Panama City Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Bike week, Thunder Beach, at Panama City Beach, Florida, April 27- May 1, provides a fantastic opportunity for fun under the sun along the famed shores of the Emerald Coast of the Florida Panhandle. Unfortunately, it also exposes participants to unwanted and unwarranted hazards including injury and fatality.

First, let's consider the risks, and, then, how to minimize them for a safe experience for bikers. Increased traffic always results in more wrecks, but safety considerations, including a healthy respect for traffic laws , will save lives. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, has released figures showing dramatic increases in severe accident during the last few years. Over three thousand bikers are dying on the roads each year. Nearly half of the accidents involved alcohol, and a third involved speeding by the bikers. As for the speeding-related deaths, that's twice the rate of deaths seen in car and truck accidents. These stats make us think about how to make biking safer.

Obviously, speeding and drinking before and while operating a bike are taboo. However, safety is a two way street. Operators of larger and heavier vehicles, namely cars and trucks, share the responsibility for safety. Too often, and very dangerously, they engage in road rage, perhaps because they consider bikes a nuisance or are irritated by their noise. Nevertheless, the law is clear. Bikers have as much right to be on the roads as cars and trucks. And they have the same legal protections. In essence, they have the right to safe passage. Bikers, likewise, can take steps to protect themselves from being "the unseen" on roadways.

A New Zealand safety study showed that wearing a white instead of a black helmet increases visibility. Cyclists wearing white helmets had a 24% lower risk of being in an accident. Additional safety can be achieved by choosing the time of day to travel, especially in resort areas. Motorcycle safety courses stress avoiding travel at night, especially in resorts like Panama City Beach where a significant number of car and truck drivers are driving while intoxicated. Avoiding riding at night, particularly on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings in these areas, when drunk drivers are most likely to be on the road, can save a biker's life.

Cars and bikes can peacefully co-exist at the beach, but if an accident happens, this firm is skilled in the investigation, preparation, and litigation of biking accidents caused by careless motorists. Enjoy fun and safety at Thunder Beach 2011 at Panama City Beach.

Six days from now, our Panama City Beach motorcycle week known as Thunder Beach will kick off. Once more the sound of motorcycles will fill the air. From April 27 to May 1, bikers from all over the country will convene for bike and biking equipment displays, concerts, and our Gulf Coast dining. It is time to think about the impending presence of more motorcycles than usual and about our duty as drivers of cars and trucks to honor their legal right of way on the roads just as we would for larger vehicles.

Road safety is a shared responsibility, enforced by our laws and courts, between bike riders and larger vehicles. Since size is often tied to visual perception, we should also be more attentive in the coming days to be sure the way is clear when we pull onto a road. Statistics show that 40% of biking accidents occur when the motorcycle is going straight and another vehicle's operator fails to see them. The failure of a car or truck driver to see a motorcycle often ends in a serious accident. As a result, the other sound we hear too much of at Panama City Beach during Thunder Beach is the wail of ambulance sirens on the way to crashes. That sound probably means that someone is very seriously injured or has just been killed.

Bikers, you have to do your part, too. Our Florida law changed in 2000 to permit you to ride without a helmet, but since then bike fatalities have increased by 21%. Increase your safety by wearing a good helmet. Wearing reflective clothing, day or night, is also a must. Brightly colored helmets and reflective stickers on them are important to make you conspicuous to other drivers. Think about it. Your head is the highest point when you are on a bike. Bright and reflective colors focus other drivers' attention on your presence.

We want you to be safe, have fun, and come back again to our beaches, but if you are in an accident, call me or drop in for my free DVD that will answer many questions about your legal rights.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, 4,092 lives were lost in pedestrian/motor vehicle accidents in 2009. That's one person every 9 minutes of every day.

Florida, as well as other states, has specific pedestrian laws to help keep those walking on the roadways safe. However in order for the laws to actually keep you safe, both motor vehicle operators and the pedestrians need to not only be aware of them but, also, abide by them.

The most important thing to consider is where on the road you are walking. It makes common sense to always use a sidewalk or crosswalk when one is available, but what about the many rural roads in areas surrounding Panama City?

The pedestrian law, (Fla. Stat. Sec. 316.130(3), (4) and (18); and Sec. 316.2065(12)) states:
•Where sidewalks are provided, no pedestrian shall, unless required by other circumstances, walk along and upon the portion of the roadway paved for vehicular traffic.
•Where sidewalks are not provided, a pedestrian walking along and upon a highway shall, when practicable, walk only on the shoulder on the left side of the roadway in relation to the pedestrians direction of travel, facing traffic which may approach from the opposite direction.

Common sense plays a key role in staying safe while walking on the roadway.
•Always stay alert and aware of your surroundings. Headsets and other diversions take your attention away from the road. If you insist on wearing a headset, keep one ear open so you can stay alert.
•Always face traffic so if something is coming at you, you may have an opportunity to take evasive action and avoid a collision.
•Never rely on the 'other guy' to follow the law. If the traffic is moving at high speeds, you should try to walk as far off the roadway as possible even if you have the right to walk along the side of the road as stated in the law.
•Wear brightly colored clothes if you are walking at night. Something reflective is best, even during the day. Avoid wearing dark colors.

It won't be long before the kids are out of school for the summer. As kids do, they will walk along roads. Talk to your kids about road safety. Whether they're walking or riding their bikes, let's keep them safe to avoid the unthinkable.

A week ago, our Congress narrowly averted a partial government shutdown when at the 11th hour it agreed on a temporary solution to the nation's budget problems. That was a temporary solution. The real deadline before which a long term solution will have to be devised is only weeks away, significantly, after Congress goes on a two week vacation.

If a solution is not found, our civil justice system and the many people it serves will be the victims of Congress' inaction. The Department of Justice, DOJ, has its lawyers reviewing hundreds of civil cases to determine whether the department's continued participation in those cases is in jeopardy if a remedy is not hammered out by the Senate and House of Representatives. It appears that their failure to agree on a budget will harm only the civil justice system. DOJ said last week that in the event of a government shutdown, the department's criminal and prison operations, law enforcement, and national security operations will continue and that the department will be completely capable of responding to all contingencies that may arise during that time.

That's very good news, but if you think about all of the civil cases handled in our federal courts, the loss of funding for courts to handle those disputes is mind boggling. It will create chaos for plaintiffs and defendants in contract disputes, collective bargaining matters, bankruptcies, sexual harassment claims and more. Just in one case, the huge Wal-Mart class action case currently in the federal system, there are about 1.2 million plaintiffs dependent upon the courts reaching a final decision.

The fourteen plaintiffs that I earned a jury verdict for in a south Florida court two years ago are still waiting for the court of appeals to render a decision in the defendant's appeal. A further delay of their decision occasioned by the abdication of responsibility by our elected senators and representatives to efficiently handle the budget disputes would not be welcomed. Our justice system, which is the foundation of our republic, cannot be hostage to the political whims of politicians.

Do you think your private postings to friends on social-media sites is protected by the law? Most courts considering that issue have declared that a litigant has the right to look for photos and statements that contradict what an opponent is saying in court. Facebook, for example, is a huge social-media site. Founded by a guy named Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, it is used by someone in most families in the U.S. It has become so widespread that it spawned the revolution in Egypt. With that kind of membership, it's no wonder that lawyers are attempting to mine the data to see if there are tidbits of information that will help clients destroy their opponents' credibility.

A case in point was decided by a New York Supreme Court judge. A woman claimed she fell off a chair that had been defectively designed and built and had suffered serious and permanent injuries. The manufacturer's lawyer found that she regularly posted on MySpace smiley faces, suggesting that she was happy. He then checked Facebook and found that the woman's daughter had posted on Facebook statements and photos indicating that the family had traveled to Florida. Why was that important? Because it contradicted the woman's claim that she was homebound due to her injuries.

Based on the postings the lawyer was able to find, the judge allowed him to access the private portions of her Facebook and MySpace pages. His rationale was that plaintiffs who place their physical condition in controversy may not shield from disclosure material which is necessary to defend against the claim.

In another case out of Pennsylvania, a judge declared that it would be unrealistic for a person using Facebook and MySpace to consider postings to be confidential. Although not all courts see things this way, these rulings, which seem to express the trend in courts in this country, fit the general rule of law that any information relevant to the issues in a case is discoverable by the parties in a case.

So be careful about what you publish on social media sites. Postings that you thought would be private will probably not be protected by the law. This is probably a good thing, because honesty and openness will be promoted.