Articles Posted in Car Accidents

Injuries can Occur from Improper Use, Coexistence with Cars

Southwest Florida is a haven for those who love the game of golf, and the number of local golf course communities rank the area as one of the highest in holes-per-capita in the country. Where there is golf, there are golf carts. In today’s troubled economic times, there is a move to utilize golf carts as a primary mode of transportation, even on local roadways. The electric vehicles offer an attractive alternative to the family gas-guzzler, yet many are unaware of the potential dangers of using them on anything other then golf course pathways.

The types of golf carts found at the local course are not legal for street use. There have been tragic accidents when they are used on public roadways. In July, a man from Sebastian, on the east coast of Florida, was seriously injured after the golf cart he was driving on a public street was rear-ended by a van. The cart had no lighting. The van driver being unable to see it, smashed it and its two passengers into a roadside ditch. Florida Highway Patrol Troopers also say alcohol was a factor in the accident.

While it may be true that there are more people on the roadways of Southwest Florida’s big cities, drivers in some of our smaller cities are not immune from being involved in a serious car crash. Quiet, suburban areas like Port Charlotte, Venice, Sebring and the rural areas of Arcadia have had their share of devastating vehicle accidents lately, some of which involved a driver who was found to be drunk behind the wheel.

Just north of Venice, a former football coach at Braden River High School was driving home from an event on March 21st when his vehicle overturned on State Road 681, near the I-75 interchange. The former educator, Josh Hunter, lost control of his car, causing passenger Doug Garrity to be ejected. Garrity, who was Hunter’s best friend and a fellow coach at the same school, was not wearing his seat belt, according to Florida Highway Patrol reports. He died from his injuries a day after the accident. Investigators say evidence shows Hunter was impaired at the time of the crash. After receiving results from toxicology tests on Hunter, the FHP investigators have said they have enough evidence to support charging Hunter with DUI manslaughter.

In Port Charlotte, a pickup truck driven by 19-year-old Chad M. Zeeman ended up in a water-filled drainage ditch alongside Bermont Road, after the driver lost control of the vehicle on September 18th. His passenger, Matthew R. Pouk, also 19, was not wearing a seatbelt, and was killed as a result of the crash. Zeeman was wearing a seatbelt, and was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. It has not yet been determined if alcohol played a role in the accident, and the investigation is still ongoing.

Historically, 14% of motorists in the United States are uninsured. During economic downturns, when the unemployment rate rises, the uninsured rates also rise. Some states have higher uninsured rates than others do. According to the Insurance Research Council (IRC), 23% of Florida’s drivers are uninsured — almost double the national average. The IRC arrived at this statistic by analyzing the number of claims involving uninsured motorists compared to total accidents. They found that for every percentage point rise in unemployment, the number of uninsured motorists rises by ¾%.

Driving without insurance in Florida is against the law, and it can be very costly. Fines and license revocation costs are high. By the time a driver retrieves an impounded car and goes through the legal system, he will have paid more than if he’d been insured in the first place. Personal Injury Attorney, Bruce Scheiner says, ‘Driving without insurance can even lead to incarceration.” Florida’s minimum coverage is $10,000 personal injury protection (PIP) and $10,000 property damage liability (PDL).

Although not mandatory in Florida, drivers may also purchase uninsured motorist protection (UM). According to Attorney PJ Scheiner, “We strongly recommend getting uninsured motorist protection. If you’re involved in an accident, this protection will help you receive compensation for your injury. (If you’ve got UM protection, your insurance should cover medical bills and loss of wages.)”

A newly-released study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), has found some alarming statistics involving binge drinking and alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents.

The study is thought to be the first to attempt to measure the likelihood that a person will drive after binge drinking. The result is hoped to be an increased effort to stop bars and restaurants from serving people after they are intoxicated, according to the report’s authors. Binge drinking is defined as a person who consumes 5 or more drinks on a single occasion. The study focused on 14,000 binge drinkers, and about 12% of those surveyed said they had driven within 2 hours of their last bout of heavy drinking. Of those drivers, more than half said they got behind the wheel after drinking at a bar, restaurant or other establishment licensed to sell alcohol. Half of the drivers who left the establishment reported they had 7 or more drinks, and 25% said they’d had at least 10.

James Fell, of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, a national research organization that is focused on alcohol policy, notes “almost everybody’s going to be intoxicated after 10 drinks”. Binge drinking is a main factor in the more than 11,000 deaths that occur annually from alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, according to the CDC. The study’s lead author, Dr. Timothy Naimi of the CDC, said the hope is that state legislators will take a harder look at laws that supposedly prevent commercial establishments from selling alcohol to drunken patrons. While there are existing laws on the books, Naimi said most states don’t have enough enforcement personnel to stop in on bars and watch for the over-serving of customers. “These are some of the most disregarded laws in the country,” he states.

We’ve all seen it happen – the driver who is attempting to make a turn or change traffic lanes, but neglects to use their vehicle’s turn signal. Although it seems like a simple, common sense rule of the road, a surprising number of auto accidents are caused by careless drivers who fail to exercise even the most basic of safety practices. Response Insurance Company, a nationwide insurance firm, hired a polling company, Leflein Associates, to conduct a statistically valid survey of 1,000 adult drivers. The goal was to find out how many drivers do not use turn signals and, of those who don’t use them, why they don’t. The company wants to bring awareness to issues people don’t think are problems, such as turn signal use. The survey found 57 percent of respondents don’t use turn signals when changing lanes.

Jay Anderson, Executive Director of the “Stay Alive – Just Drive” motorist education program in Southwest Florida says not using your turn signal is one of the most important, yet overlooked, safety precautions a driver can use. “Sometimes you wonder if people even know they have turn signals installed in their cars”, says Anderson. “If your hands are in the correct position at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock on the wheel, the turn signal is only an inch away. Yet so often people are just frankly too lazy or complacent to use them.”

Florida personal injury lawyers remind motorists that there is a Florida law on the books that was implemented to help ensure the use of turn signals. Florida Statute 316.156 details when using your turn signal is required:

A group of Democratic lawmakers in Washington are pushing for a nationwide ban on the dangerous habit of sending and viewing text messages on cell phones and other personal electronic devices while driving. They are hoping to get those states that do not currently have such laws on their books to act by withholding a percentage of highway funding. Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who unveiled the legislation Wednesday along with Democrats Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina, makes his case by saying, “When drivers have their eyes on their cell phones instead of the road, the results can be dangerous and even deadly,”

14 states already have passed legislation making texting while driving illegal, but 36 others, including Florida, have yet to sign such a law into effect. There are critics who question the enforceability of the proposed law, and whether current available research even warrants one in the first place. Still others think that current reckless driving statutes already in place would apply to those caught texting behind the wheel. The agency that represents state highway safety agencies, The Governors Highway Safety Association, thinks the dangers of texting while driving are real, yet does not support the law based on the fact they feel it would be difficult to enforce. According to Vernon Betkey, the highway safety association’s chairman, “Highway safety laws are only effective if they can be enforced, and if the public believes they will be ticketed for not complying. To date, that has not been the case with many cell phone restrictions.”

Studies Show The Need…

With the advent of cell phone technology comes a new hazard to motorists on our nation’s roads – “texting” while driving is quickly becoming a prominent and extremely hazardous threat to driver safety. According to USA Today, 14 states now have laws on the books banning the sending or viewing of text messages on cell phones or other electronic personal communication devices, with many more now proposing similar restrictions. Many have also advocated a federal ban.

It is not only teens or younger drivers who are guilty of this offense. Florida personal injury lawyers are cautioning that drivers of all ages and walks of life are likely to cause a serious or even fatal auto crash due to being distracted behind the wheel. Often referred to as “DWT”, driving while texting can be as serious an offense as drunk driving, and state legislators across the country are taking a proactive position to prevent the practice.

A bill is making its way through the Florida Legislature that would prohibit sending cell phone text messages while driving. According to the Associated Press, the text messaging ban was added onto a bill sponsored by Florida Senator Carey Baker, (R-Eustis), that would make it illegal for minors to talk on a cell phone while driving. If the ban goes through, Florida would join other states in cracking down on texting while driving. Similar bills have been proposed, but have not passed, and this one still has a long way to go before it becomes law. Not surprisingly, lobbyists and representatives for the Florida Telecommunications Industry Association feel that their industry is being unfairly singled out, and are attempting to counter any laws being passed that they feel are too specific or restrictive.

A 2004 Florida law requiring that older drivers pass a vision test before getting a license renewed has helped cut the death rate among drivers aged 80 and older by 17%, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Driving is often vitally important for seniors. Several studies have shown that taking the keys from elderly drivers who have no other transportation can cause them to become depressed or inactive, lose access to health care and even die sooner. However, Florida injury lawyers remind drivers of all ages that proper vision can be a key factor in preventing serious car crashes.

“While it is true that poor vision in a driver of any age can be the cause of a serious auto accident, the number of senior-aged drivers in Florida makes this an important safety concern on our roadways”, notes Bruce L. Scheiner, of Associates & Bruce L. Scheiner Personal Injury Lawyers.

For Florida drivers over 80 years old, the vision test may be taken at a Florida driver license office at no additional charge, with an appointment made in advance, according to the Florida Department of Safety and Motor Vehicles. Another option is to have a doctor licensed to practice in Florida administer the vision test – out-of-state doctors are not authorized to provide this test. He or she must be a medical doctor, osteopathic physician, or an optometrist. If a doctor administers the vision test, a Mature Driver Vision Test, (Form HSMV 72119), must be completed and submitted to the department. The doctor may also file the form electronically to the agency’s web site, http://www.flhsmv.gov/. If the test reveals a problem, the driver will be requested to have an eye specialist licensed in the state of Florida complete a Report of Eye Examination, (Form HSMV 72010), and submit it to the department prior to renewing their license.