Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
A five-car pileup car crash Wednesday in Miami Gardens left at least 10 people injured, according to police.
The car crash happened Wednesday morning at an intersection near NW 27th Avenue and NW 199th Street. In reporting from NBC 6 South Florida, officials said it was a chain-reaction crash requiring multiple vehicles to be towed from the scene with considerable damage. The 10 people who were sent to the hospital had minor injuries.
Investigators are looking into what caused the crash and additional details were not immediately available Thursday.
How many crashes in Miami-Dade County to date?
Data collected by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is tallied in its car crash dashboard which shows how many crashes there have been in the state and categorizes them by vehicle and injury type. The dashboard shows historical data spanning seven years and is also differentiated based on location. In Miami-Dade County for 2024, there have been 35,848 crashes with 172 fatalities and 17,763 injuries. Of the car crashes logged so far for this year, 604 have involved bicycles, 800 have been with motorcycles, and 1,098 have involved pedestrians.
In 2023, there were 63,836 total car crashes in Miami-Dade County involving 29,776 injuries and 340 deaths. Of the fatalities for that year, 101 were pedestrians, 63 were motorcyclists and 21 were bicyclists.
The state, which is a year-round tourist attraction for its warm weather and natural beauty, experiences a spike in collisions and traffic incidents in March when thousands of college students flock to the Florida coasts for spring break. In 2023, approximately 10% of all impaired driving crashes in the state happened in March, prompting the FLHSMV to issue public safety advisories and extra presence on main roads by law enforcement to deter drunk and impaired drivers.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners attorneys have become experts in motor vehicle crash litigation over the firm’s 48-year history, handling serious car and motorcycle crashes as well as crashes that have involved bicyclists. Some of the cases that the firm has handled over the years include record-breaking verdicts achieved on behalf of seriously injured clients and their families such as the case of a family heading to the airport when a drunk driver speeding down the wrong side of I-95 hit them head-on, costing them the precious life of their daughter, who was set to begin attending medical school, and causing serious brain and orthopedic injuries to their son. As a result of the car crash, the young man was left unable to speak and required round-the-clock care.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured a $95 million verdict, $57 million to the son and $38 million to the parents for their devastating loss. This was the largest motor vehicle crash verdict in Miami-Dade County history and the fourth largest in the state.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys representing a 22-year-old passenger in a car secured a $15.4 million verdict after the car he was in was hit by a drunk driver fleeing police. The car he was in was waiting at a drawbridge when it was hit from behind by the other car. As a result of the car crash, the man suffered permanent brain injuries, memory loss and chronic seizures.
The firm also obtained an $8,650,000 settlement and a $7,995,467 wrongful death arbitration award in the case of three teenagers hit by a commercial truck making an illegal U-turn on the turnpike. The girls were on their way to the library when the truck turned directly into their lane. One of the girls died in the horrific incident and the other two sustained substantial injuries.
The firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, has become a public safety advocate fighting against the rising popularity of e-bikes, and shedding light on the continuous danger of distracted and impaired driving. In addition to his legal work representing clients injured on Florida roads, Mr. Leesfield also regularly contributes to organizations dedicated to public safety via The Leesfield Family Foundation. In the past, The Foundation has worked with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and, more recently, joined Friends of The Underline Board of Directors. In this role, Mr. Leesfield can further dedicate himself to advocacy, particularly in an area of The Underline that directly faces the Leesfield & Partners office on South Dixie Highway. Mr. Leesfield and his wife, Cynthia, are readying to attend The Underline Sneaker Ball, a fundraising event set to take place in September. The Leesfields are on the host committee for the event which was conceived as a way to support Friends of The Underline as they continue their work transforming the previously unused space beneath Miami’s Metrorail system into a 10-mile linear park and community gathering space. It is through his work at Leesfield & Partners that he gained an insight into the importance of public safety and saw the dire need to advocate against distracted and impaired drivers.
