Florida Injury Attorney Blog

Statistics regarding deaths from serious traffic accidents show that in 2009 the number of people who died in car crashes was the lowest since 1954. Statistics also show that the traffic fatality rate, which takes into consideration deaths from traffic crashes per number of miles traveled, reached a record low in 2009. In 2009, just under 34,000 people were killed in auto accidents, but that was down almost 9% from 2008.

It is not exactly clear why traffic fatalities are down, but it is likely due to a number of factors. People are becoming more educated about safe driving and the importance of wearing a seat belt. Cars and trucks are built with more safety features than in the past. Fewer people are driving fewer miles due to higher gas prices and the poor economy.

Two people died in a car crash that occurred in Baker County, Florida (which is about an hour west of Jacksonville, Florida). A vehicle driven by Larry Jackson apparently swerved to pass a slower vehicle on I-10 near Macclenny, Florida when it struck another vehicle, lost control and then overturned according to an article on News4jax.com. Mr. Jackson and the passenger in his vehicle died in the crash.

This kind of accident illustrates a couple of points in a personal injury or wrongful death case. In any such case, it is important to determine who is at fault for the crash. In other words, whose negligent driving caused or contributed to the crash? The answer to that question is not always clear and it is not always just one person. Fault for an accident can be split between two or more parties on a percentage basis. For instance, in a case where a driver loses control of his/her vehicle, that driver is often 100% liable for the crash. However, if the driver loses control of the vehicle because another vehicle is driving too slow on the highway, or the other vehicle is driving without lights on at night or another vehicle switches lanes without looking, fault for the crash may be distributed between the two drivers (i.e. 50% - 50% or 75% - 25%) or shifted completely to another driver. These fault percentage issues can be negotiated between the lawyers for the parties or determined by a jury in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. Whatever the the ultimate fault percentages are determined to be, that party is only responsible for paying for that percentage of the ultimate damages.

A woman was driving while shaving her bikini area in the Florida Keys and crashed into the back of another vehicle, according to an article on NYpost.com. The article indicates that a vehicle had slowed to make a turn and the woman was not paying attention because she was shaving and she crashed into the back of the front vehicle. Making matters worse, the woman then kept driving and switched seats with her passenger to make it look like she was not driving because she had been convicted of DUI the day before and had her license suspended as a result.

As personal injury and wrongful death lawyers, we do see some people do crazy things while driving. This story is humorous as no one was apparently seriously injured, but driving behavior like this can, and often does, lead to serious injuries and tragic ramifications. That being said, this is one or the stranger auto accidents that did not (as far as we know) involve alcohol or drugs.

A man was seriously injured after being hit by a vehicle that left the scene on Woodlawn Road near State Road 16 in St. Johns County, Florida, according to an article on News4Jax.com. According to police, the driver of the vehicle left the scene and has not been located. There did not appear to be a good description of the driver or his/her vehicle.

As most people know, it is against the law in Florida to cause an accident with injuries or property damage and then leave the scene without providing your contact and insurance information. When someone is injured, as in this case, it is a serious felony crime.

But what can an injured person do to recover damages for his/her injuries after an accident where the at-fault party leaves the scene and cannot be identified? Normally, when a person causes an auto accident that results in injuries, the injured party can make a claim with the at fault driver's insurance company and negotiate a recovery amount or go to trial and get a verdict that the other driver's insurance company has to pay. However, when the injured party does not know who that person is, or does know but learns that the person is not insured, there is still a way to recover damages for injuries.

This is where uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance coverage comes into play. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage allows a person to make a claim, or file a lawsuit, against his/her own insurance company to pay for damages caused by another person who either cannot be identified, has no insurance or does not have enough insurance to cover the damages. However, not everyone has uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. When you get normal liability insurance that covers you if you cause an accident that injures another person, the insurance company is required to ask you if you want uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. If you do not want that coverage, you are supposed to be given a rejection notice to sign.

If you are unsure as to whether or not you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, contact your auto insurance company and ask them. If you or a family member gets injured in an accident with another driver who leaves the scene or has little or no insurance, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage may be your only way to recover your damages.

A young child and four other people were injured in a serious crash on I-95 near the Trout River in Jacksonville, Florida, according to an article on News4Jax.com. According to investigators, a car was stopped in the right lane on I-95 when an SUV crashed into it and then hit a concrete barrier. The young child was in critical condition after the accident.

When there is a crash involving a vehicle stopped in the road and a rear end accident, there are several factors that determine liability for the crash. There are two general rules that are relevant here, but there are exceptions as well. First, vehicles are not permitted to stop in the roadway, particularly a busy, high speed limit road such as I-95, unless absolutely necessary. Second, when there is a rear end accident, the back car is normally presumed to be at fault.

However, there are other factors that must be investigated in such a serious injury accident. Cars are not permitted to stop in the roadway because they create a serious hazard for other vehicle drivers who are not expecting to encounter a stopped vehicle in the middle of the road. Therefore, drivers must make every effort to pull over to the side of the road if they must stop due to car trouble or for any other reason. If the vehicle is disabled preventing the driver from getting off the road, the driver must make every effort to alert other drivers as to its location. This includes hazard lights for regular vehicles and fluorescent cones or other bright colored markers for larger vehicles such as semi trucks.

Regarding rear end accidents, it is presumed that drivers are alert and driving at a safe speed so they can see hazards and have enough time to stop for them. However, if another vehicle stops suddenly or is stopped in the road in such a way that the vehicle is difficult to see, liability for such a rear end crash can be partially, or completely, attributed to the front vehicle driver.

One issue that arises in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits resulting from truck accidents is a truck driver who is unqualified to safely operate a semi truck and a trucking company that did not perform the proper background check to prevent that driver from being on the road. Personal injury and wrongful death lawyers can investigate the truck driver during the lawsuit and find out a variety of negative facts about the truck driver that should have prevented the trucking company from hiring him/her to drive a tractor trailer in the first place. However, trucking company employees often plead ignorance and say they did not know those things about the truck driver that would have caused any responsible trucking company to reject the driver's job application.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has been working to make it easier for trucking companies to investigate truck driver applicants. A database has been prepared that contains information about a semi truck driver's accident history and inspection history. With the database, a trucking company can screen a truck driver applicant to see if he/she has been involved in multiple accidents and/or has a history of failed DOT inspections. The rules do not require trucking companies to participate in the program and check the database, but it is hard to imagine that trucking company employees will have good answers as to why they did not screen truck driver applicants in a deposition during a lawsuit after a bad driver causes a serious injury accident. Failure to screen a truck driver with a history of accidents and/or failed inspections would seem to be pretty clear negligence on the part of a trucking company after a serious accident and could lead to the trucking company paying significant damages to a plaintiff who has been injured by an unsafe truck driver.

The latest news about the database does not indicate whether past, failed drug and/or alcohol tests will be included in the database information. If not, this is important information that any trucking company should investigate and know prior to hiring anyone for a semi truck driving position.

A sailor who had just come from a motorcycle safety course was killed after being struck by a vehicle driven by 19 year old Ana Brown, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. Apparently, Ms. Brown failed to yield and turned left into the path of the motorcyclist causing the accident and the resulting death. The tragic irony of the crash was that the motorcyclist was a certified motorcyclist who had just attended a class to maintain his certification as a safe motorcycle driver.

We have unfortunately seen a lot of serious injury and fatal crashes involving motorcycles. Two things such crashes involving a regular passenger vehicle or truck and a motorcycle often have in common are that the motorcyclist bears the brunt of the crash and suffers the significant injury while the other driver is typically unscathed and the other driver claims that he/she did not see the motorcycle. Too often, these crashes occur because the passenger vehicle or truck driver did not see the motorcycle, but that is most often due to the vehicle driver's failure to pay close attention to the road rather than the motorcyclist's inappropriate driving. In a crash such as this, when a vehicle makes a left turn across traffic and hits the motorcycle, the vehicle driver likely did not see the motorcycle because he/she did not take the necessary steps to be completely certain the path was clear before turning.

Crashes involving motorcycles unfortunately often result in serious injuries or worse. The reason is obvious as motorcyclists are much more vulnerable to serious injury in a crash as opposed to someone driving a passenger car or truck. For that reason, drivers need to be particularly mindful of motorcycles on the road. When an accident like this occurs, it is often the result of a vehicle driver not meeting the standard of care of watching out for all of the other vehicles on the road.

A motorcyclist was killed after being hit by a person driving a truck who fled the scene of the accident on I-10 near I-95 in Jacksonville, Florida, according to an article on News4jax.com. Police are looking for the driver of the truck that hit the motorcyclist and have indicated that he/she was driving a Dodge Ram with particular markings and accessories.

Unfortunately, we have seen too many crashes that involve motorcycle victims and are often the result of careless drivers who are not properly looking out for other vehicles, particularly smaller motorcycles. Sometimes, in a deposition of the at-fault driver in the course of a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit involving a motorcycle driver victim, the at-fault driver will claim that the motorcycle came out of nowhere or was difficult to see. This is rarely a valid defense. If anything, personal injury and wrongful death lawyers can use this to strengthen the plaintiff's case to show that the at-fault driver was negligent by not paying proper attention to his/her surroundings on the road.

An added issue here is the fact that the truck driver fled the scene. Assuming they find the person, this fact can be used to show consciousness of negligence. In other words, the personal injury/wrongful death attorney can use the fact that the at-fault driver fled the scene to prove that he/she knew he/she negligently caused the crash and did not want to wait around to be held accountable. Any time a person is involved in an accident like this in Florida that causes an injury, a death and/or property damage, the driver is required to remain at the scene of the crash and provide certain identification and insurance information. Failure to do so is a misdemeanor crime in Florida if there is no serious injury or death. However, if someone flees the scene of an accident involving a death, it is a serious felony crime in Florida.