car accident attorney

January 10, 2017

Modisette v. Apple Inc. – Distracted Driving Blamed on Crash That Killed 5-Year-Old

The family of a 5-year-old girl killed in a car accident by a driver who was reportedly distracted is suing technology giant Apple Inc. for wrongful death. Plaintiffs allege Apple officials knew its FaceTime app, in use by the at-fault driver at the time of the fatal crash, was being used by drivers in a dangerous manner. Further, plaintiffs say, Apple had the technology needed to make the app inaccessible to drivers (while still allowing passengers to access it), and yet chose not to implement it.

Specifically, plaintiffs say the company failed to install and implement a safer alternative design that would have halted a driver from accessing the app while speeding down the highway.

According to court records in Modisette v. Apple Inc., filed in the Superior Court of California in Santa Clara County, the girl was in a booster seat in the rear passenger seat, behind her father, who was driving. He slowed his vehicle because traffic ahead on the highway was backed to a standstill. However, the driver behind them, a 22-year-old from Florida in a sport utility vehicle, apparently didn’t notice the slowed traffic as he barreled down the road at 65 mph. He slammed into the back of the car. Everyone was injured, the little girl and her dad most severely. He survived. She did not. Continue reading

January 7, 2017

NHTSA: V2V Technology Could Prevent Thousands of Car Accidents

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing a rule that would accelerate the kind of vehicle-to-vehicle technology that would allow cars to “talk” to one another, and ultimately prevent accidents.

Under the proposed rule, all new cars and like trucks would communicate wirelessly not just with one another, but with traffic lights and other roadway infrastructure. NHTSA officials say the technology has the potential to transform driving and dramatically slash the number of traffic deaths every year. The rule would be mandatory for all new model vehicles, if the rule is approved.

So how exactly would this work? Well first, it’s important to outline what V2V is. It is a type of crash avoidance technology that hinges on the communication of information between nearby vehicles that can warn drivers about possibly hazardous situations that might lead to a collision. For instance, V2V technology could alert a driver that the vehicle up ahead is breaking, so they need to slow down. It could also inform a motorist that it isn’t safe to go through an intersection because another vehicle – one that can’t yet be seen by the driver – is fast approaching that same intersection. The information communicated would involve short-range data (about 300 meters) that would include other vehicle information such as:

Location
Speed
Direction
Breaking status

This information exceeds what can be gleaned from the current cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors that many vehicles are currently affixed with. V2V communications can also detect a threat much sooner than camera sensors or radar. In fact, the data is shot out at a rate of about 10 times per second. Continue reading

December 17, 2016

Motorcycle Accident Ended College Football Player’s Career: Who is to Blame?

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A motorcycle accident effectively ended the football career of a UCLA offensive lineman seven years ago in California. Amir Ekbatani’s leg was severed when a taxi van driver who failed to yield the right-of-way while making a left turn. The impact of the collision severed the football player’s left leg. He would undergo a total of 13 surgeries and he know walks with a prosthesis. He is fortunate to have emerged from the wreckage with his life.

But now, it’s not just the other motorist whom he blames. It is also the State of California, the government agency responsible for maintaining the road on which the crash occurred. Specifically, he alleges poor road design that made it difficult for the taxi driver to see the plaintiff as he traveled north on the state highway.

There had reportedly been numerous complaints made to the state’s Department of Transportation regarding the condition of the intersection, but the government agency failed to take action, according to the injury lawsuit. Continue reading

December 10, 2016

Delray Beach Intersection Won’t Get New Light, Despite Fatal Crash

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Traffic engineers have decided that despite a fatal crash in late September, a Delray Beach intersection won’t be getting a new traffic light after all. However, engineers did recommend moving forward with a number of improvements that were already planned.

The Sun Sentinel reports the crossing at Federal Highway and Northeast First Street will be updated over the next several months to include:

A sign for motorists on Federal Highway, notifying them of the upcoming intersection;
A sign for motorists on Northeast First Street, to notify them cross traffic won’t stop;
Larger stop signs for those traveling both directions on Northeast First Street;
Relocation of a garbage can and bench that reportedly obstruct motorists’ views.

November 21, 2016

West v. United Services Auto Ass’n – Asserting Bad Faith Insurance

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Insurance companies – whether they are dealing with first-person or third-party claims – owe a duty to act in good faith toward an injured person. Generally, though, the duty owed toward an insured is greater than that owed to a third party. In general, adjusters are not acting in bad faith simply because there is a difference of opinion about the value of the claim. However, improper settlement tactics, withholding specific reasons for a very low settlement offer and some other actions, could be evidence of bad faith.

This is why it’s often beneficial for car accident victims to seek assistance in settlement negotiations with insurance companies, particularly if the injuries involved are serious and the effects long-lasting. There is much at stake in bad faith insurance claims, which can sometimes result in plaintiff being awarded triple the amount of damages.

In the recent case of West v. United Services Auto Ass’n, there were numerous parties involved in this car accident injury lawsuit. Although the district court granted a summary judgment for the plaintiff, holding the insurance company was liable for bad faith and ordered payment of $1.4 million to his guardian ad litem. The state supreme court in Montana reversed. Continue reading

September 25, 2016

Jorge v. Culinary Inst. of Am. – Vicarious Liability of Employer for Car Accident

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Some car accident cases are more complicated than others. This is especially true of cases in which one of the driver was on-the-job, acting in the course and scope of employment and/or was operating a company vehicle.

First, there is consideration that – generally regardless of fault – an employee injured while working can collect workers’ compensation.

Second, if the employee was at-fault and others are injured, those injured persons may seek compensation from the employer by alleging vicarious liability (via the legal theory of “respondeat superior,” which is Latin for, “Let the Master Answer”) or for direct liability (i.e., inadequate training, negligent hiring, inadequate supervision, unsafe equipment, etc.). Even if the employee wasn’t technically on-the-clock, there could be a claim for vicarious liability against the company if the worker was driving the company vehicle. That’s because in Florida, motor vehicles are known as inherently dangerous instrumentalities, and therefore, owners can be held responsible for the negligence of anyone entrusted to operate them. Continue reading

August 10, 2016

Gearhart v. Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co. – Car Accident With Underinsured Motorist

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Auto insurance companies that provide underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage to more than one vehicle in a family don’t want those limits stacked so that it might have to pay three times the limit. Similarly, separate policies that cover the same individuals may have anti-stacking provisions in their plans.

This is totally legal and will be enforced by the courts – so long as the language contained therein is clear and unambiguous. However, if there is any ambiguity in these anti-stacking provisions, the courts will generally decline to apply them. This is important because it can mean doubling or sometimes even tripling the amount to which you are entitled.

Let’s look at one example of this, recently weighed by the Idaho Supreme Court. In Gearhart v. Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co., which involved two separate underinsured motorist policies that covered the same young man. The policies written by the same insurance company, but they were separate, one belonging to his mother and another to his father. The couple had previously divorced. Continue reading

August 7, 2016

State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Jakubowicz – UIM Policy Ambiguous, Court Rules

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Our Fort Lauderdale car accidents have come to expect that most auto insurance companies facing down a claim for damages will take whatever action they can to avoid paying that claim – or at least minimize liability.

One such tactic occurs even long before the crash: It is to draft policies that contain a myriad of exceptions and loopholes and contingencies so as to deny coverage on different grounds. However, as the recent case of State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Jakubowicz shows, this tactic can backfire when the language of the policy is ambiguous.

Courts across the country have held that when there is more than one meaning to the language in an auto insurance policy, the meaning that best favors the insured is the one that will be followed. That’s because courts have recognized that insurance companies, as the entities that draft the language of the policy, have the upper hand. It’s their responsibility to make sure the policy is clear. Continue reading

July 21, 2016

New Rental Car Law On Recalled Vehicles Promises Safer Fleet

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

When people get ready to buy a car, they may spend a great deal of time researching the various safety features and ensuring (if it isn’t brand new) that it’s checked by a licensed mechanic. But when they rent a vehicle, they may barely give much thought to the vehicle, other than it’s size and how accommodating it will be a for a trip.

Yet up until very recently, it was perfectly legal for rental car companies to loan out recalled vehicles to unsuspecting customers – without making repairs or warning customers of the danger. That should alarm motorists everywhere, but it’s especially troubling here in South Florida, which has a booming rental car industry from tourism. Now consider that there have been record vehicle recall rates in recent years – with an average of 900 recalls annually breaking down to some 2.5 every single day. In the last two years, more than 100 million vehicles were impacted by safety recalls. To give you a better idea of how big that is, there are a total of 260 million vehicles registered in the U.S.

The good news is that now, following an arduous legal battle, the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2015, which passed as part of a larger transportation bill, went into effect June 1, 2016 and mandates that rental car companies with 35 or more vehicles in fleet must ground any recalled vehicles until they can be repaired. Continue reading

May 6, 2016

Construction of Guardrails on Alligator Alley Faces Criticism

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The Florida Department of Transportation is moving ahead with a nearly 100-mile road project along Alligator Alley that is intended to save lives.

But will it actually put them at risk?

That’s the claim by some critics, who say the $18 million project will put thousands of lives in peril if they continue to press forward with the measure.

Traffic department officials say the purpose of the guardrails is to keep motorists from careening off the roadway and into the deep canals that line the sides of the Everglades. Continue reading