Broward Injury Lawyer Blog
Tourism is one of the largest businesses in the state of Florida. Recent calculations indicate there were nearly 86 million visitors from around the world who made it to the state of Florida in just 2011. These numbers make Florida one of the top vacations spots on the planet. These visitors brought in roughly $80 billion to Florida’s economy as well as helped to create about 1 million jobs, according to Tampa Bay Online.
Many of these visitors come to our area to visit the beaches and to check out Southern Florida. But beaches are top spots for big problems — beach accidents in Fort Lauderdale and elsewhere. One of the biggest problems is driving on the beach. Still, the state of Florida allows both the general public and beach officials to drive on many of our states beaches.
Our Fort Lauderdale injury attorneys understand that many supporters of beach driving argue that it’s a Florida pastime. As a matter of fact, NASCAR was founded on our beaches. It originally started from people who illegally transported alcohol. Their vehicles were designed to be faster than law enforcement officials. This all went down when alcohol was illegal in the U.S. Regardless, safe driving advocates argue that beach driving by anyone, professionals, officials or others, is extremely dangerous.
What might pop into your head when you think about beach driving are the recurring incidents in which beach patrols, lifeguards, police officers and other government officials have run over beach goers and sunbathers just lying there innocently on our beaches. At least a dozen women have been run over by these vehicles on the beaches of Florida.
What’s most alarming is that Florida’s government has some of the more stringent systems of legal hurdles and limits in the United States. This system has made itself pretty much immune to accountability for these types of accidents. Up until 2011, there were limits of liability at only $100,000. Yes, a lifeguard or another official could run over a person on the beach and regardless of how costly medical bills and other injury costs got, the county would only have to dish over $100,000. Officials have now raised that limit to only $200,000. The truth of the matter is that in many cases, these accidents cost much, much more.
Each Florida county or municipality is pretty much acting alone in these situations, too. They’re not learning from each other and they’re not looking for ways to help to prevent these kinds of accidents. They still arguing that beach driving is a necessity, even if it’s killing people. Miami made changes back to its policy back in 2003 after its third beach run-over accident. Not many others have followed.
Some History of Beach Run-Over Accidents:
-November of 1993 in Miami.
-April of 1999 in Miami.
-September of 2003 on Volusia County Beach.
-July of 2005 on Volusia County Beach.
-July of 2006 on Volusia County Beach.
-June of 2008 on Daytona Beach.
-May of 2011 on Dayton Beach.
-July of 2011 on Daytona Beach.
-April of 2012 in Fort Lauderdale.
If you, a friend or a family member has been injured or killed in a pedestrian accident in Broward County or any of the nearby areas, contact Fort Lauderdale Accident Lawyer Richard Ansara at 954 761-3641 or toll-free at 877-277-3780 to set up a free initial consultation.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents in Broward Country Along A1A Concern Locals, Broward Injury Lawyer Blog, April 30, 2012
Pedestrian Accident in Fort Lauderdale Forces Traffic Reroutes, Broward Injury Lawyer Blog, April 17, 2012
