Florida Injury Attorney Blog

Two vehicles crashed at the intersection of State Road 16 and Varela in St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida this week seriously injuring three people, according to an article on News4Jax.com. The article indicated that one of the vehicles failed to yield at the intersection causing the crash.

In personal injury lawsuits that arise from intersection collisions, there are usually several issues that are raised from both sides. Obviously, the personal injury attorney for one of the drivers will look at why the other vehicle ran a red light or stop sign and the speed at which that vehicle was traveling through the intersection. The attorney for the insurance company of the driver who ran the red light or stop sign will look into whether the other vehicle could see him/her approaching into the intersection and whether the other driver had time to brake or make some other evasive maneuver.

Insurance companies for drivers who run red lights or stop signs and cause crashes in intersections usually put up a fight on the issue of who was at fault in causing or contributing to the crash. In other words, the insurance company for the driver who runs the red light or stop sign will try and come up with a reason why the victim driver did not avoid the intersection crash. However, through an analysis of the factors involved in the crash and careful questioning of the drivers and witnesses, it often becomes fairly clear that when drivers run red lights or stop signs, it is they who are completely responsible for causing the crash and any injuries that result.

A school bus driver who drives middle school kids to and from school in South Florida is under investigation by the local school district for falling asleep at the wheel of the bus, according to an article on News4Jax.com.

Driving while fatigued is a very serious issue in the trucking industry that is responsible for numerous serious injury and fatal accidents throughout Florida and the United States. It is more prevalent among semi truck drivers as they are notoriously requested to drive long hours, often late at night and early in the morning with insufficient rest. However, it is also a problem among commercial bus drivers and school bus drivers who drive for long periods of time and/or drive late at night or early in the morning.

Studies have been conducted, and articles have been written, indicating that driving while fatigues is as dangerous as driving while drunk. As a result, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued regulations that limit the number of hours a semi truck or commercial bus driver can drive or be on-duty before he/she has to take a break. These regulations would not apply to a local school bus driver, but when the stakes are as high as they are when dozens of children are being driven to and from school, the hope is that the employers will thoroughly check the backgrounds and qualifications of the prospective drivers and remove anyone who is found driving in an unsafe condition.

On occasion, a person driving in the Jacksonville, Florida area will be hit by another car and injured and not know who caused that accident. For instance, another car may hit your car, injure you and drive away while you are too injured to determine who hit you. Or, for example, you may be driving on a multi-lane road, a car in another lane may swerve into your lane causing you to drive off of the road and crash and the at fault vehicle drives away whether that driver knew he/she caused you to crash or not. In those crashes, you may have been involved in a serious accident and injured but not know who caused the crash.

Typically, when someone causes an accident and injures you, you can make a claim against that person's insurance company for your damages. But how do you recover damages if you do not know who caused you to crash? Well, you can only sue a person and recover damages from his/her insurance company if you can identify the person and show that person negligently caused or contributed to the accident which resulted in your injuries (you can also file a lawsuit and recover damages against the owner of the at fault vehicle and possibly the employer if the driver was working at the time). If you do not know who that person is, you can still make a claim with, or file a lawsuit against, your own insurance company if you have uninsured motorist coverage. This insurance coverage protects you and provides compensation when you are involved in an accident with another person who is uninsured, has less insurance coverage than the amount of your damages or leaves the scene without identifying himself/herself.

Ideally, if another driver causes a car or truck accident and injures you, that person will remain at the scene and provide his/her insurance and contact information to the police officer as the law requires. If that does not happen, you still may be able to recover your damages from your own insurance company pursuant to your uninsured motorist coverage.

A semi truck crashed into a Toyota Camry yesterday on I-95 in Brunswick, Georgia (which is about an hour north of Jacksonville, Florida) killing the driver and a passenger and injuring two other passengers in the Camry, according to an article on www.Jacksonville.com.

The tractor trailer driver had apparently fallen asleep just prior to hitting the Camry, according to the article. The impact from the tractor trailer pushed the Camry across the median and into the oncoming lane where it was hit by another semi truck.

We have discussed the danger of tractor trailer drivers driving while fatigued at length on this blog. Driving while fatigued, as evidenced by this accident, is a problem comparable to people driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs. The problem arises when trucking companies and tractor trailer drivers fail to comply with the hours of service rules which are designed to limit the number of hours a tractor trailer can drive before he/she has to take a break. Tractor trailer drivers are required to keep accurate logs which document the number of hours they have been driving and are otherwise on-duty so it can be verified that they are taking the required time off from driving. However, trucking companies and tractor trailer drivers, who are often paid by the number of miles they drive, have a financial incentive to drive as often as possible, and the rules which require them to limit the number of hours they drive and keep accurate records are often not enforced with appropriate penalties.

In the wrongful death cases and personal injury cases that are sure to follow from this tragic accident in Brunswick, Georgia, lawyers for the victims will surely look into how much this tractor trailer driver had been driving prior to this accident to see why he fell asleep and whether he violated the hours of service regulations. Additionally, lawyers for the victims will look into the history of this tractor trailer driver and the company that hired him to see if he has any record of past violations, whether the trucking company was negligent in hiring him and whether the trucking company had adequate policies and training in place to prevent this kind of terrible accident from happening.

An SUV was driving on the Buckman Bridge in Jacksonville, Florida last week when the driver hit a tow truck that had stopped for slowing traffic, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. The 16 year old passenger in the SUV was killed in the crash.

According to the article, the crash was caused when the SUV driver failed to stop for traffic on the Buckman Bridge and crashed into the back of the tow truck. The accident occurred at rush hour when motorists are supposed to be on alert for slowing or stopped traffic, particularly on the Buckman Bridge. One issue that arises from such an accident is whether the family of the deceased passenger can make a claim against the driver of the vehicle in which she was riding. The answer is yes. A passenger, or in a wrongful death case that passenger's family, can make a claim against the driver of the vehicle in which he/she was riding if that driver was negligent in causing the crash. Also, in Florida, the deceased passenger's family can also make a claim against the owner of the SUV if the owner is different from the driver. If one or both of those individuals do not have sufficient insurance to cover the death of a young girl due to negligent driving, a third alternative would be for the deceased passenger's family to make a claim against the passenger's own insurance company for uninsured/underinsured motorist benefits.

In a tragic accident such as this involving the death of a young girl, it is important to identify all possible insurance policies that may cover the victim's family for the crash. I have referenced a few insurance policies that likely apply to an accident such as this, but there could be more. If you or a family member has been involved in a serious accident and you have questions about the insurance policies that are available, feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

Accidents caused by drunk drivers (i.e. drivers with a BAC of 0.08 or more under Florida DUI laws) decreased based on the most recent statistics from 2007. However, there were still over 3,000 deaths and many more serious injury accidents caused by drunk drivers in Florida in 2007.

After an accident victim in Jacksonville or other parts of Florida or Georgia contacts us, we always look to determine if there were any aggravating circumstances about the other driver that cause the accident such as drugs or alcohol. In a typical accident, the fault of the other driver and the injuries and damages to our client are primary issues. If the other driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, this raises additional issues. In such a case, it is important to obtain as much documentation as possible about the other driver and his/her impaired condition. This can include various police reports, hospital records and prescription drug records to get a complete picture of how impaired the other driver was at the time of the crash.

When the other driver who crashed into your vehicle and injured you was impaired by alcohol or drugs, this often increases the seriousness and value of your claim for damages. If the other driver was impaired by alcohol or drugs, he/she was acting recklessly, and an additional claim for punitive damages should be made against the other driver. Punitive damages are an added element of damages for an injured party that are designed to punish people who cause injuries by acting recklessly and deter similar conduct in the future. It is well settled that driving a car or truck under the influence of alcohol or drugs to the extent that the driver is impaired or has a BAC of 0.08 or more is reckless conduct.

If you have been in an accident that involved injuries or have a loved one who died in an accident and there is reason to believe the other driver was drunk or under the influence of drugs, feel free to contact us to discuss the many issues involved in such a case and the various elements of damages to which you may be entitled.

Several vehicles were stopped at a red light in the Arlington area of Jacksonville, Florida when a white pickup truck crashed into one of the stopped vehicles which caused a chain reaction crash that involved a total of five vehicles, according to an article on News4Jax.com. Five people were injured and taken to the hospital. The crash occurred at the intersection of Monument Road and McCormick Road.

There are several issues that arise from an accident such as this that starts with a rear end collision and involves damage to multiple vehicles and injuries to multiple people. In a personal injury lawsuit for damages from such an accident, fault for the accident must be determined. In most rear end accidents, particularly those that occur at a stop light where vehicles have been stopped for some time, fault lies primarily with the driver who did not stop his/her vehicle and starts the chain reaction crash. However, with so many people involved, the statements from the drivers and witnesses tend to differ significantly. Different people tend to see, hear and remember aspects of a crash differently, particularly when the crash comes suddenly from behind without warning. Drivers are not sure how many times their vehicle was struck and by whom. Drivers who are apparently at fault tend to blame others by saying they caused the accident first or stopped too suddenly. This can often make what seems like an obvious determination of fault more involved.

In a case such as this, where serious injuries result, it is important for personal injury lawyers to take detailed statements, or depositions, from the drivers and witnesses to determine exactly how the accident occurred as accurately as possible. Contradicting statements are almost a certainty, but a good investigation into the accident can expose which statements are accurate and which are exaggerations or just altogether false.

There were two separate auto accidents in Columbia County, Florida (which is about an hour west of Jacksonville, Florida) that resulted in two deaths and one serious injury over the weekend, according to an article on News4Jax.com. Both accidents apparently occurred on rural roads and resulted from each driver having difficulty negotiating curves in the road. One crash occurred on County Road 138, and the other occurred on County Road 133 in Columbia County, Florida.

The drivers of both vehicles were killed in the two single vehicle crashes. The passenger in the second crash, Timothy Smith, was ejected from the vehicle and seriously injured. One question that may arise after a single vehicle crash involving a driver and passenger is whether the passenger can file a personal injury lawsuit against the driver of the vehicle in which he was riding when no other vehicles are involved in the accident. The answer is yes. If, in the second accident it is determined that the driver was responsible for causing the crash, the passenger who was seriously injured can sue the driver. In most single vehicle crashes, the driver of that vehicle is partially or completely at fault for the crash. In that case, he/she is partially or fully responsible for the injuries suffered by the passenger and can be sued as a result. If the driver dies in the crash, as in this case, the passenger can still seek compensation from the driver's liability insurance policy.

Scott Treaster was walking along US 1 in St. Johns County, Florida (one county south of Jacksonville, Florida) when a truck apparently drove off of the road and struck and killed Mr. Treaster, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. The article does not indicate why the truck drove off of the road and hit the pedestrian or whether alcohol was a factor, but St. Johns County police and/or the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) will surely investigate those issues.

One question people who have been injured as pedestrians, or family members of victims killed as pedestrians, may have is whether auto insurance policies apply the same in a personal injury case or wrongful death case when the victim is a pedestrian as opposed to a driver or occupant of a vehicle. In other words, are pedestrians covered by insurance designed to compensate people who have been injured or families when a family member has been killed the same way vehicle drivers and passengers are covered? While auto insurance policies contain different provisions and terminology, the answer is likely that the same insurance policies will apply to the same extent whether the injured or deceased victim was in a vehicle that was hit by another vehicle or walking along the road and hit by a vehicle.

At this point, in a case like this, wrongful death lawyers would investigate and analyze all of the factors that caused this truck driver to hit and kill the pedestrian and seek out all possible insurance policies to make sure the victim's family is fully compensated.

The typical car or truck accident in Jacksonville, Florida is not witnessed by a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officer or any other law enforcement officer. However, after the accident, someone will call 911, and an officer will respond to the accident. By that time, the cars involved in the accident have probably moved, witnesses may have left the scene and an outside observer would have a difficult time figuring out how the accident occurred. The police officer who arrives at the scene will look at the vehicles, talk to whoever is available and give a traffic ticket to one (or possibly both) of the drivers.

As personal injury and wrongful death lawyers, it is not uncommon for us to speak with a client who received a ticket after the accident but was not really at fault for the accident. In such cases, the officer shows up after the accident and makes a judgment as to who was at fault based on limited or faulty information. In some cases, our client was severely injured in the accident and was unable to give his/her side of the story to the police officer or was already transported to a hospital while the other driver was not injured and was able to give his/her side of the story. In that case, the police officer only had one side of the story and issued a traffic citation based on incomplete or misleading information.

As a result, if you have been in an accident in which you were injured and the Jacksonville or other police officer gave you the traffic ticket, this does not necessarily mean the accident was your fault and you do not have a case. Your personal injury or wrongful death law firm can thoroughly investigate the accident, take pictures, interview witnesses, retain an expert accident reconstructionist and do other things to determine how the accident occurred and who was at fault.

Additionally, if your personal injury or wrongful death case goes to trial, the fact that the officer gave you or your loved one a ticket after the crash is not relevant, and it is not admissible for the jury. In fact, unless the responding officer actually observed the accident, he/she is very limited in what he/she can testify to at a trial.

If you have been injured in an accident and received a traffic citation or a loved one was killed in an accident and the other driver was not given a traffic ticket, you still may have a case. Feel free to contact us to discuss your case and your rights to pursue a claim for compensation, regardless of who received the traffic citation.

A car was driving the wrong way on I-95 South near St. Augustine Road in Jacksonville, Florida and caused a head-on collision that killed one person and seriously injured three more according to an article on News4Jax.com. It is hard to imagine how a driver can drive the wrong way on a road like I-95 in the middle of the day, but Pamela Reid apparently hit another vehicle and was driving recklessly to avoid detection for that initial accident by driving north on I-95 South. In attempting to flee a minor accident, she caused a much more serious fatal accident, according to the article.

In personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits, lawyers for the injured parties and families of the deceased analyze all of the evidence to determine if and how the other driver was negligent in causing the crash. Sometimes, when the driving of the other party was dangerous enough, that driver's conduct can be considered reckless (beyond negligent) which can lead to punitive damages in a case like this. Certainly, when a driver is driving erratically and the wrong way on a busy road like I-95, a strong argument can be made that the driver was extremely reckless and should be dealt with accordingly.

A semi truck driver crashed into a line of cars and a store at a busy intersection in California killing two people and damaging many vehicles, according to an article on Foxnews.com. The semi truck driver who caused the accident and the deaths was arrested for vehicular manslaughter and felony reckless driving.

When tractor trailers, which can often weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, are driven recklessly, it is obvious that serious damage and carnage can result. When the semi truck driver's actions are reckless enough, such a serious accident will result not just in a civil personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit, but also criminal charges. How is it decided whether criminal charges will be brought after a serious accident? It is up to the local police and prosecutor's office. However, in accidents where serious injuries or death(s) result and the driver's conduct was more than just careless, criminal charges are much more likely. The article does not elaborate as to the particular factors that caused this crash, but the fact that the semi truck driver was driving poorly enough in heavy traffic to drive his vehicle through a bookstore is an indication of seriously reckless driving. As the criminal case and wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits progress, I suspect much more will be discovered about this semi truck driver and what led him to cause this crash.

A Dunns Creek Baptist Church van and a pickup truck were involved in an accident in Satsuma, Putnam County, Florida that resulted in injuries to ten people, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. The article indicated that the pickup truck ran a stop side and struck the van on Hoot Owl Road and Squirrel Tree Trail. The article does not say how serious the injuries were.

One question that may arise from a motor vehicle accident that results in injuries and/or deaths to multiple people is how the insurance money is split to compensate the injured and family of the deceased. In any personal injury or wrongful death case resulting from an accident, personal injury and wrongful death lawyers for the injured party or the family of the deceased party will look to the insurance policy (or insurance policies) of the at-fault driver, as well as the owner of that vehicle if different from the driver. There may be other applicable parties and insurance policies but for this example, let's just assume there is one insurance policy belonging to the at-fault driver.

That driver may have what is called bodily injury or liability insurance, which is insurance coverage that compensates other people injured or damaged by that driver. The policy limits are typically listed as two numbers: x/y or, for example, $50,000/$100,000. The first number represents the available insurance policy limits for each individual who is injured by the at-fault driver. In other words, if only one person is injured, he/she is limited to recovering $50,000 in damages for his/her injuries under that insurance policy. The second number, $100,000, is the total insurance coverage available for the entire accident. So, if five people were injured by the at-fault driver, they would be limited to a total of a $100,000 recovery for their injuries and damages. For instance, if each person's damages were the same, they may recover $20,000 each.

If you have been involved in an accident with multiple vehicles and injured individuals, it is important to quickly determine how much insurance coverage is available for everyone and make a claim. If you have any questions about the process of recovering damages for your injuries resulting from an accident, we invite you to contact us for a free consultation.

I saw an article today about a car accident involving the mother of the girl missing near Palatka, Florida. It was a rear-end car accident, but the other driver claimed that she had a seizure before the accident and was not in control of her vehicle.

Normally, when one car (the "back car") crashes into the back of another car (the "front car"), fault for the accident can be attributed to the back car. It may not be as clear if the front car stops suddenly for no apparent reason, but generally, drivers on the roads are supposed to maintain enough distance between their vehicles and the ones in front of them so they can safely stop if the car in front stops.

However, we have handled personal injury cases resulting from serious rear-end accidents in Jacksonville, Florida where the driver of the back car provided a different excuse, as the driver in the accident involving the mother from Putnam County, Florida did. Occasionally, the driver who causes the accident will allege that a sudden medical condition caused him/her to crash into the other vehicle. For instance, that driver may claim that he/she suffered an epileptic episode, blacked out or experienced a reaction to medication. These defense in personal injury and wrongful death cases rarely work. First, these claims can often be disproven by medical records and testimony of witnesses as to the driver's condition at the scene of the accident immediately after the accident. Additionally, even if someone does experience a sudden medical episode that causes a crash, that does not necessarily excuse negligent driving that causes an accident. The sudden medical condition that causes the accident must be reasonably unexpected. If that driver had reason to believe that he/she was not medically competent to drive or may experience such an episode, he/she was negligent and at fault the moment he/she started driving. This kind of knowledge or expectation on the part of a driver that some dangerous medical episode may occur while driving can be discovered by looking into the driver's medical records and history as well as the warnings on the prescription drugs that driver had taken. What we normally find is that the driver was warned and knew he/she should not have been driving and could have anticipated the medical episode that caused the crash. In such a case, the defense of a sudden medical condition is baseless.