Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer Blog

In less than one month, pit bulls have attacked several young children in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The mother of one of the young children attack believes that Broward County should enact a ban against this breed, similar to the one in Miami-Dade County. Miami-Dade's law bans ownership of American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers or any other dog that exhibits the traits of these breeds.

The inherent difficulty in banning breeds like Pit Bulls is that very rarely are these dogs entirely purebred. Often they are a mix of American Staffordshire terriers with other types of dogs. Pit Bull lovers love to argue that these bans are unfair because they believe the violence these dogs commit is unrelated to the breed, but rather the result of bad owners, the evidence seems undeniable.

One victim this week was riding his bike near his Deerfield Beach home when he was bitten by a pit bull. The boy fled to a playmate's home, where an adult was required to beat the animal off the boy. The young boy suffered a broken arm and wounds on his face and limbs that required at least 30 stitches.

Another child in Deerfield Beach was bitten by a Pit Bull, requiring a neighbor to shoot and kill the dog. Although the child will recover from her physical injuries, the emotional trauma will be much more difficult to overcome.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website that 885,000 Americans seek medical attention for dog bites every year, and that half of them are children. Of the injured, 31,000 require reconstructive surgery, the website says.

Broward County Animal Care and Adoption policy is that if a dog has a previous bite history and bites someone else, it could be euthanized under county law, pending appeal by its owner.

The CDC's website states that Pit Bulls were responsible, more than any other breed of dog, for fatal dog bites to humans.

With each passing year, the problem of Pit Bulls becomes increasingly apparent. Both Broward County and the State of Florida need to find the political will to ban this aggressive breed from our streets and our children.

Continue reading "Two Deerfield Beach children bitten by Pit Bull " »

Negligent gun shootings are on the rise in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Negligent shootings involve the unintentional discharge of a firearm. These typically occur when a loaded gun is not adequately secured and children or adults unfamiliar with a firearm get their hands on the gun which fires. The overwhelming majority of these incidents are easily preventable.

Since last year, nearly a dozen shootings have occurred resulting in serious injury or death which marks a dramatic increase over past years.

One of the most tragic stories involves a Deerfield Beach father who left his loaded gun in his pickup truck where his 10-year-old son discovered it and fatally shot his 11-year-old brother.

In the vast majority of negligent shootings, unfamiliarity with the firearms by the owner was the root cause. Many gun owners fail to understand that with semi-automatic weapons, even though the magazine which holds the bullets is removed from the gun, a bullet can still be in the chamber and can be fired if the trigger is pulled. In addition to simply a lack of knowledge regarding gun safety, every new hand gun sold today comes with a trigger lock which, if used, would have prevented all of the South Florida tragedies.

In each of these negligent shootings, the owner exhibited a lack of common sense. As long as the discharge of the firearm was not intentional, the victim of these shootings may recover from the gun's owner home insurance policy under a theory of negligence. If you or a loved one has been injured by the accidental discharge of a gun, you need to be aware of the possibility that you may be able to recover for your damages.

Continue reading "Negligent gun shootings increase in South Florida" »

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 " »

A federal judge in Bay City, Michigan, recently approved a $1 million settlement in the wrongful death suit filed by the family of a Bay City teen filed by his family. The wrongful suit was filed in December 2009, following the death of 15-year-old boy died when Bay City police used a Taser to subdue him.

The autopsy showed the teen died of "alcohol-induced excited delirium" together with "application of an electromuscular disruption device." Officers claim the teenager was drunk and displayed an aggressive stance toward them when they were responding to reports of a fight. No charges were brought against the officers.

People often assume that since Tasers are less lethal than guns, that they are relatively safe to fire at people. In fact, Tasers have been involved in a number of deaths.

Because of the potential for serious injury and death, Tasers may result in wrongful death cases in the context of a civil rights action against law enforcement or even a civil lawsuit against a private party for assault and battery.

Continue reading "Settlement in Taser Death Suit" »

A Los Angeles jury has ruled that Barron Hilton (Paris's little brother) is responsible for almost $ 5 million dollars in damages to a gas station attendant he struck with his car in 2008. Earlier that same day he was arrested for drunk driving.

Fernando Tellez claims he was severely injured and underwent several surgeries and medical procedures after 18-year-old Barron collided him with his Mercedes-Benz as he pulled into a Pacific Coast Highway gas station.

Before his accident with Tellez, Hilton was was arrested for DUI after his blood-alcohol level registered 0.14, well above California's legal limit. Witnesses also said Barron Hilton was driving the wrong way down the highway for miles just before crashing into Tellez.

In the DUI proceeding, Barron pleaded no contest and received three years' probation.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the $4.6 million judgment covers pain and suffering, medical expenses and loss of earnings. Additionally, Hilton must also pay $225,000 in punitive damages and almost $71,000 in interest.

Barron was unavailable for comment. According to his Twitter page, the day the jury rendered its verdict, he was vacationing in the Hamptons.

Apparently the jury was unimpressed with Barron's family background. Instead of showing his concern for the judicial process and the victim of the accident, Barron took off to the Hamptons. Looking at the amount of the verdict and the fact that it involves punitive damages, it appears that the jury was trying to send young Barron a message. I can't help but wonder if Barron got it.

Continue reading "Paris Hilton's kid brother owes $5 Million to Gas Station Employee " »

Two subsidiaries of Allstate Insurance Company, Castle Key Insurance Co. and Castle Key Indemnity, will request permission from the State Office of Insurance Regulation to increase their rates in the amounts of 31 and 36 percent respectively a state hearing. The net effect will be that homeowners insuring their homes with these companies will see a huge increase in their premiums.

Castle Key Insurance and Castle Key Indemnity insure over a quarter of a million households in South Florida.

Florida law requires the Office of Insurance Regulation to conduct hearing to approve rate hikes that exceed 15 percent. State regulators have 90 days after an insurance company's request, to increase to reject it, approve it, or approve a smaller increase.

Given the current political climate in Tallahassee and in particular, Governor Rick Scott, you can expect these insurance companies to get what they want. The unfortunate reality is that the governor is more concerned with the profitability of insurance companies in Florida, than he is with Florida's citizens who can barely afford to purchase insurance now under the current rate structure.

Some one needs to tell these insurance companies: "No." But don't count on our governor to protect consumer interests.

Continue reading "Florida insurance companies seeking massive rate increase" »

An Indiana appeals court has upheld the South Florida "small print" venue provision buried in a Carnival Cruise Lines' ticket. A woman filed suit against Carnival in her home state of Indiana alleging that as a cruise passenger she became ill because the Carnival ship she was on was going too fast.

Doris Beard sued Carnival claiming "due to the speed of the ship I became very sick, my body swayed terrible on the ship I had bleeding, which I had not has [sic] in three years. The ship was moving so fast everyone on board became sick, even the workers," according to a court document.

Carnival's attorneys requested that the case be dismissed based on the "small print" venue clause in its ticket, contending that lawsuits against the company by passengers are required to be filed South Florida, where the cruise line is based.

Although the cruise line's motion was denied by the Indiana small claims court, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the decision finding that the small claims court "erred." The end result is that the woman can re-file her lawsuit in South Florida, assuming that she is still within the one-year statute of limitations.

Most cruise lines, particularly those based in South Florida departing from the Port of Miami or Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, have provisions for venue and the statute of limitations printed in their tickets. Frequently, this language is buried somewhere in the middle of the ticket in fine print with language straight out a law school text book.

"Venue" is the legal term for where a lawsuit must be filed and a "Statute of Limitations" deals with the time period in which a passenger must file suit. Carnival's ticket limits venue to the federal court in South Florida and has a one year statute of limitations. The courts have enforced these provisions, which can be quite onerous for a passenger seeking legal redress against Carnival for injuries or damages, particularly when they are living out of the South Florida area. This impediment is the intended effect of incorporating this language in small print buried somewhere in the ticket.

Continue reading "Carnival passengers must sue cruise line in South Florida" »

Two 16-year old boys operating a boat were arrested and booked into the juvenile assessment center in connection with a boating accident that resulted in a teenage girl losing a part of her leg earlier this year. According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office report, the boat motored into a restricted swimming area within 500 feet of the Juno Beach fishing pier. The boys disregarded horns and signals from lifeguards.

The juveniles, whose names were not released, were both charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injury, reckless operation of a vessel and culpable negligence in the February 5th crash that injured a 15-year-old girl.

The girl and her two friends were in the water south of the Juno Pier when the boat approached. As she was trying to climb on board, the driver throttled the motor, in an apparent attempt to keep the boat from getting beached, according to an eyewitness.

The boat struck the girls, knocking them over, and the girl's leg was struck by the propeller. Doctors were later forced to amputate part of her right leg.

After the injury, the boat left the scene and the boys made no attempt to notify any law enforcement agency, the report stated.

Teenage boys and power boats make a dangerous combination. They often lack the maturity to handle the horsepower at their fingertips and are oblivious to the potential for danger. Parents frequently hand over the keys to the family boat with out making sure that their children have the training necessary to safely operate these vessels. As a result, boating accidents involving minors are an all too unfortunate occurrence in South Florida.

Continue reading "Teens arrested for South Florida boating accident " »

Lona Varner, an 87 year old grandmother in El Reno, Oklahoma, agreed to settle the federal lawsuit she filed after police shocked her in her own bed with a Taser. The officers were also alleged to have stepped on Varner's oxygen hose depriving her of air.

Varner filed a lawsuit against the City of El Reno claiming she was wrongly stunned with a Taser. The police threw Varner's grandson to the floor and handcuffed him when he told officers, "Don't Tase my granny!"

Citing a confidentiality agreement, Varner's attorney would not disclose the amount of the settlement.

Police officers claim they entered Varner's apartment after learning that she might be attempting suicide with a drug overdose. They also claimed that the 87 year old Varner pulled a kitchen knife from under her pillow and said, 'If you try and get the knife, I will stab you and kill you.'" The officers claimed it was necessary to stun Varner to prevent her from attacking them. Varner denied making any threats to police and also denied attempting suicide.

While no one would deny that being a police officer is a dangerous job, it is hard to conceive how these officers could have felt legitimately threatened by this 87 year old granny and why they had to to stun her twice with their Taser. This absurdity was apparently the primary reason the City of El Reno settled this case rather than have a jury decide it.

As most of you know, the Taser is considered a less lethal means (as opposed to a gun) of stopping a dangerous suspect. The Taser fires an electrical dart into the suspect and stuns him or her with an electrical current. For the most part, people stunned with a Taser make a complete recovery. Perhaps because of the reduced potential for serious injuries to granny, the officers felt they could "teach a lesson" of respect to Varner with their Taser.

Indeed, Varner recovered, but the professional judgment of the officers in using this degree of force to restrain an 87 year old woman was questionable. The end result is that the city, on the eve of trial, paid money to settle this case.

Continue reading "Grandmother, 87 years young, settles lawsuit against police for Tasering her" »

Another vicious attack by a pit bull, the second in two days, sent two more victims to a Palm Beach County, Florida hospital.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office reports that a male pit bull bit a 39-year-old woman in Lake Worth as she returned one of its puppies to its litter. The "severe attack" happened at a mobile home in a trailer park. The woman's hand and forearm were severely injured, the Sheriff's Office said. The woman owns the pit bull who bit her, which had just fathered a litter of puppies in their home.

When another person tried to provide assistance , this person was also bitten.
Both victims were taken to Wellington Regional Medical Center. Animal control workers removed the dogs from the home.

When will the defenders of pit bull ownership wake up? While some of these dogs may indeed be non-violent, there is a disproportionate number which are extremely violent and capable of inflicting serious injuries, particularly on young children.

The Tennessee Legislature has considered legislation which would fine owners of pit bulls for the violent attacks of their dogs and required them to carry liability insurance for the victims of these dogs. The Florida Legislature should do the same.

Continue reading "Another pit bull attack sends two victims to Florida hospital " »

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" »

According to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators an expedition cruise ship visiting Antarctica with Americans on board was damaged on Monday after striking an uncharted rock. The "Polar Star" struck the large rock while at anchor just north of Detaille Island at the Antarctic Peninsula.

Following the collision, the "Polar Star," was able to free itself from the rock. There were 80 passengers are on board the vessel including 32 Americans, 9 Canadians and 8 Australians. Fortunately, no passengers were injured.

The initial damage assessment revealed that the ship's outer hull was breached from the collision, but the inner hull was unharmed. The 4,998-ton "Polar Star" is now sailing north along the Antarctic Peninsula under its own power, with the hopes of returning to its home port of Ushuaia, Argentina. The ship's captain reports there was no apparent oil spill outside the ship, but booms have been deployed as a precaution."

Although more than a century has passed since the "Titanic" struck that infamous iceberg in the North Atlantic, a cruise ship's safe return to its home port is not always a certainty. Less than two months earlier another cruise ship visiting Antarctica, the "Clelia II," was damaged by large waves.

Although both the "Polar Star" and the "Clelia II" were based out of Argentina, there have been several incidents of cruise ships limping back to Port Everglades and the Port of Miami, both located in South Florida. Cruise ship mishaps can involve more than just a ruined vacation or inconvenience, they can also result in injury or death That is why some one considering a cruise should check out the ship's safety record, particularly in light of the intended itinerary.

Continue reading "Cruise ship disabled in Antartica" »

Every year it seems like we hear about someone "disappearing" at sea while on a cruise. More often than not, there are no witnesses to what happened and the cruise ships label the disappearances as "mysterious circumstances." The cruise lines may spin these situations as a simple case of a drunk passenger deciding to jump.

According to Canadian college professor, Ross Klein, in 2008 there were 12 passengers or crewmen have gone overboard from cruise ships or ferries. Since no central government agency maintains records of cruise ship disappearances or deaths or falls from cruise ships, Professor Klein derived his data from various news outlets.

"They're (the cruise lines) trying to sell a vacation product and this isn't good news . . . .They tout cruising as the safest mode of transportation anywhere in the world. People go on them expecting to be safe, and these incidents contradict that perception," states Professor Klein.

Every cruise ship has barriers designed to prevent passengers from falling overboard. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine some one falling off a cruise ship without being drunk or disregarding their safety. Nevertheless the cruise ships have the legal responsibility to take reasonable precautions to prevent this type of foreseeable occurrence.

Although falling overboard would seem to involve some comparative negligence on the part of the passenger, the cruise ships frequently over serve alcohol to their passengers without limits. Alcohol is a big money maker for the cruise lines. As a result of over-imbibing, passengers tend to fall on the decks of cruise ships and some even overboard. Accordingly, there may be some liability on the cruise lines for falls on and off the ship even though the passenger may have been intoxicated.

"It's drink and drink and drink," says Charles Harris, former chief of security for Carnival Cruises, a critic of cruise industry secrecy. "We'll take your money, and if you fall overboard, we don't worry about it."

Continue reading "Cruiselines sugarcoating passengers missing at sea?" »

The Tennessee State Legislature is considering new rules for dangerous dogs after a pit bull attack led to the death of an elderly man in Memphis. Two dogs mauled mauled a 71 year old man to death in July.

The proposed law in Tennessee would fine owners of dangerous dogs from $100 up to $25,000, depending on the violent background of the dog. The law being contemplated would fine owners for failing to have the required liability insurance as well as letting their dogs loose. The Tennessee legislature is also considering preventing convicted felons from owning certain violent breeds of dogs like pit bulls.

In Florida, the legislature has enacted a law imposing strict liability on dog owners in the event that their dog attacks someone. There is no requirement, however, that the owners have insurance for the damages that their dogs cause. Frequently, this leaves victims of an attack unable to recoup even their medical bills.

Currently in Florida, there is a patchwork of different laws which vary from county to county and city to city regarding the legal responsibility and insurance requirements for "dangerous" dogs. These laws vary on what types of dogs are covered (i.e., pit bulls, staffordshire terriers) and how much, if any, insurance is required. Lastly, the penalties for non-compliance are different.

There is no reason for owners of dangerous dogs like pit bulls to be able to escape responsibility for the injuries that their dogs cause, depending upon which Florida city they live in. If the Florida legislature wants to put politics aside, this should be a relatively simple issue to address.

Continue reading "Florida Legislature should enact new laws for dangerous dogs" »

BSO and the Coast Guard are examining the death of a 53 year old physician who was scuba diving from a commercial dive boat off Hillsboro Beach, Florida, after he became ill at sea.

BSO's Marine Unit heard a radio report of a diver experiencing difficulty. The BSO boat met the dive vessel and transported the man to shore where paramedics took him to a nearby hospital in Fort Lauderdale. A short while later the man was pronounced dead.

In South Florida, scuba diving accidents are not uncommon, frequently resulting in death. Commercial dive boats are required to be inspected and certified on a regular basis. Dive boat operators need to be vigilant because of the number of scuba divers they are escorting and possibility that their divers could get into difficulty. Dive boat operators need to conducted counts of divers before and after the dives. The operators also need to be extremely alert during the dive and to constantly scan the horizon for distressed divers.

Continue reading "Man dies aboard scuba dive boat in Florida" »