Jacksonville Personal Injury Blog

A two-vehicle crash has left one person dead on the Northside early Saturday morning. Darrin Head, 29, was heading north on North Main Street, north of Yellow Bluff Road when his pickup crossed and collided head-on with a car in the southbound lane. The car driver, Matthew Likewise, 27 of Jacksonville is in Shands with critical injuries. His passenger died at the hospital while Head suffered minor injuries in the accident which happened 2:25 a.m. Charges are pending according to the Florida Highway Patrol. A News4Jax story reports that the passenger was not wearing a seat belt. There was a second passenger in the car who also suffered minor injuries.

Our condolences go out to the family and friends of the unnamed person in the vehicle who lost their life so suddenly in this crash. So many lives are permanently altered in a moment.

Seat Belts Accident Statistics
This Jacksonville head-on car accident highlights the importance of seat belts. It is not coincidence that the person who died was not wearing a seat belt, although the report does not tell us if the others were.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration traffic fatalities statistics have just been released for 2009. The numbers show that there were 33,963 highway deaths for 2009, a drop of 8.9 percent from the previous year. NHTSA attributes the decline in 2009 to a combination of factors that include high visibility campaigns like Click It or Ticket to increase seat belt use, and Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest which helps with the enforcement of state laws to prevent drunk driving and distracted driving.

Wrong-Way Crash Cause
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reports that overall about 1.5 % of fatal crashes result from driving the wrong-way. The causes are numerous and include:

• Intoxicated


• Older drivers who are easily confused


• Drivers who are purposely driving the wrong-way to, for instance, avoid traffic jams


• Drivers who aren’t paying attention and mistake an on-ramp for an off-ramp or vice versa.

Continue reading "Passenger Dies in Northside Crash" »

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Pilot error is blamed for last year’s deadly crash near Buffalo, New York, that killed 50 people onboard and one person on the ground. The head of the National Transportation Safety Board says the pilots’ errors show “complacency and confusion that resulted in catastrophe.”

The Continental Connection Flight 3407 was the subject of a NTSB report issued Tuesday, February 2. Unfortunately the events are something we have seen before.

Safety Issues Raised
The safety issues raised by the Buffalo accident are reported industry-wide and point out the gap between the safety of major carriers and regional ones.

Five of the six major crashes involving air travel have occurred among regional airlines since January 2001, reports the NTSB.

At the regional airports, increasingly used to fill the gaps, lower-paid pilots who must commute long distances to work often fly tired as was the case here. Capt. Martin Renfro was coming in from Florida to Newark and his co-pilot flew in the night before from Seattle, where she lived with her parents. She made less than $20,000 a year and was flying fatigued and sick.

Flight 3407 stalled on approach to the Buffalo airport, and in response to the automatic stall warning, the pilot pulled back on the controls instead of pushing them forward to gain speed. Then he pulled back three more times. The NTSB said it was at a loss to explain that action.
Safety Recommendations

In its report the NTSB Office of Aviation Safety issued 25 recommendations.

Continue reading "Pilot Error Blamed For Buffalo Crash That Killed 51" »

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Posted In: Aviation Accident , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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It is not the typical type of vehicle that can do harm. But a 62-year-old man has died after being hit by a golf cart over the weekend. The accident occurred at the Queen’s Harbour golf course when the man stepped out of the cart to look for a ball and another car hit him and pinned him between the carts. He then hit his head when he fell.

Our sincere condolences go out to the family of this man for this unfortunate accident.

Liability Issues
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office reports that no charges will be filed, but if I was the family of this man, I would want to know whether there was alcohol involved. Driving a golf cart while intoxicated could place liability on the second driver. A golf cart is unlike a motor vehicle because they are not supposed to be used on roadways. They are not supposed to travel over 20 mph. However, they can be used on the roads inside certain communities and recreational facilities. What happens if someone is injured by a golf cart? Where does the liability fall?

Florida actually defines a golf cart as a dangerous instrumentality because they can be involved in many different types of accidents that cause injury. Because of that, I would want to research whether the owner of the golf cart was responsible for the damages and harm caused. An investigator could determine who the vehicle belongs to and if he had liability coverage in case there is bodily harm or property damage. It is not uncommon for the owner of the golf cart to be named as a defendant in a lawsuit for damages or death.

Continue reading "Man Dies After Being Hit By Golf Cart" »

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A three-year-old girl was mauled to death by a Pit Bull tied to a tree. It happened Saturday, February 20, 2010 in Ocala at the home of the girl’s family who owned the dog. The mother was not supervising when the dog attacked the little girl and when the mother came outside and found her, the girl was already dead. The family breeds pit bulls for a living and Marion County Animal Control removed four dogs in all from the home. The three other children who live there and the father were not home at the time of the attack.

Our condolences go out to the family for the death of this little girl. No matter what the circumstance, losing a child is a tragedy that will never be forgotten.

Florida Dog Bite Statistics
Every year it’s estimated there are about 4.7 million dog bites in this country that result in 30 deaths. And the number of canine homicides, as they’re called, seems to be growing from the 80s and 90s. About 800,000 dog bite injuries end up seeking medical treatment. Men are twice as likely to be injured as woman, but often children are the victims of vicious dogs who perceive them as easy prey. Often it is more than one dog, or a pack, that will attack. About two dozen breeds have been linked to fatal dog bites, with Pit Bulls and Rottweilers at the head of the list.

Continue reading "3-Year-Old Killed By Pitt Bull" »

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Posted In: Dog Bite Attack , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Orange Park is located within Northeast Clay County and is a popular town and suburb of Jacksonville, Florida. In addition to attracting a variety of visitors throughout the year, the city of Orange Park is home to more than approximately 9,043 residents and Clay County encompasses over 180,000 individuals. As a major section of such a densely populated area, Orange Park experiences its share of bike accidents, especially with an increase in residents attempting to save money on gas and get more exercise. When a bike injury collision is caused by a negligent or distracted driver, an injured bicyclist may want to get in touch with a skilled Orange Park bike accident attorney.

It is an unfortunate reality that several motorists fail to yield the right-of-way to bicyclists, and even pedestrians and other vehicles. Statistic estimates from the U.S. Department of Transportation reveal that about 2% of all traffic accident deaths and incidents of injury involve bicycles. Whether a bike crash causing death or injury takes place in Orange Park, FL or anywhere else in the U.S., these types of accidents can impose several physical, emotional and financial consequences for an injured individual and their family to surmount. Some common bike accident injuries include broken bones, permanent scaring, disfigurement, lacerations, bruising, paralysis, brain injury, and even death. Although these injuries range in severity, many of them may contribute to steep medical bills, loss of wages, emotional trauma, and other damages.

The experienced Orange Park personal injury attorneys at Farah and Farah have dedicated many years to assisting those injured in bike accidents due to another person’s negligence. We have the legal resources and knowledge to handle any personal injury case, whether it relates to a bike accident, pedestrian injury, or another kind of automobile accident. Get in touch with Farah and Farah for more information regarding your legal rights and to schedule a free consultation by contacting us at our Orange Park, Florida office today:

(904) 264-0700
1534 Kingsley Avenue
Orange Park, Florida 32073

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Posted In: Bike Accident , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A one-year-old girl who was in a car involved in a wreck in Wesley Chapel, Florida, died Saturday, January 9, 2010 according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The young girl was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital, where she had been in critical condition since the wreck.

She was one of three people in a Honda that was struck by an SUV that crossed over the center lane of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, just south of State Road 54. The driver of the 2010 Cadillac SUV was a 67-year-old man from Brando, who died in the collision. He wasn't wearing a seat belt.

There is no word whether the infant was properly restrained in an infant car seat. Our hearts go out to the family of this little girl. There is very little information about whether she was strapped into a child restraint system as is required by law.

Continue reading "Injured Tot Dies in Wesley Chapel Crash" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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News4 in Jacksonville reports that a St. Augustine pedestrian died after he was hit by a car driving down U. S. Highway 1 near Old Moultrie Road in St. Johns County. Traffic investigators say a 57-year-old man was standing alongside the highway around 4:15 a.m. He was wearing dark clothing. A 24-year-old man was driving down U.S. 1 and didn’t see the pedestrian in time to avoid the accident. The male pedestrian later died at Flagler Hospital. The motorist was not injured and the Florida Highway Patrol reports no charges are pending.
Our condolences go out to family and friends of the deceased pedestrian.

Pedestrian Dangers in Florida
The Florida Department of Transportation reports the state’s pedestrian fatality rate during nighttime hours is double the national average. A recent review of all pedestrian accidents in the state, released in 2008, ranked Florida #2 nationwide for pedestrian fatalities. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that between 1997 and 2007, more than 5,000 pedestrians died on the state’s highways, 10.4% of all pedestrian fatalities across the nation for that same period of time. A study conducted by the University of Florida points to a number of reasons for Florida’s high fatality rate: warmer weather which encourages walking during longer winter nights and urban sprawl which creates a reliance on high-speed arterial highways such as U.S. 1. These highways are not always well lighted, adding to the danger.

Continue reading "Pedestrian Killed in Early Morning Auto Accident" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Pedestrian Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A devastating crash involving a Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy cruiser and a Honda Civic leaves an Oakland Park, Florida teenager dead and two others in the hospital. According to police and witnesses at the scene, the accident happened at the corner of Dixie Highway and Northeast 56th Street. The investigation into just what happened demonstrates how difficult it can be to find the cause of such a tragedy and how important it is to seek legal guidance to make sure justice is done.

According to police and news reports, a 21-year-old girl was driving the Honda, headed north on Dixie Highway. She was attempting to turn left at Northeast 56th Street when the police cruiser, headed south on Dixie, slammed so hard into the Honda that the back end of the car was sheared off. A 14-year-old a passenger in the Honda was thrown from the car and pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and another passenger, who is 15-year-old, were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The Sheriff’s Deputy driving the cruiser, a 21-year-old man, was also taken to the hospital where he was treated for minor injuries and released. He is new to the Sheriff’s Department and has neither commendations nor reprimands on his record. He has not been placed on leave from his job.

Our hearts go out to all the victims of this terrible accident. The loss of a child is especially difficult and our prayers are with the girl’s family and friends as they try to come to terms with what happened.

Reconstructing An Accident
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office says it may take months to determine who is at fault and as more details come to light, it is easy to see why.

First—one witness at the scene who gave an account of the accident to investigators is now accused of having lied about what happened.

Second—while witnesses claim the cruiser was driving at a high rate of speed, the Sheriff’s Office says it is unclear at this time how fast it was going. Furthermore, officials say Honda had a green light, but not a green turn arrow, which means it should have yielded to oncoming traffic.

Third—witnesses asked why the Sheriff didn’t have his emergency lights or siren on during the crash but officials say he shouldn’t have, since he was responding to a routine call at the time.

Fourth—both drivers have a record of traffic citations, both for speeding, and one for charges of improperly changing lanes and failing to wear a seat belt.

Continue reading "14-Year-Old Killed In Crash Involving Police" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A study by Ohio State University shows the dangers of walking and talking on a cell phone. Hundreds of injuries have been reported from distracted pedestrians. Just over 1,000 pedestrians have visited emergency rooms in 2008 because they tripped or ran into something during a cell phone conversation or texting while walking. The New York Times reports on the case o a 16-year-old boy who walked into a telephone pole and suffered a concussion. A 28-year-old man trapped and fractured a finger while he gripped his cell phone. And 68-year-old man fell off his porch while talking on a cell phone.

We think of the dangers of driving while distracted, but the rate of ER visits has doubled from 2007, which doubled from 2006. And consider this – most people injured while walking and talking would not even thing to call it into a hospital if the injury is minor.

Florida is already the most dangerous state for pedestrians, with nine out of the ten most dangerous metro areas in the south, according to Transportation for America. Far too many pedestrians are killed on an annual basis in Florida. With the explosion of personal communications devices, there is no reason to believe that there will be any improvement in the dangerous practice of distracted walking. To help prevent pedestrian accidents in Jacksonville and throughout the state of Florida, please do not use your cell phone while crossing the street or engage in other distractions when doing so.

Source report: http://www.justicenewsflash.com/2010/01/19/study-talking-walking-injuries-pedestrians_201001193036.html

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Pedestrian Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Two teenagers were killed in Ocala following a crash, Tuesday, January 12, 2010 when the BMW they were riding in collided with the rear of a dump truck. The driver of the 1987 BMW 325i was traveling at a high rate of speed, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, when he topped a hill on Northwest 100th Street, near North U.S. 441, and crashed into the rear of a Mack Granite dump truck. His passenger died an hour after the crash. The driver died on Thursday. Both teens were 18-years-old and both were seniors at North Marion High School. The dump truck driver received minor injuries.

Seat belts were in use at the time of the accident.

Our hearts go out to the families of these two young men who were best friends. The driver’s father says his son never drank or smoked and was a good son. We are sorry for your loss.

An investigation needs to determine just how fast that dump truck was traveling when the collision occurred. The FHP says that the truck was slowing for road work and that there were numerous signs along the hilly street to indicate road work was ahead. An investigation needs to confirm that information.

If there were not adequate warning signs posted behind that working dump truck, the company responsible as well as Marion County could be liable.

Continue reading "18-Year Old Killed Rear Ending Dump Truck in Ocala" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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The 20-year-old was a good nurse. So when she was told to show up at Jacksonville Naval Hospital’s Mayport clinic in 2005, despite the fact that she had a cold and worsening headaches, she did so. But that decision turned deadly for a young pregnant woman.

An undiagnosed sinus infection became bacterial meningitis taking her life. Monday, December 28, 2009, the government finally settled with the family. Most of the $850,000 will go to her 4-year-old daughter who was delivered seven weeks early by C-section as he mother lay dying. The child will not go without, but she will go without her mother.

Our condolences to the family for their immense loss. It is a complete tragedy, especially considering that the failure-to-diagnose case is the third settled by the family’s attorney with this hospital.

Medical Malpractice
By failing to diagnose this young woman simply by taking her temperature, determining she had a bacterial infection and treating the infection with antibiotics, the hospital committed malpractice. She had shown up at the Mayport clinic with the respiratory infection and a two-to-three day history of headaches, but told to continue taking over-the-counter (OTC) medication. Even the young woman’s mother called the clinic herself to demand they give her daughter a prescription for antibiotics. Instead the daughter received a different OTC medication.

Malpractice occurs when a standard of care is violated and that clearly happened here. By the time the bacterial meningitis was diagnosed, it was too late. She died two days later and her organs were donated. Her mother says her daughter was her best friend.

Continue reading "Navy Settles Medical Malpractice Case" »

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Posted In: Health & Information , Law & Information , Medical Malpractice , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A 20-year-old Fort Myers, Florida, man lost control of his truck on Interstate 75 and lost his life. The Florida Highway Patrol reports that the man was heading south at a high rate of speed when the vehicle hit a curve north of the Bayshore Road exit. Because of the speed, the 20-year-old’s vehicle skidded onto the west side of the highway and then overturned four times. The young driver was ejected when his driver’s door opened. Despite the fact that he was wearing his seat belt, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Our condolences go out to the family of this young driver.

Young Driver Traffic Statistics
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, young drivers, ages 15-to-20, represent 9 percent of the U.S. population in 2007, and 6 percent of the licensed drivers. But they also represent 19 percent of the fatalities in the United States in 2007.

Approximately two-thirds of the people killed in fatal young-driver crashes are the young drivers themselves or the passengers (of all ages) of the young drivers.

Of the passengers killed riding in vehicles with young drivers, 67 percent are in the same 15-to-20-year-old age group as the drivers. And 56% of the fatal crashes and 57 % of the fatalities involving young drivers occur on rural road-ways.

Continue reading "Fort Myers Man Ejected From Truck" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A 24-year old driver was arrested at Orlando International Airport Tuesday, January 12, 2010 and accused of causing a crash that killed two women in 2008. Authorities had “flagged” his passport after he went to Lebanon last year. The man is facing two counts of DUI manslaughter and two counts of vehicular homicide for a July, 2008 crash that killed a 20-year-old woman and a 19-year-old woman.

The driver was trying to reenter the country when he was arrested on an active warrant. He is being held in jail since FHP considers him a flight risk.

Vehicular Manslaughter
The two young women were traveling north on Dean Road after leaving SR 408 exit, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The man reportedly had a blood alcohol level of .085 when he ran a red light driving his 2008 Infinity south on Dean road. He was speeding according to troopers, going 68 mph in a 45 mph zone. The speed literally split the Acura in two, killing the two women at the scene.

Friends of the male driver say he was not leaving the country to avoid prosecution, but to visit his relatives. Our condolences go out to the families of these two girls who have had to wait for justice for so long.

Florida Accident Statistics
Florida drivers ages 15 to 19, have the highest rate per 10,000 licensed drivers of crash involvement (399.04) and drivers 20-24 have the highest rate in fatal crashes (4.24), according to 2008 statistics from the Florida Highway Patrol.

Continue reading "Driver Arrested at Orlando International for Vehicular Manslaughter" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Some budget changes apparently are needed in Miami. But budget cutbacks have also cut back the response time of emergency personnel. In this case, a bicyclist was hit by a car on the busy South Florida causeway into Key Biscayne Sunday, January 17. The car was driven by a man who is facing DUI manslaughter charges. His driving record has previous incidents and he has been accused of battery. But it took rescue personnel 12 minutes to respond. The nearest fire rescue station at Key Biscayne is only opened part time. So Miami-Dade sent rescue personnel from its open station, which is in South Miami, which explains the 12 minute wait.

Unfortunately. that time was too much for the cyclist who did not survive the crash. Both Key Biscayne and the City of Miami Fire Rescue are closer to the scene of the accident. The family issued a statement, “Lives were changed forever, and two families are grieving and going through an extremely difficult time.” The county is launching an investigation.

Our sincere condolences go out to the family of the affected individual. The response time is a strong factor in survivability of a bicycle crash with an automobile.

Florida Bicycle and Passenger Fatalities
While bicycle and passenger fatalities decreased 2.5% from 121 to 118 in 2008, 118 bicyclists were killed in 2008 in Florida. There were also 4,380 injuries during that time period from 4,775 crashes. Unfortunately, car drivers will often tell you they did not see a bicyclist or a motorcycle. That is often because they are not looking.

Continue reading "Emergency Response to Miami Bike Accident Delayed Because of Budget Cuts" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Bike Accident , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A 19-year-old from Atlantic Beach near Jacksonville suffered fatal injuries when the pickup truck in which he was riding got a flat tire and rolled over. The crash happened Thursday afternoon, January 14, 2010 at about 4:15 p.m. on Interstate- 95 and LPGA Boulevard in Daytona Beach.

The teen was one of two passengers ejected from the vehicle, a 2005 Ford, after the driver lost control and the car went into the grass median before overturning twice. He was not wearing a seat belt. The other passenger, a 21-years-old, also of Atlantic Beach, was not wearing his seat belt and was hospitalized. The 29-year-old driver from Atlantic Beach was wearing a seat belt and sustained minor injuries.

Our prayers go out to the family members of the young man who did not survive and the other injured man who was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach and is recovering. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Florida’s New Seat Belt Law
Many people argue that they should not have to wear a seat belt if they do not want to and they refuse to buckle up. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports 20% of drivers are still not buckling up.

Continue reading "19-Year-Old Killed in Daytona from Flat Tire, Rollover" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Rollover Accident , Wrongful Death

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has updated its guidance for people who work late-night in retail establishments due to the number of people killed on the job. According to federal statistics, 167 retail trade workers were killed behind the counter in 2007 with nearly half working in gas stations, liquor and convenience stories. 39 were killed in convenience stores, 32 worked at gasoline stations, and seven worked at liquor stores. And while retail outlets experience a disproportionate amount of violence in the workplace, those premises that made any changes to improve conditions is fewer than 2%.

The only good news to report here is that the number of retail workers who died at workplace violence has declined over the past 10 years from 286 in 1998 to 167 in 2007. OSHA recently updated its guidance report, Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments, which was published in 1998. The updated Recommendations identify risk factors and feasible solutions.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, all employers are required to provide a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. Otherwise, someone injured on the job through no fault of their own, may have a premises liability case against the owner of the place of business.

In terms of other types of dangers on the job, OSHA reports that 5,071 workers died on the job in 2008. Employers under federal law are required to report any work-related deaths or in-patient hospitalization of three or more employees to their OSHA area office or call OSHA toll-free at 1-800-321-6742.

Source report: http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=17115

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A 24-year-old Merritt Island, Florida woman was killed when the truck she was riding in was struck by an oncoming truck on South Tropical Trail. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the young woman was pronounced dead after the crash, which happened at 5:36 a.m. near Crooked Mile Road.

Traffic investigators say the woman was riding in a 2001 Toyota truck driven by a 26-year-old man from Orlando. According to troopers, the motorist was speeding north on South Tropical Trail. He overcorrected when he drove onto the shoulder of the road, veering into the path of a southbound 1997 Ford truck. A 45-year-old Merritt Island resident was driving the Ford. Both she and the driver were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The crash is under investigation and charges are pending.

We offer our condolences for family and friends of the young woman and our prayers for a full recovery for the injured parties.

Speeding Vehicles Cause Accidents
We do not know the specific causes of this accident or who will be held responsible. But we do know that speed kills. Federal statistics from 2008 indicate that speeding is one of the most prevalent factors in traffic fatalities. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says speeding was involved in about 31% of fatal crashes in 2008, causing 11,674 deaths.

Continue reading "Truck Crash Kills Merritt Island Woman" »

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The city of Gainesville, Florida, is the largest in Alachua County with an estimated population of 114,375 and also is home to one of the biggest national universities, the University of Florida. Gainesville scenery is highly regarded, according to the 2007 edition of Cities Ranked and Rated, which named it the #1 place to live, and National Geographic Adventure noted it as one of the “best places to live and play.” As a top city and an education landmark, the Gainesville community may be publicly regarded as a safe environment. However, from time to time, incidents of hospital malpractice in Gainesville take place in which birth injury may be a result.

A birth injury is one of the most grief sustaining incidents that no family should every have to experience, especially when a family is under the impression that they can trust professional medical staff to provide adequate hospital care. When a hospital official, physician, or nurse practitioner fails to handle a critical birthing situation, the newly born baby may sustain serious health problems, mental defects, physical disfigurement, or even death under the most traumatic circumstances. In addition to the baby potentially suffering from medical negligence, the mother may also endure serious harm as well. In such conditions of suffering from the improper care of a negligent professional, a family may want to seek the help of a skilled Gainesville birth injury lawyer to find out their legal rights and possible options for compensation.

Not only is birth injury an unfortunate occurrence, but hospital malpractice is a serious form of negligence that causes people seeking treatment unnecessary physical pain and avoidable emotional grief. Common forms of hospital malpractice include improperly prescribed drugs, misdiagnosis, error during surgery, and even ignoring a patient in a desperate condition. Though a doctor or staff member may have caused irreversible errors, these parties may be held liable for any pain, expenses or unfulfilled responsibilities as medical professionals.

Farah and Farah personal injury attorneys have been working with families and the victims of medical malpractice and birth injury for several years and have the experience necessary to help protect the rights of mistreated patients. If you or a family member has experienced financial, emotional, or physical grief or loss due to medical malpractice or birth injury, contact the Gainesville offices of Farah and Farah for a free and confidential consultation:

(352) 375-3393
2233 NW 41st. St.
Suite 700-1
Gainesville, FL 32605

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Posted In: Birth Injury , Medical Malpractice , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A Tallahassee, Florida man died on January 9, 2010, when he crashed into the rear of a semi-tractor-trailer rig on I-10. The 48-year-old man was traveling on I-10 just west of SR 77 near Chipley in Washington County.

The Florida Highway Patrol says he was heading east just before noon when he hit the rear of the tractor-trailer. The driver of the truck said he was on cruise control at 68 mph when he felt a large explosion. When he looked into his rear view mirrors all he saw was dust and debris. The 48-year-old man’s vehicle was actually stuck under the trailer rig. The man was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics from Washington County.

Our condolences go out to the family of this motorist.

When a fully loaded tractor-trailer weighing in at over 80,000 pounds collides with an automobile weighing about 3,000 pounds, even if it is a rear-ender, 98 percent of the fatalities occur to people in the passenger vehicles. It sounds as though there was nothing the driver of the big-rig could have done to be safer on the road.

Distracted Driving
Almost weekly we are reporting about people who collide into the back of the vehicles. Dialing a cell phone and texting can contribute to distracted driving. But also, reaching into the back seat, changing the radio, having an argument in the car, and being sleep deprived, may all contribute to a less than safe driver.

According to a study by Virginia Tech last year, dialing a cell phone made the risk of crash or near-crash event 2.8 times as high as non-distracted driving; while talking or listening to a cell phone made the risk of crash or a near-crash event 1.3 times as high as non-distracted driving; and reaching for an object such as an electronic device made the risk of crash or near-crash event 1.4 times as high as non-distracted driving.

In Florida, there were 243,342 traffic crashes in 2008, which averages 665 per day. The type of crash, rear-ending the vehicle in front, tops the list of types of crashes, according to the Florida Highway Patrol in its 2008 statistics. In that year, there were more than 29,000 car accidents in Florida of this nature that resulted in more than 74,000 injuries and 318 deaths.

Nationally, NHTSA finds that at least 25% of police-reported crashes involve some form of driver inattention. That means more than 4,300 crashes each day across the country. And many suspect that estimate is low.

Source article: http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/81075122.html

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Truck Accident , Wrongful Death

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This may come as a surprise to many but it appears that rural roads have more traffic fatalities than the nation’s highway system.

This information comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. With about 23 % of the population living in rural areas, 56% of the nation’s 37,261 traffic deaths occurred on rural roads, according to NHTSA. That is almost six in 10.

The difference may be explained by the fact that while there are more crashes in urban areas, fewer of them result in fatalities.

Why do more crashes in the country lead to fatalities? One reason may be that drivers are traveling faster on rural roads. They are not as well-engineered as urban highways. And an emergency responder may take longer to get to you, decreasing the chances of survival. For example in Montana, the average response time is about 80 minutes.

37% of car accident fatalities in Florida occurred on rural roads or 1,113 fatalities, compared with 2,978 statewide in 2008.

Continue reading "More Fatal Auto Accidents on Florida's Rural Roads" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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The tragic death of a 6-year-old Jacksonville girl, hit by a car while she was in a pedestrian crosswalk, has sparked calls for justice. The attorney for the family of this young child wants to know why the driver of the truck that killed the girl wasn’t charged in the accident. And he wants changes in the law to correct what he calls dangerous, but common, misperceptions about crosswalks.

Reconstructing the Accident
According to the Florida Times Union, on December 21, 2009, the young girl, her mother and her 5-year-old brother were crossing San Jose at Kori Road and were only halfway to the median when the light at the intersection changed. All three were hit by a truck whose driver was not cited in the accident. The 6-year-old girl was killed; her brother was not injured, but her mother’s leg and some ribs were broken. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has declined comment on this story.

This is a sad story about the senseless death of a small child. Our prayers and sympathy go out to the family as they try to recover from this tragedy.

The Law Protects Pedestrians
According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 16.8% of all traffic fatalities in 2008 were pedestrians. 500 pedestrians were killed in pedestrian accidents on Florida highways in 2008. More than half (308) were killed while crossing a street. While not all those fatalities involved pedestrians in crosswalks, the law is clear that all motorists must yield to pedestrians regardless. According to the Florida Driver’s Handbook, it is “the motorist’s responsibility to do everything possible to avoid colliding with pedestrians” (Section 3.6).

The family’s attorney says pedestrians in crosswalks are in danger because of confusion not only about right-of-way but also of how crosswalk buttons function. He says most people think pushing the button at a crosswalk causes the traffic lights to cycle. This is wrong. He says pushing the button instead serves to extend the cycle, giving pedestrians more time to cross the street. In the case of this young girl, the button was not pushed, so the green light was much shorter and the family got caught in the middle of the street.

Continue reading "Attorney Calls for Charges and Changes in Crosswalk Laws" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Pedestrian Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A 55-year-old Kissimmee man died Sunday afternoon when he lost control of the motorcycle he was driving. The St. Petersburg Times reports the accident happened just west of Brooksville near B.W. Stevenson Road. According to the Florida High Patrol, the man was traveling east on Cortez Boulevard. He lost control of his 2000 Harley-Davidson motorcycle on a curve, hitting a concrete median and a reflective pole before the bike left the highway. The man was thrown from the motorcycle. Hernando County Fire Rescue pronounced him dead at the scene. The FHP said the man was not wearing a helmet. It’s unknown whether alcohol was a factor in the accident.

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

Motorcycle Accident Statistics
According to Florida Highway Patrol statistics from 2008, there were 9,618 motorcycle crashes that year. 17.8% of all traffic fatalities affected motorcycle drivers and their passengers. While the number of these fatalities was down from 2007 by 3.3%, 532 motorcyclists and passengers were killed in 2008. 45% of those victims were not wearing helmets.

Helmets Save Lives
In July, 2000, the State of Florida passed a law exempting adult motorcyclists (21 and older) from wearing helmets as long as they had medical insurance in the amount of $10,000. According to a study published in 2004 in the American Journal of Public Health, motorcycle occupant fatalities increased by more than 20% the year after the law was changed. Study author, Andreas Muller, PhD, concludes that “exempting adult motorcycle riders from wearing motorcycle helmets is counterproductive for motorcyclists’ health and unnecessarily increases insurance and medical care expenses.”

Continue reading "Motorcyclist Killed in Brooksville" »

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Posted In: Brain Injury , Law & Information , Motorcycle Accident , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Two women were killed Wednesday, January 6, 2010 in Hobe Sound Florida near Stuart, Florida in a two-car collision. The accident occurred around 1 p.m. involving a northbound silver Saturn, driven by a 52-year-old woman and a southbound red Mercury van driven by 73-year-old woman.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports the Saturn overcorrected after veering off of the side of the divided highway of U.S. 1. The car then careened over the center median and into the southbound traffic lanes where the Saturn was struck by the oncoming van. Both vehicles reportedly came to a stop in the middle of the southbound lanes. One of the drivers was pronounced dead at the scene and the other motorist died a short time later.

Our condolences are extended to the families of these two women. In just a moment their lives were extinguished. We are very sorry for your loss.

Construction Hazards on our Roads
We have no more on this accident such as the road condition and whether the individuals involved were wearing seat belts. We do know there is a great deal of road work underway on U.S. highways which contribute to highway deaths. The fact that one driver overcorrected indicates she experienced a drop off the side of the road.

In a recent article in the New York Times, entitled “Efforts Lag to Improve Safety at Work Zones,” reporters note that pavement edge drop-offs are a real hazard that result from so-called road improvements.

Accidents involving road drop-offs kill about 160 people every year and injure 11,000. The edge of a road is supposed to gradually decline into the dirt, but numerous studies have shown that steep drop offs occur when a roadway has not been finished properly or is in the process of being improved. That presents a danger to motorists who tend to overcorrect when they suddenly drop off the edge of a roadway.

In Texas in 2002, seven people were killed when the driver overcorrected into the path of a minivan. It turns out contractors had failed to smooth out the edge of a newly paved lane.

Continue reading "Over Correcting Leads to Two Dead on U.S. 1" »

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St. Augustine, Florida is sometimes referred to as the “nation’s oldest city” since it is home to the oldest port in the continental United States. With an estimated population well over 12,157, St. Augustine is widely known for its lovely beaches, classic architecture, and museums that reflect the life and culture of early Spanish explorers who settled in the area. St. Augustine is also a popular tourist spot in Northern Florida. Considering all that St. Augustine has to offer and its continuous growth in population, it is an unfortunate reality that birth injury takes place from time to time due to medical negligence or hospital malpractice.

A birth injury can have overwhelming consequences for a family to endure. If a medical professional fails to act efficiently and in a timely manner during the birthing process, a newborn baby may suffer serious health problems, scarring, disfigurement, and even death. The mother may also be at risk of suffering harm or injury if a doctor or nurse acts negligently. After a birth injury, a family has a lot on their mind and only wants what is best for their baby. During such challenging times, some families may find it beneficial to seek legal counsel from a skilled St. Augustine birth injury attorney who can help fully explain their legal rights and options if that is what a family decides is best for them.

Hospital malpractice may occur when a doctor, nurse, staff member, pharmacist, or technician causes a patient to suffer injury through negligent or improper treatment or care. Misdiagnosis, surgical error, abuse, and failure to treat a patient, and incorrect administration of drugs or treatment are a few examples of frequent incidents of hospital malpractice. If hospital malpractice or negligence causes an innocent patient to suffer injury, illness, or death, those responsible for such action and poor treatment may be held legally and financially accountable.

If you and your family have experienced a birth injury or another form of hospital malpractice in St. Augustine, please contact the experienced Florida personal injury lawyers at Farah and Farah. We have worked vigilantly for many years protecting the rights of injury victims and their families. Farah and Farah has achieved successful outcomes for our clients in birth injury and hospital malpractice litigation. We can help you. Get in touch with Farah and Farah today at our St. Augustine office for a free and confidential consultation:

(904) 797-7977
1301 Plantation Island Drive
Suite 206A
St. Augustine, Florida 32080

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Posted In: Health & Information , Law & Information , Medical Malpractice , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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The 2010 Roadmap to State Highway Safety Laws report is out.

Published by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a coalition of insurance, consumer, health, safety and law enforcement organizations that promote safer roads and highways, it shows that promoting 15 model laws could save lives on our highways and roads. States are graded on their performance in adopting and maintaining model traffic safety laws. The report concludes that not one state has enacted all of the recommended laws. They include:

• Adult Occupant Protection – Seat belt enforcement and all-ride motorcycle helmet laws.


• Child Passenger Safety – Child booster seat law requiring children ages 4 through 7 be placed in a booster seat.


• Teen Driving Graduated Driver Licensing – This phases in full driving privileges in a three-state process and allows for primary enforcement of the law.


• Impaired Driving - Drunk drivers would face an ignition interlock device if they have violated the law in the past. There would be mandatory blood alcohol testing in fatal crashes and an open container ban.


• Distracted Driving – A ban on text messaging for all drivers unless there is an emergency.

There are almost 40,000 fatalities and 2.3 million injuries at a cost of $230 billion every year.

Every day 102 people were killed on the streets and highways while more than 6,000 are injured.

Continue reading "2010 Highway Safety Report" »

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Situated in Northeast Clay County, the city of Orange Park is a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida. Orange Park has an estimated population of over 180,000 and has a high population density. In attracting visitors and new residents to its thriving community which is rich in history, Orange Park is a bustling region of Florida.

When taking Orange Park’s large population into consideration, birth injury has been known to occur due to the negligence of medical professionals or as the result of a different form of hospital malpractice. During such challenging times, families may find it helpful to seek legal guidance from experienced Orange Park birth injury attorneys who can help explain their legal rights and options.

Although birth complications and injuries are typically rare, they unfortunately occur more often than most Orange Park residents would like to believe. If a medical professional does not act in a timely manner or if a doctor fails to detect a problem or condition that they are supposed to be able to identify, a newborn baby may suffer severe health problems, scarring, disfigurement, or even death.

Birth injury is not the only form of hospital malpractice, but it can cause some of the most devastating consequences for a family to endure. However, no matter what an individual’s age or medical condition, he or she expects to be given quality medical care from a doctor, nurse, or other professional who is required by law to be adequately trained. If hospital malpractice or negligence causes an innocent patient to suffer harm, injury, or death, those responsible for such action and poor treatment may be held legally and financially accountable.

If you and your family have experienced a birth injury or another form of hospital malpractice in Orange Park, please contact the skilled personal injury lawyers at Farah and Farah. We have been protecting the rights of injury victims and their families for many years and know what it takes to reach a successful outcome in birth injury and hospital malpractice litigation. Get in touch with Farah and Farah today at our Orange Park office for a free and confidential consultation:

(904) 264-0700
1534 Kingsley Avenue
Orange Park, Florida 32073


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A single-car wreck in Jacksonville has left one person dead and three injured, including a baby. None of the automobile occupants was wearing a seat belt. The accident happened on Edgewood Avenue and Valley Forge Road Monday morning.

Police report that the three people were heading west when their vehicle suddenly hit a sign and a telephone pole about 6 a.m. and then went airborne, during which time all three occupants were ejected. A 20-year-old woman was taken to Shands Jacksonville where she was pronounced dead.

We know there was fog on the road at the time of the accident and the roads were wet. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is asking for any witnesses to help with information on the case by calling 904-630-0500, or call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS and you can remain anonymous.
In an accident, the insurance company for the other side will argue that there should be little or no liability because the individuals were not wearing a seat belt. The driver’s attorney can argue that wearing a seat belt in this case would not have increased the chance for survival or avoiding injury.

In 2008, The Florida Highway Patrol reports that there were 1,795 traffic deaths of drivers and passengers in the state, 60% or 1,085 of these people were not wearing their seat belts.

And 68 % of the children up to age 17 killed in auto accidents in Florida last year were not using safety equipment such as seat belts or child restraint systems.

Continue reading "Young Woman Killed in Single-Car Wreck" »

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A six-year-old Jacksonville girl didn’t stand a chance when she was hit by an SUV in a Jacksonville crosswalk Saturday morning. Her mother was pushing a stroller with her five-year-old disabled brother crossing San Jose Boulevard near Kori Road. The three were in the furthest southbound lane when the light turned green and a SUV pulled ahead and hit the little girl, killing her at the scene. Her 38-year-old mother was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries including a few broken ribs and a crushed ankle. The brother was not injured.

First Coast News reports that teddy bears and candles have been placed in the area of the traffic pole marking the accident scene.

The family attorney says the family didn’t have enough time to get across the busy San Jose Boulevard Saturday when she was hit. When Channel 4 tried the crosswalk, they found that if you hit the cross button, it gave you 45 seconds before the light turns green. If you don’t hit the button, it gave you 30 seconds - far too short for the busy road. While it is unclear when the family entered the crosswalk, that really doesn’t matter. State law says the pedestrian has the right of way the entire time they are in the crosswalk, as long as they enter the crosswalk with the walk light. An attorney for the family says it is clear that the family didn’t have enough time to cross the six-lane street.

That puts the burden of proof on the family attorney to prove that the city was not following the mandate for crosswalks and pedestrian safety.

Continue reading "Jacksonville Child Killed in Crosswalk" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Pedestrian Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A mother says in an interview that she's been waiting for this day to come ever since her one-year-old daughter was strangled by a home window blind cord in June 2002. That’s when she tucked twins into baby blankets in their cribs. One of the twins accidentally strangled herself by looping an inner cord within the window blinds around her neck.

Since the twin’s death, the mother has formed Parents for Window Blind Safety, lobbying the federal government for a recall of the dangerous blinds.

This week, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced one of the biggest product recalls in U.S. history, working with industry to recall all Roman-style shades and roll-up blinds with cords because of the risk of strangulation.

That includes more than 50 million blinds and shades from multiple manufacturers. The CPSC Web site has pictures of the various blinds that are involved in the recall. Basically whether a roll-up shade or a Roman shade, both have visible cords that can be pulled out from inside the folds on the blinds. For some toddlers, that is too much temptation to resist.

The CPSC has received reports of five deaths among children and 16 near-strangulations from fabric-looped Roman shades since 2006. Three deaths associated with roll-up blinds have been reported since 2001.

Continue reading "Roman Shades Recall" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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A 20-month old little Florida boy was attacked and killed by a Rottweiler after dropping his cookie on the floor, according to law enforcement authorities in New Port Richey, Florida. The baby was visiting his aunt’s home during a party Saturday night. The boy went to grab the cookie when the dog went for him.

Panicking, family members tried to pry the dog off the child, but it was too late. He died in the hospital. Animal control took the dog, which under law they have to keep for 10 days during which time the owner may request a hearing.

When a dog is in the hands of animal control and they are considering putting him up for adoption, one of the tests is to see if he is food aggressive. They try and remove the food while the dog is eating. If the dog goes for the person, he is considered unable to be put up for adoption.

Surely the owners of this dog would have known they had a problem with a large animal that had food aggression. Nonetheless, our hearts go out to this family for their tragic loss.

Generally, the owner of an aggressive dog that bites a person is liable for damages suffered by persons bitten. However, if there is any negligence or contribution by the person bitten, it reduces the liability of the owner. For example, if you are trespassing and are bitten by the dog that is there to protect the property, the liability of the owner is reduced. If a child provokes the dog, it could be considered the cause of the accident, reducing his recovery of damages.

However, if the child is under the age of six, it is presumed he is incapable of committing such negligence. Parents still have the responsibility of controlling and adequately supervising their child. If they fail to do so, it too could reduce the compensation payable by the dog owner if there is a bite.

Continue reading "Rottweiler Kills Toddler" »

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A woman driving in the Middleburg community near Jacksonville was fatally injured Sunday after being involved in a two-vehicle accident, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The 67-year-old woman from Venice, Florida was initially hospitalized in critical condition. The accident occurred on Blanding Boulevard at County Road 215. Investigators believe that she drove her Toyota Prius into the path of a southbound Ford SUV, failing to stop at both a stop sign and a flashing red light. The accident happened about 5:15 p.m. so it was still light enough to see. The SUV was driven by a Jacksonville man who suffered minor injuries.

Both individuals were wearing their seat belts. The woman died at Shands Jacksonville hospital.

The Toyota Prius has had its problems with unintentional acceleration.

While the story here does not say if that was a problem it certainly should be considered as part of any investigation. Other drivers have found themselves behind the wheel of the accelerating Prius they have no control over and have reported the incidents to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Continue reading "Woman Dies From Runaway Prius" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Auto Product Liability , Personal Injury , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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Cheerleaders didn’t feel much like cheering Saturday but members of the River City Rockets team did so anyway for their late team mate.

The 14-year-old and her mother were both killed in a family accident this week. The young girl was trying to park the family GMC Yukon in an Orlando parking lot when the large SUV suddenly lurched forward and fell into a retention pond landing on its roof. Her mother was killed instantly, the girl after the accident. Three other family members got out alive.

“The driver didn’t stop or the vehicle’s brakes didn’t work,” said Trooper Jorge Dedlahoz at the time.

The 14-year-old had been on life support as well at an Orlando hospital but she never recovered. The ninth-grader at Darnell-Cookman Middle /Senior High is being remembered by friends as sweet and smart. The cheerleaders wore bright colored socks in her honor.

The 14-year old girl’s mother never made it out of the vehicle. Divers found her some time later. But the girl’s sister, who is 3-years-old, remains on life support. The mother’s fiancé and his teenage child managed to get out of the vehicle suffering minor injuries.

Continue reading "Teen Driver Dies after Family Drives Into Pond" »

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A Jacksonville woman died when her SUV plunged into a pond in Orlando Saturday afternoon.
She has now been identified as a 35-year-old. Her fiancée was in the car as were two girls. The girls were both hospitalized in critical condition, the fiancée and a 13-year-old suffered minor injuries.

It’s still a mystery how this accident happened. The 2004 GMC Yukon was in the parking lot at the Floridays Resort off South International Drive. For some reason it jumped a curb, went through a fence and overturned after plunging nine feet into the pond.

Orange County deputies rescued the two girls while the others got out of the vehicle themselves. The woman, however, was found hours after the crash. Police have not yet determined who was behind the wheel of the Yukon when it went into the retention pond.

A terrible accident this time of year - the family is in our prayers and we will think of the girls still hospitalized. Police say alcohol was not a factor in this crash and no charges have been filed. There is no word whether anyone was wearing their seat belts.

With all of the water around Florida, the worst nightmare of many is to lose control of your vehicle and plunge into the water. It rarely happens, but if you are wearing your seat belt you, increase your chances of survival. Without a seat belt, you increase your chances of being knocked unconscious, hitting your head on a dashboard for example.

Continue reading "Family Crashes SUV into Orlando Pond" »

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A Sarasota man has died after a motorcycle wreck in Jacksonville this week.

The 40-year-old was hospitalized after the wreck on New Berlin Road in Jacksonville on Tuesday.

The man reportedly lost control of his Kawasaki, while traveling north around 2:15 p.m. He was wearing a helmet say police and there were no other vehicles involved in the crash. The man hit a guard rail and was thrown from the bike. He was pronounced dead at the hospital Thursday night.

In another motorcycle accident in Jacksonville a motorcycle and car collided Thursday night. A 59-year old man was on his Harley when it collided with a Honda Civic at New Kings Road and I-295. Police report the vehicle turned in front of the motorcycle as it was attempting to enter I-295. The rider was thrown from the motorcycle. He was not wearing his helmet. He is listed in critical condition at Shands. The driver and passenger in the Civic were wearing their seat belts and were not injured.

Continue reading "Motorcycle Crash" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Motorcycle Accident , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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She was just 18-years old. A young woman from St. Augustine and another teenager were killed Sunday night when the truck they were riding in collided with an ambulance.

It all happened on U.S. 1 near The Avenues Mall. At about 8:20 p.m., the 18-year old woman was riding in the middle of the front seat in a friend’s Chevy Silverado. The former Bartram Trail High School student was not wearing her seat belt, probably because there is not a belt for three people in the front.

Suddenly their truck collided with an ambulance. Law enforcement on the scene was not sure who had the right of way.

The young woman was pronounced dead at Shands Jacksonville. The driver of the truck, a 19-year-old, was also pronounced dead at the hospital Monday night. The other front seat passenger, a 17-year-old from Jacksonville was in critical condition at Shands. The two passengers in the rear were in serious condition. The four others in the pickup truck were not wearing their seat belts either, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Our prayers go out to the families of the two young people killed. The 18-year-old had left high school in 2006 and was in school to become a nurse. Her Facebook and MySpace shows that this beautiful young woman was full of life and loved by many. Many people say they felt blessed to have known her.

Continue reading "18-year-old Dies in St. Augustine Collision" »

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning parents and caregivers about the dangers to young children from furniture in the home that is not properly secured and leads to tip-over deaths. It happened in Jacksonville this year when a young girl reached for a toy on the top of a television just resting on a stand. It toppled over onto her killing her. She was just one of about 134 tip-over deaths reported to the CPSC in recent years. More than 16,300 children under the age of five were treated in emergency rooms in 2006 because of tip-over hazards.

Some parents may not think that an unsecured television, furniture, or appliances could be a hidden hazard, but they are and they exist in almost every room.

“The most devastating injuries resulting from furniture tipping on children are injuries to the brain and when a child is trapped under a heavy piece of furniture and suffocates,” according
to Dr. Gary Smith, who is Director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Continue reading "Tip-Over Injury Warning - CPSC" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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A petite 35-year old woman was a doctor’s office receptionist with a problem.

After purchasing nearly 4,500 doses of painkillers in one year, she got behind the wheel of a Dodge Durango on June 4, 2004 and weaved in and out of traffic before plowing into a man who had helped repair a flat tire on the side of a highway. The 21-year-old young man was killed at the scene. She also hit a 33-year-old man who was helping the other individual. He was injured. The female driver was not.

A lawsuit filed by the families of these afflicted men is pending in the Nevada Supreme Court. It charges that Wal-Mart Stores, CVS, and Walgreen Co. need to be held liable when they do nothing to curb prescription drug abuse.

It’s a precedent setting case that puts all pharmacies on alert. Typically pharmacies have been sued for providing the wrong prescription drug. The pharmacy industry predicts higher prices for all if litigation is allowed to hold them responsible for filling valid prescriptions.

It’s not unlike the situation with bartenders. They too can be held liable if a customer is served too much alcohol and doctors have been sued for failing to warn patients not to drive after taking certain medications.

Under Nevada law, pharmacies share prescription information among doctors, other pharmacists and law-enforcement officials in a database that is reported each month. It’s all intended to track potential drug abuse, such as that by Copening. It is reported to a Prescription Controller Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force which is supposed to send a form letter to the pharmacies the patient has visited to help get the patient into treatment after encouragement by the pharmacist. It sounds like a good intention, but has put pharmacists on the hot seat.

Continue reading "Pharmacies Fear Lawsuits Over Drug Abuse" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Health & Information , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A 14-year-old from Mississippi was killed Saturday in Laurel Hill, Florida while racing at a motocross park in an all-terrain-vehicle, or ATV. The accident happened at the West Florida Motocross Park in Walton County. Witnesses say that the ATV flew into the air after the driver topped a hill, throwing him over the handlebars and onto the ground. At that point, the ATVcrashed on top of him with such force that it split his helmet in half. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

As Christmas approaches, many parents might think getting an ATV for the kids is a good idea. Think again. Recently a five-year-old was killed in South Carolina, a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, and a three-year-old boy in central Wisconsin. A 15-year-old from Georgia was killed when he lost control of an ATV and crashed in rural Chattooga County. While ATVs were developed as a fun sporting three-wheel vehicle for hunters and outdoor enthusiasts, the next generation - the four-wheel version – includes the Yamaha Rhino side-by-side or SXS.

It has two bucket seats, an open cage with roll bar and no doors. The Rhino is a particularly dangerous type of ATV. Described as a “golf cart on steroids,” and a width of 54 inches and a high center of gravity, it is particularly prone to tip, even on flat surfaces or turning at slow speeds.

It’s fair to say this is an example of the tail wagging the dog. The Rhino SXS is new to the market and government regulations have not caught up with design. Classified as a recreational off-highway vehicle, or ROV, it is in a largely unregulated category of vehicle, not low speed, and not cars, and not exactly ATVs because it can go up to 40 mph.

CBS News tells the story of a young mother who went for a ride in the Yamaha Rhino in November 2005. Her husband sat next to her and their 2-year-old was in the back. Traveling down a rocky road in Arizona, the woman tried to turn left and flipped the Rhino causing it to roll onto the driver’s side. The woman hit her head on the roll cage and died instantly. Her husband suffered three skull fractures, while their boy was okay.

Continue reading "Rhinos, Rollovers and Death" »

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Posted In: ATV Accidents , Auto Accidents , Auto Product Liability , Personal Injury , Rollover Accident , Wrongful Death

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Because of Florida’s weather, we are a perfect place for off-road vehicles.

There are two-passenger motorized vehicles designed for drivers 16 and older that look like a golf cart, go a lot faster, and with a roll cage, resemble a miniature Jeep. Known as ROVs or off-road recreational vehicles, the consumer Product Safety Commission has decided that these vehicles have so many potential problems that mandatory rules will be written to oversee the vehicles.

This comes after more than 100 deaths since 2003, many of them teenagers and young children.

The makers of ROVs proposed their own voluntary regulations, but the CPSC says they fell short. The Consumer Federation of America believes that the industry has been dragging its feet even when facing well-documented hazards caused by these products.

Continue reading "Off-Road Vehicle Increased Oversight" »

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An 18-year-old who struck and killed a pedestrian drove off Monday night only to be caught by the Florida Highway Patrol three hours later. The male teen was taken into custody for leaving the scene of an accident.

The 65-year-old pedestrian from Jacksonville was found unresponsive at the scene of Timuquana Road and Seaboard Avenue where he had been walking on the side of the road. He died at the scene.

Law enforcement had a good clue where to look for the hit-and-run driver because troopers found a portion of a headlight and side-view mirror from a Ford F-150 pickup truck.

No word on how they found the male driver, but it was good work on their part. The teen driver is now jailed with bond set at $100,000.

If hit by a car going 40 mph, a pedestrian has an 85 percent chance of dying, so when striking someone with a car, it is almost certain there is some injury. To leave that pedestrian in the street with no idea of the extent of injuries or to potentially leave a fatally injured person on the road, turns an accident into a crime and in the eyes of the law is very serious. A conviction of a hit-and-run can bring a 15-year prison term.

His lawyer pled to the judge that the teen is a good kid and was planning to attend college and facing a felony charge and years in prison is extreme punishment. That argument may have fallen on deaf ears. Arguing that the teen is not a flight risk appears to be nonsense when describing someone who left the scene of an accident.

Continue reading "Teen Found and Charged in Hit and Run" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Pedestrian Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Married for 33 years, a couple, both 67-years-old, were looking forward to spending their retirement in the Palm Coast area of Florida between Daytona and Jacksonville. But that was not to be. On November 13, 2009, a Circuit Court jury in Flagler County granted the husband $5.1 million in the wrongful death of his wife. Back in 2006, she was killed instantly in a wreck between her Honda minivan and a fully loaded tractor-trailer. Her husband suffered a pelvic fracture.

The lawyer for the husband presented evidence that the tired trucker ran a stop sign at a well-known, isolated intersection in the southwest part of the county known as Cody’s Corner. The driver of Palatka was driving for McMaster Sod LLC of Bunnell, Florida.

An attorney argued that the county shared part of the fault for the accident because there was poor signage at the intersection, and there were worn rumble strips just before the stop sign. But the jury didn’t agree, placing 60 percent of the blame on the trucker, and 40 percent on McMaster and no blame on the county.

Some of the most compelling evidence included a Valentine’s card from the first year of the the couple’s marriage that said, “Our happiness is our wealth.”

Our hearts go out to the widower for his loss. No amount of money will replace his wife, whom he obviously adored.

Unfortunately, we are hearing more often about tired truck drivers. With the cost of fuel going up, and jobs scarce, many drivers are pushing beyond the legal limits on time behind the wheel and hiding those hours by keeping a second set of books so they are not fined. Then there are the added distractions on the road today. To stay in touch with their dispatchers and family, the cab of a truck is often filled with electronics so the driver doesn’t have to stop.

Continue reading "Widower Awarded $5 Million for Trucking Accident" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Truck Accident , Wrongful Death

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A 42-year-old St. Augustine, Florida woman was killed Friday night after authorities say she walked in front of a moving car. She was crossing Florida 207 when she was hit by a Honda sedan about 6:20 p.m. The driver was identified as a 55-year-old female from St. Augustine by the Florida Highway Patrol.

In a separate pedestrian accident in Florida about an hour later, a man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries Friday night after he was hit by a car in Northwest Jacksonville. The unidentified man was standing near the center of West Moncrief Road near Raines Avenue waiting for the traffic to clear, said the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Then the driver said the man just darted into traffic about 7:30 p.m. where he was hit. The man was taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital. Charges will not be filed against the driver.

On Tuesday, a pedestrian was struck and killed by an SUV at the rain-drenched intersection of North Main Street near 53rd Street. Police say the man was trying to cross the street when he walked in front of the vehicle.

The Times-Union reports the man’s relative identified him and that he didn’t have a car and walked everywhere he went. He later died at the hospital. No charges have been filed in that case.

Our condolences go out to the family members of these pedestrians, who have every right to cross a street as a car does to drive down one. We are sorry for your loss.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, in 2005 there were 576 pedestrians killed in the state, nearly 8,000 crashes that injured pedestrians and 8,626 pedestrian crashes.

Continue reading "Three Pedestrians Hit in Separate Accidents" »

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A Waycross Georgia mother thought a pellet gun was just a toy until her son was killed. An 11-year-old boy was at a sleep-over Friday night with two other boys at the football coach’s home when he was shot in the chest with a .177-caliber pellet gun. He was transported to Satilla Regional Medical Center where he died about an hour later. Our deepest condolences go out to the young boy’s family at this time. So many think that what is essentially a toy can do no harm. So unfortunately we have all found out otherwise.

The boys were reportedly playing PlayStation 3 video game when one of the boys picked up the loaded pellet gun and pretended to shoot it. Then the next boy, a12-year-old, took over the rifle and pointed it at the 11-year-old, shooting him point blank range in the chest.

As of Tuesday, District Attorney Rick Currie says no criminal charges will be filed in the death of the boy. That’s because no child under the age of 13 can be charged with a crime in Georgia, they can only be charged with committing a delinquent act.

Police report that the boys first tried to stop the bleeding themselves before calling the two adults watching television in the next room. They then called 911 while the adult tried to stop the bleeding and performed CPR. The paramedics had no idea the boy was shot. All they had been told was, “He can’t breathe,” and took that to mean that the boy was having an asthma attack.

In fact, the paramedics didn’t know that the boy was bleeding and had been shot until they got him to the hospital, which is incredible considering the amount of blood that must have been present.

The young boy’s mother says she can’t believe her son is gone and that she had so looked forward to him growing into a man: “I worked really hard on him.”

The boy’s father said he's dealing with pain and frustration, still trying to come to grips with what happened to his son, an honor roll student at Ware Magnet School where he played on the youth football team.

Continue reading "Georgia Youth Dies from Pellet Gun Blast to Chest" »

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There is a very bad proposal coming from Georgia’s Republican U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss as a way to keep health care costs down. Chambliss is known to be a friend to big business and his proposal shows it.

Chambliss is co-sponsoring legislation he says would cut down on so-called “frivolous” malpractice lawsuits.

Instead of capping the jury awards to the injured, cruel in itself if a truly injured person wins their case before a jury and is then told, “Sorry, state law caps what the jury wanted you to have.” Equally cruel, Chambliss has been joined by Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, in supporting a so-called “loser pays” legislation that would require those involved in a medical malpractice claim to enter nonbinding arbitration to try and resolve their differences.

Only if that did not resolve the dispute could they go to court, but if the injured loses, he or she would be on the hook to pay the opponents’ legal fees which easily could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Chambliss defends the proposal, called the Fair Resolution of Medical Liability Disputes Act of 2009.

Now remember this would apply, even if the person is successful before a jury but has their case turned over on appeal. That means all a deep-pocketed corporation has to do is keep filing appeals to higher courts and eventually the injured will run out of funds or their lawyer will. That’s how corporations use the courts to stomp on people and make them go away.

So ultimately the physically injured can become fiscally injured. The end effect will be no lawsuits are filed because no one wants to take the chance on what an unpredictable jury will do. And that’s the point.

In a statement Chambliss said, "While no one with a valid claim for medical malpractice should be denied his day in court, those who bring frivolous lawsuits raise the cost of health care for everyone, ‘Loser pays' should go a long way toward discouraging such junk lawsuits and lowering the cost of practicing medicine."

Folks - there are no frivolous lawsuits that I’m aware of filed by most big law firms. No one wants to put out the couple of hundred of thousands in lawyer time and hiring expert witnesses unless there is a case. Period. It just doesn’t make financial sense.

Continue reading "Loser Pays is a Bad Idea" »

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If you are driving a Toyota, I hope you are aware of what is going on.

Last month, Toyota announced it was planning its largest recall ever of nearly four million vehicles over the issue of loose floor mats that may be interfering with the accelerator pedal, causing the car to speed out of control.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has conducted an investigation into a high profile crash in California and is raising questions as to whether the floor mats are the only culprit in Toyota and Lexus models.

Last August, a Lexus ES 350, speeding out of control, killed an off-duty California Highway Patrol Officer, his wife, their daughter, and brother-in-law. All four died when the 2009 Lexus in which they were riding, a loaner car from the dealer, plummeted over an embankment in suburban San Diego at more than 100 mph before it burst into flames. The family was able to contact a 9-1-1- operator to say they couldn’t stop the ES 350. The brother-in-law, said the Lexus had no brakes.

Bob Carter, Toyota’s U.S. brand chief told the annual Reuters Summit recently said that speculation about a troubled fuel delivery system, braking, or runaway accelerator system is inaccurate.

"There's no evidence to support any of that," Carter said, adding that the automaker was working closely with the U.S. government to address the planned recall of up to 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles reports Reuters.

Since then, Toyota has warned consumers to remove the driver-side floor mats from eight Toyota models as a safety precaution, including the Prius.

These models are affected by this consumer alert:

• 2007-2010 Camry


• 2005-2010 Avalon


• 2004-2009 Prius


• 2005-2010 Tacoma


• 2007-2010 Tundra


• 2007-2010 ES 350


• 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350

Continue reading "Toyota's Ongoing Problems" »

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A 25-year-old Orange park woman lost her life on I-95 Saturday and it was a scene we’ve seen all too often.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that the woman was heading south on Interstate 95 in Flagler County when she lost control of her 1999 Ford Explorer SUV and crashed Saturday afternoon around 3:15 p.m. The FHP report says that the woman changed lanes to pass slow traffic and that’s when she moved to the shoulder of the road and lost control of the vehicle rolling it several times. The woman was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the Explorer and taken to Halifax Hospital where she was pronounced dead. No one else was reported to be in the SUV and no other vehicles were involved in the auto accident in Florida.

Our hearts go out to the family of this young woman whose life was cut short too soon. This accident never should have happened and I wish we could turn back time for the woman who lost her life.

When I read about this accident I was reminded of the Ford Explorer SUV that was overloaded with young people on the last day of school in June 2009. When a tire blew as the kids from Ed White High School were on their way to the beach, the driver lost control of the Explorer and with none of his passengers wearing their seat belts; all were ejected. Four teens lost their lives that day. That horrific accident is being blamed, at least partially, on the tire which blew out.

An accident investigator is going to want to check the tires on the vehicle involved in the Flagler County accident. There may be a cause of legal action if indeed the tire is determined to be the reason the woman lost control of her vehicle.

The second problem is the earlier model of Ford Explorer.

Continue reading "I-95 Accident Kills Young Woman" »

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A 17-year-old lost his life early Sunday morning in a three-car accident involving two other teen drivers.

The teen was traveling eastbound on Butler Boulevard at San Pablo Road near the beaches when his car swiped the side of another car that had hit a concrete barrier and was stopped on the side of the road. The driver’s passenger suffered serious injuries and the condition of another passenger was not reported.

Our condolences go out to the teen’s family. Motor vehicle accidents continue to be the leading cause of death among the young. We wish the surviving passengers a speedy recovery.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that the teen was not wearing a seat belt, while his other passenger was. The third it is uncertain.

All of this happened after an 18-year-old of Jacksonville lost control of her eastbound car and struck the concrete barrier. She and her passenger luckily got out of the car and ran to the side of the road before the car was hit by the oncoming car. They were wearing seat belts and were not injured. A third car, also driven by a teen a 19-year-old of Jacksonville, struck the 18-year-old’s car. It was the two car pile-up into which the 17-year-old drove into at 1:30 Sunday morning.

Young and inexperienced drivers, out late, not wearing seat belts, and likely traveling at excessive speed. Is it any wonder that automobile accidents in Jacksonville and throughout the State of Florida are the leading cause of death for young drivers?

Continue reading "17-Year-Old Dies in Sunday Morning Crash" »

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Nine deaths are now blamed on highly flammable women’s robe sold by Blair LLC and the company is expanding its recall. Made by a Pakistani manufacturer, Blair LLC of Warren, Pennsylvania has been working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to widen the recall.

So far about 300,000 chenille robes have been recalled including a full-length robe, a chenille jacket, lounge jackets, and chenille tops. Earlier this year there were five reports of death linked to the robes.

What generally happens is that women wear the chenille robe in the kitchen near the stove where they catch fire. The garment has failed to meet federal flammability standards so are particularly dangerous if near an open flame.

Most of the victims have been in the 70s and 80s, according to the CPSC.

This robe from Pakistan is the not the only product under a federal probe. Other chenille robes and chenille products also made by A-One Textile & Towel of Karachi, Pakistan are being looked at.

"This robe is highly flammable, flames travel quickly up the robe," said Scott Wolfson of the CPSC. "It's a deadly risk to women."

The recalled products were sold in Blair catalogs, online and at Blair stores in Warren, Pa.; Grove City, Pa.; and Wilmington, Del., from July 2000 through April 2007.

Continue reading "Recall of Flammable Robes" »

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A 12-year-old boy lost his life last Saturday afternoon in Palm Bay, Florida in a tragic accident.
The boy was riding as a passenger in a go-kart that was traveling about 30 miles per hour down a dirt road when he was ejected. The go-kart was being driven by a 16-year-old who apparently lost control after avoiding a hole in the road. Another passenger was injured when the go-kart flipped.

A witness called 911 but on the way to the hospital the 12-year-old boy went into cardiac arrest and could not be revived, according to an investigator who arrived at the scene.

Our prayers go out to the family of this young boy who lost his life in a senseless accident. His classmates report that he was in fourth grade and will be greatly missed.

We so often see young people who lose their lives when involved in accidents involving wheels. Scooters, ATVs, and mini-bikes all have the power to go at a high rate of speed and cause permanent traumatic brain injury to a child when he falls off. There is little training to drive a go-kart and helmets are rarely used.

Just this month, a 9-year-old suffered severe burns and lost all ten fingers in a go-kart accident at Palm Beach International Raceway in Jupiter, Florida. His go-kart flipped over and burst into flames after it allegedly hit some uneven pavement. In that case, the boy’s family has filed a negligence suit against the track for failing to maintain its surface and have fire extinguishers or emergency phones on hand. The boy is lucky to be alive as he was pulled from the burning wreckage.

In August, a 13-year-old also lost his life in a Miami accident when his go-kart was hit by an SUV on a public roadway.

Motorized go-karts are not licensed or equipped to be used on public roadways in Florida. The driver was not cited.

Continue reading "Florida Go-Cart Accident Kills Fourth Grader" »

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Posted In: ATV Accidents , Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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The push is on to ban texting while driving in Florida, one of 32 states where it is still legal to do so. AAA Auto Club is calling for a nationwide ban so that Florida can join 18 states where the practice is illegal.

Expect the 2010 legislative session to have at least two bills introduced by Florida lawmakers. Once again for the third year, Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton plans to push for a prohibition on texting while driving when the legislature convenes in March. And Rep. Doug Holder, R-Sarasota has filed HB 41 for the 2010 session to address the practice.

So far a ban has been unsuccessful and it’s beginning to be not only embarrassing for Florida, but more important, deadly. Five bills to ban the practice were filed in 2007 and in 2009, 11 bills were sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, but thanks to some pretty heavy lobbying, none passed. The Miami Herald calls the Florida Legislature the handmaiden to the telecommunications industry.

You would think after what happened to Heather Hurd, Florida would wake up. Heather’s Law, as it’s been proposed, is named after one of two Polk County women who was killed in an eight-car pileup caused by a tractor-trailer driver who was texting.

While the Florida Highway Patrol does not have a way to tally up those who die in the state from texting thought the state is beginning to reformat its crash reports to include that information. The best estimate was that in 2008, 15 people were killed in Florida and 1,400 were injured by distracted drivers.

Continue reading "Texting Ban in Florida Finally Considered" »

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A crash Tuesday night has left one 20-year-old dead and hospitalized two others in the San Jose area of Jacksonville. A man was riding in a sedan when his vehicle was T-boned by a van about 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of Old Kings Road and St. Augustine Road.

The man died at Shands-Jacksonville. Our condolences and prayers go out to his family.

T-bone crashes occur fairly often. In this case, the vehicle had turned left and into the path of the van. The van’s driver had minor injuries as did the vehicle driver.

Generally in a t-bone accident someone has run a light or stop sign at a fairy good speed. These can be the most devastating accidents. More often than not there are fatalities involved because the side of the vehicle has less protection than the front or rear.

The moving violation brings a $204 fine.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says of the 13 crash types identified, running traffic control accounts for 22 percent of all crashes that led to occupant injuries in 45 percent of red-light running crashes, compared to 30 percent in other types of crashes.

Continue reading "San Jose Fatal Crash" »

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The “Isle of Eight Flags” is home to Amelia City and Fernandina Beach, and is more commonly known as Amelia Island. Housing a population of a little more than 68,000 people, Amelia Island, Florida is part of the Sea Islands and is 18.2 square miles in land size. With tourism as the island’s main economic source, a large number of tourists and beach-goers visit Amelia Island each year.

Those unfamiliar with Amelia Island’s roads may not exercise the most cautious driving practices while visiting. While all vehicular accidents are dangerous, those involving motorcycles pose an even greater chance of injury occurring, particularly to a motorcyclist that does not have the luxury of being confined within the framework of a car to protect against impact. When such accidents occur, it is essential that an Amelia Island motorcycle accident lawyer is promptly consulted in order to ensure that the rights of the motorcyclist are not infringed upon as an accident victim.

Injuries resulting from vehicular accidents can range from minor bruises to catastrophic brain injury. While it is the hope that no one is injured during an accident, catastrophic injury afflicts motorists all too often, particularly motorcyclists. Such injuries can be life altering, especially brain injuries, and can seriously impair an individual’s ability to lead the life he or she had become accustomed to prior to the incident. When brain injury or any other catastrophic injury does occur, it is critical that an Amelia Island brain injury attorney is consulted to ensure that the negligent party responsible for the accident is held accountable for playing a detrimental role in causing injury.

If you have been injured in an Amelia Island accident while riding your motorcycle, don’t hesitate to contact the motorcycle accident attorneys at the personal injury law firm of Farah and Farah. Our skilled attorneys will examine the circumstances of your accident, and will see to it that your rights are not trampled upon in a court of law. If your injuries are catastrophic, our Amelia Island brain injury lawyers will seek compensatory damages on your behalf to help assist with the costs associated with your accident. If injured, please contact Farah and Farah at our Amelia Island office today for a free consultation of your injury case:

(904) 261-4440
501 Centre St.
Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034


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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Brain Injury , Motorcycle Accident , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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He was wearing a headset and was walking on the railroad tracks. That is a very bad combination. An 18-year-old high school student was walking along Amtrak train tracks in Auburndale, Florida and apparently didn’t hear an approaching Amtrak train. He was hit and killed immediately.

The conductor says he tried to alert the teen with no response, until the train got within 20 feet of him. That’s when the teen finally heard or saw the train and tried to jump off the tracks, but it was too late.

The 18-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. Our condolences go out to his family for this very tragic accident.

This is not an isolated incident.

A man was struck and killed by a train last Monday at Winona State University in Minnesota. It was the third train-pedestrian fatality in the area since August. He was wearing headphones.
The train operator says he sounded his whistle for more than a mile.

In February, a 17-year-old teen was hit and killed by an Amtrak train near his Comstock Township home in Michigan. He was crossing the tracks diagonally with his back to the eastbound train and was also wearing headphones.

Nationwide it is the 18-34 age group and overwhelmingly male that is walking on the railroad right-of-way tracks illegally.

Continue reading "Teen Wearing Headphones Killed By Train" »

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Even tobacco executives acknowledge these days that smoking is an environmental risk for cancer. According to the American Lung Association, more than 400,000 American lives are lost each year due to smoking or from secondhand smoke shared with babies and spouses.
Chantix sounded like a lifesaver when it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in May 2006.

Also known as Varenicline Tartrate, Chantix is made by Pfizer and given to end smoking addiction. The FDA reportedly reduced its usual review time from 10 to six months.

Here’s how it works. Instead of using nicotine, which many smoking cessation therapies include, Chantix reduces cravings and decreases the pleasurable effects of smoking. But side effects reported include nausea, headaches, abnormal sleep, and Chantix dreams, vivid wild dreams.

It’s estimated about 5 million prescription have been written.

In November 2007, the FDA began investigating reports of suicidal behavior among users. 37 reports had come in of suicides and hundreds with suicidal behavior. Pfizer was forced to add a stronger warning on the drug’s label.

Pfizer has suggested that Chantix-induced psychotic episodes are actually due to nicotine withdrawal, but the FDA notes that even people who keep smoking and are taking Chantix have the same episodes.

After ABC News published the story of Carter Albrecht, who, after taking his first 1 milligram Chantix tablet, assaulted his girlfriend, and was shot and killed by a neighbor who thought he was a burglar. ABC received over 200 comments from people describing similar erratic behavior.

By November 2007, the FDA issued a release about Chantix confirming there were an increasing number of reports about radical changes in behavior and suicidal thoughts among users of Chantix. As a result the FDA recommended that healthcare workers monitor Chantix users for behavior and mood changes. Pfizer continues to say that Chantix is a real breakthrough medicine even though by February, 2008, the FDA was saying that after a continuous review of adverse event reports there was likely an association between Chantix and serious neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Continue reading "Chantix Reports of Suicide Keep Coming In" »

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The Ford Motor Company is issuing a recall for 4.5 million vehicles because of a faulty switch that can overheat and catch fire.

The action comes after an 18-month federal investigation that has Ford recalling more than 14 million vehicles in eight recalls over a decade over the faulty switch and the potential for fires.

The problem switch is made by Texas Instruments and sold for about $21. The cruise control deactivation switch can leak hydraulic fluid, overheat and then burn risking fire, even when the car is parked in your garage. The Windstar vans have an elevated risk, said a Ford spokesman.
The Detroit News, reports that Ford stopped using the switches in early 2003, but not before they were linked to at least 1,500 complaints and 550 vehicle fires.

At least one person died when the vehicle caught fire in their garage.

A 76-year-old man died August 14, 2007 when a fire started in his 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis parked in an attached garage in San Antonio, the Detroit News reports. Police reported it as an electrical malfunction in the engine compartment of the car.

You are advised to park your vehicle outside until it can be serviced.

Ford drivers should look for anything that appears to signal a fire danger such as malfunctioning cruise control and brake lights, antilock braking systems and brake light warnings on the dash. Another warning sign is difficulty in getting the vehicle out of the park mode.

Continue reading "Ford Recall Involving Faulty Switch and Fire Danger" »

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This is a tragic story that serves to remind us of the dangers that can lurk, even at home.
A Palm Bay, Florida married couple and their son were all putting up a ham radio antenna in their back yard. The couple and their 15-year-old son were on the ground holding the antenna. Meanwhile a friend was on the roof.

Tragically, the antenna fell and struck a low-hanging power line that had 13,000 volts of electricity. The voltage shocked the family, killing them.

Our condolences go out to the friends and family of these poor individuals.

This story underscores how everyday premises can present a danger. Who would have thought that something so random and tragic could happen? The same sort of unexpected tragedies can happen on premises that do not belong to a homeowner.

Sometimes called “slip and fall,” the owner of a premise has the highest duty to keep those on the premises from harm, whether the individuals are invited or not.

Individuals under this definition may include business customers (shoppers at Wal-Mart), visitors to public places (museums or parks), and guests (social gatherings). Generally, if the property is open to the public and the property owner invites the public inside, the public is considered an “invitee.”

But a landowner is not responsible for a slip and fall accident if the person who fell is considered a trespasser.

But the property owner has certain legal responsibilities regardless of the status of the person entering upon the property. Some of these responsibilities include:

1. proper notice of any dangerous conditions of which the property owner may be aware;


2. keeping the property in a reasonably safe condition;


3. proper posting of “no trespassing” signs or warning of harmful or dangerous conditions regarding the property; and,


4. not creating a dangerous or harmful condition on the property, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Continue reading "Electrocution Death of Three in Palm Bay" »

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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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Doctors may finally be getting the message about the dangers of Johnson & Johnson’s fentanyl patches. Sales are down worldwide 20.5 % equating to roughly $200 million dollars. The drop comes after a series of deaths and lawsuits and at least two J & J recalls in the last two years.

Just last month, the painkiller was prescribed to a 15-year-old boy who died of an overdose following a tooth extraction. The Seattle teen was autistic and for some reason was prescribed the patch usually used for chronic pain in cancer patients and is generally prescribed for people who have developed a resistance to opium-based painkillers.

Since the 15-year-old was unable to speak and communicate to caretakers, it complicated his reaction and anyone’s ability to help him.

A civil suit has been filed because the boy was given the highest dose available, says his attorney. The hospital says it erred in prescribing fentanyl to the teen patient. Wrong prescriptions of the fentanyl patch are not an uncommon problem across the country.

A Sanford, Fla., jury in October 2008 awarded $13.3 million to the family of a 34-year-old woman who died after undergoing back surgery and using the Duragesic patch (fentanyl). The jurors decided that two J & J subsidiaries, Janssen and Alza, were responsible for her death.
J & J face about 60 other lawsuits over the Duragesic patches.

Part of the problem with fentanyl, whether by J & J or generic, is that it is delivered through a patch allowing the drug to pass through the skin and entering the blood at a constant rate. When someone takes a pill, the level of drug rises and falls in the blood, giving the body somewhat of a rest.

Transdermal patches don’t give the patient’s body a rest and they may end up getting too much of the drug.

There have been five Duragesic/fentanyl recalls since 1994. Watson Pharmaceuticals issued a recall for its leaking fentanyl painkiller patch in August and the company said that exposure to fentanyl exposure may lead to respiratory depression and possible overdose.

In 2005, the FDA said that there had been 120 reports of death related to the fentanyl patch.
Most recently, in December 2008, a division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen a company under Johnson & Johnson recalled defective fentanyl transdermal patches. The company said some patches had a slit along one side creating the possibility that the fentanyl get could leak out of the package exposing both caregivers and the patient to an overdose.

The last official move by the FDA earlier this year came in a letter sent to the six manufacturers to demonstrate that the drug’s benefits outweigh the potential risks. While the drug has a real benefit for those suffering from so-called “breakthrough pain,” especially from cancer, the FDA notes that the number of accident overdoses is increasing.

Continue reading "Fentanyl Patch Dangers" »

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Posted In: Defective Drug , Defective Medical Device , Health & Information , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Pharmaceutical Litigation , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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Yaz and Yasmin are two types of birth control pills manufactured by Bayer Healthcare. Both contain ethinyl estradiol which has been present in “The Pill” for more than three decades. However, what’s new about these popular forms of oral contraceptive is the presence of progestin in Yasmin and Yaz. It is called drospirenone, a so called fourth-generation synthetic progestin. Unfortunately it results in elevated potassium levels which can cause potentially life-threatening heart problems.

Approved by the FDA in 2006 and 2001, almost immediately the FDA began receiving adverse event reports including deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and heart arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat.

Public Citizen, the consumer group, has put the two pills on its “Do Not Use” list of drugs.
As the number of complaints over the side effects of these birth control pills continues to increase, four significant lawsuits have been filed in federal court against Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and there are more to come.

Bayer will run some corrective advertising and has told the FDA it will spend $20 million on the campaign to downplay its former overstatements about the benefits of Yaz while it downplayed the risks.

The birth control pills are still sold and aggressively marketed, exposing young women to serious and potentially life-threatening risks. When you follow the money trail, you understand why.

Yaz and Yasmin account for nearly 18 percent of the birth control market last year. That translated to more than $600 million in sales for Yaz and $1.85 billion in the first quarter of 2009 and $382 million for Yasmin. With other birth control formulations on the market, there is no benefit to using Yasmin and Yaz.

Continue reading "Yaz Yasmin Lawsuits Abound" »

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Posted In: Defective Drug , Health & Information , Personal Injury , Pharmaceutical Litigation , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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Researchers believe that two separate and fatal cases of Lou Gehrig’s Disease in young girls following the Gardasil injection may be related to the vaccine. Gardasil is injected in girls beginning at age 9 through age 26, to protect against two types of virus that cause cervical cancer and two that cause genital warts. It’s estimated 7 million young girls and women have received the vaccine, delivered in a three-shot series.

In both cases the young women died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and the disease progressed rapidly. Merck, the maker of Gardasil, does not believe that Gardasil could have caused the events.

But the two cases are very similar and researchers are suspicious that ALS in young people, affecting just one in 2-3 million, may be related to the vaccine.

Here’s what we do know. One of the girls was 14-years-old when she received Gardasil. Months after her third shot in the three-booster Gardasil series, she began tripping over easy hurdles in gym class. Soon both legs and her arms became weak, she began to limp and had trouble gripping objects and she felt pins and needles in her feet. Her muscled atrophied. Within a year she was paralyzed, a quadriplegic and used life support to help her breath before she died. The degenerative disease did not harm her mind, which Web MD reports was as sharp as ever.

The girl’ parents want people to know they are not anti-vaccine. After all, they had their daughter vaccinated with Gardasil. The girl was 15-years-old when she lost her battle with the rapidly degenerative neurological disease on March 15, 2009.

Another girl, 20-years-old had a rapid progression of ALS in a similar way within four months of her first Gardasil shot. She died 28 months later.

Our hearts go out to the parents and family and friends of these two young women.

The link between the symptoms and the shot is very suspicious to researcher Dr. Catherine Lomen-Hoerth at the ALS Center at University of California San Francisco Medical Center. First, the symptoms progressed very rapidly, more so than in a typical ALS patient. And both girls had an inflamed spinal cord she said to doctors at the American Neurological Association, which is not normally seen in ALS.

And one doctor, Yadollah Harati, a neurologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, says he will now ask his young ALS patients if they received the Gardasil vaccine. He didn’t think to ask before, he tells Web MD. The parents of the 14-year-old are asking anyone who visits their Web site in their daughter’s honor, Jenny’s Journey, to forward any cases of muscle paralysis following a Gardasil injection to their Web site so they can make sure that it is registered on the federal VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System). They fear other cases may not be reported since VAERS is not generally known to the public and there are no requirements to post adverse events, though hospitals and doctors are encouraged to do so.

Continue reading "Two Girls Die of Lou Gehrig Disease Following Gardasil" »

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Posted In: Defective Drug , Health & Information , Law & Information , Medical Malpractice , Personal Injury , Pharmaceutical Litigation , Wrongful Death

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He is the 15-year-old teen who went for a joy ride on the last day of school in June with an overloaded SUV that rolled, killing four of his friends.

Now 16-years-old, he is set to go to trial October 19th, charged with four counts of driving without a license, causing serious bodily injury and careless driving. Of the nine counts, eight are felonies.

Police say the teen was driving to the beach when a rear tire blew causing the SUV to flip. Several people claim that the teen actually kept the car on the road for quite a while after the tire blew. His defense attorney claims that the reconditioned tire was defective and never should have been sold. With a catastrophic tire failure, many were surprised that the State Attorney’s office decided to prosecute the teen at all.

The community of Jacksonville has been divided over this case. The teen was driving when he shouldn’t have been. At the age of 15, he didn’t even have a permit.

None of the nine individuals in the vehicle were wearing a seat belt, except for the teen driver standing accused in this case. He was unhurt when the vehicle rolled over on I-295 near Pritchard Road. That doesn’t exactly paint a picture of a reckless driver.

Continue reading "15-Year-Old's Trial for Auto Accident Wrongful Death to Begin" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Rollover Accident , Wrongful Death

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A couple of accidents this week raise the question – how old is too old to drive? Not to discriminate against our elders, certainly there are young people who don’t drive safety, but a couple of local fatal accidents seem to be focused on that question.

An elderly woman was killed this week in a crash at Timuquana and Eulace roads. The 90-year-old woman was driving south on Eulace around 11 a.m. Tuesday when she turned left onto Timuquana in front of a semi driven by a 33-year-old truck driver. The elderly woman was taken to Shands Hospital and pronounced dead. She was not alone in the car. Her 94-year-old passenger suffered serious injuries according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Everyone was wearing their seat belts and the driver of the truck was not hurt.

In another accident, an 88-year-old motorist veered into the path of an oncoming pickup truck and was killed in St. Johns County Tuesday morning. The woman of St. Augustine tried to turn onto U.S. 1 when the driver’s side of her car was hit. She was wearing a seat belt but died after being taken to Flagler Hospital. The truck driver was wearing his seat belt, as was his passenger, and both were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

We are so sorry for the loss of these two women. This sort of fatal traffic accident can happen to anyone at any age. But sometimes family members will ask how they can get an elderly family member to stop driving.

Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles generally reports that many seniors realize they should not be driving and give up their licenses voluntarily. That is reflected in the statistics. The department reports that the 2008 crash statistics show that the crash rates for people over the age of 65 are lower than for people under the age of 40.

Someone with an unsafe parent driver can confidentially report an unsafe driver to the department. About 39 percent of all reports came from law enforcement and about 34 percent from doctors last year where there were 7,677 referrals in all. The state can ask someone to take an eye exam or a medical exam. Or the person could be asked to retake the driver test. Younger people can be reported too, but generally seniors are the ones reported.

Continue reading "Two Elderly Motorists Killed - How Old Is Too Old To Drive?" »

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Two people died Sunday morning in a single car crash in Hilliard in Nassau County. The crash happened about 1:35 a.m. on County Road 108 and Orange Street. Fire and rescue crews arrived to find a car on its driver side near a power pole. One of the occupants had been ejected from the vehicle and emergency rescue workers had to remove the top of the vehicle to extricate the other passenger.

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash. The driver has now been identified as a 32-year-old woman of Bryceville, Florida, and her passenger was a 45-year-old woman of Hilliard.

We are so sorry for the loss of this woman to her family and friends, and particularly to her children.

The two occupants were not wearing seat belts, according to law enforcement.

The media reports don’t tell us much about what caused this accident, but it’s fair to say that speed played some role. Generally in a single-vehicle accident, speed is among the first things that accident investigators will look into.

A few things to remember about driving too fast - many of us were taught that for every 10 miles an hour, you need to leave at least one car length between you and the vehicle in front of you to safely stop. That was the good old days- today add distractions, such as texting, that increases the risk of a collision by 23 times, according to a recent study.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says that speed is a factor in about one-third of all fatal crashes that kill more than 1,000 Americans every month. In all of 2007, that accounted for more than 13,000 people. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates the cost of speed-related crashes is more than $40 billion each year.

Continue reading "Two Killed in Nassau Car Crash" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A Westside family is making funeral plans for a 19-year-old woman and her unborn baby who died in a collision between two pickup trucks Tuesday afternoon.

A pregnant 19-year-old was reportedly riding in the bed of the pickup truck traveling east on Normandy Boulevard, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. That’s when a late-model blue truck made an illegal turn into a mobile home park and collided with a red truck going west. The pregnant woman was riding in the back of the blue truck and was ejected when it turned in front of the other at the intersection with Parrish Cemetery Road. She was a quarter mile from their home. Today flowers mark the spot where the accident occurred.

The woman was seven months pregnant but the baby could not be saved. Fortunately, her one-year-old was in the truck in a car seat sitting next to the woman’s brother who threw himself over her during the collision. Neither was seriously hurt.

Our hearts go out to the family of this pregnant woman. There are many questions that go unanswered in media reports such as – was there a glare in the windshield of the truck? What were the road conditions at the time and was there rain? Were they speeding? Even 50 mph in a post 50 mph area in the rain is too fast for the conditions.
The Florida Highway Patrol says charges are pending.

Florida Statute 316.2015 says it is unlawful for a person to ride on the exterior of a vehicle, such as the bumper, fender, hood or truck of a car. And it is unlawful for the operator of a vehicle to allow a minor (under the age of 18) to ride within the open body of a pickup truck, unless the person is wearing a seat belt and sitting in secure seating.

Continue reading "19 Year Old Pregnant Woman Dies in Wreck" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Truck Accident , Wrongful Death

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By now we’ve all seen the video on YouTube that aired on British television. It shows four girls driving a vehicle and texting, all staring at the screen just before a head-on collision.

The public service announcement should be seen by all teenagers who are close to the driving age, or presently driving. A warning – it is a gruesome, and not for the faint of heart. Parents may want to watch it first. But it is real and everyday drivers distracted by texting are doing exactly what the teens in this video are doing.

Now a group of Florida teens from Parkland, Florida (population 24,000) is taking the public service message and other videos of the dangers of texting and driving and trying to do something about it.

The teens are donning white t-shirts that carry an anti-texting message. And they’ve taken their campaign to city hall to convince the city commissioners to ban texting while driving in their town.

Wisely, the teens know it is kids who influence other kids, so sophomores, who are just getting their driving permits, have had the most influence on other kids in school.

Continue reading "Teens Rally Against Texting and Driving" »

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With a population of 805,605 people as of the 2007 U.S. Census, Jacksonville is the most populated city in the state of Florida and the 12th most populous city in the country. Stretching 874.3 square miles in size, Jacksonville is the largest city in the United States based on total land area, and plays host to not only many residents, but also numerous tourists. With such a large amount of people traveling throughout the city, public transportation is particularly important in both cutting down on the overall amount of traffic in Jacksonville and enabling a large number of people to get from one place to another. However, while necessary safety precautions are certainly put into effect, unfortunately, accidents still cause innocent people to suffer serious injuries.

In the event that a Jacksonville commuter is involved in a bus accident, that commuter shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of expenses brought on by the accident, such as medical bills to treat an injury or physical therapy fees to help one recover from a serious injury. With the assistance of a skilled Jacksonville bus accident lawyer from Farah & Farah, such compensation may be obtained.

Similarly, pedestrians occasionally suffer from the reckless driving practice of motorists in Jacksonville. If a pedestrian is injured in Jacksonville, that individual would be well-advised to seek the advice of an experienced Florida pedestrian injury attorney that will examine the circumstances of the accident and help appropriately attribute negligence to parties at fault.
Personal injury, whether sustained in a bus or pedestrian accident, can be devastating not only physically, but financially as well. In all instances where an individual is injured in Jacksonville at the hands of another, it is essential to have someone on your side that will fight for your best interests and hold negligent behavior responsible for your accident. If you have been injured, contact Farah and Farah at our Jacksonville office today for a free consultation:

(904) 396-5555
10 West Adams Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32202

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Bus Accident , Pedestrian Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A 17-year-old was about to graduate from high school when the cheerleader and softball pitcher received the first of the three-shot series of Gardasil, the Merck drug that is supposed to protect young girls from the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that causes two types of cervical cancer and two types of warts.

That was 19 months ago.

"I just didn't know what to think because she was so healthy. I just could not understand why she was dead. No one seemed to know why she was dead,” says her grandmother.

The teen had no health problems, but after the second shot in September 2007 she started to get bad headaches, as well as muscle aches, and joint pain, said her grandmother. The doctor thought it was stress. Her third shot was February 20, 2008. By February 22 she was dead.

Her grandmother said that after the final shot, her granddaughter said she had a headache and went to bed. That next morning her mother found her on the bathroom floor. "Without a shadow of a doubt, I know that Gardasil is what killed her," says her grandmother.
An autopsy was inconclusive.

The grandmother says she is angry with the CDC and the FDA because even today they encourage girls to get the vaccine, even though there have been about 14,000 adverse events reported to the government, including Guillian-Barre Syndrome, where the muscles become paralyzed, in addition to headaches, fainting and even death.

In fact, the CDC says it has either investigated or is currently looking at 43 reports of deaths of those who received the vaccine. Read the reports on the Web site, Judicial Watch, that had to file a FOIA to get the death reports from the government.

"The FDA adverse event reports on the HPV vaccine read like a catalog of horrors. Any state or local government now beset by Merck’s lobbying campaigns to mandate this HPV vaccine for young girls ought to take a look at these adverse health reports."
-Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch

Continue reading "Grandmother Says Gardasil Killed Her Granddaughter" »

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Florida driver deaths appear to be substantially down this year according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Seven were killed and the FHP says 136 impaired drivers were arrested during the four day Labor Day weekend. However, the total number of wrongful death auto crashes in Florida has not been released yet. In 2008 during the Labor Day period, 36 people died in crashes.

In addition to the arrests, FHP officers issued over 16,000 citations. That huge number resulted from Labor Day enforcement that was part of a larger effort beginning August 21 and running through September 7th. During that time period, FHP issued more than 57,000 traffic tickets and made 540 arrests for DUI of alcohol or drugs and 20,000 received citations for speeding.
In addition, law enforcement was out in force to watch for violations of the Move Over Law. Troopers issued 2,200 citations for violating that law.

The Move Over Law refers to protecting law enforcement when they are parked on the side of the road to help motorists. It states that:

• On a two-lane roadway, you are required to slow to a speed that is 20 miles per hour less than the posted speed limit.


• If the speed limit is 20 miles per hour or less, you must slow down to five miles per hour.


• If you are driving on an interstate or roadway with multiple lanes of travel in the same direction, and you approach an emergency or law enforcement vehicle parked along the roadway, you must vacate the lane closest to that vehicle as soon as it is safe to do so. If you are not able to safely move over, you must slow down to a speed of 20 MPH below the posted speed limit unless directed otherwise by a law enforcement officer.

Continue reading "Labor Day Deaths on Florida Roads" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Drunk Driving Accident , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Lake City is located in Columbia County, Florida and is often referred to as the “Gateway To Florida.” With a population of about 12,000 and in a county whose population is on the rise (Columbia County has close to 68,000 inhabitants as of 2006), Lake City has become a highly desired tourist destination as well as a common stop for those on route to Southern Florida. With such a span of visitors and residents passing through various parts of the city using bus transportation, bus accidents are bound to take place as a result of defective bus parts, negligent driving, improper driver training, or for a variety of other reasons.

When innocent passengers are injured in a bus accident in Lake City at no fault of their own, a skilled Lake City bus accident attorney from Farah and Farah can help. We have assisted many injured victims of bus accidents receive compensation to help pay for medical treatment, pain and suffering, hospital bills, and even loss of wages.

In addition to bus accidents, pedestrian accidents within Lake City’s streets are regrettable occurrences that put the well-being of children, the elderly, and adults of all ages at risk. When drivers fail to adhere to speed limits near pedestrian crosswalks, they put innocent pedestrians in danger of suffering severe injuries and even wrongful death. Pedestrian injuries can have some of the most catastrophic consequences due to a pedestrian’s vulnerable exposure to the surrounding area without protection.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident, whether it involved a bus, truck, or other auto, the experienced Lake City pedestrian accident lawyers at Farah and Farah can assist you through this challenging time. For more information on how we may be able to help you hold negligent parties responsible for your bus or pedestrian accident injury, contact the Lake City personal injury law firm of Farah and Farah today:

212 N. Marion Ave Suite 208
Lake City, FL 32055
Phone: (386) 754-7534

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Located in Northeast Clay County, the city of Orange Park is just south of Jacksonville, Florida. Orange Park’s name derives from the aspirations of its founders to inhabit a fruit-producing industry, but these hopes of crops were ruined in what is referred to as the Great Freeze of 1894-95. Nevertheless, in its growth as an abundant and welcoming community, Orange Park displayed a population of approximately 9,043 in July 2008. Although having a smaller population than some of its neighboring cities, Orange Park residents utilize public transportation and personal autos to a great degree. As a result, Orange Park is susceptible to its share of auto accidents involving buses and pedestrians as an unfortunate result of negligent driving, dangerous road conditions, and even defective auto parts.

Bus passengers put their trust in drivers and companies to ensure that no harm befalls them while traveling via bus. When bus accidents inflict injury on passengers in Orange Park, the skilled Orange Park bus accident attorneys at Farah and Farah can help injured victims receive compensation to help pay for medical treatment, hospital bills, pain and suffering, and loss of wages.

In addition to bus accidents, pedestrian accidents in the streets of Orange Park are ill-fated occurrences that can cause children, the elderly, and adults of all ages to suffer serious injuries and even wrongful death. If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident, whether it involved a bus, truck, or other auto, the experienced Orange Park pedestrian accident lawyers at Farah and Farah can assist you. For more information on how we may be able to help you hold negligent parties responsible for your bus or pedestrian accident injury in Orange Park, contact Farah and Farah at our Orange Park office today:

(904) 264-0700
1534 Kingsley Avenue
Orange Park, Florida 32073

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St. Augustine is often called the “nation’s oldest city” for being home to the oldest port in the continental U.S. The population in St. Augustine was estimated to be 12,157 in 2004. Known for its classic architecture, lovely beaches, and museums that depict life of the early Spanish explorers who settled in the area, St. Augustine is quite a popular tourist spot in Northern Florida. With so many tourists in addition to many residents utilizing public transportation and personal automobiles, auto accidents in St. Augustine involving pedestrians and buses are an unfortunate consequence of negligent driving.

Bus accidents in St. Augustine may be caused by driver negligence, defective bus parts, dangerous road conditions, improper driver training, and many other factors. Bus passengers put their trust in drivers and companies to ensure that no harm befalls them on their travels. When bus accidents inflict injury on passengers in St. Augustine, the experienced St. Augustine bus accident lawyers at Farah and Farah can help injured victims receive compensation to help pay for medical treatment, hospital bills, pain and suffering, and loss of wages.

In addition to bus accidents, pedestrian accidents in the streets of St. Augustine are unfortunate events that afflict the well-being of children, the elderly, and adults of all ages. When drivers fail to adhere to speed limits near pedestrian crosswalks, they put innocent pedestrians at risk of suffering severe injuries and even wrongful death. Pedestrian injuries are some of the most catastrophic consequences of auto collisions due to a pedestrian’s vulnerable exposure to hitting concrete, a part of a vehicle, or any other object on the road or sidewalk.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident, whether it involved a bus, truck, or other auto, the experienced St. Augustine pedestrian accident lawyers at Farah and Farah can assist you. For more information on how we may be able to help you hold negligent parties responsible for your bus or pedestrian accident injury, contact the St. Augustine personal injury law firm of Farah and Farah today:

(904) 797-7977
1301 Plantation Island Drive
Suite 206A
St. Augustine, Florida 32080

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Bus Accident , Pedestrian Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Located 30 miles north of Florida, Brunswick occupies part of southeastern Georgia. Nicknamed “the shrimp capital of the world,” Brunswick owes much of its reputation to being the main center of Georgia’s crab and shrimp industries. As the twelfth-largest metropolitan area in the state of Georgia, Brunswick had an estimated metropolitan population of 101,792 in 2007 with a city proper population of 16,235. Considering that Brunswick, Georgia residents and visitors highly depend on bus transportation in addition to the use of other modes of public and personal transport, bus accidents are just as likely to occur as in any major metropolitan area.

As is the case in most large cities that utilize buses, bus accidents have been known to occur due to defective bus parts, driver inattention or carelessness, improper driver training, and much more. Whatever the cause of your bus accident injury, the skilled Brunswick, Georgia bus accident attorneys at Farah and Farah can help. We have assisted many injured victims of bus accidents receive compensation to help pay for hospital bills, treatment, pain and suffering, and even loss of wages.

In addition to bus accidents, pedestrian accidents within Brunswick’s streets are unfortunate occurrences that plague the well-being of children, the elderly, and adults of all ages. When drivers fail to adhere to speed limits near pedestrian crosswalks, they put innocent pedestrians at risk of suffering severe injuries and even wrongful death. Pedestrian injuries are some of the most catastrophic consequences of auto collisions due to a pedestrian’s vulnerable exposure to hitting concrete, a part of a vehicle, or any other object on the road or sidewalk.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident, whether it involved a bus, truck, or other auto, the experienced Brunswick pedestrian accident lawyers at Farah and Farah can assist you. For more information on how we may be able to help you hold negligent parties responsible for your bus or pedestrian accident injury, contact the Brunswick personal injury law firm of Farah and Farah today:

(912) 466-8896
4216 Coral Park Drive
Suite 107
Brunswick, GA 31520


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A 16-year-old female and a number of other teens had attended a birthday party for a fellow friend who was turning 19. The party lasted until the early morning hours of July 27.

For some reason, the teens decided to leave the party house. That’s when the 19-year-old got behind the wheel of his pickup truck to drive everyone home. Since there were six kids and only three seats in the cab, three of the teens decided to ride in the bed of the pickup.

But according to police, the 19-year-old was driving recklessly and too fast in the 13000 block of Bartram Park Boulevard in Mandarin, just south of Jacksonville and Old St. Augustine Road. Traveling at twice the 40 mph speed limit, the pickup flipped, and rolled several times, throwing the 16-year-old girl and two others riding in the bed out of the vehicle.

The 16-year-old, a student at Lee High School, was pronounced dead at the scene of the auto accident in Jacksonville. Four other teens were seriously injured. Law enforcement said the truck appeared to have rolled over her. Another young woman was in critical condition.

Now the young male driver has been charged with vehicular homicide. He turned himself into the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office on Wednesday and was later released on $10,000 bail.
This month, if the deceased teen were still alive, she would have turned 17. Her family said that they would still celebrate her birthday and that she is still in their hearts.

Our hearts go out to the family of this young woman as well as the injured teen who was in ICU. We wish her a speedy recovery.

Continue reading "Teen Driver Facing Vehicular Homicide Charges for 16-Year-Old's Death" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Rollover Accident , Truck Accident , Wrongful Death

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All eyes in the investigation into what caused a Ford Explorer to roll several times and kill four teens, are now focused on a possibly defective tire.

On the last day of school in June, one young man and eight friends got into his girlfriend’s family Ford, a 1997 Explorer SUV. On the way to the beach, a tire blew. Among all of the teens, this young man was the only one wearing his seat belt. The attorney, who represents four of the families involved, told the judge that the Cooper Tire was defective because it had been in the shop two weeks earlier.

He said Dale Earnhardt Jr. could have been driving the vehicle. Once a tire blows, keeping a Ford Explorer on the road, especially the notoriously unstable cars made before Ford added stability control would have been impossible.

The tire company has faced seven federal product liability and personal injury lawsuits since 1997 and in July, a Florida appeals court upheld a $1.5 million jury verdict against the company after a blowout on I-10 killed a man.

At an exhibition football game at Ed White High School, the four teens were remembered in a moment of silence. Our hearts go out to the parents of the children, who clearly had a tough time attending the game, but were grateful that their children are remembered.

The 15-year-old young man who was driving is facing four counts of driving without a license in the deaths of all four of his friends, who were killed when his SUV wrecked. This teen is also facing four counts of driving without a license causing serious bodily injury, and careless driving. That is a total of nine counts, eight of which are felonies. He is on home detention. For now, another high school, football practice, and church are the only activities he is allowed.
In an exclusive interview with the Florida Times Union after he was charged, the young man says he felt the left rear tire separate causing the car to pull strongly to the right then roll after it drifted into the grass off the right emergency lane.

Continue reading "Teen Faces 9 Charges in Fatal Wreck" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Auto Product Liability , Personal Injury , Rollover Accident , Wrongful Death

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The Florida Highway Patrol reports that two people were injured last Wednesday when a pickup truck driver lost control of his vehicle and rolled, landing on its roof. According to FHP, a 21-year-old man was driving on SR A1A around 1:19 a.m. at the intersection of Grandview Road near St. Augustine Beach.

The driver was taken to Shands Jacksonville with serious injuries after being thrown from the pickup and through a privacy fence. His passenger, also a 21-year-old male, was trapped in the truck and taken to Flagler Hospital.

A blood alcohol test will be conducted and charges could be filed depending on the result. We wish these young men the best for a speedy recovery. The responding officers did a great job in getting the second man out of the vehicle and to the hospital.

I wish we knew more information such as, what kind of car was involved. Was a cell phone found at the scene and had the driver been texting? Were the occupants wearing their seat belts? What speed were they traveling and what were the road conditions at the time?

We hope these young men pull through, but speeding or road conditions and any of the above, including alcohol consumption, just doesn’t mix with driving.

Florida had more than 22,000 alcohol related crashes with more than 1,100 alcohol related fatalities across the state in 2008. Additionally there were more than 15,700 alcohol related injuries. Labor Day weekend in Florida is reported to be among the deadliest for drivers. Last year 36 people lost their lives on Florida roads and alcohol contributed to 12 of those deaths.

Continue reading "Two Hurt in Single Vehicle Wreck" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Drunk Driving Accident , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Rollover Accident , Wrongful Death

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This is becoming a weekly report. Another older model Ford Explorer SUV has rolled over, this time killing a woman from North Florida. A 44-year-old woman from Hilliard was driving on County Road 108 near Amos White Road about 5:10 p.m. She suddenly swerved onto the right shoulder. It was raining at the time. The Florida Highway Patrol reports the SUV crossed a culvert and then overturned, hitting a tree in the process. The woman was taken to Shands Jacksonville where she was pronounced dead. The Florida Highway Patrol reports she was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the SUV rollover accident in Jacksonville.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of this woman for their loss. Our office offers our deepest sympathies to them as they go through this difficult time.

According to the Florida State Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Data, in the five years from 2003-7, Nassau County had 85 traffic crash deaths and the county has had significantly higher increases in traffic crashes, injuries and deaths than the Florida average. Also in that time period, more people were pulled over for driving with a suspended or revoked license or with a DUI in Nassau County than other counties in Florida.

At the same time there were fewer traffic citations given in Nassau County than in the rest of Florida.

We don’t have much information on how this accident happened. Was the driver distracted? Was she having a reaction to medication? Were the roads simply too slick to get control of the car? We also don’t know if there might be another driver at fault who caused her to go off the road or whether her car malfunctioned.

Continue reading "Hilliard Woman Killed in SUV Accident" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Auto Product Liability , Personal Injury , Rollover Accident , Wrongful Death

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A 92-year-old man went up against Big Tobacco and he won.

Last Thursday, a Broward County, Florida jury decided to award him more than $5.3 million at the conclusion of a Florida tobacco lawsuit trial in which he claimed cigarettes caused his wife’s death in 1996. The man sued Philip Morris for causing his wife’s lung cancer. His wife was 73 when she died. In an earlier phase of the trial, the jury agreed that cigarettes killed her.

Many people fail to understand the attitude toward cigarettes when the deceased woman started smoking at the age of 16 in 1923. Doctors advised people to smoke to calm their nerves. The government gave cigarettes out to soldiers. Television commercials promoted cigarette smoking as cool and sophisticated. Howard Engle, a Miami Beach pediatrician, who led the class action lawsuit representing some 700,000 smokers, had been a tobacco-addict since the 1940s when cigarette companies gave medical students at the University of Wisconsin free cigarettes. He hated Big Tobacco and its strategies used to create lifetime users by creating addicts.

Howard Engle died this past July at the age of 89. He had suffered from smoking–related respiratory disease and lymphoma. His lawsuit yielded him a little over $13,000, but he was excited to eventually see 42,558 Floridians split $575 million that was distributed to those in the class.

The Engle lawsuit established for the first time that the industry lied and deceived the public about the dangers of cigarettes. So while people today are fully informed before they begin smoking, years ago people were coaxed into an addiction, which takes more than will-power to quit.

The woman in the above story smoked two packs of cigarettes a day before she died and she couldn’t quit. One night when watching the ‘Seven Dwarfs,” the seven tobacco executives, swear to Congress in 1994 that cigarettes were not linked to cancer, she told her husband, “If anything happens to me, sue them.” It was tough to believe back then that professional executives would lie to the public. But it was true. By that time, the industry knew cigarettes caused lung cancer.

Continue reading "Broward County Tobacco Win" »

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Posted In: Health & Information , Personal Injury , Tobacco Lawsuits , Wrongful Death

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A construction worker was hit and killed by a motorist driving an SUV Tuesday morning.

A 37-year-old died at the scene. The Nissan Xterra was driven by a 42-year-old man who stopped, but it was too late. This Florida car accident and work accident happened around 11 a.m. when visibility should not have been a problem. Fraser worked for Superior Construction and was painting strikes on the J. Turner Butler Boulevard ramp to I-95 North when he was hit.

Co-workers say that Fraser was very safety conscious and made sure everyone paid attention to their surroundings. It is people like Fraser who make our lives easier on the roads. Our condolences go out to his wife and family for this senseless loss and to his team members for the loss of a valuable member.

Exactly what happened is unclear and it is possible the Florida Highway Patrol could file charges.

Excessive speed would be the first thing to consider in this kind of auto accident in Florida. Drivers are known to travel at excessive speeds through the area. 70 to 80 miles per hour is not uncommon, even though construction zones generally have clearly marked “Reduce Speed” signs of 45 mph. One driver remarks that he faces horns honking and a driver even spit on his car when he slowed around a construction site.

Was the driver distracted? The American Automobile Association reports somewhere between 25 to 50 percent of all motor vehicle crashes have a distracted driver as their root cause and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports there were 37,313 traffic fatalities last year.

Continue reading "Construction Worker Killed at I-95" »

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Six officers, escorting a funeral party for Bruce Rossmeyer in Ormond Beach Tuesday, were involved in a motorcycle crash, according to an article. The irony here is pretty amazing. The six were accompanying one of the largest Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealers in the country who died last week on a motorcycle in Wyoming.

The officers from various agencies were riding along with the funeral party in Florida when the lead rider slowed down. The others behind him did not and that caused a chain reaction motorcycle crash in Florida involving six motorcycles at the corners of North Halifax Drive and Granada Boulevard. They represented the police and fire departments of Daytona Beach, as well as the Ormond Beach and Port Orange police departments.

Rossmeyer was in Wyoming on his way to a motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota when he passed a truck pulling a trailer on the left just as the truck was making a left turn. He didn’t see Rossmeyer, 66, and turned into him. Rossmeyer died instantly.

The officers were wearing their helmets and sustained minor injuries. Two of the officers were hurt, though not seriously and they damaged their motorcycle. Rossmeyer was not wearing his helmet when he died. In 2000, Florida decided to repeal is mandatory helmet law and that year there were 933 motorcyclists killed in the state, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that motorcycle deaths tripled after that time.

It was Rossmeyer who put Daytona Beach on the map as the Harley-Davidson center of the country, along with the image of freedom taking to the road.

Continue reading "Six Motorcycle Officers Crash in Ormond Beach Funeral Process for Harley Dealer" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Motorcycle Accident , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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There are about 2,421 families who call Palatka, Florida their home. With a total population of 10,804 people (as of July 2007 estimates), consumerism is undoubtedly alive and well. The city has an area of 7.5 square miles, and has experienced a 7.5% rise in population since the year 2000, meaning that more and more people each year move into the city limits, bringing their consumer goods and products with them.

From cars to clothing, home appliances to children’s toys, products can take a variety of different forms. However, there is always the possibility that those products, despite supposed testing, can be found to cause harm to people all over the country, Palatka residents included. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is responsible for monitoring products throughout the country, ensuring that those products are free from defects and risks that could pose serious harm to consumers. However, when products fail and do injure consumers, it is the job of Palatka defective product attorneys to ensure that those parties responsible for the products are appropriately held liable for their actions.

Manufacturers have an obligation to create products that are free from any and all defects that could pose serious risk to consumers. In the event that products do harm a consumer, skilled Palatka product liability lawyers will examine the circumstances surrounding the harmful product, and will seek compensatory damages on behalf of victims to help cover the costs associated with the faulty product.

If you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a defective product, contact the Palatka product liability and defective product attorneys at Farah and Farah today. Our skilled legal team will examine the details of your case, and hold negligible parties responsible for their actions. Contact us today at our Palatka office for a free consultation, and we will see to it that you receive the compensation that your deserve:

Phone: (386) 328-2889
417 St. Johns Avenue
Palatka, Florida 32177

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The father of two toddlers pulled them from the family Westside swimming pool Saturday morning, according to a story. Unfortunately it was too late for little two-year-old and her 18-month-old sister.

The family had just moved into the rented home the night before, so the pool area had not yet been secured at the house on Niska Trail near Collins Road. Apparently the two little girls woke up around 8:30 and got out of bed. That’s when officers believe the older girl opened the door to the backyard and went to the pool with her little sister following. The father found the girls at the bottom of the pool about a half hour later. One girl went to Baptist Medical Center and the other to Orange Park Regional Medical Center but neither could be revived.

Our prayers go out to this family who lost two little children. Our deepest sympathies go out to this family for their double tragedy.

Drowning accidents are the leading cause of injuries and wrongful deaths in Florida among children under 5, and are entirely preventable, although in this case, it is easy to understand how a family, their first day in a new home, would not have had time to childproof the house thoroughly.

In Florida in 2006, 72 children drowned in pools, up from 67 children from the year before. Duval County is one of the top counties for child drowning and most occur in a backyard pool or spa.

Continue reading "Jacksonville Drowning of Two Young Sisters in Westside Pool " »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Swimming Pool Accidents , Wrongful Death , brain injury

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Amelia Island, Florida is located off the coast of Florida and is part of Nassau County. With a population of about 68,437 people, Amelia Island, otherwise known as the “Isle of Eight Flags,” is only 18.2 square miles in size. However, tourism is alive and well on Amelia Island, with visitors flocking to one of the many festivals that the island hosts each year, in addition to enjoying the sites and sounds while camping and sailing.

With such a large number of people coming and going each year, there are bound to be accidents along the way caused by defective products. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 2.4 million deaths in the United States in 2006, 121,599 of which occurred as the result of accidents and the unintentional injuries associated with those accidents. While not all of these deaths occurred as the result of defective products, some of them undoubtedly did. Defective products can injure unsuspecting consumers almost anywhere, including Amelia Island. In the event that defective product injury does occur, it is important to seek the assistance of a skilled Amelia Island defective product lawyer.

At Farah and Farah, our product liability and defective product attorneys will fight for you, holding negligent manufacturers accountable for providing the public with potentially dangerous products. In the event that a faulty product causes injury of any kind, an experienced Amelia Island product liability attorney will examine the details surrounding the accident to determine negligence and who should be held responsible for it. Call us today for a free consultation, and we will examine the details of your case in order to surmise the best possible actions needing to be taken. Don’t hesitate to act now:

Phone: (904) 261-4440
501 Centre St.
Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034

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Anyone from Daytona Beach, Florida knows the area is synonymous with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and also is synonymous with one of the largest Harley-Davidson dealers in the country, Bruce Rossmeyer. Ironically, Rossmeyer was on a motorcycle trip around the country when he died in a motorcycle crash on his way to a rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, according to a report.

Rossmeyer, 66, and five of his friends were traveling on Highway 28 around 11 in the morning when they approached a pickup truck pulling a camper. Four of the motorcycles passed on the left, but when Rossmeyer tried to do the same thing, the driver put on his left turn signal and turned left. Rossmeyer hit the truck’s driver door. He was not wearing a helmet and died at the scene.

We are so sorry for the passing of this man who was as known for his contributions to the community and children’s charities. He helped found the Camp Boggy Creek for children with life-threatening illnesses as well as the Boys & Girls Clubs. Rossmeyer always said the kids in the club reminded him of himself when he was a young man and got in a lot of trouble. He leaves behind his wife Sandra and five children.

Rossmeyer was an entrepreneur with 13 Harley dealerships in Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi and Tennessee.Additionally, Rossmeyer co-owned three car dealerships. He also owned a complex in Daytona Beach that includes shops and restaurants which employed about 500.

Continue reading "Florida Harley Motorcycle Dealer Killed " »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Motorcycle Accident , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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An 18-year-old, who was driving a pickup truck that rolled and killed a passenger last January, has been charged with DUI manslaughter, according to a story. The 18-year-old male of Bryceville was driving eastbound on Roy Booth Road, just south of Callahan, when his truck veered off the road at a curve, then traveled through a ditch, back across the roadway and then overturned. A 20-year-old male passenger of Callahan was killed.

We offer our sincere condolences to the family of this young man who left this world at such a young age. The Florida Highway Patrol investigated and determined that the 18-year old was the driver. Initially there were some claims he wasn’t, and that alcohol was involved. DUI manslaughter charges will be added to vehicular manslaughter, driving with a suspended license, and failure to wear a seat belt. The 18-year-old in this Florida drunk driving accident faces fifteen years in prison for one night of carelessness in his criminal case.

In a civil case, a personal injury attorney will need to be involved to ensure the defendant is not allowed to deny that DUI was a factor in any wrongful death lawsuit to follow. Determining the driver was drunk establishes that they were driving recklessly and could open the door to punitive damages against the drunk driving teen.

In this particular case, it is not clear why the decedent was ejected from the pickup truck. Family members may want to determine whether he was wearing a seat belt and whether the restraint system worked as it is supposed to. Generally, the assumption is that the passenger was not wearing a seat belt, when the truth may be that the product, the seat belt, was defective in some way. In that case, the family may have a Florida auto product liability action against the vehicle manufacturer or the maker of the seat belt.

Continue reading "Nassau County DUI Accident Kills Passenger " »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Auto Product Liability , Drunk Driving Accident , Personal Injury , Product Liability , Rollover Accident , Wrongful Death

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Jacksonville Beach, Florida has a population of 21,849 people as of July 2007. Part of Duval County and often referred to as “Jax Beach” by the locals, Jacksonville Beach has a population density of about 993 people per square mile, and is more or less an extension of the city of Jacksonville. Operating as a prime tourist spot, Jacksonville Beach is made up of an assortment of locals and out-of-towners, all of whom, undoubtedly, use products in their day-to-day lives.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accidents and unintentional injuries were the fifth leading cause of death in the United States in 2006. Even though said accidents only accounted for 5% of the total number of deaths that year, the percentage could have been much lower had negligent manufacturers ensured that their products were safe before introducing them to consumers. In the event that consumers are injured or negatively affected in some way as the result of defective products, it is vital that a skilled Jacksonville Beach defective product attorney examine the circumstances surrounding the accident to ensure that negligent parties are held liable for their actions.

Manufacturers have an obligation to provide safe products for consumers. Whether the product is an automobile, a tent used for camping, or a household appliance, that product is supposed to have been rigorously tested to make sure that it is safe to use by consumers. When products are found to cause potential harm to consumers, a Jacksonville Beach product liability lawyer is needed to make sure that injuries caused by those products are appropriately compensated for by those responsible for the injury.

At Farah and Farah, our product liability and defective product attorneys will fight for your rights as a consumer. Our lawyers will examine the circumstances surrounding your product accident, and will devise the best strategy for your defective product case. Please contact us today for a free consultation at our Jacksonville Beach office:

Phone: (904) 249-2585
472 Osceola Avenue
Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32250

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Posted In: Auto Product Liability , Defective Medical Device , Personal Injury , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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This is a dubious distinction for the city of Jacksonville.

Our city is one of three in Florida that tops the list for deadly crashes involving teen drivers. A recent study from Allstate puts Jacksonville third behind Tampa and Orlando as the cities with the deadlines teen drivers, most of them texting, talking, changing a CD, or the radio, all made up 77 percent of deadly crashes involving young drivers. Of course, you don’t have to be young to be a distracted driver, but more experienced drivers are likely to resist the novelty of electronic communication.

Because car collisions in Jacksonville are the number-one killer of teenagers, Allstate is initiating Action Against Distraction driving course for Jacksonville to teach teen drivers how to stay focused on the road. As part of the course, teens are told to talk on the cell phone, listen to loud music, even eat a pack of Oreos as they drive – all to illustrate distracted driving.

One 17-year-old male who totaled his father’s car a few months ago decided to take the course. He tells the Florida Times-Union, “Everybody’s driving needs improvement”. As part of the improvement, he learned to weave through a line of cones that had been made part of an obstacle course at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. He was also asked to read a text message as he drove through the cones at about 10 mph. It was more difficult than all of the dozen teens thought it would be. All vowed no more texting or eating while driving.

Continue reading "Jacksonville Among Top Cities for Distracted Teen Drivers" »

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A 16-year-old high school girl was killed early Monday morning on July 27, 2009 when a pickup truck in which she was riding along with six others, over corrected, then struck a curb and overturned, according to an article. The teen, a student at Lee High School, was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. We are so sorry for the loss of this young person. Our hearts go out to her family at this tragic time.

We now know that there were six people in all were in the small pickup truck, three in the cab and three in the bed. All three in the bed were thrown out when the vehicle appeared to be traveling too fast around a curve in Bartram Park Boulevard, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Another passenger from the cab is also reported to be in critical condition with a broken neck, vertebra, and broken ribs. Altogether, four others were injured. The car crash in Jacksonville happened around 4 a.m. according to JSO. Alcohol use was involved, according to law enforcement.

Investigators have determined the teens were at a birthday party that wrapped up early Monday morning. When the party was over, the three jumped into the truck bed for the ride home.

The driver is now identified as a 19-year-old whose birthday everyone had just celebrated.

Continue reading "Jacksonville Rollover Pick-Up Truck Accident Kills Teen" »

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Jacksonville, Florida is the 12th largest city in the nation of any major U.S. city with a population of at least 100,000 people. The largest city in the state of Florida, Jacksonville has a population of 805,605 and stretches a total of 874.3 square miles in size, the largest land area of any city in the United States.

One of the more popular tourist destinations in the state of Florida, with its sprawling beaches and sublime weather, Jacksonville not only houses a large number of people, but hosts a large number of visitors each year as well. Consequently, a wide array of products, from automobiles to kitchen appliances to camping equipment to children’s toys, all are a part of the daily lives of Jacksonville residents. In the event of a defective product causing an accident, serious injury, or wrongful death, it is important to know that a skilled Jacksonville product liability attorney is available to assist all victims in the Jacksonville area.

Product manufacturers have an obligation to make and sell products that are free from defects and safe for consumer use. If manufactures fail to adequately provide safe products for consumers, such as those consumers in the Jacksonville area, then those manufacturers become liable for all accidents associated with their products. Experienced Jacksonville defective product lawyers can hold negligent manufacturers accountable for their actions, and seek monetary damages on behalf of their clients.

At Farah and Farah, our product liability attorneys and defective product lawyers will fight for you, holding manufacturers responsible for providing the public with dangerous products. Contact us today and we will examine the details of your case in order to surmise the best possible actions needing to be taken. Please don’t hesitate to call us for a free consultation at our Jacksonville office location:

Phone: (904) 396-5555
10 West Adams Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32202

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You can’t go down the road without seeing someone behind the wheel talking on the phone, doing their make up or eating breakfast. That’s what makes this news so upsetting. In 2003, officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) halted a plan for a large-scale look involving 10,000 drivers to see whether cell phone use behind the wheel was risky, according to a report. It also withheld research warning about the dangers of talking on the cell phone while driving.

What’s most upsetting is what the information said. It was revealed that drivers talking on cell phones caused 955 fatal accidents and 240,000 car accidents in 2002. And that was when approximately 6 percent of drivers were on the phone at any time. Now cell phone use has doubled.

The information was not easy to obtain. Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety had to file a freedom of information lawsuit to pry the information from NHTSA.

Why was the information withheld? The former head of NHTSA told the New York Times that officials at the Department of Transportation wanted NHTSA to gather safety data. Period. Any other information would be considered lobbying the states. How can saving lives be considered lobbying? NHTSA had found that not only talking on cell phones, but even using hands-free devices caused distraction.

Continue reading "Government Hid Distracted Driver Statistics" »

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There are an estimated 300,000 public pools in hotels, schools, camps and parks and thousands of public pools may be in violation of a new federal safety rule, says a national consumer group, putting many children at risk for personal injury in Florida and across the county.

The National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) estimates about half of the pools your child is using this summer may have failed to install the new required anti-entrapment devices. Named for Virginia Graeme Baker, who in 2002 died when suction from a hot tub drain kept her pulled to the bottom and she drowned. The NSPF estimates about half of the public pools that are supposed to be retrofitted with the new dome style drains have not been updated.

George Pellington of the Pool Safety Council told CBS in a report that he’s seen the unsafe drain covers in many pools that have not yet complied with the law.

The problem is that a body can actually seal off the covers which then create hundreds of pounds of suction that cannot be broken. The problem has been three-fold because there is not enough enforcement, there are not enough drains, and not enough pool owners understand the new code.

What can parents do?

Parents can look for drain covers that are dome or pyramid shaped. Parents can also inquire if there are new pool drain covers that are recognized by any one of three organizations that conduct testing on drain covers and issue certification. They are: the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF).

Continue reading "Swimming Pools May Be in Violation" »

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A 23-year old woman was killed on the morning of Saturday July 25 in a single car accident in Jacksonville along I-295. The Florida Highway Patrol says the woman was traveling south on Interstate 295 in the left lane when she hit the guardrail then crossed all southbound lanes of traffic and drove into a patch of trees near Old St. Augustine Road. Based on a story, her car hit a tree then caught fire. The woman, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. The accident happened at 9:10 am, FHP reports.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of the woman for their tragic loss. Friends and family writing into the news accounts say she was the mother of three boys. I offer my deepest sympathies to them as they go through this difficult time.

This week the Florida Highway Patrol plans to partner with a safe driving program in Lee County, Stay Alive…Just Drive! To promote safe driving practices with a focus of eliminating distractions. Though we don’t know what happened with the woman in the above incident, it is possible she was distracted by a radio, a cell phone, or changing a CD. Sometimes people actually read the newspaper while driving. Some are distracted by Global Positioning Systems (GPS).

The American Automobile Association reports somewhere between 25 to 50 percent of all motor vehicle crashes have a distracted driver as their root cause and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports there were 37,313 traffic fatalities last year. A Prevention Magazine survey finds that more than 85 percent of 100 million cell phone users talk on the phone while driving, putting many at risk to the susceptibility of auto accidents in Florida and throughout the nation.

Continue reading "Jacksonville Single Car Crash on I-295 Kills Woman" »

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Lake City is located in Columbia County, Florida and is known as the “Gateway To Florida.” With a population of about 12,000 and in a county whose population is on the rise (Columbia County has close to 68,000 inhabitants as of 2006), Lake City has become a popular tourist destination as well as a stop for those on route to Southern Florida. With such an expanse of visitors and residents who rely on a variety of products to maintain healthy living or add enjoyment to life, incidents of injury or death relating to a defective product tend to take place from time to time.

As consumers who expect that products they purchase and use themselves or give to their loved ones are safe, reliable and risk-free, it is devastating to have that trust violated. When children, adults, and the elderly use products that result in personal injury or wrongful death, a Lake City product liability attorney from Farah and Farah can help the injured person or the decedent’s family receive compensation for financial hardships.

It is understandable that a lot of people don’t want to admit that defective products in Lake City exist and can be capable of causing injury or death to innocent children, the elderly, and adults alike. However, defective medical devices, defective auto parts, defective children’s furniture and toys, defective electronics or household products are all an unfortunate reality and can have serious life-altering consequences.

If a defective product was the cause of you or loved one’s injury, or if someone you care about has been wrongfully killed, the skilled Lake City defective products attorneys at Farah and Farah can be of assistance during this difficult time. We will aggressively defend your rights and ensure that the negligent manufacturer is held responsible for the harm their dangerous product has caused. Contact Farah and Farah today to speak with a member of our legal team or contact us at our Lake City offices:

212 N. Marion Ave Suite 208
Lake City, FL 32055
Phone: (386) 754-7534

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Orange Park is a suburb of Jacksonville located in Northeast Clay County just south of Jacksonville, Florida. Rich in history and a thriving community, Orange Park has a great deal to offer. Clay County, which Orange Park is located in, is also a bustling region of Florida. With a population in excess of 180,000 and a very high population density, hundreds of residents and visitors rely on a variety of products to maintain healthy living or add enjoyment to life. Many people understandably don’t want to believe or admit that defective products in Orange Park exist that are capable of causing injury or wrongful death to innocent children, the elderly, and adults alike. However, defective medical devices, defective auto parts, defective children’s furniture and toys, defective electronics or household products are all an unfortunate reality and can have serious life-altering consequences.

As consumers who expect that products they purchase and use themselves or give to their loved ones are safe, reliable and risk-free, it is devastating to have that trust violated. When children, adults, and the elderly use products that result in personal injury or wrongful death, an Orange Park product liability attorney from Farah and Farah can help the injured person or the decedent’s family receive compensation for financial hardships.

If a defective product was the cause of you or loved one’s injury, or if someone you care about has been wrongfully killed, the skilled attorneys at Farah and Farah can be of assistance during this difficult time. We will aggressively defend your rights and ensure that the negligent manufacturer is held responsible for the harm their dangerous product has caused. Contact the personal injury law firm of Farah and Farah today for a confidential consultation:

1534 Kingsley Avenue
Orange Park, Florida 32073
Phone: (904) 264-0700

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When a 14-year-old went into a CVS Pharmacy in Middleburg in North Florida, he bought a bag of Skittles candy. However, the teen got more than the little colorful candies, according to a report. He found a bag of cocaine next to the bag of Skittles in the candy box that was sitting near the front register and brought it to the attention of his father.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office tested the bag and found it was cocaine. The family then went back to CVS and talked to the manager who told them there was no reason to remove the remaining bags from the box.

A CVS spokesman later went on record to say that security cameras were unable to see who dropped off the 1.2 gram bag and the store says there is no evidence someone placed the drug near the candy. The spokesman denied that the manager initially laughed off the problem and said that at the time of the purchase, the cocaine was not brought to their attention.

The teen’s mother stated:

"What upset me was the fact that it was in the candy…a lot of times we let our 3-year-old pick out the candy he wants, and had it been my 3-year-old that got it and we were not paying close attention, then he would not have known to give it to me. He would have put it in his pocket and eventually in his mouth."

Continue reading "CVS Drug Store Sells Skittles, Cocaine in Box" »

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A 53-year old woman was killed Thursday night driving in Jacksonville Beach. According to an article, the woman was on Butler Boulevard on the east side of the Intracoastal Bridge about 10:30 pm when she lost control of her vehicle. She then hit a retaining wall and slid across two lanes of traffic, then slammed into another wall. Friends commenting on the local news web site say there is no way that drugs or alcohol were involved. There is no word on whether she was wearing a seat belt or why she might have lost control of her vehicle. Sadly, the female driver died at the scene of the auto accident in Jacksonville Beach.

Our condolences go out to the family of this woman. Apparently two other people were injured in a separate crash right after the woman died from hitting the retaining wall, but the news report doesn’t say if that crash was related.

Without any more information on this circumstance, we can only assume that something distracted the woman, or she became ill, or perhaps the road conditions led to this crash.
When it is raining out, as it has been frequently this summer, there is a thin film of water on the road that can mean tires have less traction. That is the leading cause of hydroplaning. That is why the Florida Highway Patrol says always slow down in the rain. Not only do you not see as well, but once you start hydroplaning, if you brake suddenly or turn the wheel, you could lose control even more and skid, causing a crash.

Continue reading "Jacksonville Beach Crash Kills One Woman" »

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Highway 301 in North Florida was closed in both directions, according to a story, for more than three hours Friday morning after a three-car wreck took one driver’s life. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a 76-year-old woman of Callahan was driving south on Highway 301 in Nassau County and was trying to make a left turn across the highway to enter her driveway. While slowing down, she was struck from behind by a Toyota sports car being driven by a 21-year-old man of Hilliard. The Toyota bumped the woman’s Buick into the path of a Wal-Mart tractor-trailer.

The decedent’s car was pushed off the road and into the woods. She was wearing her seat belt but the car was a tangled mass of metal and she sadly died upon impact after the auto accident in Florida.

Our hearts go out to out to the family of this woman who was loved in the community and well-respected. She was just trying to pull into her driveway as she had done so many times over the years she lived in Callahan. The young driver, who suffered a minor injury, will have to live with this for the rest of his life as will the big-rig driver, who apparently could not stop his tractor- trailer in time.

The FHP says charges are pending after an investigation is complete.

Normally if you are injured by a tractor trailer in a Florida truck accident, the driver is liable for your injuries and the company they were driving for might be liable as well. In these cases, it is important to have an accident attorney determine the ownership of the vehicles involved, the number of hours the driver was on the road, and whether he had a CDL or commercial driver’s license.

Continue reading "North Florida Three-Car Wreck Kills Woman Heading Home" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Truck Accident , Wrongful Death

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St. Augustine is home to the oldest port in the continental United States – in fact, St. Augustine is commonly referred to as “the nation’s oldest city.” In 2004, the population was estimated to be 12,157. Home to beautiful beaches and museums, St. Augustine continues to be a popular tourist destination in Northern Florida. Located about 40 miles south of Jacksonville and 60 miles north of Daytona Beach just 5 miles east of Interstate 95, St. Augustine is also a well traversed location. As a vastly populated area, St. Augustine residents and visitors use a wide variety and large amount of products on day to day. When children, adults, and the elderly use products that result in personal injury or wrongful death, a skilled St. Augustine product liability attorney can help the injured person or the decedent’s family receive compensation for financial hardships.

A lot of people don’t want to believe or admit that defective products are out there, but defective medical devices, defective children’s furniture and toys, defective auto parts, and defective electronics and household products are all an unpleasant reality and can have serious consequences on a victim’s life. The knowledge and skills of a defective products attorney in St. Augustine is needed when taking on product designers and manufacturers who will do almost anything to cover up mistakes so that they aren’t held responsible for their negligent actions that put innocent people at risk for suffering life-changing injury or wrongful death.

As consumers who expect that products they purchase are safe, reliable and risk-free, it is devastating to have that trust violated. If a defective product was the cause of you or loved one’s injury, or if someone you care about has been wrongfully killed, the skilled product liability attorneys at Farah and Farah will aggressively defend your rights and ensure that the negligent manufacturer is held responsible for the harm their dangerous product has caused. Contact the personal injury law firm of Farah and Farah today for a confidential consultation:

1301 Plantation Island Drive
Suite 206A
St. Augustine, Florida 32080
Phone: (904) 797-7977

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Posted In: Auto Product Liability , Defective Medical Device , Personal Injury , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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Lawyers representing the mother of the 21-year-old pilot of a Disney monorail who died July 5, have been denied the opportunity to inspect all of the evidence into the death, according to an account.

One of the attorneys had filed a Petition for a Pure Bill of Discovery that allows evidence to be turned over before a lawsuit is filed. He also sought a list of witnesses and employees involved in the early morning operation of the monorail. The concern is that evidence may disappear at some point so Disney has been ordered not to destroy potential evidence in a civil case, which would be against the law.

Attorneys want to know what the video from the surveillance cameras shows as well as any audio communication or black box data recorders from the platform. The platform is the location where monorail workers could have given the command for the pink train to move into reverse where it crashed into the purple train, piloted by the decedent.

Instead of heading for the shop for maintenance, as the monorails do every night, when the anti-collision system is disabled, the pink train went in the opposite direction toward the Transportation and Ticket Center. The question is whether this Florida job accident and preventable wrongful death was a result of human or mechanical error. Only the data will prove that with any certainty.

Continue reading "Florida Death on the Job: Disney Monorail Victim Mother Goes to Court" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Workers' Compensation , Wrongful Death

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Once again, according to an article, another pedestrian has tragically been hit by a car and killed.

The Florida pedestrian accident happened in St. Johns County on U.S. 1 Saturday night around 10 p.m. The unidentified person was walking on the roadway on the inside lane north of a pedestrian crosswalk on his way to a Target store.

The Florida Highway Patrol will not identify the man until his next of kin is notified. The car that struck the pedestrian was driven by a 21-year-old man of Hastings. He was traveling south on the inside lane when he struck the man who died at the scene. He and his passenger suffered minor injuries. FHP says they had their seat belts on.

Our condolences go out to this man and his family. His was unfortunately one of about 4,000 to 5,000 pedestrian deaths reported nationwide. Typically the hours for accidents occur between 5 and 11 p.m. and nearly half of all pedestrian fatalities occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday in 2003. And Florida is one of four states (California, Texas and New York) that are the top states for pedestrian fatalities, making up 29 percent of total traffic fatalities across the country according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

We also know from statistics that speeding and alcohol impairment are the major contributing factors in crashes of all types and the variety of serious injuries suffered as a result of a car collision can be life-altering.

In Florida, the Highway Patrol reports that 15.5 percent of all traffic fatalities were pedestrians in 2003, with 504 people killed and more than 7,000 injured. Unfortunately in more than 10 percent of all pedestrian crashes, the individual had been drinking and about one-third of all pedestrian-auto crashes, the pedestrian had been drinking.

Continue reading "Pedestrian Killed In St. Johns County Accident " »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Pedestrian Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Brunswick is a city in southeastern Georgia located about 30 miles north of Florida. Home to the fourth-largest automobile port in the eastern United States, the city's economy encompasses manufacturing, agricultural processing, and bulk cargoes. In 2007, the city proper had an estimated population of 16,235 and an estimated metropolitan population of 101,792. Brunswick’s metropolitan area is the twelfth-largest in the state of Georgia and includes the counties of Glynn, Brantley, and McIntosh. With a region that encompasses such a large, varied area and a population that is on the rise, residents and visitors alike use a huge amount and wide array of products on a daily basis. When children, adults, and the elderly use products that result in personal injury or wrongful death, a Brunswick, Georgia product liability attorney can help the injured person or the decedent’s family receive compensation for financial hardships.

A lot of people don’t want to believe or admit that defective products are out there, but defective medical devices, defective auto parts, defective children’s furniture and toys, and defective electronics and household products are all an unfortunate reality and can have serious life-altering consequences. The knowledge and skills of a product liability attorney in Brunswick, Georgia is needed when taking on product designers and manufacturers who will do anything like cover up mistakes so that they aren’t held responsible for their negligent actions that put innocent people at risk for suffering life-changing injury or wrongful death.

As consumers who expect that products they purchase are safe, reliable and risk-free, it is devastating to have that trust violated. If a defective product was the cause of you or loved one’s injury, or if someone you care about has been wrongfully killed, the skilled attorneys at Farah and Farah can help. We will aggressively defend your rights and ensure that the negligent manufacturer is held responsible for the harm their dangerous product has caused. Contact the personal injury law firm of Farah and Farah today for a confidential consultation:

4216 Coral Park Drive,
Suite 107
Brunswick, GA 31520
Phone: (912) 466-8896

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Posted In: Auto Product Liability , Defective Drug , Personal Injury , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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A young Jacksonville mother and her child were found drowned this week and there are many unanswered questions.

The 18-year-old mother and her 18-month-old daughter were found just after noon in a subdivision community pool in Arlington, according to an article. The pool area is usually locked. The woman was said to be an accomplished swimmer. An unidentified 18-year-old man was found at the scene and hospitalized. He had reportedly ingested a great deal of chlorinated pool water and appeared in shock and was naked. Investigators will be anxious to talk to him to determine if there was any foul play in this Jacksonville wrongful death accident.

Our condolences go out to the family of this beautiful young mother and her child. It is a tragedy to have to lose two such special people.

Florida leads the nation in the number of drowning accidents of children between the ages of one to four. In 2006, there were 72 drowning deaths of children under the age of four. Duval County is among the counties with the highest number of drowning deaths, according to state statistics.

Some neighbors, who are still in shock, wonder if lightning might have struck nearby. July is the deadliest month for lightning strikes in Florida and we are reminded that lightning strikes can precede a storm. Already this year, two people in Central Florida have been killed by lightning. It happened at a picnic in Lakeland, Florida where the conditions were described as sunny with a slight drizzle.

Continue reading "Jacksonville Drowning of Mother and Child in Community Pool" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Premises Liability , Swimming Pool Accidents , Wrongful Death

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Just how are we doing as a state in regard to highway fatalities? A new report issued from the Florida Highway Patrol compiled crash data from around the state for 2008.

Unbelievably- Jacksonville was the top city for the number of crashes around the state, even topping Miami by about 50 percent. There were 14,000 auto crashes in Jacksonville in 2008. There are very aggressive drivers around Jacksonville, and add talking on a cell phone, texting and other distractions and it is not entirely surprising. Also, about 60 percent of traffic fatalities result from people not wearing their seat belts.

On the other hand, there is good news to report. The number of traffic fatalities (2,983) on Florida’s roads in 2008 was 3,221 less than the year before. This is the first time there have been fewer than 3,000 fatalities on Florida’s roads since 2000. Alcohol related crashes declined six percent during the same time period. Still, drunk driving contributes to about 40 percent of traffic accidents.

Continue reading "Florida Highway Fatalities Eight Year Low" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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An 11 year old boy has died in Florida behind the wheel of a four-wheeler, according to a story. Four-wheelers are like motorcycles but generally driven by kids off-road in the countryside. This Florida wrongful death accident happened in Madison County near Tallahassee Friday afternoon.

A witness told the Florida Highway Patrol that the young boy passed him on the left before he lost control and went into an embankment. The vehicle then overturned and slammed into a tree. The 11 year old was thrown from the four-wheeler and died at the scene. A 25 year old passenger of Miami was ejected and taken to a Tallahassee hospital with serious injuries.

There is no word on whether either person was wearing a helmet. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the deceased boy. We also wish the very best for the injured passenger.

So often, victims who fall off sport vehicles suffer skull fractures and blunt force trauma to the head and chest. More often than not, young people are injured when the large ATV, made for adults, gets away from them causing them to “lose control.”

Statistics by the Consumer Product Safety Commission show that in 2004, 44,000 children under the age of 16 were injured and 150 suffered fatally. That led to a call for a ban on the adult-size ATVs for children because the machines are too large and too fast to control.

Continue reading "Florida Four-Wheeler Accident Kills Boy" »

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Posted In: ATV Accidents , Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A woman was killed and two others were injured in a head-on crash early Friday morning in Columbia County in North Florida. According to a story, a 37-year old driver’s SUV was heading west on I-10. She struck a vehicle driving east with a 25-year-old woman of St. Petersburg behind the wheel. The problem is that the SUV was going east in a westbound lane. When she struck the other vehicle, the SUV left the road and went into the median and overturned. The SUV driver, of St. Augustine, died at the scene of this tragic auto accident in Florida.

The other driver and her passenger were injured when her car spun around. The Florida Highway Patrol will try to determine if alcohol was involved in this crash.

The wreck happened about 1:45 a.m. near the I-75 exchange.

Once again, we are reporting on an SUV that rolled after a collision. There is no word on what kind of SUV this was, but they all have a high center of gravity making them less stable than a car lower to the ground.

Often the problems of death due to rollovers are associated with a design defect that the vehicle manufacturer knew about.

Continue reading "Columbia County Auto Accident Kills One, Injures Two " »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Auto Product Liability , Personal Injury , Rollover Accident , Wrongful Death

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One person was killed when a pickup truck hit a 15-passenger van carrying six children and five adults on I-10. The family was trying to make up for some lost time on the road because the auto accident in Jacksonville happened shortly after 2 a.m. According to a story, a woman was driving a pickup was trying to exit the on-ramp at I-10 eastbound at Marietta. The Florida Highway Patrol reports the van hit a concrete barrier and rolled over several times. Several occupants were thrown from the van. No one knows how many people were wearing seat belts. The driver of the pickup was not injured. FHP is investigating whether alcohol might have been a factor.

A man involved in the Jacksonville 15 passenger van accident died at Shands Hospital and a one-year-old is in critical condition. Our hearts go out to the family that was just trying to join others in a reunion. We wish a speedy recovery for the injured baby.

According to the federal government, 15-passenger vans are the most dangerous vehicles on the road.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued guidelines to drivers of these 12 to 15-passenger vans, specifically that drivers have specialty training and pass a written and skills test. Because the vans are top heavy and unstable, only a driver who is trained to stay on the road and who can keep the tires properly inflated and drive under the speed limit should be behind the wheel.

Passengers must wear their belts. Without one, someone in a 15-passenger van in a single-vehicle crash is about three times as likely to be killed as a retrained occupant, according to the federal government.

Continue reading "Auto Accident Involving Family Van Injures Six, Kills One" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A 51-year old Florida woman has been charged with two counts of manslaughter in connection with a single-car wreck that killed two Jacksonville area teens last January. According to an article, a St. Johns County grand jury looked at the evidence in the case before deciding on the charges against the female driver. She is charged with allowing alcohol and drugs to be served at several parties she hosted at her house between September 26 and January 12. Minors consumed not only alcohol but marijuana and nitrous oxide and police say the 51 year old woman sometimes participated.

It’s believed that alcohol contributed to the car crash in Florida that took the lives of 18-year-old and 17-year-old. Early in the morning of January 12, the Thunderbird they were in was traveling along State Road 13 when it hit a guardrail and drove into a stand of trees where the car caught fire. The victims had to be identified by dental records. One of the victims’ blood alcohol measured at .18, twice the legal limit and the other teen’s BAC was .097, above the legal limit for intoxication.

The charged woman’s action led directly to the deaths, says the charging affidavit, as the teens were leaving her residence.

Continue reading "Florida Car Wreck Kills Two Teens Who Were Served Alcohol Illegally" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , DRAM Shop Law , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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A family was traveling from St. Petersburg, Florida, heading up to Tennessee for a family reunion on Father’s Day. They were driving large van loaded with six children and five adults on Interstate 10 about two in the morning when they were involved in a fatal van crash in Florida.

According to a story, a pickup truck was trying to exit the on-ramp at I-10 eastbound when it collided with the van. It then hit a concrete barrier and rolled over several times. It’s not known how many people were wearing seat belts, but several occupants were thrown from the van. The pickup driver was not injured. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating whether alcohol might have been a factor.

A 49-year old passenger died at Shands Hospital and a one-year-old is in critical condition. Many of the other children were hospitalized.

According to the federal government, the 15-passenger van is the most dangerous vehicle on the road. Why? Because it is unstable and the roof strength can’t withstand a roll, very often head injuries result- the most catastrophic types of injury.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reports when there are 10 or move people inside a van, the extra weight raises the center of gravity and causes it to shift rearward making the van more susceptible to rollovers and poor handling.

58 people lost their lives in accidents in 2006 and 80 percent of those people killed in rollovers in 15-passenger vans were unbelted.

The law allows these dangerous vehicles to stay on the road and NHTSA has issued more safety advisories about them than about any other vehicle. Basically here is what we know:

• Drivers of these vans should receive specialty training and should have to pass a written and skills test. NHTSA has encouraged states to make a specific license for drivers of these vans. Since any sudden turn of the wheel can cause them to go off the road, keeping speed low is essential, and keeping tires properly inflated is crucial.


• Everyone needs to wear their seat belts. Period. Without one, someone in a 15-passenger van in a single-vehicle crash is about three times as likely to be killed, according to the federal government.

Continue reading "1-10 Crash Injures 6, Kills One" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Two people died and two others were injured in a one-vehicle car accident in Northeast Florida that injured a four-year-old. The crash happened just northeast of Macclenny at about 6 p.m., according to a report.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that the car was traveling north on County Road 125 and for unknown reasons veered off the road onto the shoulder. The driver just kept going and apparently did not apply his brakes or try to correct the path. After about 175 feet, the car, a Lincoln Continental, hit a large oak tree.

The driver from Pensacola and a front seat passenger were trapped in the vehicle for more than an hour while rescue workers tried to extricate them. The FHP says two passengers died from their injuries.

The little 4-year-old received serious injuries. The driver was in serious condition, but survived.

What we know so far from FHP is that everyone was wearing their seat belts and that alcohol was a factor in the wreck.

It is state law that every child be placed in a federally approved child restraint device or in the case of a 4 or 5-year-old, they must be in a separate carrier or an integrated child seat or seat belt. We are thankful that someone thought to strap this child in as it likely saved his life.

Continue reading "Baker County Crash" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Last week, we remembered nine teenagers who decided to cut the last day of school, pile into a 1997 Ford Explorer and go to the beach. On the way there, the 15-year-old driver lost control of the vehicle, which rolled, tossing everyone out, except the driver who was the only one wearing a seat belt. Three teens died that day; now a recent report states that a fourth, a teenage girl, has died as a result of the Florida rollover accident.

The 15 year old girl died Monday morning, June 15, at Shands Hospital. All but one of the teens attended Ed White High School in Jacksonville. Other students are still listed in critical condition.

Our condolences go out to the parents, friends, and teachers of these young people.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that the tire in the overloaded vehicle either lost its tread or blew out. Someone reconstructing the accident would want to know what type of tire this was.

Tires on the vehicle could have been recalled, had no tread, or been improperly inflated. More than 200 deaths and 700 injuries have been blamed on the Explorer rolling after the tread separated from Firestone tires, which were standard equipment on the Explorer.

The Explorer is notorious for rollovers, especially the older models. A 1997 model did not have the stability control that is added today after thousands of passengers lost their lives in the unstable vehicles. An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report in 2005 found that Explorers made between 1999 and 2002 had the fourth highest rate of driver wrongful death of all of the 47 SUVs in the study.

Continue reading "Fourth Student from Ed White Dies Following Explorer Rollover" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Rollover Accident , Wrongful Death

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The St. Johns County Sheriff’s department is releasing details about what happened to a one-year-old who was left inside a car to die.

According to a report, on Sunday, June 14, a young one-year-old was left in the automobile after her father dropped her mother off at work. She was in her car seat in the back and her father assumed she was with relatives. Long remained for several hours inside the car, parked outside her St. Augustine home. When she was finally found, she was blue and not breathing. The little girl later died at Flagler Hospital.

Our hearts go out to the family and to the little girl who suffered so.

Already this year there have been 12 wrongful deaths of children left inside a hot vehicle, reports Jan Null, a professor of Meteorology at San Francisco State University.

Add this to 35 and 42 child deaths, in 2007 and 2006, due to hyperthermia or heat stroke. Hundreds have died over the last ten years and children can die in a hot car even when the weather is relatively mild.

Under Florida law, it is illegal to leave a child unattended or unsupervised in a motor vehicle for any longer than 15 minutes, but even that is too long for the Florida heat. Under Florida sun, even a temperature of 70 degrees can rise twenty degrees in ten minutes. The state can take custody of any child if you are found to be in violation of this law and you can be charged with a crime for inflicting the risk of death or personal injury on a child.

Continue reading "1 Year Old Left Inside Car Dies in St. Augustine" »

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Lake City is located in Columbia County, Florida and is known as the “Gateway To Florida.” With a population of about 12,000 and in a county whose population is on the rise (Columbia County has close to 68,000 inhabitants as of 2006), Lake City has become a popular tourist destination as well as a stop for those on route to Southern Florida. Lake City got its name as the “Gateway to Florida” because two major highways, Interstate’s 10 and 75, converge within city limits. I-10 is one of the major east-west thoroughfares in the United States running from Santa Monica, CA all the way to Jacksonville, Florida.

With so much tourist and commuter traffic traveling through Lake City, truck accidents and auto accidents are an all too common occurrence. Unfortunately, tractor trailer and commercial truck accidents on I-10 and I-75 happen quite often. When these accidents are fatal due to another driver’s negligence, a Lake City wrongful death lawyer can help a family receive compensation for funeral expenses, loss of companionship, and other expenses.

Truck accidents truly present the largest danger on our highways today. If you are involved in a full speed crash with a semi-truck, it is equivalent to colliding with 20 cars - all at the same time. This is very serious and can have catastrophic consequences. In the aftermath of serious large truck accidents and tractor-trailer accidents, the Lake City tractor trailer accident attorneys of Farah and Farah in Florida are prepared to represent victims and help them receive the compensation they are owed. Due to the deadly nature of truck accidents, the advice of an experienced attorney is invaluable to accident victims or surviving family members. Contact Farah and Farah today to speak with a member of our legal team or contact us at our Lake City offices:

212 N. Marion Ave Suite 208
Lake City, FL 32055
Phone: (386) 754-7534

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Truck Accident , Wrongful Death

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Orange Park is a suburb of Jacksonville located in Northeast Clay County, Florida, just south of Jacksonville, Florida. Rich in history and a thriving community, Orange Park has a great deal to offer. Being in such close proximity to Jacksonville makes Orange Park’s roads and highways well traveled with locals and tourists alike.

Clay County, which Orange Park is located in, is also a bustling region of Florida. With a population in excess of 180,000 and a very high population density, trucks frequent Orange Park’s roads to deliver a variety of goods. As a result of 303 people per square mile in the region, busy roads, fatigued drives, and negligent acts, car and truck accidents in Orange Park are a frequent occurrence and can cause serious personal injury. When these accidents are catastrophic due to another driver’s negligence, an Orange Park wrongful death lawyer can help a family receive compensation for funeral expenses, loss of companionship, and other expenses.

Truck accidents truly present the largest danger on our highways today. In the aftermath of serious large truck accidents and tractor-trailer accidents, the Orange Park tractor trailer accident lawyers of Farah and Farah in Florida are prepared to represent victims and help them receive the compensation they are owed. Due to the deadly nature of tractor-trailer accidents, the advice of an experienced attorney is invaluable to accident victims or surviving family members. Contact our firm today:

1534 Kingsley Avenue
Orange Park, Florida 32073
Phone: (904) 264-0700

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Truck Accident , Wrongful Death

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Those out there who drive Chrysler and General Motor cars have a real fight on their hands.

On June 1 when a bankruptcy judge decided to override a group of injured victims of Chrysler and approved the sale of the company to Fiat, he essentially cut the legs out from under Americans injured by the vehicles by leaving them with no assets to pursue the car company for their injuries. A victim’s fund would cost about $300 million a year, but the money was not put aside.

Clarence Ditlow of the Center for Auto Safety says Fiat even agreed to take on the liability. Instead the bankruptcy judge sailed through a prepackaged plan to leave thousands of Americans out in the cold.

Consumers just spent $57 billion of tax dollars to bailout Chrysler and GM.

Bob Dinnigan is left in a difficult and heartbreaking situation. His daughter, Amanda is a paraplegic after a seat belt injury of her spinal cord. She is 12-years-old. The family has spent about $1 million on her care so far and the insurance is running out.

There are thousands of victim stories being told by consumer groups and General Motors reportedly has $1.25 billion in pending product liability claims and with 40 million GM and Chrysler cars currently on the road. The federal government reports nearly half of all death and injury claims filed against auto manufacturers involve Chrysler and General Motors.

The best advice experts have for consumers is to sell your GM or Chrysler car now, because if you are injured, there will be no remedy for you.

Continue reading "Chrysler Leaves Injured Customers In The Cold" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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St. Augustine is home to the oldest port in the continental United States – in fact, St. Augustine is commonly referred to as “the nation’s oldest city.” In 2004, the population was estimated to be 12,157. Home to beautiful beaches, museums that depict life for the early Spanish explorers who settled there and classic architecture from an era long past, St. Augustine continues to be a popular tourist destination in Northern Florida.

Located about 40 miles south of Jacksonville and 60 miles north of Daytona Beach just 5 miles east of Interstate 95, St. Augustine is also a well traversed location. With hundreds of trucks passing through delivering goods and on their way to other destinations mixed with residents and tourists, auto accidents involving trucks happen far too often. These truck accidents can cause serious personal injury and in the most severe cases - death. When these truck accidents are fatal due to another driver’s negligence, a St. Augustine wrongful death lawyer can help a family receive compensation for loss of companionship, funeral expenses, and other expenses associated with the loss of a loved one.

Truck accidents truly present the largest danger on our highways today. In the aftermath of serious tractor-trailer accidents and large truck accidents, the St. Augustine tractor trailer accident lawyers of Farah and Farah in Florida are prepared to represent victims and help them receive the compensation they are owed. Due to the deadly nature of tractor-trailer accidents, the advice of an experienced attorney is invaluable to accident victims or surviving family members. Contact Farah and Farah today at:

1301 Plantation Island Drive
Suite 206A
St. Augustine, Florida 32080
Phone: (904) 797-7977

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Posted In: Personal Injury , Truck Accident , Wrongful Death

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It was early Sunday morning about 2: 30 a.m. 42-year-old Chuck Carter and his 39-year-old wife, Susan were driving on the Hart Expressway. It was raining. According to a report, the Carters’ vehicle careened off the left wall then smashed into a concrete guardrail before rolling several times.

Chuck was wearing a seat belt but was killed in the Jacksonville auto accident. Susan did not have her belt on and made it to the hospital, but died several hours later.

The entire neighborhood of Saint Nicholas in Jacksonville is devastated about the news of the passing of this popular couple who were parents to Charlie, 11 and Caroline, 9.

Chuck worked for the Duval County School System as a groundskeeper and Susan was a guidance counselor. Susan had plans to spend the summer off with her children. Accolades are coming in from the community on how special she made children feel at the elementary school where she worked.

As the investigation is conducted, all that remains is a grieving community, lots of questions and accolades for the individuals who lost their lives. Our condolences go out to a grieving community for the loss of these special people.

Jacksonville car accident attorneys hear this unfortunate kind of story many times a day. Following too closely to the car in front, not adjusting your speed for wet road conditions, having tires that are bald or blow out, and not wearing your seat belt – all of these are factors that make your travel more dangerous.

The investigation is not complete in this report, but all anyone can do at this point is to learn from this tragedy and make sure that you are as safe on the road as you can be by taking care of the conditions that are under your control.

If you or a family member has been injured in a car accident in Florida caused by another driver’s negligence, you deserve to be compensated for any injuries sustained in the accident that lead to hospital bills, treatment, or loss of time on the job. Contact the Personal Injury Law Firm of Farah and Farah today for a free consultation.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Almost a week doesn’t go by when we report on a child who has been injured or killed by an SUV. These vehicles offer terrible rear vision and are the cause of too many car accidents and pedestrian accidents in Jacksonville. With no cameras or safety audio beeps, children are accidentally run over in cities and neighborhoods across the country, and often it is a member of the drivers’ own family.

To be proactive and keep kids safe, Safe Kids of Northeast Florida staged a demonstration to prove just how limited your vision is behind an SUV. Channel 4’s reporter backed up while a woman held the hand of a two-foot high mannequin. This is one of those demonstrations that television loves, but in this case, it is effective.

The reporter couldn’t see the mannequin eight feet behind the car and not again at 16 feet when relying only on mirrors. Bottom line - do a quick walk around your car before you back up. It takes five seconds and could save the life of a child or a pet, not to mention children’s toys that may be in the driveway that get destroyed or mangle your car.

You never want to have to go through the guilt of running over someone you love, or for that matter, a neighbor or stranger. You may want to even consider purchasing a back-up camera system for about $100. They are small enough to plug into a cigarette lighter for power, and when the camera is wired to the reverse light and attached to the license plate, the price is well worth the peace of mind of knowing there isn’t a child or animal behind you.

We would much rather you be safe than need the services of an attorney for this largely preventable accident and we hope that everyone has a safe summer. However, if you or someone close to you has been injured in a car accident or pedestrian accident involving an SUV or any other vehicle, Jacksonville’s skilled auto accident lawyers will launch a thorough investigation and help you hold those accountable for causing injuries or property damage. Call Farah and Farah today at 800-533-3555 for a case evaluation.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Brunswick is a city in southeastern Georgia located about 30 miles north of Florida. Home to the fourth-largest automobile port in the eastern United States, the city's economy encompasses manufacturing, agricultural processing, and bulk cargoes. Nicknamed “the shrimp capital of the world” the region is also famous because it is the center of Georgia’s shrimp and crab industries. In 2007, the city proper had an estimated population of 16,235 and an estimated metropolitan population of 101,792.

Brunswick’s metropolitan area is the twelfth-largest in the state of Georgia and includes the counties of Glynn, Brantley, and McIntosh. With a region that encompasses such a large, varied area and a population that is on the rise, it is no wonder that so many auto accidents involving trucks occur in the region. With such a high commercial demand for products and goods, the potential for being injured due to the negligence of others in a truck accident is prevalent, as it is in all metropolitan regions. These accidents can cause serious personal injury or death. When these truck accidents are fatal due to another driver’s negligence, a Brunswick, George wrongful death lawyer can help a family receive compensation for loss of companionship, funeral expenses, and other expenses associated with the loss of a loved one.

Truck accidents truly present the largest danger on our highways today. In the aftermath of serious tractor-trailer accidents and large truck accidents, the Brunswick tractor trailer accident lawyers of Farah and Farah are prepared to represent victims and help them receive the compensation they are owed. Due to the deadly nature of tractor-trailer accidents, the advice of an experienced attorney is invaluable to accident victims or surviving family members. Don’t hesitate to contact Farah and Farah today at:

4216 Coral Park Drive
Suite 107
Brunswick, GA 31520
Phone: (912) 466-8896

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When private plane pilot, Gary Tillman of Rome, Georgia decided to leave for a pre-Christmas holiday in the Bahamas, he didn’t know his engine would quit. Tillman had just left from the Craig Airfield in Jacksonville in December 2005. On board were his daughter Hannah, and her friends, Anna Kipp, and Rachael Hostetler, according to an article.

Not long after takeoff, an engine quit.

Tillman asked air traffic controllers for help in making an emergency beach landing nearby as he was about one mile off Vilano Beach, just north of St. Augustine. But he followed the FAA directions to travel south to the St. Augustine Airport, a few miles south.

The Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to pay $3.75 million for failing to help the pilot make the emergency landing. Instead, Tillman, his daughter, Hannah, and her friend Anna Kipp died in the Atlantic off Vilano Beach when they couldn’t make it safely to the airport. Tillman told the FAA after the instructions, “We’re not going to make it,” just before he crashed.

The other teen, Rachel Hostetler, was pulled from the water and was the only one to survive the crash.

Out condolences go out to all of the family members of those lost in this crash, which could have been prevented if Tillman been directed to the beach instead of south.

As attorney Woody Wilner told the jury, the air traffic controllers were at fault for the Florida wrongful death accident because Tillman had requested a beach landing.

“He had one request. You know where I am, you have radar, I don’t,” Wilner said. Instead, the controllers sent him over water.

The FAA is the authority, empowered by Congress, to promote aviation safety and the public. What happened here indicates they did not act fast enough in ascertaining the seriousness of the situation to save these three precious lives. Also indicative was that the controllers were slow in notifying the U.S. Coast Guard to the scene after the crash.

The FAA did not admit any fault in the accident.

At Farah and Farah, our experienced Florida aviation accident lawyers understand the pain, stress and confusion that families must endure when a plane crash takes the life of a loved one. For those who are lucky enough to survive an aviation accident, very often steep hospital bills await them for treating serious injuries. With our knowledge of air transportation laws, we will begin an investigation into your accident immediately to get you and your family the compensation you deserve. Call Farah and Farah today for a free consultation at 800-533-3555.

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Nine teenagers decided that they’d end the school year by cutting out and heading to the beach. So the teens from Ed White High School in Jacksonville got inside a 1997 Ford Explorer last Friday morning for a day in the sun. Instead, their family, friends, and schoolmates are mourning the death of three, and the injury of six after the SUV rolled several times and crashed on I-295.

According to a report, 15-year-olds Kimber Krebs and John Kiely, and 17-year-old Dennis Stout were all killed in the SUV rollover in Jacksonville. Three others remain in critical condition when they flew out of the rolling car. Only the driver, 15-year-old Brandon Hodges was wearing a seat belt. He walked away while two others are in fair condition at a local hospital.

It’s almost hard to believe, but at a church service Saturday, the parents didn’t blame the driver, instead they recognized that their children all made some bad decisions. Our hearts go out to these parents at their time of grief.

Florida law says that if you have a learners permit, you must be with a licensed driver over the age of 21. It’s not known if Hodges had a learner’s permit but no one in the car was older than 17. Charges are reportedly pending against the young teen.

Florida also has a mandatory seat belt law, but teens are notorious for not wearing their seat belts. Among the 4,540 teenagers killed in a vehicle accident in 2007, more than half were unbelted at the time of the Florida auto accident. At night, the rate of use is even lower with nearly two-thirds of 16- to-20 year olds killed in a car accident unbelted at the time.

An experienced law firm also has to inquire about the type of tire that was on the Explorer. Lawsuits have been filed against Ford for the Explorer’s Bridgestone/Firestone tires that were unsafe and had a tendency to de-tread. In this case, the Florida Highway Patrol reports that a rear tire blew out and the driver lost control.

Many of those recalled Firestone tires are still on the road. If you or a loved one has been in a car accident, you should look into what kind of tire your vehicle has and seek a skilled Jacksonville car accident attorney to help you determine what happened to cause the accident. At Farah and Farah, our personal injury and product liability lawyers are dedicated to defending the rights of those injured by another person’s negligence. Let us help you hold those accountable for your injuries. Contact us today for a free evaluation.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Rollover Accident , Wrongful Death

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Palatka, Florida houses a population of 10,804 (as of July 2007), and has experienced a 7.5% rise in population since 2000. More residents translate to more people out and about and on the road. Located in Putnam County, Palatka is 6.96 square miles in size, and has a population density of only 1553 people per square mile, relatively low in comparison to other cities that are comparable in size.

Only slightly more than 20% of Palatka residents both live and work in the city. Consequently, there are a large number people who commute outside of the city limits each day; all rushing to make it to their jobs on time. With so many people present on Palatka roads, accidents, particularly those involving trucks, are of concern. Combine impatient residents who are rushing to work with truck drivers who are trying to deliver goods on time, and you have a less than desirable combination that can lead to truck accidents in Palatka. Regardless of whose fault it is, it is of extreme importance that you have a skilled Palatka truck accident attorney on your side so that you don’t have to sift through the legal waters alone.

Every city across the country has its own risks. Unfortunately for residents and visitors, wrongful death occurrences are a risk that Palatka is not immune to. When wrongful death rears its ugly head, it is important that skilled Palatka wrongful death attorneys are on the case, ensuring that negligent parties are punished and those seeking retribution are duly compensated. The wrongful death attorneys at Farah and Farah are knowledgeable and prepared to examine every aspect of your wrongful death case to ensure that your compensation is enough to help pay off the brunt of hospital bills, funeral fees, and other costs associated with the loss of a loved one. Call the wrongful death attorneys at Farah and Farah today for a consultation, and allow us to assist you with all your wrongful death legal needs. Contact us today at:

417 St. Johns Avenue
Palatka, Florida 32177
Phone: (386) 328-2889

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A firstcoastnews.com article reported that children were tased during “Take Your Child to Work Day” at the Martin Correctional Institution in Indiantown and the Indian River Correctional Institute in Vero Beach. This story has outraged residents who live near the prison.

What began as a group of prison employees bringing their children to work ended with those 10 employees on administrative leave for allegedly using stun guns on the kids.

The employees wanted their kids to feel the sensation of the stun gun. The kids ranged in age from 8 to 14 and luckily none were seriously hurt. But one has to wonder about the mindset and judgment of the parents.

According to a Canadian study, taser stun guns used by law enforcement can cause brain-problems such as seizures, a loss of consciousness, and suspended breathing and confusion. Adults have had these reactions, so using a stun gun on the small body of a child could have even more devastating and permanent effects. Additionally, traumatic brain injury and concussion can occur if someone falls to the ground.

Tasers have been responsible for the wrongful death of individuals with heart conditions by delivering a jolt so strong it causes the heart to beat irregularly. Lawsuits have been filed when taser guns have been used without adequate caution. In fact, in 2007 a University of Florida student was tasered at a campus forum for Sen. John Kerry, bringing renewed attention to the use of the stun guns. Other incidents have involved the mentally ill or autistic who have been the victims of tasers when police didn’t understand their actions.

In the last five years, law enforcement agencies have increased stun guns up from 2,000 to 11,500, according to a spokesman for Taser International. With widespread use comes additional opportunity for the abuse of the stun guns. Amnesty International reports that there have been 270 deaths in the U.S. following the use of tasers.

A personal injury attorney in Florida might want to discuss your case with you to see if there was justifiable reason for you to be tasered. At Farah and Farah, we aggressively defend the rights of our clients who have been injured as a result of another person’s negligence. Our dedicated personal injury team will discuss what led to your injuries and help you get compensation for hospital stays, treatment, or any lost wages from not being able to work due to your injury. Contact us today for a case evaluation.

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Amelia Island, known as the “Isle of Eight Flags”, is part of Nassau County, and is home to both Amelia City and Fernandina Beach. It is part of the Sea Islands, a grouping that stretches from the north easternmost point of Florida to the South Carolina coast. Amelia Island has a population of about 68,347 people, and is only 18.2 square miles in size. Its principle industry is tourism, with attractions centering-around beach-going, sailing and camping. In such a small community setting, it is always important for visitors to treat the locals with all due respect, and vice versa. In particular, safe driving practices are of utmost importance.

With tourism such a vital part of Amelia Island’s economy, the transportation of goods is undoubtedly a common occurrence on any given day. Trucks or other large vehicles pose a risk to tourists who are not as familiar with the area. That is, truck drivers may exercise negligence in their travel routes, putting unsuspecting tourists and even locals at grave risk. When Amelia Island truck accidents do occur, it is important to have legal counsel and representation from someone who will fight for your rights and ensure you are duly compensated. The Amelia Island truck accident lawyers at Farah and Farah are here to help in all matters of the road.

In any tourist town, above all else, it is imperative that caution be taken to ensure safety. Sometimes, safety is taken for granted and wrongful death accidents can occur. At Farah and Farah, our Amelia Island wrongful death attorneys will expose negligence and seek retribution for the losses you have suffered. Whether wrongful death occurred due to an automobile accident, a pedestrian accident, or any other personal injury accident, the attorneys at Farah and Farah are skilled and ready to assist you with all matters pertaining to wrongful death cases. For an evaluation of your case, contact our Amelia Island office today at:

501 Centre St.
Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034
Phone: (904) 261-4440

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The Florida Department of Children and Families, or DCF, in the past has had a terrible reputation of covering up and denying reports of child abuse within the foster care system. The recent Florida wrongful death of a little boy in foster care has been handled much differently this time around.

Seven-year-old Gabriel Myers had been put on several psychiatric drugs for depression, and ADHD. After parents, family members and a system let him down, the little boy is assumed to have killed himself in the shower of his Broward County home.

Based on Gabriel’s death, DCF set out to find out exactly how many kids are placed on psychiatric mind-altering medications, many of which have dangerous side effects that can include suicidal thoughts. This kind risk imposed on children would require the counsel of an experienced Jacksonville pharmaceutical litigation lawyer who can help determine through an investigation who is responsible for the defective drug.

The Florida Times Union report finds that hundreds of kids in foster care have been placed on psychiatric drugs by their caregivers in Northeast Florida - 205 kids in Duval, Clay, and Nassau counties were found to be on at least one psychotropic drug. In St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler, and Volusia counties, 136 kids are medicated and 76 are on drugs in Baker, Union, Bradford, Gilchrist, Alachua and Levy counties.

What’s especially shocking is that no one gave authority for these drugs to be used on the children, and most of the drugs are not even approved for child use.

Under Florida law, parental or guardian consent must be granted in writing before children in foster care can be given psychotropic drugs to modify behavior. Oversight by a psychiatrist is required, along with court orders. DCF will now aggressively seek out those parents or guardians to get consent where it was missing in about 16 percent of the cases. According to the report, kids who stayed with family members were medicated about 4 percent of the time, while kids in group homes were medicated about 30 percent of the time.

At Farah and Farah, our skilled Jacksonville personal injury and wrongful death attorneys have been defending the rights of those injured or killed by the negligence of pharmaceutical companies and other large parties. Call us today for a free consultation at 800-533-3555.

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Posted In: Defective Drug , Personal Injury , Pharmaceutical Litigation , Product Liability , Wrongful Death

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Jacksonville Beach, Florida is the largest town in the Jacksonville Beaches community, housing a population of 21,849 as of July 2007. Since the year 2000, the population has grown by 4%. The area is referred to by locals as “Jax Beach” and is a part of Duval County. As is common in most coastal locales, Jacksonville Beach attracts numerous tourists to its sandy shores. With tourism being a substantial part of its economy, Jacksonville Beach is easily accessible via highway. It is the eastern terminus of U.S. Route 90, which culminates a mere three blocks from the Atlantic Ocean.

Tourism always provides increased traffic congestion. Not only do Jacksonville Beach roads consist of shoreline enthusiasts, but also delivery trucks and other large vehicles that transport goods and materials to the surrounding area. Truck accidents can occur for a variety of reasons, whether out of negligence on the part of the truck driver, dangerous road conditions, or manufacturing defects in the truck itself. Regardless of the reason, it is important that you have an experienced Jacksonville Beach truck accident attorney on your side in the event of an accident.

Accidents often times lead to serious injury, and may even result in death. If a loved one has recently been the victim of a fatal accident, please don’t hesitate to contact the wrongful death lawyers at Farah and Farah. If negligence played a significant factor in the loss of your loved one, the wrongful death attorneys at Farah and Farah are prepared to get you the compensation you need to help cover steep medical costs, funeral arrangements, and other expenses. Our knowledgeable and skilled Jacksonville Beach wrongful death lawyers have been aggressively representing clients for over 25 years. Contact us today at:

472 Osceola Avenue
Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32250
Phone: (904) 249-2585

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On July 1, 2007, the United States Census Bureau reported Jacksonville, Florida as having a population of 805,605 people. By population, Jacksonville, is the largest city in the state of Florida, and, as of 2007, had the 12th largest population of any major U.S. city of at least 100,000 people. The city of Jacksonville has a total area of 874.3 square miles, making it the largest city in land area in the United States. Located in the First Coast region of northeast Florida, Jacksonville is centered on the banks of the St. Johns River 340 miles north of Miami and 25 miles south of the Georgia border.

As a result of location, Jacksonville is a prime tourist spot, in addition to permanently housing a vast number of people. Because there are so many inhabitants and mere passers-by, transportation and its resulting traffic play a significant role in the life of any Jacksonville resident. A hub of industry in the state of Florida, Jacksonville is host to countless motor vehicles, some transporting passengers and others transporting goods. With such a high volume of traffic, auto accidents and other personal injury accidents that result in Jacksonville wrongful death cases are extremely prevalent.

At Farah and Farah, we are dedicated to helping injured victims of car accidents, motorcycle accidents, and truck accidents in Florida get the medical treatment and money they need to recover properly. We will aggressively represent you in negotiation with insurance, with the truck driver and trucking company, and if necessary, in court. Our skilled Jacksonville truck accident attorneys have vast experience in truck accidents and are familiar with the law regarding negligence on the part of truck drivers. At Farah and Farah, we understand that every accident is different and has unique circumstances that deserve to be fully examined to get the best results. Contact us today for a free consultation at:

10 West Adams Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32202
Phone: (904) 396-5555

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According to a News4Jax.com report, little four-year-old Dymounique Wilson was just trying to retrieve her Dora the Explorer book. It was on top of a heavy television set which was on a stand in her mother’s bedroom. After her mother dozed off, the little girl went for her book.

“The only thing I heard was a boom, and when I woke up I saw the TV on her,” her mother, Samara Brinkley told Channel 4.

Brinkley says she can’t sleep or eat since her daughter’s death when the television crashed to the floor, killing the child.

Our condolences go out to those who loved this little girl. What a horrible tragedy and accident.

“So I ask for every parent to please watch your children because this could have happened to anybody,” says Dymounique’s grandmother, Marrietta Brinkley.

And these tragic accidents of Florida wrongful death do happen. A study just published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, shows there was 264,000 injuries from tipped over furniture from 1990 to 2007, and that represents an increase in injuries from falling furniture over the last 18 years.

About 75 percent of the injuries - occurred to children six and under, and televisions were most commonly involved in 47.4 percent of cases.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, prevention is the first line of defense. Caregivers need to use anchors to hold televisions, TV stands, bookcases and bureaus to the wall. You can use an “L” shape bracket, screws and toggles. Some televisions even come with brackets or straps to secure them.

If a heavy television is in a room, it should be on sturdy furniture and pushed to the back of a shelf. Remember not to store anything on top of the television like a toy or a remote control.

The CPSC says dressers and cabinets should be stacked with the heaviest things in the bottom so the furniture is not top-heavy. Please check the CPSC website before buying used furniture that your child will spend a lot of unsupervised time in.

Many unsafe cribs that have been recalled are still sold at garage sales and consignment shops. Every year children are trapped between the bars or between the flooring and the frame and suffocate. According to Safe Kids USA, more than two million fall-related injuries involved children in 2002 and of those, 80 percent occurred in the home. Ms. Brinkley is right – this type of tragedy can and does happen regularly. Again, our condolences go out this family for their loss.

At Farah and Farah, our skilled Jacksonville personal injury attorneys can tell you if you have a case against the manufacturer of a recalled product if the company continued to manufacture and distribute a defective product. Call us today for a free evaluation at 1-800-533-3555.

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Two elderly men died on Jacksonville roads recently when they were hit by speeding city vehicles in two separate auto accidents in Florida. Now criminal charges will be filed against a Jacksonville Sheriff’s officer and a Jacksonville Fire Rescue district chief for their roles in the separate incidents, according to a report.

Last January, 86-year-old Matthew Ogden Jr. was hit broadside by a JSO police car driven by Officer Marcus Kilpatrick. He was reported to be chasing a motorist with tinted windows and had attained speeds of up to 100 mph.

Kilpatrick is facing culpable negligence charges as well as charges that he lied during an investigation.

In the other car crash in Jacksonville, District Fire Chief Adrian Johnson is facing charges of culpable negligence after a November crash with a car driven by Howard Corrigan, 75. In that case too, police say Johnson did not have a siren on.

These are misdemeanor charges and while they can carry a jail time of up to one year, the State Attorney’s Office is saying that incarceration may not be appropriate in these cases.

With at least 400 estimated deaths from police collisions across the U.S. (and some say that might be double), Voices Insisting on Pursuit Safety, and the Orlando based advocacy group, Pursuit Watch, says enough is enough.

John Phillips of Orlando lost his 20-year-old sister Sarah when a cruiser hit her car traveling 70 mph. Phillips, now behind Pursuit Watch, has helped Orange County develop one of the most responsible and restrictive pursuit policies in the nation which sometimes means there is no chase, unless a felony has been committed. Its adoption follows a similarly restrictive policy by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in the fall of 2003.

The Voices group was formed after Candy Priano lost her daughter Kristie, who was killed in the back of the family minivan on the way to her high school basketball game by a police car in pursuit.

A Florida wrongful death lawsuit is not going to bring back these innocent people, who were hit by those charged with protecting the public. It may however deter police from acting recklessly and remind them that their job isn’t to catch a bad guy, but to protect the public.

As personal injury attorneys in Florida at Farah and Farah, we hope that Jacksonville can adopt a more sane pursuit policy and soon before we have any more victims of those who are supposed to be held to a higher standard of public safety.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Wrongful Death

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Almost a week doesn’t go by without hearing about car accidents in Jacksonville involving all-terrain vehicles and children.

Statistics show that almost every year, 40,000 children and teenagers are seriously hurt in ATV rollover accidents. Many children are killed due to the heavy weight of the vehicle falling on them. This is something that parents never get over.

In addition, alcohol and ATV’s definitely do not mix.

The attorneys representing the estate of a 28-year-old, who died in an ATV accident, have filed a Florida wrongful death lawsuit against the father, according to an article. It seems the father did not stop his “clearly intoxicated” son from riding the ATV after consuming alcohol at a house party.

The argument is that, not unlike drunk driving, friends, and in this case, family, do not let intoxicated people get behind the wheel. The mother is in charge of her son’s estate and filed the lawsuit to protect the interest of the two grandchildren.

This is a new twist on the laws that hold those who should know better, responsible for of the actions of those who are legally intoxicated, as the son was. In the case of motor vehicles, no one home during the time of a house party can allow minors to consume alcohol and not try to stop it. The host or hostess may be charged with a crime as they are responsible for minors in their home who are not old enough to drink.

The outcome in this ATV case could set a legal precedent and raise the bar for those involved with the already dangerous ATV’s. Our thoughts go out to the two minor children here, who have lost a father for a senseless reason.

If you or someone you care about has been injured or killed in a rollover car accident in Florida, the skilled Jacksonville auto accident attorneys at Farah and Farah can be of assistance. If evidence shows that the injury or wrongful death was caused by another person’s negligence, then you may receive compensation. Call us today at 800-533-3555 for a free consultation.

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Posted In: ATV Accidents , Auto Accidents , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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It turns out the driver of an 18-wheeler that ran into a school bus killing one student, had been texting, according to a report on the fatal Florida truck accident.

30- year-old Reinaldo Gonzales turned himself into the Florida Highway Patrol last Tuesday. He was booked in the Marion County jail in Ocala, Florida charged with vehicular homicide and reckless driving with serious bodily injury.

The auto accident in Florida happened seven months ago and Gonzales has been a free man since then. This angers the parents of 13-year-old Frances Schee, who was the last child trapped on the burning bus when passersby in the Florida town of Citra came to the rescue.

The Florida Highway Patrol explains the seven months by saying that these investigations take time.

Gonzales admits he was text messaging just minutes before he slammed into the rear of the bus with his 18-wheeler.

On the side of the road, U.S. 301 where the crash took place, a memorial still stands to honor the 11 children hurt and one girl killed.

Since the Florida bus accident, several lawsuits have been filed. The Key family has sued Marion county schools. “Since this tragedy we have not felt the board has been responsive to our concerns.”

Continue reading "Florida School Bus Crash Caused by Negligent Trucker Kills One, Injures Many" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Bus Accident , Personal Injury , Truck Accident , Wrongful Death

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Charges may be filed against a 22-year old motorcyclist from Georgia who was involved in a car accident in Florida last weekend that took the life of a pregnant woman.

According to an account from the Florida Highway Patrol, 32-year-old Vanessa Parker Sinclair, who was eight months pregnant, was on I-95 near the intersection of State Road A1A in Nassau County north of Jacksonville when a motorcycle approached her vehicle quickly from behind.

Witnesses say Ms. Sinclair tried to get out of the way of the motorcycle driven by Jen Young Lee, 22, of Savannah, and traveled from the middle lane to the right lane. Unfortunately, the motorcycle was trying to pass on the right side at the same time. When Sinclair discovered what was happening, she diverted the car back to the middle lane, but lost control of the Chevrolet. It rolled and she was killed along with the baby she was carrying.

Sinclair became one of about 10,000 fatalities every year from rollover accidents in Florida. Fortunately the children in the back were not seriously injured. Lee broke his leg when his motorcycle overturned but was hospitalized in fair condition.

Investigators must determine if there was excessive speed, if the vehicle was road worthy and try to recreate the Florida car accident with the help of witnesses.

Continue reading "Flordia Car versus Motorcycle Accident Kills Pregnant Woman" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Motorcycle Accident , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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Two car accidents in Jacksonville recently raise questions about whether police are putting the public first when it comes to safety on the roads.

Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford is asking the public for patience as a criminal probe tries to uncover what exactly happened that led to a collision between an officer’s car and an 86-year-old man driving a truck.

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the police chase launched by Officer Marcus Kilpatrick. He was traveling 98 mph through a residential area and near a school in a 40 mph zone to follow someone with tinted windows!

A witness said in a report that she saw Officer Kilpatrick go over and switch on his emergency light after the crash, in violation of policy that requires both lights and / or sirens when pursuing someone in an emergency situation. Tinted windows do not constitute an emergency.

A change in the police chase policy may result from the accident.

Continue reading "Jacksonville Car Accidents Bring Up New Pursuit Policies" »

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A tragic Florida pedestrian accident occurred Sunday afternoon when an unlicensed teenager got behind the wheel of the car.

The 16-year-old was asked by his family to move the family car after a church service at the Summerville Baptist Church near downtown.

The teen accidentally struck his three-year-old nephew when he rolled backward onto the sidewalk. He hit the child and then hit a fence. It turns out the driver’s seat latch broke, putting the seat in the reclined position, causing the teen to lose control of the car. The toddler was taken to Shands Jacksonville with life-threatening injuries.

We wish the family the best and hope the baby makes a full recovery.

This story is reminiscent of another unlicensed teen auto accident two years ago in St. Petersburg. A 42-year old mother let her unlicensed 15-year-old boy have the keys to drive his friends home. The Florida Highway Patrol determined the unlicensed teen was going 70 mph in a 40 mph zone. During his joy ride, he was involved in a crash trying to overtake another car. A 14-year-old cheerleader was killed.

Continue reading "Florida Toddler Struck By Unlicensed Teen Uncle" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Law & Information , Pedestrian Accidents , Wrongful Death

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Can mold kill?

The families of three young children have filed a lawsuit against St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, accusing the hospital of failing to protect the leukemia patients from mold.

The hospital was undergoing an expansion in 2008 on the ground floor. The suit charges that mold was stirred up during the construction and that the hospital should have known the children suffered weakened immune systems making them susceptible to infections.

Three children died in April and May, 2008, and their parents have filed the lawsuit. Mathew and Karen Gliddon are suing on behalf of their son Mathew, age 5; Patricia Gunn on behalf of her daughter Kaylie, age 2; and Daniel and Mary Lynn Kesler over their daughter Sierra, age 9, according a story from the Tampa Tribune.

Continue reading "Tampa Hospital Mold Causes Infections Killing 3 Children" »

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Posted In: Health & Information , Medical Malpractice , Wrongful Death

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A young man was walking on Blanding Boulevard in the Jacksonville area around 1:45 Friday morning. A report says he was hit by a Dodge minivan and killed.

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the pedestrian fatality. The man has been identified as Cammeron T. Nettles, 21. He was walking southbound on Blanding Boulevard near County Road 220. Nettles was reportedly wearing dark clothing and walking in the inside lane. That was when the driver, 41-year-old Corry L. Hull of Keystone Heights, Florida hit him. Nettles was pronounced dead at the scene of the Jacksonville, Florida pedestrian accident.

The driver said he did not see Nettles who walking in the inside lane wearing dark clothing, the FHP report said. It also wasn't clear what he was doing in the road or exactly where he was when he was hit.

Obviously it is the motorist's responsibility to do everything possible to avoid colliding with any pedestrians, including anyone traveling on a bicycle, skateboarders or someone in a pedestrian crosswalk.

Continue reading "Jacksonville Pedestrian Accident Results in Death of Man" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , Pedestrian Accidents , Wrongful Death

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The downtown Berkman Plaza condominium project was abruptly halted in December 2007, when a parking garage collapsed killing one worker. Now the condo owner is suing six subcontractors for at least $36 million in damages.

The six are accused of violating Florida’s building codes that led to the six-story garage collapsing, killing 26-year-old Willie Edwards, a single father of two, who was found under five feet of debris and two foot of concrete. 23 others were injured.

In the lawsuits, Berkman’s lawyers say the delay in construction has cost the company at least $36 million dollars.

The Florida Times-Union reports that one subcontractor, Choate Construction Co., was not sued because its contract states that any claims are to be handled through binding arbitration and mediation.

Continue reading "Florida On the Job Injury Caused By Condo Collapse" »

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Posted In: Workers' Compensation , Wrongful Death

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Medtronic is facing more trouble over its Infuse Bone Graft.

A Texas woman is reportedly preparing a lawsuit blaming off-label use of Infuse for injuries she suffered after cervical spine surgery. Mary Selke claims that bone formed in her neck and it made it difficult for her to breathe and swallow resulting in more surgery, this time of an emergency nature. Her physician will also reportedly provide testimony that Medtronic promoted use of the product off-label directly to physicians.

Each year, an estimated half million people undergo spinal surgery to repair and stabilize the spine after experiencing damaged discs or to remedy the condition of scoliosis. But Infuse Bone Graft has been linked to complications that have occurred during off- label use, specifically in surgery in the neck.

The family of Shirley Nisbet has sued Medtronic over the Infuse Bone Graft after the California woman died in August 2008, says a report. Nisbet had spinal-fusion surgery using Infuse in her neck. After her surgery, the suit says, Ms. Nisbet went into respiratory arrest and a coma and was kept alive by artificial means until she died.

Continue reading "Multiple Families Sue For Injuries Caused By Infused Bone Graft" »

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Posted In: Health & Information , Medical Malpractice , Wrongful Death

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It was a much anticipated trial.

A Florida wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of a Cooper City, Florida man, who smoked up to 40 cigarettes a day for 40 years, would be the first of 8,000 similar lawsuits to be heard in Florida against Big Tobacco.

Thousands of individual lawsuits were allowed to move forward after the Florida Supreme Court threw out the $145 billion Engle verdict in 2006, de-certifying the class.

But a racial slur in the Broward County courtroom led to a mistrial in the case Thursday, December 4. An expert witness was testifying on the second day of trial, explaining his research into a project about racism in the tobacco industry and used a racist term – the N-word. Two of the jurors and one alternate were African-American.

The judge felt the word was prejudicial, even though it was heard in the context of a research project. He had no choice but to declare a mistrial so jurors wouldn’t hear about racism in the tobacco industry.

Stuart Hess of Cooper City, Florida died of lung cancer at the age of 55 in 1997.

His widow, Elaine, says Stuart tried to quit smoking. He tried Nicorette gum and hypnosis. He tried to quit cold turkey. Nothing worked.

Whether or not Hess was actually addicted to cigarettes will be the key to the case that his widow likely will bring again against Benson & Hedges (owned by Philip Morris), the cigarettes Hess preferred to smoke.

The tobacco company says he was not addicted and could have stopped smoking at any time, according to the Miami Herald.

No word yet on whether lawyers will re-try the case, but if they do, they must first prove he was addicted to cigarettes and that they caused his lung cancer. If they fail, the case goes away.

Continue reading "A Much Anticipated Florida Tobacco (Mis) Trial " »

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Posted In: Wrongful Death

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