South Florida Injury Attorney Blog

A teenager helping his father work at a construction site was killed Jan. 11 when a trench unexpectedly collapsed around him, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. Danilo Riccardi Sr. was part of a construction crew installing concrete culverts at a church, where he brought his three sons, ages 12 to 14, to help out. When he needed water to mix cement, he sent the eldest, Danilo Riccardi Jr., to get some water. But when the younger Riccardi went to the eight-to-ten-foot trench to scoop up some standing water (there was no running water at the site), the walls of the trench collapsed and buried him in a quicksand-like mud. A large rescue crew dug the teenager out but was unable to revive him.

As a spokesman for the Charlotte County sheriff's office said in the article, this situation is a tragedy. My heart goes out to the Riccardi family. But as a South Florida construction accident attorney, I wonder what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation will conclude about the accident. OSHA rules do not apply to non-employees, but construction companies still must take reasonable care not to harm non-employees that visit construction sites. That includes employees of other contractors, passers-by and visitors like the three teenagers. Of course, everyone is still responsible for taking reasonable care around dangerous situations.

Falls are the most common fatal accident at construction sites nationwide, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor. (And construction work is consistently one of the deadliest job categories in the United States.) For that reason, OSHA safety rules require that employers provide fall protection (such as a guardrail or a net) in any situation with a potential fall of six feet or greater, as well as a fall of any height into dangerous equipment. There are many similar safety regulations addressing other hazards, and employers may also be required to train employees on good safety practices.

When employers fail to meet these basic legal duties, workers and others can be killed in a Florida construction accident. And when that happens, victims' families have the right to sue the construction companies responsible, unless workers' compensation payments are available. In a Florida wrongful death lawsuit, families can recover medical costs, funeral bills, lost income and other costs related to the accident, as well as compensation for the sudden and irrevocable loss of the loved one's care, companionship and love. If you have lost someone to carelessness and you are considering pursuing a claim, Cohn, Smith & Cohn can help. To set up a free consultation with our attorneys, please contact us today.

The family of a former Polk County commissioner who was killed in an auto accident last year has filed a wrongful death suit, the Lakeland Ledger reported Jan. 13. According to the article, Marlene Duffy Young was killed in May when an oncoming driver crossed the center line and hit her vehicle head-on. The driver, William Boyd Johnson, was also killed, and Young's husband and adult daughter were hurt. Blood tests on Johnson revealed that he had a BAC of .077 (just under the legal limit), as well as Valium and cough medicine in his body.

The wrongful death lawsuit names Johnson's wife as a defendant, but it also names State Farm, the Young family's auto insurer, and their insurance agent. According to the article, the Youngs are suing State Farm and the agent because the agent allegedly ignored their request for "stacked" underinsured motorist auto insurance. The Johnsons did not have enough insurance to cover the costs of the accident, and the Youngs contend that State Farm is wrongfully refusing to make up the difference, as it would be required to if the insurance had been stacked as they had requested.

"Stacking" your auto insurance means that the upper limit of your insurance policy increases by the number of cars you are insuring. For example, let's say you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage with limits of 50,000/100,000. If you have two cars and you do not choose to stack, the limit is 50/100 on each car. But if you choose to stack, the insurance limits double to 100/200. If you have three cars, they would triple to 150/300. This increases your premium, of course. As you can see, this could make a substantial difference to a family like the Youngs, who had three of its members in the hospital at the same time after the accident. The cost of treating even one very serious injury can easily reach six figures.

The Youngs claim that State Farm wrongfully refused to provide the materials necessary to sign them up for the stacked coverage despite their request. Unfortunately, that is not an unrealistic claim. Despite what many people think, insurance companies are not here to help their customers -- they're here to make a profit, like all businesses. When insurance companies have to pay out a very large benefit, some of them look for excuses to avoid it, even when their own contract clearly obliges them to pay. This is called insurance bad faith, and as a breach of the contract you and the insurer both signed, it is illegal.

As a Broward County auto accident lawyer, I advise my clients to treat insurance adjusters politely but never sign, record or admit anything that makes them uncomfortable. And whenever necessary, I vigorously defend my clients from insurance bad faith and other unfair or illegal maneuvers by insurers. If you or someone you love has been victimized twice by an auto accident and an insurance company that won't do the right thing, my firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, can help. To set up a free consultation on your legal rights and your options, please contact us online or call (954) 431-8100.

A woman in Brooksville, outside Tampa, has sued several medical providers who failed to diagnose her husband's infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) -- an increasingly common skin infection that doesn't respond to penicillin and can be fatal if left untreated. According to Hernando Today, the man saw his doctor about the infection in July, but was given antibiotics and sent home without a culture to diagnose the infection.

Several days later, he entered the hospital, where tests showed he had MRSA, but neither he nor his doctors were told, and the infection wasn't put on his chart. He was sent home with antibiotics that controlled the MRSA until September, when he was readmitted to the hospital for uncontrolled diabetes. It was not until the next day that a doctor diagnosed the man's septic (toxic) MRSA and sent him to intensive care. There, he went into cardiac arrest and died the next day. His widow sued the hospital staff and the man's doctors for medical malpractice under the Florida Wrongful Death Act.

Unfortunately, Florida medical malpractice lawsuits having to do with MRSA are more common than you might think, because carelessness in a medical setting is often responsible for MRSA. In fact, the infection is sometimes called "health care associated MRSA" because it occurs mostly in hospitals and medical centers-- places with large groups of people in close contact, many of whose immune systems are already depressed. A report by the Chicago Tribune in 2007 called the infection "rampant" in hospitals, saying 1.2 million people per year get the infection and about 48,000 die. Hospital staffers who do not wash their hands often enough can easily carry MRSA from an infected patient to an uninfected patient. In fact, studies have found that 12 to 15 percent of hospital staffers are carriers.

In this case, the lawsuit is alleging that the hospital was negligent in failing to diagnose the infection -- not that it gave him the infection. Failure to diagnose may not sound as serious as actually giving a patient a new infection, but as this case shows, it can have extremely serious consequences. Time is important in diagnosis of many diseases, because catching it early vastly improves the patient's chance of successful treatment. Failure to investigate clear signs of a serious problem is a medical mistake, just like failure to prevent infection or leaving surgical equipment inside a patient.

If you believe you or someone you love is a victim of this type of bad medical care, Florida law gives you the right to sue the wrongdoer for financial compensation. In a Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice claim, you can win money for costs like new treatment caused by the mistake, physical pain, emotional suffering and the lost quality of life caused by a permanent disability or losing a loved one. To speak with one of our experienced Coral Springs medical malpractice lawyers, please contact our firm online for a free consultation.

A police officer was airlifted to the hospital after a serious motorcycle accident Jan. 9, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. The newspaper said that Officer Kevin Jones was on a motorcycle patrol in Deland, Florida, near Daytona, when a truck coming from the opposite direction turned in front of the motorbikes. Jones swerved to avoid the truck and crashed; he is now hospitalized in stable condition. The motorcycle officer who was with him was not seriously injured.

It's hard to draw conclusions about fault from such a bare-bones article, of course. But as an experienced motorcycle accident attorney in Fort Lauderdale, I noticed that the pattern of this accident fits right in with statistical information on typical motorcycle crash patterns. The definitive study on motorcycle crash patterns, the Hurt Report (PDF), said that the most frequent motorcycle accident configuration is another vehicle turning left in front of an oncoming motorcyclist -- the most likely scenario here.

That report also spelled out a fact that experienced motorcyclists already know: "The failure of motorists to detect and recognize motorcycles in traffic is the predominating cause of motorcycle accidents." Drivers don't usually take deliberate hostile action against bikers, the report says, but they fail to see motorcycles until it's too late to stop. Almost half of the time, the responsible party's view is actually blocked, the report said. It did not say what happens in the other accidents, but as a South Florida motorcyclist and a Pembroke Pines motorcycle accident attorney, I have some guesses. In multi-vehicle accidents, some drivers "don't see" bikes simply because they aren't expecting to see bikes.

In legal terms, failing to see what's right in front of you is known as negligence -- extreme carelessness. Of course, motorcycle accidents can also be caused by many other forms of negligence -- daydreaming, distractions and violations of traffic laws -- by either motorist. If you've been hurt by someone who was engaging in this sort of careless activity while driving, you are a victim of negligence and you have the right to pursue compensation with a Florida motorcycle accident lawsuit. To learn more about your rights and your options under Florida law at a free consultation, please contact our firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, today.

A woman in Jacksonville blames emergency medical personnel at Shands Jacksonville Medical Center for leaving a knife blade in the back of her neck for the past three years. According to Tampa Bay's WTSP, Edith McQueen was attacked by another woman with a knife three years ago and went to the medical center for help. Medical records there show that she was treated for a stab wound, but doctors did not find the blade. She had headaches over the next three years, but it was not until she had an x-ray in preparation for an MRI test that she discovered that the blade was still in her neck. The x-ray may have saved her life, in fact, because an MRI machine uses powerful magnets that would have attracted the knife, possibly pulling it through arteries in her neck.

McQueen has an attorney, who alleged in the article that "basic care was overlooked" by the emergency room staff. Specifically, he said he believes the emergency room should have x-rayed McQueen. This is one definition of medical malpractice -- failure by a doctor or other medical professional to provide care that meets basic standards. However, the article also says that she may not have a case, thanks to Florida medical malpractice laws. The article does not specify which law might bar her claim, and unfortunately, as a South Florida medical malpractice lawyer myself, I know there are several laws that may stand in her way.

Thanks to a series of "tort reform" efforts, Florida has complex medical malpractice laws. They include limitations on how much compensation plaintiffs may recover and on the fees Florida medical malpractice attorneys may charge. In addition, people who want to file a malpractice suit in Florida must follow complicated notification rules before they can file their claim. That includes providing a verified medical expert opinion and waiting for informal discovery and investigation by the defendant's (doctor or hospital's) malpractice insurer. All of this takes time, of course, which matters because there is also a statute of limitations -- a deadline by which you may sue. For Floridians over the age of eight, that's two years from the date of the injury or the date it was discovered, but in any case not more than four years after the date of the injury.

Our Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice attorneys try to make the process easier on our clients by taking care of these details, but no attorney can provide extra time. And time may be what McQueen needs in order to preserve her case. Medical malpractice reform laws have a worthwhile goal -- to keep doctors in the State of Florida -- but all too often, they're hijacked by special interests whose real goal is to preserve profits by protecting careless doctors and organizations from the consequences of their actions. The earlier we can begin a case, the better our chances of securing the money our clients need to alleviate the effects of a medical mistake that has changed their lives forever. If you believe you've been hurt by medical malpractice in South Florida and you'd like to speak with us about your legal options, please contact us today for a free consultation.

A man is hospitalized in critical condition after his SUV was broadsided by a semi truck in Polk County. The News-Sun reports that a truck carrying boxed oranges failed to stop for a traffic signal around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 10, hitting the man's SUV. The man was airlifted to a hospital and his passenger was treated for minor injuries and released. The semi's driver and his six passengers, including four minors, were unharmed or sustained only minor injuries. The accident also scattered oranges across the highway, closing it for six hours.

As a Florida trucking accident attorney, I know that large trucks like this one crash rarely -- but when they do, it is likely to be fatal for the people in the other vehicles. Statistics from a 2007 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that large trucks were involved in just 3.9% of all crashes but 8.2% of fatal crashes -- and 77% of those killed in trucking accidents were people outside the truck. The problem is the huge difference in size and weight between a ten-ton tractor-trailer or Mack truck and a passenger vehicle -- even a 4,500-pound SUV, as in this case. When the vehicles collide, that weight difference translates to a crushing difference in force, leading to wrongful deaths, brain damage, paralysis and other life-changing injuries.

Unfortunately, the deadliness of trucking accidents means that trucking companies move quickly to limit their liability. Even when the truck driver is clearly responsible, the trucking company may take quick action that eliminates or reduces the victims' ability to get fair compensation for their injuries. That's why it is essential for Florida truck accident victims and their loved ones to consult an attorney before signing anything, agreeing to be recorded or taking any money offered by the trucking company's representative.

At Cohn, Smith & Cohn, our experienced Aventura truck accident lawyers help trucking accident victims focus on their own recovery by helping them understand their rights, explaining their legal options and protecting them from insurance companies' hassles and tricks. If you or someone you love has been hurt in a semi truck accident in Florida, we would like to help. To speak with us about your injuries and your options at a free consultation, please contact us through our Web site or call (954) 431-8100.

Florida motorcyclists may not have noticed, but a new law affecting us took effect October 1. Under this new law, motorcyclists who commit certain traffic offenses face increased penalties -- a $1,000 fine on the first offense, a $2,500 fine and a one-year license revocation on the second offense, and a ten-year revocation, $5,000 fine and third-degree felony charges on the third offense. The offenses at issue include speeding in excess of 50 mph over the speed limit; intentionally lifting wheels off the ground (popping a wheelie); and riding with a license plate attached vertically or flipped up.

If singing out those behaviors seems strange to you, this article from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel might help. According to the article, the new law was conceived and passed as a response to the growing popularity of sport bikes -- colorful, mainly Japanese motorcycles that can reach 200 mph despite being street legal. The article offers several anecdotes about unsafe riding by people on sport bikes, as well as speculation by an FHP officer, but no hard evidence that they are worse motorists or need stricter regulations than other vehicles on the road.

I do not ride a sport bike, but as I’ve said on this blog before, I do ride. (My bikes are a Harley Road King Classic and a Big Dog Ridgeback chopper.) My first instinct, on reading this article, was to be offended at what seemed to be prejudice against bikers written into the law (and the article). Sport bikers aren’t always angels, of course, but there’s no proof offered that they’re any worse than other motorists.

But once I read the law itself, I felt better about it. Most of the behaviors it prohibits are behaviors that I agree are too dangerous for city streets. For example, the speeding provision doesn’t kick in until the rider is going more than 50 mph above the speed limit -- for example, 76 mph in a 25 mph zone. That kind of speeding is safest at a racetrack. Wheelies are too, because they require high speeds and leave the rider with less control. And while there’s nothing inherently unsafe about a flipped-up license plate, I believe keeping it visible is a reasonable sacrifice to make in exchange for the privilege of using public roads.

However, I still wish this law had been written to apply to everyone on the road -- not just motorcyclists. Anyone can speed and weave through traffic, and many people in cars and trucks do. Failing to recognize this seems to me like a form of anti-motorcycle prejudice, and that has no place in Florida law. My firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, specializes in representing bikers who’ve been in serious Florida motorcycle accidents caused by another motorist’s carelessness -- regardless of the type of bike. If you or someone you care about is in this position, you have the right to demand justice and financial compensation. To learn more at a free consultation, please contact us today.

Millions of drivers could be driving on tires that are likely to blow out without warning due to a safety defect. Tire valve stem manufacturer Dill Air Control Products announced Dec. 9 that it is recalling millions of tires with the defective stems, which were sold with cracks. About 200,000 tires are implicated in the recall, but because the manufacturer doesn’t know which ones are which, about two million are included in the recall. The affected tires were sold between November of 2006 and July of 2007 and should have the word “DILL” stamped on the cap of the valve stem (the area where drivers inflate their tires). If you have these tires, you can visit the retailer that sold you the tires for a free inspection and possible replacement. Detailed instructions and more information are here.

Unfortunately, the recall comes after a blowout blamed on a defective valve stem claimed the life of a Florida man. According to Orlando television news station WESH, Robert “Chip” Monk died in 2007 when a tire on his car blew out unexpectedly on Interstate 75. Blowouts can cause motorists to lose control of their vehicles, especially at highway speeds, leading to a serious accident. Monk’s wife, Sara Monk, hired an attorney who traced the cause of the accident to a defective tire valve stem imported from China. Dill Air Control Products admitted to Monk’s attorney that it knew about the problems in the summer of 2007, but did not tell federal regulators or the public until May of 2008. Sara Monk has sued.

This story is a sad example of the tragedies that result when we trust cars and auto parts that turn out not to be so trustworthy. Even the most careful drivers can’t avoid serious accidents if they’re driving with vehicles or parts that betray them. And when manufacturers fail to report problems, due to embarrassment or concerns about profits, they betray their customers a second time. Federal regulators are charged with investigating defects and ordering a recall whenever necessary, but unfortunately, they cannot be everywhere. Even so, thousands of consumer products are recalled each year, including cars and trucks and their parts and accessories, such as child safety seats.

Because of the risk that manufacturers will choose profits over customer safety, Florida laws hold manufacturers strictly liable for injuries caused by safety defects in their products. A Florida defective products lawsuit holds manufacturers legally and financially liable for the injuries they cause, including wrongful deaths and permanent disabilities. It can also help compensate victims for the losses they’ve sustained, including financial injuries like repair costs and missed work, as well as emotional losses like the loss of a loved one’s love and care. If you or someone you love has been hurt by a defective product and you’d like to learn more, you can contact my firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, for a free consultation.

A new study by the University of Utah confirms what Florida car accident lawyers have known all along: Talking on the phone while driving is more dangerous than talking to a passenger. The study used drivers between the ages of 18 and 26, using a sophisticated driving simulator that mimicked highway traffic conditions. The drivers were divided into three groups: Drivers using a hands-free headset to talk on the phone, drivers talking to a “passenger” in the next seat and drivers who didn’t talk at all. All three groups were instructed to leave the highway at a specific exit, and the talkers were asked to tell their conversation partners about a near-death experience they’d had.

The results: About half of the drivers who were talking on the phone missed their exits, while only one-eighth of those with passengers did. (The study found no substantial differences between drivers talking with passengers and silent drivers.) Speaking to the Washington Post, the study’s authors suggested that this could be attributed to “inattention blindness,” in which the brain literally cannot process as much visual information because it’s performing another cognitive task. In a separate press release, they also suggested that talking on the phone could limit a driver’s memory of which exit to take. And they pointed out that a passenger present in the car can drop or change the conversation to help the driver focus, which may also be a factor.

The state of Florida doesn’t currently have any laws forbidding drivers from talking on the phone, either with a handset or with a hands-free headset, although some lawmakers have considered it. But even if there’s no ticket or criminal penalty, talking on the phone while driving could still harm drivers involved in a Florida auto accident lawsuit. If research like this continues to show that drivers on the phone are actually impaired, it could be strong evidence in court that the driver was behaving carelessly or recklessly. And if that’s proven, drivers who were using a phone or other device during an accident could face substantial legal liability.

Perhaps even more importantly, hanging up the phone while you drive can help you avoid being part of a serious auto accident in South Florida. Car crashes cause deaths and very serious injuries, including brain damage, spinal injuries and serious burns that can cause lifelong scars. If hanging up for 30 minutes can help avoid these kinds of tragedy, I believe that’s a sacrifice worth making. If you or someone you care about was involved in a serious Florida auto accident caused by someone else’s carelessness, you have the right to hold that person legally and financially responsible for the results. For a free consultation with the experienced attorneys at Cohn, Smith & Cohn, please contact us today.