Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
Florida public safety partners have banded together to create a “Safe Start to the New School Year with Awareness” campaign ahead of the scheduled return to classes across the state in mid-August, according to a Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles press release.
As parents, educators and students alike prepare for the return to school for the 2024-25 school year, FLHSMV and other agencies have begun a campaign to raise awareness around school bus, school zone and crosswalk safety as well as other initiatives to ensure that children can get to and from school safely. With the help of surveys, citation data and safety tips, these groups aim to shed light on the public safety issue.
In the data released by the FLHSMV, there were 11,224 illegal passes of school buses. The data was gathered in a survey of school bus operators by the Florida Department of Education. This was the same year that the Florida legislature passed House Bill 0657 and Senate Bill 0766 which authorized local jurisdictions to implement and operate school zone speed detection systems and school bus passing infraction detection systems. As of 2021, the penalties for passing a stopped bus on the side where children enter and exit doubled as well as the penalties for failing to stop for a school bus.
Including the FLHSMV, other agencies linked to the campaign are the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida School Boards Association, the Florida Sheriff’s Association, the Florida Police Chiefs’ Association as well as the state’s Highway Patrol and Department of Education.
While no one is prepared enough for the frustrations of back-to-school gridlock traffic, it is crucial to abide by state traffic laws and avoid distractions both for the safety of the driver and for children who may be crossing the street, riding the bus, or pedaling their bikes to and from schools.
Leesfield & Partners
As a personal injury law firm with over 40 years of experience in practice areas such as motor vehicle accidents, scooter and bicycle accidents, and pedestrian injuries, Leesfield & Partners knows just how dangerous the roads can be. Data from the FLHSMV’s crash dashboard shows that there were approximately 150 fatal crashes in 2024 with 42 pedestrian deaths and 10 fatal incidents involving a bicycle on Miami-Dade County roads. In 2023, there were over 300 fatal crashes with 101 killed pedestrians and 21 bicycle fatalities recorded.
Leesfield & Partners has extensive experience representing injured clients and families who have lost a loved one due to a distracted and or impaired driver. Attorneys with the firm have handled thousands of cases of complex personal injuries that have forever altered the lives of clients and their families.
One such example includes that of a young boy who was hit by a speeding car after a school bus driver gave him the go-ahead to cross the street despite the fact she had not waited for traffic to clear and did not have proper visibility, as is mandated by state law. The boy had to be airlifted to the hospital for the extensive injuries he incurred during the incident. He was later diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury. The driver violated Florida Statute §316.172(3) and Florida Statute §316.172(3) by failing to ensure 200 feet of visibility in the direction of oncoming traffic and by stopping in the middle lane rather than stopping as far to the right of the street as possible, respectively.
Partner and Trial lawyer Justin B. Shapiro was able to secure a confidential settlement for the boy and his family that was a multiple of the insurance coverage of the at-fault driver.
Another Leesfield & Partners case of a pedestrian struck in the roadway resulted in severe injuries to the plaintiff after a pickup driver failed to see signs and the woman crossing the street in broad daylight. The woman was walking back to her office in the marked crosswalk when she was hit by a driver in a truck making an illegal left turn. The woman had severe injuries including skull fractures and brain hemorrhages as a result of the driver’s negligence.
The maximum recovery amount of $6 million was awarded to the client in this case.
Children returning to school who ride their bikes are often victims of careless and distracted drivers throughout the year, though they are not the only ones susceptible to being hit while on their bikes.
In a bicyclist-involved crash in Key West, board-certified attorney, Ira Leesfield, won a $5,350,000 settlement on behalf of his client. The bicyclist was on the shoulder of the Overseas Highway when the driver, distracted while using the car’s GPS, hit them.
Another bicyclist, a 76-year-old man, represented by Leesfield & Partners was riding on a three-wheel bicycle when he crashed into a utility truck that had stopped on the bike path. The man fractured his shoulder and required surgery following the incident. Attorneys with the firm were able to secure a $400,000 award for the man.
Safety Tips
- Adhere to reduced speed laws when in school zones. In data from the FLHSMV, approximately 41,000 citations were issued across the state to drivers that did not adhere to school or work zone speeding regulations.
- Never pass a school bus that is stopped, allowing children to board or disembark.
- Keep your eyes on the road and avoid distractions such as radios, GPS systems and cell phones.
- Only drive or park in designated areas for pickup or drop off.
- Always check and make sure you have proper visibility when putting your car in reverse. A 2023 survey showed that over 40% of all backover incidents injured children 10 years old and younger, according to the FLHSMV press release.
- Always use designated crosswalks when crossing the street.
- Always wear a seatbelt in the car
- Always check your backseat for children and pets
