Car Accident

One teenager was killed and five others seriously injured after an car accident on I-95 in Brevard County last week. The crash happened in Melbourne near the Pineda Causeway, and the van was carrying six teens who were traveling back home after winning a basketball tournament. The van blew a tire, hit another car and turned over several times. Brandon Fritz, 15, a student at Eau Gallie High School, was ejected from the vehicle and killed. Read the rest »

The investigation continues into a pileup that has killed ten people and injured several others. The crashes occurred on a stretch of I-75 near Gainesville, FL late Saturday, January 28 and early Sunday, the 29th. It has been reported that wreckage was strewn along the road for about a mile, and the highway was closed for hours. One survivor said that the scene looked “like the end of the world.”

It appears that a patch of fog in addition to smoke from a 62-acre fire that started Saturday in Paynes Prairie, a wildlife area near the highway just south of Gainesville, resulted in extremely low visibility for drivers. A spokeswoman for the Florida Forest Service said that it was unknown how the fire started. Sadie Darnell, Alachua County Sheriff, reported that the first deputies to arrive on the scene were only able to see a few inches in front of their faces due to the smoke, fog and darkness. Rescuers could only listen for the screams of victims. At least 12 passenger cars and seven big rigs collided in both the northbound and southbound lanes of I-75. People with injuries went to Shands Hospital, and authorities hope to release the names of the victims Monday.

If you’ve been injured in an auto accident, it’s important to contact a skilled personal injury lawyer who can help you build a case and establish the at-fault party in the accident. Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham has been helping injured people since 1977, and he can help you get the compensation you need to cover medical bills and time away from work as well as other expenses. Call 888-425-2004 or 407-425-2000 today to schedule your free consultation.

A website recently ranked the most dangerous highways in the United States and found that Interstate 95 and Interstate 4 ranked 1 and 3, respectively, as having the worst rates of deadly auto accidents. The Daily Beast may not sound like a credible source for information, but the site used information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for ranking. The site used five years of NHTSA data to determine their rankings, and they found that the 382 miles of I-95 running the length of our state was the most deadly for drivers and passengers.
Read the rest »

Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham assists auto accident victims in his law offices every day and sees first-hand what can happen when drivers and passengers of all ages fail to buckle up. Any loss of life or serious injury in an auto accident is tragic, but when the life of a teenager is lost or forever changed by failing to wear a seat belt, he can only wonder what would have happened if only the victim had used a seat belt.
Read the rest »

How about a black box for your car?

U.S. government officials are now looking at proposing mandatory electronic monitoring systems for cars that are similar to the “black box” tools used in aircraft in order to know more about what happens in a car accident. The devices would record information like braking and other events from 5 to 30 seconds before a crash.
Read the rest »

A recent article published in the Gainesville Sun reports that two Santa Fe College students were killed in a car accident early in the morning of September 27, 2009 when they rolled their vehicle while fleeing from a Marion County Sheriff’s deputy. Accident investigators say the single-car accident occurred at the intersection of County Road 329 west of NE 30th Court in North Marion County. The 18-year-old driver of a black 1999 Chevrolet Camaro and his 18-year-old passenger were reportedly traveling eastbound on CR 329 at a very high rate of speed around 1 a.m.

Read the rest »

A WBBH Channel 2 report describes a car accident that claimed the lives of two nuns from Saint Andrew Catholic Church in Cape Coral. According to law enforcement officials investigating the accident, it occurred sometime on the afternoon of September 27, 2009 near US 41 and Gran Via Trail. Police say that a 60-year-old North Fort Myers man who attempted to make a left turn onto Gran Via Trail against a red light caused the auto accident.

In turning against the light, the man turned his Chevrolet Tahoe into the path of three nuns in a Toyota Prius who were southbound on US 41 reportedly returning from a retreat. A spokesperson for the Florida Highway Patrol said, “The white car, it appears that they never did brake, so it was a direct impact, it was a lot of trauma involved.”

Read the rest »