Car Accidents

Number Deadly Car Accidents Increased Last Year

July 12, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

Miami car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky sadly reports that wrongful deaths from car accidents rose nearly eight percent over the past year. This drastic increase means 2015 was the deadliest year on Florida roadways in nearly a decade. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recent report, over thirty five thousand people died in car and truck accidents last year. The deadly increase took investigators by surprise as the number of accident deaths in 2014 dropped to a decades low.

While investigators are not able to point to a specific reason why traffic deaths rose last year, it is believed that low gas prices put more motorists driving more miles on roads across the country. Additionally, as is certainly known, the increase in driver distraction, particularly texting while driving is certainly a contributing cause. The number of deadly crashes rose despite ongoing safety efforts by the NHTSA, such as attempts to accelerate technology which may avert sleepy driving. The agency also announced additional initiatives to change driver behavior as it pertains to fighting drunk, impaired and aggressive driving.

Although common sense dictates that all vehicle occupants should be able to reach their destinations safe and alive, especially with the prevalence and use of so-called autonomous vehicle systems, such as automated braking and stability control, inattentive driver behavior remains a compelling reason for deadly crashes. Although, the recent death of a motorist who was apparently watching a movie while using his vehicle’s auto pilot feature last week, reminds us that accident prevention technology has serious limitations in its effectiveness.

Head-on SUV Accidents Cause Many Personal Injuries

July 6, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

Ft. Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky is one of the people who believes that driving a sports utility vehicle (SUV) will help him avoid being seriously injured in a crash. Yet recent testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety just proved that this common conception is not entirely accurate.

Most motorists are generally aware of the tests The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety do to determine the safety of cars involved in head-on and side impact crashes. Most people don’t realize that one of the most common types of car accidents involve so-called overlap crashes; that is, when the front corner of a vehicle crashes nearly head-on but actually closer to the drivers’ sides of passing vehicles, other types of overlap crashes happen when a vehicle strikes a pole or tree. These types of crashes account for nearly 25% of all serious car accident injuries. Given the increasing number of these overlap crashes and their resulting personal injuries and wrongful deaths, including nearly 1500 vehicle occupants who lost their lives in overlap crashes over the past two years.

Many of the small SUVs in the study sustained significant intrusion, over one foot, into the occupant compartment. Intrusion causes a vehicle’s instrument panel and parking brake to rapidly move toward the driver, impacting their knees and torso. Additionally, one of the vehicles even had a door during the test. If a vehicle door were to open during an actual crash, it is likely the occupant would be ejected, and killed. Death is sadly the most frequent outcome on an ejected occupant.

Back Up Cameras Don’t Prevent All Car Accidents

June 29, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

Like most motorists, Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky relies on his vehicle’s back up camera when pulling out of a parking spot into the street. Unfortunately, recent research indicates that even with the ever increasing presence and use of back up cameras, drivers keep having backing up car accidents.

A recent report demonstrates that ongoing efforts by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to require back-up cameras as standard equipment in all new vehicles by 2018, may not be the miracle most believe. As back-up cameras have been in vehicles for many years, the government has ample data to evaluate as to their effectiveness in preventing car accidents.

As review of that data demonstrates that while the number of vehicles equipped with back up cameras rose nearly 100% over the past three years, that the number of personal injuries caused in backing up car accidents only dropped by under 10%. On a positive note, car accident wrongful deaths caused by backing up accidents did decrease by thirty percent, from 274 to 189, over the last four years.

Rise in Car Accidents in Florida Results in Raised Insurance Rates

June 6, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

Miami car accident attorney Joseph Lipsky has seen an increase in the number of car accidents across Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach over the past year. Now it appears those rising number of car accidents and the personal injuries they cause are the reason of South Florida drivers paying some of the highest care insurance premiums in the United States. In fact, contrary to the promises made by insurance companies in their ever present advertising, car insurance rates across Florida have actually increased by fourteen percent over the last year and a half.

According to the state’s insurance commissioner, the insurance companies are steadily raising their rates because the number of drivers on the road is steadily increasing. The increase in drivers is certainly due to lower gas prices and less unemployment. Regulators blame the steady rise in personal injury protection, or PIP, claims as a major cause of the premium increases. PIP, generally referred to as no fault insurance, requires all drivers to have $10,000 of PIP to pay for their own medical bills and lost wages in the event they are involved in an accident. Each person is required to use their own insurance, not that of the at fault party, to pay the first $10,000.00 of their medical bills/lost wages. The portion of car insurance attributed to PIP is responsible for approximately 25% of all car insurance premiums.

Florida remains one of the only states with such a no-fault/PIP system. Most other states have mandatory liability insurance which makes the at fault party responsible for the damages they cause. But because such a change would require mandatory liability insurance, most insurance companies are opposed to changing the law. Also, most hospitals, which seemingly overbill accident victims, are also opposed to abolishing PIP, which they look upon as a cash cow given its higher reimbursement rates, when compared to Medicare and health insurance.

Higher Speed Limits Caused Over 30,000 Car Accident Wrongful Deaths

June 1, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

Florida car accident attorney Joseph Lipsky has seen an increase in the number of deadly car accidents over the past few years. Now a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety confirms Mr. Lipsky’s observations. It seems that the steady increase in highway speed limits over the last number of years is one of the most likely causes for the rise in highway accident wrongful deaths.

The IIHS’ study concluded that more than thirty thousand lives have been lost over the last 20 years, due primarily to higher speed limits. Last year alone nearly 2,000 people died in high speed highway car accidents. Incredibly, the rise in high speed highway deaths is more than the number of people saved by mandatory vehicle front crash airbags. Across the United States more than 9,000 people died in car accidents involving a speeding vehicle.

Ever since the U.S. Congress allowed states in 1987 to increase highway speeds above the 55 m.p.h. limit, the number of highway car accidents which resulted in wrongful deaths has risen exponentially. Most people do not realize that the reason speeds were allowed to rise, was not due to safety studies proving increased speeds were safe; rather, because gas price fears has subsided. In fact, it was those concerns over energy prices which mandated the 55 m.p.h. speed limit. The unexpected, and welcomed, side effect was a drop in highway car and truck accident deaths.

Self Driving Cars’ Pedestrian Injury Prevention

May 19, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

With the growing talk of self-driving autonomous vehicles, Fort Lauderdale car accident attorney Joseph Lipsky has wondered about the efforts of the companies hoping to sell driverless cares to protect other drivers and pedestrians. Apparently one of those companies, Google, has also been thinking about how to prevent pedestrian car accident personal injuries. Recently, Google received a patent for what can only be described as human fly paper.

Google’s invention is essentially a strong adhesive type tape which will be placed on the front/hood of their vehicles. In the event of a car vs. pedestrian accident, the tape would “hold” the pedestrian onto the hood of the vehicle, preventing them from falling to the roadway. As many of the injuries pedestrians suffer after being hit by a car happen when that person is thrown onto the road after being hit by a car, the thought is the tape will help stop the so-called secondary impact.

The inventors envision the tape being covered by some type of shell which will break open upon impact with a pedestrian, but will keep the tape protected from road debris such as dirt and bugs.

Marijuana Use Increases Deadly Car Accidents

May 18, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

With the increasing demand to legalize marijuana in Florida, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Joseph Lipsky wants proponents of legalization to realize that driving under the influence of marijuana has resulted in a dramatic increase in wrongful death car accidents in other states which have already legalized pot. While the deadly effects of a stoned driver are well known, unlike with drunk driving prevention, the issue confronting law enforcement is how to determine when a marijuana user is too stoned to drive.

Unlike alcohol use, which in Florida subjects a driver to criminal charges if he/she has a blood alcohol level of .08, marijuana uses has no such comparable test. As of yet, there is no test to determine when a pot smokes is too high to driver, although we would argue that no amount of marijuana use is safe, if the smoker is going to be driving. Considering THC affects different users differently, as of now there is no way to determine if a particular “level” of THC in the blood stream equates to being too stoned to drive safely.

Not surprisingly, legal marijuana supporters like to point to a Department of Transportation study which determined that drunk drivers present a greater danger than stoned drivers. This position deflects from the point, which is that both drunk and stoned drivers are a danger to other motorists and pedestrians. Considering the difficulties associated with testing for THC, which requires a blood test, rather than a breath test as is available for suspected drunk drivers; determining the amount of THC in a person’s blood, so that they may be arrested for being impaired, is not accurate. Law enforcement advocates recommend using a “road-side” test, similar to suspected drunk drivers, to try to ascertain the level at which a person is functioning while behind the wheel.

Even Technology Needs Help to Prevent Car Accidents

April 1, 2016 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

Fort Lauderdale car accident attorney Joseph Lipsky reminds drivers to be careful in only relying upon a new car’s “accident avoidance” technology, rather than truly paying attention to your surroundings. According to a recent study from AAA, those backing up systems and cross traffic alerts are not as reliable as most drivers believe. The study’s lesson, drivers should use their experience and behind the wheel skills rather than just relying upon technology to save themselves from being involved in a car accident.

While a car’s warning systems are supposed to alert drivers about possible hazards, tests results reveal that every vehicle’s accident prevention systems vary greatly. Incredibly, tests demonstrated that when a car with rear warning systems was parked in between two other vehicles, it failed to warn the driver of passing motorcycles, bicycles, smaller cars and pedestrians about 50% of the time. Sadly, most drivers are unaware of this significant likelihood of failure, as they are lead to believe, mainly by mainstream advertising, that the car’s systems are truly reliable. Regardless of the manufacturer, and the added costs of such warning systems, which averages around $3,000.00, tests proved that no on vehicle was 100% reliable in detecting all hazards behind a vehicle.

We agree with the AAA that all motorists, regardless of which safety features their vehicle has, should always look behind and to the sides of their car and check the rear and side-view mirrors before backing up. Backing into a parking space will can assist drivers in eventually preventing accident, unfortunately, most parking lots require vehicle “head in” parking. This is precisely one of the reasons why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is requiring all new vehicles, by the model year 2018, to have mandatory backup cameras. The government hope is that requiring such cameras will help avoid wrongful deaths and personal injuries. According to the NHTSA, backing up accidents cause more than 250 deaths and over 15,000 personal injuries each year.

Drivers Don’t Use Car Accident Avoidance Devices

October 9, 2015 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

Although Miami car accident lawyer Joseph Lipsky applauds the increase in accident prevention technology being included by vehicle manufacturers in their new cars, the technology divide of older drivers is causing many to disregard and ignore possible life saving safety equipment. According to the National Safety Council, this failure to use car accident avoidance technology is an unexpected consequence of rapid technological advancements.

Vehicle manufactures thankfully are readily installing unintended lane change technology, blind spot avoidance and automatic rear-end collision braking; but, they are failing to educate consumers about how to use such technology to avoid deadly car accidents. In light of these shortcomings, and because each manufacturer uses different technology, the Department of Transportation started a website, mycardoeswhat.org, as a resource for consumers to visit for detailed and simplistic information about every vehicles safety features. The website includes multiple video demonstrations to help reduce the learning curve.

The safety feature most motorists have difficulty with is adaptive cruise control, even though it has existed for over 10 years in more expensive luxury vehicles. Given the high costs of those vehicles, dealers were apt to spend an extended amount of time helping their customers fully understand their vehicles. However, as the safety equipment begins to find its way into less expensive cars, experts question whether those dealers will be able to devote the time amount of time to teach their customers. And, as anyone who has tried to read a new car manual can attest, what was once a small booklet has grown into a full sized encyclopedia.

Car Accidents Causing More Wrongful Deaths in 2015

August 19, 2015 | by Joseph I. Lipsky

As a Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer with over 23 years of experience helping injured victims of car accidents throughout the State of Florida, Attorney Joseph Lipsky reminds his fellow Floridians that driving is a dangerous activity. Sadly, a recent study by the National Safety Council demonstrates that wrongful deaths from car accidents have increase almost 15% since the beginning of 2015. The study shows that the rate of car accident deaths rose from 11.1 per 100,000 drivers, to 12.5.

In real-life terms, this deadly rise has accounted for more than 2,200 people needlessly losing their lives in the first six months of this year as compared to the same time period last year. While the study seems to correlate the reduced price of gas to more drivers on the road, as a cause of the dramatic increase in deadly accidents; the economic impact of the rise in accidents cannot compare to the loss of life and its affects upon families. This deadly rise reversed a seven year trend of less wrongful deaths.

The number of serious injuries caused by car accidents also increased by almost thirty percent from last year. Incredibly, the council estimates the actual financial cost of these crashes exceeds $150 billon.