Car Accidents

April 30, 2019

Serious Injuries Happen to Rear-Seat Passengers Too

Some sobering news from Ft. Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky, contrary to popular belief, rear seat car passengers may actually be at a greater risk of being seriously or even dying as compared to someone sitting as a passenger in the front seat when a Ft. Lauderdale car accident happens. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, who conducted the study, the primary reason for the greater likelihood for rear-seat passengers being seriously injured in head-on collisions is that back seats do not provide the same level of passenger protection as provided to front seat passengers when a car accident happens.

Examples of the differences between front and rear seat vehicle accident protections include poorly designed rear seat, seat belts, which actually subject rear-seat passengers to dangers which against which front seat passengers are protected in car accidents. While front seats have seat belt pre-tensioners, which act to engage a seat belt before a crash happens, while at the same time providing the occupant with room to lessen a potential injury, those systems are not as prominent or efficient for back seat passengers when a Miami car accident happens.

The Institute’s study involved a detailed reviewed more than one hundred deadly car accidents, those in which teenagers and adults were actually using rear-seat safety belts. The results demonstrated that many rear-seat passengers suffered serious and deadly chest injuries in car crashes due to safety belts which were not adequately designed to prevent serious injuries. In some cases, back-seat passengers suffered chest injuries from belts which were too tight. In other car crashes, the rear-seat passengers sadly struck their heads against the seat back in front of them, resulting in serious head injuries including concussions. The institute recommended car manufacturers consider installing airbags on the back of front seats, so as to offer another level of protection for rear seat passengers; no such technology is installed in any vehicle at this time, although some car makers have installed inflatable seat-belts.

March 6, 2019

Deadly Car Accidents On the Rise in Florida

by Joseph I. Lipsky

More traffic wrongful death data from Ft. Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky,while the number of people killed in traffic crashes in 2017 exceeded 37,000, a drop of nearly 2% from the prior year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; according to the World Health Organization, the number of traffic-related deaths rose to move than 1.35 million last year. The WHO’s report on Road Safety determined that deaths from car accident are now the 8^thleading cause of death, resulting in more than $800 billion dollars of damages world-wide last year alone.

And of course, Florida again is considered one of the most deadly states for car accident deaths, partially due to some of the most lenient driving laws in the country.

Car accident dangers are evaluated in the study in 5 categories including occupant protection, child passenger safety, teen driving, drunk driving and distracted driving. Florida drivers demonstrated some of the most dangerous behaviors resulting in 2,922 fatal crashes with over three thousand car accident wrongful deaths in 2017.U.S. crash deaths fell slightly in 2017 but still reflected the second-deadliest year on the road in the last decade. As expected, given Florida’s recent rise in legal marijuana use, some of the most frequent causes of deadly car accident include drugged driving and distracted driving.

January 31, 2019

Pedestrian Car Accidents on the Rise in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale

by Joseph I. Lipsky

Ft. Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky reminds everyone living in South Florida that contrary to popular opinion, walking along Florida’s roadways is more dangerous than you think. In fact, the likelihood of being struck by a car as a pedestrian, in what is referred to as a pedestrian accident, is higher in Florida than in anywhere else in America. Incredibly, nearly one-half of the deadliest cities for pedestrians are in Florida. According to a report from the National Complete Streets Coalition, the leaders are Orlando, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

When politicians and planning mapped out our state, their desire was for efficient and fast travel. Unfortunately, that quest for speed had the unwanted effect of making pedestrian safety an afterthought. Considering more than 4,000 pedestrians die each year in car accident, a rate of one wrongful death pedestrian car accident every two hours, it is no wonder that pedestrian wrongful deaths from car accidents have actually rise over the past few years, while car accident deaths have actually dropped about six percent in the same time period.

Florida had almost 5,500 pedestrian wrongful deaths in the past decade; a fatality rate of 2.73 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people, which equates to the study’s a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) of 182.0. The number of car accident versus pedestrian deaths in Florida is significantly higher than the national average of 1.55 per 100,000 and a PDI of 55. We are significantly higher than states with larger populations, including Texas, California and New York.

January 10, 2019

Car Accident Deaths Remained High Last Year

by Joseph I. Lipsky

According to Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky, recent car accident data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration demonstrates a mixed bag of news regarding wrongful deaths from car accidents. While the NHTSA’s statistics show that while car accident deaths were less in 2017, compared to the prior year, they were still the 2^nd highest over the past ten years. The reality is that more than thirty seven thousand drivers and passengers lost their lives in 2017; which represented a nearly two percent drop from the prior year.

In addition to the number of motorist deaths, sadly, the number of pedestrians and bicycle riders who died in car accidents remained overly high, at nearly six thousand. However, this too was a drop of almost two percent from the year before, but 2017 was the second most deadly year over the past thirty for pedestrians involved in car accidents.

Personal injury Lipsky agrees that the NHTSA’s figures are encouraging but do not under any circumstance represent a reason for celebration, as the overall trend of rising motorist and passenger deaths over the past decade remains alarmingly high. Common sense certainly shows that the increase in the number of distracted drivers, and those under the influence of alcohol or marijuana, which has since been legalized in Florida for medicinal purposes, remain a prevalent danger to both motorists and pedestrians. And while the statistics demonstrate that less than ten percent of traffic deaths are related to driver distraction, the NHTSA is the first to readily admit that the real number is certainly significantly higher. The primary reason for the inaccurate number of distracted driver accident can be attributed to the fact that drivers do not readily admit their use of smart phones, making it difficulty to adequate quantify the true number of drivers using their phones to talk or text while driving. We agree that this ever increasing problem warrants further investigation by the legislature to enact sensible laws, and by the police to enforce those laws already in effect, whose purpose is to properly discourage motorists from driving while distracted.

August 20, 2018

Advances Are Needed to Prevent Pedestrian Car Accidents

by Joseph I. Lipsky

Over the past few years, especially with the increasing use of cellphones to text, email and talk by drivers of moving cars, Ft. Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky has seen a drastic rise in the number of pedestrians who are struck by cars and seriously injured. This rise in pedestrian accidents throughout Florida, including Miami and Plantation, shows the immediate need for technological advances in vehicle systems which can save drivers from their own carelessness, and in turn save innocent pedestrians.

While nearly eighty percent of all vehicles sold in American over the past year have come equipped with some type of installed accident avoidance or notification systems, such as lane departure alarms and automatic braking on highway systems, that technology is really only designed to protect vehicle occupants from being injured in a car accident. Current systems are woefully inadequate at providing similar accident avoidance technology when it comes to pedestrians and bicycle riders. Thankfully, manufacturers are finally taking steps to equip cars and trucks with pedestrian accident avoidance systems too.

Although not yet in use in the United States, in Europe, where government regulation is more strict, certain manufacturers are already placing systems which can detect and brake for pedestrians and bike riders who a vehicle senses within 20 yards of a vehicle. The systems claim to be able to enact emergency car accident avoidance in less time than a human can blink his eyes.

August 15, 2018

More Deadly Fort Lauderdale Car Accidents Happen on Saturday Nights

by Joseph I. Lipsky

Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky recently read a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which revealed that the most dangerous day to be on the road, that is the day that a deadly car accident is most likely to occur, is Saturday. Those of us who regularly drive I-95 or the Florida Turnpike on weekends know too well how careless many driver are, particularly later in the day.

The study which was commissioned due to the alarming increase in the number of deadly car accidents across America. The results were surprising because after a number of years of steady declines, car accidents resulting in wrongful deaths are again on the rise. The study analyzed data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System from 2016, which monitored the number of car accident deaths happened across Florida, including Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Key West, by day and time.

The study revealed that of the nearly 40,000 car accident deaths in 2016, almost 7000 happened on a Saturday. That means, Saturday saw a more than fifty percent greater number of roadway accident deaths that those which occurred on the safest day of the week, Tuesday. The data also revealed that that Friday’s and Sunday’s were in a near draw as the second most deadly driving day.

May 9, 2018

Car Accidents Are Causing More Pedestrian Deaths

by Joseph I. Lipsky

Recently Fort Lauderdale car accident attorney Joseph Lipsky read a new study from the Institute for Highway Safety which revealed that the number of pedestrians hit and killed in car accidents across America grew to thirty-year high. Having helped the families of too many Floridians who’ve lost loved ones in car accident, the study’s findings sadly come as no surprise.

The IIHS studied car accidents which resulted in wrongful deaths of pedestrians so try to ascertain the reasons behind the shocking annual increase. The study confirmed that nearly six thousand pedestrians were killed in car accident in 2016, which was the largest number of pedestrian traffic deaths in thirty years. Incredibly the nearly fifty percent increase in pedestrian traffic deaths is significantly greater than the number of all traffic wrongful deaths over the same period, when that number rose eleven percent.

A predominant factor in the majority of pedestrian traffic deaths is the time of day pedestrians are likely to be hit by a vehicle. The greatest number of car accidents resulting in a pedestrian’s death happened during the evening, when 4,500 pedestrians died during the time period from 2009 through 2016, this was an increase of more than fifty percent. The number of pedestrian deaths during daytime hours was more than two-thirds less, at 1,300.00. With many of the traffic deaths occurring in residential neighborhoods with fewer designated crosswalks, the Institute found that higher speed limits in many municipalities results to more fatalities when a vehicle strikes a pedestrian.

March 18, 2018

Florida Has Some of the Most Dangerous Roads for Pedestrians

by Joseph I. Lipsky

Here we go again, another “honor” for the State of Florida. According to a recent study, titled Dangerous By Design, seven of the top most deadly cities in America for pedestrians car accidents are in, you guessed it, Florida. As a Florida personal injury attorney for more than 25 years, Joseph Lipsky, knows too well, having helped dozens of pedestrians seriously injured in accident involving cars or truck, of the dangers pedestrians face when walking along or nearly Florida’s roadways.

The Dangerous by Design study came up with their so-called Pedestrian Danger Index, which is an analytical evaluation of the number of pedestrians who walk to work, and compared it to the number of car accidents in which pedestrians were seriously injured or killed. Nearly 5000 pedestrians were killed in car accidents or truck accidents over the past year, an alarming nationwide rate of 13 wrongful death victims every day. On average, a pedestrian is killed every two hours and injured every seven minutes in a traffic crash. Fourteen percent of all traffic fatalities and an estimated 3 percent of those injured in traffic crashes were pedestrians. To say that the ongoing rise in pedestrian deaths is an epidemic is clearly an understatement. Also of great concern is the fact that although minorities make up only about 1/3^rd of the population, nearly 50% of all pedestrian deaths involve a minority. And as expected, the study confirms that those pedestrians 65 and older are fifty percent more likely to be killed by a car or truck.

While much of the blame for pedestrian wrongful deaths is squarely upon the shoulders of the drivers who hit them, the study found that engineers who are responsible for designing streets and sidewalks are also to blame, as they failed to take adequate preventative safety measures to protect pedestrians. Some of the features roadway designers routinely overlook include, wider medians, which allow pedestrians to safely avoid traffic, if they get stuck in the middle of a roadway; more marked crosswalks; and lowering roadway traffic speeds in areas know to have significant pedestrian traffic.

February 17, 2018

Drowsy Driving Causes More Car Accidents and Injuries Than Previously Thought

by Joseph I. Lipsky

As Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers, we are always on the watch for news which our clients and friends can use to help prevent deadly Florida car accidents. Along those lines, a recent report demonstrates that drowsy driving, where drivers are too tired to safely drive a car or truck, is more widespread than previous studies assumed.

A recent study by the AAA shows that sleepy motorist are to blame for nearly ten percent of all car accidents. “Drowsy driving is a bigger traffic safety issue than federal estimates show,” said David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “Drivers who don’t get enough sleep are putting everyone on the road at risk.” Plantation personal injury lawyer Joseph Lipsky could not agree more.

The AAA formulated their results after they studied nearly 4,000 drivers over a number of months. Through the use of dashboard cameras and other monitoring devices, the scientist followed motorists over a nearly three year period. The results of the study showed the driver being followed were involved in more than 700 car accidents. Drowsy driving was a contributing factor in almost ten percent of those car and truck accidents. And of those nearly 700 crashes, more than ten percent resulted in significant property damage or personal injury. Those results were much greater than the Department of Highway Safety Administration’s estimates that only 1-2 percent of car accidents involved a drowsy driver.

January 9, 2018

Seat Belts Save Lives, for Rear Seat Car Accident Passengers Too

by Joseph I. Lipsky

As Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky knows, there is an ongoing battle with making rear-seat passengers wear their seat belts, often time with deadly results. A recent report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that while 90% vehicle occupants wear their seat belt while seated in the front seat, back seat passengers too often fail to use seat belts, resulting in nearly eight times as many car accident personal injuries. Even more concerning is the failure of tax, Uber and Lyft riders to use seat belts.

Although most drivers and occupants know that highway car and truck accidents are a leading cause of wrongful deaths, with more than 35,000 annually, a rate of nearly 100 deaths every day, they don’t realize that the rate of car accident deaths, particularly those attributed to a lack of seat belt use actually rose almost 5% last year. The studies also show that the likelihood of an unbelted vehicle occupant dying in a fatal car accident was higher for those unrestrained riders in the back, not the front of cars.

In fact, occupants routinely admit to not wearing their seat belts in the back of vehicles. The Institute’s study found nearly 25% of those surveyed admitted to not wearing their seat belt in the back seat versus the front. Many drivers don’t realize that an unbelted occupant is also a hazard for others in a vehicle, as the unrestrained person may slam into the other occupants causing serious injuries. Researchers at the University of Virginia found that there is a more than 100% increase in the likelihood a driver will be killed by an unrestrained occupant will seated behind them.