Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

The link between texting and traffic accidents has been well established. Studies have shown that distracted drivers who are texting rather than looking at the road run a higher risk of causing traffic accidents. In a bid to help prevent Florida pedestrian accidents, trucking accidents, car accidents, and other traffic collisions, Florida and other states have moved to ban texting while driving. However, recently questions have been raised about whether such bans are really effective at preventing injuries, accidents, and fatalities.

Currently, about 30 states make it illegal to text and drive. While many experts have suggested that Florida truck accidents, car accidents, and other accidents could be reduced by banning texting and driving, however, so far Florida has not taken the legislative step. However, studies have suggested that traffic accidents and fatalities have not significantly dropped in the states that have adopted texting bans.

The news is getting mixed reactions. Some people claim that texting bans are too specific. While studies have found that 5,500 fatalities across the US in 2009 were related to distracted driving, some experts note that texting is not the only distraction behind the wheel. Many people talk on cell phones, have conversations with passengers, focus on their music, or even spend time eating and drinking – all activities which distract them for driving. For families who have lost loved ones to Florida bicycle accidents and traffic accidents caused by distracted drivers, however, the texting ban remains a goal. Families note that preventing even a few fatalities would make the new legislation worthwhile.

The debate continues. Meanwhile, the study questioning the effectiveness of the texting ban is undergoing scrutiny. The study, by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), ran a limited study of four states -- Louisiana, Minnesota, California, and Washington. These four states were four of thirty that has passed texting bans. The study examined the rate of accidents in these states following texting bans and found that texting accidents increased by between 1 and 9 percentage points following the bans.

The president of the IIHS postulated that drivers may be holding their mobile devices in their laps in states where texting is banned to avoid a ticket. Unfortunately, this position averts their eyes from the road even more, potentially putting them – and others around them – at even greater risk. However, so far no study has been completed to prove this hypothesis. As well, some lawmakers and enforcement agencies are challenging the findings, arguing that texting bans can be a way to keep streets safer.

Continue reading "Could Texting Bans Be Ineffective in Preventing Florida Personal Injuries?" »

The decision to pursue a Florida medical malpractice lawsuit is a difficult and painful decision. It also usually occurs at a very difficult time. Usually, these legal actions occur after a loved one has been misdiagnosed or has received the wrong treatment at a medical care facility. Both misdiagnosis and medical malpractice can devastate families. They can lead to death, permanent injury, or serious complications. In many cases, a medical practitioner’s negligence or recklessness can cause immense pain as well as considerable medical bills, lost income, and other costs. When dealing with these challenges, it can be difficult to decide whether to seek legal action. In general, patients ask themselves the following questions before deciding:

1) Did the misdiagnosis or negligence lead to a serious injury or condition which resulted in lost wages, medical bills, and other damages? In most cases, Florida medical malpractice suits can move forward only if the patient has suffered due to a misdiagnosis or due to negligence.

2) Was there negligence or recklessness involved? In a Florida medical malpractice case, the plaintiff’s attorney must often show that a medical professional acted in a reckless or negligent manner, rather than simply making an honest mistake. A qualified Florida personal injury attorney will often investigate the case thoroughly in order to find any evidence of negligence.

3) Would another medical professional reasonably have acted differently? In many cases, a good Florida medical malpractice attorney will strive to show that a reasonable medical professional would have acted differently than the defendant, thus proving that negligence may have taken place. An attorney may call expert witnesses to the stand in order to prove this.

Often, it can be difficult to decide whether negligence or recklessness has taken place. In some cases, medical facilities attempt to minimize or hide possible problems and patients may not know enough about medical practice to be able to identify negligence. Often, discussing a suspected case of Florida misdiagnosis or medical malpractice with a qualified Florida personal injury attorney is the best option. A qualified Florida attorney is experienced enough to know whether a case is strong and meets the requirements for legal action. A good attorney can also advise a victim of their rights and ensure that a victim of medical malpractice does not inadvertently sign away any rights.

Continue reading "Deciding To Pursue A Florida Medical Malpractice Lawsuit " »

Two recent Florida motorcycle accidents have promoted Florida police departments and safety experts to remind motorcyclists about the dangers of the road. In light of the recent accidents, which have claimed two lives, experts are especially hoping to remind motorcyclists to wear helmets. Many fatal Florida brain injuries occur in motorcycle accidents, and helmets have been proven to help prevent such injuries. Wearing a helmet can literally mean the difference between life and death if you are in a Florida motorcycle accident. In both recent Florida motorcycle accident fatalities, the victims were not wearing helmets at the time of their collisions.

Motorcycles pose some special risks. In fact, the number of motorcycle accident fatalities are 37 times the number of car accident fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). According to NHTSA, the number of motorcycle accident fatalities is on the rise, as well. Safety instructors and other experts note that there are many things motorcycle enthusiasts can do to help stay safe:

1) Get proper training and licensing before getting on the road. In fact, additional training – such as defensive driving classes – can help improve your chances of surviving a collision by giving you the expertise and skills you need to stay safe. Extra training with a good instructor also ensures you don’t develop bad habits which can lead to an accident. Refresher courses and additional training over the lifetime of your motorcycle ensures you stay safer on the roads as well.

2) Wear a helmet as well as the correct safety gear each time you get on a motorcycle. In addition to a helmet which is up to standards outlined by the Department of Transportation, motorcyclists should wear riding jackets, glasses, gloves, and over-the-ankle footwear, according to safety instructors and safety experts. It is important to wear safety gear even on short trips, since many Florida motorcycle accidents occur close to home. While safety gear will not protect you in every accident, in many cases it can help prevent serious injury and may protect you from fatalities in a collision.

3) Never drink and ride or use drugs and drive. It’s important to stay sober. Florida drunk driving accidents involving motorcycles can be just as deadly as impaired driving accidents involving other vehicles.

4) Respect the limits of your riding skills. If you are just starting out with motorcycles, stick to well-paved roads and streets. Do not go onto more dangerous terrain until you have the skill and mastery to do so. Even then, staying on well-paved and less busy roads is often safer.

Continue reading "Recent Motorcycle Accidents Prompt Reminders About Safety Tips to Avoid Florida Motorcycle Accidents" »

Workers compensation laws in Florida are designed to protect both workers and employers. However, in the event of amusement park accidents and workplace accidents, workplace laws can create challenges in workers compensation cases. Currently, the two largest amusement parks in Florida are involved in lawsuits stemming from workplace accidents. Walt Disney World is being sued after a monorail worker was killed in a Florida train accident at the park in 2009. SeaWorld Orlando is being sued after the drowning death of killer-whale trainer in early 2009.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush helped implement changes to workers compensation laws seven years ago, and critics of the changes claim that the new legislation heavily favors large employers such as the two amusement parks. Supporters of the laws argue that the legislation means standardized payments in workplace injury suits, which keeps costs down and protects business from large jury settlements. Supporters note that the laws make it less expensive and more attractive to do business in Florida.

Victims of workplace accidents may not agree. Originally, workers compensation was created to keep claims out of the courts. Florida employers are required to have workers compensation insurance to protect employees – and themselves – in workplace accident situations. When a workplace accident occurs, Florida workers compensation rules are supposed to cover lost wages and medical costs promptly and no matter who is at faulty. The advantage for workers is that they do not need to go through a long and expensive legal process to get needed money. However, workers also lose the ability to sue their employer to recover large sums.

In Florida, when a workplace accident is fatal, wage payments have a $150,000 limit and beneficiaries also receive up to $7,500 for funeral costs. In addition, spouses of victims may be compensated for up to 80 class hours at community colleges and 1,800 hours at some career centers in order to get job training. Some victim’s families find that these costs do not always cover medical expenses as well as other costs associated with a workplace death.

The court system agrees that in some cases, employers can be sued. For example, the Florida Supreme Court deemed in 1993 that employers who engage in activities that are "substantially certain'' to cause injury or fatalities may be sued. In 2000, a court defined "substantially certain'' as a circumstance in which the business should have know that its behaviors likely could cause a fatality or injury to an employee. Thus, businesses did not actually have to know that the actions can lead to risks. The Florida Supreme Court also decided that businesses that intentionally harm employees are not protected from lawsuits.

In 2003, Gov. Bush changed Florida workers compensation laws, cutting some benefits while improving other benefits, placing limits on the fees attorneys could recover in workers compensation cases, and protecting businesses from workers compensation and Florida wrongful death lawsuits. Instead of the 2000 definition, lawmakers claimed that workers compensation lawsuits could only be pursued in cases where a business “knew'” it was engaging in a behavior that it “knew” was "virtually certain'' to cause fatalities or injuries. Workers compensation claimants were also required to prove "clear and convincing evidence'' that the employer intentionally hid the danger and that the risk was not obvious.

A study in early 2010 concluded that Florida has a disproportionately high rate of fatal pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents. Since then, experts have been speculating as to why the state accounts for only 6% of the nation’s population but 11% pedestrian accident fatalities and 17.4% of bicyclist accident fatalities. Experts have found several causes:

1) Behaviors. Experts agree that individual behaviors and poor decisions – such as the decision to drive distracted, despite the risk of Florida car accidents or the decision to cross outside of a crosswalk – are key to many Florida car accidents and traffic accidents. However, this alone does not explain why Florida residents’ decisions seem to result in more traffic fatalities. It is hard to judge, for example, whether Florida residents make these poor judgments more often or whether their decisions simply tend to have more serious consequences for some secondary reason.

2) The structure of roads. A study by the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership and Transportation for America found that the move from clustered traditional streets to high-speed highways poses special dangers for pedestrians. However, other experts claim that streets themselves do not cause accidents.

3) A graying population. Older drivers are often blamed for Florida car accidents, especially since Florida has a graying population. However, at least one study has found that the number of elderly persons killed in Florida pedestrian accidents is 17%. This is on par with the nation-wide average.

4) Design. Representatives of Bicycle/Pedestrian Advocates, a non-profit group, believe that most community designs are determined by developers, who may not always consider the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians when making design decisions.

5) Lack of education programs for pedestrians and bicyclists. According to the Florida Bicycle Association, there are few awareness programs designed specifically for bicyclists and pedestrians. Programs that remind pedestrians and bicyclists of safety rules or remind drivers about safety issues involving pedestrians and bicyclists could reduce some accidents, advocates believe.

There is some hope. Tampa was targeted as the US’s most deadly city for pedestrians in 2000 and the city got serious about changing that image. After introducing bike lanes, bike trails, crosswalks, education programs, more enforcement, more sidewalks, and other initiatives, the city’s rate of pedestrian accidents fell 56% between 2000 and 2008.

According to two non-profit groups from Washington, D.C., Florida is the deadliest state in the country for bicyclists and pedestrians. The most recent statistics available are from 2008 and show that 11% of pedestrians killed in pedestrian accidents and 17.4% of bicyclists killed in bicycle accidents were killed in Florida – even though Florida has only 6% of the country’s total population.

According to statistics, Florida has been in the top three states of the nation for pedestrian accident fatalities and bicycle accident fatalities each year since 2001. As well, of the ten most risky urban areas for pedestrians, the top four all include areas in Florida. Officials from Florida's Department of Transportation have expressed concern over the statistics this year and have promised to try to find some answers.

The statistics do raise some questions, namely: what makes Florida pedestrian accidents and Florida bicycle accidents so common and so deadly? Researchers agree that three basic causes may be contributing the fatalities and the accident rates:

1) Very rapid population growth. Between 1950 and 2008, Florida’s population skyrocketed from 2.8 million to 18.5 million, an increase of sevenfold. In fact, Florida leads the nation in population growth. The extra population puts a strain on existing infrastructure and also creates far more traffic, which makes the streets and roadways riskier for pedestrians and bicyclists.

2) Climate. Some experts speculate that Florida’s nice weather brings more people outside, which makes them more at risk for traffic-related accidents.

3) Tourists. About 80 million tourists visit Florida in a typical year. Experts agree that tourists – who may not be familiar with streets or may not realize area-specific dangers – may be a contributing factor in some Florida car accidents and traffic accidents.

All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are intended to be used for recreation and off-road driving. However, a recent series of ATV accidents in Florida has led to concerns about the ways that ATVs are used incorrectly. According to Consumer Product Safety Commission, ATVs are designed to be used by a single driver and in off-road conditions. Consumers need to wear a helmet as well to help prevent brain injuries.

In recent Florida car accidents involving ATVs, however, teens were driving ATVs without safety equipment and on paved roads. In a few of the accidents, multiple passengers were crammed into the ATVs. In September, four teens were driving an ATV along a paved road when they were involved in a Florida truck accident when the ATV collided with a pickup truck. In July, two teens were in a fatal accident when their ATV collided with an SUV on a paved road.

ATVs are not meant to replace cars, but the recent accidents suggest that some teens are using the vehicles as cars. According to manufacturers, however, ATVs are designed so that the driver shifts their weight in order to adjust to different terrains. When multiple passengers are present, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the driver has far less control. ATVs are banned on Florida’s paved roads. This is because ATVs do not perform well on paved roads, as they are designed for uneven surfaces.

Tragically, many Florida ATV accidents involve children. About 30% of all ATV fatalities and injuries involve minors. Since 1982, there have been 10, 000 fatal ATV accidents across the country, and 2,588 of these fatalities involved children younger than 16 years of age. In 2008, 37,700 children were treated for ATV injuries in emergency rooms.

Many ATV injuries involve Florida brain injuries. Since ATVs are not enclosed in the manner of passenger vehicles, in a collision, drivers and passengers are often thrown from the ATV. A helmet is designed to help prevent injury, but experts say many teens avoid wearing helmets. It is unknown whether any of the Florida teens recently involved in ATV accidents were wearing helmets.

Florida boating accidents do not always just involve boats. Parasailing accidents are also quite common on Florida’s waters. However, despite liability lawsuits and attempts to pass new legislation, parasailing is not as regulated an industry as some would like. In 2008, Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter proposed a bill which would have required boat owners offering parasailing to meet certain standards and to carry liability insurance. The bill failed to pass committee.

In 2004, after two teenage girls were killed in a Florida parasailing accident, Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg tried to pass some regulations to impose standards for operations and equipment of parasailing companies. The regulations failed to pass, despite a great deal of publicity and support.

Many experts believe that Florida needs parasailing regulations and standards because Florida is a magnet for the sport. Although there is no regulation for the sport and therefore no specific knowledge about the number of commercial parasail companies in Florida, according to The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there are approximately 70-120 such businesses in Florida.

While parasailing can be fun, it can also be dangerous. According to The Parasailing Safety Council, there have been 380 parasailing accidents in the US between 1990 and 2009. These resulted in 22 fatalities and 78 serious injuries. In many cases, accidents occur when lines break, causing the parasail fan to go careening out of control. Often, the victim will travel through water and may even hit land, sustaining serious injuries. Many victims of parasailing are Florida brain injury patients or spinal cord injury patients. The force with which the victim is thrown usually results in serious injuries.

In addition to snapped lines, other things can go wrong, too. There is a risk of drowning with parasailing, especially in cases where there are problems with the equipment. Any Florida boating accident or malfunction affecting the boat can also affect the lines and the safety of the parasailer. Sudden weather changes can also cause an accident.

The U.S. Coast Guard is expected to release a report about the parasailing industry next month, complete with recommendations about regulations for the industry. Another parasailing accident over the 2010 Labor Day weekend has resulted in more publicity and attention to this type of boating accident.

Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have said that they will be out in force this holiday weekend, to prevent Florida boating accidents. The officers are especially concerned about the tendency of some boaters to head out on the water after consuming alcohol or drugs. Boats and alcohol or drugs can create as many serious injuries and fatalities as Florida drunk driving accidents, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission claims.

According to officers, there are many reasons why boating and drinking don’t mix. First, the effects of alcohol and drugs can be intensified by the glare and the motion of the water, making someone feel the effects of alcohol much sooner than they normally would. As well, boaters who boat and drive often drink and drive as well when they haul their boats home, increasing their risk of causing a Florida car accident. During the holiday weekend, more boaters will also likely be on the water, increasing the risk of accidents and necessitating all boaters to remain focused and sober. There are many laws surrounding drinking and boating:

1) Operating a boat under the influence of drugs or alcohol is sometimes referred to as BUI and is illegal under Florida laws. If you are stopped by an officer who has cause to believe you may be BUI, you may be asked to submit to testing for sobriety and blood alcohol levels.

2) If you are boating with a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.08 or above, you are violating Florida BUI laws. Any boaters under the age of 21 years of age are considering to be BUI if they are boating with a breath alcohol level of 0.02 or more.

3) Many things can lead to additional penalties if you are accused of BUI. Previous DUI convictions, for example, can make the penalties for your BUI more severe. Also, if you are found to be operating a boat while under the influence with a child on board, you will generally face additional fines and penalties.

There are about one million registered boaters in Florida. In 2009, 65 people were killed in Florid boating accidents. In about 70% of these fatal accidents, the victims drowned after a boat capsized or after the victim fell overboard. Wearing proper safety gear (including lifejackets) and avoiding alcohol when boating can help make 2010 a safe boating season for everyone.