Auto Accident | Orlando Accident & Injury Blog - Part 74
Orlando Personal Injury Attorney Warns Floridians About Auto Accident Fraud
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.
Dont Delay Seeking Medical Treatment After an Auto Accident
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:
Orlando Personal Injury Lawyer Supports Raising Driving Age in Florid
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.
Bus Company in Fatal Crash Often Cited for Falsifying Drivers Time Behind the Wheel
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.
New Distracted Driving Laws Can Make Florida Roads Safer
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.
Fatal I-4 Car Crash Illustrates Importance of Seat Belt Use
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.
Wrong-Way Driver on State Road 417 Strikes Van, Injuring Four Children, Two Adults
A driver traveling in the wrong direction on State Road 417 in Seminole County died recently when he struck a van, injuring the two adults and four children inside. According to reports from the Florida Highway Patrol, the fatal crash occurred around 1:15 a.m. near the intersection with State Road 434. Troopers say the report is still under investigation, and they did not yet know why the 22-year-old DeLand man was traveling northbound in the southbound lane or whether alcohol was a contributing factor in the crash.
Your Next Car May Be Able to Warn About Potential Collisions
The futuristic cars in movies that are able to drive themselves, detect other vehicles around them, maintain regular intervals for safety and prevent crashes got closer to reality recently. Ford Motor Company announced that it has developed a fleet of prototype cars with technology that allows vehicles to “talk” to each other. Mike Shulman, one of Ford’s lead designers on the project, briefly explained how the system works by saying, “Basically your car would send out, ten times a second, a little wireless message that says here’s my position, here’s my speed, here’s my brake status…”
Man Killed in Wrong Way Accident
The Orlando Sentinel reports that a man died when attempting to avoid a head-on collision with a truck driving the wrong way. The 40-year-old DeLand victim was driving his 1998 Nissan SUV westbound on State Road 44 when he saw a Ford truck coming toward him on the wrong side of the curved road. Florida Highway Patrol officials say that the truck was traveling east in the westbound lanes, and when the vehicles entered the curve, the Nissan’s driver swerved to avoid hitting the truck head-on.
Two Injured when Car Slams into Restaurant
The Orlando Sentinel reports a car hit the exterior of the Golden Corral restaurant in Altamonte Springs on State Road 434 south of State Road 436 with sufficient force to knock down one of the restaurant’s walls, injuring a husband and wife having lunch.
James O. Cunningham
Mr. Cunningham is an excellent and knowledgeable attorney.