Articles Posted in Car Accidents

Just last month, a 59-year-old woman was driving Old 41 in North Fort Myers around 2 p.m. when she was struck head-on by a 63-year-old woman driving south in the northbound lane. Both women were rushed to the hospital. The at-fault driver lived. The other lost her life.

It’s not yet clear whether alcohol was a factor in the crash, but we do know many wrong-way crashes in Florida are predicated by alcohol consumption.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports there were 164 people killed in wrong-way crashes in the state between 2003 and 2012. Another 1,322 were seriously injured. According to research by traffic engineers at the University of Central Florida, each fatal crash costs an average of $6.6 million when you factor in medical bills, emergency response services, property damage, lost wages, loss of productivity and other factors. Wrong-way crashes involving injuries, meanwhile, cost an average of nearly $640,000 each, according to that same study.
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Last year, according to Auto Rental News, the car rental industry in the U.S. raked in approximately $24.5 billion – a 4 percent increase over the previous year.

The companies involved are typically substantial, with an average fleet size of 1.95 million. One of the peak months for car rentals is December, when millions of people are traveling out-of-town to visit family members and either use a rented vehicle to get there or rent a vehicle while they’re there.

These firms are not hurting for revenue, and yet they have proven successful in limiting liability in many cases for injuries that occur in their vehicles. For example, the federal Graves Amendment, signed by then-President George W. Bush in 2005, eliminates vicarious liability for owners of rented or leased vehicles. Prior to that, there were more instances where these companies could be found liable for damages caused by one of their vehicles.
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Drunk drivers cause unimaginable devastation. According to the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, nearly 700 people die every year in Florida due to drunk driving accidents. Thousands more suffer severe and permanent injuries.

Victims of drunk drivers in Florida may have several options when it comes to recovery of damages from at-fault drivers, vehicle owners, insurance companies and possibly from those who furnished alcohol to the driver (if he or she was a minor or known alcoholic).

However, drunk drivers themselves may have fewer options for recovery of damages for their own injuries. They may be able to collect the personal injury protection limits of their own insurance Beyond that, they may have a tough time suing anyone else for their own injuries.

F.S. 768.125, Florida’s “Dram Shop Law,” holds liability for drunk driving may only be imparted to a third party when a seller provides alcohol to a minor or someone they know (or should know) is habitually addicted to alcohol.
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The plaintiff in DeMarco v. Travelers Ins. Co. has been waiting for compensation from an auto insurance company for more than a decade. The man was severely injured as one of two passengers in a single-vehicle crash in September 2003 when the driver negligently struck two utility poles.

Only this past month did he finally receive that compensation – for nearly three times the insurance policy limit of $1 million.

Although the outcome of the case was favorable to plaintiff, it shows how difficult it can be to negotiate with insurance companies, even when claims are reasonable and legitimate. In this case, plaintiff’s attorney offered multiple times prior to the conclusion of this case to settle for the policy limits. However, court records indicate the insurer for years denied the claim, dragged its feet and stalled action on the matter.
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Umbrella insurance policies can be a great resource for those who have suffered injury as a result of a crash caused by a negligent driver – assuming that driver is covered under the umbrella policy.

Umbrella insurance is extra liability insurance offered to protect people from major claims and lawsuits. It can kick in when other polices have been exhausted, and usually can help to ensure victims of automobile negligence are fully compensated. That’s because although injury victims can personally sue an at-fault driver for injuries, it’s unlikely their pockets will be deep enough to cover what could end up being tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, lost wages and ongoing care needs.
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A Texas jury has found the manufacturer of highway guardrails guilty of secretly altering system designs in order to save money, at the risk of putting drivers and passengers at grave risk of injury and death.

In a lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act by a competitor, it was found the company made changes to the end pieces of steel on the rails made from 2002 to 2005 without notifying the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as mandated. The move saved the company about $2 per rail, but also resulted in making the guardrails potentially dangerous. Rather than acting as a shock absorber, the guardrails effectively became spears, slicing through the length of vehicles, killing and maiming those inside.

The jury ordered the company, Trinity Industries, to pay $175 million for defrauding the government. Under federal statutes, that amount will be tripled to $525 million, to be split between the government and the whistleblower.
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Car accident victims in Florida are entitled to collect compensation for damages they incur for medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering.

But whatever they collect from their own insurer in accordance with the state’s no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) laws can act as a “set-off” for the at-fault driver if he or she is later ordered to pay damages. The idea is to prevent double-recovery for the same injury.

So for example, if one has $10,000 in personal injury protection from his own insurer and is later found to be entitled to $15,000 in compensation from the at-fault driver/insurer, defendant can seek a set-off of the original payment so that defendant would only be required to pay $5,000.
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As an Orange County woman lay dying in the intensive care unit of an Orlando hospital last month following a horrible car accident, detectives were perplexed by the stab wounds on her neck. Multiple wounds that were later cited as contributing to her death.

But it wasn’t until a week before she died that detectives got a break: In her mailbox. There, they discovered a letter form the dealership where she purchased her vehicle. The letter encouraged her to have the vehicle repaired immediately, as faulty airbags could result in the airbag exploding.

Her death was the third of at least four that so far have been tied to the Takata airbag recall that has the potential to affect 14 million vehicles made by 11 auto manufacturers worldwide. Instead of protecting drivers in the event of a crash, the airbags apparently explode in a burst of shrapnel that is sent flying into the neck, head and chest areas. So far, federal safety regulators have issued an unusually stern warning to the owners of some five million vehicles, urging them to have their airbags repaired “immediately.” Recall of another three million is expected to be announced in short order.
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Because teen and young adult drivers are known to be among the most accident-prone, it’s imperative for parents to educate themselves on their rights, responsibilities and liabilities with regard to auto insurance.

One of the ways parents can do this is by purchasing umbrella insurance. This provides additional coverage so you aren’t personally liable for a judgment in the event your teen driver is involved in a crash and seriously injures or kills someone else.

Of course, as with any insurance company, it’s likely you (and the plaintiff) may have to fight in order to get coverage paid. In those situations, the exact language of the policy is going to be very important, as the recent case of Schill v. Cincinnati Ins. Co. illustrates.
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Florida is a destination not only for those within the U.S., but also for people and businesses across the globe. Drivers who are not familiar with the area, let alone standard driving practices, may be more prone to a crash.

This is not just a phenomenon in the U.S. For example, in Britain, the Motor Insurers Bureau reported that for the past five years, the number of crashes involving foreign drivers has climbed steadily. Much of that can be attributed to new migration from other European countries, but some did involve an uptick in tourism. And in New Zealand, news outlets reported earlier this year nearly 600 crashes in 2013 involved foreign visitors, who were cited at-fault in two-thirds of those cases. In many cases, drivers were cited for “failure to adjust to local conditions.”

Officials say tourists may be especially vulnerable to a crash because they are not familiar with the road design and layout, the signage is not familiar and they may be distracted by scenery.
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