South Florida Injury Attorney Blog

Our Pembroke Park dangerous dog attorneys wrote last week about a dog attack on a Broward County couple. Fresh in the wake of that story, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel published a piece Dec. 20 about the dangerous dog law in Broward County. The law is among the toughest in Florida, because it requires dogs to be put to death after one attack on a human or another animal, with limited appeals allowed for the dogs’ owners. According to the Broward County article, the law is being reconsidered in part because of publicity surrounding the release of two dogs who attacked while they were on leashes, who have been released after the owners settled lawsuits with the county. The law also became a political issue in recent elections. In response, the Sun-Sentinel investigated the circumstances behind the majority of dog attacks in the county.

The newspaper concluded that Brandie and Gigi, the two dogs who were released, were not typical of the 62 dogs accused of being dangerous since the law passed in 2008. Both of them were on leashes when they attacked and killed smaller dogs. More typical was a third dog on the “death row,” Mercedes, who attacked and killed a neighbor’s sleeping cat after a gardener let her out of the yard. Most of the dogs had attacked other pets, the newspaper said, but they were usually loose rather than leashed, and often working in groups. In 17 of the cases, the victims were human beings. In one of those, a dog leaped a fence in Deerfield Beach to attack a 12-year-old boy, who was hospitalized for six days. Another case involved a dog attacking a blind man walking his own dog. That man told the newspaper he threw his body over his dog’s to protect it. And a 10-year-old girl was attacked while playing at a friend’s home, where a dog tore a piece of muscle out of her arm.

As a Miramar dog bite lawyer, I hope Broward County authorities take incidents like these into consideration when they think about amending the law. Some changes may be just, but it’s absolutely essential to continue protecting the public from dangerous dogs. When dogs attack human beings, the victims are disproportionately likely to be children, who are smaller, closer to the ground, louder and less likely to understand canine behavior. Dogs can outright kill smaller pets and children, and do serious damage to older kids and adults. In addition to literally ripping victims’ flesh off, dog attacks can damage organs, break bones and cause serious secondary infections. And as the newspaper’s investigation shows, many of the attacks come when the dogs are running loose against local leash laws. Without an incentive to keep potentially dangerous pets locked up, owners may find it all too easy to negligently let their dogs run around unsupervised.

Continue reading " South Florida Counties Reconsidering Dangerous Dog Laws After High Profile Cases " »

An item about a very long-running lawsuit recently caught my eye as a Cooper City motorcycle crash attorney. As the Tampa Tribune reported Dec. 16 the Florida Supreme Court has sent a lawsuit back to an appeals court, prolonging a battle between the city of Tampa and a motorcyclist who alleges he was permanently disabled by city employees’ negligence. Ramiro Companioni was badly injured in 1996 when his motorcycle hit the back of a water truck that had pulled in front of him. He was awarded nearly $18 million by a jury in 2004, but has not collected any money because the case has been on appeal for the last six years. In the most recent move, the state Supreme Court asked the Second District Court of Appeal, a lower court, to consider whether the actions of Companioni’s former attorney require a new trial.

Companioni was injured in November of 1996, when a Tampa water truck allegedly pulled across three lanes of traffic and into his motorcycle’s path. The resulting accident nearly required doctors to amputate his legs and he now has trouble bending at the waist and right knee, according to a 2007 article from the St. Petersburg Times. In his lawsuit, he said he couldn’t continue working as a chef because of his disabilities; the 2007 article said he sells hot dogs at baseball games and car dealerships. His $18 million verdict was the highest verdict ever won against the city of Tampa, but the case has been on appeal on multiple grounds -- originally because two jurors in the original trial lied about past criminal convictions. Even if the matter is finished, Campinioni probably won’t collect the full amount because cities may not pay more than $100,000 in settlements without authorization from the state legislature.

As a North Lauderdale motorcycle injury lawyer, I’m disappointed to read that this man is still suffering the financial effects of this crash more than 14 years later. When people are injured through no fault of their own in Florida, state law allows them to recover financial compensation from the person whose unsafe or illegal behavior caused the injury. In this case, a jury decided that was the city after a fair and free trial. By endlessly appealing the verdict, the city is denying Companioni this compensation, which is intended to help him deal with the effects of the crash. In a motorcycle accident claim, that generally means very high medical costs, some of which can go on for the rest of the victim’s life -- as seems to be the case with Companioni. It also means compensation for lost income from missing work or being forced to change jobs, destroyed property and the physical and emotional pain of the injury and any disability it causes.

Continue reading " Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit Sent Back to Lower Court Nearly 15 Years After Crash " »

As a Hallandale wrongful death lawyer, I was interested to see another development in the ongoing wrongful death claim filed by the family of Ereck Plancher, which is going to mediation, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Plancher was a 19-year-old football player for the University of Central Florida when he died during a conditioning drill. Plancher is believed to have died of sickle cell trait, a condition related to sickle-cell anemia, but which is usually only triggered when the patient exercises very intensely. His parents, Enock and Giselle Plancher, allege that UCF football coaches and other employees negligently ignored their son’s symptoms on the day he died, despite knowing he had sickle-cell trait. Their lawsuit has been complicated by the UCF Athletic Association’s claim that it’s a state agency, which would limit its financial liability if the Planchers win their case.

Sickle-cell trait is caused by having one of the two genes that causes sickle-cell anemia. It’s usually benign, but during intense exercise and dehydration, normal red blood cells can turn sickle-shaped, causing death quickly. Coaches at UCF knew Ereck Plancher had the condition, according to an ESPN investigation. That investigation also talked to teammates who were present on the day Plancher died, one of whom said Plancher collapsed during his second sprint. When he got up, the student said, he was way behind everyone else and seemed like he was about to collapse. Their coach reportedly told him “that’s bulls---” and told him to keep moving. Shortly afterward, Plancher collapsed again and coaches ordered the teammates not to help him up. It was only after a third collapse that coaches and trainers called for medical help.

Much of this most recent article focuses on the issue of whether the UCF Athletic Association can be considered a state agency; the trial court has ruled that it cannot. That may seem like a minor issue compared to the issue of how coaches and trainers handled Plancher’s physical struggles, but as a North Miami wrongful death attorney, I know it’s very important for the Planchers if they hope to make a serious financial recovery. State agencies have sovereign immunity, a legal concept that in this case would limit any financial payout to no more than $200,000 without approval by the state legislature. That’s a small penalty for allegedly causing the death of an otherwise healthy 19-year-old, especially stacked up against the millions in revenues the association takes in annually. That’s why I’m pleased that the trial court has declined to give the association protected status, in mediation or in the trial that’s scheduled for spring.

Continue reading " University Enters Mediation With Parents of Football Player in Wrongful Death Case " »

An article about the financial woes of a Lakeland family caught my eye as a Coral Springs motorcycle accident lawyer, because it explains how physical injuries can lead directly to financial problems. The Dec. 12 article from the Ledger of Lakeland is part of that paper’s Newspaper With a Heart program, which helps local people in financial trouble. It profiles 29-year-old Jeremy Marse, a married father of two who lost his job early in 2010 and later suffered a motorcycle accident that is likely to cost him the job he got to replace it. Because he hadn’t had the job very long, Marse didn’t qualify for unemployment or short-term disability. His family can’t make rent and other basics on his wife’s salary alone, so he got in touch with The Ledger.

Marse, of Lakeland, was laid off from a property surveying job in February. Until his unemployment payments kicked in about four weeks later, the family survived on his wife’s income, food stamps and help from the Salvation Army. Marse was eventually able to land another job in July, as a fabricator for a fence company. But six weeks later, he was in a serious motorcycle accident. He said the motorcycle’s gas mileage made it an economical choice for getting around, but one day, his glove caught on the bike’s throttle. The resulting burst of speed caused an involuntary “wheelie” that dropped Marse backward onto the pavement of U.S. 98. His helmet may have saved his life, but he suffered a broken arm, collarbone, wrist and toe and torn knee ligament that made him unable to work until Dec. 1. He hasn’t been invited back to work and suspects the job is already filled, but hasn’t been able to land anything else yet.

This article is a good explanation of why my work as a Sunrise motorcycle crash attorney can be important. It doesn’t look like someone else was to blame for Marse’s crash, but if someone were, that person would be legally liable for all of the financial results as well as for his injuries, pain and emotional suffering. As you can see from the article, those financial results have added up quickly for him and his family. Even if insurance covered all of the medical costs related to the crash, which is unlikely, the family would still be stretched thin by months of lost income. When these kinds of financial worries are the product of someone else’s negligence, that person can be held responsible for all of them, including past and future medical costs as well as the lost income. In this way, the law not only penalizes wrongdoing but ensures that people don’t suffer financially because of injuries that were no fault of their own.

Continue reading " Article on Motorcycle Accident Victim Underscores Financial Troubles Crashes Cause " »

An article about an attack by a pit bull caught my interest as a Fort Lauderdale dog bite attorney. According to a Dec. 12 article from the Miami Herald, Angela Owens and her husband, Stephen Robinson, were attacked by a dog they were caring for temporarily as a favor to a friend. The dog, Debo, bit Owens in the arm, then locked onto Robinson’s arm and wouldn’t let go. This caused Broward sheriff’s deputies to shoot and kill the dog when they arrived. The attack led to severe puncture wounds for both husband and wife, requiring medical treatment and likely causing Owens to miss a few days of work as a school bus driver. Both of them are expected to ultimately be fine.

The owner of the dog had reportedly already been considering putting it down. The dog, Debo, had been caged in the couple’s West Park back yard for a week without anything unusual happening. But when Robinson opened the cage to give the dog some water early Sunday, Debo rushed out and attacked Owens, 47. When she screamed, she said, her brother called 911 for help. Robinson got between her and the dog, but the dog transferred its attention to Robinson and locked onto his arm. When the police arrived, they said Owens was standing in the street with severe puncture wounds in her arm, and the dog was still locked onto Robinson’s arm. They said he begged them to shoot the dog, which they did. Robinson declined treatment, but Owens was treated and released from a hospital.

As a Lake Worth dog bite lawyer, I can tell you that locking on and refusing to let go is not at all unusual in attacks by dangerous dogs. We treat dogs as pets, but they are also natural predators that may not let go when their attack or survival instincts are aroused. In addition, some breeds, including pit bulls, simply refuse to let go when attacking. Any dog can attack, but attacks by larger or “working” breeds tend to be more serious simply because a larger dog is able to do more physical damage and reach higher on a human being’s body. In the most extreme cases, dogs have been able to kill human beings, especially children and the elderly, by inflicting severe flesh wounds, blood loss and sometimes organ damage. Most attacks on healthy adults end with minor injuries like the ones suffered by Robinson and Owens, but particularly with children, dog attacks can inflict severe physical injuries, including broken bones and infections, as well as long-term emotional trauma.

Continue reading " Broward Sheriff’s Office Shoots and Kills Dog After It Attacked Couple Caring for It " »

A recent article about a jury verdict caught my eye as a motorcyclist and an Aventura wrongful death attorney. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the family of a man killed in a 2006 motorcycle accident has been awarded $8.48 million in court. The family of John Potts, 51, sued James Harvey for failing to yield at a flashing red light as Potts crossed the intersection. Harvey’s Hummer hit the motorcycle Potts was riding, killing him before he arrived at the hospital. The jury verdict includes $4 million for Tracey Potts, the victim’s widow; $2 million for each of their two daughters; and $480,000 in lost income for the family. Harvey’s attorney could not be reached for comment, but the Potts family’s attorney said they were happy with the verdict.

The accident took place Aug. 8, 2006 at the intersection of Beeline Highway and Jog Road outside West Palm Beach. Potts was on the highway, approaching a flashing yellow light, while Harvey was on Jog Road approaching a flashing red light. Witnesses said Harvey slowed for the red light but did not stop, causing him to “T-bone” Potts as his motorcycle passed through the intersection. Potts was not wearing a helmet. Harvey was on the job at the time, as a self-employed environmental lobbyist. The Potts family’s attorney said Harvey’s defense first focused on suggesting that Potts should have anticipated the cross traffic. Harvey’s attorney also argued that a construction company working on the Florida Turnpike should have put a green/yellow/red light at the site.

As a Miami Gardens wrongful death lawyer, I’m pleased that the jury apparently did not believe these arguments. It is unfortunately common in wrongful death cases for the defendant to blame the victim. However, Florida law requires drivers to treat flashing red lights as if they were stop signs, and Harvey reportedly did not do that. That means he ran the red and is legally responsible for the results. I’d also like to discuss the fact that Harvey was at work at the time of the accident, which usually means the employer shares legal responsibility. That might seem like a moot point when the driver is self-employed, but in fact, it might mean Harvey’s business assets as well as his individual assets are available to pay a legal judgment. In this case, that could mean business insurance as well as his individual auto insurance.

Continue reading " Jury Awards $8.5 Million to Family of Motorcyclist Killed by Driver Who Ignored Light " »

As a Weston bicycle accident attorney, I know Florida has a high rate of bicycle crashes. But until the St. Petersburg Times examined the issue Dec. 6, I didn’t realize Florida had literally the most fatal bicycle accidents of any state, and the second-highest rate of fatal crashes per million of population. The newspaper examined the issue after the Tampa area saw nine fatal crashes since late July. It did not break down fatalities within the state, but said Florida had 125 bicycle accident deaths in the most recent year evaluated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That worked out to 6.82 deaths for every million people, a rate exceeded only by Delaware at 6.87 per million. In Tampa, 22 bicyclists were killed in 2009 and 30 in 2004.

A bicyclist told the newspaper that Tampa roads are not well designed to encourage sharing space between cars and bicyclists, but agreed with others that both groups need to treat the other with respect. In the nine cases from this year, the newspaper said, some were blamed on the rider and some on the driver. No serious charges were filed in any of the nine cases, although cases are still open in at least two cases, one with a hit-and-run driver. In the first of the series, 75-year-old LeRoy Collins Jr., whose father was once governor of Florida, was hit as he rode through a crosswalk in Tampa. The driver said she didn’t see him and no charges were filed. In another, 30-year-old Kayoko Ishizuka died in Tampa after being struck by a hit-and-run driver. That driver was charged with leaving the scene of the accident.

Those charges, and a few others described in the article, concerns me as a Pembroke Park bicycle accident lawyer. There may be more information about the case involving Collins, but if the driver “didn’t see” him because she failed to watch the road, criminal charges might be reasonable. Similarly, the driver in Ishizuka’s death is facing only a leaving the scene charge, not that charge plus vehicular homicide. And a third victim, a 41-year-old math teacher, was rear-ended in Dade City by a motorist who apparently faces no penalties. It’s possible that all of these drivers truly had no way to avoid the crashes, but situations where that’s true are not common. What is common, in my experience, is bad driving caused by distractions, sleepiness, intoxication and other conditions under which no one should drive. It’s surprising that prosecutors didn’t feel they had evidence to bring charges in any of the nine cases.

Continue reading " Unusually High Rate of Bicycle Accident Deaths Reveals Florida Has Most in Nation " »

As a Coral Springs child injury lawyer, I was interested to see a recent Sun-Sentinel article on penalties for a day care center whose employees’ negligence caused a toddler’s death. Two-year-old Haile Brockington died in August after employees left her strapped into the van the center used to pick up children and take them to Katie’s Kids Learning Center. The van’s driver and the director of the center are charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, and both were fired from the center. However, the owners of the center, Kathryn Muhammad and Barbara Dilthey, were fined $2,000 by the Palm Beach County Environmental Hearing Board. That fine reflects the maximum $500 fine for each of the center’s four violations of child care regulations, which were not named.

The fired employees appear to have simply forgotten about Haile Brockington on Aug. 5, the day of her death. The police and health department found that the adults had signed off for Haile on transportation, meal and attendance logs. Meanwhile, Haile was actually left in the center’s van for more than six hours, on a day when temperatures reached 91 degrees. The county health department had recommended a total fine of $1,000 for Katie’s Kids, but the Environmental Hearing Board doubled that fine because the case involved the death of a young child. In fact, one board member said he would like to have raised the fine more if there had been a way to do it. Muhammad and Dilthey are also facing a lawsuit by the Brockington family.

That doesn’t surprise me at all. Injuries to children and teens are some of the most heart-breaking injuries I see in my job as a Deerfield Beach injuries to minors attorney. Often, as in this case, the victim is too young or too incapacitated in other ways to have any control over the situation or even raise an alarm. Fortunately for this family, the fines against the day care center are not the only legal consequences for its part in the child’s death. Whether or not the county has assessed an adequate fine, the family can pursue justice through a wrongful death lawsuit. Families that have lost someone through another person’s negligence can never replace that person with money, of course, but they can win fair compensation for their emotional losses and all of the costs caused by the death, which often include very high medical and funeral costs.

Continue reading " Palm Beach County Day Care Gets Maximum Fine for Child’s Death in Hot Van " »

I was disappointed, as a Hollywood motorcycle accident attorney, to see that a woman suffered serious injuries in a bike crash on the Christmas Toys in the Sun Run. As the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Dec. 6, Lidieth Gil, 33, suffered serious injuries after she was thrown from the bike on which she was riding. Gil was a passenger on a bike belonging to Edward Contreras Jr., who suffered minor injuries. Also suffering minor injuries were the people on the bike that rear-ended Gil and Contreras, Antonio and Janice Martins of Plantation. All four were expected to survive their injuries, but none were wearing motorcycle helmets. The roads were already closed for the annual event, and the collision apparently did not stop the parade.

The Christmas Toys in the Sun Run is a yearly motorcycle parade that is also raises money and gifts for Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. Starting at Seminole Coconut Creek Casino, the riders end at Markham Park in Sunrise, where an outdoor fair is held. Financial and toy donations serve as admission. Interstate 95 is closed in one direction for the event. The riders were on that highway, just past the overpass for Racetrack Road in Pompano Beach, when traffic ahead slowed down. Contreras slowed for the traffic, but Antonio Martins apparently did not, and ran into the back of the bike containing Contreras and Gil. The resulting collision knocked both motorcycles over, and Gil suffered unspecified serious injuries. She was taken to North Broward Medical Center in Pompano Beach. An observer caught the accident on video from an overpass.

As a motorcyclist and a Margate motorcycle crash lawyer, most of the accidents I hear about are accidents involving motorcyclists and cars. This accident involves zero cars, but all of the same legal relationships and theories are involved. Just like drivers, motorcyclists have a legal duty to take reasonable care on the road, and that means paying enough attention to slow down when traffic ahead is slowing. Failing to do that can have tragic results, as the video shows. If Gil and Contreras are interested in pursuing a lawsuit, they will be able to recover compensation for their medical costs, pain and injuries. The biggest difference is that when a bike hits another bike, all of the parties are likely to be hurt -- whereas a car’s occupants would likely be unharmed. In fact, as a rider, Martins should be very aware of the importance of paying attention.

Continue reading " Motorcycle Passenger Seriously Injured After Another Bike Rear-Ends Hers on Toy Run " »

As a Boynton Beach car crash attorney, I noted an accident a month ago that injured a 17-year-old high school student from The Acreage. As the Palm Beach Post reported Nov. 26, Ryan Garcia was hit by a school bus just before sunrise Oct. 27 as he crossed the street outside Seminole Ridge High School. Garcia was initially hospitalized in serious condition, but has stabilized. In response to the crash, some parents in The Acreage are now demanding more lights and sidewalks from Palm Beach County and the local school board. Most recently, parents marched on the week of Thanksgiving in favor of more lights. The Indian Trail Improvement District has also voted in favor of more lights.

A parent group led by Karen Keogh is calling for lights along Seminole Pratt-Whitney Road, where the high school is located, north to 60th Street North. Keogh said this would make students safer when they walk to school, which many students do when they live within two miles of the campus and do not receive bus service. For the same reason, Keogh is also calling for a sidewalk on the west side of the road near the school, which currently has a sidewalk only on the east side. And she is calling for flashing lights marking a crosswalk, which the county usually provides only at elementary and middle schools. The county is already planning more lights south of the school, and an official said he’d be happy to arrange a meeting with parents.

What interests me, as a Delray Beach auto accident lawyer, is the parent group’s implication that failure to adequately light the area may be responsible for Garcia’s accident. Of course, that’s in addition to any responsibility the bus driver or Garcia himself might have. But if it’s true that the lighting was inadequate, that would make Palm Beach County at least partly liable for Garcia’s injuries. That makes the case instantly more complicated if Garcia and his family are interested in seeking compensation for his injuries. Government agencies typically have the insurance to pay any financial compensation a court orders, but to get that court order, victims must go through a more complicated process than the law requires for suing a private business. In general, plaintiffs must start an administrative process quickly -- usually within months -- to preserve their right to sue later.

Continue reading " Acreage Parents March for Streetlights Near High School Where Student Was Hit by Car " »

A news article caught my eye as a Coral Springs car wreck lawyer recently because it featured a celebrity resident of South Florida caught driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. David Cassidy, a former teen idol who appeared on the 1970s-era television show “The Partridge Family,” was arrested Nov. 3 for driving under the influence of both alcohol and hydrocodone, a powerful prescription opiate painkiller sold most commonly as Vicodin. Cassidy lives in Fort Lauderdale, but was pulled over in St. Lucie County on the Florida Turnpike after an officer noticed erratic driving. Cassidy tried but failed to complete field sobriety tests to the officer’s satisfaction, which was captured on a video released Nov. 29. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel said Cassidy has pleaded not guilty to DUI, failing to stay in his lane and an open container violation.

According to information released by the local prosecutor’s office, Cassidy was pulled over after an FHP trooper noticed him weaving around the road and nearly causing a crash. The trooper tried to take Cassidy through field sobriety tests, but Cassidy apparently had trouble following directions and kept interrupting. However, the video shows him apologizing and trying to cooperate, saying he does not believe he is impaired and offering to run through the tests a second time. Instead, he was arrested, and blood tests later registered blood-alcohol concentrations of 0.139 and 0.141, both above the 0.08 legal limit. Cassidy said he’d taken legally prescribed hydrocodone and had a glass of wine at lunch, but troopers also found a half-empty bottle of bourbon in the car. He was scheduled to appear in court again Nov. 30.

As a Wellington auto accident attorney, I was particularly interested in this case because it might raise drivers’ awareness of the dangers of driving on prescription drugs. Many drivers are surprised to find out that even when a drug was legally prescribed for a legitimate medical need, that doesn’t mean it’s legal to take it before driving. Florida law lists some of these drugs in detail, but in general, the prohibited drugs are the ones that could affect drivers’ ability to drive safely, including sleep aids, strong painkillers, sedatives and anti-anxiety medications. Vicodin, the drug Cassidy had apparently been using, has the further problem of increasing the effects of alcohol. This can make patients drunker than they expect from even small amounts of alcohol. But this should be very well marked on the drug’s label, giving Cassidy little excuse to be surprised by it.

Continue reading " Former Partridge Family Actor Arrested for Intoxicated Driving on Florida Turnpike " »