on wide, high-speed roads. We certainly hope that these statistics will convince future engineers to be mindful of the safety of pedestrians on our roadways.

Thankfully researchers are beginning to further study, through wireless sensors in carpets, clothing and rooms, older individual's activity. The continuous measurements allowed by simple devices, afford greater insight on the causes of fall, and how to prevent them.

Fall prevention also promises to be part of an emerging — and potentially large — worldwide industry of helping older people live independently in their homes longer. The hope is that activity patterns from the data can help identify ways to prevent falls.

Thankfully, in light of this unintended side-effect, vehicle manufacturers are apparently proposing to include a device in their vehicles which would generate noise under certain circumstances, such as the back-up warnings used on commercial trucks.

The study reviewed over 8,000 hybrid and 550,000 non-hybrid car accidents in 12 states, including Florida, and determined the collisions usually took place at low speeds, when the sound difference between a hybrid and traditional car engine is the most pronounced.

In the Hollywood car accident, police say a driver disregarded an extended school bus stop sign and struck a boy trying to get on the bus. The driver then fled the scene. The collision occurred at the intersection of Taft Street and 56th Ave., Hollywood. According to police, the victim, who attends South Broward High School, suffered serious but thankfully, not life-threatening, injuries for which rescue took him to Memorial Regional Hospital.

In the Oakland Park accident, police reported that a 16-year-old girl suffered serious injuries to her legs when a school bus struck her. The accident occurred at N.W. 21st Ave. and 39th St., Ft. Lauderdale.

As we are rapidly approaching the end of day light savings time, as personal injury attorneys handling car accident and pedestrian cases throughout Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach, we urge all drivers, including bus drivers, to be vigilant in watching out for innocent students trying to get to school or on their way home.

During the week long process, in which the Florida Highway Patrol Troopers cited 1,190 drivers who ran red lights, was, according to the head of the Florida Highway Patrol, “(a) campaign is a great reminder of the risks associated with red light running, as every day our troopers see the tragic consequences caused by running a red light."

Sadly, traffic crashes are the single frequent cause of preventable death and injury in the United States. Last year, Florida drivers running red lights caused 76 fatalities and more than 7,100 more accidents involving injury or property damage. The leading excuse offered by drivers for running a red light is “being in a hurry."

We certainly commend the Florida Highway Patrol's efforts to make our roadways safe.

The new law will take into consideration all car accidents and tickets issued since January of 2009, as prior car accidents will not be counted. Regardless, AAA believes the change necessary.

Although public perception is that elderly drivers are the most likely to cause car accidents, according to the State of Florida, those most likely to be affected by the new law are white men, younger than 40, in and around major cities. Not surprisingly, Miami and Broward Counties are both in the top five counties with the greatest number of dangerous drivers.

We too hope that this new law will act as a strong deterrent to prevent future car accidents throughout Florida.