James O. Cunningham 
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Camp Lejeune LawsuitsPersonal Injury | Orlando Accident & Injury Blog - Part 12
An Orlando Personal Injury Attorney’s Guide to Florida Auto Accidents
Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham has seen Orange County and the rest of our state change in many ways since he began practicing law in 1977. Some changes have been for the better, and others have been decidedly for the worse. Our state’s auto accident statistics would definitely fall in the latter category. To illustrate the scope of Florida’s auto accident problems, consider the following 2010 auto accident statistics:
Disbarred Kissimmee Lawyer Sentenced in Elder Fraud Case
Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham is closely following developments in an elder abuse case that casts all legal professionals in a bad light. A disbarred Kissimmee lawyer was recently sentenced to two years in prison for defrauding elderly people out of their life’s savings. Linda Vasquez, who is also known as Linda Littlefield, pleaded no contest last spring to charges that she created a scheme that defrauded senior citizens out of $20,000 or more. The State of Florida dropped 11 counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information in the case, but the 40-year-old ex-lawyer was ordered to pay an undisclosed amount of restitution to her victims.
Florida Victims Harmed By Tainted Water Reach Settlement
Nearly 40 former factory workers who have developed cancers and other serious illnesses from drinking and washing with tainted drinking water have settled a multimillion-dollar five-year legal battle against Siemens Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. The victims claimed that the companies negligently handled toxins that leaked into nearby drinking water sources that eventually caused a variety of cancers and other life-threatening illnesses. Gladys Elder, a 32-year employee at the Lake Mary plant that makes telecommunications equipment was pleased that the long legal battle with the corporations was at an end.
Orlando Teen Hospitalized After Industrial Bakery Accident
A young man was hospitalized with undisclosed injuries recently after getting his hand caught in a machine at an Orlando bakery. Details about the workplace accident are still sketchy, but police say the young man was working at around 12:30 a. m. one recent morning when his hand got caught in the auger of a machine at Aladdin Food and Bakery at 655 S. Golden Rod Road in the Rio Plaza. Firefighters arrived shortly after the accident and worked for around an hour to free the young man’s hand from the machine. They say he was preparing a large batch of bread dough when his hand got caught in the auger. Although they did not disclose the extent of the victim’s injuries, firefighters said that the teen’s fingers were intact when they extracted his hand from the machine. They said that after they freed him from the machine, they wrapped his injured hand in gauze and transported him to Arnold Palmer Hospital for treatment.
Florida Hazing Incident Leads to Serious Injuries and Three Arrests
A hazing incident at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University has led to serious injuries for one freshman and the arrests of three people who broke the victim’s leg and caused other injuries. Tallahassee Police arrested three young men aged 19, 22 and 23 for felony battery for injuring the 18-year-old member of the school’s “Marching 100” band. In addition to a broken femur, the victim suffered blood clots and bruised bones in her legs. The victim said she suffered the beatings on October 31 and November 1 while the Marching 100 band was in Orlando to perform at halftime of the Florida Classic football game. Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham is closely following developments in this case, as it is distressingly similar to a similar hazing incident that claimed the life of a 26-year-old FAMU drum major who collapsed and died in October. Police suspect that hazing led to this victim’s death.
Tampa Florida Worker Injured at Pepsi Plant
The investigation into the workplace accident is still underway, but authorities say that a worker got his leg caught in a conveyor at a Pepsi-Cola plant in Tampa and was critically injured. Employees at the plant called 911 around 11:30 a.m. on August 28 and told the operator that the man’s leg had been caught in a conveyor rail system at the plant. Accident investigators say the man had been cleaning the equipment when co-workers heard him start screaming. The machinery crushed his leg, and workers said it took Tampa Fire Rescue’s heavy equipment team nearly 90 minutes to free the man so he could be taken to Tampa General Hospital.
Longwood Red Light Cameras Canceled in Tight Voting
Just when it seemed that Longwood would join other Central Florida cities in doing the sensible thing and installing red light cameras to discourage drivers from running red lights, a panel of city commissioners voted against the ordinance. Longwood had planned to install three red light cameras at its busiest intersection and another at a different high-volume intersection. The commissioners voted down the red light camera ordinance by a vote of three to two, halting plans for three cameras at the intersection of U.S. Highway 17-92 and State Road 434 and a fourth at S.R. 434 and North Ronald Reagan Boulevard.
Kissimmee Planning Ten Red light Cameras
In a move fully endorsed by Orlando personal injury attorneys and others throughout the area, Kissimmee has announced that the city will install red light cameras at ten of its busiest intersections this summer. The city will be the first city in Osceola County to install the life-saving cameras, and many hope that other Central Florida cities will also have red light cameras installed soon. The city plans to have the cameras in place and issuing tickets to red light runners by mid-August. The move follows other cities in Central Florida that have taken this step to protect everyone at busy intersections. Nearby Longwood is planning to install four cameras soon, Winter Park currently has two in place and Apopka has six. Orlando leads the way with 17 red light cameras located at some of the region’s busiest and most dangerous intersections.
Study Finds One in Four Florida Drivers Is Uninsured
Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham was shocked to read recently that one in four drivers in our state is operating a vehicle without the required minimum amount of insurance coverage. According to a report issued recently by the non-profit Insurance Research Council, Florida ranks 50 percent above the national average for uninsured drivers, which is one uninsured driver out of every six. Massachusetts is lowest overall in the U.S. with one in every 100 drivers operating a vehicle without insurance. Mr. Cunningham was also shocked to learn that our state is not the worst for uninsured drivers. Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi and New Mexico average more than one in four uninsured drivers, but that is little comfort to anyone in Florida involved in an accident caused by an uninsured driver.
Sunbather’s Arm and Hand Run Over By Beach Patrol Officer
A Volusia Beach Patrol officer making a U-turn while on patrol recently ran over and injured a woman’s arm and hand. Florida Highway Patrol and Volusia officials investigating the incident say it happened on the morning of Friday, May 13. The victim, a 22-year-old Ohio woman who was visiting the area, initially refused an ambulance ride to the hospital, but later drove herself to Halifax Health Medical Center to receive treatment. The Beach Patrol officer was ticketed for careless driving.
Mr. Cunningham is an excellent and knowledgeable attorney.