Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer Blog

A Coral Springs teenager was killed in an accident on the Florida Turnpike when the car that she was a passenger in flipped over. Although the young girl was wearing her seatbelt at the time of the car accident, she was nonetheless ejected from the automobile. She died on impact.

The other passengers in the vehicle suffered minor injuries but were transported to the hospital via helicopter. The turnpike was closed for a significant period of time while the highway patrol investigated the cause of the car crash.

Continue reading "Coral Springs Teen Dies in Car Accident on Florida Turnpike" »

It is unclear how many dog attacks go unreported in the United States each year. Clearly the media's attention focuses on only the most grizzly of dog maulings and attacks by exotic animals like chimpanzees and poisonous snakes.

The Center for Disease Control estimates that dogs are responsible for more than 4.7 million injuries in the United States and an average of 16 fatalities each year. These numbers are still questioned by local groups that conduct canine research because no state has mandatory dog bite reporting requirements.

Of course, if you or a loved one is attacked by a dog, contact your local animal control office at once and report the incident.

Continue reading "Victims Don't Report Dog Bites" »

Recently, a man's house was broken into by an intruder. When the man fought back he was happy to hear the roar of police sirens that were supposed to be coming to his rescue. When police arrived, one of the officers on the scene was a K-9 unit. The K-9 officer released his dog into the home but instead of the police dog attacking the intruder, the dog attacked the homeowner.

Because it was so dark outside and the homeowner's description matched that of the intruder, both police and the dog were confused about who was the criminal. The homeowner suffered significant injuries to his neck, back and face following the dog attack. To make matters worse, the suspect got away.

Continue reading "Police Dog Attacks Wrong Man and Injures Him" »

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's guard dog is the subject of a New York lawsuit where it is alleged that the dog lunged at a stewardess causing her to fall to the ground injuring her leg and back.

The story is that the stewardess on Lopez and Anthony's private jet approached the couple with silverware to eat a meal when the German shepherd got aggressive, growled at the woman and eventually lunged at her causing her injuries.

According to the stewardess who worked for Lopez and Anthony prior to this incident, the dog was known to be aggressive and, because of those dangerous propensities, should not have been permitted to travel on the plane. This dog attack lawsuit was filed in federal court.

Continue reading "Jennifer Lopez's Dog Attacks Stewardess on Plane" »

A recent study found that most holiday car accidents occur the day before or after a holiday and not on the holiday itself. In fact, the days preceding a holiday pose the greatest threat for accident fatalities.

The study found that the typical holiday had a low incidence of car accidents involving crashes and fatalities because most holiday travelers have met their destination and tend to remain there. For example, Thanksgiving Day in 2008 was the thirteenth lowest day for serious car crashes. The increased shopping caused by the discounts given on "Black Friday" makes it a particularly dangerous time to be on the roads.

Continue reading "Holiday Car Accidents: "Near" not "On" Holiday" »

Recently a study was compiled that showed that more than a third of people over the age of 65 slip and fall each year in Florida. Sadly, more than 1 fall in 10 results in a fractured hip or other serious injury.

Florida's elderly community needs protection. Store owners and businesses that service our state's elderly population must keep their locations safe and free from debris and objects that can cause injury. As a lawyer in Florida, too often I see local businesses fail to take the necessary precautions to protect Florida's elderly citizenry. It is a shame that simple measures to prevent slip and fall accidents or fall downs are not implemented and that stores all too often fail to perform weekly inspections of their premises.

Continue reading "Slip and Fall Accidents in Florida Cause Most Harm to Elderly" »

A 30 year old Coral Springs, Florida woman was mauled to death by her own Presa Canario while she was attempting to bathe the animal. It is unknown what set the dog off and what caused the attack. Public records show that the woman was previously cited for harboring dangerous dogs.

When authorities arrived at the scene of the dog attack, the animal became aggressive and was shot and killed. Unfortunately, the woman's young daughter witnessed the mauling but was not herself harmed.

Continue reading "Florida Woman Mauled to Death by Her Own Dog" »

A study that was recently released showed that half of teens that own cellular phones admit to texting and talking while driving. The study surveyed 800 teenagers that were all 17 years of age. The study displayed some disturbing examples of teen activity that serves to increase the number of car accidents. Some teenagers that were part of the study said that they wear sunglasses when they send text messages while driving so that police officers can't see their eyes. Others stated that they text with their phones by the front windshield so that they have a corner of their eye focused on the traffic ahead of them.

Distracted driving endangers life and property. Parents must emphasize to young drivers that sending and receiving text messages while driving is unacceptable. Driver distraction is the cause of 16% of all driving related fatalities and 21% of car crashes that result in serious injury.

Continue reading "Teen Car Accidents: Texting and Talking on Cellular Phones the Cause" »

Friends and family are over at the house. People are yelling at the television screen as the football games are being played. Uncle John is drinking wine and passes out hitting his head on the floor.

Uncle John's plight is what you can expect on Thanksgiving. Here are the five most common ways to end up in the emergency room on Thanksgiving due to an accident:

1. Choking on a turkey bone - children are especially vulnerable to swallowing and choking on a turkey bone or a large piece of turkey meat that was not cut up.

2. Cutting a finger while carving the bird - make sure that you have plenty and light and a sharp knife when carving your turkey. Avoid carving the turkey around others that might distract you from the job at hand.

3. Lighting the kitchen on fire - Thanksgiving day is the most popular day for grease fires in the kitchen. If your kitchen happens to catch on fire, don't panic and attempt to put it out immediately. Of course, keep children and young ones from the oven and stovetop.

4. Getting burned by the oven - burns are the most common household injuries on Thanksgiving. Make sure that you immediately ice a burn.

5. Getting sick from the food - of course we don't want to embarrass Aunt Betty about her bad tasting cranberry sauce but if you suffer from food poisoning immediately seek attention in the emergency room

Continue reading "Accidents on Thanksgiving Day: Not Just "Talking Turkey"" »

Dade County school bus drivers may be banned from texting on their iPhones and Blackberrys while on the roads except in emergency situations. If the proposal passes it would apply to all county employees driving district owned vehicles.

This proposed ban comes after a recent study showed that truck drivers sending text messages on the road were 23 times more likely to have a truck accident or nearly crash than those drivers that were distracted while driving. 19 states (Florida not included) have banned text messaging completely while driving in order to reduce the number of fatal car accidents.

Continue reading "Dade County School Bus Drivers Told No Text Messaging While Driving" »

Researchers at the Transportation Policy Partnership developed the Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) in order to establish a level playing field for comparing metropolitan areas based on the danger to pedestrians. The PDI corrects for the fact that the cities where more people walk on a daily basis are likely to have a greater number of pedestrian fatalities, by computing the rate of pedestrian deaths relative to the amount of walking residents do on average.

The PDI shows that the most dangerous places to walk are those that fail to make smart infrastructure investments that make roads safer for everyone. The most dangerous metropolitan areas in the United States for walking in 2007-2008 were all in Florida - Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville. In other words, the few people who do walk in Florida face a relatively high risk of being killed by in a car accident by traffic.

Continue reading "Florida: The Most Deadly State for Pedestrian Accidents" »

Joe Namath's labrador was declared dangerous after evidence was presented to a local magistrate that it bit three people on three different occasions. The dog, Leo, is unable to leave Namath's home and must wear a muzzle when it is walked in his own yard.

According to Palm Beach County Animal Control, Namath's dog was responsible for three separate dog bites - one when he bit a delivery driver in 2007, a second when he bit a contractor in 2008 that was working on Namath's property and earlier this year when he bit an irrigation technician that was working at his home.

Joe Namath, or "Broadway Joe" as he is better known, is remembered for leading the New York Jets football team to a surprise victory in Super Bowl III back in1969.

Continue reading "Joe Namath's Dog Declared Dangerous After Three Dog Bites on People" »

A slip and fall accident is serious for every business owner. They happen to be the most common accidents in the workplace. Slip and falls or trip and falls can cause injuries as minor as broken bones and as serious as brain injuries or even death. Here are several tips that each business owner can use to help prevent slip and fall accidents in the workplace:

1. Inspect the workplace for spills, loose carpeting, slippery surfaces, bad lighting and uneven floors. If you notice any of these hazards correct the problem at once. If it takes you longer to fix the hazard put up warning signs or caution tape until it is fixed.

2. Take daily walks through the workplace to check for problem areas and potential problems.

3. Perform regular maintenance on your business including flooring, stairs and doorways.

4. Publish a workplace safety manual for use by your employees that outlines how they should deal with dangerous situations and how to respond after a slip and fall accident occurs.

5. Have a formal reporting system in place that includes employee interviews and the completion of incident reports following a slip and fall or trip and fall accident.

6. Purchase liability insurance to protect your business from claims and lawsuits.

Continue reading "Avoid Slip and Fall Accidents at Local Florida Businesses" »

A Florida driver was charged with a felony after he ran his car into a man while texting on his cellular telephone. The driver was not paying attention while he was entering a text message on his phone. While he was driving and texting at the same time he failed to see a Florida garbage collector and garbage truck in front of him. Sadly, the driver drove into the garbage collector and pinned his legs between his car and the garbage truck.

The twenty-six (26) year old garbage collector lost both of his legs as a result of the car accident. This story is the perfect example of why it is so dangerous to text message on your phone while you are driving. Currently, there is a bill being proposed in the Florida legislature to make texting while driving a crime.

Continue reading "Texting Blamed in Car Accident that Costs Man Both Legs" »

The recent buzz is that hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius make such little engine noise that they are almost silent to pedestrians causing an increase in car accidents. Due to the lack of noise generated by "green" engines, pedestrians and bicyclists are unable to hear the vehicles approaching, turning or moving in reverse when backing up.

To combat the problem, car makers have created technology to funnel fake engine noise with speakers outside the front and rear of the vehicle and to generate engine noise inside the car to make it sound more like a regular automobile when accelerating and turning.

Continue reading ""Green" Cars Lead to Rise in Car Accidents in South Florida" »

According to hotel industry statistics, slip and falls consistently account for about 42% of guest accidents. In fact, bathrooms are among the top five places that trip and fall accidents occur.

Glossy bathroom floors are increasingly popular at hotels. Hotel industry experts project that the proliferation of marble and other easy-to-clean surfaces and materials combined with a lack of safety standards for bathroom and bathtub safety equates to an increase in hotel slip and fall accidents especially among baby boomers. Bathtubs in all hotels should have factory installed slip-resistant etching. Regular cleaning is the most effective way to maintain the etching. Another essential element is the use of slip-resistant rubber mats that hotels don't like to use because they detract from the overall look of the bathroom.

Continue reading "Slip and Fall Accidents in Florida Hotels" »

Have you ever thought about what you would do if a family member or loved one was the victim of a vicious dog bite or animal attack? Who would you call? Would you call the police? Would you call animal control? Would you call a lawyer? We know very well that all animals, no matter how tame or domesticated, have an animalistic nature and can attack even if unprovoked.

In most cases, dog bites and animal attacks occur due to the negligence of the animal owner. Either they fail to adequately supervise the animal, permit it to roam freely without a leash or allow it to escape from an enclosure. The damage caused by the bite of any animal can be disastrous and can lead to serious personal injury or even death. Sadly, most dog bites and animal attacks can be prevented with proper care and precaution.

Under Florida law, a dog owner is strictly liable for all damage caused by a dog bite or attack. That means that unless the dog was provoked, a victim has an unfettered right to receive compensation for their injuries. As a result of the state of the law and the supreme protection it provides to victims, many insurance policies exclude dog bites and animal attacks from coverage. In fact, they are specifically excluded from insurance coverage.

Should you or a loved one ever become the victim of a dog bite or animal attack do the following:

-Call the police
-Call animal control
-Call The Citron Law Firm toll free

Continue reading "What To Do If You Are Bitten By A Dog" »

Riding motorcycles is one of the most dangerous activities and fatality rates have been rising over the last ten (10) years. In fact, motorcyclists account for roughly twelve percent (12%) of all motor vehicle deaths. Just last year, 5000 riders were in fatal motorcycle accidents and, sadly, forty percent (40%) of those riders were not wearing helmets.

Proper motorcycle safety protocol is a crucial part of reducing accidents. Riding a motorcycle below thirty-five (35) miles per hour is one way to reduce the chances for accident. Helmet law regulations are also intended to reduce the chance of fatality and injury. In addition, wearing certain types of clothing - including leather armor as well as adhering to driver guidelines can help keep riders safe.

Continue reading "Motorcycle Accidents - Florida's Unsafe Mode of Transportation" »

Here are some steps to consider in helping to avoid being attacked by a dog and to avoid a dog bite:

-never approach an unfamiliar dog
-never interact or approach a dog that is being kept in a car or confined behind a fence
-never turn your back on a dog
-never run away from a dog
-don't disturb a dog while he is eating or sleeping

Continue reading "Tips for Avoiding Dog Bites in Florida" »

Every one of us is a guilty party when it comes to breaking driving rules. The reason is that we all get comfortable and get accustomed to driving without thinking of the potential hazards that go along with it. We forget that we are essentially a metal missile that can travel at speeds of one hundred miles an hour or more. Here are the top driving distractions (outside of cell phone use) that cause car accidents:

- changing the car radio
- driving above the posted speed limit
- reading while driving
- putting on makeup while driving
- eating and drinking in the car

Please be cognizant of these things while driving so that you do not get into a car accident.

Continue reading "Causes of Car Accidents in South Florida" »