Jacksonville Injury Attorney Blog

Back on June 5, the last day of school, a fifteen year old was driving a Ford Explorer with eight other teens as passengers. As they traveled on I-295 near Pritchard Road in Jacksonville, Florida, a tire blew out and the vehicle flipped over.

All eight of the passengers were ejected from the vehicle. None of them were wearing seatbelts. Tragically, five of those ejected died. The driver was wearing his seatbelt and was not ejected and did not suffer serious personal injuries.

The driver has been charged with eight felony counts of driving without a license in a car crash where people were killed or suffered personal injuries. The mother of one of those killed asked the Judge to allow the driver to be released from jail because she did not blame him, instead she blamed the manufacturer of the blown tire.

Several years ago, there was a lot of news coverage about both tire defects and Ford Explorers resulting in rollover accidents. If the tire was defective, the parents of the injured or killed teens may bring a product liability case against the manufacturer. Such a case will focus on expert analysis of the remnants of the blown tire and efforts to explain what caused it to fail.

Cases such as this are complex and expensive. Expert fees will likely range in excess of $100,000.00. Just because a tire blew does not mean that it was defective. The tire may have been very old and need of replacement prior to the accident or it may have struck an object in the road causing it to separate or blow out.

Continue reading " Defect in Tire Blamed in Jacksonville Auto Crash that Killed Five " »

Several people were injured in a three car accident that happened in the 400 block of Third Street North in Jacksonville Beach yesterday night at 9:40. One who suffered personal injuries was taken by helicopter to Shands Jacksonville Medical Center.

Details of how the accident happened have not been made available. Although there are numerous bars in the area of the accident, it is unknown if alcohol played a factor.

Continue reading " Several Injured in Three Car Crash at Jacksonville Beach " »

The Florida Department of Corrections is investigating allegations that an inmate was beaten at the Union County Correctional Institution, located about one hour west of Jacksonville, Florida. According to the Department of Corrections, six corrections officers have been placed on leave and four nurses have been fired. The nurses were terminated for failing to report the inmate's injuries to authorities. The inmate had multiple personal injuries and is being treated at a hospital. He claims he was abused over a two-day period in August.

As Jacksonville injury attorneys, we have handled cases involving abuse at correctional institutions and by police, including assaults, civil rights violations and failure to provide appropriate medical care. Cases involving abuse at correctional institutes or detention facilities are often brought as civil rights cases in Federal Court. Such cases can be very complex and involve complicated procedural and constitutional issues.

Continue reading " Union County Corrections Officers Investigated About Allegations of an Inmate Being Beaten " »

Yesterday, at 1:30 a.m., a man driving near the 312 bridge in St. Augustine, Florida, died after he lost control of his pickup truck causing it to roll over repeatedly. The man, only 18 years old, was not wearing his seatbelt and was thrown from the truck.

Unfortunately, rollover accidents almost always cause the ejection of vehicle occupants that are not seatbelted. Being thrown from a vehicle can cause severe personal injury or death. Such injuries occur from striking the inside of the vehicle, being thrown through a window, by the vehicle landing on the person, or by striking the ground.

Wearing a seatbelt is the law in Florida, and for good reason. As Jacksonville accident lawyers, we often see situations where a rollover occurs with seatbelted passengers surviving the accident while those not seatbelted are ejected and either seriously injured or killed.

Continue reading " St. Augustine Man Killed in Single Vehicle Crash " »

The mother of a Jacksonville woman filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her landlord alleging that the landlord's failure to provide adequate security lead to her death. According to the suit, the woman's back door was broken and she repeatedly asked the landlord to repair it. In September of 2007, two men kicked in the door and one of the men shot the woman.

A landlord has a legal obligation to provide a secure home with properly functioning doors and locks. According to the mother, her daughter had complained many times about the broken door. The defense of the case is focused on the notion that the intruders were targeting the woman and that no reasonable degree of security would have prevented them from entering the house.

These types of cases are commonly referred to as "premises liability" cases. Premises liability cases are founded on negligence, meaning that the claimant must prove that the landlord did something wrong. In other words, a landlord is not responsible to pay damages for personal injury resulting from a crime or accident just because it happened on the landlord's property.

Continue reading " Family of Jacksonville Woman Files Suit Against Landlord for Her Death " »

A man travelling west on Interstate 10 west of Glen St. Mary, Florida (about 30 minutes west of Jacksonville), was killed when his pickup truck crossed the median and collided with a tractor trailer traveling eastbound on I-10.

The force of the collision knocked the pickup truck back into the mediation. The tractor trailer jack-knifed and crashed into another car eastbound car on I-10. Afterwards, the cab of the tractor trailer caught on fire. No one else suffered any personal injuries.

Continue reading " Man Killed When he Strikes Tractor Trailer with His Pickup Truck West of Jacksonville " »

A three vehicle accident occurred last night in Jacksonville. An SUV struck the fuel tank of a tractor trailer on U.S. 1 as the SUV was attempting to merge onto U.S. 1 off of I-295. The semi-truck burst into flames, struck another vehicle, struck a concrete barrrier, overturned, slid down an embankment and landed in a pond.

Unbeleivably, the driver of the truck was taken to Shands Jacksonville without serious injuries. The driver of the vehicle struck by the truck suffered non-life threatening personal injuries and was also taken to Shands Jacksonville. All three drivers were wearing seatbelts.

Given the severity of this vehicle crash, it seems that the use of seatbelts may have prevented a tragic result. Seatbelt use in Florida is not only required by law, but now drivers can be stopped by authorities for not wearing a seatbelt. Previously, drivers could only be written a citiation for failing to wear a seatbelt if they were pulled over for another violation.

Continue reading " Three Vehicle Accident in Jacksonville Causes Tractor Trailer to Burst Into Flames and Roll Into a Pond " »

A woman from Hilliard died Thursday in a single vehicle accident. She was driving on County Road 108 in Nassau County when she swerved to the right shoulder of the road. She was driving a Ford Explorer. After leaving the roadway she crossed over a culvert and the SUV overturned. It is unknown why she left the roadway. It had been raining. The driver was taken to Shands Jacksonville where she was pronounced dead.

The amount of rain we have been having in the Jacksonville area has made driving more dangerous. As Jacksonville personal injury lawyers, we see many auto accidents that resulted, in part, from rain. Heavy rain causes driving difficulties including: decreased visibility; increased braking distances; slick roads; hyrdoplaning; traffic jams; and flooded roadways. Drivers should take additional precuations when it is raining including making sure their windsheild wipers are in good shape, driving slower, and using headlights.

Continue reading " Hilliard Woman Dies in Nassau County Accident " »

The Florida Department of Health reports that slip and fall and trip accidents are a main cause of personal injury and death for elderly residents. In 2007, approximately 53,000 Florida residents over the age of 64 required medical treatment or a hospitalization following a fall while almost 1,700 Florida residents died as a result of a fall.

Because slip and fall accidents cause so many Florida personal injuries, it is important that property and business owners take the reasonable, simple steps to reduce these accidents. Handrails on steps and staircases are essential and often required by local building codes. Securing rugs and carpeting can also help prevent falls as can good lighting and no-slip treads on floor or laminate surfaces. Further, for the business owner it may be considered negligence to not have a system in place to check and correct or warn for trip hazards.

Continue reading " Slip and Fall and Trips are a Main Cause of Death and Injury to Florida's Elderly " »

A motorcycle and a bicycle collided this morning in Middleburg, Florida, leaving one person dead and one injured. The collision took place at approximately 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Blanding Boulevard and Kingfisher Boulevard according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office. One of the victims was lifeflighted to a Jacksonville Hospital. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating this motorcycle accident.

Here in Jacksonville and the surrounding areas, many forms of transportation share the same roadways: cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, runners, mopeds, farm equipment,and ATVs, to name a few. As Jacksonville injury lawyers, we see that accidents between different types of transportation are often catastrophic as one person is travelling via a much smaller and lighter object. For example, pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists almost always suffer serious personal injury or death as a result of accidents with vehicles.

When driving a vehicle, it pays to be especially careful to check blind spots thoroughly and to be especially mindful of the presence of pedestrians and bicyclists. Finally, when walking, jogging, or riding a bicycle, you should not let your "defensive driving" guard down. Being on the lookout for drivers who may not be paying proper attention could safe your life.

Continue reading " Clay County Motorcycle - Bicycle Accident Leaves One Dead and One Injured " »

Three men were riding on an Artic Cat all terrain vehicle (ATV) on Sunday in Northwest St. Johns County on a dirt road when the ATV overturned. One of the men was taken to Shands Jacksonville with critical injuries. One of the other two men was taken to Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine and the third was treated at the scene.

ATV rollover accidents are all too common. Unfortunately, such accidents often cause serious personal injuries and death. ATVs accelerate very quickly, turn sharply and have a high center of gravity. All riders of ATVs should wear helmets and make sure that the driver is experienced and safe.

Continue reading " Three St. Augustine Men Injured in St. Johns County ATV Accident " »

Recently, it became a primary violation in Florida for a driver to not wear a seatbelt. This means that a driver can be pulled over for that reason alone. Previously, a driver could only be cited for not wearing a seatbelt if he or she was stopped for another offense.

Since this change in the law, the number of tickets written in both Jacksonville and Northeast Florida has greatly increased. In Jacksonville, the number of tickets issued for failing to wear a seatbelt by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office went up 31% in July compared to June. In Northeast Florida, the Florida Highway Patrol wrote 60% more tickets in that same time frame.

As Jacksonville injury lawyers, we see many unfortunate accidents where people not wearing seatbelts suffered serious personal injuries in a car accident or truck accident. Often, we see collisions with multiple people involved where all of the occupants wearing seatbelts suffered little or no injury yet a person who was not seatbelted suffered a very serious injury or death. Our experience is that seatbelts truly do save lives.

Continue reading " Tickets for Not Wearing Seatbelts on the Rise in Jacksonville " »

A man settled his medical malpractice claim against the Jacksonville Naval Hospital after its employees failed to diagnose that he was suffering from viral encephalitis.

The man went to the Mayport clinic complaining of a severe headache and nausea. He was discharged without viral encephalitis being diagnosed. As a result, he had to have emergency surgery to remove part of his brain, leaving him with a brain injury. The medical negligence case settled for $950,000.00.

Continue reading " Jacksonville Man Settles Medical Malpractice Claim Against Navy Hospital " »

Yesterday, a woman and a young child suffered personal injuries when the car they were in was involved in a three vehicle collision. The woman and child were in a car that collided with a BMW. Their car then flipped and crashed into a Ford Explorer. All of this happened in a residential neighborhood in east Jacksonville.

Police were uncertain about what happened and are considering whether a crime took place. They are looking into whether the two drivers knew each other. Neighbors reported that drivers often speed in the area.

Continue reading " Woman and Child Injured in Three Car Crash in Jacksonville Neighborhood " »

A sailor from Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base died in a boating accident this weekend on the St. Marys River. The St. Mary's River forms the border between Florida and Georgia just north of Jacksonville.

The victim was with seven other people on a 20-foot recreational power boat when he fell off of the boat at about 4 p.m.
He was at the front of the vessel, which apparently had been traveling about 15-20 mph when he fell into the river. Unfortunately, he was not wearing a life preserver.

As Jacksonville boat accident lawyers, we see serious personal injury and wrongful death result far too often from boat accidents. Because it is easy to fall out of a boat or to be thrown from a boat if it strikes another object, it is imperative to wear a life preserver when boating. Even good swimmers should do so as a collision may render a person unable to swim either by injury or lack of consciousness.

Continue reading " Boating Accident on St. Mary's River at the Florida Georgia Border Claims Another Life " »

As the nation’s oldest city, St. Augustine, Florida, is a great place to visit for locals and tourists alike. However, the combination of centuries-old streets, car traffic, horse-carriages and tourist trains creates congestion that makes personal injury accidents all too common.

In July, a 10-year-old girl was ejected from a Ripley's Sightseeing Train that hydroplaned and hit a car during a downpour. Carriages are occasionally rammed by drivers who may not know the streets, are distracted or may be impaired. And early last month, a personal injury negligence case was settled from a 2002 vehicle accident in which a woman suffered serious neck and wrist injuries when a carriage that was changing lanes was struck in the side by a drunk driver.

Whether the victim is a Florida resident or visitor and whether the accident is caused by a car, carriage or tour vehicle, Florida’s personal injury laws permit the victim to recover money needed to pay medical bills, lost wages, and to compensate for pain and suffering. Therefore, its important that the advice of an experienced St. Augustine personal injury attorney is sought as soon as possible after an accident.

Continue reading " Injuries to St. Augustine Tourists are All Too Common " »