Rear-End Accident Turns Fatal for Motorcyclist
I’m sorry to say that the police are looking for witnesses to a fatal motorcycle accident that took place right here in Pembroke Pines. According to the Sun-Sentinel, motorcyclist Ricardo DeCastro of Miami was killed July 23 when he was rear-ended on Pines Boulevard by Larry Beltran of Miami Gardens. The article says Beltran rear-ended DeCastro at a light after following too closely, then continued through the intersection, hitting both DeCastro and his bike. If you have any information on the accident, you can report it to the Pembroke Pines Police Department at 954-431-2200.
To me, as a personal injury lawyer specializing in motorcycle accident lawsuits, the facts in the article don’t look very good for Beltran. If you’ve ever been in a rear-end accident, you probably know that insurance companies assume the driver in the rear is always at fault unless proven otherwise with some sort of authoritative documentation, like a police report. In this case, Beltran apparently kept going and hit the bike again, which won’t help. In fact, since the report says DeCastro was wearing a helmet, it could have been the deciding factor in the accident.
Normally, in motorcycle accident lawsuits, insurance companies for the other side try to make my client seem at fault by invoking tired stereotypes about reckless motorcycle gangsters. That’d be hard in this case, with DeCastro wearing his helmet -- even though it’s not required by law in Florida for most riders. By contrast, it could be a tough job to describe Beltran as an innocent victim if it’s true that he was tailgating and failed to stop right away.
Of course, we don’t have the full story, which could change everything. And in any case, my sympathies go out to DeCastro’s family, who are truly innocent victims no matter what the facts. But if you and your family have gone through a similar tragic motorcycle accident, you have every right to sue the careless driver over the bills and the suffering caused by your injuries or wrongful death. I encourage you to contact my firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, for a free consultation on your case.
