Authorities across the country report higher rates of accidents during November and December. There are a few reasons for the problem:
According to some studies, the time changes that happen with Daylight Saving Time (DST) can mean an increased risk of traffic accidents in Hollywood and other communities as we adjust to new sleep cycles.
According to 2014 research from Dennis Durbin of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention, graduated licensing programs do not remove many of the risks new drivers face when they behind the wheel. According to Durbin, 54% of teen drivers who have had at least six months of practice driving still make serious mistakes when given a driving assessment. Some of these mistakes include running stop signs and hitting curbs. The study backs the findings of a 2011 study conducted by Robert Foss. That study found that teen drivers have higher accident rates in the first several months after getting their license.
A new study, conducted by Arthur Goodwin, of the Highway Safety Research Center, found that there are several things that parents can do to improve their teen’s chances of avoiding car collisions in Hollywood and other communities:
1) Go beyond vehicle handling. According to Goodwin and his team of researchers, when parents teach their children how to drive, they tend to focus on basic vehicle handling. Once teens have mastered this skill, however, it is a good idea to teach defensive driving as well as the decision-making processes that go into successful driving.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), teen drivers are over-represented in serious car crashes, especially fatal collisions. To help combat teen car accidents, the NHTSA has introduced their 5 to Drive, which are five rules to help teens stay safer on the roads:
New drivers need to focus fully on driving, especially since they are still developing their driving skills. Using mobile devices in any way – whether to talk to text – can be a big distraction that can lead to car collisions in Homestead and other communities. Studies have even shown that hands-free devices can cause distraction, so the best solution is to have a “no mobile device” rule in the car. There are apps and car technologies that automatically incapacitate cell phones while a car is moving, which can take away any temptation to check messages. According to the NHTSA, driver distraction contributes to about 10 percent of fatal teen driver collisions, so enforcing this rule is vital to keep your child safe.
Car manufacturers are constantly rolling out new safety features and technology and many people look to the latest in technology to help prevent car accidents and injuries. From weight-sensitive child seats to smart roads, there is no doubt that technology could help prevent crashes and save lives in the future. However, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, two of the simplest things that every driver can do could help prevent well over 100 000 injuries annually – at no cost and with very little effort.
Researchers concluded that 54,000 serious traffic accident-related injuries could be prevented each year if everyone wore seatbelts. The same CDC study found that a further 82,000 serious car accident injuries could be prevented annually if all motorists drove with a blood alcohol limit of under 0.08 grams per deciliter.
Car accidents in Miami and across the country are expensive. The cost injured persons have to face can be astronomical when medical bills, lost time at work, car damage, and other costs are factored in. A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report takes a look at the costs of car accidents in the United States. The conclusion that the authors of the report have reached is that non-fatal car accidents have a much higher cost than many people believe.
According to the CDC, for every fatal traffic accident in 2012, there were eight people injured in car accidents that required a hospital stay and a further 100 people who required time at the emergency room. In 2012 alone, non-fatal traffic collisions resulted in 3 million emergency room visits, and a cost of $18.4 billion. Teens and young adults under the age of30 were the most likely to suffer injury in these types of crashes.
In a side impact crash in Hollywood or your community, you may be relying on guardrails to avoid going over an embankment and into a river or into a ditch. Your money goes towards paying for infrastructure such as guardrails in order to keep you and your community safe. However, serious concerns have been raised about some of guardrails installed in Florida and other parts of the country.
In fact, earlier this year a lawsuit was filed after a 2010 accident near Orlando caused a driver to lose part of his leg. According to the plaintiff, the accident caused the driver to crash into a guardrail. The guardrail allegedly sliced through the cabin and sliced into the leg of the driver, causing him to lose part of his leg. The guardrail in question was an ET-Plus guardrail made by Trinity Industries.
The ET-Plus guardrails as well as State Departments of Transportation have been the targets of other lawsuits after plaintiffs were injured in car crashes. According to some plaintiffs, the guardrails cause injury in a collision. According to Trinity Industries, however, the injuries are caused either by the drivers or by the incorrect installation of the guardrails.
Rental car accidents can mar your vacation, can cost you a lot of money, and can be frightening. Rental car collisions in Miami and other Florida cities are all too common, unfortunately. Unlike collisions with your regular car, these crashes can result in disputes with the rental company and usually involve all the stress of being in a car crash in an unfamiliar city.
If you are visiting Florida and need to rent a car, keep in mind that you may be at risk for a rental car crash for a few reasons:
Recently, a women driving the wrong way on the I-75 was killed after crashing into a commercial truck. According to authorities, the number of wrong way collisions on the state’s highways have been on the rise. In the Tampa area alone, this was the fifth wrong way collision fatality this year.
What is causing wrong way accidents in Miami and other Florida cities? According to authorities, drinking and driving may be part of the issue. In the latest wrong way accident and in a number of others, officers have stated that the at-fault driver was driving under the influence.
Local authorities and the Florida Department of Transportation want to curb the number of these incidents. One pilot project has just been announced to help warn drivers when they are driving the wrong way. The pilot project will involve LED lights that will display the words “wrong way” automatically if a car crosses over into the wrong lane. The signs will be radar-activated. There are similar signs on the South Florida Turnpike and in Tallahassee.
In April, the Consumer Watchdog launched an investigation into melting dashboards in some Toyota, Mazda, Dodge, Chrysler, Nissan, and other cars. Since that time, driver complaints about the apparent problem have quadrupled. According to customers, some cars have dashboards that overheat and melt. When they do, the dashboards develop a shiny and sticky surface that reflects on the windshield and affects visibility. Some motorists say that they cannot see pedestrians and other cars when this happens.
There have already been four car accidents reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) related to the melting windshields. One customer had a car accident in Pembroke Pines and claimed that the glare from the melting windshield led them to crash into an embankment. A motorist in Orlando also claimed that the glare also led to a collision. Two drivers in Miami also reported collisions related to the possible defect. So far, no fatalities and no burn injuries in Pembroke Pines or other communities have been linked to the dashboard issue.
In addition to the four accident-related complaints, there have been 514 dashboard-related complaints to the NHTSA since 1999. Many of these have been centered in warmer climate states, such as Florida, Texas, and California. Florida has the largest number of dashboard-related complaints overall (190 between 2004 and 2014 alone). Many of the complaints seem heat-related, with customers reporting that their dashboards are sticky or hard to clean. Some customers claim that the dashboards levae behind a residue on their hands on hot days.
Pedestrian accidents are an umbrella term for any collision in which a pedestrian is struck by a larger vehicle – such as a truck or car. In reality, however, there are many types of pedestrian accidents, each with their own unique risks and legal issues:
Unfortunately, hit-and-run accidents in Hollywood and other Florida communities are all too common. Often, they are caused by panicking drivers who are on the road illegally or who do not have insurance. For pedestrians, these types of accidents can be deadly. A pedestrian may not get medical help in time if the driver leaves the scene of an accident. Without a driver, the pedestrian may also have a hard time securing compensation and insurance money for their injuries.
Intersections in Hollywood and other cities are dangerous because pedestrians must share the road with many other types of vehicles, and many of those vehicles are turning or driving in different directions. All it takes is for one driver to be distracted or to miss a pedestrian in their blind spot, and an accident can occur. Intersection collisions also often involve speed, so that that brain injuries, amputation, fatalities, and other devastating losses are quite common in these types of high-speed crashes
Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog