Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer - Motor Vehicle Accidents

Car Lodged Under Semitrailer

Eddie Farah — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 01:06:28 GMT

Traffic on Interstate 95 just south of Jacksonville had to come to a crawl as the road was closed when a car drove underneath a semitrailer.

The Florida Highway Patrol says that 41-year-old Robert Barker drove his Honda into a semi and continued driving until the front of his vehicle went under the truck's trailer.

This all happened early in the morning Friday, about 2:40 in the southbound lanes. State Road 207 intersects with I-95 and it was south of that intersection.

It took the semi driver about a quarter mile until he realized what had happened and pulled over.

Imagine trying to free Barker from under the semi but Fire Rescue personnel eventually did and took him to Shands, Jacksonville where he is in critical condition.

No word on what would cause an accident of this type and no word whether alcohol has been eliminated as a suspected cause. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

9-Year-Old's Family Sues After Autistic Son Injured on School Bus

Eddie Farah — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:30:32 GMT

It's tough to argue with the picture of the bruises.

The parents of a 9-year old boy who is autistic and blind say that attendants on a First Student school bus abused their child and left marks on him. They are suing the bus attendants and First Student Inc. charging negligence and battery.

"There has been an outrageous sequence of events," said the family's attorney, Eric Block.

The incident allegedly happened in January. Attorney Block says the attendant who pinched and hit the boy has been fired following an investigation.

"If that is not outrageous enough, in March, it happened all over again. The boy came home and his parents found bruising on his body. The point is, this is way wrong. It's outrageous. It should not happen once, much less twice," Block said.

Block says besides the bruises the boy has suffered emotionally. And in the March incident a second bus attendant was also to blame for the injuries.

Unlike other instances of abuse on a school bus caught on videotape like the beating of 12-year old Simone Small in Duval County who was represented by the law firm of Farah and Farah, there was no videotape available here.

That seems like quite a coincidence.

So far the school has been cooperating and the parents do not have a problem with school authorities.

What remains to be determined is what kind of special training do attendants have to deal with children with special challenges.

First Student had nothing to say because of the pending litigation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Freak Accident with Bus Kills City Worker

Eddie Farah — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:16:53 GMT

The likelihood of this happening is very slim.

But one man who worked as a traffic engineer was in a bucket working on a traffic light. The driver of a Jacksonville Transportation Authority bus either didn't see the flag man or ignored him and struck the truck knocking the man 52-year old Cesar Solomon out of the bucket to fall to his death.

Police report that the work crew appeared to be doing everything by the book and following proper safety procedures.

Ron Thigpen who worked with Solomon told Channel 4:

"There're people flying by us all the time. Not just with those guys, but with any construction people on the side of the road. People are flying, and we put up with it all the time," Thigpen said.

So far no one has decided that's what happened here, but you can bet that an investigation will try to determine just who was at fault.

Meanwhile the driver of the bus has been taken off duty and will undergo a drug test.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Florida Man Arrested For Hitting Police Cruiser in Georgia

Eddie Farah — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:47:14 GMT

A Florida man is under arrest after ending a police pursuit by crashing his vehicle into a Georgia State Patrol deputy's car.

Sunday about 1 in the afternoon, Theodore Thomas Wagner approached the security guard at the Bayer Corporation in Kingsland, Georgia.

He was reportedly acting erratically. He said he was being chased and he was a short while later when he was on I-95 after attracting enough attention, but according to deputies he refused to stop.

When Wagner turned onto I-95 his vehicle struck a Deputy's cruiser. He was forced out of the car, handcuffed, arrested and put in a patrol car.

The first stop was the Camden Medical Center where it was recommended that the 29-year-old Boca Raton resident Wagner should have a mental health evaluation.

He is now facing charges of aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, reckless driving, posession of marijuana, obstruction of an officer with violence among other charges.

No word on why he was in Georgia.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Legislature Looking At Safer Streets

Eddie Farah — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:49:23 GMT

More legislative action is proposed out of Tallahassee this session that might help keeps roads safer.

One of the more innovative involves placing red-light cameras that would take a driver's image when they are caught running a red light. A violation could result in a fine.

A seat belt violation proposal is back. It would allow law enforcement to pull over someone for not wearing their seat belt. As it stands now, you have to be pulled over for another offense before you can be ticketed for not wearing your seat belt.

This would allow an officer the option to pull you over, something that is already allowed for drivers under the age of 18.

And for the smallest auto passengers, Senate Bill 2162 would prohibit smoking in cars that have minor children passengers.

It's difficult to imagine that someone has not heard about the affects of second hand smoke on the non smoker's lungs. However that bill does not have a similar version in the House, something that one of our lawmakers needs to step up and sponsor.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Legislature Trying To Curtail Teen Auto Accidents

Eddie Farah — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:33:55 GMT

Tallahassee lawmakers are trying to make driving safer for all of us by cracking down on left lane hogs. You've seen them going slow in the left passing lane while talking on their cell phone oblivious to lights. Often they aren't even wearing their seat belt.

Proposed Senate Bill 1266 and House Bill 357 would make it illegal to talk on the phone while driving in Florida. That's already the law in several states. Another proposed bill would extend the prohibition only to minors

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Carey Baker of Eustis believes that a ban just would not pass for adults talking on cell phones.

Teens are the focus of a number of proposed bills this legislative session. One would require all teenagers complete a driver education course before they get a driver's license. That is not the requirement now.

Another bill, SB 282 and HB 77 would prohibit those under the age of 18 to have more than three minor passengers in the car unless an adult is present. The sponsor now thinks even three is probably too many because every time you add a teenager tends to increase the risks of a crash.

Another bill would prevent minors for having any underage passenger for up to six months after they receive their license.

Finally another bill takes away a drivers license if a teen drops out of school, although critics say there is no connection between being in school and being a safe driver.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

First Coast Teens Learn Lessons of Drinking & Driving

Eddie Farah — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:54:09 GMT

The attendance was double this year, a sure sign that this teenage education program has hit a nerve.

It's called a STUD Rally - Stop Teen Underage Drinking and it looked more like a party at the Morocco Shrine Auditorium Thursday.

High schoolers packed the place listening to DJs from 93.3 The Beat, competing for prizes and hearing from First Coast News Sports Director Dan Hicken. Despite the fun, the message was a serious one about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Mistie Merritt says she drove drunk more than a year ago and now there isn't a day she doesn't feel overwhelming guilt for hitting and killing a mother.

"I believe I owe it to her and her family to come and speak to these young kids, and to actually everyone -- anybody that I can reach, about what happened that night," she said.

In May, Merritt will be sentenced for her crime. "And now, I'm looking at spending three to twelve years in prison. Not only that, but I have the guilt, for the rest of my life, that I have to live with," she said.

This year about 900 students were in attendance from 19 different high schools, double the amount of last year.

The STUD rally is an annual event, hosted by the Fraternal Order of Police, Longhorn Steakhouse and the Jacksonville Auto Dealers Association and First Coast News. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Operation Safe Ride Cracks Down on Spring Break Auto Accidents

Eddie Farah — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 02:00:52 GMT

If you are thinking about speeding anytime this weekend, forget about it.

That's because the Florida Highway Patrol will be monitoring you from aircraft, with lasers, radar and marked and unmarked cars on the Interstates, the Florida Turnpike and major and minor roads.

From Friday through Sunday, Operation Safe Ride intends to find speeders who tend to come to Florida for spring break and put the pedal to the medal.

Historically, March and April see the most traffic accidents in Florida. It just isn't worth it to get an expensive ticket while you are enjoying our sunshine and balmy weather.

And this weekend, it is very likely you will be caught.

The FHP also wants to remind motorists to Move Over to the next lane when any emergency vehicle is in sight or a wrecker with a flashing light is alongside the road performing an auto recovery.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

SUV Roof Crushes Kill Motorists

Eddie Farah — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:49:26 GMT

In about 35 percent of auto accidents, death occurs where there is a rollover. In a SUV the death rate jumps to 59 percent.

The key to surviving the crash, if you are not ejected, is the strength of the vehicle's roof.

Right now the federal government is considering increasing roof strength, something that hasn't been done in passengers cars since 1974.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has issued a report, Roll Over, that concludes that roof strength "definitely influences injury risk" and says the federal government has greatly underestimated the number of deaths from an SUV roof crush. It calls for even stronger standards to save more lives.

The Institute says if the strongest enforced roof standards had been in place in 2006, about 212 of the 668 deaths in SUV rollovers might have been prevented. National Highway Safety Administration estimates the numbers of deaths at 13 to 44.

If roof strength was as strong as those the institute tested, it concludes that "injury risk in rollover crashes could be reduced 39 to 57 percent.

The Institute's study is the latest in a body of evidence that a vehicle's roof strength protects occupants and shows to a greater extent than ever before just how many lives could be saved in rollovers.

Since SUV roof standards have not increased since 1994, while there are more drivers and reckless drivers on our roads than ever before, it's long overdue to help those behind the wheel of an incresing number of popular SUVs to stay safe.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Jacksonville Roads Get Good Marks

Eddie Farah — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:38:47 GMT

While cracked roads and potholes have been causing motorists to shell out about $400 extra in wear and tear on their cars, a national study says that Jacksonville's roads rank as "good" when compared to the nation.

9 percent are "mediocre" and 4 percent of our roads are rated as poor.

The ratings were conducted by the nonprofit research group that focuses on transportation called TRIP, based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1971, TRIP promotes transportation policies that relieve traffic congestion, improve road and bridge conditions, improve air quality, make highway travel safer and enhance economic productivity.

Jacksonville's 74 percent "good" rating was bested by Atlanta at 89 percent. By comparison Boston had a 76 percent good rating.

The study finds that the average motorists is shelling out an additional $412 a year just in extra operating and fuel costs because of the uneven and pothole roads in 23 metropolitan areas.

Florida's highway system is 52 years old and a deteriorating infrastructure is coming at a time when traffic is up, the cost of road repairs are steep and states are cutting budgets for road repair. The group urges forward-thinking in funding for the nation's highway system to solve a problem that is not going to get any better.

On the other side of the road, poor road conditions were found in Los Angeles when the average motorist is paying more than $700 in extra costs to operate their car in poor conditions. Other urban areas with poor roads are San Francisco-Oakland, Honolulu, San Jose, San Diego, New Orleans, New York City, Sacramento, Baltimore, Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Naturally people adding to this story as it appears in Jacksonville.com say they've experienced potholes so bad that the steering wheel has been jerked out of their hand.

Another writer cites the Argyle Forest area at Old Middleburg, south and west of Jacksonville where one person counted 11 cars pulled over and all of them changing flat tires because of pot holes.

Someone else asks do you want to guess where the four percent of poor roads are?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah