Florida Injury Attorney Blog

A woman turned into a parking space and hit the accelerator, flipping her car and pinning a man underneath at the Cobblestone Shopping Center in St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. Apparently, the man was taken to the hospital but was not hurt.

As personal injury and wrongful death attorneys, we get questions regarding when insurance policies are applicable to compensate a victim for damages when he/she is injured from an accident or a family member is killed. In a situation like this, even thoguh the accident did not occur on the roads andf the victim was a pedestrian, the insurance ppolicies for both parties should apply. In other words, the woman's liability insurance coverage should be applicable to compensate the victim for his injuries if he had any. Even though the man was not driving, his own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage would apply to compensate him for his damages that exceeded the insurance policy limits of the woman's liability policy if he had uninsured/underinsured motorist protection and was injured.

In an accident where the at-fault vehicle was off of the normal roadway and/or the injured party(s) was a pedestrian, auto insurance policies will typically apply to compensate the injured or deceased family member(s).

Several months ago, we wrote a post about a program the Bush administration implemented which allowed 100 Mexican trucking companies to operate their semi trucks in the United States. Critics of the program complained that the Mexican truck drivers were not being properly checked and regulated and posed a serious safety risk to other drivers in the U.S. As we have pointed out over and over again in this blog, semi trucks are subject to a large volume of federal regulations due to the dangerous nature of semi trucks and the number and severity of accidents in which they are involved every year. It was unclear how the Mexican semi truck drivers and their companies would be effectively regulated for safety purposes when the U.S. government has a hard enough time regulating U.S.-based semi truck drivers. Mexico does not have a regulatory and record-keeping system designed to prevent serious accidents and make sure semi truck drivers are qualified like the U.S. does.

That program was ultimately terminated. However, the Obama administration has indicated an intention to revive the program and allow certain Mexican trucking companies to operate in the U.S. This, of course, may be a precursor to unrestricted access to the U.S. by more or all Mexican trucking companies. The press release from the Obama administration on this issue mentioned that safety concerns have been addressed. However, the Obama administration has not given any details describing exactly how those safety concerns have been identified or addressed. Given the difficulty the U.S. government has in regulating U.S. truck drivers and preventing serious and fatal accidents, until we see details and results, we are somewhat skeptical that the government has figured out how to effectively regulate foreign truck drivers who come from a country with no track record of safety regulation.

However, it is important to note that the Mexican truck drivers who participated in the program during the Bush administration had better safety records than U.S. semi truck drivers, although the sample size was too small to formulate any reliable conclusions.

If you have been involved in an accident that resulted in injuries, the insurance company for the other driver will begin working on their defense immediately. You may be thinking only of your injuries, your compromised ability to work and make money and how you are going to accomplish all of the other things you need to do on a daily basis. However, the insurance company for the other driver who caused your injuries will be quickly focused on defending your claim for damages and limiting what they have to pay.

Whether your accident was a serious accident with serious injuries or a less serious accident with moderate injuries, you may be getting calls from an insurance company adjuster or investigator who will ask you questions about the accident and your injuries that you are not in a proper state of mind to effectively answer. Sometimes, the adjuster or investigator is not completely honest about for whom they work and the purpose of their questions. But, you can be sure that they have the goal of limiting the compensation their insurance company has to pay for your injuries when they call and ask questions.

So what should you do if you have been injured in an accident and receive a call from an insurance company adjuster or investigator (or anyone else for that matter) about the accident and your medical condition? In order to protect yourself and your rights, you may want to call a personal injury attorney who can advise you of your rights and assist you through the process of dealing with insurance companies and obtaining the compensation that the law allows for you. If you have any questions or need assistance dealing with your insurance company after an accident, feel free to contact us at no charge to discuss your case.

A semi truck crashed into other vehicles on I-95 near J Turner Butler Boulevard (JTB) in Jacksonville, Florida causing injuries after days of heavy rain, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. The weather the last few days in Jacksonville and other areas of Florida has been terrible with constant rain and heavy winds. The roads are soaked with pockets of standing water. This makes for very dangerous conditions which are expected to continue for a few days.

Those of us driving on the roads in the Jacksonville, Florida area may have seen a higher number of accidents, which of course are more common in such poor weather. The semi truck accident referenced in the article above is just one example of many.

When people get injured in accidents, whether they are caused by semi trucks or other vehicles, can the driver who caused the accident use the poor weather and driving conditions as an excuse? When we represent people who have been injured in an auto accident or had a family member killed in an accident, we certainly do not accept poor weather as a valid defense to negligent driving. We do not expect that juries in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit will either. When the weather is bad, whether it is due to rain, high winds, hail, fog, poor visibility or some other factor, we expect that people drive more carefully. Drivers must drive more slowly and be more alert to possible hazards caused by the weather. A person who is speeding, or even driving the speed limit, in poor weather cannot use the weather as an excuse if he/she was following another vehicle too closely and was unable to stop in time causing an accident. This is particularly true for semi trucks which are bigger, heavier, harder to stop and cause much more damage when they crash into other vehicles.

Defendant drivers in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits will sometimes blame the crash on the weather. However, it is important to understand that not only is the weather a poor excuse for an accident, it can often be used as a factor that supports the defendant driver's negligence because he/she failed to take the proper precautions and was driving dangerously as a result.

One thing that may not be clear to people who are considering filing a claim or a lawsuit for personal injuries or a death from an accident is where the money comes from after a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit and subsequent trial. I have heard people express concern about the defendant's ability to pay a claim or verdict in a personal injury or wrongful death case. Similarly, people have expressed concern about how a big claim or verdict would affect the financial condition of a defendant who caused a serious accident. The fact is that the financial resources of the defendant who actually caused the accident and resulting injuries or death really have nothing to do with the lawsuit or the money that is ultimately paid to the plaintiff. It is the defendant's insurance company that has set aside a certain amount of money to pay these claims for injuries or deaths. However, those same insurance companies want people to think that the defendant him or herself has to come up with the money to pay a personal injury or wrongful death verdict. Insurance companies know that a jury would be less likely to fully compensate an injured plaintiff or family member of a loved one killed in an accident if the jury thinks the individual defendant, or company defendant, has to pay the verdict as opposed to the insurance company who already has funds set aside for that exact purpose.

In a personal injury or wrongful death trial, the jury will never hear that the individual or company defendant has an insurance company that has paid for the defense lawyer and has funds set aside to compensate the plaintiff for his/her injuries or family member's death. The rules of evidence in Florida prevent such evidence from being mentioned at trial, and the insurance company paying for the defendant's lawyer(s) and the defendant's obligations want to keep it that way. However, keep in mind that in the majority of cases, it is not the defendant compensating the injured party but the defendant's insurance company.

A man working at Tico Terminal Systems at Blount Island in Jacksonville, Florida was killed when a truck dolly backed into him, according to an article on News4Jax.com. The man was an employee of Tico at the time of the fatal accident.

It is not clear from the article whether the driver who killed the Tico worker was also a Tico worker. When a person is injured or killed on the job, there are issues relating to who the injured party, or the family of the deceased party, can sue to recover for the injuries or loss of a loved one. According to the workers compensation laws, when a person is injured at work due to the negligence or his/her employer, the employer typically has workers compensation immunity which means the injured worker will be reimbursed for medical expenses and loss of wages regardless of whose fault the accident was but the employer cannot be sued for damages due to negligence. There are exceptions to this rule, but generally, the workers compensation laws prevent a worker from suing his/her employer for damages due to the employer's negligence.

However, there are other avenues for a person injured, or a family of a person killed, to recover damages in a case like this. If the co-worker's or employer's conduct rose to a level beyond negligence and such an injury or death was likely to occur based on the co-worker's or employer's conduct, workers compensation immunity may not protect the employer in such a lawsuit. Additionally, if the person who caused the injury or death was an employee of a different company, as is sometimes the case in these accidents that occur at industrial complexes, workers compensation immunity does not affect the injured party's or deceased's family's right to sue a separate person or company for negligence.

When a person is injured or killed at a job-site, there are several issues that must be analyzed to determine who can and should be sued. If you have questions about an injury that was suffered at a work-site or any other location, feel free to contact us for a free consultation so you can learn your rights.

Approximately 56% of auto crashes that resulted in a death were tied to aggressive driving according to a recent study by the AAA Foundation. The AAA study examined almost 200,000 auto crashes that resulted in over 210,000 deaths in the U.S. from 2003 - 2007. Numerous people were also interviewed to determine their concerns and driving habits. Aggressive driving is one of those terms where you often know it when you see it, but for the purposes of this study, it included speeding, improper lane changes, driving on the shoulders of the road, illegal passing, speeding up to beat a yellow light, running a red light, failing to signal, ignoring road signs and failing to yield the right of way.

It seems obvious to say that the more responsible and defensive people drive, the fewer serious and fatal accidents we will have. This study confirms that and quantifies that statement to a degree. It was also interesting that most people interviewed recognized aggressive driving as a serious problem that contributes to serious accidents, but many of those same people admit to aggressive driving themselves. For instance, those people surveyed admitted to the following (males under 40 years old were the worst offenders):

- driving 15 mph over the speed limit in the last 30 days: almost 50%
- speeding up to beat a yellow light: 58%
- tailgating: 22%
- running red lights: 6% (I'm guessing this number should be higher.)

In many wrongful death lawsuits resulting from serious fatal crashes, this kind of aggressive driving is a factor as this study would suggest. As wrongful death attorneys, it is our job to uncover the evidence of such aggressive driving on the part of the at-fault driver and show how it caused the accident and the tragic loss of life.

A four year old girl who lived off of Dove Creek Drive in Jacksonville, Florida died when a large television in her home fell on her and crushed her, according to an article on News4Jax.com.

The Jacksonville police ruled the death an accident at this point, but in a case where a large television falls from a stand and causes death or seriously bodily injury, particularly to a child, there are many factors that should be investigated to determine if the manufacturer of the television was at fault for causing this tragic incident. Unfortunately, incidents of large televisions falling on top of people, particularly children, and causing significant injuries or death are not uncommon. These older model televisions are often extremely heavy with much of their weight towards the front of the TV. Despite their weight, because of the composition of the bottom of the television, they can easily slide off many TV stands creating a serious risk of danger to children. The manufacturer may be negligent in designing and manufacturing the TV without making sure it will not slide or fall off of a normal TV stand. The TV manufacturer may also fail to properly warn consumers about the dangers of the TV and the appropriate way the TV should be set up.

There can be many factors that cause or contribute to a tragic accident involving a television or similar large object falling on a child and causing death or serious injuries. Some causes, which can be attributed to the manufacturer, can be uncovered only after a thorough evaluation of all the facts and an analysis of the television, its components and the instructions.

More and more around Jacksonville, Florida, we see smaller cars on the roads. This is surely a reaction to the spike in gas prices that occurred the past couple of years. But when you look at these small cars, you have to wonder how safe they are, how well they would hold up in a serious accident and whether occupants in such small vehicles are more likely to be injured in crashes.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts crash tests to determine which vehicles are more or less safe and which vehicles protect their occupants better in a crash. Those tests revealed that occupants in these smaller cars are more susceptible to serious leg and head injuries when involved in serious front-end auto accidents, according to a recent article on News4jax.com. Manufacturers of the small vehicles tested countered that the tests were run under extreme and unusual circumstances. However, the IIHS indicated that the test crashes involved cars traveling at speeds of 40 miles per hour, which isn't particularly extreme or unusual. This seems to be logical as the less space one has for his/her legs, the more likely the legs may be crushed in a serious crash. Head injuries are often caused in car crashes when a person's head hits something inside the vehicle such as the steering wheel, side panels, windows or the windshield. Of course, the use of seat belts has been proven to reduce injuries and limit the severity of injuries when they do occur after a crash in any type of vehicle.

In personal injury lawsuits or wrongful death lawsuits, the type of car a person decides to drive should not be held against a plaintiff making a claim for damages from an accident (although failure to wear a seatbelt does often reduce a plaintiff's damages). However, people do need to be aware that these small vehicles may not protect an occupant in certain types of serious crashes as well as bigger and less fuel efficient vehicles.

At the end of a wrongful death and personal injury case resulting from a crash involving a semi truck, the jury awarded the plaintiffs $23.7 million in Will County, Illinois. The plaintiffs in the wrongful death and personal injury case were the families of two people killed by the semi truck driver and another individual who was seriously injured in the crash. According to reports, many vehicles had slowed for another accident ahead when the defendant semi truck driver failed to slow his semi truck accordingly and caused a serious chain reaction crash that resulted in the two deaths and multiple injuries.

Reports of the crash also indicated that the semi truck driver did not remember how the crash occurred or the events leading up to the crash. His log books, which would show how long he had been driving his semi truck for the hours, days, weeks and months prior to the crash, were also falsified. These facts may be an indication that the driver of the semi truck was fatigued and may have fallen asleep at the wheel which might explain why he did not stop his semi truck when many other vehicles had been able to stop for the other accident. These facts, the severity of the crash and the tragic nature of the results likely provided justification to the jury for the large verdict.