Articles Posted in Car Accidents

Deaths caused by motor-vehicle accident total approximately $41 billion in medical and work loss costs in the United States each year, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ten states account for half of these costs.

Our Fort Myers injury attorneys would like to point out that Florida is the third largest contributor to these statistics. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nationwide there were more than 10 million vehicles involved in police-reported accidents in 2008.

Florida car accidents contributed more than $3 billion to these annual costs. The Sunshine State contributed $40 million in medical costs and more than $3 billion in work lost costs. Of these costs, young adult motor vehicles occupants were the lead contributor.

The CDC reports that the newly release data points to the following states to contributing to nearly half of the annual costs:

-California ($4.16 billion)

-Texas ($3.50 billion)

-Florida ($3.16 billion)

-Georgia ($1.55 billion)

-Pennsylvania ($1.52 billion)

-North Carolina ($1.50 billion)

-New York ($1.33 billion)

-Illinois ($1.32 billion)

-Ohio ($1.23 billion)

-Tennessee ($1.15 billion).

This data was taken from 2005 statistics as that is the most recent year in which this type of cost-related data is available.

“Deaths from motor vehicle crashes are preventable,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Seat belts, graduated driver’s license programs, child safety seats, and helmet use save lives and reduce health care costs.”

The CDC will be releasing a new fact sheet that will highlight these findings to coincide with the launch of the Decade in Action for Road Safety campaign. This campaign is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about car accidents in an attempt to reduce the risk and stabilize car accidents by 2020.

This data has helped to determine the most at-risk drivers. Children under the age of 19 cost the United State nearly $900 million in one year.

“It’s tragic to hear that anyone dies on our nation’s roads. But it’s especially so when the person who loses his or her life is a child or teenager,” said Linda Degutis, Dr. P.H., M.S.N., director, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “Child passenger safety laws and comprehensive graduated driver licensing laws are proven to protect young lives. We encourage states to strengthen and enforce these laws to help keep more of our young people safe.”

As we previous discussed on our Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, a majority of Americans agree with the idea of passing even more driving laws and would like government officials to take even more actions to attempt to improve highway safety to reduce car accident risks.

The CDC’s Injury Center recommends that states follow the strategies below to help prevent motor-vehicle related fatalities:

-Create more comprehensive graduated driver licensing (GDL) systems as they have been proven to reduce the number of teen crashes. GDL systems can help young drivers to gain driving experience under lower-risk conditions by allowing different driving privileges in different stages of the learning process. GDL systems have been shown to reduce the risks of a teen car accident by at least 40 percent.

-Create and enforce primary seat belt laws. Seat belts have been proven to reduce the risk of death to front-seat occupants by about half.

-Enlist a universal motorcycle helmet law that would require motorcyclists and riders of all ages to wear helmets. The use of a helmet can decrease the risks of death in a motorcycle accident by more than a third and can reduce the risk of suffering from brain injury by nearly 70 percent.

-Create stronger child-passenger safety regulations that would require children to be placed in age- and size-appropriate child safety and booster seats while riding in a motor vehicle.

“These preventable costs are a reflection of the terrible suffering of American families whose loved ones are killed or injured on the roads,” said Norman Mineta, chairman of Make Roads Safe North America and the longest serving Secretary of Transportation in U.S. history. “Today, on the launch of the first-ever Decade of Action for Road Safety, occurring in 30 cities across our nation and 50 countries worldwide, it is time for all of us to take action to save lives at home and around the globe.”
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Red-light cameras may not be as much of an inconvenience as people originally thought as the intersection cameras saved nearly 200 lives in 14 large US cities in a 4-year study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

Researchers believe that if these cameras were installed in all cities during that same researched time period, a total of 815 lives could have been saved in intersection car accidents in Fort Myers and elsewhere.

“The cities that have the courage to use red light cameras despite the political backlash are saving lives,” says Adrian Lund, IISH president.

Our Fort Myers personal injury lawyers urge you to be careful when passing through intersections, regardless of the presence of red-light cameras. Intersection accidents are among the deadliest types of crashes.

Never mind these life-saving statistics, some Florida lawmakers want to pull the devices from local intersections. This campaign comes just one year after lawmakers passed a law legalizing these intersection cameras, according to Sun Sentinel. These red-light cameras slap drivers with fines of more than $150 for violating an intersection signal.

Earlier this month, the House Appropriations Committee voted 12-9 to send HB 4087 to the full House as both the Florida House and Senate are seeking repeal proposals. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Trinity, argues that the red-light cameras have actually increased the number of serious traffic accidents at intersections.

“Let’s step back and figure out a way where we can make these intersections safer for our communities,” said Corcoran. Some studies have shown an increase in rear-end collisions, usually temporary, as motorists remember the cameras and slam on their brakes to avoid a ticket.

Overall, the cameras have been shown an effect deterrent in preventing the more deadly broadside collisions. Researchers discovered that fatal accidents at intersections with cameras fell 35 percent, while fatal accident numbers fell 14 percent at intersections without the red-light cameras. The data from this 4-year study was compared to the information provided by a study of intersections conducted between 1992 and 2006.

“Examining a large group of cities over several years allowed us to take a close look at the most serious crashes, the ones that claim people’s lives,” says Anne McCartt, Institute senior vice president for research and a co-author of the study. “Our analysis shows that red light cameras are making intersections safer.”

Based on the results from that study, researchers concluded that the number of fatal red-light running crashes at intersections with cameras was 24 percent lower than it would have been if the intersections didn’t have cameras. They calculated that 74 fewer fatal red-light running crashes would have occurred, or approximately 83 lives would have been saved.

As lawmakers attempt to pull potential life-saving red-light cameras from our Florida intersections, they have also failed to pass any laws banning another dangerous driving habit — text messaging. Florida remains one of the only states left without such a law.
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This past weekend, a string of car accidents in Fort Myers left five people dead, according to

A recent car accident killed an 18-year-old Lee County teen in Immokalee. The young driver was traveling eastbound on Oil Well Road near County Line Road at approximately 3:00 a.m., according to ABC 7.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that the fatal Collier County car accident happened when the teen driver overcorrected as the car drifted off the road. The vehicle rotated, veered onto the shoulder and struck a tree. The young female driver was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital and later pronounced dead. Investigators have determined the driver was wearing her seat belt.

Our Fort Myers personal injury lawyers understand how devastating such tragedies are for families. And we urge teens to be extra careful this spring season as the school year is winding down, prom events are approaching and graduation is just around the corner. It is this time of the year when local high school students hit the road in full force — parents should take a forceful and proactive approach to their teen’s driving safety.

The Lee County Department of Transportation is currently looking at a popular intersection in South Fort Myers — the “T” intersection at Plantation Road and Crystal Drive — as it is one of the few intersections in Lee County that currently has a greater amount of traffic flow than it did in the “boom years,” reports ABC 7.

Our Fort Myers personal injury lawyers urge community leaders to take a better look at the traffic on our roadways in an attempt to increase driver safety. A lot of factors go into the cause of an accident and an overflow of unorganized traffic can be a common contributor.

The traffic at this intersection is believed to be up nearly 30 percent from just two years ago — to more than 12,000 vehicles a day. We understand that this number will only increase as more drivers become aware of this back route. The overflow in traffic in this area has caught the attention of community leaders as they’re discussing a plan that could possibly change the layout of the popular South Fort Myers intersection.

While construction goes on to better equip our busy roadways to handle the increasing amount of Southwest Florida traffic, drivers must practice cautious driving habits while traveling through these work zones. A recent motor vehicle accident on Santa Barbara caused by warning lights that weren’t working is just one local lawsuit stemming from dangerous or defective roads or roads that are under construction. The suit, filed by the driver of the passenger vehicle, is against the construction company for alleged negligence and failure to provide safe traffic direction during the road-widening project in East Naples.

These incidents come right after a week when work zone safety was promoted nationwide through the National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week event. Florida joined the nation in raising awareness, as our state suffered 100 of the 700 work zone fatalities resulting from motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2009.

The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse provides these driver tips to help increase safety for everyone in our work zones:

-Put away all distractions while passing through a work zone. Distracted driving only increases your risk for an accident.

-Stay alert and expect the unexpected. Workers, other vehicles and construction equipment can seemingly pop out of nowhere.

-Obey all posted street signs and road flaggers. The warnings are posted and displayed to help keep you safe. Knowing and understanding the rules for work zones will only help keep you safe.

-Be patient and allow yourself extra time. If you know your trip is going to take you through a work zone, leave early to allow yourself more time to make it through the congestion or avoid the route all together and find another way to your destination.

-Don’t tailgate. Following too closely proves as dangerous in these situations as unexpected maneuvers by other vehicles are more common.

If you’ve experienced a motor vehicle accident in one of these congested areas, consulting an attorney as soon as possible is your best bet. An experienced attorney will be much more familiar with possible issues that could impact your case. Faulty roads, missing or inoperable street signs and signals, overgrown vegetation and poor drainage are just a few causes that may contribute to a car accident in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres or elsewhere in South Florida.
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