Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer - Traffic Fatalities

Jacksonville - Most Crashes In Florida In 2008

Eddie Farah — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:12:48 GMT

Just how are we doing as a state in regard to highway fatalities? A new report issued from the Florida Highway Patrol compiled crash data from around the state for 2008.

Unbelievably- Jacksonville was the top city for the number of crashes in Florida, even topping Miami by about 50 percent. There were 14,000 crashes in Jacksonville in 2008. Taking in accident cases all of the time in our law firm, we can only guess why that might be. People are very aggressive drivers around here, and add talking on a cell phone, texting and other distractions and it is not entirely surprising. Also, about 60 percent of traffic fatalities result from people not wearing their seat belts.

There is good news to report. There were 2,983 traffic fatalities on Florida’s roads in 2008, down from 3,221 the year before. This is the first time there have been fewer than 3,000 fatalities on Florida’s roads since 2000. Alcohol-related crashes declined six percent during the same time period. Still, drunk driving contributes to about 40 percent of traffic accidents.

Even motorcycle accidents that led to death declined by 3.3 percent but have still climbed steadily over the past decade. Pedestrian fatalities were down by 5.3 percent from 2007 to 2008 but pedestrian injuries and crashes went up more than four percent.

Teen deaths declined almost 17 percent and teen passengers’ deaths declined almost 29 percent.

20 to 24 year olds have the most accidents per 10,000 licensed drivers at 4.24, while 65 to 69 year olds are the safest at 1.24.

Even 90-plus-year-old drivers have fewer accidents than teens and twenty year olds at 2.37 per 10,000. Maybe our elders have something to teach youngsters about the rules of the road. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Jacksonville Second in Fatal Teen Crashes

Eddie Farah — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:56:00 GMT

With the holiday season just around the corner and more teen drivers out of school and on the road – Allstate Insurance has a word of caution.

The roads in three metro areas in Florida are the tops nationwide for fatal auto crashes involving teens. The Tampa Bay area, Jacksonville, and Orlando ranks first, second and third in the study by Allstate that analyzed crash statistics and claims around the country over the past eight holiday seasons.

According to the state Department of Transportation, there were 983 traffic fatalities involving teens in 2006, and 1,000 in 2007.

Why do three Florida metro areas top the list? No one can say for sure except these cities are particularly spread out and teens have to drive greater distances to get anywhere. There may also be more instances of holiday parties and drunk driving.

Anyone on the road around here knows there is a great deal of aggressive driving or road rage for some reason in the Sunshine State.

People commenting to a story in the Florida Times Union also suggest that driver training in high school leaves something to be desired.

With about 6,000 young people dying in crashes annually and another 300,000 teens injured, in Florida there were 29 fatal traffic crashes in Jacksonville alone during the past holiday season.

These numbers are unacceptable. Please don’t let your child become a statistic.

Talk to your kids this holiday season. Believe it or not, parents have the strongest influence over their child’s driving behavior. Stress that driving is a privilege not a right.

Don’t assume that drivers education courses have done the complete job of training your child to drive. Make sure you don’t have a holiday to remember- forever.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Toddler Run Over In Driveway - A Too Common Occurance

Eddie Farah — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:43:00 GMT

We’ve heard these stories before, too many times. This time a 2-year-old riding his tricycle in a driveway was run over in a driveway.

The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office says the little boy, Sergio Martinez, was riding his tricycle, not in the street, when Rangel Rauda driving a Ford Explorer ran him over. Rauda says she didn’t see the toddler because a parked car was in her way. Little Martinez later died in the hospital. Rauda may be charged.

In Northwest Washington, a 16-month-old boy is fatally hit by his father’s SUV. The mother was putting things in the trunk of her car. That’s how long the toddler had to wander away from her and into the SUV’s path.

In North Carolina last December, a 19-month-old girl was accidentally crushed to death by the family’s SUV. Singer Steven Curtis Chapman told People Magazine about the death in his family when a teenage son ran over his five-year-old adopted sister.

Almost weekly, the tragedy of a toddler killed by an SUV is reported. Most of the time it is a family tragedy that they never get over – that’s because it’s a family member behind the wheel.

Janette Fennell of the group Kids and Cars says “In the US fifty children are being backed over by vehicles EVERY week. 48 are treated in hospital emergency rooms and at least two children are fatally injured every WEEK.”

She told a Maine television audience, ”What makes this so tragic is that in 70 percent of these cases, it is a direct relative of that child who backs over and kills them.”

There is a blind zone behind SUVs that can extend more than 20 feet. This television report out of Maine proved that you cannot see anything behind the bumper to that distance.

Kids and Cars estimates nearly 500 children have been run over and killed in the last five years. That’s about half of the non-traffic fatalities among children. And Fennell believes the numbers may be even higher.

Kids and Cars advocates a rear-visibility standard so that drivers can see what’s behind them all the way up to the bumpers. Some cars are already equipped with back-up cameras to improve rear visibility. Do-it-yourself kits options are available for about $400.

Parking assist is an audible tone that lets a driver know if he is nearing an object or a child behind the car.

The best defense it to walk around the car. Never assume that you have a clear way. There is too much at stake. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah