Personal Injury FAQs

If you are injured in an accident, it may be beneficial to have personal injury protection (PIP). While it is required in some states, in others it isn’t available. Here in the state of Florida, it is a requirement to have PIP, so while many people know that it is part of their insurance plan, many aren’t aware as to what PIP actually covers. Sometimes called “no fault coverage”, PIP provides benefits to you no matter who caused the accident. It covers medical bills and lost wages for you and, under certain circumstances, relatives or other passengers in your vehicle. Standard PIP covers 80% of your medical bills up to $10,000, and this is usually accompanied by a deductible. If you buy extended PIP coverage, the $10,000 limit can change. PIP requires medical providers to reduce charges (normally around 200%) of what can be billed. Another benefit to having PIP is the opportunity to recover lost wages.

Under PIP, you can get up to 60% of your normal pay. However, the most that PIP covers is $10,000 total, so recovering these lost wages can take away from paying for medical bills. Recovering lost wages requires a couple things, the first of which is missing work because of your accident. You will then need to complete a wage verification form and submit it to your auto insurance company. These are the basics of what personal injury protection covers, but if there are any questions, one should always contact a attorney regarding their personal case.

As with other types of personal injury cases, an injured person from slip and fall accident in Florida is entitled to be compensated or reimbursed for:

• Out-of-pocket expenses for medical bills, therapy, prescription drugs, etc (present and future)
• Lost wages (present and future)
• Pain and Suffering
• Inconvenience
• Mental anguish
• Loss of ability to work
• Physical impairment, disability and disfigurement

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Premises Liability cases from tripping or slipping and falling are challenging to prove and litigate. It is important to consult with an Fl experienced accident attorney or law firm who specializes in slip and fall cases to see if you have a case and to do it ASAP to gather accurate evidence before conditions change or witness become difficult to locate.

We at Meldon Law strongly believe that public education is the first step in the prevention of an accident or in the recovery from one.

We are experienced personal injury attorneys, trial attorneys, negotiators, litigators, paralegals, and staff that have been proudly working to get accident victims the justice they deserve for over 50 years in Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Inverness, and the rest of North Central Florida and North Florida. Accidents involving a car crash, truck wreck, and motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian accidents, dog bites, slip and falls, medical malpractice, and criminal defense are all included in our practice.

Based on Jeffrey Meldon’s, founder of Meldon Law, over 50 years of helping accident victims get justice and a fair shake from the insurance companies, he has written the consumer guide book, Seven Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Florida Accident Case. You can request your free, no obligation copy right now, or contact our office for your complimentary copy sent to you today.

Contact Meldon Law immediately if you have been involved in a serious auto, truck, or motorcycle accident. We are in your community, have the experience and resources required to work towards obtaining a fair settlement for you – we are here to help you.

In any kind of “premises liability” or trip and fall, or slip and fall case in Florida, whether the accident occurred at a shopping mall, business restroom, or walking down the street; the steps to take if you feel you were injured because a business was at fault, for the most part are similar..

Here they are:

1. Get medical care right away, or ASAP.
2. Document all medical care.
3. Take pictures to document evidence of the unsafe condition and of the injury.
4. Write down as many of the details and observations about the property and circumstances of your fall.
5. Get names of any witnesses.
6. Report the incident to the store owner right away.
7. Consult with a person injury attorney ASAP if you think you have a serious injury.
8. Save other evidence such as the shoes or clothing that you were wearing at the time of the injury.
9. Get a copy of any incident report that was written and get it at the time it was written.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: It is important to document the conditions that caused the injury and to contact a attorney ASAP. This is because an unsafe condition can be remedied or changed after the fact, and it is important to show the conditions as they were on the day the injury occurred. A personal injury attorney (accident attorney) can send out an expert investigator to document and evaluate the dangerous condition and gather evidence.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Premises Liability cases from tripping or slipping and falling are challenging to prove and litigate. It is important to consult with an experienced serious injury slip and fall attorney to see if you have a case and to do it ASAP so accurate evidence can be documented before conditions change or witness become difficult to locate.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: It is common for insurance companies to act quickly and offer a small settlement before the full extent of your injuries become apparent, or before you seek legal representation. It is also common for the owner or the business or their insurance company to deny that the unsafe condition ever existed. Consult with a skilled personal injury attorney before agreeing to any settlement.

Briefly, Premises Liability is a broad legal category of cases which refer to situations when an individual is injured on a property or premise and the owner of the property is held liable for the injury. Slip and Fall, Trip and Fall cases in Florida fall under the category of premises liability.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Injuries from slip or trip and fall accidents are common and can be serious and happen in a variety of places and under a variety of circumstances. If you feel you have a premises liability case, consult a personal injury attorney ASAP; doing this will give you the best chance at winning your case.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: It is important to consult with a experienced slip and fall attorney to find out whether you have a case or not and to also find out if it is worth pursuing legally.

It is possible; however, whether anyone injured by slipping and falling in a retail store can sue or receive a financial settlement from the store depends on the specific facts of the case.

A business has a duty to use reasonable and ordinary care to keep and maintain the property, including the floors, reasonably safe for customers. The business also has a duty to warn customers of a dangerous condition that creates an unreasonable risk of harm, if it is known to the owner and not likely to be discovered by the customer.

In order to prove that the business was responsible for a fall, it must be proven that:

• The danger (water on the floor in this case), was not obvious and visible to the customer.
• There was no way that the customer could have reasonable seen it.
• The owner should have known about the danger or did have actual knowledge of it and failed to clean it up or fix the dangerous condition.
• There was no warning the customer of the danger.
• There was an injury.
• The injury was a direct result of the slip and fall in the business.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: People have a duty to look where they are walking, and if something is “open and obvious”, an obvious danger, the business may not be liable for injuries caused by it. This is one reason that makes “slip and fall” cases which fall under the category of Premises Liability is difficult to prove by even an experienced Fl slip and fall injury law firm.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Storeowners must use reasonable and ordinary care to keep the property reasonably safe for customers. This includes warning customers of non-obvious dangerous conditions known to the owner and to use ordinary care in the active operations of the business and to make reasonable inspections to discover dangerous conditions and make them safe.

States have different laws regarding responsibility for dog bites.

Some states have a rule that a person is not responsible the first time their dog bites someone, since they didn’t have prior knowledge. Florida is different. In Florida, even if it is the first bite, the dog owner is responsible. This concept is called, “strict liability”.

If you are bitten by a dog you can be compensated for:

• Your medical bills,
• Your pain and suffering,
• Any disfigurement or scaring cause by the bite
• Any psychological trauma caused by the attack

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: If you own a dog, make sure you have a homeowner’s policy or renters insurance that covers dog bites. Many homeowner’s policies exclude liability coverage related to dog bites, others will exclude coverage based on the breed.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: “Don’t hide your dog from your insurance agent. Find out if you are protected and if your dog is a breed that is covered.”

Something to be aware of is: If you or your child are mauled by someone else’s dog, you may never see a penny because your own homeowner’s policy will not cover you for someone else’s negligence; Florida has limits regarding victims’ rights to go after assets of people.

Strict Liability is a legal doctrine referring to absolute legal responsibility for an injury that can be imposed on the “wrongdoer” without proof of carelessness or fault.

As a Gainesville Dog Bite Attorney, what is unique about Strict Liability is that a person does not have to be found careless, or at-fault, or negligent for something that happened that caused harm to another.

In short it means that in certain types of cases, you can be held liable or responsible for something even if you did nothing wrong, there does not need to be proof of negligence when strict liability is applied in the case.

The bottom line is that in most cases there are defenses available to the claim of negligence as in accident or slip and fall cases. However, where there is strict liability, there are no defenses.

Strict Liability is most commonly seen in dog bite cases, and product liability lawsuits for defectively manufactured products.

In dog bites the owner of the dog is responsible or liable even if it was the first bite and the bite was provoked by the bitten person and the dog is restrained in a yard or home.

With defective products, the injured person has to prove that the product caused the injury, but does not have to prove how the manufacturer was careless.

I am local accident attorney Jeffrey Meldon and I strongly believe that public education is the first step in the prevention of and/or recovery from a serious accident. My office and I take pride in our work, and the results we get for our clients.

Meldon Law is a regional law firm that is located in Gainesville, Florida. We are personal injury attorneys, litigators and trial attorneys that have been working to get accident victims the justice they deserve for over 50 years throughout North Florida and all over Florida. Accidents involving a car crash, truck wreck, motorcycle, ATVs, bicycle, pedestrian accidents, and dog bites, slip and falls, medical malpractice, and criminal defense are all included in our practice.

As an attorney specializing in dog bites with over 50 years of experience, I have seen the devastating effects of these attacks. As a dog owner, you may be strictly liable to the victim for damages including: medical costs, and pain and suffering, regardless of whether this was the first attack. Hospital bills alone can easily range in the thousands of dollars, or more, depending on the severity of the injuries.

If your dog severely injures or kills someone, then the dog will likely be confiscated by animal control and possibly be destroyed after an appeal period of 10 days passes. If the dog was previously declared dangerous by authorities, and it attacked or killed someone, then the owner could face misdemeanor or felony criminal charges. If the authorities receive a first time report of an attack, then animal control might impound a dog and require the owner to register their dog as a dangerous animal.

Yes, as an experienced personal injury attorney, dedicated to helping people recover damages in civil suits, it is important to know that a dog attack may result in misdemeanor or felony criminal charges. Criminal charges are more likely when a dog was previously declared dangerous by the authorities and it attacks someone or if the dog seriously injures or kills someone and the owner had prior knowledge of the dog’s dangerous traits.

An owner is not just liable for attacks on people but also animals in Ocala and the rest of Florida. The law states that a dog owner may be liable for damages resulting from an attack on “domestic animals” or “livestock” such as a horse, cow, goat, ostrich, dog, cat, chicken or other bird.

Yes. This is sad but true and sometimes necessary to protect the public welfare. The law states that a dog might be confiscated, quarantined for 10 days to allow for the owner to file an appeal, and then put to death in a humane way, if the dog caused severe injury or death, even if it was the first attack.

The Attractive Nuisance Doctrine protects a child who wanders or trespasses onto another’s property and is injured by a dangerous condition. Attractive nuisance is a negligence action, based on a land owner’s premise liability and to protect children from unreasonable risk of harm.

Generally, a land owner may be responsible for a child trespasser’s injuries if:

1. The property owner knows or has reason to know that the place where a dangerous condition exists is one where a child may trespass;
2. The dangerous condition is known to or should be known to cause unreasonable risk of harm to a child;
3. The child, because of their young age, does not realize the risk involved with the dangerous condition;
4. The burden of eliminating the danger is less than the risk posed to a child; and
5. The property owner fails to act with reasonable care to remove the danger or protect the child from the risk of danger.

Additionally, the dangerous condition must be one that is man-made, like a pool or hot tub, and constitutes an attractive “trap” for a child. Land owners near a playground, residential area, school, or other populated area where children frequent may have a greater duty to eliminate dangers. It’s important to know that a natural body of water, like a lake, stream, or pond may not be an attractive nuisance, so make sure to protect children.

One argument that a landlord may use to try to escape liability following a Florida dog bite is to claim that you entered the property without permission. If this is the case, it is vital that you seek the guidance of an experienced Gainesville dog bite attorney. Your attorney can help to assess the facts and circumstances surrounding the bite to determine whether you are entitled to compensation for your injuries. Some of the factors that the attorney will consider include:

• Did the landlord give the tenant permission to keep the dog on the premises?
• Was there language in the lease agreement relating to dogs?
• Did the landlord know that the dog was dangerous?
• Did the landlord take reasonable measures to prevent dog bite injuries?
• Where on the property did the dog bite occur?
• Were you invited to come onto the property?
• What was your purpose for being on the property?
• Did you exceed your invitation by entering an area of the property where you were not supposed to or expected to go?

Often, the answer as to whether or not the landlord is liable may not be clear. In order to protect your legal rights, an experienced and knowledgeable legal professional should be brought in to look out for your best interests. To learn more about whether you have a claim for damages against a landlord following an injury, contact an experienced Gainesville dog bite attorney today. Call Jeffrey Meldon & Associates at our toll free number, 800-373-8000, for a free consultation.

We at Meldon Law strongly believe that public education is the first step in the prevention of an accident or in the recovery from one.

We are experienced personal injury attorneys, trial attorneys, negotiators, litigators, paralegals, and staff that have been proudly working to get accident victims the justice they deserve for over 50 years in Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Inverness, and the rest of North Central Florida and North Florida. Accidents involving a car crash, truck wreck, and motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian accidents, dog bites, slip and falls, medical malpractice, and criminal defense are all included in our practice.

Based on Jeffrey Meldon’s, founder of Meldon Law, over 50 years of helping accident victims get justice and a fair shake from the insurance companies, he has written the consumer guide book, Seven Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Florida Accident Case. You can request your free, no obligation copy right now, or contact our office for your complimentary copy sent to you today.

Florida is a state that imposes strict liability on the owners of dogs for dog bite cases. This means that in general, when a dog attacks a human being, the dog owner is liable. This is true regardless if the owner had reason to believe the dog was potentially dangerous. There are certain exceptions, however, to this general rule. One such exception is the so-called “Bad Dog” exception. Under this provision, if a dog owner posts an obvious and readable sign warning of the dangers of the dog, the owner may not be liable.

Since recovery for your medical expenses and pain and suffering is dependent upon the dog owner’s liability for the Gainesville dog attack, it is vital that you consult with an experienced attorney. A skilled attorney will analyze the following questions to determine whether the dog owner may be liable for your injuries:

• Was the victim age six or older?
• Did the Florida dog bite attack happen at the dog owner’s premises?
• Was a “Bad Dog” or “Beware of Dog” sign prominently posted?
• Was the sign easy to read?
• Was the victim able to read the sign?

Yes. As a Gainesville bike accident attorney, I know that a bicyclist is required by law to either carry a bell with them or equip their bike with a bell.

A bell should be sounded when overtaking a pedestrian on a roadway or sidewalk. It is also intended to alert a pedestrian of a, likely, fast moving vehicle approaching to avoid creating an accident.

For more information:

• Municode Library – Code of Ordinances

This is a good question. The general rule is that Florida law permits bicyclists to ride on the sidewalk. However, a city, county, or municipality may pass additional rules restricting bicyclists from sidewalks. The City of Gainesville allows people to ride on sidewalks unless specifically prohibited. Check with your area’s code of ordinances.

In answering this question as an accident attorney, safety is key. The National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) generally recommends that people 11 years of age and older ride on the street or roadway because it is safer. Motor vehicles may be more aware of bicyclists when they are travelling with the flow of motor vehicle traffic and obeying the same traffic signals.

Florida law only requires persons under the age of 16 to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle.

However, as an accident injury attorney that has represented many seriously injured bikers in Ocala, Gainesville and all of Central Florida, I recommend that everyone wear a helmet to protect themselves from traumatic brain injury, serious injury, or even death.

The best way to get in the habit of wearing a helmet is to find one that gets you excited-fashionable, comfortable, and safe.

As a personal injury attorney and long time resident of Gainesville, I am proud to tell you that if you live in North Central Florida, you can contact Safe Kids of North Central Florida to see if they are giving out free helmets.

Since June 2004, Safe Kids has given out approximately 3,000 helmets to children. Contact Safe Kids at (352) 231-4636 or online @ shandssafekides.org.

Remember, a helmet does not have to be expensive to give your child’s head adequate protection in the event of an accident.

As an accident attorney, I would like to give you a word of caution when buying used bicycle helmets because sometimes damage is nearly impossible to detect to the lay eye because the foam can be impacted underneath the hard shell.

I understand that children grow quickly and budgets can be tight, however, if you buy a used helmet, for your child or yourself, make sure it hasn’t been in any accidents and inspect it for any signs of damage. If it has been in a fall or a collision, then the internal foam may be impacted, and it will no longer safely protect your or your child’s head from brain injury.

Also, if you buy a used helmet in a retail store, it should have an ASTM, Snell, or ANSI certification. Look for a sticker inside the helmet.

Remember, a person should not have to sacrifice safety for themselves or their child if they decide to buy a new bicycle helmet at discount prices. According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, a $10 helmet will offer the same impact protection as a $200 model – as long as the helmet carries the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) sticker.

This is an important question and the answer is, when buying a new helmet, look for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) certification. There should be a sticker inside the helmet showing that it meets national and state safety standards. These stickers are on all approved, adult and children’s, helmets.

This is one of the reasons that big truck accidents are more complex and complicated. There can be a variety of people and companies that can be held liable in the event of an accident when someone is hurt in a truck wreck. Whether it is your local delivery pick up truck or the semi 18 wheeler going down the interstate, there is more than just the driver to be held responsible.

In most truck accident cases there can be many responsible parties such as:

The driver The owner of the truck The employer The supervisor

The loader of the truck The mechanic The inspector

Anytime a large truck accident in Florida occurs, there is a substantial risk of significant injury to drivers, passengers, and other motorists. Rollover accidents are no exception. The size, shape, and weight of a semi-truck make these vehicles more susceptible to rolling over. When they do rollover, their size and weight increase the odds and severity of injuries. Unfavorable road conditions can raise the likelihood of these accidents occurring. Fortunately, a knowledgeable Florida truck accident attorney can help you receive the compensation that you deserve if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in such an accident.

Road conditions that increase the odds of big truck rollover in Florida include:

Surfaces that are wet from rain, water, snow, or spills Steep hills Roads that are winding Narrow roadways

Sharp turns Areas where construction or repairs are taking place Soft road surfaces

If the Florida rollover accident that caused your injuries was related to roadway conditions, you may potentially have additional responsible parties beyond the driver of the truck. Unfortunately, many victims make mistakes following an accident that drastically impact the size of their compensation. Obtaining the maximum compensation is important because you may be facing continuous and ongoing medical treatment, rehabilitation, and loss of income.

As the state with the highest rate of unintentional toddler drowning deaths in the U.S. from 1999 to 2003, Floridians cannot be too careful about pool safety.

In the U.S., drowning is the second leading cause of child death, second to motor vehicle accidents. Statistically, 50% of children submerged in a pool, die.

As a personal injury attorney in Gainesville and all of North Central Florida, I urge the following pool safety steps:

1. Fence, Cover, or Alarms. Equip your pool, old or new, with a statutorily compliant safety device, such as a 4-foot barrier or fence, a safety cover, house alarms. See the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act F.S. §§ 515.21-.37(2011) for specifications.
2. Door Alarms. If your house is a barrier around a pool, make sure the windows and doors have sensors and alarms.
3. Supervision. Always keep your eyes on children or medically frail seniors when a pool is present-even if no one is swimming.
4. Arm’s reach. When swimming, practice “touch supervision.” Keep your child at arm’s length.
5. If you’re considering installing a pool, wait until your child is at least 5 years old.
6. Visibility. Maintain water in clear condition and remove toys from the pool when not in use (also avoids attracting children). An automated pool cleaner or fun-shaped thermometer (rubber duck) may attract kids too.
7. Teach your child to swim when age appropriate;
8. Keep rescue equipment (life preserver, shepherd’s hook, and phone) near the pool.
9. When a child is missing, look in the pool first.
10. Learn CPR and how to swim.
11. Drain covers. Avoid entrapment by maintain pool and spa drain covers in good working order.
12. “Floaties.” Do not rely on air-filled flotation devices to supervise your child for you.
13. Prohibit running, diving, or riding toys near the pool.

Drowning may occur in a matter of minutes and can result in death or serious lifelong injury.

Under Florida law, the insurance company has the right to hire their own doctor to determine whether or not they should continue to pay for your medical bills under your own personal injury protection (PIP) policy. The insurance companies have certain doctors who are “hired guns” and for 99% of people they examine, these insurance hired doctors determine that little or no future medical treatment is necessary. The insurance company will then write you a letter saying that your future benefits are terminated. In many cases, the insurance company does this even when your own treating medical doctor determines that you do need future medical treatment.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Hire a Florida car accident attorney who is experienced at fighting the Florida insurance company PIP scams! There are tactics that can be used in these so called “independent medical evaluations”.

Hello, I am Jeffrey Meldon. As an accident attorney, I strongly believe that public education is the first step in the prevention of an accident or in the recovery from one.

My Office and Associates are located in Gainesville, Florida. We are Personal Injury Attorneys (Accident Attorneys). I take pride in my work and the results that I and my experienced team of Associates and Staff get for our clients.

Everyone in my Office works hard to help accident victims get the justice and the fair settlement or jury verdict that they deserve throughout the North and Central Florida area including: Ocala, Marion County, Alachua County, Lake City, Citrus County, Daytona Beach, and Inverness. I am highly involved with every case in my office and am the negotiator with insurance companies.

You can feel free to give me a call or contact my office, with any questions you may have, or to discuss your unique case.

Consultations and Case Evaluations are always Free.

It is common for the insurance adjuster to call after an accident, and to even ask for a recoded statement regarding your injuries, they can seem very nice and concerned for you, however, Jeffrey Meldon Tip: The day you were injured you entered a war zone – and the insurance company is NOT on your side of the battle NOR are you on an even playing field with them!

Here is why:

Insurance claims adjusters receive extensive training in how to save their company money and not necessarily in how to examine a claim and pay a fair settlement. They do this every day and all day. It is their job! It is the way they feed their families and pay for their homes. In short, they are the professional in this field and you are not. It has nothing to do with how smart or successful you are in other areas of you life. Insurance adjusters have the advantage because they settle claims for a living. In fact, many insurance companies reward their adjusters with bonuses or promotions based on how much money that person saves the company rather than how may claims they settle. They are not bad people; they are just doing their job.

This is one of the most frequently asked questions and the answer varies with each and every case and with the expertise and experience of the personal injury attorney working on an injury case and how skilled they are in navigating the accident insurance world, negotiating and litigating. (Experience makes the difference!)

Basically, your case is worth either what you agree with the insurance company it is worth or the amount of cash award awarded to you by a court of law.

There are many variables that go into answering this most important question. Here are a few:

• How much insurance is available? (For example, if a personal injury case is worth $100,000 but there is only $10,000 available in insurance coverage, then the case is more than likely worth only $10,000, because that is probably all they will get out of it).

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Make sure you are protected with adequate insurance coverage including Uninsured Motorist Coverage!

• How serious are the injuries? (For example, if there is $250,000 worth of insurance coverage, but the injuries are minor, the case will be worth much less than the $250,000). Check out this Library Article for more information on this.
• How much damage was done to the vehicle?
• How much are the person’s medical bills and projected future medical bills?
• How much income was lost because of the accident and future loss of income?
• Were there any prior or preexisting medical conditions?
• Who was at fault in the accident? (Florida is a comparative fault state, if there is more than one person at fault for the crash the value of the case will be affected.)

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Unless you are in the business of evaluating and settling cases for a living you should look to an experienced personal injury attorney for guidance.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: If you have what may be a serious injury, it is important to get legal advice early on to avoid making a mistake that could wreck your case.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Beware, there are many strategies employed by insurance companies to settle cases for less than full value! Don’t become a victim a second time.

Seven Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Florida Accident Case, written by Attorney, Jeffrey Meldon, is a consumer guide book for accident cases in Florida. Whether you have been in an accident or not, this book contains valuable information for you! To get your free copy, contact us and request that it be sent to you free of charge or you can request it immediately online. All free of charge and with no obligation.

This is an excellent question as there are several very important Do’s and Don’ts that you should follow immediately after a car or truck accident and in the weeks following an accident.

Immediately after an accident:

Do These Things:

• Report the accident immediately to the nearest police department (call 911). The police will conduct an initial investigation that should include basic accident reconstruction and the interviewing of witnesses.
• Record the names and address of all witnesses to the accident (before they leave the scene) and take pictures of the accident scene. It is important to keep a disposable camera, notepad and pencil in your glove compartment
• Wait for the Emergency Medical Service (paramedics) to arrive on the scene so they can examine you.
• Go to the hospital or doctor immediately.
• Notify your insurance company.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: A delay in getting medical treatment can hurt your case as well as create the risk of making your injuries worse. Be honest about your injuries, nothing will damage your claim faster than being caught in a lie.

Do Not Do These Things:

• Talk with the other person’s insurance company until you have consulted with an attorney.
• Sign any insurance company documents, papers, or medial authorizations without speaking with an attorney. (To find out more about tactics Insurance Adjusters often use, I suggest you read this Library article.)

Within the next few weeks after an accident

Do These Things:

• Seek follow up medical care with a doctor who has experience in treating accident injuries. Be honest with your doctor about all your prior injuries and accidents.
• Educate yourself, do your homework, on how to select the best attorney for your case, one who can effectively represent you.
• Consult an experienced personal injury attorney about your case, if you are injured.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Be honest with your attorney, your attorney needs to know the good, the bad, and the ugly about your case to properly represent you!

• After consulting with your attorney, submit the forms necessary to get your medical bills and lost wages paid. Your attorney will help you with this.
• Refer insurance company calls to your attorney.
• Take notes before your doctor’s appointment so you can be sure your doctor accurately documents your progress in your medical records.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: You may want to write it down before hand and give it to your doctor at your office visit.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: If the information is not in your medical chart, it is difficult to prove your injury.

• Follow your doctor’s advice regarding your treatment.
• Make sure your doctor knows if your injuries are affecting your ability to work.
• Keep track of all the medical treatments, visits, and procedures you received after your injury, make a file with dates.

Do Not Do These Things!

• Exaggerate or minimize the extent of your injuries or symptoms to your doctor.
• Hide information from your attorney.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Your Florida car accident attorney needs to know the good, the bad, and the ugly about your case to properly and successfully represent you!

• Sign anything without consulting your attorney.
• Talk with your doctor about your lawsuit or your attorney’s advice.
• Stop your medical treatment too soon.

People are often confused about what PIP is, whose insurance company pays out the benefits in the event of an accident, and what is meant by Florida being a “no-fault” State. As a local personal injury attorney, here are the facts:

• PIP stands for Personal Injury Protection and under Florida law it is required that every vehicle owner and driver on the road have $10,000 worth of PIP insurance coverage.
• PIP benefits are paid by your own insurance company if you are in an accident.
• PIP benefits are paid by your own insurance company regardless of who was at fault for the accident. This is what is meant by Florida being a no-fault insurance State.
• PIP insurance pays for 80% of your medical bills and 60% of your lost wages, up to $10,000. This means, you have to recover the rest of your out of pocket expenses from the driver that caused the accident.
• PIP covers any accident or injury that involves a vehicle, even if you are on a bicycle or a pedestrian and are injured by a vehicle.

Beware: Even if you are completely innocent in an accident, you can get stuck with thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars of medical bills, loss of income, and a permanent injury. All of which can be devastating. Make sure you are adequately protected!

Because of this, Gainesville and Ocala car accident attorney Jeffrey Meldon wrote the book Buying Florida Auto Insurance – A 3 Step Approach to Purchasing Adequate Auto Insurance at Competitive Pricing.

Insurance is a topic that I feel extremely passionate about based on my 37 years of doing all I can to fight for justice for the injured as an accident attorney! Please read about my full insurance tips and recommendations in this Library Article.

Beware, even if you are completely innocent in an accident, not at fault, you can still get stuck with thousands or even hundreds of thousands worth of medical bills, loss of income, and a permanent injury that can devastate your life!

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UM) will protect you if the at-fault party in an accident has little or no liability insurance and your case is worth more than the amount of insurance the other person has. For example: If you have $100,000 of medical bills and lost wages, and the person that caused the accident has no insurance other than the minimum required insurance ($10,000 to pay for the other person’s car damage and $10,000 PIP to cover their own medical bills and lost wages), or even none at all. Over 50% of drivers on the road in Florida have little, only the legally required minimal insurance or non at all! Then you may have to come up with $90,000 out of your own pocket to cover your medical bills and lost wages, unless you have PIP plus $90,000 of UM insurance coverage.

Florida repealed the universal helmet law in 2000 for riders over the age of 21. So if you are over 21 years of age, you do not have to wear a helmet legally while riding a motorcycle or motor scooter. However, if you choose not to wear a helmet, you are legally required to carry $10,000 of Medical Payment Insurance.

The State of Florida only requires a driver and vehicle owner to have $10,000 of PIP insurance which covers part of their medical bills and lost wages and $10,000 worth of Property Damage to pay for the other person’s car repairs, if they were at fault for the accident.

It is easy to see the problem, especially when the $10,000 of PIP can often be used up by the time someone leaves the emergency room.

The short answer is, yes. Many people do not realize that the owner of the at-fault vehicle is first in line and the primary party responsible for legal liability issues regarding damages and injuries caused in an accident; the driver of the vehicle is second.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Sometimes it is hard to tell a good friend that you would rather not let them borrow your car, but remember if something happens, you will be on the hook. It is a good idea to let them know if they want to borrow your car, and you are willing to let them, to remind them to be extra careful because you will be responsible if they make a mistake.

Also, if there is an accident caused by a vehicle you lent out and the injured person’s case exceeds your insurance policy limits, you could lose everything you own (other than your homestead).

As an example, recently we represented a woman injured in an Ocala personal injury auto accident case that was not her fault. In this case the person that was primarily responsible for the crash was not even in his car at the time of the accident. He was comfortably at home on his couch watching a football game. He was the owner of the at-fault vehicle and had lent his car to a friend to run up to the corner store. Now he was facing legal claims against him by the injured woman. The woman, our client, was able to collect against the car owner for the full amount of his insurance policy which was the value of the woman’s injuries and the driver of the vehicle that actually caused the accident ended up having to pay nothing. Not only did his insurance company have to pay for injuries suffered in the accident, his insurance rates will end up increasing.

What Does a Personal Injury Attorney Do and What Should I Look for in a Personal Injury Attorney?

Here is an explanation: When you are injured because someone else was careless or negligent, you may have a personal injury case. A personal injury case can result from: a car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, scooter, pedestrian accident, or if a person or business causes someone to be injured because a dangerous condition existed at their store or on their property.

Basically, a personal injury case or claim is just what it sounds like, an injury that occurs to your person (body), mind, or emotions, and not your property, due to someone else’s carelessness. For example, if you are in a store and a large box falls off a rack onto you causing you to break your leg and also break your watch, then you may have a personal injury claim against the store owner for your physical damage (the broken leg), but not for the damage to your watch; that would be a property damage claim against the store owner.

A personal injury from a car or truck accident is any type of claim where a person has been injured due to someone else’s carelessness. As with the watch in the above example, if only your car or truck was damaged, then you don’t have a personal injury case – however, you may have a property damage case. If both you and your vehicle have suffered injuries, then you have two claims, personal injury and property damage.

The law has a special name for someone whose carelessness causes injury or death, it is called being “negligent”. People, corporations, and governmental groups can all be held responsible for their actions or negligence.

When the accident was the fault of someone else, then the injured party may be entitled to monetary compensation (money), from the person who was careless. Before you are awarded any recovery for your injury, it must be proven that the careless person or business that caused the accident was actually negligent. This is called proving liability or responsibility. This is what personal injury attorneys do.

There are legal consequences of not wearing a seat belt that should be taken into consideration in addition to the safety factor. One of them is called the seat belt defense. In Florida, insurance companies can claim a seat belt defense if the injured person was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

As an example, let’s say you were sitting at a stop light waiting for the light to turn green, not wearing your seat belt, and you were rear-ended with enough impact force that your head went through the windshield, causing severe facial, head and neck injuries. The insurance company of the driver at fault for the accident can argue that your head would not have gone through the windshield if you were wearing your seat belt, and in fact you may not have even been injured at all.

A jury will hear the evidence and the law and determine what percentage of the injuries was caused because you failed to wear your seat belt as required by law in Florida. If the jury finds you to be 60% responsible for your injuries under comparative negligence, you would only receive 40% of your just compensation from the at fault driver.

As an experienced accident attorney, I recommend that you: be safe, protect yourself, obey the law, and buckle up!

This is a commonly seen situation after someone has been in a bad accident, and an important topic to bring up with your doctor and accident attorney right away. It can be a real thing and should not be ignored; there is help.

According to the American Psychological Association, over 3 million people are seriously injured in car accidents each year. It is reported that up to 45% of those people will suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. I encourage you to read my article on PTSD to find out more about this topic and why it is so important to report these feelings.

We at Meldon Law strongly believe that public education is the first step in the prevention of an accident or in the recovery from one.

We are experienced personal injury attorneys, trial attorneys, negotiators, litigators, paralegals, and staff that have been proudly working to get accident victims the justice they deserve for over 50 years in Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Inverness, and the rest of North Central Florida and North Florida. Accidents involving a car crash, truck wreck, and motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian accidents, dog bites, slip and falls, medical malpractice, and criminal defense are all included in our practice.

Based on Jeffrey Meldon’s, founder of Meldon Law, over 50 years of helping accident victims get justice and a fair shake from the insurance companies, he has written the consumer guide book, Seven Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Florida Accident Case. You can request your free, no obligation copy right now, or contact our office for your complimentary copy sent to you today.

Facts are: the use of seat belts and child safety restraints greatly reduces the chances of serious injuries or even death in vehicle crashes. Additionally, on average, a victim of the traffic crash who did not wear a seat belt will incur inpatient hospital costs which are 50% higher than those for a victim who was wearing a seat belt. However, there are still certain myths that surround seat belt uses.

“I don’t need to wear a seat belt if I am driving short distances.”

Buckle up even if you are making a quick run to a store or a friend’s house across the road, since 80% of traffic fatalities occur within 25 miles of the victim’s home. In addition, three out of four fatal vehicular accidents occur at speeds less than 40 miles per hour. Remember that even if you are good driver who have never been in an accident, you might be hit by someone who is not!

“If I wear a seat belt, I will not be able to get out of a burning or sinking car.”

The possibility of fire or submersion under water in a traffic accident is very low: only one out of 200 traffic accidents that cause injuries entail a car catching on fire or being submerged under water. By wearing a seat belt, you are not only reducing a risk of hitting your head or smashing your chest into a wheel, preventing a serious injury, but you are also reducing a risk of being knocked unconscious and not being able to get out of the vehicle at all.

“If I get in an accident and I don’t wear a seat belt, I will be thrown out of the car and actually reduce my chances of dying.”

The chances of being killed in a car accident when you are thrown out of the car are 25 times greater than if you remain in the car. The force with which you may be thrown from the car can be so strong that you may land as far as 150 feet from your vehicle. The chances of surviving a landing like that are grim. Seat belt will keep you inside the car, reducing your chances of being thrown out of the vehicle, suffering serious injuries or even dying.

Remember: Seat belts may save your life. Buckle up, and make sure to remind others to do the same. Here are 10 other reasons to buckle up.

According to Florida law, Florida Statutes Section 316.123, when approaching a yield sign, you should first slow down and possibly stop in order to see what the other cars are doing. The cars already in the intersection or highway have the right-of-way and you should yield to them, not the other way around.

If you are injured by a driver who does not stop at a yield sign, the law clearly states that the fact that you were injured acts as evidence of the driver’s fault in the accident. Please seek the help of an experienced accident attorney for more information.

According to Florida law, Florida Statutes Section 316.123, when you are approaching a four way stop, the first person to come to a complete stop is given the right to pull through the intersection. If more than one person stops at the same time, the person to the right has the right-of-way and may proceed through the intersection. This is the rule for all of Florida, including Gainesville.

However, as an experienced accident attorney, I caution you to make sure you are aware of what the other drivers are doing. Make sure they see you and know you are entering the intersection before them. When in doubt, stop, wait, and be safe.

There are a variety of different measures that you can take to ensure that you first understand your policy and second that you are prepared for what happens when you have to make a claim with your insurance company, especially if your insurance company denies your policy in Gainesville or throughout Florida.

1. Know What Your Policy Says: Read your policy! You should always know what your rights are under the specific language of your policy. Sometimes policies can be difficult to understand. In that case, contact an experienced attorney in your area to help you understand exactly what your policy means.
2. Fill Out the Forms Carefully: Sometimes making a mistake while filling out forms can give your insurance company to deny your claim later down the road, even if it is a simple, innocent mistake. Take the time to make sure you are filling in the correct information and are consistent throughout all of your forms.
3. Contact Your Insurance Company for Help: Sometimes the best resource for questions is your insurance company itself. However, for personal questions, you probably will need to find and consult with an experienced accident attorney in Gainesville because your insurance company will usually not be able to help you.
4. For Information on Bad Faith Denial of claims, here is a link to our Library article on this topic.

This is a good question and one that I am often asked as an experienced Gainesville personal injury attorney, specializing in motor vehicle accidents that often involve trucks. Yes. According to Florida law, it is legal to ride in a tuck’s cargo area, if you are 18 years of age or older in any county in Florida.

I am local accident attorney Jeffrey Meldon and I strongly believe that public education is the first step in the prevention of and/or recovery from a serious accident. My office and I take pride in our work, and the results we get for our clients.

Meldon Law is a regional law firm that is located in Gainesville, Florida. We are personal injury attorneys, litigators and trial attorneys that have been working to get accident victims the justice they deserve for over 50 years throughout North Florida and all over Florida. Accidents involving a car crash, truck wreck, motorcycle, ATVs, bicycle, pedestrian accidents, and dog bites, slip and falls, medical malpractice, and criminal defense are all included in our practice.

Probably yes, because in Florida there is a presumption that a driver who rear-ended another vehicle was the sole cause of the crash.

This means, if it is shown that the accident was due solely to the other driver’s negligence when he rear-ending you (and you were simply waiting at a stop light and did not contribute to the accident in any way), then the other driver is responsible for 100% of your damages.

This is an important question because in Florida it is required to wear an approved protective helmet when riding a motorcycle, unless the biker is over 21 and carries $10,000 of medical payments insurance.

Here is what the Statute says: “A person may not operate or ride upon a motorcycle unless the person is properly wearing protective headgear securely fastened upon his or her head which complies with Federal Motorcycle Vehicle Safety Standard 218…” The exception to this law is if a biker is over 21 and carries $10,000 of medical payments insurance.

It is important to purchase a motorcycle helmet that meets with Standard 218 criteria not only because it is the law but also because, Standard 218, “establishes minimum performance requirements for helmets designed for use by motorcyclists and other motor vehicle users. The purpose of this standard is to reduce deaths and injuries to motorcyclists and other motor vehicle users resulting from head impacts”.

Helmets that do not meet the minimal Department of Transportation (DOT) certification standards may not be sold as “motorcycle helmets.”

In other words, motorcycle helmets must have a DOT sticker on them, which means that before they could be sold as a helmet for motorcycles, a model had to have been submitted for testing to see if it met the DOT standards.

Also, when choosing a helmet make sure that it not only has the DOT sticker on it, but that it is the proper size for your head, here is a link to a motorcycle helmet size chart.

Reminder: Proper fitting motorcycle helmets protect your head and your rider’s head, they are important to wear every time you get on your bike, even if just for a short spin, because no matter how good a driver you are, other drivers can make a “bonehead” move and your life can change forever.

As an accident attorney for the Gainesville and Ocala area and it’s surrounding rural communities, I can say that this is a very important question and topic, as head-on collisions are very serious and can often cause fatalities and serious injury. In addition, head-on crashes occur more commonly on rural roads.

Most of the basic prevention suggestions listed below apply equally to a driver wanting to avoid causing a head-on crash and also to the driver wanting to avoid being a victim of another person’s mistake. Here are some of the main things that you can do to prevent being in a head-on crash:

• Pay attention to the road and do not drive distracted with cell phones or other driver distractions
• Do not drive under the influence
• Pay extra attention in construction zones
• Wear necessary prescription eye glasses
• Do not drive when emotionally upset, fatigued or tired
• Obey directional road signs
• Obey the speed limits
• Know when and where is the proper time and place to pass another vehicle on a 2 lane road; know the rules for passing another vehicle.
• Keep your vehicle properly maintained at all times including proper care of your tires

Florida law is very clear about this, and violation of failing to use turning signals properly can result in a traffic ticket. Below is a summary of the laws, for more information see, Turning Signals; Know the Law for Safe Driving.

As an accident attorney I know how important it is for a driver to follow these steps when making a turn to be safe, legal and to avoid causing accidents in Florida:

1. Signal before putting on the brakes to let other drivers and pedestrians know what you are going to do on the road before you do it.
2. Have the turning signal turned on continuously for no less than 100 feet before the turn.
3. Make a turn only if it can be done with reasonable safety. This means that when you have even the slightest doubt about whether you should make a turn because of other oncoming vehicles, you should NOT turn. Instead, if there are no vehicles behind you, you should wait until the oncoming vehicle passes and only then turn. If there are other cars behind you, you should turn the turning signal off, continue on driving until you can turn around, have a turning signal turned on continuously for 100 feet before a turn and finally make a turn.
4. I am local accident attorney Jeffrey Meldon and I strongly believe that public education is the first step in the prevention of and/or recovery from a serious accident. My office and I take pride in our work, and the results we get for our clients.

As a personal injury attorney throughout the state of Florida, Jeffrey Meldon says, yes, you can get a ticket for jay-walking even if no cars are around no matter where you are in the state. Here is the info:

• A pedestrian can receive a ticket for violations of the above-mentioned laws in the amount of $15. Florida law requires that a pedestrian cross the road only on a marked crosswalk if it is provided.
• Pedestrians must also obey the pedestrian lights and cross only on green, regardless whether there is traffic on the road or not. While you might think that the road is clear to cross, a driver may be speeding and will get to where you are faster than you might think. Similarly, while your street may be clear of traffic, a vehicle may suddenly make a turn onto your street.
• By following the above-mentioned rules you will not only avoid a ticket and a penalty for improperly crossing the road, but you will also keep yourself safer on the street.

Here is more information on the rules and laws regulating pedestrians in Florida.

Be safe walking on or near the road; pedestrian accidents are one of the most fatal types of accidents and can cause serious injury.

As an accident attorney, that has seen the devastating effects of school bus accidents involving a child hit by a car, I can say that this is an important topic to be reminded of as school is starting. Below I have given the penalties, however, keep in mind the biggest penalty is not the price of the ticket for failing to stop for a school bus but the potential heart-breaking consequences if you should injure or kill a child or children because you failed to stop or were distracted by a cell phone or some other driving distraction and failed to stop. According to Florida Statute §318.18(5):

• The penalty for failure to stop for a school bus is $100, and for a second offense within a period of 5 years the driver will have his/her driver’s license suspended for a minimum of 90 days and up to 6 months.
• Penalty for failing to stop and passing a school bus on the side where children enter and exit is $200 with a driver’s license suspension of 180 days to a year for a second offense within a period of five years.
• In each case, a penalty of $65 is imposed in addition to the above amounts in to be remitted to the Administrative Trust Fund of the Department of Health.

As an accident attorney I can tell you that this is a good question to ask especially now at the beginning of the school year in Alachua County. Here is the information on rules regarding stopping for school buses:

• You should always stop for a school bus with its lights flashing; except if you are driving on a divided highway in the opposite direction of a bus and there is at least five feet of unpaved space, a raised median, or a physical barrier (concrete abutment) separating the roadway on which you are travelling from the roadway where a bus stopped. Only then you can continue to drive at a legal speed, but should still drive with an increased awareness that children might be around.
• In all other situations, you must stop when you see a school bus that has its stop lights blinking and stop signs showing, regardless of whether you are behind a bus or facing a bus, driving in the opposite direction.

Yes it is legal for a child under 16 to operate a ATV, but only on private or unpaved public land where the speed limit is less than 35 mph and only if certain requirements are met.

Those under 16.

1. Must be directly supervised by a licensed driver; and
2. Must wear a safety helmet, over-the-ankle boots and eye protection.

In addition, if they want to operate an ATV or a go-kart on public land, they must pass an approved off-highway vehicle safety course in Florida or another state. A nonresident of Florida who is under 16 and who is in Florida temporarily for less than 30 days is exempt from the safety course requirement.

In Florida, you may operate an ATV or go-kart only on private land or on unpaved public roadways where the speed limit is less than 35 mph. If you decide to operate an ATV or a go-kart on an unpaved public roadway, you can do so only during daytime. You are also prohibited from carrying a passenger, unless you are operating a two-rider ATV, specifically manufactured for two people.

YES, that is correct! It is called Florida’s Move Over Law, which was enacted in 2002, for the purpose of protecting first responders while performing their jobs.

The law includes tow-trucks, patrol cars, and any emergency vehicle stopped on the side of the road with its lights flashing.

Here is what you need to know if you see lights flashing ahead:

• On a two-lane road, you are required to slow down 20 mph under the posted speed limit.
• If the speed limit is 20 mph, you are required to slow to 5 mph.
• On an interstate or a multiple lane road-way, you must move over a lane if safe to do so, or slow to 20 mph under the speed limit.

Violation of the Move Over Law can result in:

• Putting yourself, passengers, and emergency personnel at serious risk.
• Fines of around $150 and points on your driver’s license.

This is a very important question as driving drowsy, (not fully awake), is as dangerous as driving drunk and has been found by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to be the cause of 100,000 crashes each year.

Here is a typical scenario of an accident caused by driving drowsy:

• Crash occurs late at night/early morning or mid-afternoon (between midnight and 6 am. and between 1 pm and 5 pm)
• It is a serious accident
• A single vehicle leaves the roadway
• Often on high-speed roads
• There is no attempt to avoid the crash
• The driver is alone in the vehicle
• Young male driver age 16 to 29

Here are the best things to do to prevent this happening to you:

1. Drive when alert and rested, after getting a good night’s sleep.
2. Avoid alcohol especially when tired – it is a dangerous mix for driving.
3. Avoid driving between midnight and 6 in the morning and beware of the afternoon slump between 1 and 5.
4. If you get drowsy and heavy headed, pull over and take a power nap for 20 minutes, or switch drivers.
5. Have someone keep the driver company while driving during the peak drowsy times of the day.
6. Take breaks every hour or two and stretch your legs.
7. Avoid driving long hours in one day, especially if alone.

This is an important question, and as an accident attorney, I suggest you check your vehicle’s maximum load capacity today, to find out how much it can safely hold. Most vehicles post the maximum load capacity limit in one of the front door jambs. If it is not listed there, look in your vehicle’s manual. The load capacity includes the driver, passengers and all cargo.

Many people are surprised to learn how easy it is to overload their vehicle with people, cargo, and pets, without knowing it. This is a safety issue that puts all in the car and on the road at risk, as an overloaded vehicle is an accident waiting to happen. Operating a vehicle that is overloaded is dangerous because it is less stable, takes longer to stop and causes the tires to overheat. Overloading a vehicle makes it prone to tire blowouts, roll over accidents, rear end crashes and other serious accidents.

Be safe and make sure you are not overloading your car – Check your vehicle’s load capacity today!

There have been some recent changes in Florida case law pertaining to Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance. Since 1972, insurance companies were required to have their doctor hold an independent medical evaluation to determine if the injured person required medical care. These “examinations” generally resulted in the termination of benefits. Now, the insurance doctor does not even have to physically examine the policy holder, they just have to review their medical records to legally state that the person does not need medical care.

Knowledgeable accident attorneys (personal injury attorneys) can assist their clients in getting their PIP benefits reinstated, if it is caused by insurance fraud, and make the insurance company pay for attorney fees and costs.

Here are my suggestions on what to do:

1. If you get a letter from your insurance company either setting an insurance medical exam or cutting off benefits based on a “paper review” of your medical records, act immediately. Call an experienced accident attorney for advice. If you don’t you will lose your right to appeal the insurance company’s decision.
2. It is important to hire an attorney who has handled PIP scam cases before and is up to date on the latest strategies to win your case.
3. Continue to get medical treatment if you are seriously injured and the at-fault party has Bodily Injury Liability coverage or you have Uninsured Motorist coverage. This is important not only for your physical recovery, but for your personal injury case – having gaps in your medical treatment will hurt your case.

This is a very good question and one that is extremely relevant to everyone’s safety on the road in this day and age!

Inattention blindness is a term coined by two researchers in the 90’s that is used to describe the phenomena when people do not see objects that are right in front of them, in plain sight, their mind is unable to register them. It is sometimes called perceptual blindness. It has been proven by many studies that humans only have a limited capacity to pay attention to all details in their visual field when their mind is focused on something else; even when they think they are fully paying attention to the details. Please see the below links for some examples. You may be surprised to know that illusionists have taken advantage of this human characteristic for many years.

Yes, inattention blindness can be dangerous for pedestrians, bikers, cyclists, and drivers alike, especially when everyday 21st century gadgets such as cell phones, MP3 players, etc, are involved. These distractions preoccupy people’s minds and they mentally cannot register what they see. Many do not realize how much easier they can wander off course if distracted-whether on the road, in a bike lane, or on a sidewalk.

As a personal injury attorney, my suggestion is, if you are going to multitask, avoid doing it while driving or while walking on a busy street. Do not put yourself nor another driver or pedestrian at risk! That “gorilla on the court” could be an important piece of information required for everyone on or near the road to get home safely.

You are not alone if you have questions about what insurance Florida requires. Here, our founder, Jeffrey Meldon, shares his wisdom on why sufficient insurance is of utmost importance if you are involved in a serious accident with injuries – no matter who causes the crash.

Whether Bodily Injury Liability (BI) coverage is required or not has two main areas of law to consider.

1. Bodily Injury Liability coverage is not required to drive an automobile in Florida legally. However, it can be if you have been convicted of a DUI. Under Florida Statue 324.023, Financial responsibility for bodily injury or death, you must have bodily injury insurance if you are convicted of a DUI. If you were convicted on or before October 1, 2007, the minimum requirement is $10,000 per person and $20,000 per incident. If you were convicted after October 1, 2007, the minimum required is $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident. According to the Statute, you must have BI coverage for 3 years after the return of your driving privileges.
2. Suppose you choose to drive without BI coverage. In that case, it is important to know that Florida has a Florida Financial Responsibility Law, which requires that a person who is at fault for an accident must provide financial coverage of at least $10,000 per person and $20,000 per accident. This means that if you cause an accident that results in bodily injuries to another person(s), you must either have BI insurance or post a bond for the required amount of coverage. If this “responsibility” is unmet, you can lose your driving privileges. You will also be required to make financial arrangements to pay for any judgment against you for property damage and bodily injuries before you can get your driver’s license reinstated.

As an accident attorney who has seen the devastation caused by inadequate insurance coverage, I not only advise that you have bodily injury liability but that you have more than the minimum to protect yourself and your assets fully. Specifically, I recommend a minimum of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, a majority of drivers consider unsafe drivers a major threat to public safely. Aggressive drivers likely contribute to more than 6 million crashes every year and 27,000 traffic fatalities.

So, what should you do when faced with an aggressive driver, who is driving under the influence of “impaired emotions?”

1. Get out of their way. Change lanes, pull over, or let them pass.
2. Don’t challenge them. Put your pride in check, and let them by.
3. Ignore them. Don’t make eye contact and ignore obscene or threatening gestures.
4. Call 911. Report an aggressive driver to Law Enforcement.
5. Pay attention to the road, and wear your seat belt. Aggressive drivers may cause a wreck or disrupt the flow of traffic, so be prepared for the unexpected.

Aggressive driving means driving under the influence of “impaired emotions.” While aggressive driving is responsible for 27,000 traffic-related deaths each year, it is a lifestyle choice. So, people can choose to change.

The following questions may help you identify if you’re an aggressive driver. When you’re on the road, do you:

1. Express frustration. Do you take your frustration, anger, or anxiety out on other drivers, passengers, or pedestrians? Do you make obscene hand gestures, scream, or make threatening facial expressions? Honk your horn, flash your lights, or rev your engine?
2. Speed. Do you often receive speeding citations? Do you travel 15 mph over the speed limit? Drive as fast as you feel like? Do you “gun it” and slam on the brakes? Do you race other cars?
3. Passengers refuse rides. Do passengers tell you they feel scared?
4. Make frequent lane changes. Do you weave in and out of traffic to pass cars? Make frequent lane changes? Pass on the right or in the grass?
5. Fail to obey traffic devices. Do you run red lights? Do you go through stop signs? Fail to stop for pedestrians or yield to traffic?
6. Feel angry and stressed. Do you feel anger, frustration, aggression, anxiety, stress, rushed, or in a hurry?
7. Tailgate.
8. Feel lack of concern for other drivers.

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be an aggressive driver. What should you do?

• Relax. Slow down and use breathing techniques.
• Listen to calming music.
• Drive the posted speed limit.
• Avoid high traffic areas.
• Leave early and give yourself extra time.
• Decide to be late. Just be late, if all else fails.
• Use public transportation or ride with another driver.
• Attend an aggressive driving course.

This is good question and one we often need reminding of. First of all it is important to define what an emergency vehicle is. An easy way to remember this is to consider any vehicle flashing red, blue, or amber lights an emergency vehicle, whether it is a police vehicle, ambulance, fire truck, or even a tow truck.

With that understood, here is what to do when an emergency vehicle approaches you on the road with its “lights” on, siren or no siren.

If it is coming behind you, in your lane of traffic, you should pull over as soon as it is safe, to the side of the road or nearest clear, safe space. If it is approaching from the opposite lane, be prepared to slow or stop if the vehicle needs space to move into your lane. Remember, seconds count in an emergency situation and any delay could be deadly to the person requiring aid.

In addition, if you approach an emergency vehicle stopped on the side of the road in your lane of traffic in Florida, there is the Move Over Act. This law mandates you to move over or slow to 20 mph below the speed limit, if changing lanes is not safe.

Another reminder, most states have laws prohibiting any vehicle from following within 500 feet of an emergency vehicle.

As an experienced automobile attorney, I’m glad you asked this because the answer is-not behind the wheel. Experts agree that it’s safer to ride as a passenger than to drive while pregnant. If you have the choice, ride as a passenger in the back seat. In tests with “pregnant” crash test dummies, uterine strain was lower for vehicle occupants riding in the passenger position-mainly because there’s no steering wheel to hit. In a crash, contact with the wheel can be deadly for baby, so avoid driving if possible. When practical, ride in the passenger seat with a 3-point seat belt and airbag with the seat positioned as far rearward as possible.

For more information:

• 6 Steps of Buckling up with a Belly – Seat Belt Safety for Pregnant Women
• Is it safe to drive while I’m pregnant?
• Why is driving or riding in a car while I’m pregnant so dangerous?

As an experienced local personal injury attorney, I’ve seen the tragic results of failing to buckle up. As a reminder, car crashes are the leading cause of death for pregnant women and their fetuses. Having said that, there are ways to make driving safer when pregnant-wear a 3-point seat belt and keep the air bags activated. In tests with “pregnant” crash test dummies, unrestrained drivers sustained substantially greater abdominal and head trauma compared to fully restrained drivers. If you are in a crash, call a doctor right away, even if you feel fine immediately after the wreck.

For more information:

• Where is the safest place to ride in a car while I’m pregnant?
• Why is driving or riding in a car while I’m pregnant so dangerous?
• 6 Steps of Buckling up with a Belly – Seat Belt Safety for Pregnant Women

As a Gainesville accident attorney I can tell you that this is a very good question for Floridians. With our rainy weather conditions hydroplaning can easily happen resulting in serious accidents such as the recent accident on I-75 that caused a 14 car-pile up and closed the Interstate for 6 hours.

Viscous hydroplaning happens when a car’s tires lose traction, causing the vehicle to slide on a mixture of road oil, dust, and water. While “viscous hydroplaning” doesn’t necessarily involve deep, pooled water, it can cause sliding and loss of control over the vehicle. The danger for viscous hydroplaning is highest at the beginning of a storm, when oil and water mix on the road.

Florida, as a “retirement haven,” has lots of senior drivers on its roads. As an experienced Ocala Florida car accident attorney, I’d like to highlight the little-known risk of age and “drugged driving.”

Although older drivers are involved in fewer total car crashes, the number of drivers 65 years plus is expected to double by 2030. This means even more senior drivers in the sunshine state.

Older people are extremely susceptible to prescription and “over the counter” drug side effects because they often use multiple medications, according to a 2009 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study.

The study found that more than 71% of seniors reported using one or more prescription medications, and 68.7% used one or more potentially driver-impairing drugs.

Medications commonly used by senior drivers include anti-arthritics, muscle relaxants, analgesics (NSAIDS), anti-depressants, anti-anxiety agents, beta blockers, and anticonvulsants.

My advice-consult with your doctor and pharmacist before taking the wheel.

Being the victim of any traffic accident is traumatic. However, when the person causing the crash leaves the scene of the accident and does not stop to render aid or take responsibility, not only could you be seriously injured but extremely angry as well.

As a local accident attorney, serving Gainesville, Ocala and the entire state of Florida, here are 6 tips to help you know what to do if you are the victim of a hit and run accident:

1. You have a duty to remain at the scene of the crash and render aid and provide information, if possible.
2. Call 911 immediately. If you have any identifying information regarding the vehicle or driver that left the scene, give it to the police immediately over the phone.
3. It is critical to get names and contact information for all witnesses. In a hit and run accident, witnesses are vitally important.
4. Being a victim of a hit and run accident is much like being the victim of other accidents regarding your auto insurance policy. The exception being, you have to prove it was a hit and run and that the other person was at-fault.
5. Your Uninsured Motorist Coverage will protect you in the event of a hit and run crash, whether you are in a motorist or a pedestrian, and the accident was not your fault.
6. Anytime there are serious injuries resulting from an accident, it is best to get the advice and assistance of an experienced accident attorney.

While Florida law respects a rider’s choice to “ride free” of a helmet, I urge motorcyclists and passengers to wear state-approved safety helmets. The only scenario requiring insurance arises when a 21-year-old or older rider chooses to bike without a helmet. Florida law states that if a rider 21 years of age or older operates a bike without a helmet, then the motorcyclist must carry an insurance policy, providing at least $10,000 in medical benefits for injuries incurred as a result of a motorcycle crash. (See., Florida Statutes §316.011(2010)).

Traffic accidents involving motorcycles can easily be catastrophic and fatal. Remember, a majority of Florida motorists are uninsured, underinsured, or carry only minimum limits required by law-hardly enough to cover an emergency room trip. Motorcyclists are no exception-ride legally, safely, and responsibly-carry adequate insurance coverage, especially Uninsured Motorist Coverage.

Yes, possibly. Florida law entitles an insured to punitive damages, if the insurance company engages in unfair claims settlement practices with such a frequency to indicate general business practices that are willful, wanton, and reckless to the right’s of the insured. (F.S. §627.736)(2010). In this situation, punitive damages are intended to punish the insurance company for misconduct toward their insured.

As an experienced Florida accident attorney, I’ve negotiated with many insurance companies. Sometimes, an insurance company denies reimbursement for legitimate medical bills or lost wage claims under the PIP (Personal Injury Protection) statute. If this happens, it can be extremely frustrating for the insured, and it’s a good time to seek advice from a personal injury attorney, who is skilled in insurance negotiation.

My advice: when dealing with an insurance company ‘playing hard ball’ after an accident, consult an attorney ‘early and often’ to protect your rights and to hold the insurance company accountable.

To complicate the red-light camera debate, a February 2011 study finds red light cameras actually reduce red-light running traffic fatalities.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), such cameras reduce not only fatal red-light running collisions, but also other types of fatal crashes at intersections. The study finds red-light cameras saved approximately 59 lives from 2004 to 2008 in 14 major cities, reducing the rate of red-light gunning accidents by 24 percent.

In addition, the study concluded that a total of 815 deaths would have been prevented, had all major cities installed such cameras.

Driving on under-inflated tires is a major safety hazard, so here’s a quick guide on how to properly inflate your car’s tires:

1. Locate recommended pressure (PSI). Find your car’s recommended tire inflation specifications in your car’s driver side doorjamb; it’s usually printed on a yellow or white sticker. The recommended PSI may also be listed in the driver’s manual or glove box. The recommended air pressure for front and rear tires may differ. Generally, recommended PSI for a passenger vehicle with standard tires ranges from 27 to 32 PSI.
2. Use a digital tire gauge. Remove tire valve cap and press gauge to tire when tires are cold. Check first thing in the morning or after allowing 30 minutes for the tires to cool down.
3. Compare reading to spec. Compare tire gage readings to the car’s recommended pressure. If tire pressure is lower than recommended spec, then add air.
4. Add air, if low. Add air by using a portable air compressor in your home garage, or use a gas station compressor to add air.
5. Double check with tire gauge. Use tire gauge to ensure tire pressure is up to “specs.” If there is too much air, press gauge to valve to release some; re-check. If too little, add more air; re-check. Replace the valve cap. Warning: Overinflated tires are also dangerous. Do not exceed the maximum PSI listed on the tire itself.
6. Repeat for all four tires.

As an experienced accident attorney in Ocala and the surrounding areas of Florida, I’ve seen tragic accidents and death caused by under-inflated tires, which may lead to catastrophic tire failure on hot roads while driving at high speeds. If safety isn’t enough incentive, check out the improved fuel economy and less money spent at the pump when driving on tires inflated to your car’s specifications.

As an accident and wrongful death attorney in north central Florida with more than 30 years experience, I urge victims and their families to seek counsel from a knowledgeable attorney, who is experienced in handling such cases. Every wrongful death is individual. Feel free to give me a call if you would like to discuss your individual case without charge. Here is your answer.

While both suits may be based on a defendant’s negligent action, the differences are substantial. Basically, an action for personal injury and wrongful death cannot exist at the same time. Death causes one action to accrue, while extinguishing the other. Here are some differences:

• Personal injury is based on common law, and wrongful death is regulated by statute.
• A negligence action requires a personal injury, and wrongful death requires a death that is not necessarily based on negligence.
• A personal injury action accrues at the time of the defendant’s wrongful action, once a victim is injured. A personal injury action is extinguished upon the death of the victim.
• A wrongful death suit only exists after injury results in the victim’s death, but not while alive. A personal injury and wrongful death suit cannot exist at the same time.
• A negligence action favors the person injured and their spouse, while a wrongful death favors the decedent’s estate and qualified survivors.
• Recoverable damages vary in both types of cases by statute and case law. (Taylor v. Orlando Clinic, 555 So. 2d 876 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989);

Collision and Comprehensive car insurance are often confused. Both protect your vehicle in different ways. Here is the information:

Collision insurance covers damages to your vehicle caused by an accident (collision).

• Collision insurance pays even if you caused the accident that damaged your car.
• Collision coverage is especially valuable because one in four Floridians drive illegally without any insurance.
• Even if the driver that was at fault for the accident had the required insurance, the required amount of property damage liability insurance is only $10,000 in Florida.
• The recommended amount of Collision coverage varies depending on the age and value of your vehicle.

Comprehensive insurance is also known as “other than collision” insurance or “OTC.” It covers damage done to your vehicle from things other than collisions, such as: vandalism, disasters, theft, fire, impacts with animals, etc.

• Comprehensive does not cover any damage as a result of a collision.
• If you live in a high crime area, have a newer model vehicle, or a vehicle that is a common target of theft, Comprehensive insurance is highly recommended.

Bad Faith lawsuits can be difficult to understand, primarily because the party being sued, the insurance carrier was not involved in the originally disputed incident. Instead, the carrier is sued for Bad Faith because of how it (mis)handled the original incident after it has occurred.

Perhaps an example will help to clarify this confusing issue. If Mr. Jones is involved in an automobile accident with Mr. Smith and Mr. Smith decides to file a lawsuit against Mr. Jones for damages caused by the accident, then that claim is filed in civil court as Smith v. Jones. This lawsuit is solely based on the auto accident or original incident.

Mr. Jones’s insurance carrier, however, is contractually obligated by the terms of the insurance policy to represent and defend him on this claim. Furthermore, the insurance carrier must provide this benefit for Mr. Jones in “good faith,” meaning that the carrier must address and handle the matter in a way that is not detrimental to Mr. Jones’s interests.

If the carrier fails to act in Mr. Jones’s interests, then it is not acting in good faith. Consequently, Mr. Jones may file a separate lawsuit against his insurance provider for failure to meet its contractual obligations under the policy. This second lawsuit is called a Bad Faith claim because the carrier has demonstrated an unwillingness to protect Mr. Jones’s interests regarding the auto accident. Such a Bad Faith lawsuit is separately filed in civil court as Jones v. Insurance Carrier.

The two basic elements of a Bad Faith claim are:

• it must be based on a prior civil issue; and
• it must be against the insurance carrier.

This is a very complicated and complex area of law and one that you will need the help of an experienced bad faith attorney in order to be treated fairly. There may also be techniques that can be utilized to make sure that it is clear that the insurance company had every opportunity to settle the case with good faith. Call me for more information, accident attorney, Jeffrey Meldon @ 800-373-8000. Consultations are always free and welcomed.

As an experienced accident attorney, I can tell you that this is an important and time sensitive question. Here is the information:

Since knee injuries range from a mild soft tissue damage to acute dislocation, rupture, or fracture, so does the treatment spectrum. Acute injury may require immediate medical attention at a hospital emergency department. In severe cases, a knee injury may necessitate surgery, pain management, and rehabilitative treatment. In other cases, a doctor may recommend a combination of “RICE,” an acronym for: rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Physical therapies and pain management may also be doctor recommended.

Beware, failure to get timely treatment may result in chronic knee instability or even amputation, if vascular complications occur. Oversight of the severity of a soft tissue injury may result in compartment syndrome and loss of limb. Misdiagnosis or mistreatment may lead to chronic knee instability, loss of ability to walk, and degenerative joint disease. For any knee injury, seek immediate medical treatment.

If you have a knee injury resulting from an accident, you will most likely need the assistance of an experienced attorney to help you be fairly compensated for your past and future: medical bills; lost wages; and pain and suffering. Feel free to contact me online or on the phone to discuss your case and to help get you started in the right direction on the road to recovery and compensation.

This is a very important question as proper use and installation of a child restraint seat can determine whether an infant or child survives a motor vehicle crash. Statistics show two alarming facts:

1. The majority of car seats (4 out of 5) are installed incorrectly.
2. Of every 100 children who die in motor vehicle crashes, at least 80% would have survived if they were properly secured in an approved child safety seat.

Thankfully, there are trained technicians in our area that are able to check your child’s restraint seat and show parents how to properly install and use their child’s car seat.

The closest agency in North Central Florida is Shand’s Safe Kids of North Central Florida. Go on line to find and register for a safety check or class near you. Checks and classes are free, but appointments and registrations are required.

Super fog results in driving in near zero visibility and is something every Floridian should be aware of and know how to drive in.

Florida’s record-high temperatures, drought conditions, and rampant Southeastern wild fires, create favorable conditions for “super fog,” a potentially deadly driving condition.

Super fog happens when smoke and ash mix with atmospheric water droplets, already present with Florida’s high humidity. This deadly fog creates an almost “solid wall,” reducing driving visibility to near zero. Super fog generally forms overnight and is present for the morning rush hour. It’s extremely difficult for forecasters to predict, based mostly on changing, local wind conditions.

Here are some driving safety tactics to combat super fog:

1. Chose another Route. If super fog conditions may be present, listen to local weather forecasts, and take an alternative route.
2. Slow Down. Super fog is especially dangerous when travelling at high speeds, such as on interstates or highways. Near zero visibility makes stopping in time to avoid a crash or obstacle nearly impossible.
3. Low Beams: High beams may cause a blinding “reflection” off the smoke. Use low beams to decrease glare.
4. Reduce driving distractions. Use your senses to detect potential obstacles. Roll down the window, and put down the cell phone.
5. Emergency blinkers. If necessary, turn on emergency blinkers and pull completely off the highway and onto the shoulder.
6. Avoid lane changes and use mirrors. Drive in a predictable manner, and use mirrors to detect traffic movement.

Super fog is not limited to Florida or the Southeastern U.S., but can occur anywhere when conditions are favorable. Floridians beware: In January 2008, a central Florida controlled burn near I-4 caused a 70-car pile-up, injuring 38 and killing 4 (NSC). As an Ocala accident attorney, I caution all Floridians take super fog seriously on all roadways, and especially when traveling on high speed interstates.

Passing a school bus either when it is stopped or when it is preparing to stop is illegal because of the danger it poses to children entering or exiting the bus. You should always be alert when driving behind a school bus because of this risk.

If a driver illegally passes a school bus it is considered a moving violation and the driver may be ticketed. In Florida, illegally passing a school bus can add four points to your license. The fine a driver is penalized with depends on the whether they attempted to pass the school bus on the right or left side. For drivers who illegally pass a bus on the left side, the fine is $165. This amount increases to $265 dollars for drivers who illegally pass on the right side of the bus, since that is the side where students board and exit.

Penalties also increase if the driver has already been cited for illegally passing a school bus before. If the motorist has illegally passed a school bus before and is ticketed again within the next five years, in addition to the typical fine they can have their license suspended for a minimum of ninety days or a maximum of six months.

Please remember, obeying the law around school buses has little to do with the penalties incurred, it has to do with the safety and welfare of our children. Know when to stop for a school bus and follow the law.

This may not be a commonly asked question, but it is an interesting one. Recently, a person inquired to our Office about whether it is legal in Florida to remove the front turn signals on his motorcycle, leaving just the rear turn signals.

Here is the answer: No, Florida law does require motorcycles to have both front and rear turn signals.

Here are the facts: Florida traffic laws define the term “vehicle” to include motorcycles as well as cars. Florida statute 316.222(2) states that “every motor vehicle … shall be equipped with electric turn signal lamps meeting the requirements of s. 316.234(2).” Florida statute 316.234(2) states that vehicles falling under 316.222 “shall be equipped with electric turn signals which shall indicate an intention to turn by flashing lights showing to the front and rear of a vehicle.” Failure to follow this requirement is a noncriminal traffic infraction.

Here is more information: As a motorcycle accident attorney in Gainesville and Ocala, I can tell you that if you are involved in an accident with your motorcycle and are in violation of the turn signal law, you may be held liable for the accident even if it was not your fault. Florida is a comparative negligence state, meaning that more than one party can be held at fault for an accident. A person involved in an accident who receives a noncriminal traffic infraction will almost certainly be held at least partly liable for the accident. Therefore, if you violate 316.234(2) and are involved in an accident, you will most likely be found to be at least comparatively negligent.

Also: It is also important to keep in mind that the laws for maintaining and operating a motorcycle in Florida are based on safety issues and concerns. Vehicles driving ahead of a motorcycle need to know what is happening around them, and the motorcycle’s front turn signal light informs drivers in front that a turn or lane change is about to be made. This point is especially true at night, when other visual indicators like hand signals cannot be seen.

In short, front (and rear) turn signals are required by law on all motorcycles operating on public roads in Florida. They are also a good idea when it comes to the issues of safety and liability.

The personal injury protection (PIP) reform bill has been and remains controversial in part because it directly affects the vast majority of Florida residents—those who drive. Before analyzing the reform bill, let us briefly look back at legislative history so we have a better understanding of the proposed reforms to PIP.

Prior to 1972, people involved in auto accidents in Florida had difficulty collecting money for their damages and injuries because insurance companies were often inclined to deny liability by their insured. The unfortunate result was auto accident victims not receiving medical care for their injuries because insurance companies would not make payments when needed, claiming that they could not provide compensation under a policy until liability or fault for the accident was clearly determined.

The Florida Legislature responded to this crisis in 1972 by passing the county’s first No Fault Law regarding traffic accidents. This law was passed to make sure that anyone involved in an auto accident would quickly receive money to treat their injuries. The law specifically states that insurance carriers are required to pay up to $10,000 to their own policyholder after an accident to cover medical bills and lost wages regardless of who was at fault. This way, injured auto victims could receive immediate medical treatment without being forced to wait for an insurance carrier to accept or admit fault—hence, the No Fault Law. The legislature named this new type of coverage personal injury protection or PIP.

This is an excellent and important question in regards to the recently passed 2012 personal injury protection (PIP) reform bill. This is what the bill says regarding “emergency medical conditions.”

A patient must have a physician, osteopath, dentist, supervised physician’s assistant, or advanced registered nurse practitioner officially diagnose him with an “emergency medical condition” to receive the entire $10,000 PIP benefit; otherwise, the patient is limited to $2,500.

First we must determine what “emergency medical condition” means before we can truly analyze this provision. The bill provides the following definition: “’Emergency medical condition’ means a medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity, which may include severe pain, such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in any of the following: serious jeopardy to patient health, serious impairment of bodily functions, serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.”

Why do lawmakers write in such an unnecessarily complicated way? Basically, this provision states that the full $10,000 amount of PIP benefits is available to an auto accident victim only if a specific type of medical care provider listed in the provision subjectively decides that the patient has an “emergency medical condition.” If the patient cannot obtain an “emergency medical condition” diagnosis, he is entitled to only $2,500 in PIP benefits.

This provision in essence transforms the current personal injury protection law into a medical emergency protection law by apportioning 75% of PIP’s benefits for “emergency medical conditions.” In other words, unless you suffered serious a near life-threatening injuries from an auto accident, your allotted PIP maximum is 25% of the PIP maximum. It is true, as confusing as it might sound. The PIP law affords all Florida drivers $10,000 for personal injuries sustained during an auto accident. This provision, however, now cuts that benefit to $2,500 unless you were severely and immediately injured. Furthermore, the $7,500 hanging in limbo becomes available only if the incredibly high standard for “emergency medical condition” is met.

This provision not only substantially changes the current PIP law; it also goes against and tries to defeat the essence and spirit of PIP. PIP was passed into law in 1972 for the express purpose of ensuring Florida drivers that they could quickly receive money to pay for their accident-related medical bills no matter what the situation was or who was at fault. This provision removes the 75% of the safety net that PIP is supposed to provide by law.

Excellent question if you want to understand or maximize the settlement value of your accident case. Here is the information.

MIST stands for Minimal Impact Soft Tissue. Insurance companies use this term as a way to classify accident cases. Generally, for an auto accident claim to be classified as a MIST, the insurance adjuster has “evaluated” the property damages and out-of-pocket expenses for the claimant. If the adjuster sees $1,000 to $1,500 or less of property damage to the vehicle and minimal out-of-pocket expenses for medical care and loss of wages, the case is marked a MIST claim. Once a claim has been marked as a MIST the claimant will be offered only a minimum settlement.

As a side note, remember that visible damage to a vehicle does not always reflect the severity of impact in an accident. For example, there could be damage to the frame of the car or other hidden damages that could adjust the amount of property damage and thus the settlement value of the case.

Understanding how insurance companies and adjusters work and the methodology of their computer models they use to evaluate claims is very important in being fairly compensated in an accident case. For that reason, the attorneys and case manages at this law office have advanced training on just this topic. Having this “insiders” information helps us present cases to the insurance companies and adjusters in a way that maximizes our client’s settlement value.

This is an excellent road safety question and one that many people are confused about.

Most vehicles are equipped with Antilock Brake Systems (ABS), however, that wasn’t always the case. Many of us learned to drive without the assistance of ABS and therefore, we learned that in times of emergencies when you have to slam on your brakes you must pump the brakes to keep them from locking up which results in skidding and loss of control of the vehicle.

In short, ABS adds an extra layer of safety to your vehicle’s brakes which, when used properly, prevents skidding and reduces stopping distance during hard braking on wet and icy streets. However, if you are not using the ABS properly, you will not be getting its benefits.

The main purpose of ABS it to prevent your brakes from locking up resulting in loss of control at times when you must stop quickly. Essentially, the system pumps the brakes automatically for you, preventing them from locking up.

Therefore, according to the experts:

• You do not have to pump your brakes. In fact, if you pump them while braking hard, you will lose the benefits of the ABS.
• During emergency hard braking, apply firm pressure to the brake pedal; do not take your foot off the brake until your vehicle comes to a full stop. Essentially, brake and steer.
• When the ABS is working, you may notice vibrations/pulsations on your brake pedal and a grinding sound. This is normal and signs that the ABS is engaged.

Warning: ABS does not mean that it is safer to speed, tailgate, or drive unsafely.

Note: If your ABS is not working or you do not have ABS, you must pump your brakes like in the olden days.

Florida is one of several states allowing the so-called “seat belt defense.” This defense is used when a defendant is accused of causing a victim’s injuries as a result of a crash. The defendant asserts that some or all of the victim’s compensation should be reduced if the victim was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the car accident.

Fortunately, if you were not wearing a seat belt and were injured in an Ocala car crash, you may still have a claim for damages. Your first step should be to contact an experienced Florida accident attorney, who can then help you consider the following arguments:

• The lack of use of the seat belt did not worsen your injuries.
• The lack of use of the seat belt did not cause your injuries.
• Due to your height, you sit closer to the steering wheel and therefore your injuries were made worse because of your height, not the lack of seat belt.
• Due to your weight, the seat belt was less effective.

Unfortunately, failing to wear a seat belt during a crash can add complications to your claim for compensation. For this reason, it is vital that you contact an attorney to advise you on your rights. For information on how to protect yourself, view our free guide Seven Mistakes that Can Wreck Your Florida Accident Case. Our office of experienced Florida car accident attorneys is here to help. Call the Jeffrey Meldon & Associates today at their toll free number: 800-373-8000.

Understanding who the potential responsible parties are following a Florida motorcycle accident requires the guidance and experience of a knowledgeable legal professional. There may be additional parties responsible for your injuries, beyond just the driver of the other vehicle. Motorcycle accidents in Florida often result in substantial financial losses for victims. As a result, it is crucial for victims to identify every possible party who may be responsible for providing the compensation you deserve.

The following are some of the potential parties who may be responsible for your Ocala motorcycle accident:

• If your Florida motorcycle accident involved another vehicle, the driver of that vehicle may be partially or fully responsible.
• If your Florida motorcycle crash was caused by poor road conditions, you may have a claim against the owner or maintainer of the roadway.
• A roadway construction crew if they created unsafe conditions that caused the accident.
• The manufacturer of the motorcycle if the accident was caused by a motorcycle malfunction.
• The owner of the motor vehicle, when the crash was caused by a driver who did not own the car that he or she was driving at the time of the accident.
• A business that over served alcohol, resulting in an intoxicated driver of a vehicle that caused your motorcycle wreck.
• If the at-fault driver was working at the time of the crash, his or her employer may be responsible.

After obtaining medical treatment, your next step following a crash should be to find the right attorney to protect your legal rights. To learn more about bringing a claim following a Florida motorcycle accident, contact an experienced Ocala motorcycle crash attorney today. It takes a skilled attorney to determine who is at fault for your accident. Get the support and experience you need by calling our office to set up a free consultation.

While traveling on the roadways of Florida, you are likely to encounter a work zone. Work crews must perform maintenance and upgrades to the roads and highways within the state. Unfortunately, this cannot usually be done by shutting down the area completely to traffic. As a result, travelers are at risk of becoming involved in a Ocala work zone car crash. These accidents may result in significant injuries that create significant financial, emotional, and physical losses.

In order to reduce the chances of becoming involved in this type of crash, consider taking the following measures:

1. Avoid using navigation systems, the radio, or cell phones while driving through Florida work zones.
2. Stay alert and vigilant while driving.
3. Avoid traveling too closely behind the other cars on the roadway, allowing two car lengths or two seconds of time between cars.
4. Travel only in your lane while passing through the work zone.
5. Avoiding attempts to change lanes while inside the work zone.
6. Be prepared for unexpected situations.
7. Avoid the use of alcohol or drugs while driving.
8. Travel below the speed limit while passing through the work zone.
9. Stay up to date with safety maintenance on your vehicle.

Each of these measures will reduce the chances that you become involved in a work zone crash. For more information about Florida roadway crashes, contact an experienced Ocala car accident attorney today. Call our office for a free consultation at our toll free number, (800) 373-8000.

Traditionally, teenagers couldn’t wait to get their license and wanted it as soon as possible. However, according to a recent study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, only 54% of teens surveyed reported that they obtained their driver license before they turned 18. This is a significant change from 20 years ago when more than two-thirds of teens were licensed by the time they turned 18.

The 2012 study included a sampling of 1,039 of young adults ages 18-20 from across the country. For the 46% of those who stated that they did not obtain their license before age 18 they cited the following as their reasons:

Did not have a car (44%) Could get around without driving (39%) Gas was too expensive (36%) Driving was too expensive (36%)

Just didn’t get around to it (35%) Could do what I wanted to do without a driving (32%) Was nervous about driving (30%)

The study also showed the sex of the respondents played no statistical significance on the findings.

This is a common question and one that many people are not sure about. Here is what you need to know about moving your vehicle after an accident in order to be safe and legal:

1. First, if you are involved in a crash, regardless if you were at fault or not, you must immediately and safely stop your car and check to see if anyone is hurt.
2. If someone is injured, call 911 to get help immediately. If the person is seriously injured and there are no major safety hazards, leave the injured person in the vehicle until the paramedics arrive. Moving a seriously injured person yourself could cause them additional injuries.
3. If there are no injuries or only minor ones, you must move your vehicle from the roadway only if you can do it safely and quickly.

While waiting for a police officer to arrive on the scene, obtain the names and contact information of persons who may have witnessed the accident. It is also important to take pictures of the accident scene, if it is safe to do so. Make sure to also get the police officer’s name and the case report number for your accident.

Just because you were charged with a DUI in Gainesville or Alachua County does not mean you are guilty of DUI. There are a number of legal challenges or defenses that can result in your case being dismissed by the judge or prosecutor.

When considering the legal limit for alcohol consumption, the number of ounces of alcohol in the drinks you consume matters more than the number of drinks you had – and not all drinks are the same. A single mixed drink may have 3 ounces of alcohol in it, which is the equivalent of 3 drinks, and depending on the restaurant or bar, the typical martini has 2 ½ to 3 ounces of alcohol in it. This ratio means that if you have just one martini, it can take over 3 hours to cancel its effects on your body!

In terms of legality, one drink equals:

• 1 oz. shot of 80 proof vodka, tequila, rum, etc.
• 3 oz. glass of wine
• 12 oz. beer

How Much Alcohol Does It Take To Become “Impaired?”

So, how much alcohol does it take for me to be legally deemed to be impaired? The answer depends on several different factors, including:

• How many ounces of alcohol you have consumed.
• How quickly you drink it.
• How much you weigh.
• How much food is in your stomach.
• Other medical conditions.

For example: If you weigh 140 pounds and have 3 drinks in an hour (note what a drink equals from the information above), your blood alcohol level will be at .08%, the legal limit. If your stomach is empty, or if you are tired, on certain medications, or experiencing heightened emotions, fewer than 3 drinks in an hour can have a more significant effect on you.

Remember These Meldon Law DUI Attorney Insights Before Drinking And Driving

• A person’s judgment is the first thing affected after drinking alcohol, which means you may think you can safely drive when you can’t.
• Alcohol affects your vision and reduces your alertness and response time.
• Alcohol affects you differently at different times. If you are upset, overtired, or have an empty stomach, drugs or alcohol may have a stronger effect on you.
• Physical exercise, black coffee, fresh air, and cold showers do not effectively help sober someone up. Only the passage of time helps.
• It takes over 1 hour to cancel the effects of 1 drink.
• Mixing drugs and alcohol can produce a strong reaction, even if your doctor prescribed you the drugs or they are over-the-counter medications.

Do Not Drive After Drinking or Taking Drugs

More than half of all Florida accidents in which someone is killed involve a driver who has been drinking or taking drugs. Alcohol and drugs:

• Affect your judgment and vision.
• Slow down your reactions.
• Make it harder for you to concentrate on and judge distances.
• Make you think you are driving well when you are not.

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

The experienced Trial Attorneys at Meldon Law are dedicated to preserving the rights of the accused.

If you are convicted of a DUI/DWI, your insurance rates will skyrocket! This is because of a new Florida law that went into effect in 2007, which requires anyone with a DUI conviction to purchase significantly higher cost insurance. This could cost you as much as $20,000 over the next 3 to 5 years.

If you are convicted of a DUI, in Florida, you are now required to purchase a minimum of $100,000/$300,000 in Bodily Injury Liability Insurance and $50,000 in Property Damage Liability Insurance in order to drive after a DUI conviction.

In addition to this, not all insurance companies are willing to insure people convicted of a DUI and even then only at a very high price!

In the State of Florida, in order to be charged with DUI it is necessary for the prosecutor to prove that the person was either:

1. Driving a motor vehicle with unlawful blood alcohol content; in excess of .08%. (This can be proven by breath testing results from Florida’s CMI Intoxilyzer 8000 or blood test results)
2. Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs (prescription, OTC or illegal) to the extent that a person’s normal faculties were impaired. (This can be proven by such things as: police officer observations, urine tests, admissions by the defendant or drugs seized from the vehicle)

If you have been arrested for DUI, it is important to seek legal help right away.

Florida does not have a crime under the title DWI or “Driving While Intoxicated.” Some states have DWI and/or DUI, “Driving Under the Influence,” and some states give it other criminal titles. However, in Florida, there is just one crime, DUI.

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

The 2 most important things to do after being arrested in Gainesville or Alachua County for a DUI are:

1. Hire a Gainesville DUI attorney ASAP, do not wait too long!
2. Hire the most experienced Gainesville DUI attorney! Here are some criteria to look for.

Carey Meldon Tip: These are by far THE TWO most important things to do after an arrest and not doing them can result in mistakes that can have negative and permanent affects on your life, and mistakes that could have been avoided.

1. Problems with waiting too long to hire legal representation include:

• DUI cases are often won based on the details surrounding the stop and the arrest.
• Details require time and expertise to investigate and examine.
• Evidence can get cold.
• Details can change. For example: Roadside conditions can change daily, witnesses can become difficult to locate and memories fade.
• There is only 10 days to file an appeal of the driver’s license suspension. If no appeal is filed, then “hard time”, time during which the person cannot drive, even to school or to work, will result.
• The appeal of the driver’s license suspension, the Formal Review Hearing, may be the single most important factor in winning the criminal aspect of a DUI case and avoiding a DUI conviction.
• A attorney can represent the accused at the arraignment, which means the Case gets worked on earlier and the accused does not miss another day of work.
• Mistakes can be made without an attorney on your side that may adversely affect your case, making it more difficult to get the charges dismissed or plead to a lesser offense, which means if you are charged with DUI you will face life long consequences.

2. Problems with not hiring the most qualified or experienced attorney:

Carey Meldon Tip: People that have been arrested for DUI often are too embarrassed or afraid to talk to their parents or spouses about their arrest and discuss the financial situation they are in. They don’t want to borrow money, so they look for the least expensive DUI attorney, thinking all attorneys are the same.

Here are some of the problems that they then run into:

• Some people stay with the public defender if the judge appointed them one, only to find out that the public defender can not represent them at the driver’s license appeal hearing (FRH) nor at the University of Florida hearing (for UF students). So valuable representation is lost, making it more likely for them to lose the case resulting in a DUI conviction.

Carey Meldon Tip: It is common for the public defenders with the least experience to be assigned to the DUI cases; they have an overwhelming case load and are just learning their way around the court house.

• Many people call around to find the least expensive attorney, rather than the most experienced, with the sole criteria for their choice being how low the fee is. They fail to realize that the most significant financial costs of a DUI conviction are not the attorney fees, but rather the skyrocketing insurance bill, and the effect on employment, future education, or military plans.
• Some of these low cost attorneys do not represent their clients at the Formal Review Hearing, or they charge extra, and may not have the experience to give you the best chance of winning the FRH.
• Often by the time these people realize that they made a mistake in their choice of attorney, it is too late, and the damage is done.
• DUI defense is a subcategory, within criminal defense. Not all criminal defense attorneys do DUI defense, and it is difficult to be on the cutting edge of DUI defense without doing it day in and day out on a regular basis.

Carey Meldon Tip: There is a “myth” that just because a criminal defense attorney says that they were a former prosecutor, that they are skilled at DUI defense, or that they have “connections” with the prosecutor that will help get their client’s case dismissed. This just isn’t so. It is experience that counts.

Carey Meldon Tip: The number of DUI cases successfully defended over a long period of time is how a attorney becomes skilled at DUI defense. This is the single most important criteria for selecting a DUI attorney and having the best chance of winning a DUI case.

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

You have a time period of 10 days and 10 days only from your DUI arrest to appeal your Driver’s License Suspension. During these 10 days and only during these 10 days, you have the right to appeal the suspension by requesting a Formal Review Hearing (FRH) with the DMV.

If you file your appeal within 10 days, you will be granted a FRH (usually within 30 days) and given an extended business and/or school driving permit for 4 to 5 weeks.

If you fail to appeal the suspension within 10 days, you will lose your right to a FRH and your driver’s license suspension starts immediately!

If you fail to file your appeal within 10 days, you will be given a period of 30 or 90 days of “hard time”, during which you cannot drive at all!! Not to school, work or anywhere! (Beware: This period of “hard time” has led many people to lose their jobs) After this “hard time” you will have a greatly restricted license for 6 months to 1 year.

The FRH can be the single most important part of winning your Criminal DUI case! Because, even if you lose your FRH, this hearing gives you and your attorney the chance to obtain valuable evidence and testimony months before your criminal case is ready for trial. The information obtained from the FRH may lead to successful plea negotiations or a “not guilty” at trial. It is like a “mini” trial.

More about the FRH:

• The FRH is often won on technicalities and having an experienced DUI attorney with you is an important factor in winning your appeal and your case.
• If you can not afford to hire an attorney, you can request an Informal Review Hearing.
• Public Defenders are not allowed to do Formal Review Hearings (FRH).
• Some attorneys in town do not do Formal Review Hearings, or they charge extra for it.

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

Carey Meldon Tip: If you are reading this because you were recently arrested for a DUI, You need experienced legal representation TODAY!

Why today?

• Your arraignment, your next required court appearance, is coming up soon and your attorney can go for you. Florida law permits an attorney to file a not guilty plea on your behalf.
• A DUI legal team needs time to review the details and investigate your case. DUI cases are often won based on details. It is important to start the investigation ASAP as details and evidence at the arrest scene can change, and witnesses can become difficult to locate.
• An experienced DUI legal team can guide you so that you do not make any of the common mistakes that, once made, may make it nearly impossible for you to recover from.
• DUI cases are complex and more complicated to defend than many felonies. Not all criminal defense attorneys do DUI defense, or do it well, it is a specialty.

Carey Meldon Tip: Hiring legal representation, a Gainesville DUI attorney to represent you, ASAP after being charged is one of the two most important things to do after an arrest, to learn more, read this.

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

Florida has some of the toughest laws regarding Driving Under the Influence in the country. Here is a summary of what you are facing if you are arrested and charged in Gainesville or Alachua County for a DUI:

If you are arrested for DUI in Gainesville, or Alachua County, you are facing two penalties:

1. DUI Criminal Conviction
2. Driver’s License Suspension by the DMV:

Additionally, if you are a University of Florida student charged with DUI, there is an additional penalty:

• University of Florida (UF) Suspension or Expulsion. Here is the latest news regarding Student Code of Conduct violations for first time DUI

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: The DUI Criminal Conviction is serious, more serious than many felonies and can affect the rest of your life! It can be more serious than grand theft auto, for example, and will not go away no matter how much you try to ignore it!

Here is why:

• Florida law does not permit the judge to withhold an adjudication of guilt! In most criminal cases in Florida, the judge has the discretion or ability to keep a conviction off your record, but not with a DUI conviction.
• This means if you plead “no contest”, “guilty” or are “found guilty” by a judge or jury to the charge of DUI, the judge has no choice but to convict you and you will have a DUI criminal conviction on your record for the rest of your life.
• This criminal conviction can never be sealed or expunged.

This means:

• This DUI conviction may have to be reported to certain employers, the military, graduate schools, and to your insurance company.
• Your insurance rates will skyrocket with a DUI conviction, costing you as much as $20,000 over the next 3 to 5 years! This is a due to a new 2007 Florida law that requires extra auto insurance for anyone with a DUI conviction.
• This DUI conviction can haunt you if you are ever charged with a second DUI (even if it is 15 to 20 years later).
• A DUI conviction will also mean: jail time and/or probation, DUI School, fines and court costs, community service, driver’s license suspension, possibility of an ignition interlock device placed on your car, and the Victim Impact Program.
• A DUI conviction is also reported nationwide, it will always be on your driving record, and no matter what state you move to, it will follow you.
• Jeffrey Meldon Tip: It is of the utmost important to hire an experienced Gainesville DUI attorney. Doing so will give you the best chance of avoiding the DUI charge and its life long penalties. Here are things you should look for in a DUI attorney

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

Choosing an attorney to represent you in a DUI charge is probably the single most important decision to make after your arrest. In fact, the same care should be taken in selecting a DUI or criminal defense attorney that you would take in selecting the best and most specialized doctor in the face of a life threatening illness. In either a medical or legal situation, it is important to choose a professional who is experienced in the specific field of practice, and is current in the latest education, defense strategies and technology. This will give you the best chance of success.

Yes, it is possible to have your attorney with you at this “hearing”. However, they cannot speak on your behalf, but they can advise you. In this “hearing,” whether formal or informal, the student has very limited rights, fewer than with any other aspect of your DUI case.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: It is important to hire a Gainesville DUI attorney that is experienced in representing students at UF’s “hearings”, and includes the service in their fee. An experienced DUI defense attorney can intervene and in some cases avoid suspension or expulsion for the student.

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

Yes, The University of Florida, in Gainesville, has very strict policies regarding students charged with DUI, even if the arrest occurred off campus and even if the student is found not guilty of DUI in criminal court.

Here is the common course of events:

• Within a few days of the student’s arrest, the University is notified by the police department.
• The University will then contact the student arrested for DUI, usually by mail, requesting that student schedule a meeting with a Student Judicial Affairs Officer.
• At this meeting the Officer will review with the student his or her options for a “hearing” on the matter.
• At the hearing the student has very limited rights to defend themselves and the police officer’s version of what happened will probably be accepted at “face value”.
• If the University of Florida finds you “responsible” for violating the student conduct code, they can impose sanctions that range from conduct probation to suspension or expulsion from the University.
• Here is the latest news regarding sanctions for Student Code of Conduct violations for first time DUI.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: It is important to hire a Gainesville DUI attorney that is experienced in representing students at UF’s “hearings”, and includes the service in their fee. An experienced DUI defense attorney can intervene and in some cases avoid suspension or expulsion for the student.

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

This is probably the most commonly asked question of any DUI attorney; whether to take the Breath Test (BT) or not. Here are my suggestions:

Yes, Blow if: you have had nothing or very little to drink. Beware however, your judgment may be impaired, and you may feel sober and still be over the limit.

Don’t Blow if: you have been drinking.

Other Information:

• Florida law does not make it illegal to refuse to take the breath test.
• Florida law does not allow for a police officer to request that you take the BT unless you are under arrest for DUI.
• Which means, even if you pass the BT, you are still under arrest and are going to jail, the officer cannot un-arrest you.
• Breath Testing machines such as the CMI Intoxilyzer 8000, are not always reliable and have problems, why would anyone want to risk a DUI conviction based on a faulty machine and unreliable evidence.
• There is a better chance of getting the case dismissed if there is no BT result and a person looks sober on the video.

Why would you want to take a Breath Test if you are already under arrest?

• If you have not been drinking, or have only had 1 or 2 oz’s of alcohol, the BT results may be in your favor for getting the charges dismissed or pled to a lesser offense.
• There are additional DMV and Criminal penalties for refusing to take the BT, especially if you have previously refused.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Remember, once you are under arrest you have the right to speak with your attorney!

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: A DUI conviction in Florida is serious! It is a permanent lifelong record that can never be erased and can affect many aspects of your life and cost as much as $20,000 in increased insurance premiums alone.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: The best way to avoid a DUI arrest is to not drink and then drive!”

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

Since July of 2008, installation of an approved ignition interlock device is a mandated or required DUI conviction penalty. Proof of installation must be shown before a person with certain DUI convictions is able to get their diving privilege back. This 2008 mandate applies to all residents of Gainesville, Alachua County and all of Florida.

DUI Convictions that mandate ignition interlock device placement & (the time frame required) are:

• For a DUI with a BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) over 0.15 (at least 6 months)
• If there was a minor in the vehicle at the time of the DUI arrest (at least 6 months)
• For a 2nd DUI conviction (at least one year)
• For a 2nd DUI conviction with a BAC over 0.15 or if minor in the vehicle (at least 2 years)
• For a 3rd DUI conviction (at least 2 years)

The device must be approved by the DMV and placed on all vehicles that are individually or jointly owed or leased and routinely operated by the convicted person. Additionally all costs for the purchase, placement and monthly monitoring and calibration are borne by the convicted person. The time periods that are mandated for the device’s placement and use must be consecutive and cannot correspond with imprisonment time.

The ignition interlock device itself plugs into the cigarette lighter of the automobile and is hard-wired to the vehicle’s ignition system. Before the car can be started, the convicted person must blow into the mouthpiece of the device. The machine is similar to other breath testing machines as it reads breath alcohol concentration. The main difference is that this device is used inside the car and will not allow the car to start unless the driver’s breath alcohol level is under a certain concentration. Additionally, periodic breath sampling is required to continue the vehicle’s operation.

The goal of a vehicle ignition interlock device is to prevent a person that has been drinking from starting and then operating a vehicle.

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

Generally, yes you can. Here is the Information:

• Unless otherwise instructed by the Judge at your First Appearance, you can drive until midnight on the 10th day from receiving the DUI citation.
• You must have the DUI citation on your person when you are driving at all times, either in your wallet or glove compartment.
• If you are caught driving for any reason during this 10 day period and do not have the DUI citation to present to the officer, you can be arrested for driving on a DUI suspension.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: Remember you have 10 days to apply for a Gainesville/Alachua County DMV Formal Review Hearing (FRH) and only 10 days. Check out this library article for more information.

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

As an attorney handling DUI (driving under the influence) charges for over 30 years, I’ve found many clients have legitimate concerns that a suspension will keep them from getting to work or school. My recommendation: take quick legal action. Here are some general, first-offense guidelines:

1. When arrested, the cop probably took your license, giving you a DUI citation, which acts as a 10-day temporary driving permit. (Read the citation fine print.)
2. After 10 days, a license is generally suspended for six (6) months to one (1) year.
3. You may gain more driving time by challenging the suspension and filing for a Formal Review Hearing (FRH)-within 10 days of the DUI citation. Until the FRH, you may be granted four (4) to five (5) weeks of business-purpose only driving. (link)
4. If an offender does not file for or loses a FRH, then the six (6) months to one (1) year suspension begins immediately. Only after 30 to 90 days of suspension, may the offender file for a restricted, business-purpose license upon completion of “DUI School.”
5. If you win the FRH, you may have your license reinstated without limitation.

My advice: consult with an experienced DUI attorney to take timely action and to protect your rights. For more information, request a free copy of A DUI Guide for Alachua County.

For more information:

• First-time DUI Offense and Driver’s License Suspension – Experienced Gainesville DUI attorney explains the facts.
• Business Purpose Only (BPO) Driver’s Licenses: when can I apply for a BPO hardship license? Alachua County experienced DUI attorney explains.
• How does the breath test affect getting back my driver’s license?

Remember, the only sure way of avoiding the lifelong consequences of a DUI conviction is to not drink and drive!

However, if it is too late, do not make another mistake – hire an experienced DUI/DWI attorney to represent you and do it ASAP, don’t wait! You can contact us today.

Florida permits application for a hardship, Business Purpose Only (BPO) license after a first-time DUI conviction. To qualify for a BPO license, an offender may be required to successfully complete “DUI School” or any other mandatory substance abuse evaluation(s).

Generally, a first-time DUI offender must abstain from driving for 30 days, if the driver took the breath test. However, a license may be suspended for up to 90 days, if the driver refused the breath test before becoming eligible for a hardship license.

Remember, a judge may add an additional condition of release to your bail or “release on your own recognizance,” such as no driving at all until the case is concluded. Aggravating factors, such as: causing property damage, personal injury, or death; having a minor present in the vehicle; or submitting a breath test with a very high BAC (.15 BAC or above), may also result in a longer suspension.

This is an important question and one that can affect the 3 to 5 years of your life. In addition, it is another good reason to hire the best and most experienced DUI attorney in your county. Here is the information:

Premiums. Whether we’re talking about a first (1st) or subsequent DUI (driving under the influence) offense, you’re looking at a higher cost of insurance, or premium. Basically, it costs more to insure a driver with a history of DUI, who may again cause property damage, personal injury, or fatalities. It is estimated that annual insurance rates may increase as much as $3,000 to $5,000 for three (3) to five (5) years following a DUI.

Required Insurance(s): Additionally, Florida law requires a DUI offender to carry insurance in excess of the minimum mandated by law. For a DUI conviction on or prior to October 1, 2007, an offender must carry:

• Bodily Injury (BI) insurance in the amount of $10,000 per person and $20,000 per occurrence;
• Property Damage in the amount of $10,000; and
• A reinstatement fee of $15 may be charged.

Any DUI conviction after October 1, 2007, must provide proof of:

• Bodily Injury (BI) insurance in the amount of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence;
• Property Damage in the amount of $50,000 property damage liability on the arrest date or proof of liability coverage; and
• A reinstatement fee of $150 and up to $500 may be charged (Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles).

My advice: consult with an experienced DUI attorney to take timely action. For more detailed information, request a free copy of A DUI Guide for Alachua County.

Extradition is the removal of a person (fugitive) from the state in which he is physically located (asylum state) to the state that requests him to face criminal charges or punishment (demanding state). Florida statute 941 allows the state to request extradition from anywhere in the Unites States.

The process for extradition in Florida, at least in theory, is fairly straightforward. The governor’s office from the demanding state must file a “governor’s warrant” with the governor’s office of the asylum state. The warrant will include the reason for the extradition, which is usually because criminal charges or punishment are pending against the fugitive in the demanding state. Once the warrant has been filed, the asylum state will arrest and hold the fugitive until the demanding state comes and picks him up.

Practically speaking, extraditions can be extremely time consuming and expensive. The asylum state bears the responsibilities of not only arresting and detaining a potential criminal of another state but also for issuing and processing an additional warrant to allow the transport of the fugitive out of the state. The demanding state has the burden of retrieving the fugitive within a certain time frame as specified in the warrant, all that the state’s expense. If these requirements are not satisfied, then the fugitive may be released by the asylum. Such instances, however, are not common.

Does Florida Extradite People Charged With DUI?

By law (Florida statute 941), the state may extradite a person charged with a “crime” in Florida, whether it is a felony or misdemeanor. So even though a DUI charge is a first degree misdemeanor in Florida, extradition is still possible if the state chooses to do so.

Extradition cases, however, can be extremely time consuming and costly. As a result, the state of Florida rarely attempts to extradite a person for misdemeanor offenses, including DUI. That does not mean, however, that a person who commits a DUI in Florida and flees the state is off the hook. A Florida court will issue an arrest warrant for failure to appear for court, and this warrant is held valid anywhere in the United States. Consequently, if that person is stopped by police in another state for a traffic violation, he may be arrested based on that existing warrant even though Florida never requested extradition. Warrants are generally valid for ten years but are almost always re-issued when they expire.

In cases in which the DUI results in serious injury or death or substantial damage to property, the state of Florida will most likely attempt to seek extradition. It is important to note that these charges are equal to a second degree felony and not a misdemeanor.

They have also recently written the DUI Guide Book for Alachua County, Ways to Possibly Avoid A DUI Charge or Conviction. You can request your free copy today. This book, written by these experienced DUI defense criminal trial attorneys, gives insight into what a DUI charge is, what it takes to be over the legal limit, ways the State can prove the charge, and possible legal defenses.

A third offense DUI (driving under the influence) charge in Florida carries with it steep punishments. This could include the loss of your driver’s license for many years. The length of time in which you lose your license will vary depending on how close together the driving offenses occurred. Fortunately, acting responsibly during the period in which you lose your license could allow you to get your license back eventually. The rules are as follows:

• If your third offense was more than ten years after your second conviction, you will lose your license for anywhere from 180 days to one year.
• If the first and second convictions were within five years of each other, you will lose your license for five years.
• If your third offense was less than ten years after your second conviction, you will lose your license for ten years.
• For third offenses less than ten years after a second conviction, you can apply for a hardship license after two years without your license.

Understanding the rules and guidelines surrounding a DUI charge and loss of license in Florida can be difficult. Fortunately, an experienced Alachua County DUI attorney can assist you in understanding your legal rights and defending against a charge. Our free guide, Ways to Possibly Avoid a DUI Charge or Conviction, offers additional guidance about understanding DUI charges and convictions in Florida. For more information about getting your license back following a DUI, contact an experienced Gainesville DUI attorney today.

Following a driving under the influence (DUI) conviction in Florida, you will likely be placed into a higher risk pool for insurance purposes. This may mean that you will have to pay higher insurance premiums. For this reason, it is vital to consult with an experienced Florida DUI attorney immediately following a driving charge.

The following is an overview of how the DUI will impact your insurance policy:

• Once your case has been resolved, your driving record will reflect whether or not you have a DUI conviction.
• Your insurance premium may remain the same until it is time to renew.
• At the time for renewal or when you switch providers, your premium will likely increase substantially.
• Insurance companies typically review the driving records of existing customers once per year.
• Insurance companies typically review the driving records of potential new customers before entering into an agreement.
• If you are convicted of a DUI, some insurance companies may refuse to insure you.

If you were convicted of a DUI in Florida, it is wise to obtain quotes for motor vehicle insurance from various companies. While a DUI will likely place you in the high risk pool for any company, rates can vary significantly.

Your best defense, however, is to avoid the conviction to begin with. Our free guide Ways to Possibly Avoid a DUI Charge or Conviction in Alachua County offers information about how this may be a possibility. For more information about avoiding a conviction or charge of DUI in Florida, contact an experienced DUI attorney serving Gainesville & Ocala today.

Even when driving sober, being asked to perform a field sobriety test can be a scary experience for many motorists. Failing a field sobriety test can have many consequences. As a result, it may be best to refuse the test in certain circumstances. Our free guide, Ways to Possibly Avoid a DUI Charge or Conviction in Alachua County, provides further guidance.

Suspects fail Florida field sobriety tests for reasons in addition to intoxication. Factors that can increase the chances of failing a field sobriety test include:

• Having generally poor coordination.
• Being ill at the time of the test.
• Feeling nervous at the time of the test.
• Taking medication before the administering of the test.

Fortunately, refusing to take a field sobriety test in Gainesville will not result in an automatic loss of your driver’s license in the same manner as a refusal to take a blood, breath, or urine test that measures blood alcohol content. However, the refusal can be used against you should your charges go to trial. Since field sobriety tests are subjective, confusing, difficult to perform, and sometimes administered incorrectly by police, the best course of action may be to refuse the field sobriety test.

Many attorneys recommend that clients refuse to take a breath or blood test when they are accused or suspected of driving under the influence for the first time in Florida. If you agree to take the test and fail, you will lose your license. In addition, the prosecutor can use this evidence to prove that your blood alcohol level was above the legal limit at the time you were stopped. A score of .08 or higher on a blood or breath test is considered above the legal limit in Florida.

In the alternative, if you refuse to take a breath or blood test pertaining to your blood alcohol level, the following may occur:

1. If you have never previously refused such a test, you may have your license suspended administratively for one year.
2. If you have previously refused a test, you may be charged with a misdemeanor. This comes with a potential penalty of up to a year in jail.
3. You will be permitted to drive for 10 days following the refusal and will have the opportunity to request a formal review hearing from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
4. The prosecutor will not have the results of the test to use to prove that you were driving under the influence at the time you were pulled over.

Whether you agreed to take the breath or blood test or not, every action that you take following a Florida DUI is crucial to the outcome of your case. For guidance when facing such an accusation, contact an experienced Gainesville DUI attorney today. Call our office to set up a free consultation to discuss your matter: 800-373-8000. When you call, ask how you can obtain a free copy of our guide, A DUI Guide for Alachua County – Ways to Possibly Avoid a DUI Charge or Conviction.

This is a very important question because Florida leads the nation in bicycle rider fatalities. In addition, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2011, one-fourth of the cyclists killed had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% (grams per deciliter) or higher which is over the legal limit.

What is a DUI? DUI stands for driving under the influence. It is defined as the act of driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle when your normal faculties are impaired by alcohol or drugs (legal or illegal), or when you have BAC of .08% or higher.

How can a bicycle rider be charged with a DUI? Under Florida law, a bicycle is considered a vehicle and therefore must obey all traffic laws just like cars and trucks. This includes complying with Florida DUI laws.

In order to be charged with DUI it is necessary for the prosecutor to prove either that:

1. You were riding with your bike with a BAC of .08% or higher which can be proven by breath or blood testing results, or,
2. You were riding under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs to the extent your normal faculties were impaired which can be proven by police officer’s observations, urine tests, admissions by the defendant, or drugs seized from the vehicle.

As an experienced DUI Gainesville attorney, I encourage you to seek legal advice ASAP. Give me a call or contact me online. I also offer free consultations and a free guide book for those charged with DUI in Gainesville.

The definition of DUI:

DUI stands for Driving Under the Influence. It is defined as the act of driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle (including a motorcycle, bicycle, boat, and other vehicles) when a person’s normal faculties are impaired by alcohol or drugs (legal or illegal), or when with a breath or blood alcohol level of .08% or higher.

DUI is also known as driving while intoxicated (DWI). States have different criminal titles for the act of operating a vehicle while impaired, such as DWI. In Florida, there is just one crime, DUI. In Florida, DUI is a criminal offense that also has civil consequences.

How a DUI is proven:

In Florida, in order to be convicted of DUI, it is necessary for the prosecutor to prove that you were driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while you either:

1. Had an unlawful blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08% or higher which can be proven by breath or blood testing.
2. Or, your normal faculties were impaired by alcohol and/or drugs (prescription, OTC, or illegal). This can be proven by police officer’s observations, urine testing, admissions by the defendant, or alcohol and/or drugs seized from the defendant or the vehicle.

Travelers injured by accidents involving big trucks could face substantial and ongoing physical and financial harm. The size and weight of big trucks often result in more serious injuries that ultimately create higher medical costs and a greater amount of lost income. Additional factors that contribute to Florida truck accidents include:

• Braking time takes between 20 and 40 percent longer for a big truck than smaller vehicles.
• Big trucks have large blind spots that make it more difficult for drivers to see other travelers.
• The weight of big trucks makes them difficult to maneuver, and therefore less able to avoid collisions.
• Big trucks typically carry cargo, and when that cargo falls or spills while travelling at a high rate of speed it can be very dangerous to other motorists on the road.
• The design of big trucks, which have higher centers of gravity, makes it more likely for them to tip.
• Transport companies often do not provide sufficient training, schedule drivers using unrealistic timing expectations, and tie their compensation systems to encourage faster driving.

All of these factors make big trucks dangerous companions on Florida’s roadways. If you have been injured in an Ocala truck accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses. This could include your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Your ability to obtain a recovery, however, is subject to a statute of limitations that requires you to file suit within a set period of time. To learn more about bringing a claim following an injury, contact an experienced Ocala truck accident attorney today.

1. All drivers must wear a seat belt while operating a vehicle.
2. All passengers in the front seat of a vehicle must wear a seatbelt.
3. Any passenger under the age of 18 in the backseat of a vehicle must wear a seat belt.
4. Children three and under must be a in a federally approved restraint seat.
5. Children age four or five must be in a federally approved restraint seat or safety belt.

If you still have questions and would like more information about these laws or any other legal issue, please reach out to Meldon Law today.

The law was passed to protect the overall safety of everyone using the roadways. Texting while driving is a secondary offense. This means an officer can only pull you over if you commit a primary traffic offense and then issue you a citation for texting while driving. A primary offense is one that an officer can pull you over for; something like running a red light or speeding. The fine varies from county to county, but the base ticket is $30.

The law only applies when the car is in motion and not when you are at a stop light. The law also only applies to text messaging and not things like music, weather, and navigation use on the phone. Even those these uses are not prohibited, they can still be just as dangerous as texting while driving. A driver is taking his eyes off of the road to do something on his phone that is not worth the risk of crashing. This modern day technology has proved to be very dangerous. Teens and young drivers are especially at risk because of their lack of experience and amount of texting.

If a crash occurs and there is an injury or death, billing records of the phone may be accessed and admissible in court.

Meldon Law reminds drivers to never text and drive. It can wait. Pull over and send a text, make a call, or enter an address into your navigation. Don’t risk your own life and those around you while on the road.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: If you have a serious injury that has resulted from medical malpractice, do not go it alone. Hiring an experienced Florida medical malpractice attorney ASAP is your best way to get justice for the wrong medical care that caused injury or death, and to help you pay for your past, present and future expenses.

Occasionally a hospital will offer an individual a quick settlement when there is a fairly obvious mistake that caused and injury. They may even tell the patient to not get a attorney because they will only take the money away from them. If that happens to you, ask yourself, “why they are recommending you do not hire an attorney?”.

Here are a few things to consider:

1. The hospital is very experienced in analyzing and handling malpractice claims and settlement negotiations. Their representative knows what your claim is really worth, but you do not. It is their job to know these things; it probably is not your job. So you are on unequal grounds.
2. The responsibility of the hospital’s claims adjuster is to not pay fair value, but to pay the least amount they can get away with.
3. As in most medical malpractice cases in Florida, there are complicated liens against your settlement by entities like Medicare, HMO’s, or any other private health insurance companies that may have paid for your medical care, and any settlement needs to take these into consideration.
4. Failure to pay back these liens can be a crime.
5. The doctor or hospital will hire a team of top notch attorneys who specialize in defending medical malpractice claims and know all possible technicalities, and other strategies that can get your case thrown out.

If you feel you have been injured by a doctor or someone working in a health care facility, you may be wondering if you have a case or not and if you need a attorney.

If you have a legitimate case, with serious injuries, you will need an experienced medical malpractice attorney to navigate the powerful medical insurance world in order to be fairly compensated.

For over 50 years the experienced attorneys at Meldon Law have been helping victims of medical malpractice get compensated for the harm done to them.

If you or a loved one has experienced an injury due to medical malpractice, contact the Gainesville office of Meldon Law today. Consultations are free!

Since 1971, we have represented medical malpractice victims from: Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Inverness, Palatka, Inverness, Crystal River, Daytona Beach, Interlachen, Spring Hill, Dunnellon, Bunnell, Live Oak, Starke, Jasper, Cross City, Perry, Trenton, Leesburg, Lake Butler, Tavares, Chiefland, Bronson, Brooksville, The Villages and the counties of Alachua County, Marion County, Columbia County, Citrus County, Volusia County, Sumter County, Levy County, Lake County, Bradford County, Flagler County, Hamilton County, Dixie County, Gilchrist County, Union County, Hernando County, Suwannee County, Union County and Putnam County.

Remember: If you can’t come to us – We will come to you.

The main reason is that medical malpractice cases are very expensive and time consuming to pursue! A attorney can spend $50,000 to $100,000 in out-of-pocket expenses plus two to three years of time on a single case and with no guarantee of any recovery. With this in mind, it is easy to see that to spend so much money on a case that has a potentially small recovery which could be even less than what they had to spend to present the case, or no recovery at all, attorneys are very limited to the type of medical malpractice cases they take.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip: If you believe you have a medical malpractice claim; it is important to consult with an experienced medical malpractice attorney who can help you determine if you have a claim that is worth pursuing ASAP.

If you feel you have been injured by a doctor or someone working in a health care facility, you may be wondering if you have a case or not and if you need a attorney.

If you have a legitimate case, with serious injuries, you will need an experienced medical malpractice attorney to navigate the powerful medical insurance world in order to be fairly compensated.

For over 50 years the experienced attorneys at Meldon Law have been helping victims of medical malpractice get compensated for the harm done to them.

If you or a loved one has experienced an injury due to medical malpractice, contact the Gainesville office of Meldon Law today. Consultations are free!

First you have to establish medical malpractice. To establish medical malpractice, or medical negligence in Florida, an injured person must prove:

1. That there was a duty owed to the person by the health care professional (for example, in this case, an established patient /doctor relationship).
2. That the health care professional failed to perform at the standard of medical care for that particular professional as compared to his or her peers. (negligent)
3. That there was a connection between the health care professional failing to meet the standard of care, and the injury or damage that was caused to the patient. (causation)
4. That there is injury or harm or damage done to the patient.

To establish negligence, the standard of medical care must be established and expert witnesses may be needed to give testimony.

Establishing causation, meaning that the injury or damage sustained was a direct result of the medical professional’s negligence of failure to meet the standard of care, may be difficult to prove, as there may be other factors contributing to the injury or damage.

In summary and to answer you question. If you can prove that your “doctor” was your doctor, and he did something or omitted to do something that was below the level of standard of care for that particular type of doctor, and that you have an injury that was sustained because of it, yes, you may have a medical malpractice case.

This is a question I commonly receive as a local and experienced med mal attorney in Gainesville, here are the differences:

The best way to think about economic and non-economic damages is that one is more tangible or certain than the other. Both are “real” damages, but one is more easily seen or grasped.

To start, both economic and non-economic damages serve as compensation for plaintiff’s (victim’s) injury arising from a medical malpractice claim. The compensation may be for past as well future injury or loss.

Economic damages are those that directly relate to the “bottom line cost” of plaintiff’s injury. For example, past medical bills arising from plaintiff’s injury clearly fall under economic damages. So too, however, do future medical bills, because they also directly relate to the “bottom line cost.” Other forms of economic damages include past and future wage loss, past and future rehab expenses, and other out-of-pocket expenses.

Non-economic damages look more to compensating for the intangible loss of plaintiff’s injury. Pain and suffering is the most common type of non-economic damages, though others include disfigurement, permanent impairment, and loss of enjoyment of life. These damages are not as clear and easy to identify and place a dollar amount on for compensation.

Perhaps the most helpful distinction is that it is much easier to place a dollar amount with economic damages because the numbers are firm. Non-economic damages, though no less significant, are more intangible and abstract.

As an experienced med mal attorney and sports fan, perhaps the easiest way to explain a cap in a lawsuit is to look at sports. The National Football League places a “salary cap” on all of its teams, which means that no team may spend more than a certain amount of money when putting its roster together. In other words, there is a “cap” or limit as to how much money a team can spend.

The same principle holds true with lawsuit caps. Some damages awards are “capped” by law, which means there is a limit placed on how much money a jury may award a plaintiff for his injuries. For example, a plaintiff whose damages are “capped” at $500,000 will collect that amount at a maximum. If the jury awards two million dollars in damages that are capped, the plaintiff receives the $500,000 capped amount. If the jury awards $200,000 in damages that are capped, the plaintiff receives the awarded $200,000, not the $500,000 cap.

Basically, a “cap” is a limit or ceiling of the damages award in a lawsuit.

As an Ocala medical malpractice attorney, I know selecting a doctor or physician is an important and often daunting decision. Besides word of mouth, how do we know whether a doctor is any good? Fortunately, there are other options available. Many websites have been created for the purpose of researching health care professionals in Florida. These sites are helpful in providing the credentials, certifications, schools attended, and patient reviews of doctors. They also provide access to a doctor’s disciplinary and malpractice history.

Perhaps the best feature of these sites is their interactive capability via the forum. Inside of the forum, former patients rate doctors they have used in the past. The compilation of these doctor ratings and comments is an effective tool when selecting a doctor. It is basically a way to obtain many word of mouth opinions without having to do all of the work.

I hope that you find the website I am providing helpful and informative. A good decision is an informed decision, and an informed decision is best reached by researching a doctor’s track record for experience, skill, and accountability.

If you feel you have been injured by a doctor or someone working in a health care facility, you may be wondering if you have a case or not and if you need a attorney.

If you have a legitimate case, with serious injuries, you will need an experienced medical malpractice attorney to navigate the powerful medical insurance world in order to be fairly compensated.

For over 50 years the experienced attorneys at Meldon Law have been helping victims of medical malpractice get compensated for the harm done to them.

If you or a loved one has experienced an injury due to medical malpractice, contact the Gainesville office of Meldon Law today. Consultations are free!

The rash of defective hip implants is primarily associated with the metal on metal type of joint replacement. As might be expected, metallic particles can wear off from a metal on metal hip implant, which allows the debris to float around the hip region. Often, these bits of metal will attach themselves to muscles, bones, and nerves around the hip. As a result, the patient may experience pain, inflammation, difficulty walking, and permanent nerve and tissue damage. Further damages attributed to defective metal on metal hip implants include fractures to the bones surrounding the hip and dislocation of the ball and socket joints causing the hip to collapse.

If you are uncertain about the results of your hip replacement procedure, contact an attorney who can guide you to a neutral doctor who can evaluate your condition and advise you on available options. An x-ray or MRI will help the doctor see whether your hip replacement is properly functioning or is deteriorating. Furthermore, a blood test can help the doctor identify any floating metallic debris. After consulting with the doctor, you and your attorney will have a much better understanding of the condition and what steps can be taken both medically and legally handle the matter.

Most people after being in an accident are confused about what to do. Your question is an excellent one and unfortunately is a common insurance company tactic to make more money by paying out less in claims to accident victims.

To achieve the insurance company’s goal of making more profits, it is common for a concerned sounding insurance adjuster to call their claimant and tell them a variety of things such as:

• Offering them a small settlement in exchange for releasing their claim;
• Telling the injured person that if they hire an attorney they will receive less money because the attorney will just get it all; or
• Threatening to deny or “low-ball” the person’s claim if they hire a attorney.

What should you do? In a minor accident case you may decide to settle without the help of a attorney. Not everybody needs a attorney. However, as an experienced Gainesville, Florida accident attorney, I know that on average an injured party receives 3½ times more when represented by a attorney.

This is what I recommend:

1. Consult with an accident attorney. Remember, you can only settle your claim once and consultations are generally free, so take advantage of them. In my office, we will gladly tell you for free if you have a case or not and if it would be in your best interest to hire legal assistance.
2. Get educated. Request my free, no obligation, consumer protection guide book, Seven Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Accident Case.

The Florida Emergency Contact Information (ECI) system will allow you to input your emergency contact information online or when applying for a driver’s license, If you already have a Florida driver’s license or an identification card, all you need to do is to go to https://www6.hsmv.state.fl.us/dlcheck/findcustomer, input your license or id card number and your date of birth, and continue to input your two emergency contacts.

I urge you to do it today! This way if you are in a serious accident and are not able to call your family yourself, the police can do it for you.

We at Meldon Law strongly believe that public education is the first step in the prevention of an accident or in the recovery from one.

We are experienced personal injury attorneys, trial attorneys, negotiators, litigators, paralegals, and staff that have been proudly working to get accident victims the justice they deserve for over 50 years in Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Inverness, and the rest of North Central Florida and North Florida. Accidents involving a car crash, truck wreck, and motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian accidents, dog bites, slip and falls, medical malpractice, and criminal defense are all included in our practice.

Based on Jeffrey Meldon’s, founder of Meldon Law, over 50 years of helping accident victims get justice and a fair shake from the insurance companies, he has written the consumer guide book, Seven Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Florida Accident Case. You can request your free, no obligation copy right now, or contact our office for your complimentary copy sent to you today.

As a attorney my advice is: If you believe or find indicators of Chinese drywall in your home, there are a few steps to follow:

1. Call an environmental testing company. These companies can verify that your drywall is in fact Chinese drywall and then you can begin to take legal steps from there.
2. Think if you have had any health related symptoms that may be associated with the Chinese drywall. Some of these symptoms may be bloody noses, persistent sinus infections, or rashes, and go see your medical care provider.
3. Speak to an experienced attorney about your legal options.

This is a good question: On its face, Chinese drywall looks exactly like US-made drywall. So, you need to look a little closer to notice its signs and effects. Here are some indicators that your drywall is Chinese drywall:

1. The sulfur contained in the Chinese drywalls is at such a high level that when mixed with moisture, it causes a corrosive gas that can eat away at objects in the home. To see if this damage is being done, look at the copper coils on your air conditioner. Damage to these coils is an indicator that the drywall may be of Chinese origin.
2. The smell from the corrosive gas emitted from Chinese drywall is very potent and smells similar to rotten eggs. This noticeable indicator may tell you that your drywall is from China.
3. From your attic, take a look at your drywall for the name KNAUF. The drywall may also say Knauf Plasterboard (Tianjin). These are definite indicators of Chinese drywall.

Q) Am I going to be kicked out of school?
A) The possible penalties of an honor code violation include Interim Suspension, Deferred Suspension, Suspension, Conduct Probation, Expulsion, Campus or Building Ban, No Contact Order, and Trespass Warning.

Q) Do I need an attorney?
A) An experienced attorney at the Meldon Law can guide students through the process, so you know what to do and say for your hearing(s).

Q) How does the process work with the university?
A) There will either be a formal or informal hearing regarding the charge. Depending on which hearing applies to the student, the process of meeting with the Office of Student Conduct will take place. There can be witnesses, evidence and a statement made by the student. The Dean of Students makes a decision regarding the charge and it is appealable.

Q) Can I appeal the decision from the university?
A) The student can appeal the decision made by the Dean of Students within a certain period of time.