Florida Injury Attorney Blog

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" »

The widow of an 80-year-old man who died after falling from a Hollywood, Florida drawbridge is seeking unspecified damages for his Broward County wrongful death. Desmond Nolan was killed on November 22 after he fell at least 30 feet to the concrete.

He got stuck on the bridge, located on Sheridan Street, as it was raised over the Intracoastal Waterway. Nolan held onto the bridge but eventually let go. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Nolan leaves behind his wife of 57 years, Pauline Nolan, and three daughters. The couple, who are from Illinois, had been living in Hollywood, Florida during the winters for about two decades.

The Florida Department of Transportation operates the drawbridge, which has a bell, flashing lights, and gate that are supposed to prevent cars and pedestrians from getting on the bridge as it closes and opens. Police say that Nolan, who was wearing headphones, may not have heard the bells go off.

However, the Florida wrongful death complaint contends that the alarms did not go off as Nolan began walking across the bridge. The Broward County civil lawsuit also accuses Michael O’Rourke, the bridge tender, of failing to check whether there was anyone on the bridge before he opened it and not heeding the motorists who yelled at him and honked their horns to let him know that Nolan was hanging onto the bridge.

ISS Facility Services, Transfield Services North America, and C & S Building Maintenance are defendants in the Hollywood, Florida wrongful death lawsuit. The family also intends to file a wrongful death complaint against the Florida Department of Transportation.

Florida Wrongful Death
In Florida, the victim’s family has two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death complaint. The decedent’s wife or husband, children, parents, and other family members who may have depended on the deceased for services or support, such as blood or adoptive siblings, are considered wrongful death “survivors” who may be able to seek damages from all negligent parties.

Family sues drawbridge operators in death of man, 80, Sun-Sentinel, December 7, 2009

Man Falls From Drawbridge, Dies, WPLG Miami, November 24, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Florida Department of Transportation

Wrongful Death, Justia

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

In Florida, toxicology test results are expected later this week for Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth. The NFL football player was in Miami riding his Bentley to the beach on Saturday morning when he hit a 59-year-old pedestrian who was crossing the causeway that connects Miami Beach to downtown Miami. Mario Reyes died from his traffic accident injuries.

At this time, it is not known whether Reyes was crossing the street legally or if Stallworth had broken any traffic laws. Miami Beach police administered alcohol and drug tests to Stallworth, who is cooperating with the investigation. No criminal charges have been filed against him for the Miami pedestrian accident. Driving records from the state of Ohio show that Stallworth was convicted twice for speeding in 2008.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 1,700 to 1,800 pedestrian accidents occur each year in Miami-Dade County—especially in the areas of South Miami Beach, Liberty City, Little Havanah, and Little Haiti. While the Miami-Dade pedestrian safety program has helped reduce pedestrian accidents, there are, unfortunately, Florida motor vehicle crashes that still result in pedestrians dying or sustaining serious injuries.

Throughout the US in 2007, 4,654 pedestrians died in motor vehicle crashes while 70,000 others were injured. Over 2/3rds of the victims that died were males. While in Florida, of the 3,214 traffic deaths that occurred that year, 531 of the victims were pedestrians.

Ways Motorists Can Prevent Pedestrian Accidents:

• Don’t drive drunk.
• Don’t drive above the speed limit.
• Yield the right of way to pedestrians.
• Pay attention to the road so that you notice whether there are any pedestrians crossing the street at non-intersections.

Police investigating fatal crash say lab results for NFL's Donte Stallworth could be ready soon, Sun-Sentinel, March 16, 2009

Evaluation of the Miami-Dade Pedestrian Safety Demonstration Project, NHTSA, February 2009 (PDF)

NFL Player Kills Miami Pedestrian, May Be Charged, CBS4.com, March 15, 2009

Related Web Resource:
NHTSA

Continue reading "NFL Cleveland Browns Football Player Involved in Deadly Miami Car Accident that Killed Pedestrian" »

US Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters says that there were 41,059 motor vehicle-related deaths in 2007—the lowest number of traffic fatalities/per year since 1992—and that 2.49 million people sustained injuries in highway accidents. The number of motor vehicle-related deaths in 2006 was 42,708 with 2.58 million reported injuries.

Peters attributed the decline in overall deaths to safer vehicles, aggressive law enforcement measures, and the federal government’s own efforts to prevent auto accidents. While the total number of traffic fatalities dropped, Peters noted an increase in motorcycle fatalities from 4,837 in 2006 to 5,154 deaths in 2007, accounting for 13% of all traffic fatalities last year. The number of injured motorcycle victims also increased from 88,000 to 103,000.

Other 2007 Traffic Statistics:

• Traffic deaths involving passenger vehicles dropped from 30,686 in 2006 to 28,933 in 2007.

• The number of pedestrian deaths decreased from 4,795 in 2006 to 4,654 in 2007, while the number of pedestrian injury victims increased from 61,000 to 70,000.

• Bicyclist deaths dropped from 772 deaths in 2006 to 698 deaths in 2007, with injuries to pedalcyclists dropping from 44,000 to 43,000 victims.

• The total number of large truck accident-related deaths dropped from 5,027 deaths in 2006 to 4,808 truck accident fatalities in 2007.

• The NHTSA reports that there were 3,214 motor vehicle deaths in Florida in 2007, which is a slight decrease from the 3,357 traffic deaths that occurred in 2006.

The data is part of the 2007 Annual Assessment of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes and People Injured compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Our South Florida motor vehicle crash lawyers would like to discuss your case during a free consultation.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters Announces Historic Drop in Highway Fatalities and Rate, Dot.gov

Read the Summary of the NHTSA 2007 Report (PDF)

Related Web Resources:

Florida Department of Transportation

Continue reading "NHTSA Says Number of Traffic Deaths Declined in 2007" »

A 47-year-old Florida man was seriously injured on Tuesday when he was hit by a car. The Florida Highway Patrol says that Fort Walton Beach resident James P. Dreyer was crossing the road when the accident happened. The FHP has ordered an investigation to determine whether charges need to be filed.

If someone you love has been injured or killed in a pedestrian accident, our South Florida injury lawyers can help determine whether you can recover compensation from the parties responsible. Although criminal charges may not be filed against a driver, you may still be able to hold him or her civilly liable for personal injury or wrongful death.

Unfortunately, pedestrian accidents happen far too often. NHTSA statistics report that nearly 5,000 pedestrians are killed each year in traffic accidents. Although some of these deaths are a result of pedestrian negligence, many injuries and deaths occur because a driver was speeding, distracted, driving under the influence, or text messaging/talking on the phone.

Pedestrians have absolutely no protection from the impact of being struck by a bus, truck, car, motorcycle, or train, and the injuries are often catastrophic. Florida’s sunny weather and its beaches, many universities and schools, and different recreational parks make the state easily prone to pedestrian accidents because there are bicyclists, skateboarders, vacationers, and others walking to and from their respective destinations on the state's sidewalks and roads throughout the year.

Whether you are a Florida resident or a visiting tourist, Our South Florida personal injury law firm can evaluate your pedestrian injury case for you and help you determine your legal options. We have the resources to help you pursue your full recovery.

Injured FWB pedestrian identified, NWF DailyNews.com, June 24, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Traffic Safety Facts, NHTSA.gov

Pedestrian Crash Facts, Walkinginfo.org

Continue reading "Florida Pedestrian is Seriously Injured After Being Struck by a Car" »

In Collier County, Florida, two men sustained serious injuries when they were struck by two motor vehicles on February 2.

Naples residents Ernesto Perez, 34, and Juan Domingo, 32, were walking on Santa Barbara Boulevard at about 2am, when either one or both of them was hit by a 2002 GMC Sierra driven by Ryan Helms, 22. Both men were then struck by a white Ford pickup truck. The Florida Highway Patrol says that both vehicles left the accident scene after striking the two pedestrians.

Helms was later apprehended on Weber Boulevard close to 1st Avenue. Police have charged him with leaving the accident and DUI.

Anyone who leaves the scene of a motor vehicle accident or is apprehended for drunk driving in Florida is subject to criminal charges upon arrest. If a hit and run motorist or a drunk driver injures or kills another person during the accident, he or she may be named as the defendant of a personal injury or a wrongful death lawsuit.

Although Florida’s mandatory No-Fault (PIP) insurance coverage provides some coverage to drivers and others injured in motor vehicle accidents, there are many instances when personal injury claims must still be filed to compensate the injured person for their injuries, lost wages, medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other costs.

Our Florida auto accident law firm has handled many Naples personal injury cases for motorists, pedestrians, and other injury victims in South Florida.

Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrians injured in motor vehicle accidents tend to sustain serious—if not fatal—injuries. Unlike car drivers, bus drivers, and truckers, pedestrians have no protection from the impact and speed of a collision involving a motor vehicle. Massive head injuries, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), spinal cord injuries, internal injuries, broken bones, severed limbs, other serious injuries, and even death can result.

Causes of Pedestrian Accidents Include:

• Speeding
• Drunk driving
• Driver inattention
• Driver negligence
• Defective auto or motor vehicle parts
• Falling cargo from a motor vehicle
• Uneven pavements that can cause a pedestrian to slip and fall onto a busy street

Two injured during hit and run, driver charged with DUI, WBBH-HD.com, February 2, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Florida Highway Patrol

FAQs on Driving Under the Influence (DUI), Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Continue reading "Two Naples Pedestrians Injured By Hit & Run Drivers in Florida" »

A 77-year-old man died last Thursday after being struck by a car while crossing the street in Largo. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the man was walking across Seminole Boulevard on the evening of September 6 when he stopped at the center divide. He then stepped in front of the path of a 2006 Honda Civic as he tried to cross the northbound lane.

The elderly pedestrian fell onto the hood of the car and then onto the ground. He was declared dead at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.

The 22-year-old driver of the Honda stopped at the accident scene, and no charges were filed.

Although there are pedestrian-related deaths and injuries that do occur because the pedestrian was at fault, there are also many pedestrians accidents that occur on Florida’s roads every year because of driver negligence or carelessness.

A 2005 National Highway Transportation Safety Administration survey singled out Florida as the deadliest state for pedestrians. The NHTSA cited 3.24 deaths for every 1,000 residents.

Last year, 29 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents in Pinellas. 465 pedestrians sustained injuries in motor vehicle-related crashs. 112 of the pedestrians that were injured had been using crosswalks, as had 5 of the pedestrians that died.

Although a pedestrian cannot prevent a bus driver, car driver, or motorcyclist from exercising caution on the roads, there are safety measure that a person crossing the street can take to lower the chances of becoming the victim of a pedestrian accident.

The Federal Highway Administration offers the following “crossing rules” for pedestrians:

• Always use a marked crosswalk when one is available. The bright white lines of a crosswalk remind motorists to look out for pedestrians.
• STOP at the CURB, edge of road, corner or parked vehicle before proceeding across.
• Look left-right-left, and if it's clear, begin crossing.
• Continue to check for traffic in all directions, especially for vehicles turning "Right-on-Red.
• If there is traffic, make eye contact with the driver/s so they see you, understand your intention, and STOP before you start to cross.

Man, 77, killed when he steps into path of car, St. Petersburg Times, September 8, 2007

Crossing Advice for Pedestrians, FAA

Related Web Resources:

Road Safety for Elderly Pedestrians, Loyola University Health System

Pedestrian Crash Facts, Walkinginfo.org

Continue reading "77-Year-Old Pedestrian Dies in Florida After Being Struck by Car in Largo" »