Jacksonville Personal Injury Blog

This was a very sad story to report last September. A University of North Florida student from Egypt, working on his MBA, Yasser Ibrahim Hamdy, 23, was riding a scooter with his two roommates when he was hit by a car, flung from the scooter, and hit by a second car. A News4Jax report states that he died at the scene. Hamdy had just received the scooter as an incentive for signing a lease on a Jacksonville apartment near UNF and he had no experience riding one. He also was not wearing a helmet.

Police have been looking for the initial Florida hit-and-run driver for some time. Now she has been arrested. Brittany Nicole Briscoe, 20, has been charged with leaving the scene of a Florida accident involving death and speeding. She is also charged with driving with a suspended license and causing serious injury. Both charges are felonies. How did police track her down? Briscoe, of Atlantic Beach, was actually tracked to her father’s home in Orlando.

There they found the 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse allegedly involved in the accident which occurred at 2:15 a.m. on Beach Boulevard. Tips came in that led investigators to Briscoe. The second car that hit Hamdy was located a few hours after the accident. The driver, Alex Ward Jr. 22 of Mayport Naval Station didn’t know what he had run over. He has not been charged. Briscoe has been booked into the Duval County jail where she is held on $75,000 bail.

Florida Hit-and-Run Accident Statistics
For some unknown reason, the number of hit-and-run cases is increasing in the state. Duval County follows only Miami-Dade and Broward Counties as having the third most FL hit-and-run crashes in 2008, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

In Jacksonville, there were more than 2,000 hit-and-runs in 2007 and 2008. Compare that to 349 in 2006. Generally one can assume that the person who flees has something to hide. He or she might be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. They might be driving with a suspended license or no license at all. They could be in this country illegally or have an outstanding warrant for their arrest. Or they could just panic and run.

Continue reading "Woman Charged in UNF Student Hit and Run Death" »

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Posted In: Hit-and-Run Accident

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This hit-and-run crash is still a mystery and is being investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol. According to a www.tallahassee.com article, a 43-year-old woman from Quincy was driving with a passenger in her car at I-10 mile marker 230 in Jefferson County. That’s when another vehicle came up and struck the back of her Chevrolet Geo which threw the Geo into a tree on the north shoulder. The hit-and-run driver then kept on going. EMS workers arrived on the scene to free the woman who was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, but there is no word on her passenger. The female motorist was wearing a seat belt. She is listed in serious condition.

We are so thankful that the driver was wearing her seat belt otherwise her injuries could be so much more severe. We are praying for her recovery and that of her passenger.

Florida Hit-and-Run Accident Stats
Although this accident did not happen in the Jacksonville area, it should be noted that Duval County, Jacksonville, follows only Miami-Dade and Broward Counties as having the third most hit-and-rum crashes in 2008, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

For some unknown reason the number of hit-and-run cases is increasing in the state. In Jacksonville there were more than 2,000 in 2007 and 2008. Compare that to 349 in 2006. Generally one can assume that the person who flees has something to hide. He or she might be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. They might be driving with a suspended license or no license at all. They could be in this country illegally or have an outstanding warrant for their arrest. Or they could just panic and run.

Florida law states that “the driver of a vehicle involved in a crash [. . .] that results in the death of any person must immediately stop the vehicle [. . .] and remain at the scene…” If a driver does not do this, as the driver of the Cadillac did, can be charged with a first degree felony (Fl Statutes Title XXII 316.027). The maximum sentence for a first degree felony is a $10,000 fine and as much as 30 years in prison.

Liability Issues
In such cases, the families of victims would be well-advised to contact a reputable Jacksonville injury attorney who will keep in touch with the official investigation and make you’re your rights are preserved. A knowledgeable car accident lawyer will also be able to advise victims about how their car insurance policy applies to a hit-and-run crash or in a case where the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured.

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Posted In: Hit-and-Run Accident

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A bicyclist has been in the hospital and recovering for the last six weeks after a hit-and-run driver nearly killed him while riding on his bicycle.

He was on his bike on McCormick Road in Jacksonville, training for a charity ride, the MS 150, in Daytona. But on October 1, two days before the event, he was hit by a truck, pinning his bike against the railing and throwing him in the air. He says he has no recollection of being hit or of the driver speeding off leaving him behind in the road.

Five broken ribs and a broken shoulder blade, three weeks in the hospital, a drug-induced coma, and 40 pounds lighter, the injured bicyclist is happy to be alive. His wife can’t believe someone left her husband in the road to die.

"I was floored by the disregard that someone had for him. As he said, there was ample bicycle lanes, no reason for this to have happened," she said.

McCormick Road has just received its own bike lane just so accidents like this don’t happen. But they do.

Continue reading "Hit and Run Bicyclist Survives to Tell His Story" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Bike Accident , Hit-and-Run Accident , Personal Injury

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She will spend the next four years in prison for DUI manslaughter. Many are saying she got off lucky. It was bad enough when last April, the 25-year-old woman side-swiped a van on I-295 near San Jose Boulevard. But instead of staying at the scene of the early morning wreck, police say she drove away.

She might have gotten away with it, but when she left the scene, she kept driving and then lost control of her pickup truck on Crown Point Road and struck a tree. As often happens with people who are driving while under the influence of alcohol, she was uninjured, but her 30-year-old male passenger died at the scene. Despite the death of her passenger, the woman took off on foot and was eventually tracked down by K-9 teams.

The woman pled guilty to DUI manslaughter. This week she was sentenced.

We wonder how the family of her passenger feels about her four years behind bars. According to state guidelines, the woman could have received 15 years for a felony in the second degree. Leaving the scene, in this case twice, bumps the sentencing to a first degree felony.

The driver of any vehicle involved in a crash that results in the death of any person is required by Florida law 316.027 to immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the crash or as close as possible, and remain at the scene.

You are required to stay and render aid and give information to any officer investigating the scene and to give aid to anyone injured at the scene including getting them to a doctor or hospital if that is requested by the injured person.

Continue reading "DUI Hit-and-Run Driver Sentenced" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Drunk Driving Accident , Hit-and-Run Accident , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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