Jacksonville Injury Attorney Blog

Drivers on I-95 in Florida have long been familiar with the face of Bruce Rossmeyer. The world's #1 Harley-Davidson dealer has been a fixture on billboards throughout North, Central and South Florida for years.

Unfortunately, his recent tragic death in a motorcycle accident in Wyoming is another grim reminder of the dangers motorcycle riders face. Statistics show that motorcycle accidents account for a disproportionately high number of catastrophic injuries involving brain injury, fractures, paralysis, and wrongful death.

Our Jacksonville personal injury lawyers at Thomas & Lawrence, P.A., have experience with the complex issues that may arise in a Florida motorcycle accident cases, including differing insurance requirements, vehicle laws unique to motorcyclists, and liability resulting from a driver’s failure to see a motorcyclist when turning, changing lanes or passing.

Continue reading " Daytona Motorcycle Icon Dies in Tragic Motorcycle Accident " »

Whether it’s the beautiful Jacksonville and St. Augustine Beaches, Amelia Island, Disney World, or Daytona, Florida is a major tourist destination for people throughout the world, and too many vacations can be abruptly cut short by an accident or injury caused by the negligence of another.

Because most personal injury lawsuits, whether car crashes or truck accidents, slip and falls, or premises liability, have to be filed where the accident occurred, the injured victim faces an added burden when she returns home – how to find and work with a lawyer despite the distance. Still, Florida law protects residents and visitors alike so that they may receive the compensation required to cope with medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

The North Florida injury attorneys at Thomas & Lawrence are experienced in the representation of out-of-state residents and invite visitors to Florida who have experienced an accident to contact us to find out how we can help.

Continue reading " Injuries to Tourists in Northeast Florida " »

A recent personal injury lawsuit filed in Duval County, Florida, illustrates one of the important rights held by individuals injured in car accidents. While working roadside, a Jacksonville man was hit by a teenager driving a car she did not own. The teenager admitted she was looking at her cell phone at the time of the accident, and the worker suffered devastating injuries including the amputation of his right leg.

As a result, a lawsuit was filed against the teenage driver and the owner of the car even though the owner was not directly involved in the accident. That is because Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine provides that car and truck owners are responsible for the people they let drive their vehicles.

This is a crucial legal safeguard. While all vehicle owners are required to have certain automobile insurance, some drivers, and especially teenagers, may not have insurance or assets to pay for injuries caused by their negligence. Because of this, our lawyers who handle car accident and truck accident cases throughout North Florida, including Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Orange Park, know how important it is to investigate the details of each accident to make sure all responsible parties are identified and held accountable.

Continue reading " Florida's Dangerous Instrumentality Doctrine Assists Car Accident Victims " »

This afternoon, I was travelling back to the office from a client meeting in Callahan when I came across a very serious auto accident on I-95, just north of downtown Jacksonville. When I drove by, there was a full size pickup flipped upside down and the cab space was almost entirely crushed. Hopefully the occupants of the truck were not hurt; however, it did look pretty serious.

The vehicle accident occured at a location on I-95 where one lane was closed for construction. Traffic in that lane had to merge left into the two remaining lanes. Obviously, there is a lot of road construction going on in the Jacksonville area now and, as Jacksonville accident lawyers, we see many crashes that occur when high speed traffic is required to merge due to a lane being shut down for construction purposes.

Remember, just because you are paying attention to the lane merges and changes, do not assume others are. With cell phone usage and texting on the rise, drivers can easily be distracted. Given that a vehicle travelling 70 miles per hour travels over 100 feet per second, if a driver's attention is distracted for even a very short period of time, the consequences can be catastrophic. Make certain that a driver that is going to need to merge does not stay even with your vehicle, either speed up or slow down, in case the other driver is not aware of the upcoming merge. Defensive driving in these situations is a must.

Continue reading " Serious Accident on I-95 in Jacksonville Near A Construction Site " »

In 2008, the number of car accidents causing wrongful death in Jacksonville, Florida, dropped to the lowest level in five years. In 2008, the number of traffic fatatilies in Jacksonville was 120, down from 166 in 2007.

The State of Florida as a whole also showed a decrease in traffic crash deaths for the year. The total number of deaths from auto accidents in 2008 was 2,983, which is the lowest number since 1999.

Most traffic deaths and serious personal injuries are preventable. Our Jacksonville accident attorneys note that such collisions typically result from a driver: drinking; speeding; using a cellphone; texting; running a red light or stop sign; failing to yeild; or following too closely.

Continue reading " Jacksonville Car Accident Deaths Dropped to the Lowest Level in Five Years " »

Here in Jacksonville, we have more than our fair share of bad drivers. In fact, Duval County is the second highest county in Florida for the number
of drivers causing three or more car accidents during the three year period of 2006 to 2008. A new state law aims to remove such careless drivers from the road.

Starting January 1, 2010, motorists convicted of three moving violations that result in auto accidents, will lose their licenses. In order to get their licenses restored, they will have to attend a drivers' education course, pay $548.00, and retake the driving test.

From 2006 through 2008, Jacksonville had 372 drivers that caused three or more car crashes. The only county higher is Miami-Dade County, with 378 such drivers. However, Miami-Dade County has three times as many licensed drivers, meaning Jacksonville has, by far, the highest number of such careless drivers per capita in the state.

Statewide, there were 3,277 such drivers during the 2006 to 2008 time frame. Thirty-two percent of these auto accidents caused personal injuries. Five of these car wrecks resulted in death.

Continue reading " Jacksonville Had the Highest Number of Drivers Per Capita Causing Three or More Car Accidents from 2006 through 2008 in the State of Florida - A New Law is Designed to Remove Such Drivers From the Road " »

A sightseeing train in St. Augustine Florida was involved in an automobile crash, when a vehicle in front of it started to make a left turn then stopped.
The driver of the trolley car tried to brake; however it had been raining, and the train struck a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction.

The train had two carriages, which turned sharply in the collision. A ten year old girl was thrown from the train and suffered injuries to her arm. An eighty year old man was taken to the hospital due to lower back pain. Thankfully, it appears that there were no other personal injuries from the auto accident. The driver of the train was cited for careless driving.

Continue reading " Girl Injured in Sightseeing Train Crash in St. Augustine " »

A guest of the Jacksonville Ramada Inn, drowned in the hotel's pool earlier this week. The hotel is located near University Boulevard near I-95. The woman was rushed to Memorial Hospital, however they were unable to revive her. As of this writing, the reason for her drowning is unknown.

Unfortunately, often the victims of pool accidents are small children. It is important for all pool owners to keep fencing around their pools to prevent personal injury or wrongful death to children who may be attracted to the pool.

Continue reading " Woman Dies in Jacksonville Hotel Pool " »

Here in the Jacksonville area and Southeast Georgia, we have a lot of beautiful waterways for boating. However, that beauty can be easily spoiled when a boating accident occurrs.

Unfortunately, this weekend another such example took place. One person was killed and two others survived after a 23-foot boat rammed into the jetties at Jekyll Creek south of Brunswick Sunday. The cause of the accident is under investigation by the Georgia authorities.

As injury attorneys in Jacksonville, we see numerous boating related personal injuries. Often such injuries result from the driver of the boat striking a dock, another boat, or an underwater structure such as a jetty or shoal. Drinking is commonly involved in boating accidents.

Continue reading " Another Boating Accident Claims a Life " »

In Jacksonville, Florida, experts are arguing over the cause of the collapse of a parking garage which caused the wrongful death of one construction worker and personal injuries to twenty others at the Berkman Plaza 2 condominium project.

This dispute, which is taking place as part of a hearing conducted by OSHA to evaluate the safety of the work site, illustrates one of the benefits of the no-fault system in place through Florida’s workers’ compensation laws. Workers injured on the job do not have to establish fault by the employer to recover for the costs of needed medical care and lost time from work. Still, the recovery of all the benefits due to an injured worker can be complicated without the assistance of an experienced lawyer.

Due to limits imposed by the Florida Legislature, fewer and fewer law firms are willing to accept that challenge. However, the lawyers in our workers compensation practice area remain available to assist with claims arising from the denial of appropriate medical care, lost wages, and damages resulting from temporary and permanent physical impairments.

In addition, often such workplace accidents also give rise to personal injury or wrongful death claims against companies other than the employer. For example, if the firm that engineered the parking garage did so in a negligent manner that did not provide adequate support, it may have liability for the injured workers above and beyond their workers' compensation benefits. In these situations, is is helpful to hire a law firm that handles both workers' compensation and personal injury cases.

Continue reading " Experts Analyze Cause of Berkman Plaza Parking Garage Collapse that Killed One and Injured Twenty " »

Our lawyers who handle personal injury and car accident claims in the greater Jacksonville, Florida, area have seen far too many serious personal injuries which could have been avoided with the simple use of a seat belt.

In an attempt to help with this problem, the Florida Safety Belt Law has now gone into effect. Unlike before, police officers are now permitted to stop and ticket drivers solely because they are not wearing seat belts. Previously, police officers were only allowed to ticket a driver for not wearing a seat belt if they stopped that driver for another violation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the new bill will save 124 lives and prevent over 1,700 serious injuries every year in Florida.

Continue reading " Florida's Seat Belt Law Changed " »

Auto accident deaths in the State of Florida decreased each of the last three years. Last year, 2,983 persons died in car wrecks. In 2005, that number was 3,533.

Duval County had 120 traffic related deaths in 2008, down from 166 in 2007. Clay County and Nassau County also saw reductions in 2008; however, St. Johns County experienced an increase in vehicle accident deaths.

State and local officials attribute the decrease to increased enforcement and education regarding seatbelt usage, drunk driving and obeying traffic control devices.

Continue reading " Florida Fatal Car Accidents Decreased in 2008 - Jacksonville (Duval County) Followed Suit " »

A man was killed friday night after attempting to help a broken down car on the Fuller Warren Bridge in downtown Jacksonville. After determining that he could not get the vehicle operable, the man returned to his truck when he was struck by another vehicle crossing the bridge.

Because Jacksonville has so many bridges our Jacksonville car accident lawyers see such unfortunate auto accidents far too often. Car accidents causing wrongful death and serious personal injuries have occured on the Buckman Bridge, the Fuller Warren Bridge, the Dames Point Bridge, numerous small bridges on Hekscher Drive, the Atlantic Bridge over the intracoastal waterway, the J. Turner Butler Bridge over the Intraocastal waterway, the Matthews Bridge, and the Hart Bridge.

Cars breaking down on these bridges can have a very limited ability to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. In addition, unlike a normal roadway, there is no wide shoulder for a broken down motorist to move far away from traffic.

Continue reading " Man killed in Auto Accident on I-95 Bridge in Jacksonville " »

Unfortuanately, truck accidents involving pedestrians often prove fatal. Earlier this week, a pedestrian was struck by a logging truck and killed in Nassau County.

The pedestrian, a resident of Fernandina Beach, was on the side of Florida A1A near Sadler Road about 10:30 a.m. when he was struck by an empty logging truck.

The police beleive the pedestrian walked into the path of the rig and was struck by the rear trailer. It is currently unknown why he stepped into the truck's path.

Sometimes, pedestrians or drivers will fail to realize that a tractor-trailer is pulling an empty logging trailer. Unlike trailers that pull containers or that have a high sided box, an empty logging trailer is much harder to see.

As Jacksonville injury attorneys, we have also seen accidents where a tractor-trailer makes a right turn too tightly and the rear wheels of the trailer come onto the sidewalk. An unsuspecting pedestrian can easily be struck in such a scenario.

Continue reading " Fernandina Beach Pedestrian Dies in Logging Truck Accident " »

Throughout Jacksonville's waterways, the Coast Guard, the Florida Wildlife Commission, and the sheriffs for Clay County, Duval County, St. Johns County and Nassau County will be on the lookout for boating safety issues this weekend. The Fourth of July weekend presents a very busy time for boats on our local waterways which results in an increased risk for boating accidents and personal injuries.

Wearing a life jacket the entire time while boating is recommended. Just like a car accident, boating accidents come with very little warning. Since boats don't have seatbelts, an accident can easily throw a person into the water. With strong currents and the possibility of injury or unconsciousness from the accident, being thrown from a boat can easily cause drowning.

Unfortunately, some of the boaters will operate their vessels under the influence of alcohol. Operating a boat while drunk causes many of our worst boating accidents. Every year in Florida, and Jacksonville, we see significant injuries and death from boating accidents. Earlier this year 5 people were killed and many others seriously injured when a twenty-two foot boat carrying fourteen people crashed into a barge parked on the side of the intracoastal waterway in St. Johns county.

Continue reading " Jacksonville Area Officials Concerned About Boat Accidents over the Fourth of July Weekend " »