Florida Injury Attorney

Pedestrian Killed in Downtown Jacksonville After Being Hit By Car

A man was walking on Main Street in downtown Jacksonville, Florida when he was hit by a car. He died from his injuries according to an article on News4Jax.com. According to the article, charges may be filed against the driver of the vehicle.

In serious vehicle versus pedestrian accidents like this one, it is important for personal injury/wrongful death attorneys to investigate why the vehicle struck the pedestrian and what the vehicle driver could and should have done to avoid the accident. When the pedestrian is walking with the light in the crosswalk, the vehicle has a red light and the crash occurs, it may be clear that the vehicle driver was negligent in causing the crash. However, even where the pedestrian does not have the light and may be outside of the crosswalk, vehicle drivers are required to look out for pedestrians who are visible in and near the roadway. If the vehicle has the right of way with a green light but sees, or should see, a pedestrian in the road, the vehicle driver must accommodate the pedestrian to avoid an accident because of the obvious potential damage that can be caused to the pedestrian.

However, in this case, it appears that the state may charge the vehicle driver with a crime related to the accident. In that case, this accident may be a situation where the pedestrian was following the rules of the road and the driver was negligent, or even reckless, in causing the crash and the subsequent death.

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Texting While Driving is Illegal for Semi Truck Drivers

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which regulates semi truck drivers and bus drivers, has issued a regulation making it illegal for semi truck and bus drivers to text while driving a commercial motor vehicle. The FMCSA noted that texting takes a driver’s eyes off of the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. At 65 miles per hour, a tractor trailer or other vehicle would travel approximately 146 yards in those 4.6 seconds the driver is looking at his/her cell phone or other mobile communication device. That is almost a football field and a half.

Because driving while texting is so dangerous and contributes to very serious accidents, particularly when a semi truck is involved, the FMCSA has made it illegal to drive while texting. But what exactly is included in the word “texting”? For semi truck drivers, texting includes not just sending text messages but also preparing text messages and reviewing text messages. Basically if a law enforcement officer sees a driver doing anything with a cell phone or similar device other than talking into it, that semi truck or bus driver can expect to get a ticket for texting while driving.

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Another Wrong Way Accident in Jacksonville, Florida

There seem to be an unusual number of wrong way accidents in the Jacksonville, Florida area, and many of them are on major highways like I-95 and State Road 9A. There was another one last week on I-95 north of downtown Jacksonville that resulted in several serious injuries and two of the vehicle’s occupants being airlifted to Shands Hospital.

Accidents caused by drivers driving the wrong way will almost always raise the issue of punitive damages in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. In a normal accident case, the driver responsible for causing the crash and the resulting injuries is liable for the damages suffered by the injured party. More accurately, the at-fault driver’s insurance company pays the damage caused by the driver who caused the crash. These damages may include past and future medical bills, past and future pain and suffering and past and future lost wages.

However, if a person is driving recklessly and causes a serious injury or fatal accident, that driver, or the insurance company, may be liable for punitive damages. While regular, or compensatory, damages aim to make the injured person whole, punitive damages are designed to punish a person who caused an injury or death by driving recklessly. Accidents involving alcohol or drugs are the most common injury or fatal accidents that result in punitive damages for the victim. However, in cases of unusually bad driving, such as where a person is driving the wrong way on a major road like I-95, punitive damages are certainly viable.

The personal injury/wrongful death lawyer for the injured party would certainly make a claim for punitive damages as part of the lawsuit.

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Hit and Run Accident on Buckman Bridge in Jacksonville, Florida Kills Woman

A woman driving her car struck an SUV causing the SUV driver to lose control, flip and drive off of the bridge, according to an article on News4Jax.com. The SUV driver, identified as Luma Kajy, was killed as a result of the crash.

There was also a second article that indicated that a witness had observed the driver of the car driving recklessly for approximately 20 miles before the crash. The witness apparently followed the driver who caused the crash and helped the police locate and arrest her for vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of the accident.

While this was a tragic accident, fortunately there was a witness who can testify about the reckless driving of the car driver prior to the crash and the fact that she struck the SUV driver causing her to lose control. In wrongful death lawsuits that arise after such crashes, it can be difficult to reconstruct the accident when one of the parties dies and cannot give his/her version of the events. In those cases, the wrongful death lawyer for family of the deceased driver must rely on an accident reconstructionist who investigates the crash and reviews the investigative reports to try and determine what happened after the fact. Insurance companies for the defendant in wrongful death lawsuits hire their own accident reconstructionists who will come up with an opinion favorable to the insurance company.

However, direct witness testimony is almost always preferable to expert opinions. In this case, it appears that there was a concerned and responsible witness who saw the car driver driving recklessly, reported her driving, saw the crash and even followed that driver so she could be apprehended by the police.

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Driver Injured by Wrong Way Driver in St. Augustine, Florida

A SUV driven by Raymond Claudio was apparently going the wrong way on State Road 16 in St. Augustine, Florida and was involved in two crashes, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. The article indicates that Mr. Claudio’s vehicle sideswiped one vehicle and then crashed head-on into a second vehicle injuring that second driver and Mr. Claudio. It is unclear at this stage of the investigation whether Mr. Claudio was impaired by alcohol and/or drugs.

When there is a serious accident involving a wrong way driver and a subsequent personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit, serious questions are raised as to why someone would be driving so recklessly. Depending on the answers, a claim may be made for punitive damages in addition to the regular negligence if it can be shown that the at-fault driver was reckless in causing the accident. If drugs and/or alcohol were involved, recklessness is practically a given, but driving the wrong way is also strong evidence of recklessness particularly if it can be shown that the driver was driving the wrong way for an extended period of time.

The laws in personal injury and wrongful death cases are designed to compensate an injured victim and punish an at-fault driver when that person causes an accident in a manner that is more reckless and irresponsible than the normal accident. When a person is driving while impaired by drugs and/or alcohol or is otherwise driving recklessly, such a punitive damages claim can be made.

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Bus Video Shows Pedestrian Hit By Car in Jacksonville Beach, Florida

A Jacksonville Transit Authority bus video shows a man, Shaun Mills, being hit by a car after exiting the bus and attempting to cross the street, according to an article on News4Jax.com. The video clearly shows Mr. Mills exiting the bus in the left lane of Third Street, walking around the back of the bus and trying to cross the right lane of Third Street when he was hit by the car. Mr. Mills was critically injured from the crash but is rehabbing.

The article indicates that Jacksonville Beach police determined that Shaun Mills was at fault for the accident. However, after reviewing the video, that may not be so clear. In personal injury cases, the first question for someone looking to recover compensation for injuries and damages is: whose fault was the accident? This is not always an all or nothing determination. In other words, the parties in the injury lawsuit, or a jury, can decide that each party was partially to blame and attribute some percentage of fault to each of them. Whether a police officer gave one party or the other a citation or attributed fault for the accident to one party or the other is typically irrelevant in the personal injury lawsuit.

For instance, in this case, a personal injury lawyer could argue that while Mr. Mills could have waited for the car to pass before crossing the road, the driver of the vehicle had plenty of time to see him moving in the car’s direction and could have slowed or stopped prior to the crash.

In many cases such as this one, fault for the accident is often shared between the parties. When the non-injured party shares some of the blame, the injured party can still get compensation for his/her damages.

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Man Dies After Being Hit by Golf Cart at Jacksonville, Florida Golf Course

A man playing golf at Queen’s Harbour golf course in Jacksonville, Florida died after being hit by a golf cart, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. According to the article, Michael Heim died after he was hit by a golf cart, pinned between that cart and another golf cart and then fell and hit his head.

In a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit, an injury or death resulting from a golf cart accident is not much different than an injury or death resulting from a car or truck accident. Many of the same issues apply to determine why the accident occurred and what could or should have been done by the driver to prevent the accident. If it can be shown that the golf cart driver was negligent in causing the crash that led to Mr. Heim’s death, that golf cart driver would be just as liable for the death as if he/she was driving a motor vehicle.

However, there is another little known fact about accidents involving golf carts. Florida is one of the few states, if not the only state, in the country with the dangerous instrumentality rule. This rule means that the owner of a dangerous instrumentality, and his/her insurance company, is liable for accidents caused by a person using that dangerous instrumentality with authorization. This most often comes into play with motor vehicles. When a person driving a car or truck causes a traffic accident resulting in injuries or death, the driver of the vehicle who caused the accident is liable, but so is the owner of that vehicle as long as the driver had permission to drive the vehicle. However, under Florida law, this dangerous instrumentality law extends to things other than cars and trucks.

In a previous Florida case, it was determined that a golf cart is also a dangerous instrumentality under Florida law. Assuming the Queen’s Harbour golf course owned the golf cart in this case, the golf course may also be liable for damages to the family of the victim in a wrongful death lawsuit.

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Man Hit By Bus and Car in Jacksonville Beach, Florida

A pedestrian walking at the intersection of Third Street and Second North Avenue was hit by a car and then a bus, according to an article on News4Jax.com. He was then flown to Shands Hospital with serious injuries from the accident.

It is unclear how or why this particular accident occurred. However, people may ask what happens in a personal injury lawsuit and what claims can be made by a person injured by multiple vehicles? In a case with an injured victim and multiple vehicles, the injured person will make a claim and file a lawsuit against all parties who contributed to the crash. You can be sure that each of those parties is going to point the finger at the others when trying to determine fault for the crash. If the case is going to be settled prior to a trial at some point, the parties will have to come to some sort of agreement as to how to apportion fault and what each defendant will pay for the injured person’s damages. If they are unable to do that, the lawsuit will result in a trial where the jury will assign a particular percentage of fault for each party.

For instance, the jury may find that Defendant #1 was 30% at fault, Defendant #2 was 60% at fault and the Plaintiff was 10% at fault. In such a case, each defendant only has to pay for his/her percentage of the damages, and the plaintiff does not get compensated for his/her percentage of fault. For example, if after a trial in the above case the jury determined that the plaintiff’s damages were $100,000, Defendant #1 would have to pay $30,000, Defendant #2 would have to pay $60,000 and the Plaintiff would not be able to recover the $10,000 attributed to him/her.

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Possible New Changes to Tractor Trailer Driver Regulations

The Department of Transportation (DOT), which regulates the trucking industry in an effort to prevent serious accidents involving semi trucks, issues a variety of safety regulations. Some of the regulations deal with drug and alcohol testing as one obvious goal of the DOT is to make sure truck drivers are sober and people with drug and/or alcohol problems are not employed as semi truck drivers.

The current regulations require trucking companies to test prospective tractor trailer drivers for drugs and alcohol before they are put out on the roads. The regulations also require semi truck drivers who have been in serious accidents where they have been cited to go to a drug and alcohol testing facility as soon as possible after the accident to be tested. While these regulations are a good idea, unfortunately, they are not very strictly enforced by anyone.

In an effort to make the safety regulations more effective in preventing serious accidents and weeding out bad semi truck drivers, the DOT has proposed new, tougher regulations. They include expanding drug testing to look for ecstasy or MDMA; expand initial drug testing to look for heroin and lower the cutoff levels for the cocaine and methamphetamine tests.

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Jacksonville Construction Worker Killed After Fall From Roof

A Jacksonville man working construction on a project in Palm Coast, Flagler County, Florida was killed after he fell approximately 25 feet from the roof of the building, according to tn article on News4Jax.com. The article indicated that the construction project was for a new movie theater in Flagler County.

When a tragic accident like this occurs, it is important to determine all of the potential causes of the accident. In other words, did one or more parties do something they should not have done, or fail to do something they should have done, which would have prevented this fall and death? In construction accident cases involving a large project such as this one, there are a lot of potential factors to look at and usually multiple different parties who could be responsible. This incident should be investigated to determine if safety regulations were being met, if the roof or other premises were left in an unsafe condition, if there was some sort of equipment failure and other issues that caused or contributed to the fall. Sometimes, a person just falls and there are no other reasons or contributing factors. However, other times, for instance when multiple parties are present at a construction site, there are often multiple causes for the accident and more than one party responsible for the damages.

When a person is seriously injured or killed at a construction site, OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) will typically come to the scene and investigate. When OSHA investigators prepare their report and findings of safety violations, that is often helpful for personal injury and wrongful death lawyers who can use the OSHA investigation to supplement their own investigation.

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