Florida Accident Attorney Blog

The Florida Highway Patrol announced it will be on the lookout to stop and apprehend drunk drivers in Florida over Memorial Day weekend, as well as anyone else breaking Florida driving laws. The step-up in driving safety law enforcement extends through midnight of May 31, 2010.

FHP is participating in three national driving safety campaigns this holiday weekend designed to save lives and prevent injury caused by Florida traffic accidents. These include the Click It or Ticket seat belt use campaign, Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort -- an initiative involving United States state police and highway patrol agencies), and Take Back Our Highways (also involving Alabama Highway Patrol).

Florida law enforcement and safety officials continue to strive to stop drunk drivers and other reckless or negligent drivers (including speeders and distracted drivers) in an effort to prevent South Florida car accident injuries and fatalities.

In fact, in recent years, DUI deaths on Florida roads have been on the decline (most recent stats show 875 deaths in 2008 compared to more than 1,000 in 2005). But as any experienced Miami Dade accident injury attorney who works with victims of Florida car and pedestrian accidents knows, the best form of prevention is for drivers not to get behind the wheel when alcohol has been consumed. In addition, speeding, talking on cell phones, and texting are all forms of dangerous driving which can lead to injury and death.

Chances for Miami Dade and other motorists to be involved in car accidents increases over long holiday weekends, as residents, visitors and vacationers flock to South Florida roads and highways to enjoy their extra day off.

Florida Highway Patrol Steps Up Enforcement This Weekend
Florida Highway Patrol News Release May 27, 2010

Related Web Resources

Click It or Ticket Florida

Operation C.A.R.E.

Florida and Alabama: Take Back Our Highways

The Fort Myers man accused in a fatal Lee County traffic accident is being held on several counts of DUI manslaughter in a Lee County, Florida jail.

According to news and police reports, 21-year-old Joshua Lee Reynolds of Fort Myers, Fla., was driving with a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal state limit when he was involved in a fatal Florida DUI car accident.

The car and pickup truck accident occurred last September in Cape Coral, Florida, at Veterans Memorial Parkway and Country Club Boulevard. Reynolds had allegedly been drinking while bartending at a local restaurant, before he got in his pickup truck and struck a car, killing 20-year-old Ernesto Romero, also of Cape Coral, Florida.

New reports state that Romero was a passenger in a car driven by Donna Snow; Romero, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the car when it was struck by Reynolds' truck, which allegedly ran a yellow light and slid through the intersection. Driver Snow and her sister Robyn, the victim's girlfriend, both suffered personal injury in this Lee County, Florida car crash. Reynolds turned himself into police last week after test results came in and the investigation was completed. He faces Florida DUI manslaughter among other charges.

Fort Myers car accident injury lawyers are well aware of the heavy toll that drinking and driving can take on Florida families. In 2008, a total of 875 people lost their lives on Florida roads and highways in alcohol related traffic accidents (Source: NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts Florida 2004-2008). That number has been decreasing from a recent high of 1,106 Florida DUI deaths in 2005, however any life lost due to drunk driving is one too many.

Man intoxicated at time of fatal Cape Coral crash
News-Press.com May 25, 2010

Related Web Resource

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles:
FAQs on Driving Under the Influence (DUI)

The millionaire owner of the International Polo Club located near Palm Beach, Florida has been charged in a fatal hit-and-run drunk driving accident which happened in February.

News reports state that the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department issued a probably cause affidavit leading to the arrest of wealthy businessman John Goodman, 46, of Houston, TX, who is described by the press as a well-known socialite who travels between Texas and Florida. Goodman's Bentley allegedly struck a Hyundai driven by Scott Wilson, 23, sending the victim's car into a Florida canal, where it flipped over. The victim drowned before emergency personnel could assist him. The Palm Beach car accident occurred in the community of Wellington, Florida in the early morning hours of Feb. 12, 2010.

Goodman allegedly fled the scene on foot and walked to a residence to use a cell phone, where he did not report the accident for more than an hour. He faces a number of charges including driving under the influence, vehicular manslaughter, and failure to render aid (which under Florida law can add gravity in a criminal case).

The victim's family has filed a civil lawsuit in Florida related to this traffic fatality. News reports state that according to police, the plaintiff charged in this Palm Beach area case had a blood alcohol concentration level more than double the state limit (Florida BAC=.08+). Goodman was arrested at a hotel in Miami, Florida, and was released on $100K bond. He is prohibited from leaving the state of Florida as well as drinking and driving, and going to bars.

Palm Beach wrongful death / injury lawyers may be consulted by families in cases where a loved one has died or been injured due to the negligence or recklessness of another party. Hundreds of people are killed in the state of Florida every year due to drunk drivers. Of the 2,978 traffic fatalities in Florida during 2008 -- 875 of those were alcohol related traffic deaths. (Source: NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts Florida 2004-2008).

Polo mogul in jail this morning for role in fatal Wellington crash
Palm Beach Post May 19, 2010

Houston millionaire charged in deadly Florida crash
Houston Chronicle May 19, 2010

Related Web Resource

NHTSA Impaired Driving portal

The mother who was driving in a recent Fort Lauderdale, Florida highway accident that sent a boy hurtling out of the car, over a wall, and into a backyard will go from the hospital to jail.

According to news reports and the Florida Highway Patrol, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. single-car crash along Florida I-95 took place last Friday around 11:30 a.m. News reports state the mother, 28-year-old Roseline Jean-Baptiste, of North Miami Beach, Florida, was driving in the northbound lanes when she swerved to avoid a tire in the road (a form of highway road debris that poses a serious hazard to drivers) -- then going on to the grassy shoulder, flipping the car several times, and stopping at a concrete barrier.

Jean-Baptiste's son, age 11, who was in the backseat, was ejected from the car, flew over an 18-foot wall, and landed in a nearby backyard. A 3-year-old sister remained in the backseat; she was hospitalized at North Broward Medical Center in Florida along with her mother and brother. All three are expected to be OK.

Fort Lauderdale car accident injury attorneys are very familiar with Florida safely laws in place to keep children safe in motor vehicles. In the State of Florida, children age 5 and younger must be properly restrained when riding in family cars, trucks, minivans and SUVs, no matter where they are seated. And children age 3 and younger must be in car seats in the back seat in Florida. Infant passengers have their own special safety regulations in place that parents must follow regarding child car seats and safety restraints. (For more, see link below on "Child Car Seat Requirements" from the Broward Sheriff's Office, Broward County, Fla.)

Media reports state that Jean-Baptiste will face a number of charges in this Fort Lauderdale I-95 car accident, including child neglect (both children wore seat belts but were not in child seats), along with Florida Highway Patrol charges including driving without a valid license, multiple traffic violations, and negligence. A Broward County, Florida judge has also barred her from seeing her children, according to the latest news reports.

Mother barred from kids after car crash
WPTV.com, Sun-Sentinel May 17, 2010

Mom charged in car crash that propelled son into backyard
The Bellingham Herald, May 15, 2010

Related Web Resources

Child Car Seat Requirements (from the Broward Sheriff's Office)

Child Passenger Safety News & Features (from the Florida Highway Patrol)

A tow truck driver who'd stopped on the highway to assist a motorist with car trouble was struck and killed shortly after 11 p.m. Monday May 10 in West Miami-Dade, Florida.

According to news reports, the fatal West Miami-Dade highway traffic accident occurred near the Flagler St exit of the Palmetto Expressway south bound. Tow truck driver Nelson Hernandez, 58, had stopped to assist a disabled motorist when he was reportedly struck and killed by a white van.

News reports state that the driver of the white van in this fatal motor vehicle accident had initially driven away, but returned later to the accident scene. The Palmetto Expressway is also known as Florida state road 826 and is an alternate highway to I-95 to get around the greater Miami, Florida area.

No further information was available on this fatal South Florida highway accident. Investigators continue to examine the details surrounding what happened.

Miami, Florida car accident injury lawyers have knowledge pertaining to the traffic laws in place designed to protect emergency roadside workers such as tow truck drivers as well as police officers and road construction workers. The Florida Move Over Law was passed requiring motorists to slow down and change lanes if they see an emergency vehicle, construction workers, or a Florida Highway Patrol or other law enforcement officer or first responder stopped on the side of the road assisting a motorist. According to Move Over America, thousands of emergency responders are killed every year while doing their jobs on our nation's roads and highways by motorists who fail to slow down and avoid them.

Tow truck driver killed on the job
WSVN.com May 11, 2010

Related Web Resources

Towing and Recovery Association of America

Florida Move Over Law

Move Over America

Four men from North Fort Myers, Florida were hospitalized -- one with serious injuries -- when a pickup truck hauling a trailer of lawn care equipment lost control on the highway -- the vehicles separating and careening out of control.

According to news reports, the South Florida pickup truck accident occurred the weekend of May 1 on Veterans Memorial Parkway. The driver of a Dodge pickup truck hauling a trailer of lawn care equipment, traveling west in the center lane, lost control of his vehicle. Witnesses reported that the trailer was fishtailing before it came unattached, sending the truck into a spin across the median and into the eastbound lanes.

Two men, Mark Smith, 52, and Raymond King, 22, were ejected from the vehicle in this South Florida highway traffic accident. The driver, Vincent E. Ehrhardt, 24, and passenger Edward R. Ehrhardt, 38, were also hospitalized for their injuries. Smith reportedly sustained life-threatening injuries and was med-flighted to Lee Memorial Hospital. All four men were from North Fort Myers, Florida, in the Cape Coral–Fort Myers metropolitan area.

Fort Myers, Florida truck accident lawyers are aware of the safety laws and regulations surrounding the operation of commercial trucks and other business vehicles, as well as for the usage of trailers and trailer hitches. Commercial trucks that haul gear or cargo in trailers -- as well as cars, trucks, SUVs and RVs that pull rented U-Hauls, boats, and other types of personal and recreational use trailers -- are at risk of causing serious motor vehicle accidents if the equipment used fails to prevent trailer sway (causing the vehicle driver to lose control) and/or if the trailer hitch breaks and the vehicles separate.

Man involved in weekend accident remains hospitalized
Cape-Coral-Daily-Breeze.com, May 4, 2010

Related Web Resources

Towing a Trailer: Being Equipped for Safety (PDF)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), April 2002

National Association of Trailer Manufacturers

Citing quality control issues in the manufacturing process, the Federal government has ordered a recall of Children's Tylenol and Infants' Tylenol products. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration reports that the popular brand of children's liquid cold medicines may have been manufactured with raw ingredients contaminated with bacteria, which could be harmful if ingested.

As Fort Lauderdale, Florida product liability lawyers are well aware, whenever a medication is recalled and/or labelled as a dangerous or defective drug, patients and families get justifiably concerned. When it's a children's medication, that level of anxiety among parents increases.

Thus far there have been no cases of people becoming ill from the contaminated drugs, however federal authorities continue to investigate the case, which involves product liability, manufacturing quality, and drug safety issues. The recall affects a total of 43 popular Johnson & Johnson products, including Tylenol, Motrin, Benedryl, and Zyrtec (see links to full lists below).

This is not the first time this year the makers of Tylenol have been in the news for product recalls. On January 19, 2010, Florida drug recall attorney Jason Chalik posted a blog item about Tylenol product recalls that were ordered after consumers complained of a musty smell coming from their medications. See Florida Consumer Safety Alert: Tylenol Product Recall Expanded to Rolaids, Benadryl and Other Popular OTC Drugs.

FDA report cites deficiencies at McNeil plant
CNNHealth.com May 5, 2010

Children's Tylenol Recall: FDA Report Rips Quality Control at Plant
ABCNews.com May 5, 2010

Related Web Resources

Tylenol Press Release, April 30, 2010

McNeil Product Recall Information

MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program

A senior citizen who suffered an accidental fall while at working at a North Carolina Walmart store has died from his injuries. According to media reports, the 72-year-old department store associate had been working on a rack when he attempted to descend a ladder. The man reportedly missed the ladder and fell to the concrete floor below. The employee, whose name has not been released, died of his injuries. The North Carolina Department of Labor is investigating this fatal work accident.

Falling from a ladder or higher elevation is one of the most common types of work-related accidents causing injury, disability, and death -- including construction accidents. However, as this case illustrates, one need not be a roofer, builder, or utility worker to suffer a serious or deadly work fall from a ladder or higher elevation; any job involving climbing and ladder work can be hazardous.

In addition, slip and fall accidents are a major cause of bone breaks, head injury, and other serious and sometime fatal injuries among the elder population. As more senior citizens -- including those here in Florida -- put off retirement or take part-time jobs to keep financially afloat, they too are at risk of work-related falls and other work accidents.

A South Florida fall accident injury lawyer may be consulted by families of injured or deceased Fla. workers to help determine whether employer liability, premises liability, or other third-party negligence may have contributed to a work accident causing injury or death. Florida Workers compensation claims may be filed in cases where a worker has been injured as the result of falling from a ladder or higher elevation on the job.

Employee Dies After Falling At Walmart, Labor Department Investigating
WFMY News 2 April 30, 2010

Related Web Resources

From the CDC / National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH):

Preventing Construction Falls

Fatal Falls from Elevations (PDF)