Jacksonville Injury Attorney Blog

Last week, there was an accident in Nassau County, near Callahan, Florida, when a driver attempted to turn left on 301 and struck a car heading in the opposite direction. The car accident left one man dead and another seriously injured.

In our practice, left turn / failure to yeild collisions are the second most common auto accidents we handle. Only rear end collisions are more common.

Often left turns are not controlled by traffic lights which means the turning car must yield to oncoming traffic. The result of such accidents in often catastrophic with severe personal injuries or death as the inpact to the oncoming driver is essentially head on with extreme deceleration. As the car stops on impact, passengers are thrown forward causing head injuries, neck injuries, brain injury and broken bones.

Continue reading " Left Turn Car Accidents Cause Some of the Worst Injuries " »

An 8-year-old boy was injured Saturday afternoon after the family dog attacked him in St. Augustine located in St. Johns County, Florida. The dog was a pit bull who, at first, bit the boy. The dog then attacked a second time and adults had great difficulty getting the dog to let go of him. The boy was rushed to the hospital with injuries from the dog bite.

It is such a shame that dog attacks make the news about once a month in the Jacksonville area alone. Pit bulls seem to make gentle loving pets; however, even the sweetest of pit bulls seem to have an agressive side that can surprise its owners. The harm is often permanent and sometimes fatal.

In Florida, dog owners are responsible for whatever personal injury is caused by a dog. This is true even if the dog has never previously shown signs of aggression.

Just two weeks ago, our firm was retained to recover for very serious injuries from a dog attack. Whether there is any insurance coverage for the attack is uncertain. Sometimes homeowner's insurance covers for such attacks; however, more and more insurers are specifically excluding dog injuries from coverage.

Continue reading " St. Augustine Boy Attacked by Family Pit Bull " »

A young mother of two was killed on Jacksonville's Southside when she was involved in a car accident caused by a man driving a stolen a car who was fleeing from police. The family of the young woman has served the City of Jacksonville with a notice that they intend to sue for negligence in intitiating and continuing the chase despite the unsafe manner in which the suspect was driving. The suspect was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder, carjacking and aggravated fleeing.

In order to bring a negligence claim against any division of the State of Florida, a person must serve the government with a notice of the intent to file suit. Suit cannot be initiated prior to 180 days after serving such a notice.

The Florida Supreme Court held in 1992 that a state entity can be sued for personal injury or wrongful death caused by high speed pursuits. In that case, two women were killed when their vehicle was struck by the vehicle of a suspect travelling approximately 90 miles per hour while being chased by a caravan of police. The chase lasted more than 25 miles and included passage through more than 30 intersections. The suspect's original offense? Running a red light.

Continue reading " Family of Woman Killed in High Speed Chase Serves Notice of Intent to Sue the City of Jacksonville " »

A Ford Expedition carrying nine people lost control, veered off of I-95 and overturned yesterday after the SUV experienced a tire blow out. Four adults and one teenager died in the Flagler County accident. Flagler County is two counties south of Jacksonville's Duval County.

Two of the nine occupants were wearing seatbelts and several of the passengers were ejected from the vehicle during the crash. In addition to the adults and teenager who perished in this accident, four children suffered personal injuries.

It is unknown if this tragic single car accident resulted from a product defect with the vehicle's tires, or if the tire was simply worn beyond its safe lifespan. With tire blowout accidents, it is critical that all evidence is sucured and maintained, including the vehicle, the tire, the wheel and any parts of tread that can be found. All of this evidence must be examined by one or more expert witnesses to determine the cause of the vehicle's crash.

Some years back, there were a number of product liability lawsuits against Ford Motor Company and Firestone Tires for similar accidents with blow-outs. In such claims, the plaintiffs alleged personal injuries and wrongful deaths occured because of manufacturing or design defects in which it was alleged that the Ford SUVs were susceptible to rolling over when Firestone Tires blew out.

Continue reading " Single Vehicle Accident in Flagler County Kills Five and Injures Four " »

Early this morning, one car was trying to pass another on Heckscher Drive on a curve just east of Blount Island and struck a pickup truck. The reason for the driver trying to pass on a curve is unknown.

As a result of this car accident, one person is in critical condition and was taken by helicopter to Shands Jacksonville Medical Center. Two others suffered personal injuries and were taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Heckscher Drive is located in east Jacksonville, just north of the St. John's river. Because it has a high rate of speed (55 miles per hour) with one lane in each direction and no divider, it is the scene of many fatal auto accidents in Jacksonville. In addition, the road has numerous curves and many residences with driveways that connect directly to Heckscher, causing a lot of sudden braking as cars enter and exit the roadway. Widening Heckscher would be especially difficult becuase it has numerous bridges spanning creeks inlets and the intracoastal waterway.

Continue reading " Head on Collision on Jacksonville's Heckscher Drive Sends Three to Hospitals " »