Jacksonville Personal Injury Blog

A St. Johns deputy who was off-duty was involved in a fatal crash in Hastings on Sunday night, April 24. The officer was in his patrol car heading home when he struck and killed a pedestrian close to a car pulled over with mechanical failure. The 44-year-old man was on State Road 207, according to a report by Channel 4, after his SUV had brake trouble and he skidded to the median. Two other drivers came to his aid about 10:30 p.m. and they had connected the SUV to a white truck. That’s when the driver reportedly stepped off the median and into southbound traffic where he was hit by the 33-year-old deputy who works in the school resource unit. The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) reports charges are pending and the deputy has been placed on administrative leave.

Family members say the accident victim was a reliable man who always took precautions. Reportedly the cars towing the SUV had their flashers on and the victim stayed on the lane.

Our condolences go out to the friends and family of this man for his sudden passing.

Florida’s Move Over Law
Under the Florida Move Over Law, a motorist must change lanes away from the flashing lights and an emergency vehicle on the side of the road. Motorists are supposed to leave the lane next to the accident clear so emergency workers can do their job safely. Motorists should also slow down to 20 miles below the posted speed limit on a two-lane roadway so no one responding to the scene is struck by a vehicle. An FHP spokesman said the victim stepped into the roadway but without an investigation just how far he walked into the roadway is still unknown.

As law enforcement conducts its investigation, the family would be well-advised to contact a reputable Florida pedestrian accident lawyer to conduct an investigation into the facts that led to this death while witnesses are still around and evidence is available. Only then can the events tell us if this was a wrongful death that was entirely preventable.

Orange County authorities believe a 32-year-old mother may have been intoxicated when she ran off of an Orange County road on Saturday, April 23, and hit a tree in a fatal accident that took the life of a 14-year-old girl riding in her vehicle.

The Orlando Sentinel reports the woman was behind the wheel of a 1998 Toyota sedan and was traveling southbound on Overland Road in Apopka and may have been driving without a license with her four children in the car. Authorities say around 5 p.m. she lost control of the vehicle and went into a ditch, causing the Toyota to roll and then strike a tree. The 14-year-old, who is not referred to as the woman's daughter in the story, was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. Three other children ages 10, 11, and 16 were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and released into state custody. The FHP says the mother was suspected of driving while intoxicated and under the influence of drugs. A blood test should confirm that suspicion. She was taken to Florida Hospital with serious injuries and is expected to be charged.

Our condolences are expressed to the friends and family of this young teen who lost her life so suddenly. Her family is in our prayers.

Florida now has a primary seat belt law that requires everyone in the front seat and all those under the age of 18 in the back seat to be securely strapped into the vehicle with a seat belt or child restraint system. There is a reason – a seat belt is the single most effective safety device in your car. When the seat belt law was enacted in June 2009, it was estimated that just buckling up would save more than 124 lives and prevent 1,733 serious injuries as well as save more than $400 million in related costs every year.

Research shows that properly worn lap/shoulder belts reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate to critical injury by 50 percent.

The Florida auto accident attorneys at Farah & Farah are also experienced in the rare cases when a defective seat belt fails causing injury and death. Car accidents can be very complex and that’s why we offer a complimentary consultation to get you started on considering your options following a collision.

A 65-year-old Ponte Vedra, Florida woman was hospitalized on Saturday, April 16, after the boat she was a passenger in slammed into a dock along the Intracoastal Waterway. The Florida Times-Union reports the dock was located at 75 S. Roscoe Road in St. Johns County behind a vacant house and the accident occurred at almost the same location of a fatal boating accident two years ago that killed five people.

The woman sustained head injuries from the collision of the 1999 Vessel powerboat with the dock around 2:45 p.m. First responders found her husband at the scene and the boat wedged under the dock. She was taken to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for treatment of her injuries. The newspaper reports her husband was not injured in the Florida boating accident.

The Florida Wildlife and Freshwater Fish Commission is in charge of investigating the Saturday boating crash which occurred in an area known as “the ditch” about a mile north of the Palm Valley Bridge which is an area known to be narrower and shallower than other areas of the Intracoastal making it difficult to navigate, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

There is no word from this story who was behind the wheel of the boat at the time of the crash, but a witness told authorities that two bottles of beer flew out when it collided with the dock.

The Florida Wildlife Commission conducted the investigation into the five deaths along with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) because of the number of deaths and injuries. A similar investigation will be conducted in this crash case. A Florida personal injury attorney who specializes in boating accidents will want to conduct a thorough look into the crash to determine what the throttle, the engine, steering mechanisms, and damage to the vessel reveals. The lawyers at Farah & Farah have successfully represented dozens of boating accident victims in and around Florida seeking and receiving compensation for their injuries and lost wages.

It was a frightening trip to school on Tuesday morning, April 19, for some Jacksonville elementary school children after their bus T-boned a motorist who had run a red light. The Florida Times-Union reported that five out of 23 children on the bus were taken to Baptist Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries after the 7:50 a.m. collision.

The bus was heading to Love Grove Elementary School when the crash occurred at the intersection of University Boulevard and Coronet Lane on the Southside. According to Jacksonville police, the driver of a Mercury car pulled into the intersection and was hit by the school bus, causing the car to rotate and hit a truck before coming to a rest. The bus driver also hurt her leg but declined a trip to the hospital.

Two mothers arrived on the scene to take their children to their own doctors for evaluation. The children said they lurched forward when the accident happened and at least one fell on the floor of the bus and another had neck and head pain. An investigation of the Jacksonville bus accident is ongoing and law enforcement tells the newspaper that the driver of the Mercury will be cited for the collision.

The Jacksonville bus accident attorneys of Farah & Farah hope you never get a call that your child has been involved in a school bus accident.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in a 2004 report found that a total of six children were killed in school bus-related crashes in the state between 1998 and 2002, with the majority of fatalities occurring as children loaded or unloaded the bus.

It is often the motorist who causes a school bus collision and while front impact accidents cause the most injuries, a rear-end crash is more common. If you see a motorist who fails to stop at a bus safety stop sign you are encouraged to call 1-888-STOP-4-Kids, a hotline set up to report motorists who violate the safety of children around a school bus.

A 51-year-old woman was jogging in Fruit Cove outside of the Julington Creek Plantation development on State Road 13 on Saturday, April 16, when a trailer came loose from a truck and struck and killed her, according to a report by Channel 4. The woman was on the sidewalk and the trailer broke from the hitch of the pickup truck then continued another 50 feet before stopping in a ditch. A 17-year-old driver was behind the wheel and was reportedly hauling a flatbed of sod.

Friends and family are calling this a freak accident. The woman’s family includes three sons; ages 25, 24, and 18 and all gathered at the family home Saturday night to show their support.

Our condolences are extended to those who loved this mother and wife for her sudden passing.

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) reports that charges are pending against the driver. If the 17-year-old was on the job, his employer could also be held liable for this fatality.

Whether hauling sod, debris, lawn equipment, or anything in the back of a truck or trailer, it is imperative that the items are properly secured. The trailer hitch should include a safety chain so even if the hitch fails, the trailer will not detach from the vehicle. When attaching a trailer, the manufacturer’s instructions will dictate the amount of weight that can be towed. The brakes and turn signals must be working on the rear of a trailer.

Additionally, it is important the driver has been properly trained in these safety procedures and how to secure items within a trailer. If the business has failed to properly train its employee, it could be held liable for this tragic death.
Drivers too need to be aware that debris flying from a trailer is more common than we would like to believe. Many accidents are caused when a motorist suddenly swerves to avoid a fallen object.

Florida wrongful death attorneys have seen the devastation that can occur when someone loading a trailer is negligent. From a broken windshield, to auto accidents, and even death, these types of accidents are tragic and most important – they are totally preventable.

On Sunday, April 17, the federal government announced new rules that will prevent air traffic controllers from falling asleep on the job, according to a report by CNN. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Air Traffic Controllers Union agreed to the changes, effective immediately, after a number of air traffic controllers were found sleeping on the job. Under the new rules, controllers will be able to take at least nine hours off the job between shifts. Currently, they are allowed an eight-hour minimum. And after a day off, the controller cannot be put on a midnight shift.

On Saturday, April 16, another air traffic controller was suspended by the FAA for sleeping on the job. This incident was the seventh disclosed by the FAA so far this year. It was reported this week that some air traffic control towers only have one person on duty during night hours. Two planes at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington had to land with no communication from the control towers this past Wednesday, April 13. Two controllers have now been scheduled on the overnight shift at Reagan. em>The Washington Post reported last July that the number of near-misses at Reagan National in just six months had surpassed the total of 18 the previous year.

To hold someone legally responsible for an aviation accident, the law allows recovery under the legal theories of negligence and product liability. Litigation in the aviation field can be complex as it involves both state and federal laws, and oftentimes a high number of potential defendants.

Florida aviation accident attorneys understand aviation accidents and how to preserve your rights. A statute of limitations may apply, so Farah & Farah offers a complimentary consultation on your injury case. Call us at 1-800-533-3555.

A bicyclist was riding along the side of a St. Johns County road on Wednesday afternoon, April 13, when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver, according to Channel 4. The station reports the collision occurred on County Road 214 between Interstate 95 and County Road 13A just before 4 p.m. where the bicyclist’s body was found on the side of the road. Troopers believe the man was riding westbound along the side of the road when he was hit by a westbound traveling motorist.

Our condolences are extended to the friends and family of this man for his sudden and tragic death.

The public is being asked to come forward with any information about who may have caused this tragic and fatal collision. The preliminary description is that the vehicle was a Nissan Xterra SUV or Nissan Frontier pickup. Witnesses also say the vehicle could be a dark blue Ford Ranger pickup.

Leaving the scene of an accident becomes a criminal act punishable by up to 30 years in state prison. If you have information about this accident, call the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office at 904-824-8304 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277- TIPS (8477), or call Traffic Homicide Investigator, Deputy J.D. McGinnis at 904-829-6595.

The Farah & Farah personal injury law firm is a member of Hit-and-Run Reward, a national program financed exclusively by U.S. personal injury attorneys who believe if you report a hit-and-run driver you will not only feel good by keeping a dangerous driver off the road, but you could receive a financial reward of $1,000 for anyone you turn in who is later convicted of the hit-and-run. This program is offered in addition to the Crime Stoppers reward program, so doing the right thing could yield you $2,000. The number for is Hit-and-Run Reward is 1-800-644-8678. The Florida bicycle crash lawyers at Farah & Farah believe fewer offenders will leave the scene of an accident if they know they will be turned in by a witness.

A hit-and-run collision led to the death of a Spring Hill bicyclist on Sunday, April 10, and now police want the public’s help in finding the driver and his damaged vehicle. My Fox Tampa Bay reports a full-sized black Chevy Silverado pickup with upgraded rims and a hard shell bed was observed hitting the bike and dragging the rider for a short distance before the driver fled the scene at US Highway 19 near River Country Drive. The pickup truck driver, described as a while male, was heading northbound on US 19 and was last seen on Northcliffe Blvd. The 28-year-old bicyclist was a Spring Hill resident who was traveling northbound on the paved shoulder of US 19 in the outside lane. Law enforcement found parts of a front headlight at the collision scene.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the FHP at 1-813-631-4020 or contact Crime Stoppers in Hernando County at 866-990-8477.

In addition to the reward offered by Crime Stoppers, the Florida bicycle accident lawyers at the Farah & Farah law firm is a member of Hit-and-Run Reward, a national program financed exclusively by American personal injury attorneys who believe if you report a hit-and-run driver you will not only feel good by keeping a dangerous driver off the road, but you could receive a financial reward of $1,000 for anyone you turn in who is later convicted of the hit-and-run. Doing the right thing could yield you $2,000. The number for Hit-and-Run Reward is 1-800-644-8678.

My Fox Tampa Bay reports that a Citrus County man died on Friday evening, April 8, after the lawnmower he was using to pull a homemade trailer was struck by a pickup truck. The accident occurred as the 45-year-old man was traveling on the shoulder of State Road 200 in Hernando, FL, and was trying to cross East Brave Lane.

The man reportedly pulled onto the road where he was hit by a 2005 Ford F-350 pickup truck. Both the truck and the lawnmower ended up on the east side of the road. The truck driver and his passenger were not injured in the collision, whereas the man riding the lawnmower was taken to Citrus Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 9 p.m. There is not much more information in this story but Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) plans to conduct an investigation into the cause of the collision.

Our condolences are extended to the friends and family of the man who lost his life due to this tragedy.

Without much more information, I would want to know why the man riding the lawnmower pulled onto SR 200. Was his vehicle out of control or defective in some way? Was there excess speed by either party? Was there debris in the road or some reason the truck driver did not see the smaller vehicle and try to avert a crash? It would also be important to check whether or not drugs or alcohol played any part in this collision.

The Florida personal injury attorneys at Farah & Farah work with a team that includes accident investigators, case managers, and accident reconstruction experts. Only when we put together the pieces of an accident can we determine the degree to which one or both parties contribute to a crash. Call Farah & Farah if you would like an opportunity to discuss your personal injury case. You may be able to be compensated for the costs associated with your injury from the responsible party.

In what should accurately be called an assault on a citizen’s right to a remedy through the courts, Florida lawmakers are considering capping the amount of money an attorney can receive if they successfully represent a victim of a negligent nursing home, reports The St. Augustine Record. The proposal, (HB 661, SB 1396) caps pain and suffering (non-economic damages) at $250,000, even if it costs that much to bring a successful case to trial. It would also make it tougher to obtain punitive damages to make sure the nursing home never commits the crime of negligence again. The bills also do not allow the injured to name the owner of a nursing home in a lawsuit if they live outside the area or are strictly an investor.

The lines in this debate are drawn with lobbyists for the nursing home industry, the Florida Health Care Association interested in cutting down on “opportunistic lawsuits”, and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which represents business, facing off with the AARP and Florida Justice Association, which represents trial attorneys. Debra Henley, the executive director, points out that there is nothing in the bills that would help nursing home residents and nothing that makes homes accountable for their actions that lead to injury and death.

The Florida nursing home abuse attorneys at Farah & Farah find that nursing home litigation holds nursing homes accountable for negligence when state law fails to do so. There is currently no cap on a wrongful death at a nursing home, but capping pain and suffering is a disincentive designed to discourage Florida law firms from tackling these types of costly cases. We understand there are deserving nursing home residents who have been victimized by facilities that put profits over people. These victims are the people we will continue to represent until they nail shut the courtroom doors.

Traffic on the Dames Point Bridge came to a halt for nearly two hours on Monday, April 4, after a dump truck overturned, spilling its load of dirt on the center lane, according to a report by Jacksonville’s Channel 4 News. No one was injured in the accident, which was reportedly caused by an Isuzu driver who cut in front of the truck, causing the dump truck driver to swerve to avoid hitting the car, which caused the truck to roll onto its left side. The television station reports that all three northbound lanes were blocked. The Isuzu driver was cites for improperly changing lanes.

While the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) finds that overloaded trucks, poor driver training, and equipment failure onboard a big-rig can contribute to accidents, a crash is not always the truck driver’s fault. Motorists often underestimate the trucks’ capabilities, its limited acceleration, braking, and visibility and often do not realize the distance needed by a truck to react. Motorists also often fail to realize that the large truck driver cannot see them in a blind spot. A good rule of thumb is if you cannot see the truck driver in their rear view mirror, they cannot see you either.

Litigation involving trucks is somewhat complicated in that there are specific laws, both federal and state, that oversee tractor-trailers and the trucking industry as a whole. The negligent party who caused the collision may have disobeyed traffic signals and traffic conditions, may be driving under the influence, may have failed to use a turn signal, or may have been speeding. If the other driver was at fault, you may be eligible for damages caused by the accident, including medical treatment, lost wages, property damage, a reduction in earning capacity in the future, pain and suffering and the loss of enjoyment of life. The Jacksonville truck accident lawyers at the Farah & Farah law firm want you to know there may be a time limit under state law within which to file an action, so call us today.

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is investigating a fatal accident that involved a bicycle and a Ford Expedition on Friday, April 1 on Belvedere Road near Caroline Avenue in West Palm Beach. The Palm Beach Post reports the bicyclist, a man in his 40s from Palm Springs, was riding his bicycle before dawn in the suburban West Palm neighborhood when the Expedition struck the bicycle from behind. The 64-year-old driver from Boynton Beach said he didn’t see the biker. The bicyclist was not wearing reflective clothing and his bicycle had no reflectors or lights.

There is no word in this story whether or not any charges will be filed against the driver and whether or not the bicyclist was wearing a helmet. He apparently died at the scene of the fatal Florida bicycle accident.

In Florida in 2009, bicycle rider and passenger fatalities dropped from 118 in 2008 to 100 fatalities in 2009, a decline of 15.3 percent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2005 that every 10 seconds someone is taken to the emergency room for injuries suffered in a car crash, which we all pay for. Auto accidents cost about $99 billion annually in medical care and lost productivity, while the tab for bicycle crashes runs about $5 billion.

Our condolences go out to the family of this man for his sudden death.

Motorists need to drive defensively and assume there may be anything ahead on the road. The Florida bike crash attorneys of Farah & Farah can represent you in court, even if you shared in some of the responsibility for the accident. Call us to see how we can help you in a complimentary meeting.

New data from the consumer group, Public Citizen, finds that more than half of the time, state medical boards do not discipline doctors who commit some sort of medical malpractice as cited by the hospitals where they work. Public Citizen looked at 10,672 physicians listed in the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) who had their clinical privileges revoked or were facing some sort of licensing action by the state medical boards. Fifty-five percent of them, or 5,887, did not face any licensing action by the state, indicating that the medical board did not receive the disciplinary action information or failing to take action.

The bottom line is that many potentially dangerous doctors who have a history of medical malpractice, are going unchecked and leaving patients unprotected. The information was sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urging the office to begin a state medical board investigation.

Of those doctors cited, more than 1,000 were noted to be incompetent, negligent, or committed malpractice, 605 were accused of substandard care, and 220 were cited as a danger to a patient’s health or safety. The violations were considered so striking that the hospitals took away clinical privileges permanently for 3,218 physicians, and 389 lost practicing privileges for more than one year.

Florida’s Dangerous Doctors
Florida is cited in the data for failing to take any disciplinary action against a doctor who had hospital privileges permanently revoked in 2002 and 10 medical malpractice actions between 1992 and 2009. Two patients died, a foreign object was left inside a patient, and another suffered from a misdiagnosis.

Florida was among the top four states for the number of physicians with one or more clinical privilege actions totaling 572, of which 63% faced no state medical board actions. Public Citizen sent the findings to Florida and 31 other states whose medical boards did not take action.

The medical malpractice Jacksonville attorneys at Farah & Farah have an open door policy to anyone who is injured by a dangerous doctor who has escaped disciplinary action.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) reports that traffic deaths in 2010 in the country fell to 32,788, the lowest number ever recorded, according to a story in USA Today. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began keeping highway fatality deaths in 1949. The death rate of 1.09 per 100 million miles in 2010 is also the lowest on record. Compared to 2005, when 43,510 deaths were recorded, the latest figure represents a 25 percent drop in traffic fatalities. All of this is happening at a time when Americans are driving more than ever. So what is contributing to safer roads?

More attention is being paid to drunk driving. States have more check points and education efforts appear to be working. More people are wearing seat belts, the most effective safety device in an automobile. There is more enforcement of traffic safety laws, reports the NHTSA.

Florida is part of the five states in Region 4 which had a drop of 3 percent in traffic fatalities from 6,573 deaths in 2009 to 6,375 fatalities in 2010.

Region 1; which encompasses Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island; had the largest drop of 17.7 percent or 1,157 deaths. Region 2; which includes New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; had the lowest decline of 2.4 percent or 3,067 deaths.

The Farah & Farah law firm applauds these numbers. For more than 30 years, safety advocates have been calling for additional safety features to be added to vehicles including seat belts, air bags, stronger roofs, and a lower center of gravity to reduce rollover accidents. Citizen groups have also been calling for increased crackdown on drunk driving and improved child safety seats and enforcement. Too often the auto industry has resisted change because of the cost. The industry does a cost-risk analysis and finds it is cheaper to settle accident or death cases than to improve safety. So while things are improving, there is still more to do.

If you have been injured in an accident with a negligent driver, you may be able to hold the at-fault party responsible for the costs associated with your injuries. Don’t try to go it alone. The Florida car accident lawyers at Farah & Farah offer complimentary consultations. Call us at 1-800-533-3555.

The Orlando Sentinel reports on a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), which says that passenger deaths for SUVs have fallen to become the lowest among all passenger vehicles, about 115 deaths per million vehicles. However, that was not always the case. In 1980, sport utility deaths were among the highest - 494 deaths per million vehicles, twice that of other cars, which dropped to 134 deaths per million in 2000.

The IIHS study of 2001 traffic deaths included vehicles from the 1998 to 2000 model years. Pickup trucks had the highest number of deaths at 170 passenger deaths per registered vehicles.

This is the first time SUVs have had a lower death rate than other vehicles. With a high center of gravity, sport utility vehicles were more prone to fatal rollovers. The IIHS reports in 2001, SUV rollover accidents led to 47 percent of deaths compared to 36 percent in trucks and 20 percent in passenger vehicles. Since then, stability control has been added and the center of gravity has been lowered in SUVs, many of which now sit on a car not a truck frame. SUVs also offer more protection and in a collision with a passenger car, the IIHS report finds. At 4,000 to 5,000 pounds, a smaller compact car’s passenger is most likely to suffer injuries or death.

The IIHS and common sense dictate that in a collision, a heavier vehicle is most likely to protect passengers from injury and death. With more than 30,000 fatal crashes in 2007, the Florida car accident lawyers at Farah & Farah encourage passengers and drivers of vehicles to avoid becoming a statistic by always wearing a seat belt, the most cost-effective safety equipment on any car.