Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer Blog

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, for the year 2010, automobile fatalities fell into the following categories:

Careless driving, 26

Failed to yield right of way, 13

Exceeded safe speed limit, 11

Broward County Driving under the influence of alcohol, 10

Improper lane change, 5

Disregarded traffic signal, 4

Driving on the wrong side or wrong way, 4

Followed too closely, 4

Improper turn, 3

Exceeded posted speed limit, 3

Driving under the influence of drugs, 2

Disregarded stop sign, 2

Failed to maintain equipment/vehicle, 1

Driving under the influence of alcohol and druge, 1

Drove left of center, 1

Ran off roadway, 1

Over-correcting/Over-steering, 1

Other, 71

Continue reading "Broward County deadly car crashes " »

As you may know, Google has been experimenting with cars that can actually drive themselves without human assistance using Google's map applications along with other hardware like video cameras, lasers and radar to have a driverless car. One of Google's self-driving cars was involved in a rear-end collusion in California. As expected, critics are now questioning the safety of these vehicles.

Google asserts that at the of this accident, the car was not driving itself but was, in fact, operated by one of its employees. "Safety is our top priority. One of our goals is to prevent fender-benders like this one, which occurred while a person was manually driving the car," said a Google spokesperson, noting that its self-driving cars have traveled more than 160,000 miles autonomously without incident.

This minor accident brings into focus the question of when will computer technology be sufficient to replace the judgment exercised by humans beings when they drive. Now, we have GPS's which guide us to our destination, cruise control and active warning systems to alert us when somebody is in our blind spot. While the technology to replace human drivers is not yet here, it is not inconceivable that this will be coming in the not to distant future.

Nevada will become the first state in the nation to pass legislation legalizing driverless vehicles after considerable lobbying by Google. Nevada's DMV is working on a series of regulations regarding self-driving cars, including requirements for insurance.

Certainly self-driving cars present the promise of reducing accidents from human error but until that day occurs, we will all be surrounded on the road by human drivers using their cell phones, blasting their radios, and distracted by all sorts of outside stimulii. Accidents due to driver negligence will occur and many of these drivers will not have liability insurance.

While the Bible tells us to err is human and to forgive is divine, we should all think about what happens if we or a loved one are seriously injured through the negligence of a driver who has not purchased insurance. The only way to protect you and your family from the financial consequences of this scenario, is to purchase uninsured motorist (UM) coverage from your insurance company. UM is not required by the State of Florida and is typically not included in your insurance policy when your agent sells you "full coverage." You need to specifically ask your insurance agent for UM coverage when you purchase insurance or you will probably be out of luck if you get hit by an uninsured human driver.

Continue reading "Google Robotic Car Rear-ends another vehicle" »

A Horry County, South Carolina grand jury recently indicted a Florida woman on traffic homicide charges arising out of the August 2009 death of a 60-year-old woman on a South Carolina Highway. Kimberly Kelley Hilburn, 39, of Winter Haven, Fla., was charged with felony driving under the influence resulting in death; and two counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury, according to grand jury indictments.

Glendora Faye George, 60, was killed when Horry's vehicle crashed into hers according to the S.C. Highway Patrol. The Highway Patrol said the Florida driver crossed over the center-line while driving a 1995 Chevrolet truck and struck George's 1998 Ford sport utility vehicle. George, who was wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple blunt-force traumas. Five other people in the vehicle with George were also injured and taken to area hospitals.

Hilburn, who was also injured, was arrested. Whether it is South Carolina or Florida or any other location in this country, there are likely to be drunk drivers on the road. There is not much one can do to protect themselves from the carnage that these drivers can cause, particularly in a scenario like this one where another car suddenly crosses over the centerline of the roadway.

There is however from an insurance point of view, much that you can do to protect you and your family. Typically drunk drivers have a previous history of traffic violations and accidents. When insurance companies review their driver's license records they see an obvious red flag and may raise their insurance rates or flat out deny liability coverage to these drivers. Hence, a disproportionate number of drivers who drink and drive, often fail to have liability insurance, particularly in Broward County, Florida.

Armed with this knowledge, you can purchase uninsured motorist coverage from your own insurance company at a reasonable price, up to the amount of liability coverage that you purchase. Uninsured motorist coverage, will protect you and your family in the event that you are injured by a drunk driver who fails to have liability insurance to cover your injures.

As the old saying goes: "An ounce of prevention, is worth more than a pound of cure." Unfortunately, accidents occur when you least expect them and then it is too late to purchase uninsured motorist coverage if the other driver is bare. The time to buy this most important coverage is now!

Continue reading "Florida woman charged in 2009 death while DUI " »

In case you haven't noticed while driving along the highways of South Florida, there are more and more SunPass lanes. SunPass lanes permit cars to bypass the tollbooths by allowing the driver to pay his tolls electronically through the use of transponder. Instead of stopping and paying cash at the toll booths, cars equipped with the SunPass transponder can simply proceed through the SunPass lane. The SunPass transponder can be purchased through the State of Florida or at various retail stores and the tolls are paid through a SunPass account.

Because of the success of Florida's SunPass program, the Sunshine State Turnpike will no longer be collecting cash from drivers at toll booths along the Homestead Extention which runs 47 miles from Miramar to Florida City.

Drivers on the Homestead Extention will pay with their SunPass, or will be billed later, based on photographs of their license plate taken from remote cameras. This is the first step in a plan by the state to convert the Florida's turnpike system to a cashless toll road through the use of the SunPass System. The Miami-Dade Expressway Authority did this with the Gratigny Parkway, Don Shula Expressway and Snapper Creek Expressway.

In addition to the savings involved in not having workers collect cash at toll booths, not to mention the traffic delays caused by the stopping and the lines of cars at the toll booths,collecting the tolls electronically is much safer.

The National Transportation Safety Board in 2006 has recommend that toll plazas nationwide to be revamped with all-electronic tolling to reduce the risk of rear-end collisions at toll plazas with a mix of cash and electronic lanes. A staffed toll booth can process about 350 vehicles per hour. A SunPass lane where drivers merely slow to 25 mph can can handle to 1,600 vehicles per hour. Open road tolling, with no gates, barriers or booths, can handle up to 2,200 vehicles per hour.

Welcome to the 21st Century! Along with hands free cell phones equipped in most new cars, technology is reducing the need for drivers to stop at toll plazas. Because of the high rate of speed on South Florida's highways, serious rear-end accidents frequently occur where cars are backed up and an inattentive driver is approaching the toll plaza. It is not to difficult to imagine what can happened to the occupants of a car when is rear-ended at 35 mphs by a driver who is not paying attention when he approaches a toll plaza.

The transition from having cars stop to pay cash at a toll both to paying toll electronically while continuing to drive, is a welcome change which makes Florida's highways safer for everybody.

Continue reading "Homestead Turnpike Extension no longer accepting cash for tolls" »