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Crosswalk signals are intended to make pedestrians safer when crossing the street, particularly at intersections. But they may not always achieve this goal.

A 2007 study by the AAA Foundation for traffic safety revealed traffic signals were problematic for pedestrians over age 65 because they changed too quickly, failing to allow them additional time to safely get across. There was also evidence that pedestrians don’t always understand the nuances of the traditional pedestrian signal countdown. That too affects their behavior and walking speed, which could in turn increase the risk of a crash.

In the recent case of Castro v. City of Thousand Oaks, the complaint involves an assertion the crosswalk signal was flawed, giving pedestrians the feeling they were safe when in fact they were not. The lawsuit was filed against the city for injuries. After a trial court granted summary judgment to the city, a California appellate court reversed, finding a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the intersection/crosswalk posed a substantial risk of injury to a pedestrian who is exercising due care. Continue reading →

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Mistakes in road construction can result in serious injuries to drivers and others. These errors could include things like improper signage, requiring motorists to negotiate a turn that is too sharp or leaving a dangerous condition on the pavement.

The question of who may be held responsible for this depends on a host of factors, though it is possible in some cases to hold liable the construction company that did the work and/or the government agency that contracted the work.

However, the liability of the government is often heavily dependent on local law and the extent to which the doctrine of sovereign immunity is enforced in a particular state. Sovereign immunity shields government from liability unit agrees to be sued. Florida has a broader-than-most waiver of sovereign immunity, but that doesn’t mean cases will be easy. Continue reading →

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In 49 states in this country – including this one – plus the District of Columbia, it’s illegal to drive without insurance. Even so, about 12 percent of all drivers in the U.S. are not insured.

Florida has one of the worst rates of uninsured drivers nationally. Here, 1 in 4 drivers has no insurance.

That has meant that uninsured motorist claims, which are filed when someone is injured by a driver who lacks insurance, totaled $2.6 billion in 2012. That was an increase of 75 percent from 10 years earlier. Continue reading →

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A 6-year-old boy is the only survivor in a two-car auto accident in Florida that claimed the lives of three sisters, their friend and the child’s mother.

Although the cause of the crash, which occurred on State Road 70, just east of Arcadia, is still under investigation, officials have said the pickup truck driven by the boy’s mother was hydroplaning across the highway when it rotated and crossed the center line, slamming head-on into the vehicle carrying the three sisters and their friend. One of the sisters, who was driving, tried to avoid a crash by steering into the grass shoulder, but the truck still struck the back of her vehicle.

The sisters and their friend had been returning from a faith convention in Fort Pierce to their home in St. Petersburg. Their father, a pastor, and their mother had attended the same convention, but were returning home separately. Continue reading →

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Defendants in car accident lawsuits aren’t always other drivers and their insurance companies.

There are many entities – both on and off the road – that can play a role in causing a crash. For example, a bar that serves alcohol to a minor driver can be named a defendant under Florida’s dram shop laws. A manufacturer of a vehicle or vehicle equipment can be named for defective design resulting in a critical failure resulting in either a crash or exacerbated injuries in the crash. The owner of a vehicle can be named even if he or she wasn’t driving at the time of the wreck, per a theory of negligence known as vicarious liability.

The list goes on. Continue reading →

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A man who suffered significant injuries as a result of a Florida car accident prevailed recently in 5th District Court of Appeals.

Appellate justices in Bodiford v. Rollins ruled that not only were the $1 million in damages appropriate, but the finding that plaintiff was 30 percent comparatively at-fault was erroneous.

That means plaintiff is likely to collect the full amount in damages. Continue reading →

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A truck driver who logged 50 straight hours driving from Kentucky to Florida has been charged for a crash that occurred on the return trip, in which six people were killed and several others injured. It was also after the truck itself had two mechanical failures early on in the trip – one with the brakes, and another with the fuel delivery system.

The fatal crash occurred on I-75 in Tennessee – and this was after the trucker allegedly sideswiped another commercial truck while on that illegally long haul in Florida. He was purportedly high on crystal meth at the time of the second crash, authorities say.

Investigators say on the day of the fatal crash, the driver had only logged off work for 12 hours after his 50-hour shift and returned to the road. At that point, he’d been driving for 15 hours when, at 77-miles-per-hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone, he slammed into traffic that had slowed ahead of a heavy construction zone. The truck driver struck numerous vehicles with his tractor-trailer. Ultimately, six people lost their lives and four others were seriously injured. Continue reading →

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Emergency crews are the first responders on scene to aid those who are seriously injured, ill or in trouble. However, some of those same workers may be imperiling innocent people by engaging in actions that do little to promote public safety.

Specifically, we’re talking about police and high-speed chases.

A recent report from USA Today found that from 1979 through 2013, nearly 5,100 innocent bystanders and passengers have been killed as a result of high-speed chases. Tens of thousands more have been seriously injured. Those figures do not include the number of officers killed, nor do they include the number of suspects who eluded authorities, initiating the chase. Continue reading →

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A car accident that resulted in severe head injuries to one man resulted in a liability verdict of $25 million at trial.

However, because of comparative negligence, collateral source set-offs and taxable costs, the final judgment was for about half that – $12.8 million. Now on appeal, the liability of one of those two defendants – who was found to be vicariously liable for loaning the vehicle to the driver who caused the crash – has been further reduced.

Per F.S. 324.021(9)(b)3, an owner of a vehicle who is a “natural person” (as opposed to a business) and loans a motor vehicle to a permissive user and that user causes a crash, the owner can be liable for up to $100,000 per person or $300,000 per incident for bodily injury and $50,000 for property damage. However, if that permissive user is uninsured or underinsured, the owner can be liable for an additional maximum $500,000 in economic damages arising from use of that motor vehicle.

Continue reading →
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Ignition interlock technology has rapidly gained popularity within court systems nationwide as a way to hold convicted drunk drivers accountable when they are once again granted driving privileges.

But government researchers want to take it a step further. They are looking to implement alcohol detection systems that would be available in vehicles for an added upfront fee. While it wouldn’t be mandatory (yet) and drivers would have to pay extra, researchers say many drivers would welcome the opportunity to purchase technology that could save them a lot of heartache – and money.

The two systems being developed by the government-funded Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADDS) focuses on detection of a driver’s blood-alcohol concentration through either breath or touch.

Continue reading →
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