Florida Injury Attorney Blog

Friends and relatives of 14-year-old Cara Catlin are mourning her death. The Oakland Park girl died on Saturday night when she was thrown from a Honda Civic and landed under a stopped pickup truck during a collision with a Broward County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Car in Boynton Beach. 21-year-old Heather Meyer, who is Catlin’s stepsister, was driving the Honda. She and passenger Gabriel Alegria, 15, were also injured during the Palm Beach County car accident. Broward County police officer Frank McCurrie sustained minor injuries.

The deadly Boynton Beach car accident occurred at the intersection of Dixie Highway and Northeast 56th street as Meyer attempted to turn left on a green light and was struck by McCurrie’s police car. The police officer did not have his lights activated or his sirens on at the time, but witnesses say he was speeding. The impact of the collision was strong enough that the back of the Honda separated from the body of the vehicle, landing several feet away.

Police are investigating the cause of the Boynton Beach motor vehicle crash. In the meantime, McCurrie has been placed on desk duty.

Palm Beach County, Florida Car Accidents
Police officers are supposed to exercise caution on the roads even when they are heading to an emergency scene or in the middle of a police pursuit. If you believe that your South Florida car crash happened because a police officer was speeding, failed to activate his emergency lights, or was negligent in another way, you may have grounds for pursuing a Palm Beach injury or wrongful death case against the officer and his/her department.

That said, all motorists are supposed to drive carefully, pay attention, obey the traffic laws, and adjust their driving to accommodate the driving conditions and traffic at any given time. Drunk driving, speeding, texting while driving, using a cell phone while operating a vehicle, driving under the influence of drugs, drowsy driving, distracted driving, failure to obey traffic signs, or failure to yield the right away are careless acts that can cause injury or death during a Florida motor vehicle crash.

Teen dies in crash with Broward patrol car, Miami Herald, January 24, 2010

Family mourns girl killed in crash with Broward deputy, Sun-Sentinel, January 26, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Broward Sheriff's Office

Florida DMV

Car Accidents and Negligence, Nolo

Continue reading "14-Year-Old Oakland Park Girl Dies in Boynton Beach Car Crash Involving Broward County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Vehicle" »

According to Transportation for America, the four most dangerous US cities for pedestrians are located in Florida:

• Orlando
• Tampa
• Miami
• Jacksonville

Ft. Lauderdale did not rank far behind these four cities. In South Florida over the last two years, there were at least 329 pedestrian fatalities—that’s 22.5% of all traffic deaths in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale region. 16.9% of all Florida traffic fatalities between 2007-2008 were pedestrian deaths. 490 Florida pedestrian deaths occurred in 2008. These figures are disturbing, considering that the state only spends 1.5% of its federal transportation budget on bicycling and walking infrastructure.

Pedestrians need to have the proper road safety measures and traffic laws in place to protect them from the serious injuries that can result during a Florida pedestrian accident. Better designed roads, more crosswalks, additional/wider sidewalks, more crossing lights and speed bumps, and lower speed limits can help decrease pedestrian fatalities in high-risk traffic crash areas. According to Transportation for America, although driver mistakes and pedestrian errors can be sighted as two of the leading causes of US pedestrian crashes, many of these tragic accidents happen because the roads where they occurred were “dangerous by design.”

Also, Time Magazine recently reported that hit-and-run car accidents are an all too common occurrence in Florida. In the last 10 years, there have been about 46 Miami-Dade County hit-and-run crashes. Many of the victims were child pedestrians.

In an era where walking continues to be touted as a way to stay healthy and live longer, and in a state such as sunny Florida that is filled with tourists, college kids, bicyclists, skateboarders, retirees, and people who enjoy spending time outside, it is so important that transportation safety officials and motorists act to prevent Florida pedestrian crashes from happening.

Florida's roads dangerous -- for pedestrians, Sun-Sentinel, November 29, 2009

Florida's Deadly Hit-and-Run Car Culture, Time, November 29, 2009

Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths (and Making Great Neighborhoods), Transportation for America

Related Web Resources:
Read the Transportation for America's Report "Dangerous by Design" (PDF)

Florida Department of Transportation

Continue reading "Florida is Most Dangerous State for Pedestrians, Reports Transportation for America" »

It took a jury less than one hour to issue a $330 million Florida wrongful death award to the mother of a 13-year-old girl who was killed in a drunk driving accident in April 2007. Shelby Taylor Hagman sustained fatal injuries when the minivan she was riding in was struck by a pickup truck that ran a stop sign in a residential area. Her grandparents were in the motor vehicle with her.

According to police, Christopher Marcone’s blood alcohol level was over twice the legal limit at 0.207 when the tragic Florida car accident happened. The 27-year-old motorist is serving 13 years in prison for the fatal incident. He pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter and other charges.

Shelby ‘s mother, Angela Stone, is also suing Kia Motors Corp. Her Florida products liability lawsuit accuses the carmaker of having a defective passenger restraint system in the minivan. Stone contends that the defective seat belt and shoulder harness played a part in causing her daughter’s fatal injuries.

The 13-year-old’s head got caught in the seat belt and she landed with her feet in the air.

People say this is one of the largest Florida awards to ever be issued. The jury decided that Marcone should pay Stone $275 million in punitive damages and $55 million in compensatory damages.

For anyone to die in a car accident is tragic. It is even more tragic when the death could have been prevented if only the liable motorist hadn’t been behaving negligently.

2008 Alcohol-Impaired Driving Accidents (Per the NHTSA):
• 11,733 alcohol-impaired driving deaths in the US
• At least 216 of the victims were kids under age 15
• More than 1400 Florida drunk driving-related deaths

Filing a Florida car accident lawsuit won’t erase what happened or make your injuries go away or bring back your loved one. It is, however, a way to hold the liable parties accountable for their actions and can allow you to obtain financial recovery for the harm that was suffered.

Hernando jury awards mother $330 million in drunken-driving death of teen, Tampabay.com, October 1, 2009

Alcohol-Impaired Driving, 2008 Traffic Safety Facts, NHTSA

Related Web Resources:
This story was written from prison by Christopher S. Marcone, Safe Teen Driver

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

The family of 9-year-old Devin Olmstead is suing the Palm Beach International Raceway, the tracks investors, go-kart maker Carter Brothers, and go-kart engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton for Palm Beach personal injury. The Florida injuries to minor complaint comes more than four months after Olmstead was seriously injured in a go-kart accident at the raceway on May 25.

Olmstead was at the raceway celebrating his ninth birthday. According to the family’s Palm Beach injury lawsuit, Olmstead sustained critical injuries when the go-kart he was riding flipped and burst into flames. The 9-year-old has serious burn injuries from his torso to his chin. He also lost all 10 fingers.

The family’s Florida injuries to minors complaint says that the go-kart flipped over because the portion of the raceway was unevenly paved. The family’s Palm Beach injury lawyer says there were no race track employees nearby to help and someone in the stands had to rush over to rescue the boy.

The family is accusing the raceway of not properly maintaining the track surfaces, inadequate supervision, failure to keep fire extinguishers nearby, and not having phones in the vicinity in the event of an emergency. The plaintiffs are suing Carter Brothers and Briggs & Stratton for products liability. The injury lawsuit contends that the go-kart leaks fuel when turned upside down. The US Consumer Product Safety Administration has been examining the go-kart’s design.

Go-kart accidents are motor vehicle accidents that can result in serious injuries for the victims, who are not as protected as they might be within the confines of regular motor vehicles that come with built-in safety features. If your loved one was injured in a Florida motor vehicle accident involving a defective go-kart or because of negligence on the raceway company’s part, you may have grounds for filing a personal injury lawsuit.

In 1999, a jury awarded $1 billion to a woman who sustained serious burn injuries when her go-kart flipped over and burst into flames while on the raceway at Johnson's Park Go-Kart track in Pensacola. Jennifer Cowart was trapped in the burning vehicle until her seat belt burned through and she fell out of the Go-Kart. She had burn injuries on 93% of her body. She died 10 months after undergoing treatment for her injuries in 1993.

Family sues raceway over son's go-kart crash, Sun-Sentinel, October 5, 2009

Boy critically injured after go-kart crash, WPTV, May 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Palm Beach International Raceway

Go-Kart operating tips

This week, lawmakers, safety experts, law enforcement officials, and members of the public turned the spotlight on distracted driving. More than 250 people attended the US Department of Transportation’s Distracted Driving Summit, which focused on the dangers of multitasking while driving. Cell phone use and texting while driving, now the main means that many people communicate, were among the primary distracted driving habits that were discussed.

Statistics from 2008, provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reported close to 6,000 distracted driving deaths and more than half a million injuries. During any day last year, over 800,000 drivers used a handheld cellular phone while behind the wheel.

On Wednesday evening, President Obama signed an executive order banning federal workers from texting when they are riding a government-owned motor vehicle or while driving while on the job. Yesterday, the Obama Administration announced that it will press US states to pass distracted driving laws. The government also says that it is working on banning interstate bus drivers and truck drivers from text messaging while driving.

According to Virginia Tech researches, reaching for an electronic device or dialing a phone increases any driver’s crash risk by 6 times. Truckers who text increase their truck accident risk by 23 times. Car and Driver magazine says texting while driving is even more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol.

There are no laws in Florida banning people from texting or that restricts cell phone use while driving. This means that Florida motorists are free to engage in both activities without fear of any legal repercussions—but that doesn’t mean that there are no tragic consequences that can ensue.

As US Transportation State Ray LaHood reminded summit attendees, it only takes a few seconds for a catastrophic car accident to happen. It takes many distracted drivers even longer to dial a cell phone, read text messages, fiddle with an iPod, surf the web, paint their nails, or read a magazine.

Distracted drivers can be held liable for Florida personal injury or wrongful death.

Texting while driving banned for federal workers, Los Angeles Times, October 2, 2009

Govt: Nearly 6,000 deaths from driver distraction, AP, September 30, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Distracted Driving Summit, US Department of Transportation

National Safety Council

Continue reading "A Few Seconds of Distracted Driving Can Cause Devastation, Says US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood" »

Through the end of Labor Day weekend on September 7, police in Florida are taking aggressive measures to search for and arrest anyone found driving while impaired. The crackdown is part of a nationwide campaign called “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. People that are caught speeding or riding in a vehicle without using a seatbelt will also be apprehended.

In Florida, Labor Day weekend is considered one of the deadliest periods of the year for drivers. Last year, 36 people died in Florida traffic accidents during this long weekend and alcohol was a factor in 12 of those fatalities.

Also in 2008, there were over 22,000 alcohol-related Florida car accidents resulting in over 1,100 traffic deaths and over 15,700 injuries. The Florida county with the largest number of auto crashes involving alcohol was Miami-Dade County with 1,898 traffic accidents and 85 motor vehicle deaths involving alcohol.

Sobriety checkpoints have been set up in different locations throughout Florida and saturation patrols will be out in force.

Drunk driving continues to be one of the more common causes of South Florida traffic accidents and the rest of the United States. It doesn’t help that binge drinking continues to be a habit “on the rise” and not just among younger people.

A new study found in the American Journal of Psychiatry is reporting that in the 50-64 year-old age group, nearly 1 in 10 women and 1 in 4 men are “binge” drinkers. Binge drinking is a habit that makes a motorist more prone to cause a drunk driving accident if he or she decides to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

The number of women arrested in the US for drunk driving has also increased. Nationally, about 2,000 traffic deaths a year involve a female drunk driver. 162,493 women were arrested for DUI in 2007, compared to the 126,000 female DUI drivers in 1998.

Drunk driving accidents often result in catastrophic injuries and deaths. A person injured in a South Florida car accident in Miami, Hollywood, Naples, Palm Beach, or Ft. Lauderdale because another driver was intoxicated may have grounds for filing a personal injury lawsuit.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Kicks Off Nationwide Enforcement Crackdown on Impaired Driving. Releases New Report Highlighting Increasing Number of Impaired Female Drivers, NHTSA, August 19, 2009

Binge drinking: It's not just for kids anymore, Los Angeles Times, August 17, 2009

Florida Law Enforcement to Launch Statewide Crackdown on Impaired and Unsafe Driving, Chipley Paper, August 21, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Florida DUI and Administrative Suspension Laws, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

2007 Drunk Driving Statistics, Alcohol Alert

The parents of one of the teenagers killed when the Jeep Grand Cherokee they were riding struck a John Deere loader in a construction zone say they plan to sue the contractor who was doing road work that evening for their son’s Florida wrongful death. 16-year-old Connor Graver was one of the three victims killed in the deadly Martin County, Florida car crash, which occurred at around 2am on August 4.

The other two victims are 18-year-olds Nicholas Coady, who was driving the sport utility vehicle, and Christopher Briglio. The front-end loader driver did not sustain any injuries from the car-tractor crash, which occurred on Cove Road close to Stuart.

The Florida wrongful death lawyer who is representing Graver’s parents say that that the contractor should have closed the lane where construction work was taking place, as well as placed a flagman or flashing lights in the area to let motorists know that it was important they slow down and exercise caution.

Construction Zone Deaths
While the number of construction deaths went down by 17% in 2007 compared to 2006, there were still 835 highway construction zone deaths that occurred in 2007—that’s 2.3 fatalities/day. Four out of every five construction zone deaths are motorists.

The government entity, construction company, or contractor involved in a construction zone project must make sure that the zone is marked and easily visible so that drivers know that because construction work is taking place they need to slow down and possibly maneuver around the job site. Setting up orange cones, signs indicating reduced speed limits, or other warning signs and/or appointing a worker to redirect traffic are just a few ways to decrease the chances of a Florida car accident happening in a construction zone. Construction workers, truck drivers, and others employed to work at the site should also exercise caution so they don’t accidentally cause a motor vehicle crash.

Although there are construction zone accidents that do occur because a driver failed to heed the safety barriers and warning signs, work zone accidents can also occur because the construction company or one of its workers was negligent or reckless. In these types of instances, it may be necessary to file a Florida wrongful death complaint or a personal injury lawsuit if someone got hurt or died as a result.

Families, friends mourn three teenagers killed in Stuart accident, TC Palm, August 7, 2009

Lawsuit Anticipated in Deadly Crash, CBS 12, August 7, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Driver Education: Construction Zone Safety, National Safety Commission, July 10, 2009

Florida Department of Transportation

According to the latest state figures, in the year ending June 30, 2008 Florida ranked #2 in the nation for the most cesarean deliveries. According to some obstetricians, these figures are a little high, especially considering that C-sections are more likely than natural births to lead to medical side effects and complications.

In South Florida alone, C-sections made up 41% of the births in Palm Beach County and 43% of the births in Broward County. Yet some South Florida doctors deliver 75% of their babies by C-section. At Holy Cross Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale and Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee, 50% of deliveries are by cesarean.

One reason for the rise in C-section births is that hospitals and obstetricians in South Florida are worried that they could be sued for medical malpractice if anything goes wrong during delivery. Most doctors won’t allow a woman to deliver a baby naturally if she’s already had a C-section. Mothers that are obese or that are suffering from diabetes or other health issues are normally urged to undergo C-sections. Multiple births and breech births are often performed via cesarean. Doctors and parents may even opt to have a C-section delivery in order to accommodate their busy schedules—picking out the most convenient date for the baby’s birth.

Yet while cesarean births may prevent certain immediate risks, other side effects could come into play. Babies delivered by C-section may end up in intensive care, and anesthesia reactions and infections from the surgery can occur. Moms that deliver by C-section more than once risk abnormal placental growth that could lead to complications.

According to Boston University School of Public Health researcher Eugene Declercq, some doctors that perform C-section deliveries would be hard pressed to offer medical reasons for why they did not deliver the babies naturally. Some insurance companies are even calling on doctors to ease up on the number of C-section births because of the expense and the possibility of future complications.

Obstetricians and gynecologists, like other medical providers, can be held liable for medical malpractice if error or negligence led to a baby getting hurt or suffering from health problems. Examples of complications that can lead to a birthing malpractice claim include:

• C-section complications
• Preeclampsia
• A ruptured uterine
• Toxemia
• Forceps injury
• Failure to properly monitor the fetal heart rate
• Failure to perform C-section as soon as it is needed
• Errors involving vacuum extraction

Florida is second in nation for C-sections, Sun-Sentinel, June 8, 2009

South Florida C-section rates too high, Examiner.com, June 9, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Understanding C-Sections, Parents.com

Repeat Cesareans May Put Babies At Risk, EmaxHealth.com, June 10, 2009

12-year-old Pulio Chirino died today after he was hit by an SUV. Chirino, a West Palm Beach resident, was riding his bicycle to school when the tragic South Florida motor vehicle accident happened.

According to early police reports, the 5th grader was riding his bike into an intersection when the SUV hit him, dragging him at least 25 feet. Witnesses say he was wearing a helmet but that the protective gear fell off during the auto crash. Chirino was flown to Delray Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Witnesses say he may have been crossing against the light, meaning that drivers would have had the right of way at the time of the deadly West Palm Beach bicycle accident. A crossing guard wasn’t available to monitor the intersection.

The law enforcement officer in charge of assigning crossing guards to the area says that students who live in the vicinity where Julio’s family has a home usually go to a different school than the one that the 12-year-old attended. However, it is not uncommon for students in Palm Beach County to go to schools in other zones.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2007 Facts:
• 698 pedalcyclists died in US motor vehicle crashes in 2007.
• 91 fatalities were kids belonging to the 14 and under age group.
• 73 of these 91 deaths were young boys.
• About 43,000 pedalcyclists sustained injuries in US motor vehicle crashes.
• 10,000 of these injury victims were age 14 or younger.

While it is important for Florida motorists to exercise caution when there are pedestrians and bicyclists in the area, they must be extra careful around child pedestrians and bicyclists who may not be as experienced as their adult counterparts when it comes to safely navigating their way across streets and intersections and around motor vehicles.

If your loved one is a child pedestrian or a bicyclist who was seriously injured in a South Florida car crash, you should speak with an experienced West Palm Beach personal injury lawyer about your case.

West Palm Beach boy on way to school struck, killed by SUV, Palm Beach Post, April 14, 2009

Children, 2007 Traffic Safety Fact Sheet, NHTSA

Related Web Resources:
Bicycle Safety, Myths and Facts, American Academy of Pediatrics

Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center

Continue reading "12-Year-Old West Palm Beach Bicyclist Dies After He is Hit by SUV" »

In Florida, a woman whose now 8-year-old daughter was handcuffed by police in 2005 when she had a tantrum as a kindergartener is suing the Pinellas County School Board and Fairmount Park Elementary for personal injury to a minor. The plaintiff, 27-year-old Inga Akins, says the girl is severely traumatized over the incident and is expected to undergo long-term therapy.

Video footage shows the former St. Petersburg kindergartener in the classroom while making a mess, stepping on a desk, and punching assistant principal Nicole DiBenedetto. St. Petersburg cops are also seen telling the girl to calm down. By this time, however, the girl, then 5, suddenly becomes quiet and sits at the assistant principal’s table. Yet three cops reportedly stood her up, placed her hands behind her back, and put handcuffs on her wrists. The girl is seen screaming.

She was placed in the back of a police car until the State Attorney’s Office told police that they would never prosecute a 5-year-old. The girl was then released to her mother.

Akins’s Florida personal injury lawsuit accuses the defendants of malicious prosecution, negligence, violating her daughter’s civil rights, failing to have the proper procedures instituted for dealing with disciplinary issues, and inadequately training school staffers to deal with such incidents. The complaint also says that the school should have taken steps to calm down the former kindergartener, rather than leaving her with the assistant principal, who she was scared of because of another incident that occurred that year.

Akins had reportedly complained to the school that she didn’t like the way the assistant principal dealt with her daughter and found her to be too harsh. Police had been called to the school to deal with her daughter’s behavior at least once before.

Florida schools are supposed to make sure that the students placed in their care are not harmed in any way. This includes making sure that systems are in place to keep children safe, properly training teachers and other staffers to deal with those placed under their charge, and making sure there is adequate security on the premise so that no one can assault or inflict any other kind of harm on the school kids. Failure to exercise these duties of care can be grounds for a Florida personal injury lawsuit. A premises liability claim might also be made if there were unsafe or hazardous conditions on the school property, such as toxic substances, defective playground equipment, electrical hazards, or other dangers that could cause injury or death to a student.

Lawsuit filed over 2005 Pinellas school handcuff incident, Sun-Times News Group, March 31, 2009

Video shows police handcuffing 5-year-old, St Petersburg TImes, April 22, 2005

Related Web Resources:
Watch the Video

Pinellas County School Board

In Florida, the Lauder Lakes mother and father of an infant girl that died after the state removed her from their home are suing the Florida Department of Children & Families, the nonprofit agencies in charge of managing foster care in Miami-Dade County and Broward County, and His House Inc., the owner of the Florida-licensed group home Landmark Shelter for her wrongful death. Madison Ariel Coley was just 4-weeks-old when the state took her and two of her brothers from her parents in February 2007 for what they said was their own protection following allegations of medical neglect and physical endangerment because a firearm was put in a place that was easily accessible for the older children.

Nine days later, Madison was found dead in a crib at Landmark Shelter. She was on her stomach and a blanket was covering part of her face. Authorities say that five hours had passed since anyone had come to check on her and when someone finally did she wasn’t breathing. Florida officials say her cause of death was accidental suffocation.

Her parents, Jossalyn Crawford and Michael Coley, are alleging that workers at the Florida shelter should have known better than to leave an infant loosely wrapped in a blanket. Their wrongful death lawsuit, filed in Broward Circuit Court, seeks unspecified damages.

A probe by th DCF found no evidence of wrongdoing or negligence on the part of shelter workers and the department has called Madison’s death a tragic accident. However, the DCF also doesn’t think anything could have been done to prevent the fatal accident

Crawford says she has had several nervous breakdowns since her daughter's death.

According to ChildDeathReview.org, suffocation-related child fatalities occur when a young child or baby is put in a position where he or she can't breathe.

Common causes of child suffocation accidents:
• Positional Asphyxia
• Overlay: accidentally rolling onto or over a child
• Covering over a child’s chest or face
• Choking accidents
• Confining a child in an airtight space
• Strangulation

Lauderdale Lakes parents suing DCF over daughter's death at group home, Sun-Sentinel, February 18, 2009

Suffocation Fact Sheet, ChildDeathReview.org

Related Web Resources:
Florida Department of Children & Families

His House Inc.

The Florida Highway Police say that five children sustained critical injuries early Saturday, during a two-vehicle auto collision on Interstate 95 close to Hobe Sound. As of Sunday, Syntyche Jacques, 7, was in “very grave condition,” while the four other children, Luke Jacques, 9, Carlo Jacques, 10, Ricky Jacques, 9, and Mose Jacques, 4, were in stable condition after undergoing surgeries at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

The Florida motor vehicle crash occurred at around 4:30am on Saturday when the Honda Accord the kids were riding in spun out of control and collided with a Dodge truck, driven by Port St. Lucie resident Jaime Alfred Jaramillo. The 41-year-old driver, who left the accident scene, was later apprehended by police and is now being held without bail in Martin County Jail.

Jaramillo claims he fell asleep at the wheel. His vehicle had swerved into a construction zone before getting back onto the street. Police are waiting for toxicology results, but they say alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the two-vehicle crash. Also injured in the South Florida car accident were the Honda’s driver, Igline Henry, and passenger Rose Henry.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
• Auto crashes are the number one cause of death for kids, ages 8 to 14 and 3 to 6.
• Each day in the US last year, about 5 kids, age 14 and under, died and 548 others were injured in traffic accidents.
• 1,670 kids, age 14 and under, died in motor vehicle collisions last year.
• 245 of those fatalities involved a drunk driver.
• 29 of the kids, age 14 and under, who died in drunk driver-related motor vehicle crashes last year, were pedalcyclists or pedestrians.

Personal Injury Protection only provides so much coverage for injuries sustained by Florida car crash victims.

Five children were in car that collided with truck on I-95 on Saturday, Sun-Sentinel.com, December 15, 2008

Port St. Lucie driver says he fell asleep at the wheel before crash injured 7, TC Palm.com, December 15, 2008

Related Web Resources:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Florida's Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law

Continue reading "Five Boynton Beach Children Injured in Florida Car Crash on I-95" »

A Florida judge has approved the birth defects personal injury settlement between tomato grower Ag-Mart and the family of 3-year-old Carlitos Candelario, a boy who was born without legs or arms. Under the terms of the agreement, Ag-Mart will cover all of Carlitos’s medical costs and provide financial support for life. His medical expenses are expected to run in the millions of dollars.

Carlitos’s parents, Francisca Herrera and Abraham Candelario, worked as tomato pickers for Ag-Mart in fields that were sprayed with pesticides. They filed a birth defects lawsuit against Ag-Mart in 2006, claiming that the pesticides that Herrera had been exposed to during her pregnancy caused his birth defects.

Their personal injury lawsuit claims that at least three of the pesticides sprayed over the fields had caused deformities in lab animals when used on them in high doses. Florida and North Carolina health officials, however, found no connection between the pesticides and the birth defects.

Carlitos is one of three babies with birth defects, born in 2005, whose parents picked tomatoes for Ag-Mart and lived in Immokalee.

An expert testified that Francisca had been heavily exposed to pesticides during the first trimester of her pregnancy. In her deposition, Francisca said that the company forced her to work in fields that were freshly sprayed with pesticide and that pesticides on nearby fields also affected her. Other employees have supported her claims.

Ag-Mart has voluntarily agreed to stop using five products linked to developmental problems in lab animals.

The Shriner's Children's Hospital in Tampa and Miami Children's Hospital have agreed to take care of Carlitos until he turns 18. Doctors are hoping to fit him with prosthetics one day. He continues to use a wheelchair.

The settlement amount is confidential. Ag-Mart continues to maintain that pesticides did not cause Carlitos’s defects.

Our Florida personal injury law firm represents children and their families that have been seriously injured because of the negligence or recklessness of others.

Ag-Mart to pay for limbless child's needs, Palm Beach Post, April 17, 2008

Farmworker Family's Ag-Mart Settlement Amount 'Significant, MSNBC.com, April 16, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Pesticides the Root Cause of Birth Defects in Farmworkers, Palm Beach Post/Organic Consumers Association, March 13, 2005

Pesticides and Pregnancy

Continue reading "Florida-Based Tomato Grower Ag-Mart Settles Birth Defects Lawsuit With Lifetime Financial Support for 3-Year-Old Boy Born Without Limbs" »

11 middle school children were taken to hospitals around the Tampa, Florida area last Tuesday morning, after the school bus they were riding in went off the road and ran into the treeline on South Falkenburg Road in Riverview.

About 30 kids were on the bus at the time of the accident. Police say that the driver may have struck a curb and lost control of the large motor vehicle.

Bus driver Eugenie Schuler, was given a citation for careless driving. The students all study at Giunta Middle School in Riverview.

School Bus Accidents
According to national data from 2006, some 17,000 school kids are sent to emergency rooms because they were injured in a school bus-related accident. 25% of those accidents occurred while a child was getting on or off the bus.

Injuries can range from minor cuts and bruises to broken bones, disfigurement, and wrongful death. Bus driver error, mechanical failure, speeding, drunk driving, dangerous roads, improper maintenance, and driver negligence are some common causes of school bus accidents.

When parents puts their child on a school bus, they very likely have the expectation that their son or daughter is in safe hands. It can be especially traumatic for a child and his or her family when a serious injury results while going to or coming home from school. If your child is injured in a school bus-related collision, you could have grounds for filing a personal injury lawsuit.

Injuries to Minors
In Florida, you must be 18 years of age or older to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit. Otherwise, a parent, guardian, or another adult must file the claim for you. This will allow your child to get the compensation that he or she needs for the medical care required for recovery.

If your child is injured in a school bus crash, you should speak with a personal injury lawyer first before speaking to the school, the school bus company, or with any insurance companies. A personal injury attorney can apprise you of your rights and prevent you from reaching a settlement that is less than what you deserve and doesn’t take into account all the costs, pain, and suffering associated with your child’s bus injury.

School bus driver cited in Riverview crash, Tampabays10.com, September 4, 2007

School bus injuries much higher than thought, MSNBC.com/AP, November 6, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Opinions vary on school bus seat belts, Pantagraph.com, September 7, 2007

Traffic Safety, NHTSA

Continue reading "11 Children are Injured Near Tampa in Florida School Bus Accident" »