Miami Accident Lawyer Blog

September 22, 2013

Florida Appeals Court Reduces Ten Million Dollar Award In Wrongful Death Of UCF Football Player

Last month, the Insurance Journal published an article discussing a recent decision by Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeals reducing the damages awarded in the case of a University of Central Florida football player who died following conditioning drills in 2008. The Court’s decision reduced the damages awarded to the family of former wide receiver Ereck Plancher on their wrongful death claim against the UCF Athletic Association from $10 million to $200,000. In the same opinion, the Court denied a request from the UCFAA seeking a new trial.

Plancher’s family, with the help of a Florida wrongful death attorney, filed the wrongful death suit against the UCFAA in 2009, claiming that coaches and school officials were negligent forcing Plancher to engage in a strenuous workout without water and with no trainer present. The UCFAA officials argued that the university did everything necessary to save Plancher’s life and his death was caused be a heart ailment. Following a trial in 2011, a jury found the UCFAA negligent and awarded Plancher’s parents $5 million each.

Under the Florida Wrongful Death Act, codified at Florida Statutes §768.16, et seq.,

September 13, 2013

Florida State Tight End Survives Serious Motorcycle Accident With Minor Injuries.

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

According to a recent story published by Yahoo Sports, Florida State University tight end Nick O’Leary, grandson of legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, was involved in a shocking motorcycle accident in May, fortunately walking away without any serious injuries.

The video posted along with the story shows O’Leary driving his motorcycle in Tallahassee, Fla., when another vehicle drivers directly into his path, impeding his right of way. O’Leary crashed his motorcycle into the side of the car, which shattered on impact and threw O’Leary to the ground where he slid almost a hundred feet down Mission Road. Incredibly, O’Leary walked away from the accident and was later taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital where he was treated for non life-threatening injuries.

According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), one out of every ten fatal motor vehicle accidents in the United States involves a collision with a motorcycle. With its beautiful scenery and temperate weather, the state of Florida sees a large number of motorcyclists traveling on its roadways each year. Unfortunately, there has also been an accompanying increase in the number of motorcycle accidents.

September 10, 2013

Six People Injured Miami Crash

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

A driver lost control while speeding on I-95 and crashed into a wall. The accident, which left six people injured, happened late on Sep. 1, 2013, resulting in the closure of all southbound lanes at exit 103. Florida Highway Patrol proceeded to investigate the incident.

According to CBS Miami, a black Nissan carrying four people was travelling at high speeds when the 21-year-old driver lost control and crashed the vehicle into a guardrail, another wall and finally a second car. The impact of hitting the wall resulted in two of the four people being ejected from the vehicle, one of whom was the driver. They were taken to Ryder Trauma Centre. The driver and one passenger were listed in critical condition, and the other two passengers had severe but stable injuries.

The two people travelling in the second car also were injured. The vehicle was struck as the Nissan spun out after rebounding off the wall. Fortunately, their injuries were minor and were treated on the scene by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

September 6, 2013

Florida State Tight End Survives Serious Motorcycle Accident With Minor Injuries

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

According to a recent story published by Yahoo Sports, Florida State University tight end Nick O’Leary, grandson of legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, was involved in a shocking motorcycle accident in May, fortunately walking away without any serious injuries.

The video posted along with the story shows O’Leary driving his motorcycle in Tallahassee, Fla., when another vehicle drivers directly into his path, impeding his right of way. O’Leary crashed his motorcycle into the side of the car, which shattered on impact and threw O’Leary to the ground where he slid almost a hundred feet down Mission Road. Incredibly, O’Leary walked away from the accident and was later taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital where he was treated for nonlife-threatening injuries.

According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), one out of every ten fatal motor vehicle accidents in the United States involves a collision with a motorcycle. With its beautiful scenery and temperate weather, the state of Florida sees a large number of motorcyclists traveling on its roadways each year. Unfortunately, there has also been an accompanying increase in the number of motorcycle accidents.

August 31, 2013

ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE AT PACE HIGH SCHOOL

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Allegations of sexual abuse by three young men who attended the Catholic High school, Monsignor Edward Pace, have prompted a law suit in Miami Dade County against the school’s dean, Ken Ward. In addition, one of these alleged crime victims claims that he was also sexually abused at another school he previously attended before Pace High School. Identified only as John Does, one of the young men maintains, that while he attended The Immaculate Conception Catholic School in the 1990’s, the principal of that school, Rev. Gustavo Miyares repeatedly sexually abused him there , as well. In both cases, the Catholic Church covered up the abuse , according to reports.
Three plaintiffs are named in a lawsuit against two separate schools, as well as the Archdiocese of Miami. According to the victims and their families, the Archdiocese of Miami was attempting to protect the church and schools for decades. School authorities,and church clergymen hid horrific allegations of sexual abuse, further causing more pain and suffering for the victims and their families. If the church and the schools had come forward with the information when they learned about it years ago, and subsequently, attempted to stop the abuse, perhaps future victims might have been spared.
Parents who entrust the leadership and religiosity of the Catholic Church to keep their children safe while educating them at school, should never have to find out that their children are at risk or in danger by administrators of the school. Sexually abusing a child is a heinous crime and hiding behind the veil of the Catholic Church makes it that much worse. Sex abuse crime victim attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz, PA have worked with many families whose children were abused by individuals they entrusted at schools or day care centers, throughout the state of Florida, for years. The expertise and professionalism of the attorneys and staff at Gerson & Schwartz, PA brings a sensitivity and understanding to these cases in and out of the courtroom.

August 30, 2013

According To New Report, Florida Teens Delaying Licensure A Cause For Concern.

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

According to a recent press release published by the AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety (“Foundation”), an increasing number of American teenagers are delaying getting a driver’s license until their eighteenth birthday. The report estimates that half of teens obtain their license within twelve months of their respective state’s minimum age and only fifty-four percent become licensed before their eighteenth birthday. These numbers are in stark contract to twenty years ago when more than two-thirds of teens were licensed by their eighteenth birthday.

According to some safety experts, the delay in licensing is cause for concern as these teen drivers do not have to complete graduated drivers licensing (“GDL”) programs. GDL programs are designed to gradually introduce teens to driving by phasing in different driving privileges over time, such as:

Minimum age of sixteen to obtain a learner’s permit.

August 27, 2013

Car Accident in Miami Dade

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Miami Dade Community College was the site of a deadly car crash, and subsequent fire which left one person dead and several others seriously injured. The site of the incident was 6300 NW 7th Ave, the Liberty City Campus for Miami Dade College. As a silver vehicle spun out of control yesterday, it made its way into the Carrie P. Meek Entrepreneurial Education Center. Almost immediately, the silver car caught on fire and dramatically went up in smoke. Onlookers nearly lost their lives, while waiting for the bus close to the accident scene.

According to witnesses, the car, a silver Lincoln, was going so fast that the driver was unable to gain control of the car before crashing into the building, hitting several innocent victims. One individual has been pronounced dead and others were transported to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. This hit and run accident, resulted in the driver fleeing the scene of the crime, initially, but he was later caught by police and taken to the hospital, as well.

Car accident attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz, PA have over forty years of experience handling personal injury cases where catastrophic injuries or death are the unfortunate result of driver negligence. Especially, in a case where there is a hit and run, qualified professional lawyers are critical for a fair outcome for victims or their families. Attorney’s fees are never paid until a case has been settled or tried in court and won on behalf of innocent victims. Proper protocol with insurance companies and responsible parties for an accident are followed precisely according to the legal guidelines defined by the state, whenever Gerson & Schwartz is handling a case.

August 21, 2013

Florida Appeals Court Decision Demonstrates Application Of Comparative Negligence Doctrine

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Last month, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeals issued a decision in the case of Disla v. Blanco, demonstrating how the application of the state’s comparative negligence doctrine can have a dramatic impact on a plaintiff’s recovery for injuries suffered in a car accident.

In Disla, the plaintiff, Mayuris Disla, was injured in a car accident when the defendant, Joseph Blanco, had a seizure and lost control of the vehicle while driving Disla home. In the ensuing crash, Disla suffered a broken neck which later required cervical fusion surgery. Disla sued Blanco for negligence, and following a trial, the jury found both parties to be the legal cause of damage to Disla, but apportioned 90% of the fault to Disla for failing to wear her seatbelt. The jury awarded Disla total damages of $205,325, which was reduced by the allocation of fault and PIP benefits to $10,532.50.

As this blog has discussed before, there are two doctrines under which the allocation of fault in a tort case can affect the recovery of damages. The first, referred to as “contributory negligence” has, for the most part, fallen by the wayside and is only still followed in five jurisdictions in the United States.

August 21, 2013

Pepper Spray Goes Off In Airport

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

It was a regular Tuesday at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport. People pulling their luggage out of the trunk of loved one’s car, wishing farewells, and standing in line.

For ten travelers the security checkpoint was far from routine. According to the Sun-Sentinel, at around 5:45 p.m. at the Air Tran security checkpoint ten people experienced adverse reactions to what turned out to be pepper spray. Apparently, the canister was accidentally deployed in someone’s carry-on luggage. At least it happened in the security checkpoint area instead of on the flight. Nine people were treated in the airport at terminal one and continued to their gates, but one man wasn’t so lucky. Suffering from chest pains, he was taken to Broward Health Medical Center for treatment. It is unclear whether or not it was this man’s pepper spray, or how the pepper spray was deployed.

Personal injury laws such as common law negligence protect the rights of innocent injury victims. Liability for this incident could be based on an intentional tort or due negligence, carelessness, recklessness, or even an intentional act. An individual, establishment, or company may be held responsible for criminal acts of unknown this parties and for negligent acts of their employees under a theory called respondeat superior. In regards to the airport incident, important questions remain. How did the pepper spray deploy? How did is pass through security? Was there an altercation that security failed to identify and then escalated? Was the container deployed by an airport security officer? Do the other affected travelers know whose it was? Was the irritant passed through the x-ray machine? While the incident sounds only minor, the fact that such the incident occurred in the first place suggests a possible failure in the airport operations and duty to provide a reasonably safe premises. It also implies potential security vulnerabilities exist at one of our local major airports.

August 15, 2013

Carnegie Mellon Study Concludes That Talking On A Cell Phone Does Not Affect Ability To Drive

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

According to a recently released study entitled “Driving under the (Cellular) Influence” conducted by Carnegie Mellon University and the London School of Economics and Political Science, the use of a cell phone while operating a vehicle does not correlate with a higher risk of causing a car accident.

The study sought to reconcile the conclusion that talking on a cell phone while driving increased the risk of crash with the fact that, although cell phone use has increased over the past few decades, the number of car crashes per mile traveled in the United States has decreased. The study gathered data from an unnamed cell phone provider which demonstrated a more than seven percent increase in call volume after 9 p.m., due to usage plans that offered free nights.

These figures were then compared to the rate of car accidents occurring before and after 9 p.m. Based on crash data gathered on eight million accidents in nine states and all fatal crashes across the nation, the study concluded that there was no correlation between cell usage during driving and incidence of car accidents.