Florida Accident Attorney Blog

You're walking down the concourse of a South Florida shopping mall, when suddenly you slip and fall on a wet floor and injure your back. Who is liable for your medical bills and lost wages? Or maybe it's a parent or grandparent in a Florida nursing home who falls when attempting to get out of bed and breaks a hip. Who is responsible in that case?

Premises Liability in Florida
Laws are in place to protect Florida citizens and visitors from slipping, tripping, falling, and injuring themselves while shopping or out in other public places, as well as while visiting the homes of others. Property owners are liable to keep their properties safe from dangerous obstructions and conditions that could cause a person to slip, trip and fall. These laws extend to Florida swimming pool safety as well, including decks and stairs.

If you slip and fall -- and you are physically able -- we recommend you do the following:

• Take pictures (your cell phone camera may suffice) of the conditions that caused you to slip and fall. Once the accident scene is cleaned up, those details will be lost!


• Write down all the details leading up to the fall -- what you were doing, where you were walking, the lighting, conditions of the floor or ground, and any obstructions present.


• If you are physically unable to document the details yourself, ask a friend or family member to record what you can remember as soon as possible.


• If witnesses are nearby who could vouch for what happened, ask for their names and phone numbers.


• If you are injured in a public place, report the accident to the store manager or property supervisor. Insurance companies have a field day with "unreported accidents." Get your accident on record BUT take care not to speak to the property owner's attorney or insurance company. That's what your personal injury attorney does on your behalf.

If you need to file a lawsuit against the property owner for damages and compensation, be prepared to have your story called into question. Lawyers for the property owner's insurance company may try to make the Florida slip and fall accident seem as if it was your fault, or even that your injuries were caused by a pre-existing condition or an earlier accident.

As South Florida personal injury lawyers, we've assisted many people over the years who got injured in slip/trip and fall accidents while shopping, dining, or visiting public places. The cases that turn out favorably for many plaintiffs are the ones where the injured parties had the foresight to document what happened immediately -- before time, stress, and the property owner's insurance company -- can make the details fuzzy.

Florida's infant death rate due to drowning is double the rate as compared to other states in the nation. Swimming pool accidents account for the majority of infant drowning deaths here in Florida.

With so many grandparents returning to Florida to spend the winter, pediatricians want to remind seniors tending to their beloved grandchildren to be especially aware of hazards that could cause small children to have slip and fall accidents in and around swimming pools.

Pediatricians also recommend that Florida parents, grandparents, and caregivers learn infant CPR, as nonfatal drowning accidents can still cause brain damage in developing children, when the brain is deprived of oxygen.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is behind a new law that went into effect Dec. 19, 2008 designed to increase swimming pool safety measures at all public pools and spas. The law pertains to drain covers and other pool and spa mechanisms that can cause children to become trapped under water. Nationally, drowning is the second-leading cause of accidental death for children ages one to 14.

As residents of the Sunshine State as well as Florida swimming pool accident lawyers, we can't stress swimming pool safety enough -- particularly when children are in the picture. Please be aware of consumer safety tips for swimming pool owners and check your pool safety equipment regularly.

Florida has highest infant drowning rate
NBC2 News Online Nov. 23, 2008

New pool safety law goes into effect this holiday season
ConsumerReports.org Nov. 24, 2008

Related Web Resource
American Academy of Pediatrics: Pool Safety for Children

A Broward County judge sentenced South Florida gasoline tanker truck driver Flavio Santisteban to 36 years in prison for vehicular manslaughter resulting from a horrible accident that left 4 people dead.

The explosive crash occurred on Feb. 11, 2005 as Santisteban was heading off Florida I 595 onto an interstate 95 onramp. His tanker truck carrying 9,000 gallons of fuel skidded out of control and flipped onto a passenger vehicle carrying four people. The truck exploded. Three people trapped in the car burned to death and a fourth escaped but drowned in a pond near the Florida Turnpike 95 ramp where this car truck crash occurred.

According to prosecutors in this wrongful death lawsuit brought by the victims' family, Santisteban was traveling over the speed limit and showed "reckless disregard for human life." The truck driver had been cited before for driving violations. Prosecutors alleged that Santisteban was driving at excessive speed and without adequate rest in an effort to earn more money from his employer.

Driving without enough rest breaks and sufficient sleep is among the top causes of truck accidents in Florida and the United States. Federal regulations state that commercial truck drivers may drive up to a maximum of 11 hours after they have taken an off-duty break of 10 consecutive hours, and may not drive more than 14 hours in one day.

Unfortunately, the pressures on commercial truck drivers to "make good time" on the highway can cloud their better judgment and lead to fatal car truck accidents, such as this terrible incident on a Florida I-95 onramp that claimed four lives.

Truck driver gets 36-year prison term for crash that killed 4
MiamiHerald.com Dec. 16, 2008

Related Web Resource
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: Hours-of-Service Regulations

Three Florida construction workers escaped death in an Orlando area construction accident that left them hanging mid-air, 70 feet high, for nearly two hours.

The Florida construction accident occurred at 2001 Summit Park Drive in Maitland, Florida, in the afternoon on Dec. 8. Preliminary reports from Brasfield & Gorrie, the company overseeing the project, said that the three construction workers, employed by subcontractor Baker Concrete, were installing steel to prepare for laying concrete seven stories high. The scaffolding they were working on came loose from the building, and they lost their footing, slipped, and fell.

All three construction workers were wearing safety harnesses when this work accident occurred, which saved them from falling 70 feet to the ground below, and certain death.

A forklift and crane were used to bring all three construction workers down safely. The three suffered cuts and bruises; two refused medical treatment but one was brought to a clinic for minor work-related injuries. A crane operator who was rattled by the incident was brought to the hospital as a precaution.

As Florida construction accident lawyers, we are all too aware of the risks inherent to the construction industry: Construction has the largest number of work-related fatalities for any industry sector. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the construction industry employs about 6 percent of U.S. workers -- but accounts for 20 percent of fatal work-related injuries. The cause of this scaffolding accident remains under investigation and the names of the men involved have not been released.

Crane rescues 3 workers after scaffold slips
OrlandoSentinel.com Dec. 9, 2008

Related Web Resource
OSHA: A Guide to Scaffold Use in the Construction Industry

In March, two people died and five were injured in a construction accident at the Miami Paramount Bay condominium project, when a portion of a tower crane toppled through the roof of a home being used as a job site office by contractor Bovis Lend Lease.

Tragically, a crane safety ordinance had passed in Miami-Dade County the week before but had not gone into effect. That's because a coalition of Florida construction organizations filed suit in Federal court and were awarded an injunction prohibiting Miami-Dade County officials from enforcing the safety ordinance. They were afraid that tightened safety regulations would shut down Florida construction sites in violation of the ordinance.

Construction workers often work high above the ground, performing their jobs on scaffolding and cranes perched many stories up in the air. OSHA has crane and derrick safety standards in place, but construction accidents like what happened in Miami still claim too many lives. Florida has also introduced a state tower-crane safety bill which has remained in committee at the State Legislature for two years.

As accident lawyers who advocate for Florida workers hurt on the job, we are all too familiar with what can go terribly wrong on a construction site. Both federal and state regulations are designed to keep construction workers safe. But sometimes, that's not enough. The irony of this sad case is that Florida construction organizations filed suit to keep the safety ordinance -- written to keep their construction workers safe -- from going into effect.

Endgame: Construction Fatalities Soar Nationwide
Southeast Construction Sept. 2008

Two Dead, Five Injured in Miami Crane Collapse
FoxNews.com March 25, 2008

In 2006, a Broward County jury awarded a landscaper injured in a Hollywood Florida public works truck accident $1.2 million for his injuries. Now insurance company attorneys for the city of Hollywood Florida are fighting the award, refusing to pay the injured man what a jury determined he was owed.

Ronald Miller of West Hollywood, Florida, was a self-employed landscaper with no health insurance. During the evening rush hour on July 30, 2002, Miller was going northbound on Federal Highway and planned to turn left onto Sherman Street. A Hollywood Florida Public Works truck cut him off and crashed into his pickup truck. Both trucks were totaled.

Since the accident, Miller, who runs Ron's Lawn Service, has endured two knee surgeries amounting to $60,000 per knee. He continues to mow lawns for a living on painful knees so badly damaged that they may need to be replaced with artificial joints in the future. After the verdict, Miller received $100,000 from the city, and half went to his growing medical bills which he admitted were far greater than he expected. His personal injury attorney believes his future medical bills may be in excess of $300,000. The sad irony of this case is that the accident victim only sought a settlement of $85,000 initially.

The $1.2 million jury verdict is in dispute because under Florida law, municipalities are protected from judgments in excess of $100,000, unless the Legislature waives the state cap. Because Miller only initially asked for $85K to cover his medical expenses, and due to other factors complicating the case, the insurance company for Hollywood Florida believes the case was mishandled, and the $1.2 million award would unfairly burden taxpayers. Hollywood Florida insurance company lawyers are seeking to have the verdict voided or the award reduced. A special legislative hearing has been called in this case.

As Florida accident attorneys, we are familiar with the strategies insurance companies use when people who have suffered personal injury seek compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages. Now the city of Hollywood Florida is trying to shift some of the blame for the truck accident onto Mr. Miller, who says he is unable to keep up with his medical bills or to work enough to support his family. We will be watching for the outcome of this Broward County legal dispute, which is not expected for several months.

Hollywood fighting $1.2 million liability award in public works truck crash Sun-Sentinel.com Nov. 22, 2008

South Florida drivers who regularly travel on Florida's fast, congested highways know that their safety depends not only on defensive driving but on keeping their cars, trucks, minivans and SUVs repaired and well maintained. No one wants to hear their car emit a loud clunking sound while they're doing 75 mph in the passing lane on I-95 south to Miami (or while trying to get out of the way of someone who is). We all just want to get from point A to point B safely and avoid a traffic accident.

Like all other drivers in the U.S., Florida drivers depend on auto manufacturers and car dealers to alert them when a vehicle they have purchased has a safety recall notice. Safety recall notices also go out on defective tires and child restraints. The purpose of these safety recalls is to alert vehicle owners to potential problems, so they may take their vehicles to an authorized dealer for repair or parts replacement at no cost to the owner.

But the process of delivering those vehicle safety alerts can break down, such as when a motorist changes addresses or buys a car from a private party. Not receiving these critical vehicle safety recall notices could leave drivers vulnerable to safety problems that could lead to break downs, motor vehicle accidents, and personal injury or death.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a new service where consumers can sign up for free automatic email notifications of safety recalls on vehicles (by make and year), defective tires, child safety seats, motorcycles, and school buses. Consumers may choose to receive alerts on all recall notices issued by NHTSA, or they may customize their notices to just receive alerts on the vehicles their family owns.

See "Related Web Resource" below for a link to NHTSA's free vehicle safety recall email notification service.

U.S. DOT Unveils Automatic Vehicle Safety Recall Notification Service
NHTSA.gov Nov. 7, 2008

Related Web Resource

SaferCar.gov: Under "Safety Recalls," go to "Email recall notifications"