Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

The Journal of Adolescent Health released two new studies that illustrate again why teenage drivers are more likely to be involved in a car accident in Naples and elsewhere when other teens are present in the vehicle. According to Medical Press, a number of things are affected when teenage drivers have their friends in the vehicle, including the perception of risk on the roadway. The study concluded that parental oversight may be the most effective method to help reduce these risks.

The study found that teenage drivers are more aware of the risks they face behind the wheel when their parents are involved in their driving skills. When parents enact driving rules, teenagers are less likely to engage in risky driving behavior. When teenage passengers are in the vehicle with these young drivers, their perceptions of risks fade and they often engage in aggressive or illegal driving behaviors. The study was led by exerts at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention.

Our Naples car accident lawyers understand that teenagers are at higher risks for accidents than any other age group of drivers. Teens are four times more likely to be involved in an accident. Within the first study, researchers looked into the risks that teens took behind the wheel with and without parental monitoring. The study examined nearly 200 teens. It was concluded that teenage drivers who lacked parent involvement often engaged in more dangerous driving habits.

The second study looked at reports from more than 675 teenage drivers who were involved in serious accidents. This study revealed that in many of these accidents, drivers were distracted by other teen passengers. It also showed teens were more likely to perform illegal maneuvers or drive aggressively when another teen was in the vehicle. Teenage drivers were acting out more dangerous driving moves when teens were present in the car than when no one was in the vehicle.

“Distraction from peer passengers appears to play a prominent role for both male and female drivers,” said Allison E. Curry, Ph.D., MPH, the lead author on this study.

It was concluded that boys were affected by passengers differently. When male teen drivers had other young passengers in the vehicle, they were more likely to drive aggressively and speed. When female teen drivers had other young passengers in the vehicle, they were more likely to look at the other passengers, to eat, make phone calls and text. Regardless, both were prone to be subject to serious accidents.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Administration, the state of Florida is one of the only states that doesn’t regulate the number of passengers allowed in a vehicle with a driver before they get their full, unrestricted license. Through a comprehensive graduated driver’s licensing (GDL) programs, teenage drivers are often limited on the number of young passengers they can have in the vehicle at once. Because Florida lacks one of these safe-driving laws, parents are asked to stay involved in their teen’s learning process. Enforce safe driving rules within the household to help reduce their risks of an accident.
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According to the Associated Press, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the recent chain-reaction collision that happened on I-75, just outside of Gainesville. This accident killed 10 people and sent 18 others to the hospital. The NTSB is contemplating whether it will formally join the investigation.

The accident happened because drivers said they couldn’t see due to thick smoke that was drifting from a nearby brush fire. Fog and smoke are not limited to North Florida – they can be found throughout the state, particularly during the dry brush fire season. Car accidents in Sebring and elsewhere can result from these dangerous conditions, especially when a 62-acre brush fire is nearby.

Our Sebring car accident lawyers understand that the recent I-75 accidents happened in both the north and the southbound lanes. About 12 cars and six tractor-trailers were involved in the mess. Some vehicles caught fire. Right now, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is conducting the investigation. Earlier in the day, the roadways were closed because of poor visibility. Officers later opened them, and then the second string of accidents happened.

The accidents happened at about 3:45 a.m. The heavy smoke along the roadway made it tough for even for emergency responders, who were arriving to assist victims.

The decision that the FHP made to reopen the highway after the first closure from smoke is being investigated. That investigation has been ordered by Governor Rick Scott.

“We came to the conclusion that the road was safe to travel and that is when we opened the road up,” Highway patrol spokesperson Lt. Patrick Riordan
The recent car accidents near Gainesville don’t mark the first time something like this has happened. Just four years ago, another serious accident was blamed on smoke and heavy fog. That accident killed four people and injured another 40 on I-4, in between Orlando and Tampa.

The State of Florida reports that your best bet is to just avoid fog and smoke along busy roadways like I-75. If you have to drive through it, the state warns that you should turn on your low-beam lights. High-beam lights only hinder your ability to see by reflecting your car’s headlight off of the fog or smoke and back into your eyes. When you’re driving through areas covered with dense smoke and fog, you want to slow it down. In these scenarios, you should always be ready to stop quickly. If you’re driving through fog, use your windshield wipers.

If the smoke or the fog has gotten so thick that you’re unable to see well enough to continue driving, pull over off of the roadway and turn on your emergency flashers. Make sure your car is completely off of the roadway.
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Experts predict that nearly 150 million people will be sitting down in front of a TV set to watch the Super Bowl this weekend. The unofficial national holiday, Super Bowl Sunday, is a time to gather with other football fans and enjoy some good old American entertainment.

With the Super Bowl come a cornucopia of junk food – and alcohol. It is estimated that roughly 325 million gallons of beer will be consumed on the upcoming Super Bowl Sunday. With all of the football parties, local officials are expecting a surge in drunk driving car accidents in Fort Myers.

Our Fort Myers drunk driving car accident lawyers understand that Super Bowl Sunday falls just behind New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July for sheer number of DUI arrests. Whether you’re cheering for the New York Giants or the New England Patriots, it’s important that you celebrate with a plan. Be sure to arrange sober rides home for you, your friends and your family members to help avoid a car accident or a drunk driving arrest. The kickoff time of the big game is 6:30 p.m. Make sure to have all of your event details sorted out by then.

Experts at the University of Minnesota recently completed the most definitive study on watching sports and drinking alcohol, and the results are out just before the big game. The study concluded that nearly 10 percent of sports fans have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08.

If you’re going to a friend’s house or to a local sport’s pub for the big game, be sure that you have a safe and sober ride home. Consider going through the following tips before starting your Super Bowl party.

Big Tips for the Big Game:

-Be sure to designate a sober driver before the party even starts. It’s best to leave your car keys at home if you’re going to be drinking.

-Pace yourself. You don’t want to drink too much too fast. Be sure that you eat enough food, that you take a break from drinking and that you alternate the alcoholic and the non-alcoholic beverages.

-Before you leave your house, put the phone numbers to local taxis in your phone just in case.

-Always wear your seat belt. A seat belt is your best defense against injury or death in the event of a car accident.

Remember to recognize your Designated Driver when you’re out Partying:

-Offer to be the designated driver the next time your group goes out drinking.

-Offer gas money or to pay for parking.

-Make sure that your designated driver’s non-alcoholic beverage is always full.

-Cover their tab. Wings and non-alcoholic drinks aren’t the much in comparison to the cost of a life.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly 200,000 football fans pledged to be designated driver this year. Enjoy your friends, enjoy the game and enjoy your weekend of football, but enjoy it safely.
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You may have noticed. There are new digital traffic message boards popping up on roadways throughout Lee County. According to NBC2, these boards cost the county nearly $6 million, but safe-driving advocates are saying it’s the cheap way to reduce heavy traffic. The new system is called the Intelligent Transportation System and will work much like the ones you see on the interstate. The new signs are being used to warn drivers of traffic delays, road conditions, Amber Alerts, weather conditions and car accidents in Cape Coral and in Fort Myers.

Our Cape Coral car accident lawyers understand these signs were implemented by the county as a cheap way to reduce traffic in the area. Multi-lane projects can cost nearly $30 million. This sign project was less than $6 million. A lot of residents are saying that these signs aren’t going to fix anything. Many are worried drivers will become too reliant on these signs. Some are also saying these signs are taking away drivers’ self-sufficiency.

Officials backing the project strongly disagree.

The system isn’t fully operational yet. It’s about to start a thirty-day testing period. Officials believe it will be fully operational come March.

Tower says that drivers traveling from Fort Myers to Cape Coral and back will be alerted to bad situations on the bridge. This way, drivers will be able to make better informed decisions regarding how to get to their destination more easily.

On the NBC2 website, residents are voicing their displeasure with the new signs. One response post claims that the signs are unnecessary and a waste of money. It’s a driver’s responsibility to do their research before heading out of the house. Computers, radios and phones already alert us about traffic updates. Responses say that the $6 million could have been used to create something more tangible, like jobs.

Another response to the NBC2 article says that the $6 million is a waste because there are only a few ways to get across the river. If one way is congested, then everyone will be using the two other ways, which will subsequently be congested.

One response even stated, “I figure someone’s brother-in-law in the DOT sell these signs.”

Regardless of what is being done to help ease the traffic on our roadways, it’s still most important that drivers head out with a plan. Drivers are urged to check out weather conditions, road conditions and traffic conditions before leaving the house. It’s also important that you leave your house with plenty of time to spare just in case you run into an unexpected back up.

Until our traffic is reduced or our roadways are constructed to handle more vehicles, it’s important for drivers to be prepared, defensive and knowledgeable behind the wheel. With motorists working together, we can all do our part to make every day commutes flow smoothly.
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Driving without a license is a big problem here in the state of Florida. According to the Tampa Bay Times, there are about 15.5 million legal drivers in the state of Florida. There’s also another 2.2 million people who have a suspended or revoked driver’s license.

According to a recent study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, one out of every five drivers who is involved in a fatal car accident in Cape Coral or elsewhere has an invalid driver’s license or is unlicensed all together. From 2007 through 2009, more than 87 percent of drivers involved in fatal car accidents possessed a valid driver’s license.

Our Cape Coral car accident lawyers understand that while a majority of the drivers who were involved in fatal car accidents from 2007 to 2009 were properly licensed, there were nearly 10 percent of drivers who had a revoked or a suspended driver’s license. In addition to the suspended and revoked licenses, there were more than 1 percent who had denied, canceled or expired driver’s licenses and about 5 percent who were unlicensed all together. With these statistics, it’s safe to say that more than 18 percent of all drivers who were involved in a fatal car accident during this time were invalidly licensed or were unlicensed.

Many of these drivers were also driving without insurance, which can complicate an accident claim.

Drivers who are age 21- to 34-years-old are most likely to have a suspended or revoked license. But car accidents involving improperly or unlicensed drivers can happen to anyone. Roughly 50 percent of fatal car accidents involved unlicensed drivers of this young age group.

About 50 percent of all fatal car accidents that involved an unlicensed driver involved alcohol. Roughly 45 percent of those drivers were legally drunk, with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher.

If that’s not bad enough, it is estimated that more than 32 percent of all fatal car accidents that involved drivers who didn’t have a valid driver’s license, resulted in a hit-and-run crash — the driver left the scene.

Unfortunately, with improperly licensed drivers come uninsured motorists. No one wants to get into a car accident, but it can be much more difficult than it has to be when an uninsured motorist is involved. It is critical for you to contact an experienced attorney if you have been in an accident with one of these drivers.

Car accidents can be awfully costly, including costs for property damage, injuries, fatalities and lost wages. Oftentimes, improperly licensed drivers and uninsured motorists are unable to pay appropriate funds over to the victims of the accident. For this reason, contacting an experienced attorney in this type of event is critical if you’re looking to defend your rights and collect what you deserve.
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Preliminary data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) concludes that nearly 2,400 people died in car accidents in Naples and elsewhere throughout the state in 2011. While this newly released data illustrated fewer fatalities than that of the previous year, we’re still seeing far too many traffic-related fatalities throughout the state.

“While the six-year downward trend is encouraging, we continue our strategic efforts to drive down the number of crashes in Florida and the number of injuries and fatalities that come as a result,” says DHSMV Exec. Director Julie Jones.

Our Naples car accident lawyers understand that traffic accidents continue to be the number one cause of death for residents aged 4- to 34-years-old. It’s alarming that the number one cause of death for such a large age group of residents throughout the country is in fact preventable. Officials throughout the state will be continuing on through the New Year with safety campaigns and enforcement efforts to help to reduce these fatality numbers even more.

We’re able to look at the complete traffic accident statistics in Florida for 2010. The 2011 detailed statistics have not yet been released. So far, we only have the preliminary counts.

Traffic Accident Statistics in Florida for 2010:

-Total Accidents: About 235,460.

-Drivers Involved in Car Accidents: Roughly 338,110.

-Average Number of Accidents a Day: About 650,

-Average Mileage Death Rate (Per Million VMT): 1.25.

-Number of fatalities: About 2.445.

-Injuries: 195,105.

-Property-Damage Only Accidents: 108,535.

-Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities: Nearly 800.

-Drug-Related Traffic Fatalities: Nearly 110,

-Number of Pedestrian Fatalities: Nearly 500.

-Number of Bicyclists Killed: More than 75.

-Number of Teen Drivers Killed: Nearly 100.

In Collier County, there were nearly 300 traffic accident fatalities in 2010. In Lee County, there were Nearly 670 traffic accident fatalities.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is asking all drivers to start the New Year with a clean slate. In 2012, let’s all push for the safest roadways yet. Most traffic accidents are completely preventable and can be avoided with safe, alert and defensive driving habits. These habits include wearing a seat belt, abiding by posted speed limits, curbing distractions and buckling up. Remember that officers throughout the state will be on the hunt for dangerous and irresponsible drivers throughout the entire year. Avoid a ticket, an arrest and even a potentially fatal car accident by resolving to be a safe driver in 2012. Talk with your friends and family members about the importance of safe driving habits! Make the change to be a better driver in 2012!
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