Fort Lauderdale car accident attorney

April 12, 2016

Roddey v. Wal-Mart Stores – Shoplifter Wrongful Death Case Proceeds

Usually, perpetrators fleeing a crime scene will be afforded little protection under the law for injuries they sustain as a result.

However, there are exceptions and it’s important to consider that under Florida’s comparative fault statute, F.S. 768.81, those who are partially to blame for their own injuries can still collect damages from others who shared responsibility.

The recent case of Roddey v. Wal-Mart, though not a Florida case, is a good example of this. In this South Carolina Supreme Court case, justices were asked to decide whether lower courts erred in issuing a directed verdict in favor of a store whose contracted security guard chased down an alleged shoplifter – with fatal consequences. Continue reading

April 8, 2016

Hughes v. Farmers Auto Ins. Ass’n – Per-Accident Insurance Limits

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

In many Fort Lauderdale car accident cases, the amount of damages available will be determined by how much insurance coverage is involved.

Auto insurance policy limits are generally expressed as:

Amount per person;
Amount per accident.

So let’s say there is a policy that allows $100,000 per person and up to $150,000 per accident. That would mean if only one person is hurt, he or she could collect up to $100,000. However, if two people equally suffer $100,000 in damages, the most either could collect would be $75,000 – because the policy limit is $150,000. Continue reading

March 20, 2016

Report: U.S. Drivers are Distracted More Than Half the Time

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

One of the biggest and most precise studies to date on the problem of distracted driving in the U.S. has been released. The results are not good.

Researchers with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, in a new paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that Americans are in some way distracted more than 50 percent of the time when they are behind the wheel. Of all the crashes the study authors observed, almost 70 percent involved some type of “observable” distraction. That means the actual number is probably even higher, as humans can be easily distracted even by their own thoughts.

But it gets worse: The U.S. used to be one of the safest place for motorists. Prior to the early aughts, we had fewer traffic deaths per mile traveled than most other developed countries. Today, we rank 17th out of 29. Continue reading

February 23, 2016

Florida Bill Seeks End to Traffic Crash Drownings

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Last year, a University of Central Florida student left a friend’s house to pick up her mother and grandmother from the airport at 4 a.m. She never arrived. After reportedly falling asleep at the wheel, 21-year-old Chloe Arenas careened off the road and into an unguarded retention pond. Having lost consciousness from the impact of the crash, she drowned.

Now, her best friend is advocating for legislative change on her behalf. She has spoken out to lawmakers in support of a Florida bill that would require state and local transportation officials to install barriers near retention ponds and other bodies of water identified as dangerous or where other motorists have died after leaving the roadway.

The measure, called Chloe’s Law, is named after the young Orlando woman who “died in a completely preventable accident.” The bill has passed its first House committee. Continue reading

February 10, 2016

Researchers: Economic Improvement Tied to Uptick in Traffic Deaths

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

There are over 20,000 car accidents in Florida every year. Preliminary counts of South Florida traffic deaths in 2015 suggest a sharp increase. In Palm Beach County, for example, The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles counted a 29 percent increase in the first six months of the years to the first six months of 2014 – 102 deaths versus 79 deaths. Motor vehicle fatalities in Florida were also up 29 percent and nationally, up 14 percent.

There is of course the growing element of distraction now that most every driver has access to their own person computer at all times via their smart phone. But there is something else going on, researchers say.

We are now at the tail end of what has been one of the longest roads to economic recovery since the end of WW II. The labor market has improved. Unemployment is down. So are gas prices. This has meant people have more money in their pocket. More freedom to take a trip. More incentive to take a private vehicle rather than opt for public transportation or bicycling. In turn, there are more vehicles on the road and a higher likelihood of traffic deaths. Continue reading