Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog

As we recently reported on our Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog, Florida is still one of the few states left in the U.S. that hasn’t enacted any laws to keep drivers from using cell phones or text messaging devices at the wheel. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, Florida has zero laws on the books, so Florida drivers can legally call and text while driving as much as they’d like — although such behavior is ill-advised. As Florida lawmakers continue to propose measures to help to halt these types of distractions that cause thousands of accidents every year, they continue to be shot down.

This is the first of a six-part blog we will be writing to give you information you need to help make Florida roadways safer for everyone. Each blog entry will be discussing another way you can fulfill your New Year’s resolution to make our roads safer. Throughout this entry, we will be discussing the dangers of distracted driving.

As we start the New Year, our Fort Lauderdale car accident attorneys are asking drivers to honor road safety by willingly curbing distractions at the wheel. In 2010, there were about 3,100 people who died because of distraction-related car accidents in the country.

“We’re all on the roads, we all see what’s going on. It’s crazy out there,” said Marc Cannon of AutoNation, a Ford Lauderdale-based auto retailer, which also supports driver distraction bans. “We need to do something.”

Recently, the University of Miami joined up with the Florida Department of Transportation’s anti-distraction campaign, “Put It Down,” to help to get drivers to hang up the phone behind the wheel. FDOT’s District Six teamed up with the University of Miami to help to educate drivers in Monroe and Miami-Dade counties about the risks and consequences associated with distracted driving. While all drivers are urged to put down the phone behind the wheel, this campaign specifically targets drivers ages 16- to 24-years-old. These drivers are already have higher accident rates than older drivers. Throw in the dangers of cell phones and their risks skyrocket. Through the campaign, Miami-Dade College, Florida International University, the University of Miami and Miami-Dade County Public Schools were included in the anti-distraction activities. Joining UM and FDOT was South Florida Commuter Services, Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority.

“When you’re behind the wheel, your focus should be on the road and getting where you need to be safely,” said says District Six Secretary Gus Pego.

Whenever you’re on the road, look around and you’re sure to find numerous drivers talking on cell phones, text messaging, surfing the web and engaging in other dangerous distractions. According to recent studies, nearly 700,000 drivers are talking on a cell phone on our roadways at any given moment. Please head into 2012 with a positive attitude and a devotion to make safer roadways and to curb distractions to avoid potentially fatal car accidents. Happy New Year!
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There are only 15 states that have yet to make it illegal for drivers to send and receive text messages while operating a motor vehicle. According to The St. Augustine Record, there’s a small chance that lawmakers in the state could enact such a ban during the 60-day legislative session that will start in the beginning 2012. Experts are still split on whether these types of bans will actually help make our roadways safer. Distraction-related car accidents in Miramar and elsewhere took the lives of almost 3,100 people in 2010.

Last week, a couple of Florida state senators brought the argument back to life after they approved a proposal to make texting and driving illegal in Florida. This happened at the measure’s first committee hearing. This proposal was sponsored by Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, She’s proposing this offense to be a secondary offense, meaning that an officer would have to pull over a driver for another infraction before being able to slam a driver with a citation for texting at the wheel.

Our Miramar car accident attorneys understand that a number of proposed bans have failed in our state throughout the years even though the public largely supports these types of laws. They’re usually pushed out by Republican lawmakers who believe that these types of laws serve as an affront to personal liberty. The bottom line is that distractions, whether they’re cell phones or text messaging devices, pose potentially deadly consequences.

Detert is proposing this anti-texting law for the third time. It’s what she calls a “no-brainer.” Although she is still a supporter of small government, she feels that the bill, SB416, is more important than privacy concerns. Safety should always override privacy, says Detert.

“I am a big fan of personal freedom…as long as you’re not taking me out with you,” she Detert.

The bill was moved up by a 10-0 vote. Some lawmakers admitted that they were going to vote against it, but after heading Detert’s side they chose to back it. Under this bill, drivers would still be allowed to use these devices at red lights. Drivers would also still be allowed to dial a phone number, talk on the phone or use a GPS while driving. They just wouldn’t be allowed to text message.

If the bill took effect and texting was illegal at the wheel, drivers would get a $30 fine for the first offense and both a $60 fine and three points on their driver’s license for a second offense. Six points would be put on a driver’s license if the use of one of these devices resulted in an accident.

There are 35 states that ban drivers from text messaging at the wheel. Other states have enacted laws to govern the use of these devices among specific age groups. Still, Florida has zero laws on the books.
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According to ABC Action News, the Senate Transportation Committee recently approved a bill that prohibits drivers from texting while driving. However, the House companion bill hasn’t made it through the committee process yet. These types of anti-texting bills aim to reduce the risks of car accidents in Lake Worth and elsewhere. Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, is pushing this ban for the third time. Florida is one of a few states that doesn’t have a law prohibiting this dangerous behavior behind the wheel.

“It’s time that we caught up to the rest of the nation,” said Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa.

Our Lake Worth car accident attorneys understand that drivers who text behind the wheel are in more danger of getting into an accident than a drunk driver. Teenagers are most likely to text behind the wheel and therefore have a higher accident rate than drivers in any other age group. To help raise awareness in these young drivers about the consequences of distracted driving, the U.S. Department of Transportation is launching its “OMG” public service announcement campaign.

The PSA will be airing on the Distraction.gov website, at Regal Cinema theaters and on gas station pump-top screens around the country throughout the month of December.

“Teen drivers are particularly vulnerable to distracted driving, which is why we are making an extra effort to ensure they understand the dangers,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

As the holiday season gets underway, teenagers will be granted with some time away from school for winter break. During this time, these young drivers will flock to our roadways in route to visit with friends and family members for the holidays. Parents are asked to talk with these young drivers about the risks, dangers and consequences that they’ll be faced with during the busy holiday travel season.

Included in the PSA is common texting lingo that teenagers are using these days on their wireless devices, including “LOL” and “L8R.” DOT officials feel this is an effective way to reach these drivers. This lingo and the safety message will be displayed at roughly 12,000 gas pumps, at more than 525 theaters on roughly 6,600 movie screens and on the Distraction.gov website.

Currently, there are 35 states, Guam and the District of Columbia that prohibit all drivers from text messaging behind the wheel. Another nine states have made it illegal for all drivers to use a hand-held cell phone at the wheel. Florida lawmakers are working diligently to get a law into office to help regulate this dangerous behavior. Until then, drivers are asked to honor roadway safety and voluntarily curb the distractions. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.
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Three bills are making their way through state legislature and could potentially stop drivers in the state of Florida from texting behind the wheel, according to NBC2. Florida is one of the few states left that have no restriction of drivers using cell phones or text messaging devices behind the wheel. Since January, there have been more than 3,000 distraction-related car accidents in Plantation and elsewhere that were blamed on drivers who were using text messaging devices.

According to a recent Mason-Dixon Poll, nearly 95 percent of the 300 who were surveyed expressed support for this type of ban. Only about 3 percent were against it and the remaining 3 percent were indifferent.

Our Plantation car accident attorneys understand that nearly half a million accidents are the result of distracted driving every year across the U.S. Statistics conclude that one in every five accidents involves the use of a cell phone. These accidents have recently become so frequent that the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) started tracking the accident data for electronic distraction factors at the beginning of this year. While more than 3,000 accidents reported the fault of distractions on various electronic devices, nearly 150 were specifically blamed on text messaging at the wheel.

Those statistics mean that these distraction-related traffic accidents account for about 2 percent of the total number of accidents we’ve seen so far in 2011 so far, but officials say that is way too high for such a preventable instance.

“Texting has no place in a vehicle. It’s a huge distraction, it takes your focus, it takes your vision off the roadway,” said FHP Lieutenant Greg Bueno.

Some travel experts believe that these statistics are only that low because most drivers who were distracted at the time of an accident are hesitant to admit that they were in fact distracted. Bueno says that that’s a top reason why this type of ban would be difficult to enforce. If you look just for a couple of second, a series of events can happen in that short time, including a fatal accident, he adds.

The three bills aiming to prohibit texting behind the wheel are still caught up in subcommittee. There have been no further details regarding when the bills will be discussed next.

In 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that distraction-related accidents accounted for nearly 20 percent of all of the fatal accidents in the U.S., meaning that this careless behavior took the lives of nearly 6,000 people and injured another estimated 520,000.

Although there may be no laws in the books that currently prohibit drivers in the state from texting at the wheel, drivers are still asked to practice good moral standards and to curb distractions on your own free will.
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A woman recently filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) after the death of her husband in the iRox Interstate-75 expansion construction area. The woman is claiming that the negligence of FDOT and contractors in the construction area caused the wrongful death of her husband.

Construction zones are dangerous for both workers and for passing motorists. As millions travel through the state during the holiday season, drivers are asked to be cautious of one another and for those whom we are sharing the road with, including construction workers. Car accidents in Margate and elsewhere can happen in a matter of seconds if a driver is not paying full attention to the roadway. Be alert and cautious during the upcoming holiday travel season to avoid a serious collision.

Our Margate car accident attorneys understand Florida’s highways rank as some of the most dangerous in the country. Your risks of a traffic accident are even higher when traveling through a construction zone. With traffic expected to be more chaotic through the remainder of the year, drivers are asked to pay even more attention to our roadways. Construction zones, other vehicles, pedestrians, motorcycles, etc., all serve as dangerous hazards on our roadways and can only remain safe with the practice of safe driving habits.

The woman decided to sue FDOT and the construction contractors after the fatal October accident that took the life of her husband. Road work was being done along Interstate 75 between Naples and Fort Myers. Her husband was reportedly driving by mile marker 105 when his vehicle was thrown out of the lane. He over-corrected, drove over numerous lanes of traffic and slammed into some steel cables that were in the median. The collision between his SUV and the cables caused the vehicle to flip several times. Reports indicate that the roadway, that was uneven because of the ongoing construction work, caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle in the first place. The driver was not wearing a seat belt and the time of the accident, was ejected from the vehicle and died.

In the wrongful-death suit that the wife is filing, she claims that both the contractors and the FDOT were negligent in their work. She says that their negligence caused the fatal accident. The suit goes on to say that both parties had a responsibility to make sure that the work was done so in a way that passing vehicular traffic could get through safely and that those workers failed to fulfill that responsibility.

In addition to those claims, the lawsuit points out that the signage, including road markers, barricades, warning signs, etc., were confusing, misplaced and faulty. Also, she claims that the contractors failed to reduce the speed limit to accommodate that work zone.

When a fatal accident occurs, family members of the victim may collect the compensation for the damages. These damages can include pain, loss of companionship, suffering, medical expenses, loss of future earnings, funeral expenses, etc.
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Teen drivers face severe risks for car accidents in Martin County and elsewhere throughout the remainder of the year and through the holiday season. For parents who wish to keep their eyes on their teen driver’s habits behind the wheel , there may soon be an app for that.

Government officials in the state are currently discussing Senate Bill 854 and House Bill 571, which could offer parents text-message or email alerts regarding their teen’s driving for just a $5 one-time fee.

Our Martin County car accident attorneys understand that teen drivers face some of the highest risks for car accidents. These young drivers are more likely to get into an accident than older, more experienced drivers. Now, parents can be alerted whenever their teenager is written a traffic citation, when their license has been suspended, when they’ve been convicted of a traffic violation and most importantly when they’ve been in a car accident, according to Hernando Today. Parents can use this service for teen drivers under the age of 19.

The $5 fee would be used to cover the expenses of the program. If it brings in any additional cash, then the funds would be used to promote safe teen driving.

State Rep. Richard Steinberg, D-Miami, and Sen. Greg Evers, R- Baker, wrote the bills and say that they got the idea from lawmakers in New York who have already launched a program just like it.

“I think that the fact that mom or dad would find out will make them drive safer and therefore make roads safer,” said Steinberg.

Parents of teen drivers are urged to discuss the importance of safe driving habits with their young drivers, especially as we kick off the holiday season. As more and more motorists flock to the Sunshine State to celebrate the rest of 2011, the risks of accidents increase. Talk to your teen about ways to avoid an accident during the chaotic holiday season.

Safe teen driving tips, from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles:

-Make sure everyone in the vehicle wears a seat belt during every car ride.

-Keep the number of passengers minimal. Passengers increase distractions and the risks for an accident.

-Make sure your tires are in good condition and that they’re properly inflated.

-Keep your windshield clean to maximize visibility behind the wheel.

-Never drink and drive and never ride with a driver who has been drinking.

-Turn your headlights on, even in the daytime, to make your vehicle more visible to oncoming drivers.

-Get the necessary directions before departing. Knowing how to get to your destination in advance will help you to avoid dangerous distractions, including road maps and GPS devices.

-Obey all speed limits, traffic lights and all other traffic devices.

-Don’t blast your music. Loud music serves as a dangerous distraction.

-Be aware of weather and traffic conditions before setting out.

-Avoid driving during the evening and on weekends when traffic get crowded.
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