car accident lawyer

December 10, 2016

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

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

September 9, 2016

Reboulet v. Schlosberg – Car Accident Lawsuit For Spinal Fusion Surgery

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A car accident lawsuit trial is slated to begin soon in Georgia, where plaintiff alleges he was strapped with a six-figure medical bill after the crash left him with a fused spine.

While many auto accident injuries can be serious, a fused spine is a lasting – and expensive – condition. It’s also extremely painful. When it results from another driver’s negligence, only an experienced injury lawyer should be trusted to handle the claim. Spinal fusion is a type of major surgery, often lasting several hours. It can involve bone taken from other areas and used to form a bridge between vertebrae or metal implants being inserted between sections until new bone can grow between them. Recovery time can take weeks and sometimes months. There are also risks that include:

Intense pain
Blood clots
Nerve injuries
Graft rejections
Fusion failure

And of course, the surgery is extremely expensive. Continue reading

July 29, 2016

Surprise Settlement in Florida Air Bag Liability Lawsuit

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A Florida product liability lawsuit alleging faulty airbags leading to a fatal car accident slated for trial in the fall when attorneys announced a surprise confidential settlement agreement.

The case centers on allegedly defective Takata airbags, which are reported to have played a role in at least 10 deaths and more than 100 injuries when they improperly inflate and spew metal debris into the faces and necks of front seat occupants.

Vehicles made by 14 different automakers were recalled in what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has called the biggest and most complex recalls to date. Most of the bags were installed in vehicles from 2002 through 2015. 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

July 1, 2016

Facebook While You Drive? Better Make Sure You Can Afford the Insurance Bill.

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

It used to be that a phone was just a phone. A way to call one person and speak from long distances.

Today, phones have become so much more. They are our maps. Our social calendars. Our means to connect with current contacts and decades-old pals. Our music. Our clock. Our books. Our calculator. Our news source. And so much more.

We aren’t the only ones who have taken note. Because for all the good things that having this technology at our fingertips does, it can be deadly in the hands of a driver. Far too often, distraction turns deadly. In an effort to curb the risk of car accidents caused by mobile phone distraction, auto insurance companies are increasingly giving drivers an option: Download our use tracking app, and get a break on your insurance rates. 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

May 3, 2016

Snapchat Named in Car Accident Injury Lawsuit

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A man injured in a car accident last year is suing not only the young driver who slammed into him, but the social media platform on which she was allegedly engaged at the time of the wreck.

According to the complaint in Maynard v. McGee and Snapchat, filed in a Georgia state court, plaintiff alleges a critical cause of the crash was the mobile software produced and made available by Snapchat.

For those unfamiliar, Snapchat is a messaging app that allows users to take photos or videos and than add a caption, doodle or lens graphic over the top and send it to a friend. Users can also create “stories” and broadcast them publicly – either to everyone or just to your followers. Some of these images can only be viewed for a short period of time before they disappear. Continue reading

April 5, 2016

De La Torre v. Gallardo – Florida Dram Shop Law

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

When a drunk driver crashes into your vehicle in Florida, what recourse do you have to recover damages?

The answer depends on the underlying circumstances, but generally, you will want to explore:

The at-fault driver/ insurance;
The owner of the vehicle/ insurance;
The employer of the at-fault driver (if he or she was working);
The establishment that served the at-fault driver alcohol.

That last one – which falls under Florida’s dram shop law – will only work if the drunk driver was either under 21 or known to the establishment to be habitually addicted to alcohol. Per F.S. 768.125, those are the only circumstances under which an establishment may be held accountable for the injurious actions of a drunk driver. Continue reading