Florida Accident Attorney Blog

According to Miami, Florida new reports, a pedestrian was struck and fatally injured this past weekend in a multi-vehicle traffic accident involving a van and a county bus.

Miami-Dade Police reported that a fatal pedestrian accident occurred Sunday night after 8 p.m. in Northwest Miami Dade at the intersection of 22nd Ave. and Northwest 62nd St. Details of the fatal Miami car crash are emerging:

CBS4 news reports that a witness who was on the Miami Dade Transit bus involved in the accident stated that a van ran through a red traffic light, causing the bus to veer off course. In addition, WSVN-TV news of Miami / Fort Lauderdale reports that Miami-Dade Police stated that the van involved in the traffic accident hit the pedestrian and another vehicle, sending the pedestrian into the path of the oncoming Miami-Dade County transit bus.

Miami, Florida pedestrian accident lawyers may be consulted by families in cases where the reckless or negligent driving of another party causes injury or death to a pedestrian on South Florida's streets. According to Transportation for America's recent Dangerous by Design study, Miami, Florida ranks among the top most hazardous four cities in the country where pedestrians are most at risk for injury or death in traffic accidents.

Police are investigating the cause of this multi car accident in Miami that took the life of a pedestrian. Charges may be filed against the driver of the van if this chain reaction car crash is revealed to be a drunk-driving accident. The name of the pedestrian killed in the Miami traffic crash has not been released.

Pedestrian Struck & Killed In Northwest Miami-Dade
CBS4.com March 28, 2010

Pedestrian struck by multiple vehicles
WSVN.com March 28, 2010

Related Web Resources

Florida Dept. of Transportation: Pedestrian Bike Safety Program

U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration: Bicycle and Pedestrian Program

Transportation for America: Dangerous by Design

The son of a wealthy Chicago area family is being held without bail in a Broward County, Florida jail in connection with a hit and run pedestrian car accident last year that left two British businessmen dead.

According to news reports, Ryan LeVin, 35, was arrested at his condominium on South Ocean Lane in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Levin is the son of a wealthy Illinois family in the jewelry business. He became the subject of media attention surrounding his involvement in a fatal Fort Lauderdale hit-and-run motor vehicle accident that occurred in Feb. 2009.

Police stated that LeVin's Porsche sports car was driving along State Road A1A near Fort Lauderdale beach when it jumped the curb, striking and killing two British businessmen as they walked to their hotel. Pedestrian accident victims Craig Elford, 39, and Kenneth Watkinson, 48, were in America recruiting staff for their pharmaceutical business. LeVin has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide as well as leaving the scene of an accident causing death. LeVin, whom the media reports has a long history of multiple traffic violations, has denied being behind the wheel at the time of the accident. His friend, Derek Cook, surrendered to authorities this week and has been charged with being an accessory for helping LeVin hide the damaged Porsche, as well as for aggravated fleeing and eluding.

Florida Pedestrian-Car Accident Statistics

Fort Lauderdale, Florida hit and run injury lawyers are familiar with state and federal laws designed to keep pedestrians and bicyclists safe on our streets and roadways. The LeVin case has received considerable media attention due to the wealth and status of the accused driver; it is one Florida pedestrian traffic accident among many more that add up to 490 pedestrians being killed in Florida in one year (2008 statistic from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). In addition, NHTSA reports that...

• Nationally, one in five pedestrian-car accident fatalities is caused by a hit-and-run driver


• Of the 10 most dangerous cities in the country for pedestrian traffic accident injury and fatality, 5 are located in Florida

(Source: NHTSA Technical Report, Pedestrian Roadway Fatalities, April 2003)

For background on the case, see previous blog entry: Lawsuit Filed in Fatal Fort Lauderdale Hit and Run Pedestrian Accident

Hit-and-run suspect Ryan LeVin ordered held without bail
Sun-Sentinel.com March 17, 2010

US heir Ryan LeVin charged over deaths of Britons
The Independent March 17, 2010

Porsche driver jailed in Florida hit-and-run
ChicagoBreakingNews.com March 17, 2010

Fort Lauderdale, Florida police are seeking a black late model SUV, possibly American made, in connection with a hit and run car accident that injured two pedestrians, leaving one with a life-threatening head trauma.

According to South Florida news reports, 65-year-old Carolyn Bianco of Fort Lauderdale and her friend, 62-year-old Victoria Kirby, were attempting to cross busy Las Olas Blvd near Southeast 11th Ave last Weds. night around 7:30 pm, near several restaurants. Witnesses told the press that as the women were crossing Las Olas Boulevard in the crosswalk, a dark-colored SUV hit them and sped off.

Ms. Bianco was taken to Broward General Medical Center with a serious head injury resulting from this Fort Lauderdale traffic pedestrian accident. Ms. Kirby sustained minor injuries and was released from the hospital. The family of Ms. Bianco is appealing to the public for anyone with information about this hit-and-run traffic accident in Fort Lauderdale to come forward. Broward County, Florida Crime Stoppers has asked anyone with information to call them at 954-493-TIPS (8477).

Fort Lauderdale pedestrian injury lawyers work with families whose members have been injured or killed by reckless or negligent drivers, including pedestrians and motorists who have been hurt in drunk driving accidents.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 490 pedestrians were killed in Florida car pedestrian crashes in 2008 (Source: NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts Florida 2004-2008). In this case, Fort Lauderdale Police are examining pieces of the SUV left behind at the traffic accident scene in hopes of determining the make and model of the car, and finding the driver responsible for injuring two women pedestrians.

Family of woman critically injured in Fort Lauderdale hit-and-run pleads for help
SunSentinel.com March 17, 2010

Police Search for SUV Driver Who Hit Two Women & Fled
NBCMiami.com March 12, 2010

Hit and run injures 2 women
WSVN.com March 11, 2010

Related Web Resource

Broward County Florida Crime Stoppers

A Fort Myers, Florida construction company was among the parties held liable in a lawsuit following the 2007 traffic accident death of a Sarasota father on Interstate 75. Last month, a Sarasota County, Florida jury awarded the family of 42-year-old James Brashear $4 million in a case that drew attention to Florida highway safety and preventing deadly road construction site accidents.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the deadly multi-vehicle Florida highway accident took place on Oct. 1, 2007, at 12:30 a.m., where a temporary roadblock had been set up around construction at the Bee Ridge Road interchange. The Herald Tribune reported that a semi-truck traveling at 70 mph failed to stop in time to avoid the line of cars stopped at the roadblock, slamming into them and setting off an 11-vehicle accident. Two men died (Mr. Brashear and a man from Miami) and several other people were taken to hospitals with serious injuries. Mr. Brashear's son was among the injured, and he survived.

The Brashear family's lawsuit in this fatal Florida I-75 highway work zone accident cited lack of adequate signage warning motorists leading up to the construction site as contributing factors. A jury ordered Zep Construction of Fort Myers, Florida, and Traffic Control Systems Inc. to pay punitive damages to the family of Mr. Brashear. The insurer for the trucking company of the semi-truck involved in the accident had previously awarded the families of the two men killed a $500,000 settlement.

Fort Myers truck accident lawyers have knowledge regarding Florida traffic laws and safety regulations. Studies have shown that highway construction sites can be particularly hazardous at night -- when drivers are unprepared for sudden stops, lane closures, detours, and unexpected workers and vehicles in or close to the road. The Florida Department of Transportation Work Zone Safety website reports that more than 50 percent of road work site / traffic crashes occur after dark, and that 90 percent of people who perish in road construction zone accidents are motorists and pedestrians.

Jury awards family $4 million for fatal accident
HeraldTribune.com Feb. 25, 2010

Related Web Resource

Florida Work Zone Safety

An OB-GYN doctor in California has been reprimanded by that state's medical board for birth injuries caused during the difficult delivery of a large baby.

According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the doctor was accused of negligence and incompetence following the Sept. 2002 delivery of a baby weighing more than 9 pounds to a 26-year-old mother. The birth took place at Watsonville Community Hospital in California.

The report stated that the doctor was reprimanded for actions leading up to a birth injury, including failing to follow-up on earlier tests that showed the mother to have gestational diabetes -- a condition that can complicate the birthing process. Overweight mothers carrying large infants are at greater risk for birth injuries that occur during difficult vaginal births.

The Sentinel reported that the doctor used excessive suction pulls to deliver the baby, whose shoulder got stuck behind the mother's pubic bone (a birthing difficulty sometimes referred to as Shoulder Dystocia). The infant was later diagnosed with Erbs Palsy -- a condition resulting from nerve damage that causes paralysis of the muscles in the shoulder, arm and hand.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida birth injury lawyers follow Erb's Palsy, shoulder dystocia and brachial plexus injury cases such as this one that occur in Florida hospitals and medical centers. Following the reprimand (the mildest form of discipline given to a physician), the doctor in the California case was ordered to attend training sessions and pass an exam.

Obstetrician accused of negligence is reprimanded
Santa Cruz Sentinel, Feb. 3, 2010

Related Web Resources

March of Dimes: Shoulder Dystocia page

Florida Board of Medicine: Consumer Information