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In order to cut down on traffic crashes, in 2010 the Florida State Legislature allowed cameras to be mounted at intersections to take pictures of motorists who continue moving through a red-light. Now a Cocoa Beach resident has filed a lawsuit that challenges the cameras at intersections. The woman from Cocoa Beach received a $158 citation for allegedly running a red-light in September 2010. Her attorney hopes this will turn into a class action to stop what he believes is an unconstitutional state law.
Expect to see the red-light cameras debated at the next legislative session.
Supporters say the red-light cameras save lives, but detractors say you cannot have a machine give a ticket because you can’t fight a machine in court like you could a police officer who was an actual human witness to the red-light running. There is also some evidence that motorists tend to speed up when they believe an intersection has a camera so they are not caught running a red-light. This, of course, makes the situation even more dangerous as they pass through the intersection. Intersections are a very common place for T-bone accidents, which can be some of the most dangerous crashes that lead to serious injuries.
Motorists who may join in the action will ask to have fines reimbursed that they received from red-light cameras.
Farah & Farah’s auto accident attorneys in Florida recommend you slightly slow down going through an intersection and have your foot poised over the brake in case you have to stop suddenly.
Source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/red-light-cameras-in-cocoa-beach-spark-challenge-1937617.html
Imagine an automobile that senses when traffic is slowing and then stops the car when someone in front suddenly slams on their brake. Automatic crash-avoidance warning systems will be studied in Florida and five other states beginning in August. The Department of Transportation (DOT) program is called the Connected Vehicle Safety Pilot Program, reports The New York Times, and ordinary drivers will be in cars fitted with the latest technology to see how both car and driver respond to hazard alerts and how effective the systems are in different driving conditions.
In all, 24 vehicles will be tested that have electronics installed premarket and after they are produced. The vehicles will be able to communicate electronically as well as sense the presence of a work zone and traffic lights. The drivers will handle the cars in a test course, not in open traffic. The Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership is a research organization collaborating with eight auto makers. The drivers are part of the research and their input will partially determine the success of the technology. The New York Times reports that the 2004 Lexus LS 430 sedan has a Pre-Collision System which uses radar to provide warnings and automatically brakes and monitors traffic.
While cars of the future no doubt will continue to have safety features, Florida drivers still need to be serious about safe driving and drive defensively. When a driver takes to the road and ignores all precautions and drives recklessly or distracted, a devastating injury can result from a serious accident.
The car accident lawyers in Jacksonville at Farah & Farah are here to help anyone who has been injured in an auto accident get their life back together. Call our law offices today to learn how we can help protect your legal rights.
Sources: http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/transportation-department-to-test-collision-warning-systems/ and http://www.its.dot.gov/cicas/cicas_workshop.htm
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has issued its Top Safety Picks for 2011 among autos on the market for 2011. The ratings are based on a good, acceptable, marginal, or poor performance based on the standards of front, side, and rear crashes, as well as rollover standards. To earn a top spot a car must rate “good” in all four categories plus have electronic stability control. What to look for?
Frontal Offset Crash Test
IIHS says about half of those killed in collisions nationwide die in frontal crashes. To test crashworthiness, passenger vehicles were crashed at 35 mph into a vehicle-wide rigid barrier. In an offset test, the car hits a barrier at 40 mph but in this test 40 percent of the width of the car strikes the barrier on the driver’s side. The engineers measure the vehicle’s structural performance, the measurement of injury on the dummy and the dummy’s movement. A driver today is 46 percent less likely to die in a frontal crashes in a car rated “good” compared with a poorly rated vehicle.
Side Impact Crash Test
A side impact is more likely to lead to a serious injury or fatality because there is less to crumple when compared to the front or rear of the vehicle. Side crashes account for about 25 percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in the United States. A car rated “good” offers about a 70 percent less likelihood to die in a left-side crash, according to the IIHS. In a vehicle rated “marginal” the driver is 49 percent less likely to die.
Roof Strength
Rollover accidents kill more than 10,000 people a year. While electronic stability control reduces rollovers, side airbags also help protect in a rollover accident and of course, seat belts are vital. In addition, the roof strength reduces the risk of a crushed roof coming in contact with the victim’s head. To earn the “good” rating, a crush force four times the car’s weight must resist a 5 inch crush. An effective head restraint protects against the soft tissue injury of whiplash.
If you or a loved one has been involved in an auto accident in Florida and suffered an injury or death, the Florida crashworthiness attorneys at Farah & Farah understand the investigation that needs to take place into your accident to determine whether a design defect, vehicle malfunction, or other error contributed to your accident. Do not leave yourself vulnerable again. Call us for a complimentary consultation on your case today.
Source: http://www.iihs.org/ratings/
Beginning on Wednesday, April 20, the push will be on to have minority drivers in Florida wear their seat belts and buckle up their children. The Florida Minority Occupant Protection Task Force is leading the campaign and plans to hold meeting with African-American and Hispanic community leaders at churches, schools, and even barbershops to encourage more seat belt use. National safety figures show the minority groups are not using seat belts as often as other drivers. In Central Florida, The Orlando Sentinel reports that law enforcement is seeing a disproportionate number of minority drivers unbuckled and a higher number of injuries and fatalities among minority passengers and drivers. Among them:
- A Hispanic man died last Friday when his pickup struck a tree in Osceola County. He was not wearing a seat belt.
- Three African-American children died the same day when their SUV rolled over ejecting them through the windows.
- Five Hispanic children from Kissimmee suffered serious injuries April 3 when their SUV rolled in Osceola County.
Research shows that a lap/shoulder belt can reduce the risk of a fatal injury by 45 percent for the front seat occupants and a critical injury is reduced by 50 percent. According to state data, seat belt use is 80 percent effective in reducing fatalities in an SUV rollover accident in Florida.
Enforcement will take place in Orange, Seminole, and Osceola counties, with law enforcement observing seat belt use with special emphasis on African-Americans and Hispanics.
Passed in 2009, Florida’s primary seat belt law states law enforcement can pull over any driver and ticket them if no one in the front is wearing a seat belt. Everyone under the age of 18 who sits in the back must wear a seat belt under Florida law, which exempts those over the age of 18. The ticket is $30 for an adult violator, and $60 for a child not buckled in. Soon after the law was enacted, Florida topped the national average with 85.2 percent of the population wearing a seat belt.
If you or a loved one have been injured in a car accident, you will need the expertise and help of a Florida car accident lawyer who can conduct an investigation into the cause of the crash. Farah & Farah can help you through this difficult time in your life and make sure that the responsible party compensates you for your injury and lost wages. Call us in Jacksonville at 904-396-5555.
WCTV-Television reports that Florida Representative Irving Slosberg (D- Boca Raton) has filed the Mature Drivers Act, HB 515. Slosberg says that 16-year-olds can easily be distracted by texting and cell phones while driving and the bill proposes raising the age one year to obtain a driver’s license in the state. If it passes, the law could go into effect in July of next year.
Rep. Slosberg points to New Jersey, where the state raised the driving age to 17, while nearby Connecticut left the driver’s license age at 16. New Jersey had 4 deaths per 100,000 drivers, he said, while there were 16 teen deaths in Connecticut per 100,000 drivers. Under the proposed Florida bill, young drivers will be able to get their permit at age 16. Slosberg’s daughter, Dori, died from injuries she sustained in a 1996 car accident.
According to 2009 crash statistics for the U.S., there were 242 drivers involved in fatal crashes per 10,000 licensed drivers in the 15-19 year age group, while the highest age bracket for fatalities was the 20-24 age bracket at 445 fatalities per 10,000 licensed drivers. As many arguments as people have against older drivers, the lowest rate of accidents was among 75-79-year-olds (66 per 10,000 licensed drivers).
According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, there were 80 teens killed in car crashes in the state in 2009, down from 109 the previous year. Also there were 73 teen passengers killed in 2009, (84 in 2008) and 10,639 teen drivers injured, compared to 11,734 the previous year. In 2009, there were 29,485 crashes involving teens, down from 32,012 in 2008.
If you or your teen driver have been involved in a car accident, let Farah & Farah’s experienced Florida car crash lawyers help you through the sometimes complicated process to make sure you obtain the compensation you deserve.
While we’ve all heard the warnings against drinking and driving, Consumer Affairs reports on a recent study out of Loyola University about drinking and walking. Their research shows that New Year’s is the deadliest day of the year for pedestrians. Since alcohol impairs the ability to drive, it also impairs judgment, coordination, and reflexes for pedestrians.
The report notes that from 1986 until 2002, New Year’s Day saw 410 pedestrians killed, and among those killed 58 percent had high concentrations of blood-alcohol. In other words, they had been drinking. Pedestrians may have been opting not to get behind the wheel thinking that walking was safer than driving.
Alcohol-Related Deaths
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, more than one-third of fatally injured pedestrians registered blood-alcohol levels above the legal limit for intoxication, which is 0.08 percent.
Taking into account only the hours of 9 p.m. until 6 a.m., 53 percent of pedestrian deaths involved walkers over the legal limit.
Loyola reports that it treated 105 pedestrians from July 2009 to June 2010, and among them 29 percent had some alcohol in their system and 24 percent were over the legal limit for intoxication. These numbers do not include injuries suffered inside the home from falling down stairs or on sidewalks. Doctors recommend that a drinking pedestrian be dissuaded from taking off on foot after a party just like a drunk driver.
If you or a loved one have suffered an injury as a pedestrian, you would be well-advised to contact the experienced Jacksonville pedestrian accident injury attorneys at Farah & Farah who have represented many clients injured by motor vehicles in both pedestrian accidents as well as car crashes. They will get started on finding the at-fault party who may have to compensate you for your medical expenses, lost wages, and the cost of rehabilitation.
This survey from the National Motorists Association (NMA) finds Jacksonville is ranked the worst Florida city for speed traps. The NMA used data from its own National Speed Trap Exchange which lists the cities with the most speed traps, set up by law enforcement to catch excess speeders. In all, the top two cities in each state were reported. The group says speed traps are set up by financially strapped local governments.
Boca Raton was named the worst Florida city with a population under 100,000.
Elsewhere around the state, Waldo and Starke have a national reputation as being notorious speed traps. But Lawtey, Starke, and Waldo were not even on the group’s list. Motorists did add their complaints which show 15 for Lawtey, 13 for Waldo, and eight for Starke.
In Georgia, Atlanta won top honors with Marietta being the worst speed trap for a city under 100,000 residents. In all, the survey includes 60,000 speed trap reports by city and state as well as Canadian province, complete with comments by readers.
The NMA believes motorists have a stronger voice if they join together. Part of its mission statement says that speed traps are often an excuse given when a police department or city wants to raise more money for equipment and salaries. The group urges citizens to ask a state senator or representative to have a reduced speed limit be subjected to a legitimate traffic engineering study to find the 85th percentile speed of unimpeded traffic. Other suggestions are on the group’s web site along with the entire survey at www.speedtrap.org.
This study says that among patients brought to an emergency room following a traumatic injury, those with health insurance are more likely to live. The University of Buffalo study took a look at 649 emergency rooms that treated more than 193,000 patients suffering from auto accident injuries or gunshot wounds. The patients who had medical insurance, Medicaid or Medicare, all had a better outcome.
The first author of the study, Dietrich Jehle, MD, says the findings were surprising because when someone is brought into the emergency room, no one has time or the inclination to ask about a patient’s insurance status. That may indicate there are differences in the populations outside of the quality of care they receive. The researchers find that race and insurance status both affect the trauma outcome but of the two; insurance status is the most significant.
In general, the uninsured have a 25 percent greater mortality rate, said Dr. Jehle. Individuals who go without insurance may have delayed getting treatment in the past. They may have difficulty with language or literacy and do not go to hospitals or talk to doctors. The uninsured are more likely to drive unsafe, older cars without airbags. They are also less likely to wear seat belts, and more likely to exhibit at-risk driving behaviors.
To eliminate chronic health problems, the researchers only considered patients between the ages of 18 to 30.
All of these differences could theoretically be eliminated with universal health coverage.
A new Florida law will cut a break to motorists who rack up fines for speeding and then cannot pay them, according to a www.jacksonville.com article.
It happened to Ellis White who amassed $2,500 worth of speeding tickets and lost his driver’s license. Without a license he can’t get a job to pay the tickets. Some people just keep driving and then they owe more fines.
A bill was just passed in the House and Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Crist which goes into effect October 1. A person, such as White who is facing non-criminal civil traffic violation charges, will be allowed to set up installment payments interest-free to be paid to the clerk of the courts.
Better not miss a payment or you will have to pay the entire amount immediately. You could even lose your driver’s license after the payment is made. It will be up to the judge to decide. State Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville, said the law will help working families get back on their feet again. It also reduces the number of uninsured motorists on the roads.
It simply makes sense because a criminal fine can be paid in an installment plan, even for a DUI Florida accident.
A motorist cannot get their license back when they still owe the fine and the process to get your license back varies, depending on the offense. The Florida Times Union reports in 2008 there were 59,000 people convicted of driving without a license. 755,000 Florida motorists had failed to pay fines. These numbers do not take into account the number of motorists who might also have their license suspended for multiple DUI convictions.
Toyota has shown reporters what it is doing to fix the accelerating and braking problems of millions of Toyota vehicles in hopes of softening consumer doubts about the safety of its vehicles.
First in the show was the sticky pedal. So far 2.3 million vehicles have been recalled with that problem and as of mid-February more than 600,000 had been fixed. The short term fix is that cars will get a metal shim inserted to increase the tension in the pedal so it springs back. The other fix is a redesigned pedal assembly. Newer cars will be installed with a redesigned pedal assembly. Toyota may eventually be in trouble for its lagging notification. Toyota says it first noticed the problem in late October 2009.
In terms of the accelerator pedal floor mat, so far Toyota has recalled about 4.2 million and repaired about 186,000 floor mats. The new floor mats is thinner and more flexible. Toyota warns against leaving the original floor mats in place and warns against placing more than one floor mat on the floor at a time which increases the height of the floor under the pedal.
The third fix being installed is for the 2010 Toyota Prius and Lexus HS 250 Antilock Brake Recall. So far only 27,500 vehicles have been fixed and more than 148,000 have been recalled. When the weather turned cold, some car owners felt the ABS sensing a skid and releasing the brake pressure which created an uncomfortable feeling.
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