Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City & Inverness, Florida Accident Attorney and Alachua County DUI Lawyer Blogs

Federal Regulators Hold Truckers Accountable for Fatigue and Speed - Gainesville Truck Accident Attorney Explains

It's Important to Learn How to Share the Road with Semis - A Heads up from an Ocala Truck Accident Lawyer.

With summer time in full swing and more of us on the Interstates, knowing how to share the road with semi-trailer trucks is an important part of highway safety. Too often, accidents occur between cars and trucks because of poor driving and lack of awareness.

This issue should not be taken lightly. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, car drivers made mistakes in 70 percent of fatal accidents involving trucks. The 1999 study, The Unsafe Driving Acts of Motorists in the Vicinity of Large Trucks, cited the most common mistakes motorists make while driving near trucks to be: not signaling lane changes, passing abruptly and driving too slow in the fast lane. The study also ranked Florida third for fatal truck accidents (California was #1; Texas was #2).

This news may be shocking to some but as an experienced Ocala truck accident attorney, I have handled many devestating accidents involving large trucks. Most truck drivers walk away without a scratch while motorists suffer severe injuries or death. It is important for all of us to learn how to share the road with trucks.

Bicycle Safety Awareness Month, May 2009--6-year old cyclist survives Collision with FedEx 18-wheeler

As a personal injury lawyer with 38 years of experience, I am concerned for child bike safety, since child cyclists are "drivers" and are responsible for knowing and following state and local traffic law.  Cycling can put kids in dangerous situations, face-to-face with nearly 100,000 pounds of semi truck and busy rush-hour traffic-sometimes, with devastating effects.

The May 2009 FedEx tractor trailer crash involving a 6-year-old child cyclist is a miraculous exception. The boy astonishingly survived an 18-wheeler collision while riding his bike on a sidewalk. The collision highlights May 2009 as Bicycle Safety Awareness Month and the importance of wearing a properly fitted helmet. While the boy dodged death as the semi passed over him, it seems sheer luck that he received only non-life threatening head and facial injuries since-he failed to wear a helmet, as required by Florida law. 

 Florida law states that children under 16 years old are required to wear a properly fitted helmet when "driving" a bike or riding as passenger. Wearing a helmet is not only the law but may reduce the risk of severe head and brain injuries by 85% to 88%.   While the boy was lucky, his bike was not. The truck dragged the mangled bike beneath its tires for nearly a half mile.

Not only did the boy fail to wear a helmet, his bike reportedly had no brakes-another law violation. Florida law requires that all bikes must be equipped with properly functioning brakes.  It is possible the child simultaneously was unable to stop at the stop-sign intersection, and the truck was unaware of the small cyclist as it made a right turn out of a busy shopping plaza.

The National Safety Commission reports that a common cause of accidents is low visibility of cyclists and pedestrians in high congestion areas.  Motor vehicle drivers simply fail to notice pedestrians and bikers-sometimes because of dark colored clothing or bad weather. Examining pictures taken shortly after the accident, it appears rain may have been a contributing factor to the FedEx crash.

Legally, it is important to note that a parent may not knowingly allow a child to fail to comply with Florida bicycle laws-such as not having working brakes or not wearing a helmet. It is also interesting that failure to wear a helmet is not a reason a bike accident victim can be found contributory negligent or at fault, meaning it is not a reason the reduce damages for the victim in a civil suit.

It is also important that the 6-year-old crash victim was apparently following the National Highway Traffic Safety Association's  (NHTSA) recommendations in riding on the sidewalk. The NHTSA recommends that children 10 year of age and younger ride only on the sidewalk due to maturity levels and inability to fully understand and follow traffic laws.

 Taking safety precautions with child cyclists is especially vital in Florida-since Florida outranks all other states in bicyclist fatalities, nationwide, according the Florida Bicycle Association.  The National Safety Commission explains that Florida has high tourism rates and a long-lasting warm weather season, making outdoor activities like biking especially attractive.

  In 2007, 24 % (or 10,000) bicyclists nationwide, who were injured in motor vehicle accidents, were children 14 years or younger, according to the NHTSA's Traffic Safety Facts 2007: children.  Children-specifically young boys-are especially vulnerable "drivers" and should always wear a helmet.

For more information:

Child Cyclists and Motor Vehicles - Safety Tips to Save a Child's Life

Semi's and Bicycles generally a deadly combination - Know the law and teach bicycle safety to your children

Bicyclists - Know the Law and Stay Alive

Semi's and Bicycles generally a deadly combination... Know the laws and teach bicycle safety to your children!

Lemarcus Rayford was extremely lucky in his encounter with the FedEx truck in Gainesville last week; however, this is usually not the case when a bicycle and semi meet on the road. I would like to suggest that parents take this time to discuss simple safety tips with your children and review the traffic laws regarding bicycles... It just may save their lives.

As an experienced personal injury lawyer, I have seen my share of tragic bicycle accidents - many of which could have been prevented.  It is vital for motor vehicle operators, bicyclists, children, and parents of child cyclists to know the law about bicycles and save lives.

Florida outranks all other states in bicycle deaths nationwide, according to the Florida Bicycle Association.  In 2007, 3.8% of all Florida traffic fatalities were bicycle drivers, totaling 121 statewide deaths, according to Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Traffic Crash report (2007).  Plus, 4,347 bicyclists and passengers were injured in traffic collisions. 

Additionally, children are especially vulnerable to bicycle accidents. A properly fitted helmet can reduce the risk of a head injury by 85 %, according to the NHTSA.  Plus, more children ages 5 to 14 visit the emergency room for bike accidents than any other sport-many of these injuries involve the head and brain.

Know the laws and teach bicycle safety to your children.

For More Information:

Bicyclists - Know the Law and Stay Alive 

Bicyclists, 6, Survives FedEX tractor Trailor Crash

Safety Tips to Save a Child's Life


         

It is Time for the Legislature to Not be Asleep at the Wheel!

The semi driver, Reinaldo Andujar Gonzalez, 30, was arrested on Tuesday April 21, 2009, on charges of vehicular homicide and reckless driving with serious bodily injury for the death of a Marion County student in September 2008.  The devastating aftermath left a school bus in flames and an 8^th grade student dead.

 Vehicular homicide, a second degree felony, is the killing of another human caused by operation of a motor vehicle in a reckless manner that is likely to cause death or great bodily injury to the victim.  If convicted of vehicular homicide, Gonzalez could be:

• imprisoned for up to 15 years;
• fined up to $10,000; and
• ordered to serve 120 community service hours in a hospital that serves victims of car accidents.            

 Gonzalez was arrested on lesser charges than Jacksonville trucker Alvin Wilkerson, who slammed into the rear of car that was safely stopped behind a school bus on S.R. 121 in Union County in 2006, killing seven children.  Like Gonzalez, Wilkerson was alleged to be asleep at the wheel.

Wilkerson was arrested on seven counts of vehicular homicide and manslaughter, also a second degree felony.

Wilkerson is currently serving 7 years in prison for pleading no contest.  He is scheduled to be released on March 12, 2015, subject to gain time. 

Except for a short rest, Wilkerson had been awake 34 hours prior to the accident that killed the seven children, ranging in age from 20 months to 15 years. It is reported that Wilkerson had a dog in his cab at the time of the accident that may have been another driving distraction.  

As an experienced personal injury lawyer I do not think it is just truckers that are "asleep at the wheel".  I think it is time for our legislators to wake up and pass legislature reform to make our roads safer. Reform that includes moving school bus stops from highways, reducing the number of hours truckers can driver per day,  forcing trucking companies to take responsibility for their drivers and make big rig drivers and cell phone use illegal.  For more of my opinions on this please see, Asleep at the Wheel?  

Sleeplessness to Blame In Semi and Bus Crash? 

The rule establishing the number of hours for truck drivers behind the wheel is challenged in court.

Bill for School Bus Stop Fails

We Don't Have to Wait for it to be the Law to Turn Off Our Cell Phones

6 Days on the Road, May not be Safe for the American Public

Sharing the Road with Tractor-Trailers: Protect Yourself now more than EVER!

As a truck accident lawyer that for 37 years has been helping the victims of big truck accidents, and as a driver, I know that it does not require a high level of intelligence to know that the longer a person is driving the more dangerous they are on the road.   

In the US, approximately 5,600 people are killed annualy in traffic accidents involving commercial trucks. Although many of the crashes are attributed to the truck drivers falling asleep behind the wheel or not paying attention due to the prolonged driving, auto drivers can do several things to protect themselves on a road.  Here are a few of the main ones.

Keep your distance. The size of trucks makes it difficult for the truck drivers to slow down quickly. At 55 mph, a car on a dry road with good brakes can stop in about 200 feet, while a large truck requires approximately twice as much distance. At highway speed, a truck on a wet road may require about half a mile to come to a full stop.

Make sure you are Visible. Many trucks have blind spots, unable to see a car on a road. Do not stay in the "no-zone", which is the area behind and beside a truck where a truck driver has limited visibility.

Keep in mind that the driver of the truck could be tired and have been on the road longer than is safe.

More of my thoughts :  "6 days on the road" may not be safe for the american public!
News:  The rule establishing the number of hours for truck drivers behind the wheel is challenged in court.

Beware of Trucks and Busses!

In light of the recent deaths from a big truck accident and a bus accident in North Florida,  I would like to give some basic information on how driver's of cars can protect themselves.  Truth is, the majority of accidents that occur with big trucks or buses, Big Rigs, Semi's, call them what you will, will lead to death or serious injury to the people driving the normal sized vehicle and the driver behind the wheel of a big truck or bus will usually walk away from an accident without a scratch.

 The fact of the matter is that truck drivers need to have experience to know how to operate their equipment right in order to make the road safer for everyone. But how can we be sure that the drivers behind the big vehicles on the road have lots of experience when it can take as little as 3 weeks for someone to get their Commercial Driver's License (CDL).

 The Commercial Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 was signed into law as a way to improve highway safety and as a way to make states test for certain driving skills of people operating commercial vehicles at the lowest federal standard. It was not until 1992 that drivers of a commercial vehicle would need to acquire their CDL, in which can be a program as short as 3 weeks to complete.

 Even after 3 weeks of "in-depth" training how can we be sure the truck we are driving next to isn't on their 11^th hour straight behind the wheel? According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration drivers of commercial vehicle drivers can drive up to 11 hours straight without a break. Eleven hours of straight staring at pavement could get anyone in a daze.

There is no sure way to protect our selves from big vehicle accidents, but being aware of the driver's potential lack of experience and taking little precautions here and there could help prevent a fatal accident.

You should know that it takes almost three times the distance for a semi to come to a complete stop than a dual axel vehicle, and with their size, they also have a blind spot that can be up to 10 times longer than one on a regular sized vehicle. It is best to follow in a safe distance behind the truck, 5-seconds behind is recommended. It is never safe to drive along side a big vehicle for extended periods of time. When you are along side a big vehicle try to pass it, and it is best to pass a big vehicle along the left side. The driver of a big rig has a little less of a blind spot on his or her side. After passing, make sure that you are able to see both of the truck or busses headlights in your rearview mirror. This will ensure that the truck or bus sees you, and that way, if you by accidently slow down, they will have time to slow down as well. DO NOT pass the truck if you have to speed up a great amount just to pass it.

Our hearts go out to the families of the victims in these accidents. 

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090203/ARTICLES/902030285

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090203/ARTICLES/902030281