Articles Posted in Automobile Accidents

If you are in a car accident in Florida, hopefully you will not sustain any serious injuries, such as burn injuries or spinal cord injuries. Even a car accident that does not result in fatalities, though, can leave you with injuries that cause you pain or create lost income or huge medical bills for you. If you have been paying car insurance, you may believe that you will automatically have all the help you need in an accident. Unfortunately, if you have been in an accident, dealing with an insurance provider can be difficult. The insurance provider will want to not spend more money than necessary. If you have been in an accident, therefore, you should:

1) Report any car accident to the police if there are any injuries or substantial damage. If there is any possibility of criminal charges, it is important to alert the police. Alerting the police is also important in more serious car accidents because it starts a paper trail that can help you in the event of a lawsuit.

2) Take reasonable steps to protect others and your car at the scene of the accident. Call for emergency help for anyone who has been injured and try to help anyone who has been hurt. Move your car out of traffic to prevent more damage. If your car is damage after the accident because it is in traffic, it may be hard for you to make claims about damage.

Apnea literally translates as “without breath.” As the name suggests, people who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea momentarily stop breathing in their sleep. This causes their oxygen levels to drop, which in turn robs the brain and heart of the oxygen needed. Those who suffer from sleep apnea generally experience severe fatigue during the day, which can impair their ability to drive. In fact, some people who suffer from this ailment fall asleep for very short periods during the day, even while driving. Even when not asleep, someone with sleep apnea may suffer from impaired alertness, which can cause them to respond slowly to a traffic situation which may lead to an accident.

Anyone who drives with this condition is putting themselves, their passengers, and other drivers at risk for personal injury and even fatal injury. Trucking companies who do not screen their employees for sleep apnea are as reckless as drivers who get behind the wheel knowing that they suffer from this condition. Knowingly operating heavy machinery and vehicles with this condition can lead to injury and death.

Almost twenty million people suffer from sleep apnea. The condition is most likely to affect overweight middle-age men, although anyone can be affected. Currently, airline pilots are screened for the condition. Most truck drivers and all licensed private drivers are not. In addition, many with sleep apnea go undiagnosed for years. Worse, some trucking companies actively lobby for unsafe conditions, allowing drivers to receive only 8 hours of rest in every 24 hours so that fewer drivers can meet more schedules. Evern for drivers not suffering from sleep apnea, 8 hours of rest is not enough for safe driving.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that between December 30, 1987 and the end of 1991, more than 1033 deaths and 224,500 injuries could be attributed to ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles). In this time period, 40% victims were under 16 years of age. While the number of injuries related to three-wheeled ATVs decreased in this time period – largely because manufacturers stopped making these models – the number of injuries and fatalities from four-wheel ATVs experienced a 70% increase in the 1987 to 1991 time period. In 2004 alone, ATVs killed at least 130 children and injured over 44,000. That same year, serious ATV injuries requiring emergency room treatment numbered 136,100.

Legislators have spent some time trying to regulate ATVs, but with minimal success. Since ATVs are not considered cars, children can easily ride them, even unsupervised. In fact, most states do not even have laws requiring children wear a helmet when riding ATVs. Worse, most ATVs are operated on private property, which means that regulating use of these vehicles would be difficult, even if laws were in place.

ATVs are sometimes driven under the influence and at high speeds, and this only leads to more accidents. Florida residents love ATVs and sometimes operate them on very rough terrain, where the vehicles can easily overturn. To help prevent accident, manufacturers and the CPSC both recommend that riders use common sense, low speeds, and goggles and helmets when operating ATVs.

Florida drivers in many cases don’t think that they need to learn how to drive in winter conditions. After all, sunny Florida, even in winter, often does not see the blizzards, white-out conditions, black ice, and other road hazards that other states routinely see in winter months. However, there are still many good reasons why Florida drivers should learn how to drive in winter road conditions and extreme weather conditions.

Winter road conditions lead to many hazards and can cause car accidents. Even good drivers, when confronted with black ice or other winter weather conditions, can lose control of their vehicles and cause a collision. Car accidents in the winter claim many lives, and also lead to many serious injuries, including burn injuries, fractured limbs, spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, and other serious problems. Florida doesn’t usually get extreme weather in the winter, but Florida drivers do sometimes take their cars outside of the state. Plus, Florida does occasionally see some colder-than-usual winter weather. Therefore, learning to drive in wintry conditions can help keep Florida motorists safe, year-round.

Florida drivers learning to drive in winter conditions can do so safely by:

According to many studies, car crashes are among the leading causes of death for US children, even though these fatalities are largely preventable. According to the NHTSA, something as simple as placing children in age-appropriate and size-appropriate car safety or restraint systems reduces the risk of fatalities and injuries by more than half.

According to the NHTSA, 1,451 children under 14 years of age died automobile crashes, and another 203,000 were injured in 2005 alone. On average that is about 4 deaths and 556 injuries daily. Almost half of the fatalities involving children in car accidents involved children who were unrestrained in the car.

Car accidents involving injuries to minors and children are an especial concern during the summer, when Florida parents are transporting children to camps, child care, summer programs, friends homes and so forth. Children simply spend more time in cars during the summer, on average, and that means a bigger chance for children to be injured in Florida car accidents.

In a perfect world, anyone injured in a car accident would get immediate and full help with their injuries. Any driver whose negligence caused the injuries would be held responsible. As Florida attorneys know, however, the world is not perfect, and in some car accidents, victims have trouble getting the legal help they need. Even in cases where one driver was clearly negligent, certain issues can affect the income of a case:

1) Hit-and-run accidents. In cases where a driver does not stop at the accident scene, it is difficult to launch a lawsuit. The driver who left the scene must first be found and positively identified. Witnesses or evidence needs to be provided to prove that the driver left the scene of the accident.

2) Accidents involving bicycles and pedestrians. When a car strikes a pedestrian or bicyclist, the injuries to the pedestrian or bicyclist can be very severe. These sort of accidents have a high rate of fatality and many pedestrians and bicyclists struck by cars suffer serious injuries such as spinal cord injuries, bone fractures, and brain injuries. Despite this, injured parties often have a hard time making claims against drivers, since drivers will often attribute the accident to the behaviour of the pedestrian or bicyclist. Motorcycle drivers can face the same problems.

3) Accidents involving buses. Since buses often are used by large and well-insured companies, launching a claim is often difficult. The fact that passengers often do not wear seatbelts on buses also can complicate the case.

4) Car accidents caused by road conditions. In cases where road debris, road design or road condition causes an accident, it is often very challenging to prove who is at fault. In some cases, agencies responsible for road repair and maintenance may have immunity which limits lawsuits.

5) Vehicle Modifications. In cases where a car has been modified with powerful or tinted headlights, foglights, window tinting, or other modifications, these changes can affect the safety of the car. Despite this, proving that a car modification caused a car accident can be tricky.

Continue reading →

Automobile crashes – both minor and major – occur every day in Florida. Some are no more than small fender benders. In these accidents, damages are often covered by insurance. However, larger car crashes sometimes lead to serious injuries, including brain injuries, burn injuries, spinal cord injuries, permanent disability, and even death. In these cases, insurance often will only cover a fraction of the total cost of the accident. Victims of such accidents often need to turn to a good Florida attorney to get the help they are entitled to under the law.

According to studies, most car accidents are caused by driver errors such as disregard of traffic signs, failure to yield the right of way, following too closely behind another car, unsafe passing, and speeding. In these cases, distractions are often a contributing cause of accidents. When a driver is attempting to do something other than drive to when attention is distracted by something inside or outside the vehicle, a bad car crash can result.

Another common cause for car accidents has to do with a diver’s condition. If a driver drives while ill, for example, he or she may be too fuzzy-headed to respond to traffic correctly. If a driver drives while intoxicated, response times are often too slow for safety. Drivers who drive while very tired also run the risk of falling asleep at the wheel and causing a serious accident.

According to statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2004, 3,355 car occupants ages 65 and older were involved in fatal car accidents. More than 177,000 seniors aged 65 and older across the country suffered injuries in car accidents in 2005. In 2004, more than 28 million licensed drivers in this nation were 65 years of age or older.

In Florida, the rate of car accidents among older drivers is an especial concern. Many senior citizens choose to retire in Florida or travel to the state in order to enjoy a vacation or some time in the sun.

Across the country, the rate of fatality and injury in car accidents is a concern. Older car occupants and drivers who are in car accidents can face longer recovery times than younger passengers and drivers. Hip fractures and bone fractures may take longer to heal. In cases where an elderly person is already having difficulty with mobility, nonfatal injuries such as burn injuries and brain injuries can prove incapacitating. Injuries that to younger drivers might require extended recovery time might prove fatal to older victims. The CDC has reported that older drivers are more likely than younger drivers to die from their injuries after a car accident.

Another problem is that elderly drivers are sometimes blamed for car crashes. Some people feel that elderly drivers pose a risk on the roads. Statistics do not support this idea. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the motor vehicle death rate among drivers ages 70 and over has remained steady, at roughly 23 per 100,000, for more than ten years.

Some studies have suggested that age-related decreases in physical mobility, vision, and cognitive functions can affect the driving ability of some drivers, but there is no conclusive evidence that the elderly make poorer drivers than their younger counterparts. In fact, the CDC has released findings that show elderly adults are more likely to wear seat belts than other age groups except young children. CDC has also released findings that elderly drivers are more likely to drive only when driving conditions are safe and tend to drive fewer miles that other motorists. The CDC has also released studies that prove that elderly drivers are less likely to drink and drive than their younger counterparts. All of this suggests that while older drivers are more likely to suffer serious injury and even death in car crashes, they are less likely to cause accidents.

Continue reading →