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Gov. Crist Supports Texting Ban This Legislative Session

Eddie Farah — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:04:32 GMT

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has come out with a Legislative wish list for 2010.

He clearly stated he is in favor of a ban on texting while driving this year, adding new momentum for the state Legislature to finally adopt some legislation when they meet in the spring.

At a Cabinet meeting the governor even prodded the head of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to also support a ban. But she stopped short of giving her full support. “We support limiting texting and driving” Julie Jones said.

For too long the cell phone industry has had its way with Floridians, but that is beginning to change. Jones told reporters that she senses there is a shifting intolerance in public opinion for texting, largely because of the number of fatal accidents.

While Florida has no officially tally on those who have died from texting while driving, the best estimate is that 15 were killed and 1,400 injured by distracted drivers in 2008. Those estimates are probably low since the Florida Highway Patrol is just beginning to note on accident reports when distractions contribute to an accident.

More than a dozen bills have been filed for consideration this March. Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis has filed two of them. “I think this year, something’s going to pass” he said.

Florida this year has a chance to join 14 states and the District of Columbia that already ban texting while driving. It's time for Floridians to move into this next year with a recognition and a resolve to make the roads safer for all of us.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Supreme Court Lets Stand Ford Explorer $82.6 Million Verdict

Eddie Farah — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:37:31 GMT

In 2002, a San Diego woman lost her ability to walk after her Ford Explorer rolled over and its roof collapsed, severing her spine. She was awarded $369 million by jurors who listened to the evidence against Ford.

As frequently happens, a judge and appellate court eventually whittled down the award to $82.6 million.

Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that judgment to stand, rejecting an appeal from lawyers for Ford Motor Co. They had argued that $55 million in punitive damages was unfair and unconstitutional when you consider that the design of the Ford Explorer met all safety standards set by the government and industry.

It seems that almost weekly we are reporting on Ford Explorer rollovers. It was an Explorer filled with high school students that blew a rear tire sending the vehicle into a rollover that killed four teens on the last day of school in June.

Jurors heard that Ford could have strengthened the roof and avoided catastrophic head injuries for about $20 per vehicle.

Ford was joined by its friends at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the appeal. The Chamber usually sides with big business no matter what the issue and no matter how morally questionable the product (asbestos, cigarettes etc).

The Chamber doesn’t want juries to be able to impose punitive punishment on manufacturers. In this case jurors, listening to the evidence decided they wanted to punish Ford for its “conscious disregard” of the safety of its customers.

Luckily the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court, today refused to hear the appeal of the $55 million in punitive damages.

Maybe to Ford that extra $20 a vehicle doesn’t sound like such a bad investment about now.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Drinking Age Should Stay 21

Eddie Farah — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:14:00 GMT

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is releasing new data that shows that keeping the drinking age laws at 21 prevented an estimated 4,441 drunk driving deaths over the last five years.

NHTSA was responding to a national movement among colleges to turn back the drinking age to 18. After all, the argument goes, we sent 18-year-olds to die in Iraq, why not allow them to drink and take away the stigma of doing something “illegal”?

It is a youth issue that defies logic. Kids who aren't thinking straight at 21, aren't suddenly going to become more responsible at 18.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) headed a symposium on the issue. MADD says that “Turning our back on these laws would be a deadly mistake. Minimum drinking age laws are among the most effective measures ever used to reduce drunken driving deaths among America’s young people.”

Auto accidents remain the leading cause of death for teenagers. Having laws and enforcing the laws as well as enforcing the rules of the parents is the best course at this time.

Enforcing a ban on texting and talking on the cellphone will go a long way toward the problem of teen deaths behind the wheel. A new software called DriveAssist from Aegis Mobility Inc., is aimed at stopping teens from talking on the cell phone while driving.

The Aegis Mobility software blocks inbound calls and text messages when it determines that the cell phone is within a moving vehicle.

Nobody said parenting was going to be easy, but a little technology might help.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

I-10 Westbound Reopened After Fatal Auto Accident

Eddie Farah — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:20:44 GMT

I-10 has reopened in the westbound direction after a fatal accident involving a semi truck Saturday morning closed two lanes.

It appears the rain may have been the cause. A semi being driver by 47-year old Steven Stoff began moving counter clockwise as he was changing lanes.

He lost control and the semi truck flipped in the middle of the interstate. Killed was his passenger, 44-year-old Laura Buelow.

And the rain may have contributed to another accident a bit down the road on the 295 exit. Florida Highway Patrol has not released any information on the victim there.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Florida Tops List For Pedestrian Deaths

Eddie Farah — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:53:48 GMT

A 42-year-old St. Augustine, Florida woman was killed Friday night after authorities say she walked in front of a moving car.

Glenadine Harding was crossing Florida 207 when she was hit by a Honda sedan about 6:20 p.m. The driver was identified as Jill E. Scott, 55 of St. Augustine.

In a separate accident about an hour later, a man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries Friday night after he was hit by a car in Northwest Jacksonville at West Moncrief Road near Raines Avenue, waiting for the traffic to clear when he suddenly darted into traffic where he was hit.

Then on Tuesday, a pedestrian was struck and killed by an SUV at the rain-drenched intersection of North Main Street near 53^rd Street. The Times- Union reports the man’s relative identified him as 51-year old James “Jimbo” Hall who didn’t have a car and walked everywhere he went.

Florida has four of the five most treacherous metropolitan areas for walking and is the most dangerous state in the U.S. for pedestrians.

That is the conclusion of the Pedestrian Danger Index, used when assessing the risk of walking in urban areas. Orlando, Tampa, Miami, and Jacksonville, and their surrounding areas, were the top four hazardous cities, followed by Memphis. The top 10 is rounded out with Raleigh, Louisville, Houston, Birmingham and Atlanta.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, in 2005 there were 576 pedestrians killed in the state, nearly 8,000 crashes that injured pedestrians and 8,626 pedestrian crashes.

The milder weather of Florida weather encourages people to be outside at least nine months of the year in areas that seem to have automobile-oriented development and high-speed cars.

Nationwide 9,000 pedestrians were killed in collisions with cars in 2007 and 2008. At least 70,000 more were injured. Many of those killed were 15 or younger.

This sort of survey puts the burden on metropolitan planners to design communities where people can walk safely.

The safest metro cities that have taken strollers into consideration are Minneapolis-St. Paul, Boston, New York, Pittsburgh and Seattle. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Party House Mom Facing Two Counts of Manslaughter

Eddie Farah — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:01:09 GMT

Her lawyer had argued that Diane Katz Santarelli should not be charged with two counts of manslaughter after hosting an open house drinking party that preceded the death of two teens in an auto crash.

But Friday, St. Johns Circuit Judge Wendy W. Berger, refused to dismiss manslaughter charges against Santarelli, 51, saying her action “set in motion a chain of events” that ended January 11 with the deaths of Jesse Calvin Pitts, 18 and Taylor Rae Brennan, 17.

The two St. Johns County teens were leaving a party at the Santarelli home when friends say they were too drunk to get behind the wheel of a 1991 Ford Thunderbird. With Pitts driving, the car veered off State Road 13 near Orangedale and hit some trees, bursting into flames. Both teens died. Pitts’s blood alcohol level was 0.18, more than twice the legal limit.

Santarelli’s attorney says that allowing someone to leave your home intoxicated does not merit a manslaughter charge, and her defense will be that the kids arrived at her house already intoxicated.

But prosecutors say Santarelli allowed, provided, or encouraged minors to drink alcohol at the house party and smoke marijuana, and they say there were a number of parties held prior to this one with Ms. Santorelli present.

Florida Statute 856 says no person who controls a residence shall allow an open house party to take place where minors, under the age of 21, are consuming alcoholic beverages or drugs. Violators can face up to 6 months in prison, unless there is a death. The law imposes a duty of care on the social host to take some reasonable action to prevent anyone under the age of 21 from drinking.

Santarelli is facing two counts of manslaughter, four counts of hosting an open house party and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Her pre-trial date is scheduled for December 1. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Speeding Public Officials Face Charges After Fatalities

Eddie Farah — Sat, 09 May 2009 00:44:48 GMT

They are sworn to protect the public, but instead these individuals are being charged with endangering it.

Criminal charges will be filed against a Jacksonville Sheriff’s officer and a Jacksonville Fire Rescue district chief. Both men were involved in speeding incidents that left two elderly men dead, in separate incidents.

We’ve reported on one incident - the case of 86-year-old Matthew Ogden Jr. who was broadsided by a JSO police car driven by Officer Marcus Kilpatrick last January. Ogden was killed at the scene by the speeding officer who was in pursuit of another motorist who reportedly had tinted windows.

Witnesses say the emergency lights weren’t even on when Kilpatrick slammed into Ogden’s truck at about 60 mph after he had been speeding at 100 mph.

In the other crash, District Fire Chief Adrian Johnson is facing charges of culpable negligence after a November crash with a car driven by Howard Corrigan, 75. In that case too, police say Johnson did not have a siren on. No word on who or what he was pursuing.

Kilpatrick is also facing culpable negligence charges as well as charges that he lied during an investigation.

We are sorry for the loss of both of these men.

The law allows both officers to face charges that are misdemeanors. And while they can carry a jail time of up to one year, the State Attorney’s Office is saying that jail time may not be appropriate in these cases.

Just what should the punishment be for killing two people? What would be the punishment for one citizen hitting and killing another?

With at least 400 estimated deaths from police collisions across the U.S. (and some say that might be double), Voices Insisting on Pursuit Safety, and the Orlando-based advocacy group, Pursuit Watch, say enough is enough.

Both of these groups were formed after someone they loved was killed by a police vehicle, Candy Priano lost her daughter Kristie, who was killed in the back of the family minivan on the way to her high school basketball game by a police car in pursuit, and John Phillips of Orlando, lost his 20-year-old sister Sarah when a cruiser hit her car traveling 70 mph.

Phillips has helped Orange County develop one of the most responsible and restrictive pursuit policies in the nation which sometimes means there is no chase. Its adoption follows a similarly restrictive policy by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in the fall of 2003.

Sometimes police forget their job isn’t to catch a bad guy but to protect the public.

The State Attorney's office is showing incredibly bad judgment here by letting two individuals skate. If anything they should be held to a higher standard of public safety than the rest of us, not a lower one. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Separate Incidents Kill Two Elderly Drivers

Eddie Farah — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:44:00 GMT

A question we often get in Florida is - how old is too old to drive?

This generally comes from the adult children of elderly drivers who are concerned that they may be liable if they don't take their elderly parents car keys away. No, they cannot be held liable unless they own the car. But there is the nagging knowledge that they should help their parent make this important transition in life.

Not to discriminate against our elders, certainly there are young people who don’t drive safety, but a couple of cases this week bring the question into sharp focus.

Grace H. Ross, 90, was driving south on Eulace Rd in Jacksonville around 11 a.m. Tuesday when she turned left onto Timuquana in front of a semi driven by 33-year-old Patrick P. Mowry. Ross was taken to Shands Hospital and pronounced dead. Her 94-year-old passenger, Dennis M. Ross suffered serious injuries, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Everyone was wearing their seat belts and the driver of the truck was not hurt.

In another accident, everyone was wearing their seat belts too. Margaret M. Wolosin, 88, of St. Augustine tried to turn onto U.S. 1 when the driver’s side of her car was hit by an oncoming pickup truck. Wolosin died after being taken to Flagler Hospital. The truck driver and his passenger were both treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

We are so sorry for the loss of these two women. This sort of accident can happen to anyone at any age of course. In fact, the Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports the 2008 crash statistics show that the crash rates for people over the age of 65 are lower than for people under the age of 40.

What can adult children do? Someone with an unsafe parent driver can confidentially report them to the department. In 2008 there were 7,677 referrals in all. The state can ask someone to take an eye exam or a medical exam. Or the person could be asked to retake the driver test. Younger people can be reported too, but generally seniors are the ones reported.

Oftentimes, the elder driver will realize they need to give up their license, even though we live in a car culture and it puts them at a distinct disadvantage. Loneliness, isolation and depression can accompany the decision to give up a license. Our communities are not set up to accommodate someone without a car, and Americans have a different approach to caring for elders than the Europeans do.

If someone you know needs a ride, give them one. It’s as simple as that. After all, if you are lucky, one day you'll be there too.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

I-95 Auto Accident Involving Car, Bus

Eddie Farah — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:59:37 GMT

There was no match between a tour bus with 60 people on board and a car.

The two tangled on Interstate 95 this afternoon. The bus won.

The two vehicles were traveling southbound on I-95 just beyond International Golf Parkway.

Four people were in the car. All were injured and taken to Flagler Hospital. There is no word on their condition.

Everyone on the bus was okay except they couldn't get the doors open to the bus to let everyone after after the wreck. Eventually firemen had to come to the rescue and cut it open so passengers could be moved to SR 16. At the exit there, passengers were loaded onto another bus and taken on their way.

Meanwhile the traffic on I-95 southbound was backed up for miles until just before the rush hour.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Florida Teens Rally Against Texting While Driving

Eddie Farah — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:09:34 GMT

By now we’ve all seen the video on YouTube than aired on British television. The public service announcement should be seen by all teenagers who are close to the driving age, or presently behind the wheel.

A warning – it is a gruesome, up close and graphic look at the inside of a car during an accident. It is not for the faint of heart. Parents may want to watch it first. But it is real and everyday drivers distracted by texting are doing exactly what the teens in this video are doing – texting and not paying attention.

Now a group of Florida teens from the small town of Parkland, Florida (population 24,000) in Broward County are rallying against texting while driving. After seeing the British public service announcement, as well as other videos of texting drivers and the accidents they cause, these teens are donning white t-shirts that carry an anti-texting message.

And they’ve taken their campaign to city hall to convince the city commissioners to ban texting while driving in their town.

Wisely, the teens know it is kids who influence other kids, so sophomores, who are just getting their driving permits, have had the most influence on other kids.

"Before we started this project, my friends and I had no idea that texting was the most dangerous thing to do while driving," said student Michael Ross.

And other kids are listening, especially when they see an actual video of a bus driver texting before a crash.

A new study from Virginia Tech finds that dialing a cell phone is three times riskier than a non-distracted driver. But the study shows nothing is riskier than texting – which presents 23 times the risk when compared to a non-distracted driver.

Florida is a state that has failed to adopt any bans on talking on cell phones while driving or texting. Legislators have tried, but the phone lobby is a powerful one.

Thankfully, we have a group of thoughtful teens that have done what our legislature has been unable to do. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah