Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer Blog

South Florida has always been a sketchy place to drive, not to mention ride a bicycle. The link at BicyclesSafe provides an excellent review of riding strategies to avoid being hit by an inattentive motorist.

One of the ways that a cyclist can provide insurance coverage for himself in the event that he gets in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured automobile is to purchase UnInsured Motorist Coverage ("UM") with their automobile policy. UM is an optional coverage which the insured must select (and pay an additional premium for) at the time he purchases the insurance policy on the car. Although UM will slightly raise the cost of your policy, this amount will seem very small when compared to the coverage it provides.

Continue reading "Bicycling in South Florida -- How Not to be Hit." »

A tire blowout resulted in a fatal accident involving a day laborers' van. One man was killed and five others were injured on Interstate 95. In the truck were day laborers who resided in Fort Pierce, Florida. They were headed to work at the time of the accident. One of the men, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. The other occupants of the vehicle were transported to various local hospitals.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the men were in a 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan headed south in a construction zone when the left rear tire tread separated and the vehicle lost control. The van proceeded to crash into a retaining wall and flipped over, ejected one of the men who was not restrained by a seat belt. The accident result in massive delays for traffic on I-95.

The consequences of a defective tire on the highway cannot be overstated. Vehicles experiencing blowouts at high speeds are prone to flipping and if the occupants are not restrained by a seat belt, there is a strong possibility that they could be ejected from the vehicle. The tire pressures should always be at the recommended settings. Also, one needs to be careful when buying retreads because of the possibility that the retread may separate from the tire.

This case is another tragic example of the catastrophies that can result from defective tires. If the defect was preventable, legal action may be filed against the manufacturer.

Continue reading "Tire Blowout results in fatal South Florida car crash" »