Florida Injury Attorney Blog

Although it's only halfway through the summer, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says that it has received reports of over 210 child drownings and non-fatal submersions in spas and pools since Memorial Day weekend. The fact that so many kids have gotten hurt from drowning incidents alone in such a short period of time is disturbing. Other child drowning statistics:

• Between 2007 and 2009, there were 4,200 pool or spa incidents involving kids under age 15 who were treated for submersions.
• 47% of the estimated injuries involved kids between the ages of 1 and 3.
• For every drowning, about 11 near drownings occur.
• Near drownings often result in serious brain damage.
• Drowning accidents are a leading cause of Florida child fatalities for kids under age 5.

In sunny Florida, swimming is a favorite pastime, both at private and in residential complexes, hotels, and resorts, as well as in the ocean. Pool and spa owners must exercise the necessary safety precautions to prevent both kids and adults from drowning.

Just last Thursday, two 2-year-old boys nearly drowned in a Buenaventura Lakes pool at a private residence. The near drowning accident happened while the woman who had been watching the toddlers stepped away for about five minutes. She is the mother of one of the boys. Following the Florida swimming pool accident, the toddlers were in critical condition.

Property owners can be held liable for Naples, Florida personal injury or Miami wrongful death if negligence contributed to allowing the drowning accident to happen.

Some common reasons why pool drowning accidents happen to children:

• Inadequate supervision
• No locks or gates around the pool to keep kids out when no one is around to watch them
• No lifeguard
• Lack of rescue equipment, such reaching poles or life preservers
• Failure to install the now legally required anti-entrapment drain cover

Toddlers in critical condition after near-drowning in Osceola, Orlando Sentinel, July 22, 2010

ool Safety: Incidents show need to exercise caution; hazard: three drownings, five near-drownings emphasize danger, Fire Engineering, July 20, 2010

Related Web Resources:
CPSC Announces Pool and Spa Kids Safety Education Effort, CPSC, July 23, 2010

Water-Related Injuries: Fact Sheet, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Continue reading " Drowning is the Leading Cause of Florida Child Deaths for Kids Under 5 " »

A Florida Atlantic University student who sustained burn injuries on more than 50% of his body after he was involved in a Lake Worth car accident last May died today at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Frantzdy Cherisma was 26.

The college student’s car burst into flames on Interstate 95 on May 18 after his 1997 Nissan sedan was struck by another vehicle while it was stopped in the center lane. According to investigators, Cherisma’s vehicle became disabled when after it ran over the rear bumper of a tractor-trailer that had fallen onto the road. The driver of the vehicle that struck Cherisma’s auto, 39-year-old West Palm Beach resident Kevin C. Dillard, has said that there was another car blocking his view and that this prevented him from seeing Cherisma’s auto until it was too late. Investigators have since found that Dillard was not driving improperly.

Cherisma, who fell unconscious after the Palm Beach County car accident, was reported missing by his family. They eventually found him at the Miami hospital where he was listed under his father’s name.

Road Debris
Road debris can cause serious Miami car accidents, which is why it is so important that the parties responsible for the fallen debris clean it up before anyone can get hurt. Cargo from vehicles, auto parts that have come off a truck or another motor vehicle, garbage from waste haulers, and materials left on the road after a highway construction can lead to flat tires, smashed windshields, and cars colliding with one another in an attempt to avoid the debris, regain control of their vehicle, or avoid striking the other autos on the road.

AAA Exchange says that more than 25,000 North American car accidents a year are a result of vehicles colliding with road debris. 80 to 90 people are killed as a result.

FAU accounting student dies two months after fiery Lake Worth crash, Palm Beach Post, July 20, 2010

Missing FAU student found unconscious at Miami hospital, Sun-Sentinel, May 27, 2010

Road Debris, AAA Exchange

Related Web Resources:
Florida Department of Transportation

The International Society for Burn Injuries

Continue reading " College Student Who Sustained Severe Burn Injuries from Palm Beach County Car Accident Has Died " »

According to a report issued by the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, in 2009, the number of Palm Beach County traffic deaths went down 30% from 2008, while the number of Broward County traffic fatalities dropped 20%.

More 2009 Traffic Statistics from the Report:

• 151 Palm Beach County traffic fatalities
• 189 Broward County traffic deaths
• 2,563 Florida traffic deaths in 2009 (down from the 2,983 traffic fatalities from the year before)
• Traffic deaths in Broward County have been dropping since 2005
• 153 Florida teen driver-related deaths (193 fatalities in 2008)

Our Miami car accident lawyers are always happy to hear about any decline in traffic crashes, injuries, and deaths. That said, if you or someone you love was injured in a Broward County car crash or a Palm Beach County motor vehicle collision, it is important that you explore your legal options right away.

Also, there is more good news in terms of declining South Florida traffic deaths. Two years after the state launched a safety campaign to decrease the number of Florida motorcycle fatalities, these efforts are continuing to pay off. In 2009:

• Florida motorcycle deaths dropped 24%
• Broward County motorcycle fatalities involving passengers and drivers saw a 38% drop
• Palm Beach County motorcycle deaths declined by 47%
• There are 30,990 registered Palm Beach County motorcyclists
• There are 44,349 registered Broward, County Florida motorcyclists

Traffic injuries can be life-altering for the victim and his/her family. While Florida’s Personal Injury Protection provides some coverage, it may not take care of expenses that can be incurred from living with a permanent traumatic brain injury, a spinal cord injury, or another type of catastrophic injury, as well as cover any loss of income and/or benefits that a person would have earned if only he/she would have been able to keep working. We know that no amount of money financial recovery can make up for losing your loved one but it can provide some relief for damages, injuries, losses, and expenses.

raffic fatalities in Palm Beach, Broward counties drop, Sun-Sentinel, July 15, 2010

South Florida motorcycle deaths down after more than a decade of increases, Sun-Sentinel, July 14, 2010

Traffic Crash Statistics Report 2009, Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Florida Department of Transportation

Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

A jury is ordering State Farm to pay Cynthia Deen $2 million for her Florida truck crash injuries. State Farm is her insurer.

Deen sustained debilitating and painful injuries, including several herniated discs in her neck, when an air conditioning truck struck her car at the intersection of U.S. 17 and Fleming Island Parkway in 2007. Deen, who was slowing down at a traffic signal, says the truck driver never slowed down his vehicle. Apparently, per court testimony, the trucker fell asleep at the wheel, which resulted in the rear-end crash with Deen’s vehicle. His company, who was insured with AIG, was able to cover $500,000 of Deen’s medical costs.

Deen’s lawyers asked State Farm to pay her $300,000, her policy limit for uninsured motorist coverage. The insurance company refused, offering instead to pay her $225,000. The case then went to court.

During the trial, State Farm argued that Deen’s ruptured discs were a pre-existing condition that were a result of spine degeneration and that she had exaggerated her claims of pain.

Deen says that since the Florida truck accident her ability to work for The Caption Co., her court reporting business, has been severely limited as she can no longer sit and type for long periods. The $2M judgment will be offset by the amount that AIG is paying Deen.

Herniated Discs
Discs around the vertebrae are supposed to act as shock absorbers. When there is damage to the disc, pain, weakness, and numbness can result. A herniated disc can be extremely debilitating and can severely limit one’s movement.

Miami Car Accidents
Under Florida law, uninsured motorist coverage must also cover underinsured motorists. Also, the state’s Personal Injury Protection law covers a victim’s damages up to his/her policy limits regardless of who caused the Miami car accident. This, however, does not necessarily preclude a victim from being able to file a Miami, Florida personal injury lawsuit.

Jacksonville jury awards woman nearly $2 million in insurance case, Cynthia Deen, June 19, 2010

Herniated Disc - Topic Overview, WebMD

Related Web Resources:
What is "Personal Injury Protection" (PIP) insurance?, Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Drowsy Driving

Gary Uretsky, a Fort Lauderdale resident, is suing home-care provider Almost Family for Broward County wrongful death. Uretsky’s 89-year-old mother died while under the care of home-care nurse Dina Taylor. The plaintiff is alleging gross nursing negligence, elder financial fraud, homicide, multiple thefts, inadequate supervision, and negligent hiring.

According to Uretsky, between November 2006 and into the summer of 2008 Taylor stole over $215,000 from his sick mother’s savings. He contends contends that after his mother discovered the Florida elder financial fraud, Taylor disconnected the elderly woman’s oxygen tank and left the patient to die of asphyxiation. The nurse has since disappeared.

In his Broward County elder abuse complaint, Uretsky claims that he attempted to see his mother on the day that she passed away but that Taylor wouldn’t let him. He claims that Taylor was covering up the fact that she had murdered his mother.

Uretsky says that after his mother’s death he found 37 forged checks and a number of bogus withdrawals that had emptied out her savings account. $50,000 in gems and jewelry has also allegedly disappeared. Uretsky says that some $18,000 was charged to his mother’s credit cards. Uretsky says that his mother did not feel comfortable with Taylor but that his requests to the home-care company that she be replaced with another nurse were ignored.

Nursing homes and home-care providers can find themselves the defendants of a South Florida wrongful death lawsuit if negligent nursing care, inadequate supervision, medical mistakes, nursing abuse, nursing neglect, or other negligent acts by employees causes a patient to die.

Home Care Firm Accused of Theft and Worse, Courthouse News, June 25, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Wrongful Death Claims, Nolo

Elder Financial Abuse, NCPEA

Elder Abuse and Neglect, HelpGuide.org