South Florida Injury Attorney Blog

As a North Miami bicycle accident attorney, I was disappointed to read about the Jan. 17 death of a bicyclist in Miami-Dade. As the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Jan. 25, 2,500 cyclists gathered on the Rickenbacker Causeway Jan. 24 to ride in honor of Christophe Le Canne, 44, who was killed by an alleged drunk driver. Police closed the east lanes of the Bear Cut Bridge to accommodate the ride, then escorted cyclists across the bridge. Later, when the riders gathered to speak, they discussed laws that might prevent the same accident from happening again. Suggestions included divided bike lanes, stiffer penalties for aggressive drivers and more restrictions on drinking and driving.

Le Canne was on an early-morning ride along the causeway when he was hit from behind by a Volkswagen Jetta. The Jetta was driven by Carlos Bertonatti, 28, a pop musician with a history of traffic citations. Bertonatti allegedly failed to stop after hitting Le Canne, instead driving off with the bicycle under his front wheels. He faces multiple felony charges related to the accident, including DUI manslaughter. Witnesses said it took 15 to 20 minutes for emergency personnel to respond to the accident, but by the time they arrived, it was too late. This was blamed in part on reduced operating hours in the closest Miami-Dade firehouse, but also on the operator’s failure to call Key Biscayne or Miami firehouses. Other reforms on the bicyclists’ agenda include closing this gap in fire-rescue coverage.

As a Coconut Creek bike accident lawyer, I’m pleased that the cycling community is turning this accident into a call to make the roads safer. But for Le Canne and his family, it’s too late. Our society penalizes drunk driving harshly because it’s very dangerous, accounting for about a third of all fatal car accidents. If it’s proven that Bertonatti was intoxicated, he will instantly be assigned fault for the crash. And that will have important implications if the family chooses to pursue a lawsuit against him. If a blood test or a criminal conviction makes it clear that Bertonatti was too intoxicated to drive, he will certainly be liable for all of the physical and emotional damage the crash caused.

Continue reading " Miami-Dade Bicyclists Gather to Honor Cyclist Struck by Intoxicated Driver " »

As an Aventura wrongful death attorney, I was dismayed to see that a 14-year-old girl has died after a bad car accident with a law enforcement officer. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Jan. 25 that Cara Catlin, a freshman at Northeast High School in Oakland Park, died Jan. 23 in a crash with a Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy. Catlin was riding in a car driven by her 21-year-old stepsister, Heather Meyer, who was also injured in the crash, as was Gabriel Alegria, 15. Both Meyer and Alegria were hospitalized in stable condition. The deputy, 21-year-old Frank McCurrie, was treated for minor injuries and released. Homicide investigators are looking into whether the deputy was speeding when the accident occurred.

McCurrie was going straight through the intersection of Northeast 56th Street and Dixie Highway when Meyer was making a left turn; both had green lights, but Meyer did not have a green arrow. The first reports about the accident said McCurrie didn’t have his lights and siren on when he passed through the intersection. A Broward Sheriff’s Office spokesperson later said McCurrie didn’t need the emergency signals because he wasn’t responding to an emergency. However, a witness told the newspaper that the deputy was going around 70 mph, in a 40-mph zone, before the crash happened. Investigators say it’s too early to confirm that claim, but that it will be investigated thoroughly. Meyer, Alegria and an aunt of Catlin’s, Edie Bronder, all declined comment. Bronder said the family is consulting an attorney.

This is a very sensible decision. Calling an attorney so soon may sound premature to some people, but as a Boca Raton wrongful death lawyer, I know that families need to start right away if they plan legal action against law enforcement. The Broward Sheriff’s Office is a government agency, of course, and all government agencies have special rules governing lawsuits against them. In Florida, these include shorter deadlines for filing and special administrative procedures families must complete before they can file claims. If you’re considering a lawsuit against a police department or any other government agency, it’s very important to make sure you follow these rules to the letter, because deviation can delay your case or even cause you to miss the deadline entirely. If that happens, you may be unable to sue at all, no matter how strong your case is.

Continue reading " Car Crash With Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Kills Fourteen-Year-Old Girl " »

As a Davie product defect attorney, I have kept an eye on the Toyota recall. Last year, the automaker announced the largest recall in its history, of 4.3 million vehicles implicated in multiple reports of sudden and unintentional acceleration. In that recall, Toyota said improperly positioned floor mats were causing accelerator pedals to stick open, sometimes causing panicked drivers to launch into walls or over cliffs. The defect has caused at least 19 deaths, including the August death of an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer trained in vehicle safety and three members of his family. Now, the Los Angeles Times reported Jan. 23, Toyota is recalling 2.3 million more vehicles, saying a mechanical problem is causing the pedal to stick.

The new recall is raising eyebrows, the Times wrote, because Toyota had previously denied any problems other than the floor mat problem. The automaker didn’t explicitly say it no longer believed this, but most of the vehicles involved in the new recall are the same vehicles in the floor mat recall. Some safety experts quoted by the newspaper said they believe the real problem is actually Toyota’s “drive by wire” system, which controls acceleration through an onboard computer rather than mechanical parts. Toyota says the pedal can stick down when it gets worn. It doesn’t have a solution to the pedal problem yet, but has asked drivers who encounter the problem to apply the brakes and call a dealer immediately. Experts also suggest that drivers deal with unintended acceleration by turning off the car or shifting into neutral. Drivers can find more information from Toyota here and a list of vehicles involved in both recalls here.

According to the article, Toyota rejected the computer-bug theory when investigating an incident that led to the most recent recall. This recall is probably still good for drivers, but it disturbs me as a West Palm Beach defective product lawyer that Toyota didn’t investigate the idea that its drive-by-wire system could be the real culprit. In fact, it was basically forced to concede the pedal problem after a sudden-acceleration incident that seemed unrelated to floor mat problems. Mechanical parts are much cheaper to fix than computer systems -- but if computers are the problem, that hardly matters. If the expert quoted in the newspaper is right, Toyota’s failure to face the problem will continue to put people at risk until it’s impossible for the automaker to ignore it -- putting more lives in danger.

Continue reading " Toyota Announces New Recall Implicating Stuck Pedals in Sudden Acceleration " »

I have written here before about the terrible case of a tractor-trailer that crashed into a school bus in Ocala, killing a one middle school girl and injuring another. Because the trucker happened to be using a cell phone immediately before the crash, the incident helped raise awareness of distracted driving -- an issue important to me as a Lauderhill auto accident lawyer. Now, the Ocala Star-Banner reported Jan. 13, the mother of the girl who was killed is helping start a new, MADD-like group intended to fight distracted driving. Elissa Schee of Ocala is one of five board members of FocusDriven, all of whom lost loved ones to distracted drivers. The board met Jan. 12 with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Frances “Margay” Schee was 13 when her school bus was rear-ended by a commercial trucker. The bus was pushed forward 100 yards and burst into flames, but Margay Schee was the only one killed. The truck driver told police afterward that he was using a cell phone at the time. Elissa Schee told that story when she appeared on an episode of Oprah broadcast Jan. 18 to promote FocusDriven. The group’s first priority is to pass legislation in all 50 states outlawing phoning and driving. At the moment, the newspaper said, Florida does not place any restrictions at all on phoning and driving -- although the state legislature is expected to take up a ban on texting and driving this year. In fact, no state has banned cell phone use behind the wheel entirely, although six states require headsets for all drivers and 19 ban texting and driving.

As a Coral Springs car wreck attorney, I am glad that Schee and the other FocusDriven members are raising awareness of this issue. Distracted driving has emerged as a major issue in the past six to nine months, in part because of research showing that texting and driving raises your risk of a crash significantly. In one study of truck drivers, researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that texting raised the crash risk by 23 times. Another recent study found that the crash risk for drivers of ordinary cars, using a simulator, was six times greater. And some research has found that texting impairs driving even more than driving under the influence of alcohol or marijuana. But until our society sees a concentrated campaign to raise awareness of the dangers, drivers will continue to take those risks for the sake of convenience.

Continue reading " Mother of Teen Killed in Semi Crash Joins Campaign Against Distracted Driving " »

As a Pembroke Pines child injury attorney, I was very interested to see a story about a lawsuit against day-care center that left a child alone when employees went home for the evening. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Jan. 14 that Inari Martin, 16 months, was put down for a nap by an employee who didn’t mention the child to others before leaving. When her mother, Natasha Henry, came to pick her up, Henry found the building locked and dark and couldn’t reach the center’s employees. Inari was fine, but Henry claims the panic of not knowing where her child was caused her to go into premature labor at 35 weeks. It’s the second known lawsuit against the center, though the details of the first were not reported.

According to the lawsuit, Henry had been bringing her daughter to the center for 11 months before the Jan. 6 incident. As was usual, she arrived at the center between 7:30 and 8 p.m., after work, to pick up Inari. However, the center was closed. Henry tried repeatedly to call center employees or its director, her lawsuit claims, but had no success. Panicking and feeling contractions, she called the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. Officers managed to reach an employee, who said it was possible that employees had forgotten Inari. Knowing that temperatures were likely to dip into the 40s that evening, police decided to break through a glass door out of concern for Inari’s safety. They found the girl in the dark, cold, wet and crying, but unharmed. It was not reported whether Henry ended up delivering her child.

As a North Miami injuries to minors attorney, I am interested in this article in part because the reported facts so clearly point to liability by the center. In many cases involving injuries to children and teenagers, an injury lawsuit follows a criminal prosecution by the local State’s Attorney. But in this case, there may not actually be a criminal statute that applies -- that is, the center and its employees may not be guilty of any crime. (They may still have violated administrative rules and face professional consequences, like the loss of a license.) Of course, plaintiffs are free to bring legal claims even in cases where there is a criminal prosecution as well. But when prosecutors cannot or will not bring criminal charges, families may have no access to justice whatsoever unless they choose to pursue a civil claim like Henry’s.

Continue reading " South Florida Family Files Suit Against Day-Care Center That Forgot Child " »

As a Boca Raton motorcycle accident attorney, I was interested to note that Florida authorities have made an arrest in the tragic and avoidable death of a motorcyclist last year. The St. Petersburg Times reported Jan. 18 that Deborah Terrero, 53, was arrested as a “fugitive from justice” at her home in Troy, NY over the weekend. Terrero is charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence in the crash that killed Nicole Centrangolo, 38, of New Port Richey. Centrangolo was a passenger on a motorcycle operated by 48-year-old Kenneth Dillon of Port Richey, who was seriously injured. Neither Terrero nor her passenger were injured.

According to the article, Dillon and Centrangolo were headed north on U.S. 19 when Terrero ran a stop sign on a side street. Dillon tried to avoid a crash by changing lanes, but Terrero’s turn was wide and Dillon rear-ended her SUV. It wasn’t immediately clear why Terrero was called a “fugitive from justice” in the warrant; reports from the time show that she did not hit and run. She was a resident of Hudson at the time, but apparently moved to New York during the investigation. However, state records show that she had five speeding tickets, several license suspensions and three charges of leaving the scene of a 2006 accident during her Florida residency. Her license was not suspended at the time of the arrest.

As a motorcycle crash attorney in Davie, I’m pleased to see that justice is being done for Centrangolo and Dillon. In reports from the time, the Florida Highway Patrol said charges were pending the outcome of an investigation, so presumably, law enforcement was considering charges from the beginning. In fact, if the FHP always had test results showing Terrero was intoxicated, it’s surprising that it took so long to make the arrest. The article doesn’t say why Terrero might have moved to upstate New York, but if she was trying to avoid an arrest and criminal conviction, the move will almost certainly count against her in the criminal case. It could also weaken her case significantly if Dillon or Centrangolo’s family choose to file a motorcycle accident lawsuit against her.

Continue reading " New York Woman Arrested for Fatal 2009 Motorcycle Crash in Pasco " »

An article in the Florida Times-Union caught my eye because it describes what seems to be a clear example of negligence that ultimately killed an older woman. The Jan. 12 article says a brother and sister have filed a wrongful death lawsuit over the death of their mother, who fell in the shower and sustained second-degree burns covering 24% of her body. Madge Weaver, 87, of Lake Placid wore a necklace from a company called ResponseLink, which connects to an emergency alert system when the user presses a button. But her children say ResponseLink failed to respond to Weaver’s repeated pages with a 911 call, instead calling Weaver’s home repeatedly while her bathtub filled with scalding-hot water. Daniel Weaver of Callahan and Cheryl Pifer of Lake Placid sued ResponseLink Jan. 11 for wrongful death.

Madge Weaver had used her ResponseLink pendant once before, and the operator that time called 911 for her. But this time, the family’s Central Florida wrongful death attorney said, the ResponseLink operator tried to call Weaver’s home to see if she needed help. Weaver was unable to answer the phone because she had fallen in the shower with her body blocking the drain, and couldn’t reach to turn the water off. Weaver paged the service at least eight times in 10 minutes, but nobody came to rescue her until the operator thought to call Pifer, who lived nearby. Pifer arrived six or seven minutes later and immediately called 911, but it was too late. Weaver died two days later of severe burns. The family’s lawsuit alleges that Weaver would have sustained no serious injuries if the operator had called emergency services right away.

As a Coconut Creek wrongful death lawyer, I am disturbed to read that this emergency alert system failed so drastically. People may joke about services like ResponseLink, but they’re valuable tools for older people who want to live independently. In fact, they are designed for exactly this kind of incident -- emergencies in which the victim can’t reach the phone to call for help. ResponseLink and its operator surely must have known that, but by calling Weaver’s home instead of 911, they undermined the point of the system and left a client helpless. As a result, Weaver suffered under a scalding-hot shower for more than 15 minutes and died an avoidable death, with emergency workers just a few minutes away.

Continue reading " Adult Children Sue Medical Alert System Over Mother’s Death in Shower " »

As a Lake Worth premises liability attorney, I’ve written here before about the suspected “cancer cluster” at the Palm Beach County community of The Acreage. After an abnormally large number of children in the community were diagnosed with brain cancer, the community began pushing for tests to confirm suspicions that radiation may have contaminated the area’s groundwater. A previous test from the state found radiation in 10% of randomly selected wells in the community, and a New York City toxic tort law firm has also conducted tests finding radiation in homes. According to a Jan. 10 Sun-Sentinel article, the Palm Beach County Department of Health also plans tests to look for radon in homes where children lived when they were diagnosed with cancer.

The Health Department has been investigating the suspected cancer cluster since the summer of 2009 and has not yet concluded that rates of cancer there are unusually high. However, the tests for radon are cheap and easy to conduct, a spokesman said. The county plans to end its interviews with families in the next few weeks, at which time it will start the testing. The results will be presented at a community meeting about the problem in February. Radon gas is a by-product created when the radioactive chemical element radium decays. It is colorless, odorless and tasteless, making it difficult for humans to detect -- but it’s also a known carcinogen. Some Acreage residents believe the radiation could be the result of toxic spills from a nearby plant for rocket developer Pratt & Whitney, which later became a Superfund site.

As a toxic contamination site lawyer in Plantation, I will be very interested in the results of this study. Human beings knew radon caused sickness among miners as early as the sixteenth century, and federal agencies suggest immediate action when radon levels in a home or workplace exceed guidelines. If testing can identify radon as the source of the problem, homeowners can take that action as soon as possible to protect themselves and their families. Testing may also help investigators determine the source of the contamination, an extremely important issue for residents who are considering legal action. If radioactive contamination from the Pratt & Whitney plant is the problem, that company, real estate developers for The Acreage and government agencies may all be held legally liable for failing to warn residents about the risk of radioactive exposure.

Continue reading " Health Care Officials Plan Radon Tests at Cancer Patients’ Homes in The Acreage " »

As a Deerfield Beach car crash attorney, I have been following the increased media coverage on the problem of distracted driving. On Jan. 7, the New York Times explored a new threat in its “Driven to Distraction” series: Internet browsing while driving. This is already possible to some extent thanks to “smartphones,” but the Times reported that automakers are now developing ten-inch computer screens built directly into the dashboard. These “infotainment centers” would include navigation information, controls for music and even videos and Web pages. The systems have warnings not to use them while driving, and disable some features while the car is in motion. But experts interviewed by the Times said they were concerned about the safety effects of putting the devices literally front and center in vehicles.

The systems are the result of collaboration between major computer manufacturers and automakers, and were displayed with pride at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Spokespeople for the companies say consumers want these features, especially busy consumers looking to get business done in the car. But safety and technology experts believe the dashboard-mounted screens run contrary to growing awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. A researcher at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute said there’s already evidence that looking at a screen while driving raises the risk of a crash. That risk goes up exponentially the longer the driver looks away from the road. A professor at MIT went further, saying “[I]t is a continuation of the pursuit of profit over safety — for both drivers and pedestrians.”

I would like to believe that drivers can make safe decisions even with these options -- but as a Davie auto accident lawyer, I’ve seen far too much evidence to the contrary. Auto accidents were a leading cause of death and brain injuries even before cell phones were widely available. Unfortunately, far too many people simply don’t take their responsibilities behind the wheel seriously -- at least until they’re involved in a crash. At that point, it may be too late to prevent deaths or catastrophic injuries, both to the driver and to the other motorists and pedestrians who happen to be nearby. Because car crashes can be so serious, I believe it’s appropriate to do rigorous testing to determine whether in-car computers can be used safely. If they cannot, automakers should consider disabling distracting features while the car is on the road, and governments should consider aggressive anti-distraction laws and enforcement.

Continue reading " Internet in Car Dashboards Raises Concerns About Distracted Driving " »

A recent article in the Orlando Sentinel caught my eye because it touches on an issue important to Tamarac wrongful death lawyers like me. The Jan. 3 article says the parents of a man killed under Florida’s “stand your ground” law are suing the shooter, even though prosecutors are still considering whether to file criminal charges. The Lake County lawsuit accuses Russell Conrad, 70, of negligence in the death of 32-year-old Steven Hilson Jr. Conrad, a neighbor of Hilson’s parents, shot Hilson after discovering him inside Conrad’s parked truck at 4:30 a.m. Nov. 28.

The “stand your ground” law extends the “castle doctrine” found in many states, which permits homeowners to use deadly force against an intruder. In Florida, this right extends to public places if the shooter is attacked and reasonably believes deadly force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury. Lake County prosecutors are still deciding whether this applies to Hilson’s shooting. Conrad told police he was awakened by the sound of his own truck’s horn. After two warning shots, someone inside the truck got out. Despite warnings from Conrad to stop or he’d shoot, the person walked toward Conrad, who shot again. The person was Hilson, who was dead before EMTs called by Conrad’s relatives arrived. Hilson had no criminal record but one DUI, but he was described as a severe alcoholic going through personal turmoil at the time. His parents believe he was trying to visit another neighbor where he sometimes stayed.

The State’s Attorney’s office is likely still considering whether to file charges because the circumstances do not fall neatly into those described by the law. As a Pompano Beach wrongful death attorney, I understand how frustrating that must be for Hilson’s parents as well as for Conrad. However, this case is a good reminder that even when state officials do not file criminal charges in connection with a death, victims’ families still have the right to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit. A wrongful death claim cannot put perpetrators in prison, but it can help victims’ families bring those perpetrators to justice. And because these are civil cases, the standard of evidence is slightly lower, allowing families to win a case even when prosecutors believe a criminal case wouldn’t win.

Continue reading " Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Over ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law Shooting " »

As a Fort Lauderdale car accident attorney, I was disappointed to see a short news story about a fatal accident that took place in Miami. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Jan. 4 that Jean Ginst Eugene, 40, died after his SUV rolled over on Interstate 595. The newspaper said traffic slowed on the highway around 1 p.m., possibly due to a ladder left in the road. Eugene and another driver, Robert Mintz, both moved into the inside lane to avoid the problem. The right front of Eugene’s Mitsubishi Montero Sport struck the left rear of Mintz’s vehicle, causing the Mitsubishi to roll over and hit the median. Mintz pulled over into the breakdown lane and was not hurt, but Eugene suffered fatal injuries. The Florida Highway Patrol said the crash was under investigation.

There are several aspects of this accident that interest me as an attorney. First and foremost, the rollover aspect of the accident suggests that fundamental structural problems may have led Eugene’s SUV to tip over. SUVs became notorious in the late 1990s and early 2000s for being involved in rollovers at a much greater rate than smaller cars or even pickup trucks. Safety experts blamed this on their high centers of gravity, which made them prone to tip over even during ordinary driving. This is a serious safety problem because rollovers are one of the most dangerous accident types. Because rollovers throw vehicles’ occupants around and out of the vehicles, they substantially raise the likelihood of death, brain damage, spinal injuries or severe burns. This is made worse by the fact that SUVs are exempted from standard passenger-vehicle roof strength standards, making their roofs more likely to crush under the weight of the vehicles.

As a Boynton Beach car crash lawyer, I would also be interested in what happened to create the obstacle in the road in the first place. Driving with an improperly secured load is illegal in Florida. More importantly, if the driver responsible for securing the load realized the problem and drove on the highway anyway, he or she could be held legally responsible for this crash in any lawsuit the victims choose to file. This is not to say that Mintz, or Eugene himself, may not also be held partly responsible for the crash in the FHP’s report. If they are, the jury in any lawsuit filed would have to divide up responsibility between all of the parties involved. This would diminish, but by no means eliminate, the compensation available to Mintz or to Eugene’s family.

Continue reading " Miami Man Killed in SUV Rollover Crash Avoiding Obstacle in Road " »

As a Broward County burn injury attorney, I was disappointed but not surprised to see media reports that Michael Brewer had to go back to the hospital to deal with respiratory problems Jan. 3. Brewer, 15, suffered burns to two-thirds of his body this fall when three other teenagers intentionally set him on fire, over a dispute about a $40 debt. The victim was released from a specialized hospital burn unit more than two months later, on Dec. 22. But as the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Jan. 5, burn experts say it’s not at all unusual for survivors of severe burns like Brewer’s to develop complications serious enough to require more medical care.

The article notes that Brewer underwent three skin-graft surgeries to replace skin destroyed by the burn. This typically means the patient needs blood transfusions, and an uninvolved doctor told the newspaper that blood transfusions can weaken patients’ immune systems. This leaves patients more vulnerable to infections, including potentially serious infections like pneumonia. Patients could be even more vulnerable if they had a preexisting medical condition that weakened their immune systems, such as diabetes, or failed to follow doctors’ orders. And one of Brewer’s doctors had already said that respiratory failure was a possibility with burns this severe. Burns over more than a small patch of skin can cause these complications because the skin protects our bodies from infection and regulates hydration. Losing it can be life-threatening.

Believe it or not, this frightening list of complications is only the beginning for many of the patients I see as a Sunrise severe burn lawyer. After the initial danger is past, patients with extreme burns still require months of follow-up care to prevent infections, repair as much damage as possible and promote healing. In many cases, they will also need future care aimed at preventing their skin from scarring in a way that limits their mobility and disables or disfigures them. Even when this is medically successful, it can still leave patients with visible scars that change the way others behave around them and make it hard to go into public. And unfortunately, all of this medical care can be very, very expensive, reaching six or seven figures over a lifetime even with insurance.

Continue reading " Severely Burned Teenager Returns to Hospital With Respiratory Problems " »

As a Pembroke Pines motorcycle accident attorney, I was interested to see an article about a motorcycle crash lawsuit in Palm Beach County. TV station WPTV reported Dec. 29 that a Jupiter man has sued the owner of a motorcycle over a 2007 accident that killed the man’s wife. Daniel and Sandra Casey borrowed a Harley-Davidson motorcycle from Keith Deyo. On Dec. 30, 2007, they were rear-ended by a pickup truck in Indiantown. Daniel Casey alleges that Deyo failed to properly maintain the motorcycle’s brake and rear turning lights, making it harder for the truck’s driver to see that they were making a turn.

According to the article, the Caseys were dragged under the truck after they were rear-ended on the State Road 710 bridge in Indiantown. The truck’s driver then fled the scene. The article did not say whether that driver was ever found. In his wrongful death lawsuit, Daniel Casey claims that Deyo knew the motorcycle’s back and turning lights were not maintained properly before he lent it to the couple. This left them with no way to warn other drivers in traffic when they stopped or turned, making an accident more likely. Daniel Casey’s lawsuit, filed in Martin County, requests at least $15,000 in damages for the wrongful death of his wife.

Like many people, I would prefer to hold the driver of the pickup truck responsible for the accident as well. But as a Boynton Beach motorcycle crash lawyer, I think this case is a good example of how third parties who weren’t directly involved in a crash may also bear some liability. When hit-and-run drivers can’t be identified, they cannot be held personally and financially liable for the crashes they cause. That means victims cannot collect the compensation to which they are entitled, no matter how clear the fault might be. The exception is when a third party can be held liable, as in this case. In addition to the owner or maintainer of faulty equipment, an at-fault third party might be another driver; an auto manufacturer that sold a defective vehicle; or a government agency that failed to adequately maintain a safe road. In these cases, the jury in any lawsuit will determine each party’s percentage of fault, and thus, their share of the financial payment.

Continue reading " Husband of Woman Who Died in Motorcycle Crash Sues Owner Over Alleged Defects " »