Articles Tagged with car accident lawyer

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We all rely on bridges in everyday transportation in Florida, whether commuting for work or heading to church or just out for a fun family day. Bridges are not just historical and aesthetically valuable to our skylines – they are integral to modern transportation.

However, there is growing concern that a number of these structures are not actually safe. Not all are built with parts or structural integrity that are entirely sound. Even those that are can degrade and erode over time with exposure to the elements. Some sustain more severe damage in natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

Recently, the Washington Post developed a user-friendly, searchable database using figures from the National Bridge Inventory, breaking down which areas have the highest percentages of structurally deficient bridges that pose the greatest risk to drivers.  Continue reading →

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When the negligent actions of an employee acting in the course and scope of that employment result in injury to a third party, that individual has a few different avenues he or she may pursue for recovery of damages. 

The first involves seeking accountability of an employer per the doctrine of respondeat superior, which is Latin for, “let the master answer.” Under this rule, it isn’t necessary to show the employer was personally negligent in any way, only that it employed someone who acted in a negligent manner while on-the-job, thus resulting in plaintiff’s injuries. The second way involves asserting direct liability of the employer. That means plaintiff is arguing employer was in some way directly negligent for what happened. Some possible claims that fall under this category would be: Negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligent vehicle maintenance, etc.

Courts in different states have reached different conclusions about whether injured parties should be able to pursue both types of claims if an employer concedes vicarious liability. For example, the Tennessee Supreme Court rejected the so-called “preemption rule” last year. The court held comparative fault could still apply for direct negligent claims when an employer had already admitted vicarious liability for a plaintiff’s injuries.  Continue reading →

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Three years ago, Florida lawmakers altered the standards for admissibility of expert witness testimony in the courtroom. We went from being a “Frye” state (based on the 1923 precedent in Frye v. U.S.) to a “Daubert” state (based on the 1993 case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). 

The latter is a more stringent standard of weighing scientific methodology. This change has had a profound impact on civil litigation in Florida, requiring that expert witness testimony (needed in so many cases, from medical malpractice claims to car accident injury lawsuits) be thoroughly vetted. The Frye test required that the methodology or theory from which a scientific deduction was made had to have gained acceptance in that particular field. Daubert, meanwhile, the judge is responsible for being the gatekeeper of the expert witness’s qualifications and also ensuring that the testimony is both relevant and reliable. With regard to methodology, this generally means the court has to consider whether the theory or technique has been or can be tested, whether it has been subject to peer review, what the known or potential rate of error is and whether the theory is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community.

In a recent product liability case considered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, justices reversed a $3 million award in favor of the plaintiff after finding the trial court judge failed to perform the proper gatekeeping duties with regard to plaintiff’s expert witness. Further, without that testimony, plaintiff did not have enough evidence to prove his claim, and therefore justices issued an order remanding the case for entry of a judgment in defendant car manufacturer’s favor. Continue reading →

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In the first nine months of 2016, traffic deaths rose 8 percent compared to the same period from 2015. During that time, nearly 28,000 people were killed in car accidents. In the first three quarters of 2015, there were 25,800 people who died. 

Many people have looked for an explanation for what’s happening, and there are several. One of the most popular theories is that more people are traveling the roads and for longer distances, thanks to the economic recovery. Certainly, there is some truth to this. We do know that people are traveling more. But when we look more closely at the data, that doesn’t account for the entire trend. That’s because, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration points out, vehicle miles traveled from Jan. 1, 2016 through Sept. 30, 2016 were up 3 percent as compared to that same time frame the year before. So we have a 3 percent uptick in vehicle miles traveled and an 8 percent increase in the number of people dying in car accidents.

Something more is going on, and it’s especially concerning when you consider that cars manufactured today are safer than ever. While it’s true we’ve seen record-setting auto recalls in recent years, much of that involves the auto industry catching up with years of failing to recall vehicles with serious defects they should have set straight many years earlier. Meanwhile, we have cars that come standard-equipped with rearview cameras, electronic stability control, blind spot monitoring, automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. All of this to say: Driving should be safer than ever, yet it’s not.  Continue reading →

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Car insurance is essential. It’s mandated in all states, to varying degrees, but it ensures that when we are involved in a car accident, those damages will be covered, whether that is through no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) benefits or through bodily injury liability coverage from the at-fault driver’s insurer. Other times, it’s derived from uninsured/ underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, which protects those who are insured in case they are struck by someone who lacks insurance or doesn’t have enough insurance to cover the full extent of the damages. 

Previous reports in Florida show that 1 in 4 drivers in the Sunshine State are driving without any insurance at all. A far greater number are driving on only the minimum amount of coverage mandated by law.

Now, a recent study by the Federal Insurance Office reports that millions of Americans live in regions where car insurance is not affordable. The agency looked at auto insurance premiums for basic liability coverage of motor vehicles in some 9,000 zip codes that have a high number of “under-served” consumers – including those with low to moderate incomes and those who are minorities. What they discovered was that the rates were not affordable in 845 of those zip codes analyzed. That’s approximately 9 percent of those areas, which equates to about 19 million people nationally.  Continue reading →

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The Sunshine State has a vast number of amazing qualities – but the safety of its roads apparently isn’t one of them. 

The newest report from SmartGrowth Design, Dangerous by Design 2016, details Florida’s abysmal rates of pedestrian deaths, relative to the number of people who walk to work. This year, researchers combed through data of 104 cities across the countries. Eight of the nation’s top 10 most dangerous cities are in Florida, as is No. 11. While the national average rate is 52.4, the top metro area in Florida – the Cape Coral/ Fort Myers region – had a rate of 283.1. Orlando-Kissimmee-Standford metro region ranked at No. 3 with a rate of 235.2.

What that means is when it comes to pedestrian deaths in Orlando, our ranking is 350 percent higher than the country’s average.  Continue reading →

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Florida has the most senior driver traffic fatalities in the country, according to a report released a few years ago by TRIP, a national transportation research group. The study showed that in a single year, 271 drivers over 65 were killed in auto accidents that year, and more than 500 traffic deaths of all ages involved at least one senior driver. Those totals are higher than any other state, including California, which has the most over-65 drivers in the nation (3.1 million, which is about half a million more than here in the Sunshine State). 

We can only expect these figures have increased as not only has the number of overall auto accidents and fatalities spiked in recent years, but so too have the number of over-65 drivers. Back in the 1970s, roughly half of all American seniors had a driver’s license. Today, 84 percent of them do.

Recently, a study by Pew Charitable Trusts highlighted the fact that by 2030, more than 60 million senior drivers are going to be on our nation’s roadways. Many states – including Florida – have laws already on the books that seek to restrict the licenses of elderly drivers, either through required vision tests or more frequent renewals. However, in the last few years, researchers noted, there has been reticence in state legislatures to enact additional measures – despite the growing number of older drivers. In fact, some states have even been rolling back these restrictions.  Continue reading →

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A car accident can have a number of different causal factors. Almost always, there is some degree of driver error by at least one motorist. In some cases, these crashes might also be the result of poor road design.

Poor road design and poor road maintenance are two different things, but they can sometimes overlap in litigation.

Government agencies that own the streets, roads and highways have a responsibility to make sure they are reasonably safe for motorists. That means using the appropriate care in the design of the roads, and also in road maintenance. Continue reading →

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Our nation’s streets, roadways and thoroughfares are an increasingly dangerous place to be. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports the number of highway deaths in the first six months of this year spiked 10.4 percent – to 17,775 – as compared to the first six months of 2015. And last year marked the biggest yearly percentage increase in traffic deaths in five decades.

One of the main culprits? Distraction.

Specifically, our gadgets, and in particular, those that are intended for use in a moving vehicle. There is hands-free calling, which research has shown is no safer than use of handheld devices, despite the disparity in Florida law and in laws across the country. There is an app on Snapchat that allows drivers to post images of the the driver while recording his or her speed. There is an app called Waze that gives users points for immediately reporting traffic crashes and snarled traffic. Then of course there is the Pokemon Go app that has prompted drivers to search for virtual creatures along their route. All of this collectively amounts to a much different landscape of distraction than just a decade ago when we first starting talking about, “distracted driving.”

Back around 2005 or so, the nation was talking about how problematic it was that so many people were using their cell phones to send text messages. At the time, most people didn’t even have the smartphones we’re so familiar with today. Now, according to a Pew Research poll conducted in 2015, half of users say they, “couldn’t live without” their smartphone. Text messages continue to be the most popular feature, but internet use, video calls, email, video and music are also popular features.  Continue reading →

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The goal of any injury lawyer at trial is to win the case and obtain fair compensation for the client. Unfortunately, even the most skilled attorneys can’t promise they will win every case. Our Orlando injury lawyers strongly believe in our clients, and we will fight tenaciously for a favorable outcome. Part of doing that means preparing properly for an appeal – which actually starts even before the trial gets underway. It’s sort of like insurance: The hope is that you won’t need it, but if you do, you want to know it’s there. 

The reason this is important is that generally appellate courts will not take notice of issues and disputes that were not properly raised, challenged or preserved before the trial court.

There are many ways to do this. As The American Bar Association points out, preserving matters for appeal is usually an ongoing effort throughout trial. It involves:

  • Making sure the pre-trial record is clear and pretrial orders are carefully reviewed for error or oversight;
  • Making sure that the statements of fact are coherent, cohesive and interesting (because appellate courts will simply be reviewing the cold record of the case);
  • Making good objections to challenge to correct any misstatement of the court or defense counsel immediately;
  • Carefully reviewing/ requesting modifications to the jury charge;
  • Filing post-trial motions such as judgment notwithstanding verdict, request for a new trial, etc.

Continue reading →

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