Auto Accident

An accident on the afternoon of May 6 claimed the life of one woman and closed the bridge over the St. Johns River between Sanford and Geneva, according to accident investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol. Officers said the accident involved three vehicles and happened on State Road 46 around 1:30 p.m. when the 39-year-old victim drove across the centerline and struck an oncoming tow truck. Troopers say the victim was driving her 2000 Dodge Caravan eastbound across the bridge on S.R. 46 when she crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic and sideswiped the westbound tow truck.
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Recently, Orange Circuit Judge Frederick Lauten made a decision in a case regarding class-action status for drivers caught on camera while running red lights in Orlando. He ruled against drivers’ requests and potentially saved the city from having to refund more than $4 million in fines.

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Ford Motor Company expanded a recall involving their F-150 trucks recently, following recommendations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Ford’s F-150 pickup truck has been the best-selling vehicle in North America for the last 34 years, but recent airbag problems have prompted the automaker to expand the original recall. Initially, Ford recalled 144,000 F-150s, but the recall now affects more than 1.32 million trucks manufactured between 2004 and 2006 for problems involving accidental airbag deployment.
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Even though Americans are driving more than ever, recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates indicate that fewer people died in auto accidents in 2010 than any year since 1949. A total of 32,788 people died in car crashes last year. This number is down three percent from 2009, and it’s the lowest number in decades. Barbara Harsha, Executive Director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, cited several contributing factors that led to the near-record low. She said advances in vehicle design, safety and passenger restraint and air bags as well as other factors such as rumble strips on highways and better pavement marking all combined to make driving safer.
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Florida law enforcement agencies are working with government agencies and consumer advocate groups to raise awareness about a serious and growing problem in our state. Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham would like his readers to know that Florida drivers are paying up to $100 more each year for insurance coverage due to criminal groups that stage auto accidents to defraud insurance companies. That number is expected to increase in the coming months and years.
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In more than three decades as an Orlando personal injury attorney, James O. Cunningham has seen this scenario many times. Drivers and passengers refusing medical treatment after an auto accident, even seemingly minor accidents, discover in the days and weeks following the accident that they have suffered significant injuries that require extensive medical treatment. This happens more often than you might think and is due to several reasons including the following:
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Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham is following developments in a bill that would cause our state’s youngest and least experienced drivers to wait until they turn 17 to receive a driver’s license. State Representative Irving Slosbert of Boca Raton (D) is sponsoring a bill currently working through committees that would raise the legal driving age to 17 in the hope that another year of experience and maturity will make Florida streets and highways safer. However, at least one Florida driving instructor is skeptical of the proposed law. Tony DiStefano has 15 years of experience teaching young drivers at Safer Dixie Driving School in Largo. He says that education, not age, should be the focus to make streets and highways safer.
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The bus company that owned the bus involved in a horrible accident in New York has repeatedly failed to follow state guidelines put in place to ensure their drivers get enough rest. Connecticut state inspection records indicate that the drivers working for World Wide Travel routinely failed to keep their logbooks updated. This includes the driver behind the wheel when his bus crashed recently, killing 15 people and injuring many more. The bus was returning to Manhattan from a casino trip when the deadly crash occurred, and crash investigators are looking into whether or not the driver fell asleep while driving. Investigators do know that the bus driver involved in the crash had failed to update his logbook for several days leading up to the accident.
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Even though the number of Florida auto accidents dropped in 2010, it would be beneficial for our state to enact tougher legislation and pass a law that makes texting while driving illegal. Other states across the country have passed such laws in recent years, and our lawmakers should get serious about protecting people from distracted drivers. In 2010, 2,430 people died in Florida auto accidents. This was the lowest number of people killed since 1978, but Florida remains one of the most dangerous states in the country for auto accidents every year behind only California and Texas.
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A rollover crash that claimed the life of a Boone High School student and her boyfriend and injured four other teens recently illustrated the importance of seat belt use for all drivers and passengers. Orlando auto injury lawyer James O. Cunningham has been helping auto accident victims since 1977 and has seen many serious injuries and deaths occur that were preventable if the victims had been wearing seat belts.
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