Panama City Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Cell phones and driving don't mix, and research proves it. Many studies, including some in the New England Journal of Medicine and the British Medical Journal, report that talking on a cell phone while driving greatly increases the dangers of driving. Drivers using cell phones have longer danger recognition times and slower reaction times resulting in more accidents than for drivers who are legally drunk. Compounding the danger, more people than ever use them to conduct business while driving to talk and to receive and send documents, e-mail, and text messages. The risk of their hurting or killing someone has risen enormously, because people using cell phones has increased from 40 million in 1996 to over 276 million in 2009.

An emerging trend of verdicts and settlements not only against the drivers but also their employers who allow them to use cell phones while driving on work missions may be just what is needed to reform the bad judgment being used by cell phone owners. For example, in 2001, a Florida jury found a lumber company liable for twenty-one million dollars in damages after the company's salesperson injured someone in a collision while making a cell phone call between sales appointments. In 2004, a Virginia attorney hit and killed a teenage girl while using her cell phone to do the firm's business. She never saw the girl and thought she had hit an animal. The law firm settled with the victim's family, a jury rendered a verdict against the individual attorney, and the attorney was disbarred. And in 2007, International Paper settled an injury lawsuit for $5.2 million with an Atlanta woman who lost her arm after being rear ended by one of the company's employees driving 77 mph and using her company-issued phone.

Various ways exist to prove cell phone use at the time of a collision. I'll save that discussion for another day. The trend to hold both individuals and their companies liable can have a beneficial effect on creating more awareness of the dangers and a reformation of attitudes about the acceptability of using cell phones on the highway in this country. Legally speaking, two theories of liability can be used by injury victims to obtain compensation from the employers of cell phone users. One is called by the Latin name "respondeat superior." When translated, that means that the employer, being in the superior position to the employee, is responsible for the actions of the employee conducting the employer's work. The other theory of liability is direct negligence which is used when the employer expects or should know that the employee is using the cell phone to do work while driving or fails to ban its use while driving. Either way, litigation can exert pressure on these companies to implement strict cell phone policies to make all of us safer.

If you're in the habit of buying auto insurance from your friend who is an insurance agent or from the same company you've used for two decades, think about this. Are you unnecessarily spending money year after year that you could use for other things?

Following some common sense steps will help you find the best coverage at the lowest price. Since you want to be adequately protected if you're in a wreck, the first step is to determine how much coverage you need. That's a complicated issue, but it may help to know that the general recommendations for liability coverage are $50,000 for one person injured, $100,000 for multiple people injured, and $25,000 property damage liability. In insurance language, it's written like this: 50/100/25. If you have a lot of assets, you should buy more, but if you don't have much to protect, you can buy less coverage and save money.

Next, review your current coverage to see what you are paying, and make a list of your coverages like the bodily injury liability coverage just mentioned, comprehensive, road service, gap coverage, etc. Now, you have a figure to try to beat in your shopping for an insurance policy that will save you some money. What's next? Have patience while you begin that shopping experience. It might take an hour or two to look online or to make the necessary calls to insurance companies, but if you save a thousand dollars on two cars, something that is entirely possible, you will have earned the equivalent of $500 per hour for those two boring hours. Not bad. Now, you can spend that money on something you need or want.

Continue reading "Tips for Buying Auto Insurance Without Giving Up the Farm " »

Do you remember watching The Jetson's and thinking how exciting it would be to have a car with 'auto-pilot'? That was nearly a half a century ago. In the last five decades, car companies have been working on technologies to allow a car to practically drive by itself.

Ralph Teeters, a blind man, sensing cars were traveling on the highways at uneven speeds began working on a cruise control mechanism though the 1940's. What was once considered unpopular when it first became an option in the 1950's , is now standard in 70 percent of all new cars.

We now have cars available - both Lexis and Ford are promoting models - that will parallel park themselves. Volvo is touting a new safety braking system that will brake if you don't.

This may be exciting new technology but it also leads me to wonder - Who's Driving the Car? Many of today's drivers are distracted with other technological devices. Cell phones are owned by a majority of adults both young and old. Many homeowners are doing away with 'land lines' and opting for cell phones as a way to stay in touch. Laptops, Blackberry's, iPads, FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter - they're all ways to keep in touch with whoever it is you think you need to stay in touch with. The need to be connected at all times has reached epic levels.

Continue reading "Who Is Driving the Car?" »

I've frequently said that knowledge is power. Let's give you the power today to manage your car insurance better. If you do, you'll save money. One thing you can do to help avoid higher premiums is to not allow friends to borrow your car. If your friend is at fault in a wreck, guess who can get sued and what can happen to your insurance premiums? You as the owner who permitted him to drive and he as the driver will be sued. Your insurance company can take the claim into account and raise your insurance premium. Next, will your auto insurance reimburse you for personal property like clothing that was damaged or stolen from your car? Generally not unless you bought special coverage for that, but your homeowners insurance may cover that for you, so check that policy to see if it does.

How can you find the lowest insurance rates? One of the best ways is to look online. Various sites will give comparisons of prices for multiple insurance companies. All you have to do is answer questions about your age, where you live, your recent driving history, and how much coverage you want. The internet does the rest, and in a moment you'll see a screen showing the comparison.

What if you don't drive much? Can you get insurance based on the miles you drive? With many insurance companies, yes. Usage based car insurance allows you to buy coverage based on how much you actually drive. Progressive Insurance began this program in 1998 in Texas and has expanded it since. Other companies have followed. Even if your insurance carrier doesn't offer usage based coverage, you may get a low mileage discount from it. Its effect is the same, so if you've reduced the miles you drive to work, for example, it may pay you to ask for a reduced premium.

Continue reading "Manage Your Insurance to Save Money" »

Every year, without exception, we hear about tort reform as legislative and congressional sessions approach. Should we applaud or fear? I'll give you my perspective and some examples. I admit my leanings against tort reform, because I have been a personal injury attorney representing badly hurt people for many years. As a result of that experience, I have also been privy to the huge abuses of those huge corporations called insurance companies. They are the AIG's of our world. When AIG was bailed out by our government from financial ruin, it was known to be so bad that it had to change its name. Let's reveal it. Now, it's known as Chartis Insurance.

Back to the question, should we applaud or fear the cries by some legislators for tort reform? Well, let's go beyond the recent Toyota unexpected acceleration claims to the more recent broad spread salmonella infections from contaminated eggs. It's now recognized that the egg farms' practices were despicable. Feces, rats, and every other known form of contamination were present. It's no wonder that people across this country got deathly sick.

Regulation is crucial to a level playing field for consumers, particularly in this era of growing corporate power. However, regulation alone has never been enough. Consumer agencies like the FDA, the Consumer Product Safety Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have been swamped by huge workloads. They cannot keep up. Furthermore, lobbyists for the corporations are skilled at weakening and fending off regulations that would protect consumers. Against this, for example, the FDA's caseload by the mid-2000s extended to more than 11,000 drugs, over 100 new drugs a year, and products spanning medical devices to vaccines. It cannot do everything.

Another example of the inability of government alone to thwart, prevent, or obtain compensation for bad products that are rampant in the market is that during last month, I was a leader in obtaining a settlement of millions of dollars in a case, because the government was unable to regulate the manufacturers of the product, guarantee the safety of people exposed to it, or get compensation for the injured people. As a result of the inability of government to ensure safety, consumers are increasingly left with the courts not only to compensate them when the regulatory system fails to protect them but also to deter manufacturers from cutting corners in the future.

The annual tort reform crusade by manufacturers weakens our efforts for public safety. Strong product liability laws remain vital to public safety and health, no matter how passionate the political debate on tort reform.

Licensed drivers' in Florida are being encouraged to register emergency contact information with the motor vehicle division under a state government campaign.

The campaign, called "Register Your Emergency Contact Information Week" runs from October 3rd through the 9th.

The Emergency Contact Information program allows people who have either Florida driver licenses or state identification cards to voluntarily register their emergency contacts. Only a law enforcement officer can get to the information in a case of an emergency. This information may save crucial time if it ever became necessary to contact family members or other loved ones.

In the 4-years the program has been in force, more than 3.7 million Floridians have registered their emergency contact information. Floridians can register the telephone number and home address of up to two people at either a state or tax collector-operated driver license office or online.

Another method of ensuring your emergency contact information is known is to enter the information into your cell phone identifying the contact name as I.C.E (In Case of Emergency). In fact, many providers include this as a standard contact in the address books. Since most people carry their cell phones with them, in the event of an emergency, your conact person can be reached to let them know of the incident.