Jacksonville Injury Attorney Blog

Late last night, a teenage girl was killed in an auto accident in Starke. Starke is located in Bradford County, Florida, about thirty minutes southwest of Jacksonville.

Four people were in a pickup truck driviing near the intersection of State Road 200 and County Road 225. The driver of the truck lost control, the truck left the roadway and flipped multiple times.

Two of the four people in the truck were thrown from the vehicle as it flipped. Unfortunately, no one was wearing a seatbelt. Two other passengers received personal injuries and were taken to Shands Hospital in Starke.

One of the greatest dangers in not wearing a seatbelt occurs when a vehicle rolls over. The inertia of a human body in a spinning vehicle propels a person into the interior of the vehicle. If windows are down the person is easily ejected. The force can also propel a person through a closed window.

Severe personal injuries and death from a rollover collision are very common, especially when someone is thrown from the vehicle. When a person is thrown from a vehicle, they suffer injures from: striking the inside of the vehicle; being thrown from the vehicle; striking the ground, trees or other objects after being ejected; and being hit by the vehicle itself.

This is just too common. Seatbelts are required by the law for a good reason: they save lives. If a person suffers personal injuries or wrongful death in a car accidnet and was not wearing his or her seatbelt, Florida law provides that any right to recovery will be reduced to only those injuries the person would have received if he or she was wearing a seatbelt.

Continue reading " Another Example of Failure to Wear Seatbelts Resulting in Fatal Injuries in Weekend Crash in Starke, Florida " »

A multiple vehicle accident in Fruit Cove, just south of Jacksonville, Florida, sent three people to Shands Jacksonville Medical Center late last night. A man ran from the crash site into nearby woods and was arrested Friday morning.

Because the driver fled from the scene and hid in the woods, one must wonder if he was intoxicated. Unfortunately, if enough time passed before he was arrested, blood alcohol testing may not be worthwhile.

As Jacksonville auto accident lawyers, we notice that some of the worst drivers, especially drunk drivers, tend to be irresponsible across the board. Often this translates into such drivers having little or no bodily injury liabilty insurance.

Your best ally if such an auto accident occurs is to have significant uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage will provide you payment for medical expenses, lost wages, disability and pain and suffering for personal injuries caused by an uninsured driver.

Continue reading " Multiple Vehicle Crash in South Jacksonville Causes Injuries to Three " »

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an alert for the potential for personal injuries caused by certain foods - guacamole and salsa. Of course, both of these dishes are common in our restaurants in Jacksonville.

Guacamole and salsa have been shown to be linked to salmonella and E. Coli. The biggest problem with these food products come from freshly made dishes instead of processed items. Freshly made products usually do not contain preservatives and stringent production safeguards when being made.

Salmonella and E. Coli are two of the most common food-borne illnesses in the United States. In the last few years we have seen alerts from certain fresh vegetables including spinach and tomatoes. Such illnesses, which can cause personal injuries and wrongful death, can lead to a product liability or negligence case against the manufacturer of the product, the distributor of the product and the restaurant or grocery store selling the product.

Because it is often difficult for the consumer to prove how toxic bacteria or other substances got into food products, Florida law allows for the consumer to bring a "strict liability" defective product case, where all companies involved in the manufacturing, distribution and sale of the product may be liable if the the product was defective an unreasonably dangerous.

Continue reading " Food-borne Illnesses Continue to Cause Injuries " »

Interstate 95 runs from along the eastern coast of the United States and through Jacksonville to Miami. The 382 mile section of I-95 in Florida appears to be the most dangerous interstate in the U.S. according to statistics from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

From 2004 to 2998, there were 765 vehicle accident deaths on this portion of the interstate. During that period, there were 100 fatalities in the section of I-95 within the Jacksonville area counties of Nassau, Duval and St. Johns. Jacksonville fared better than nearby Volusia and Brevard counties, which both had a much higher number of deaths than Jacksonville. South Florida also a higher number of fatalities.

According to an FDOT spokesman, the number of fatal auto accidents in Jacksonville may be lower than other areas because of the numerous improvements to the roadway in the Jacksonville area including: imrovements to the Fuller Warren Bridge; widening the interstate to 6 lanes in areas; and the construction of 9A.

Continue reading " The Florida Section of I-95 May Be the Country's Most Dangerous Highway " »