Articles Posted in Car Accidents

Distraction is a problem for all drivers. Whether it’s a vibrating cell phone or children in the back seat – there is constant competition for our attention at all times, even behind the wheel.

But a recent news investigation reveals South Florida emergency responders may have an even higher rate than the rest of the public. This includes police officers, firefighters and paramedics/EMS workers.

The findings are particularly troubling in light of the fact that these workers are often called to operate vehicles at high rates of speed, often through heavy traffic. While they are given discretion as far as how to safely navigate through traffic, crashes are more commonplace than they should be, resulting in serious and sometimes lifelong injuries and even death to innocent motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.
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The importance of careful pretrial investigation by injury victim attorneys cannot be overstated. It is essential in any injury case to have all elements carefully laid out so there are no surprises, nothing overlooked. This is true even in relatively simple cases.

While plaintiffs are understandably interested in minimizing their legal expenses, not investing in this kind of thorough preparation even prior to the trial phase can be a costly mistake. Important details such as prior accidents, prior criminal records, witness backgrounds, officer backgrounds and other potentially relevant information can be overlooked when a lawyer fails to conduct a sufficient pretrial investigation. At worst, a case could be dismissed before it ever goes to trial.

In many cases, when a pretrial investigation is done right, defendants will concede the likelihood they’ll lose at trial and agree to a settlement advantageous to a plaintiff in order to avoid trial.
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Disabled vehicles pose a serious risk of injury not only to the operator and occupants, but also to others on the road. That’s why it’s best to maintain a vehicle in basic working order, to avoid potentially dangerous scenarios in the first place.

The recent case of Ex parte Quality Carriers, Inc. illustrates what can happen when people in this scenario fail to respond appropriately to minimize the risk.

According to records from the Alabama Supreme Court, which recently weighed a change of venue request from one of the defendants, a tractor-trailer company, the case started with a disabled Ford Crown Victoria in the northbound lanes of Interstate 65 in Autauga County (where Montgomery is located).
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In any injury lawsuit – be it a car accident or a defective product or premises liability – there are two general types of damages that can be awarded.

The first type is compensatory damages. This is a sum of money awarded following a civil action to compensate a person for injuries, property damage or other losses resulting from the unlawful or negligent action of someone else. These damages provide a plaintiff the amount that’s necessary to replace what is lost, and nothing more.

Of course, we know some losses are forever and there is no “replacing” the ability to walk or living pain-free or the loss of a loved one. But the idea is to restore the victim(s) to whatever degree is possible.
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The entire South Florida community is mourning the loss of life of two young people with bright futures who were killed in a chain collision accident on I-75.

One was a 17-year-old recent high school graduate. The other was a 29-year-old third-year medical student about to begin clinical rotations. Their lives ended when a tractor trailer, hauling concrete barriers, exited a construction area and attempted to merge onto the highway. Instead, the truck was struck by the 29-year-old driver. The impact of that collision sent the car and truck about a quarter mile down the highway – completely sheering off the top of the car’s roof.

In the midst of this, another vehicle, driven by the 17-year-old, struck the rear of the truck, causing a number of the concrete barriers to fly out of the back of the truck bed and onto her car. Seconds later, a second tractor-trailer slammed into the concrete barriers in the roadway and then slammed into the other truck.
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In a motor vehicle accident involving a commercial truck, it may be clear the trucker was at fault and caused the crash. What is less clear is who is legally liable.

Employers are usually responsible for wrongful acts of an employee or agents, provided those acts were not intentional and were committed in the scope of employment. The legal principle upon which this falls is that of respondeat superior, which is Latin for “let the superior make answer.”

But the reason this may not always be applicable is because truck drivers are often not employed by the company that owns the truck. Rather, they are an independent contractor. Additionally, there may be a separate company that owns the trailer and yet another company whose goods are being hauled. Each of these entities contract with each other to make deliveries – and make for a complicated web of potential liability.
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It is not highly unusual for passengers in a crash or their survivors to sue drivers following an accident, even when they are family members or close friends. The goal is not malice, but rather compensation for medical bills, lost wages and other costs, which are often paid by insurance companies rather than the individual directly.

Also, in order to collect any uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage the passenger may have had, it’s imperative to exhaust all other legal remedies for compensation, and so claims against a negligent driver are necessary.

But the case of Siruta v. Siruta, in which a passenger in a wreck sued the driver for the wrongful death of his son, also a passenger, is unusual for a number of reasons. The legally perplexing case was recently before the Kansas Supreme Court.
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The death and injury toll stemming from faulty airbags manufactured by Japanese company Takata continues to rise. Currently, authorities have tallied 105 injuries and six deaths linked to the defective auto parts.

Some of those in the count occurred more than a decade ago, and are only now being recognized as likely connected.

The massive recall that was issued involved 17 million older model vehicles from 10 different auto makers, both in the U.S. and abroad.
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Add to the list of reasons one should always wear a seat belt: The seat belt defense.

Although some states have specifically barred defendants in car accident lawsuits from using this defense, Florida is not among them.

The seat belt defense essentially holds that a person who is severely injured or killed in a car accident may be found partially to blame if not wearing a seat belt, as required by law. A person may still recover damages in Florida in cases of comparative fault, but compensation will be reduced by whatever percentage of blame he or she is deemed by a judge or jury to hold. With the seat belt defense, defendant will assert liability only for injuries that might have been sustained had plaintiff or decedent been wearing a seat belt – which is to say, they will assert injuries would have been far less severe, and thus they should not have to pay nearly as much.

When injuries result from another person’s negligence, the victim should not have to foot the bill, regardless of whether he or she buckled up that day. Those who have sustained auto injuries in Fort Lauderdale can overcome the seat belt defense or at least minimize the impact, but it requires experienced legal representation.
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Authorities will not criminally charge a 92-year-old man believed at-fault for a Florida crash that resulted in the deaths of three utility workers and the injury of another motorist.

Although investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol have not indicated any age-related condition contributed to the crash, it has nonetheless sparked a debate about the point at which older drivers should hang up their keys for good.

According to news reports, the three utility workers, from Georgia, were working alongside the highway installing a utility pole when the older driver attempted to make a right turn onto that road from a nearby cross street. As he did so, he reportedly entered the center lane, as opposed to turning directly into the right lane. In so doing, he struck the 20-year-old driver, and the impact sent the second vehicle careening into that ditch.
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