Articles Posted in Car Accident

This holiday travel season could be the busiest we’ve seen in six years.

According to AAA, close to 95 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home during December 22nd through January 1st. That’s a near 2 percent more than last year and about 400,000 people shy of the numbers from 2006.

Airline prices are up and that’s why officials believe that there are going to be more people on our roadways. That’s why FOX NEWS reports that more than 84 million Americans will be choosing to drive to their holiday destination. That accounts for more than 90 percent of all travelers.

Our Hollywood car accident attorneys understand that means that one out of every four Americans is expected to drive a pretty significant distance over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday. With that being said, you can expect traffic delays, crowded rest areas and busy, bust toll plazas.

“The year-end holiday season remains the least volatile of all travel holidays as Americans will not let economic conditions or high gas prices dictate if they go home for the holidays or kick off the New Year with a vacation,” says Robert Darbelnet, AAA CEO and President.

Drivers, you can expect to see gas prices around $3.30 a gallon by at least New Year’s Day. These prices have come down about 50 cents since September. They’re still at a record high for this time of year though.

The cost of rental cars and hotels are up, but only a little bit. Both two and three diamond hotels, according to AAA ratings, are up $3 from the previous year. Car rentals increased a little bit more, seeing a jump of about $16 for daily rental.

To help you to stay safe during your travels, officials with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) are here with some beneficial holiday travel tips.

Drive Safe through the Holidays:

-Make that a friend or a family member knows when you’re leaving, where you’re going, when you arrive and when you plan on coming back. It helps when someone keeps tabs on you should something happen.

-Make sure that you always travel with a cell phone.

-Leave for your trip with plenty of time to spare so that you can avoid rushing.

-Be aware of the road laws in states and cities that you’ll be traveling through.

-Know where you’re headed before you leave. You don’t want to mess with a GPS or a road map in the driver’s seat.

-Adjust your driving to the current road, traffic and weather conditions.

-Be sure to travel with your doors locked, especially when in stop-and-go traffic.

-Make sure that everyone in your vehicle is properly buckled in during each and every car ride, regardless of how quick or short it may be.
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As our Boynton Beach car accident lawyers recently discussed on our injury blog, elderly drivers face some serious risks for accidents behind the wheel.

Many older drivers are dealing with serious health and mobility issues — and it’s affecting their driving. Older Driver Safety Awareness Week is (December 3rd through 7th), according to The American Occupational Therapy Association as authorities look to shed light on this critical safety issue.

Aging is something we’ve all got to go through. It’s how we deal with these changes that will help to determine our safety on the road. During this awareness week, families are urged to check in on their elderly loved ones to make sure that everything’s going well and that they’re comfortable behind the wheel. Care and concern can help to draw attention to some serious safety issues and help to make the proper changes to make sure our elderly drivers stay safe.

“Older Driver Safety Awareness Week is a perfect time to test your skills or encourage someone you love to test theirs. If you need a tune up to sharpen your driving skills, do it soon,” said Dr. Richard Harkness, CEO of ADEPT Driver.

The awareness week looks to promote understanding of the importance of transportation and mobility in helping to ensure older adults remain active in the community, but that they do so safely. This is an excellent time to look in on the elderly members of your family to make sure that they’re okay behind the wheel. Many times, these drivers don’t recognize the dangers that they’re in. Talk with them about their health and about how comfortable they’re feeling behind the wheel. It’s a talk that could wind up saving their life.

Safety Tips for Elderly Drivers, from Help Guide:

-Make sure you’re getting your eyes checked each year. Ensure that your prescription glasses are current.

-Keep your mirrors, your headlights and your windshield clean and make sure that the brightness on your dashboard up to help to ensure visibility.

-Have your hearing checked every year. If you have hearing aids, make sure you’re wearing them every time you get behind the wheel. Be cautious when opening car windows. Drafts can sometimes impair the effectiveness of a hearing aid.

-Schedule a visit with your doctor and talk with them about the affects that medications of ailments may have on your safety behind the wheel.

-Make sure you’re getting a good night’s sleep. This is essential go safe driving.

-Recognize when you should give up your keys. This doesn’t mean you’re giving up your independence. It just means you’re going to stay safe even longer. There are plenty of other ways, including buses, public transportation and friends and family members, that can help you to get you to where you need to be — safely!
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Vehicles are coming equipped with more and more safety features. Some of the equipment is doing its job, while some isn’t. Still, it’s largely up to the driver to stay safe by keeping their vehicle under control in the event of a near-accident.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), electronic stability control technology (ESC) is one of these technologies. In a recent three-year study from officials with the NHTSA, this technology has saved more than 2,200 lives.

This technology has been mandated on all passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks. It was part of a federal safety regulation that was issued back in 2007. It was phased in over the years and now applied to all light vehicles that were made after September 1st of 2011.

Our Delray Beach car accident lawyers understand that ESC is designed to recognize adverse driving conditions. This is done by continuously measuring and evaluating the speed of the vehicle along with the wheel angle, the lateral acceleration and the yaw rate. It is also used to measure this information compared to a driver’s steering input with the vehicles actual motion. If the technology detects an unstable situation, the ESC automatically intervenes to help to driver to stabilize the vehicle. It applies the brakes as needed to reduce engine torque.

“These numbers send a clear message about this technology’s life-saving potential,” said Ray LaHood with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to the NHTSA’s analysis into the technology, ESC has saved more than 630 lives in 2006, more than 700 in 2009 and more than 860 in 2010.

The technology helps drivers to keep control of their vehicle in some of the most dangerous situations. NHTSA officials also report that it helps to prevent some of the most dangerous kinds of motor-vehicle accidents. These kinds of accidents include keeping drivers from running off of the road and from rollover accidents.

Consumers who are looking to purchasing a new vehicle should consider one that comes with this kind of technology. The NHTSA has a list of vehicles, made from 2005 to 2010, that have this technology on the Safe Car website. Consumers can also look up specific makes and models of a potential purchase vehicle to get this information as well. Do your homework. Make sure your choosing the safety and most reasonable vehicle for your needs.

To promote this technology, the NHTSA proposed a federal safety standard back in May to require this technology on large buses and on large commercial trucks. This was the first proposal of its kind for these large vehicles. With ESC technology, officials believe that close to 60 percent of these rollover accidents and about 15 percent of loss-of-control accidents could be prevented.
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The number of fatal car accidents in the state of Florida decreased in 2011, but that drop could be short lived as we enter the 2012 holiday travel season.

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), the number of fatalities resulting from car accidents in the state of Florida dropped by about 2 percent from 2010 to 2011, going from 2,444 to 2,400. With this small decrease, transportation advocates are still worried. Take the number of motorcycle and passenger fatalities for example. This number increased by about 20 percent during this time. The number of bicyclist fatalities also increased, by close to 60 percent. More teens were dying on our roadways, too.

With the improving economy, more travelers are feeling comfortable hitting the gas pump and hitting the road — especially for the holidays. An increase in these fatal accidents is expected as the economy continues to recover.

Our Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers understand that the month of December serves up some of the most dangerous conditions on our roadways. We’ve got residents and visitors venturing out on holiday vacations and we’ve got the snowbirds arriving in force. With the increase in traffic, we see significant increases in your risks for a car accident. We’re asking all travelers to be safe out there, including motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.

“Traffic crashes are largely avoidable, and so I would urge drivers to give their full attention to the road when they are behind the wheel,” said DHSMV Executive Director, Julie L. Jones. “The Department strives to change driving behaviors and save lives.”

In 2011, the number fatality rate per mile traveled was at an all-time low. Drivers just were taking as many trips. This statistic, and many more, were recently released in the 2011 Florida Traffic Crash Statistic Report.

Report Highlights:

-Over the last 6 years, the number of fatalities resulting from car accidents has dropped from more than 3,530 to 2,400 (2005 to 2011).

-The number of car accident fatalities per 100 million miles traveled was more than 1.20 in 2011. This is also the same rate as 2010 as well as the lowest rate since the Department started keeping track back in 1968.

-The number of passenger and motorcycle rider fatalities increased by close to 20 percent.

-The number of bicyclists killed in traffic accidents increased by close to 60 percent.

-The number of teen drivers killed in traffic accidents increased by more than 5 percent.

As we round out 2012, when the risks for accidents are the highest, we’re asking drivers to be safe out there. Keeping your attention on the road at all times is important when it comes to getting home safe for the holidays.
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With the presidential election behind us, you may have thought you’d seen the last of the blue and red states — but they’re back! Curiously, it seems a state’s traffic accident statistics may be correlated with its political affiliation.

According to NBC News, people who are in the red states are more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than those in blue states. The red states are generally Republican drivers supporting Mitt Romney, while the blue states represent Democrats in support of Barack Obama.

Our Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers understand that Florida is considered a “blue” state, if only by a few thousand votes. While we don’t have the highest risks for accidents, we do see some of the most fatalities. In 2010, there were close to 2,500 people killed in car accidents. For that year, we came in second place for having the most traffic accident fatalities in the entire country. When breaking down all of the states in the country, the ones with the highest fatal accident rates were all red. All but one of the 10 states with the lowest rates were blue.

Red & Blue States:

-Massachusetts had the lowest fatal accident rate.

-Wyoming had the highest fatality rate.

But why does a state’s political affiliation correspond with accident rates? Officials are still looking into it. Some believe that it’s the blue states that more readily adopt safety laws. That theory may be flawed with the lack of safety regulations we have on drivers in the state of Florida. The Sunshine State continues to be one of the only states left with absolutely no distracted driving laws on the books. But you can use Texas as an example for this theory. Texas is considered a red state and had a high rate of fatal car accidents. Texas recently opened a road with a speed limit of 85 miles per hour, which serves as the fastest roadway in the nation.

Other experts say that there are a multitude of factors that contribute to these numbers, like the rural conditions of a state. Rural drivers tend to drive longer distances and they use more dangerous (narrow and winding) roadways. Some even think that education levels and lower income stats contribute to higher fatal accident rates.

“No matter how you look at fatal crash rates, there are some important things that explain why states are different, and they’re not political explanations,” said Anne McCartt, with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The truth of the matter is that just as you have the freedom to represent your choice in politics, you have the choice to choose how safe, or unsafe, you drive. We’re asking everyone to make the same vote here — for roadway safety!
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Smoke, fog and rain can make our roads a whole lot more dangerous.

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), officials throughout the state are working to raise awareness about the risks. Officials with the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), the Florida Forest Service and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) are pushing the “Beware of Smoke & Fog” safety campaign.

Our Port St. Lucie car accident attorneys understand how much your visibility can be reduced in these kinds of conditions. It’s important that drivers understand how these conditions affect their driving and ways to improve their safety. Officials with the DHSMV are here to offer you some safety tips to help you to get through these conditions safely.

Safe Driving Tips for Low Visibility:

-Slow it down. Avoid slamming on your brakes. This is how accidents happen. Try to slow down with ease.

-Make sure that your headlights are turned on low. Avoid your high beams and this will only further reduce your visibility.

-Avoid engaging in any distractions during low-visibility situations. Put down the cell phones and halt the conversations with the passengers.

-If you feel the need to stop because you can’t see, make sure you pull completely off of the road. Pull off as far as you can and turn on your hazard lights.

-If you see any hazards or dangers along our roadways, contact law enforcement officials or call 911. Your call can help to head off a potentially fatal accident.

-Check weather and traffic conditions before heading out.

“The agencies want every motorist to be aware of the dangers involved with weather events that affect our roadways and how fast those events can occur,” said Col. David Brierton, Director with the FHP.

The truth of the matter is that these conditions are unpredictable. Florida rain can fall at any second and fires and fog frequently reduce visibility unexpectedly. Be ready for varying conditions along our roadways to help to increase your safety, the safety of your passengers and the safety of other travelers.

This is especially important throughout the rest of the holiday season, as our roadways are slammed with vacationing and snowbird drivers. Be courteous of these motorists and remember they can easily get confused behind the wheel. Steer clear of them and keep your cool.

You may remember the car accidents that claimed the lives of 10 people earlier this year. According to FOX News, it all happened along Interstate 75 in Gainesville. The road was closed for some time because of both heavy smoke and fog. Roadways were cleared for drivers to proceed, but the dangers remained. Conditions were still too tough to see through and a massive auto accident, involving 5 cars and 6 big rigs, killed 10 people.
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Close to 40 million Americans are expected to pack up their car and head out for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

This accounts for about 90 percent of the people who will be traveling at least 50 miles from their home over the long weekend. In the state of Florida, officials are predicting more than 2 million travelers will make the journey — and that doesn’t count the people who will be pouring into the state for their holiday vacation, according to 13NEWS.

“So we’re going to have a lot of people driving into Florida not knowing where they are going, so patience, courtesy and giving yourself extra time is going to be very important,” said Jessica Brady, an AAA spokeswoman.

Our Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers urge drivers to be safe out there as traffic is expected to be at its busiest. Close to half of all holiday travelers are expected to head out to kickoff their holiday weekend on Wednesday. Drivers are warned. Officials with the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) will be out there looking for dangerous drivers.

Be safe, be alert and be cautious to not only avoid a costly citation, but to also avoid a potentially fatal car accident.

Thanksgiving Travel Tips from the FHP:

-Be especially cautious on Wednesday and on Sunday as that’s when driving will be heading out on their vacation adventure and heading home.

-Remember to check the traffic reports before heading out. There are cameras throughout the state, installed by the Department of Transportation, that help to monitor the flow. When the DOT opened up its traffic management office, there was only one camera. Now there are several hundred scattered throughout the state.

-Make sure your car is ready for the trip. Make sure that all of the fluids under the hood are fresh and full. Check your tire pressure before heading out, too! Keep windows and mirrors clean to increase visibility.

-Avoid drinking and driving. If alcohol is involved in your holiday plans, make sure you have a designated driver. A designated driver has nothing to drink. It’s not the person who has had the least to drink.

-Know where you’re going and how to get there before your departure. Have your GPS set and ready to go before throwing it into drive.

-Avoid engaging in distractions while in the driver’s seat. Keep your attention on the task at hand — driving.

-Make sure everyone in your vehicle is buckled up during each ride.

“The last thing law enforcement wants to do is knock on someone’s door and tell them a loved one has been killed,” FHP Sgt. Kim Montes.

Last year, there were about 30 people who were killed in Florida traffic accidents over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. There were 38 who were killed in 2010.
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A South Florida mother, Kristin Murphy, knows just how catastrophic distracted driving car accidents can be. She lost her daughter in one in 2010. She used to use her phone in the driver’s seat, but not anymore.

According to the Marco Eagle, the mother is one of three parents who are pushing for Florida legislators to pass some kind of law to keep drivers in the state of Florida off of their cell phones. They pushed most recently at the Florida Distracted Driving Summit in Tampa.

Our Pompano Beach car accident lawyers understand that the state of Florida is one of the few states left in the country that continues to allow drivers to engage in these dangerous behaviors behind the wheel. Despite the thousands who are killed every year in these kinds of accidents, legislators continue to look the other way and deny all anti-distracted driving proposals.

Murphy’s daughter was 19 and was pregnant when she was involved in an accident with a hit-and-run driver. Officials were able to arrest the driver, another 19-year-old, and determined that he was on his phone when the accident happened.

“How would you feel if the sheriff or the highway patrol knocked on your door to tell you your child was in an accident, and it was preventable?” said Murphy.

Since the accident, the mother has been advocating for the passage of these kinds of laws. At one point during her advocacy, she even filmed a PSA with the U.S. Department of Transportation. Currently, there are 39 states that ban drivers from test messaging at the wheel, according to the Governors Highway Safety Administration (GHSA). Still, Florida has held strong in not joining the safety movement.

Legislators say that they want to conduct a study first, before they decide to pass such a law. Murphy says the thousands of people who die every year in these accidents should be enough proof. Any additional studies are just wasting time.

Nationwide, distracted driving was a factor in about 20 percent of roadway fatalities in 2010.

To help to spread the word, Murphy currently speaks with safe driving groups and driver’s education classes. While she focuses her time on our younger drivers, she says that it’s something that everyone needs to be aware of. Distractions of all kinds increase our risks for accidents. Cell phones are a distraction that don’t need to be. Keep your cell phones in your glove box or in the back seat — out of sight, out of mind. If there’s a phone call or text that you need to take, have a passenger take care of it or pull over, stop and do so safely.

In 2010, there were more than 3,090 people killed in car accidents that involved a distracted driver, according to Distraction.gov. Another 415,000 people were injured as well. And the worst part about it all is that these accidents are completely preventable, yet Florida officials refuse to take the next step.
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We’ve been talking about distracted driving a lot lately, but it’s important to remember that distracted driving doesn’t refer just to cell phone-using drivers. There’s a slew of distracted that can cause serious car accidents in Sebastian and elsewhere.

A Florida accident illustrated once again just how dangerous distractions can be for drivers. According to the Orlando Sentinel, an Orange County firefighter was on the side of the road assisting a motorcyclist when another driver lost control of her vehicle and slammed right into the firefighter — nearly killing him. He suffered from a broken back, neck, ribs and a number of other serious injuries. Accident reports indicate that the woman was talking on her cell phone when the accident happened.

Cell phones aren’t the only problem we have to worry about though. Drivers are oftentimes busted text messaging, messing with their GPS, eating, applying makeup and even shaving behind the wheel. Drivers think it’s safe and effective to multitask. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

“Distracted driving kills, maims, seriously injures,” said Rey Rivero, Orange County Undersheriff.

The truth of the matter is that distracted drivers cause thousands of car accidents each and every year. It’s so bad that officials estimate that for every 2 seconds a driver spends engaging in distractions, they double their risks for a crash.

You might remember the accident that happened in Orlando with a crossing guard. The guard was helping children to get across the road when a passing driver, who was talking on his cell phone behind the wheel, almost hit the crossing kids. The crossing guard jumped out in front of the car to protect the children.

Distractions, especially text messaging, are a “triple threat.” They take the driver’s eyes off of the road, their hands off of the wheel and their mind off of driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), text messaging drivers are nearly 25 times more likely to get into a car accident than non-texting drivers.

In 2009, officials said that distracted driving was involved in the deaths of close to 5,500 people and another 450,000 injuries. Officials believe that there are actually many more of these kinds of accidents that happen that we never know about. You see, drivers are never quick to admit when they caused an accident because they were distracted. And there’s also no test to discover driver distractions, like there are to point out drunk drivers.

With the holidays approaching, drivers are asked to be safe out there, to keep their attention on the road and to keep distractions out of the driver’s seat. Make sure your friends and family members understand these risks, too! With the snowbirds trickling in, our roadways are going to be more congested and more dangerous. Safety requires your full attention — put it on the road.
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FOX’s Glee is not only an American musical comedy-drama, but it’s now got some serious educational value to it!

Officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently teamed up with the makers of Glee to help to keep our young drivers safe on America’s roadways.

They’re focusing on distracted driving — officials with the DOT have been focusing on this epidemic for 3 year now. It’s a driving behavior that is not only jeopardizing the safety of our young drivers, but the safety of everyone else on our roadways.

Our Miramar car accident lawyers understand that Florida is one of the only states left that has not enacted any kind of distracted driving laws. That means that any and all drivers are free to take their attention off of the road and place it on their cell phone or text messaging device. We understand that targeting teen drivers is one of the most effective ways to fight this battle as they’re the drivers who are most likely to engage in this behavior.

Recently, there was an episode of Glee in which the dangers of distracted driving were highlighted. One of the show’s main characters was involved in a car accident that was caused by texting and driving. The footage from that episode is going to be used in a new public service announcement (PSA), “On My Way.”

This PSA is going to be used to show drivers just how long they’re taking their eyes off of the road and attention off of driving while messing with a cell phone. Studies have illustrated that a driver takes their attention off of the wheel for an average of 5 seconds for every text message they read/write. When you’re not looking at the road, you can travel about the length of a football field without ever looking up. That’s a recipe for disaster!

“We had been looking for an opportunity to tell the story of how a few seconds of carelessness could have a devastating impact on people’s lives,” said Glee’s co-creator Ryan Murphy.

The PSAs are all a part of a national campaign to get young drivers to put down the cell phone when they’re in the driver’s seat. It’s the “Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks.” campaign and it’s headed by officials with the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Also in on the action are with state consumer protection agencies, the Ad Council, state Attorneys General and FOX.

The truth of the matter is that texting while driving can have some serious consequences. Many times, our youngest drivers overlook the dangers of these actions because many of them think they’re invincible out there. Talk with your young driver today and discuss the very real dangers of distracted driving. Your talk can have a serious impact on their safety, and the safety of others, out there.
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