Florida Auto Accident Attorney Blog

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is trying to determine whether alcohol played a role in a deadly, wrong-way, head-on crash that lead to the fiery deaths of four people near Martin Highway.

FHP reported that a 41-year-old Port St. Lucie resident was traveling southbound in a northbound lane of I-95 in her Jeep SUV when she collided head-on with a 1982 Chevrolet pickup with four people inside.

An FHP spokesman said that just before the vehicle crash in FL, another car swerved out of the way to avoid the wrong-way vehicle and that may have kept the driver of the pickup from seeing the oncoming Jeep until it was too late.

Reportedly, both vehicles burst into flames upon impact. Three motorists from other vehicles stopped and were able to rescue the driver of the Jeep SUV before it was completely engulfed in flames. The occupants of the pickup, a husband and wife and two children, were trapped in their vehicle and died in the flames. Medical examiners are trying to determine if they were still alive before the vehicle caught fire and burned.

Although investigators still haven’t confirmed that alcohol contributed to the accident, FHP told TCPalm.com that given the circumstances, “the most common factor of going the wrong way is inebriation.”

The rescued driver was flown to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute where she was listed in stable condition.

It takes just one act of negligence on the road to leave a trail of devastation that can spell disaster for both accident victims and their families. The Florida SUV accident attorneys at Farah & Farah are committed to providing top-shelf legal assistance for accident victims. Call us at (800) 533-3555 to discuss your case.

It took just one aggressive move by a driver to end the lives of a husband and wife — and to leave their 13 children without a mother or father.

Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) investigators are still looking for the driver of a dark-colored compact whose aggressive lane changing on Interstate 4 in Plant City led to a string of events that caused the GMC Envoy the victims were traveling in to overturn.

According to the FHP, the compact aggressively cut-off the couple’s SUV, causing the 36-year-old husband to lose control of the vehicle and collide with a box truck. The SUV then rolled over and the couple was ejected. Neither was wearing a seat belt in the SUV rollover in Florida.

The driver who caused the accident fled the scene.

The 32-year-old wife was flown to Tampa General Hospital, where she died from her injuries. Her husband was taken to South Florida Baptist Hospital in Plant City, where he also died.

The couple had been married about six years. She had four children. He had nine.

FHP is still looking for the driver who left the scene.

Aggressive Drivers in Florida

In Florida, if a driver commits two or more specific violations at the same time — such as speeding and improperly changing lanes — he or she is considered to be driving aggressively. Aggressive driving knows no age and no demographic.

In 2003, Florida law enforcement officers wrote 3,815 traffic tickets indicating the driver was driving aggressively. In 2010, they wrote 23,180. The number of Florida drivers considered to be driving aggressively rose 88 percent between 2008 and 2010 alone.

Seeking Justice for those Harmed by Negligence

If you’ve been injured in an automobile accident caused by an aggressive or negligent driver, call a Florida car crash lawyer at Farah & Farah. Our experienced team will see that you get compensated for medical bills and other damages. We can be contacted online or at (800) 533-3555.

The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice inspector general has just released a report that determined there were six policy violations connected to a juvenile justice youth camp SUV that crashed in Eastern Collier County and killed one teen occupant and the driver of the vehicle.

On December 8, 2011, the driver of the SUV — a cook who worked for the Cypress Wilderness Institute — was driving the vehicle full of teens back to the camp from Daytona Beach, when he lost control; the vehicle then hit a traffic sign and overturned into Ochapee Creek. The driver of the SUV and the teen both drowned. Seven other youths in the van were hospitalized and then released.

Investigators looking into the accident determined that the driver should not have been behind the wheel in the first place because his driving privileges had been revoked in February of 2011. Further investigation revealed that he had lied about his driving record and that he had been talking on his cell phone at the time of the SUV crash in Florida.

Investigators also found that the van had been overcrowded and that one of the administrators had asked at least one juvenile to lie about the number of people who were in the vehicle at the time of the collision.

The inspector general’s report laid the blame for three of the violations directly on two top administrators of the camp at the time. One of the administrators was fired after the incident, while another was demoted and eventually resigned.

The parents of the teen killed in the crash have filed a lawsuit alleging negligence.

If a loved one has died in an automobile accident due to the negligence of another, you have the right to hold the responsible parties accountable. The Florida wrongful death car accident attorneys will work with you to see that justice is done for your family. Call us at (800) 533-3555.

It took just a few seconds for a Toyota Camry to hurl through the glass exit doors of a Publix store in Palm Coast on April 14, leaving ten people injured in the wake of the crash. Now, lawyers for some of the Florida auto accident injury victims are asking why there were no protective barriers in front of the door to keep the runaway car from crashing into the store.

There are five Publix stores in Flagler County and three of them have concrete pillars in front of store entrances and exits that are designed to prevent the very tragedy that happened in the Palm Coast Publix.

Whether Publix should have had the barriers there to protect against such a tragedy is a complicated issue. Publix did not build the store, but bought and renovated it in 2008 after the original Albertsons closed. The Daytona Beach Journal asked a law professor at Stetson University College of Law about this issue and he stated, “The question is should they have added barriers since. And that’s really a jury question.”

The legal waters are further muddied because there is no county or state code that mandates the placement of protective barriers in front of store entrances and exits. No lawsuits have been filed thus far, but Publix and the driver of the Toyota Camry have been told to preserve evidence, such as the videotape of the incident and the car involved in the crash.

A complicated scenario like this is exactly why you need to hire a knowledgeable and experienced automobile accident attorney. A Florida auto accident attorney at Farah & Farah can help you understand your legal rights and options if you have been injured in automobile Florida car accident. We are on call, day or night, at (800) 533-3555 to discuss your case and your next legal move.

A 38-page report just issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has revealed that a lack of communication and several miscalculations by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) were in part responsible for the deadly pileup on I-75 that left 11 dead and 22 injured in the early morning hours of January 29, 2012.

The six-lane highway had been closed earlier on the morning of the deadly pileup due to a combination of fog and smoke that had left visibility near zero. I-75 was reopened at about 4:00 a.m. after the FHP officer in charge determined that visibility had improved enough for traffic to resume flowing.

30 minutes later, the first of the deadly crashes began.

The FDLE revealed that there had been a conflict between the officer in charge and a subordinate as to whether to reopen the highway to traffic. According to the report, the subordinate allegedly had warned the commanding officer twice that the poor visibility conditions could return faster than they would be able shut down the highway.

The report faulted the FHP for failing to create guidelines for such situations and cited that troopers had not shared vital information with each other just before the crashes took place. The report was also critical of the lack of monitoring by FHP after the highway was reopened.

One injury victim, whose wife is still in a coma as a result of the crash, is disappointed with the report, saying that it is just stating the obvious. He told Ocala.com, “Somewhere (in the report) the state of Florida should be saying, ‘You didn’t do your job.’ ”

The Florida freeway accident attorneys at Farah & Farah will be closely monitoring this story as it proceeds. If you have been injured in an automobile accident due to the negligence or carelessness of another party, call us at (800) 533-3555. Your consultation is free.

A Coral Gables man involved in a horrific drunk driving crash in Florida has been told that he can be released on $205,000 bond instead of the $1 million bond he was initially held on, a Miami-Dade judge ruled.

The 38 year-old man has been charged with DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the death of a 13-year-old girl who was killed when the 2010 Range Rover he was driving plowed into the minivan she was a passenger in.

Miami-Dade police say that the accused was clocked going 100 mph on the southbound U.S. 1 bus lane when he hit the minivan that the young victim’s family was traveling in. The crash was so violent that it tore the minivan in two. The accused allegedly kept driving as long as he could and then tried to flee his mangled vehicle on foot.

After his arrest, the driver was held on a $1 million bond. Although the $205,000 bond is much lower, it still represents a fourfold increase in the standard bond for these charges, which is $45,000. The decision was not a popular one among the hundreds of family supporters who crowded the hallway outside of the courtroom and who wanted the driver kept behind bars.

The Miami Herald reported that the judge offered condolences to the gathered family members, but also told them, “This is not a popularity contest based on the numbers of people you can turn out to court. In this courtroom we follow the law.”

The Florida car accident attorneys at Farah & Farah also offer condolences to the family who lost their child in this horrible DUI accident. When a motorist injures or kills somebody due to a negligent and irresponsible act, they should be held liable for their actions. Call us at (800) 533-3555 and we will work tirelessly to see that justice is done for you.

The two partners work as a team that tours Florida high schools to speak out against the dangers of drunk driving.

One member of the team is a mother who lost her 20-year-old daughter when a drunk driver lost control of his car after leaving a bar in Pensacola. Her daughter and a friend were killed instantly when the then 24-year-old drunk driver smashed into her car in 2002.

The other partner is the man who killed them.

He’s 33 now and has spent nearly a decade behind bars serving his DUI manslaughter sentence. He’s still in prison, but will be released in November.

It was in April of 2010 when the mother asked the prisoner to join her in what was perceived as a confusing and unlikely partnership. The prison granted permission for him to attend the presentations and the two have been teaming up to dissuade students from drinking and driving ever since.

Although some people still don’t understand it, the two look at the partnership as a way to heal and as a means to warn youngsters of the potential lethal outcome of drunk driving and the shattered lives it leaves behind.

At a recent presentation to juniors and seniors at Barron Collier High School in Naples, Smallridge, dressed in his grey and white prison jumpsuit, pointing to himself as the ultimate object lesson for what they don’t want. “Make it a point in your life not to be this guy. Don’t reduce your life to shackles and chains,” he told them.

After the talk, one of the students told Naplesnews.com, “It opened my eyes.”

Drunk driving can devastate so many lives. The Tallahassee drunk driving crash attorneys at Farah & Farah admire any program aimed at preventing potentially lethal drunk driving accidents on Florida’s roads and highways.

Fort Lauderdale officials are saying that they will be reviewing Florida beach-driving policies after a lifeguard’s pickup truck rolled over a 49-year-old sunbather from North Carolina.

The woman was lying near a lifeguard station when she said she felt the weight of the Ocean Rescue truck rolling across her body. “All I can tell you is that suddenly I was a human speed bump,” she told the Sun Sentinel. “There were tires moving over my body. I could have easily died.”

She was extricated from under the vehicle and taken to Broward General Medical Center where she was treated and released. She sustained cuts and burns from the accident.

Critics contend that large lifeguard vehicles offer limited visibility for drivers and are too dangerous to be driven on the beach. They claim that using all-terrain vehicles makes much more sense on busy beaches. Proponents disagree, saying that the pickups are essential because they carry life-saving medical equipment.

According to the Sun Sentinel, a Fort Lauderdale city manual exhorts lifeguards to use “extreme caution at all times while driving on the beach.” The manual also later states, “Remember: 9 times out of 10, you are in the wrong if you have an accident.”

An attorney hired by the woman said that he finds it troubling that several beachgoers have been run over on Florida’s beaches by lifeguards, police, beach patrol, and other government vehicles, especially considering it is their job to “guard and protect lives, not to put and keep them in harm’s way.”

If you have been injured in an accident due to another motorist’s negligence or carelessness, you have a right to seek compensation. A Florida car crash lawyer at Farah & Farah can help you. Call us at (800) 533-3555 for a free, no-obligation consultation.

10 people were injured after a 76-year-old woman crashed into the entrance of a Palm Coast Publix.

According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), the woman was in the parking lot of the market when her Toyota Camry suddenly and inexplicably smashed through the glass entrance doors at the front of the building, sending shoppers and employees sprawling in her wake.

FHP said that the woman who was driving was unhurt, but that 10 other people were injured in the Florida auto accident — two of them seriously.

A spokesman for Publix said that the car entered through the double-doors, went past the checkout line and into a shopping aisle. He also told The Florida Times Union, “There was a situation where a customer was pinned under her car and our associates helped to lift the car off of the customer.”

Most of those hurt suffered non-critical injuries, including a 3-month old infant who is expected to recover. Two customers, an 81-year-old woman and an 83-year-old man,
were listed in serious condition, according to the FHP. All of the victims are Palm Coast residents.

Troopers are still investigating the cause of the accident.

A Farah & Farah vehicle crash lawyer in FL certainly hopes for the recovery of all those hurt in this accident. If you’ve been hurt in an accident involving a careless, negligent, or incompetent driver, you should seek legal advice as to what your legal options are when it comes to receiving compensation for your injuries. Call us today at (800) 533-3555 for a free, no-obligation consultation.

The driver of the car that struck and killed a pregnant woman and her unborn child in Fort Lauderdale on March 18 apparently told a police officer that she had an argument with her husband at a restaurant and sped off in her car just before the collision.

As reported in a previous blog, the pregnant woman and her husband had traveled from Massachusetts and were at the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale attending a two-day marriage conference. She was waiting for her husband in one of the hotel’s pool cabanas when an out of control 2006 Audi smashed into the cabana and killed her.

According to a Fort Lauderdale police search warrant, the driver of the Audi said she and her husband were at the Mangos Restaurant and Lounge on 904 E. Las Olas Blvd., where she had ordered a martini and appetizers. Allegedly, they got into a heated argument and she left the restaurant, speeding out of the parking lot in her car.

A witness who saw the woman driving west on Southeast Fourth Street said that her vehicle was going “at a much greater speed” than the posted 25-mile-hour speed limit. For unknown reasons, she lost control of her car, careened across the eastbound lane, and hit the pool cabana at the hotel. She claims she didn’t remember hitting the building until she was pulled out of the car.

Pending the results of the investigation and blood alcohol tests, the driver of the Audi may be charged with DUI manslaughter.

Anger can cloud perceptions — if you are not in control, your vehicle is not in control.
If you have lost a loved one because of another driver’s negligence, contact the Fort Lauderdale wrongful death attorneys at Farah & Farah. Call us at (800) 533-3555 to discuss your legal plan of action today.