The video is at once tragic and infuriating.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol have launched an investigation into the collision, which occurred on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Coconut Palm Drive. The 22-year-old driver had been traveling westbound, while the other vehicle was traveling eastbound. For reasons authorities say are not entirely clear, the 22-year-old driver crossed over the median and slammed head-on into the other vehicle, a minivan carrying a mother and four children.The minivan caught fire upon impact. 

The VW Golf, meanwhile, spun around and then slammed into another car, a Toyota Scion. Debris from that collision then struck another vehicle, a BMW 3-series.

At the scene of the car accident, the 39-year-old mother was pronounced dead, as was the 22-year-old driver and his 19-year-old girlfriend. The 9- and 10-year-old were transported to a local hospital, where they too died. The fourth- and fifth-graders attended Mango Elementary School. Their other two passengers, 15 and 18, were transported to the same hospital in critical condition. A family member said the mother was driving home with her three children and a relative visiting from Columbia.

A friend of the younger driver later told news reporters that he and his friends had been go-cart racing just before the crash.

There is no evidence at this point that alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash. Our Miami car accident attorneys recognize, based on what we know so far of this case, that there were two factors we see in so many traffic injury cases:

• Speed
• Distraction

Let’s start with speed, which not only affects the severity of a crash, but also increases the risk of being involved in a crash in the first place. A 2006 study published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention indicates the risk of a crash increases sharply with an increase in speed, and this is true on both major and minor roads. Without exception, vehicles that moved much faster than other traffic had a much higher crash rate.

Combine that with distraction, and the odds are exponentially higher. The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that every year, 3,200 are killed and another 431,000 are seriously injured in car accidents involving drivers who are distracted. In this case, we have a driver who may not personally have been holding an electronic device, but we do know that interaction with passengers can be a huge source of distraction – particularly for younger drivers. That’s why so many graduated driver’s license laws prohibit younger drivers from transporting beyond a certain number of underage passengers.

This isn’t the first time this SnapChat feature has come under fire either. In Georgia, a 19-year-old driver who recorded herself on the app reportedly traveling 107 mph and soon after caused a collision that resulted in the other driver suffering serious brain injuries. The teen was arrested, while the other driver sued SnapChat, alleging the technology company encouraged users by to engage with the devices while driving by doling out “points” for recording their speed.

This kind of evidence can be used in subsequent civil cases to establish fault on the part of a driver, which is one important step toward accountability and recovery of damages.

If you have been a victim of a traffic accident, call Chalik & Chalik at (954) 476-1000 or 1 (800) 873-9040.

Additional Resources:

115.6 MPH Snap posted by girlfriend of driver that caused fatal crash that killed 5 people, Oct. 26, 2016, By Michael Paluska, ABC Action News

More Blog Entries:

Quinn v. CP Franchising – Coming and Going Rule in Workers’ Compensation Claims, Oct. 26, 2016, Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog

A 26-year-old man was driving a Subaru Outback eastbound on the expressway when he apparently lost control of the vehicle and crossed the grassy median. The Outback went airborne and struck two westbound vehicles, a BMW and a Honda. the driver of the Honda was also pronounced dead at the scene. An 81-year-old passenger in the BMW died at the hospital; his wife remains in critical condition.

The driver of the Outback and a passenger, his sister, were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver’s 10-year-old son was airlifted to a nearby hospital in critical condition, but he could not be saved. His three-year-old niece was injured, but survived the crash. The family members were on their way to the Splish Splash water park for the child’s 10th birthday party.

Multiple car crashes happened every day, leading to serious injuries and deaths. One of the most common causes is the result of speeding. Seriously injured victims or family members of lost loved ones may have the right to compensation. It is important to consult an experienced auto accident attorney.

Worrying about finances is probably one of the last things on a plaintiff’s mind. However, just because you lost a loved one does not mean that the bills stop coming. Unfortunately, the mortgage will still be due, the car payments need to be made and food must be put on the table. For those struggling to make ends meet, Litigation Funding Corporation is ready to help with pre- settlement litigation funding.

After such a traumatic event, it can be a great relief to attain financial assistance to cover ongoing bills and expenses. Litigation funding is a non-recourse cash advance that can cover the loss of wages, mounting medical bills, funeral and burial expenses, and other out of pocket expenses as a result of the accident.

Pre-settlement litigation funding is unlike a traditional bank loan in which you must pay back the lender, in monthly payments, regardless of whether or not you win your case. The process begins with a one-page funding application and basic case documentation. You can also call Litigation Funding for a free, no obligation consultation. Approval is based on case strength, not collateral, credit checks or employment verification. For those approved for lawsuit funding, cash can be available within 24 – 48 hours. There is no need to worry about monthly payments because we are only paid once the case settles. If the case is lost, the repayment is completely waived. If you have lost a loved one in an auto accident and are undergoing serious financial challenges while waiting for your settlement, contact Litigation Funding Corporation today.

According to CBS Miami, the boy was just 16 and was driving with a learner’s permit. Florida’s graduated driver’s license program, which means that in order to legally operate a vehicle, he had to be seated next to a 21-year-old licensed driver. However, his two passengers were also 16-years-old and were also fellow students at Southwest Senior High School. Neighbors said the impact of the collision sounded like, “a bomb.” The teen driver’s car plowed into a BMW, driven by a mother and her 4-year-old daughter. The mother and girl suffered serious injuries. They were transported to the hospital, as were the three teens in other other car.

The case underscores how perilous and vulnerable teen drivers are, especially in the early stages of driving and most especially when they drive with passengers who are also teens. AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that compared to having no passengers, teen drivers 16 and 17 who had just one passenger under the age of 21 were 44 percent more likely to be killed in a crash. Having two underage passengers doubled the risk of the teen driver being killed. Three or more underage passengers quadrupled the fatality risk. 

On the other hand, having at least one passenger over the age of 35 decreased the 16- and 17-year-old drivers’ risk of a fatal crash by 62 percent.

These are important statistics to consider ahead of summer, which tends to be associated with a higher instance of teen crashes.

Teens in general are more likely to be involved in a crash than other drivers. The AAA Foundation reported that just in 2013, nearly 3,000 people were killed and another 372,000 injured in crashes involving at least one teen driver.

We are fast approaching what is considered the “100 Deadliest Days” for teen drivers, which span from Memorial Day to Labor Day. During this time frame, an average of 220 teen drivers and passengers die in traffic accidents during the summer, which represents a 43 percent uptick compared to the other seasons.

The good news is that non-fatal injury collisions and fatal crashes involving teen drivers have fallen substantially over the course of two decades – both by more than 50 percent. Comparatively, injurious and fatal crashes involving adults fell too, but only by 25 percent. That means awareness matters. Parent involvement matters. Graduated driver’s license laws matter.

But this crash out of Miami shows how far we still have to go.

Recently, the Modesto Bee reported on the tragic case of an Oakdale, California student who survived a texting-and-driving teen auto accident in 2006. She wrote extensively about it for a senior project. But almost one year to the day of that collision, she died in another distracted driving accident. Police said she was reportedly arguing with a friend via text message.

Research has shown that teens are 12 times more likely to crash when they reach for a phone to check a text message and 16 times more likely when they actually respond to that text.

The NHTSA report teen drivers are the most likely to be distracted, and motor vehicle accidents are the No. 1 cause of teen deaths.

If you have been a victim of a traffic accident, call Chalik & Chalik at (954) 476-1000 or 1 (800) 873-9040.

Additional Resources:

Police: Teen Driver Runs Stop Sign, Causes Violent Crash, May 12, 2016, By Ted Scouten, CBS Miami

More Blog Entries:

Fort Lauderdale DUI Car Accident Proves Fatal for Two, May 2, 2016, Miami Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Automatic braking technology uses laser, radar or camera systems to detect an impending collision and apply the brakes automatically, preventing or at least lessening the severity of crashes.

Volvo, Volkswagen, Toyota, Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, General Motors, Ford, BMW and Audi will make these systems standard on all the car, SUV and truck models they sell. More than half of the new vehicles sold in the U.S. are sold by these companies.

The news was announced by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). IIHS is a research group funded by the insurance industry.

IIHS President Adrian Lund said that the systems have vast potential to reduce accidents, because most collisions are caused by human error. Lund said that automatic braking systems are always on alert, never getting distracted or tired.

Automatic braking technology is most effective at preventing rear-end crashes, which are extremely common. According to government statistics, rear-end collisions caused 1,700 deaths and 500,000 injuries in 2012.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended in June that automatic braking be required as standard equipment on all new cars.

IIHS said that its research indicates automatic braking could reduce auto insurance injury claims by approximately 35 percent.

Beginning with the 2012 model year, new cars have been required to feature electronic stability control, a system that helps prevent skids.

According to a study by Boston Consulting Group, if a number of auto safety technologies that are currently available as options, such as automatic braking and lane-departure warnings, were made more widely available, nearly 10,000 traffic fatalities per year could be prevented, and $251 billion saved.

If you were injured in an automobile accident, contact Briskman Briskman & Greenberg for a free consultation. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

Nighttime driving can be dangerous simply because it is more difficult for drivers to see other cars, pedestrians and road obstacles. Headlights make night driving possible, but the glare from other drivers’ headlights is a problem of its own. Adaptive LED lighting is being developed to address these problems.

BMW’s Dynamic Light Spot system uses LEDs in place of fog lights. The system illuminates what it senses are a person’s feet, following a pedestrian crossing in front of the vehicle, and it can illuminate objects in the vehicle’s path before normal headlights would reach them. However, the system is outlawed in the United States. The LEDs bring the total lumens above the limit set by the 1968 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Audi’s Matrix LED system uses camera sensors to determine where light is needed on the road. It can prevent glare by sensing other vehicles and then directing headlight beams away from the other driver’s windshield. But not in the U.S., where old safety standards dictate that cars must have high and low beams, and nothing in between.

Paul Greenberg is a car accident lawyer in Chicago and car crash attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit http://www.briskmanandbriskman.com/.

If you or a person is involved in an accident or crash that results in injury or death to any person, including a passenger, the driver is required to:

• Stop immediately,
• Provide their name, address, registration information, and driver’s license, and
• Render reasonable assistance to the injured or deceased person by transporting, or making arrangements for the transportation, of the person to a medical professional for treatment if it is apparent that treatment is needed or the person requests assistance.

If the person injured or deceased is not in a condition to receive your information or be transported, you are required to report the accident or crash to the nearest law enforcement agency as quickly as possible and provide your name, address, registration information, and driver’s license.

There are various defenses to these crimes.  First, the prosecutor has to prove who was driving the car.  Often there are no witnesses to these accidents because they happen late at night or the driver never gets out of the vehicle and flees so no eyewitnesses get a good look at them.  In the Tampa case, the car was spotted in a parking garage so if the woman arrested does not make any statements admitting her involvement in the accident, the prosecutor may have a difficult time proving that she was driving at the time of the accident.

Another defense is whether the driver knew or reasonably should have known someone was injured or killed.  Many times we see cases in which the person thinks they hit a deer or other animal.  There was a recent case in Buffalo in which the driver was found not guilty because the BMW is now so well-built that a driver does not feel the impacts of certain accidents.

Finally, if a driver is  rendered physically incapacitated and unable to report the crash or accident, he or she is exempt from fulfilling the requirements of the leaving the scene of an accident statute.

This crime is one of the most serious under Florida law.  It is a Level 7 offense on the Scoresheet and Florida Sentencing Guidelines.  Because the crime of “leaving” the scene does not cause the death, a driver arrested for this crime will not receive the 120 Death points on the Scoresheet.  That means they will only score 56 points for the Level 7 felony offense which will equate to a minimum sentence of approximately 21 months Florida State Prison as a “guideline sentence” for the judge.

The driver arrested in this case is also a nurse so she may be subject to disciplinary action by the Board of Nursing and Department of Health.  She will need an experienced criminal lawyer to defend her in court.

If you have been arrested or the police want to talk to you about your possible involvement in a crime, talk to an experienced criminal defense attorney who knows the laws and will fight to protect you!

Call Thomas C. Grajek 863-838-5549  cell

As a trial lawyer, I need to be able to predict which jurors will treat my clients fairly and which ones will not. Our country is becoming more polarized.  There are fewer middle class jurors, more wealthy jurors, and many more poor jurors.  I have learned that when it comes to jurors, the wealthy are a breed apart.

Groundbreaking research by social psychologist, Paul Piff, has revealed that the rich, or more importantly, those who believe they are rich, are more likely to cheat and lie than those who believe they are poor.

Piff has conducted 30 experiments involving thousands of participants.  A recent PBS NewsHour interview of Piff focused on the results of Piff’s recent studies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuqGrz-Y_Lc

Piff’s studies resulted in these findings:

• Ninety percent of all drivers stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.  However, those who drive a luxury car, like a BMW, Porsche, or Mercedes, are three to four times more likely to break the law and refuse to yield to pedestrians than drivers of lower status cars;
• Wealthier study participants took two times as much candy from children as did poorer participants;
• In a contest to win a $50 cash prize, people making more than $150,000 to 200,000 per year were four times more likely to cheat than someone making under $50,000 per year.

In a surprising twist, Piff found that if you take a rich person and make him feel poor, he will become more compassionate and more giving.  If you take a poor person and make him feel rich, he will become more demanding and more greedy.

Jury psychologist, Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, wrote an article entitled “Watch Out for Scrooge” in which he analyzed recent studies.  In his article, Dr. Broda-Bahm has the following advice for trial lawyers:

• Those who believe they are wealthy tend to believe they achieved that station in life not because of luck, but rather, because they had some essence or attribute that the poor don’t have.  The danger for trial lawyers, many of whom make above-average salaries, is that they may believe that the members of the jury panel are “different” from them.
• Those who believe they are wealthy think that people basically get what they deserve.  They believe that wealthy people like themselves “earned” their good fortune and that poorer victims “had it coming”.  Those who hold such a world view tend to focus on what the victim could have done to prevent his injury.  Trial lawyers should be aware that this class attitude will likely influence the way a wealthy juror will react to the facts of a lawsuit.
• Those who believe they are wealthy behave differently when they are around people who are much wealthier than they are.  In other words, social class status is relative.  A wealthy juror might lack compassion for a poorer accident victim but might show a great deal of compassion for a victim who is much wealthier than the wealthy juror.

Dr.  Broda-Bahm concludes his article with a surprising observation: as a percentage of their incomes, the bottom 20 percent gives more than twice as much to charity than the top 20 percent gives. That’s a lesson about potential jurors that all of us who regularly represent poor people need to remember.

By Richard LaGarde

The accident scene in this case was a collection of torn and twisted metal, busted glass, torn off vehicle parts and incensed drivers. The man who caused the collision ran a red light at an intersection. Police determined later he had been going so fast, even if he had applied the brakes, the accident would have still happened.

A 2012 BMW and a Jeep Cherokee met in a clash of metal and screaming tires in the middle of the road. The Cherokee driver was incensed to the point of inarticulate rage and let police know the BMW driver went right through the red light at a high rate of speed. Other eyewitnesses saw the BMW driver weave all over the road.

It turned out that the driver of the BMW, and his passenger had both been drinking, and the driver did not have a license on him. Both car occupants refused to take a field sobriety test and the agitated, aggressive passenger was restrained to permit the police to conduct their investigation. Although the driver said he only had one Scotch with his lunch, he blew a blood alcohol level of .17 percent. Police charged him with running a red light, speeding and DWI, as they were instructing a tow truck driver to remove his car.

For those who have been involved in a car accident with a drunk driver, do not waste time trying to deal with insurance companies or the police. If you want the case resolved and need compensation to pay your medical bills and make up for lost wages, as a result of injuries, then speak to a competent and experienced Austin injury lawyer. Insurance companies only want a case settled cheaply and quickly, which is not in the best interests of an injured victim.

Lee, Gober and Reyna – If you need a personal injury lawyer or help with an auto accident, motorcycle accident, wrongful death, or burn injury case, contact Lee, Gober and Reyna by visiting http://www.rwleelaw.com or calling 512.478.8080

This accident involved a direct head-on between a BMW and a school bus. School bus collisions are always frightening for first responders and the kids, as many busses do not have seat belts, and the injuries can be significant. This wreck happened early in the morning when, for some unknown reason, the BMW crossed the center line and met the school bus in its designated lane.

Emergency crews had to medi-vac three of the car’s occupants to the nearest hospital, where two teens were admitted, and treated for life-threatening injuries. It appears the teenage female driver of the BMW was the only one still conscious after the wreck, and able to talk to medical personnel. She was not able to explain what happened to cause her to crash into the bus.

Police suspect the young driver may have been driving while distracted, and a full investigation will be undertaken to ascertain the reasons for the wreck. The school bus driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and the passengers on board the bus were deemed shaken up, but good to go.

There are many unanswered questions in this case, not the least of which is what the driver was doing just prior to the crash. While it may not seem fair to speculate that the four teens were likely not paying much attention to the road, it may be a reasonable assumption, given the popularity of cell phones, iPads and other e-devices that are used while the driver is supposed to be paying attention to the road.

Could it have been mechanical failure? It may have been, but that is a question that will be answered after the police are done examining the vehicle. In the meantime, two critically injured teens are struggling to recover in the hospital. How extensive their injuries are will dictate how long they may need care. If their injuries are catastrophic, they may need medical assistance for the rest of their lives. They will need to recover compensation in order to pay their bills.

While waiting for trial, the teens and their families must still pay their usual monthly obligations, such as the mortgage and car expenses. How will they pay all of their bills? Their answer may well be litigation funding, also referred to as pre-settlement funding. This is funding advanced to a qualified plaintiff while they are waiting for a resolution to their case. The plaintiff must have a lawyer working for them before they apply for a lawsuit loan.

A lawsuit cash advance is an emergency loan, and assists cash strapped victims to pay all of the expenses incurred as a result of their accident. Being unable to work means serious financial pressures for individuals, and families, while they wait for a settlement or for their case to go to court. Lawsuit funding may be the right thing for you. Their application and approval process is super fast and a lawsuit loan can be in your bank account in under 48 hours.

Daren Monroe writes for Litigation Funding Corp. To learn more about lawsuit funding and litigation funding, visit Litigationfundingcorp.com.