About 60 people were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and 22 were taken to the hospital after a possible leak Tuesday at a Miami condominium.
The possible leak was reported just before 5 a.m. at the Hemingway Villa Condominiums in West Miami-Dade, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. By 7 a.m. Tuesday, emergency responders were still searching for the leak.
Additional details were not immediately available Tuesday.
Florida drivers are no rookies when it comes to navigating roads near waterways, yet there is always the chance that an accident can happen. It is what causes Florida drivers – typically known for their boisterous control over a car’s horn and general disregard for road safety or state traffic laws – to slow down, lower their windows as they pass or carry a compact window hammer for emergencies. However, even with every precaution taken, there are times when a driver loses control of their car and the unthinkable can happen.
Two teen boys in Broward County experienced just that around 9 p.m. Wednesday when a man lost control of his car and drove into a canal on McNab Road, according to reporting from WSVN Miami. The boys were across the parking lot from the canal near a Dollar Tree when they saw a man in a pickup truck go into the water. The teens launched into action and jumped onto the hood of the car to get the man, who was unconscious, out of the vehicle.
The driver was later taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
A driver taking 36 people, including high schoolers and their parents, on a road trip Saturday has been accused of being impaired while operating the vehicle, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.
The driver, who was identified Tuesday evening as Keith Edward Shifflett, 55, was taking the passengers from Bradenton to Daytona Beach as part of Project Graduation, an alcohol-and-drug-free event organized for students who are graduating. The students, some of whom were still under 18 years old at the time of the incident, came from Sebring High School in Highland County, Florida.
According to local reporting, the driver is accused of driving “recklessly” while running three red lights and ignoring pleas from passengers begging him to stop. Shifflett only stopped when a parent on the trip driving in a separate car got in front of the bus to block it. Shifflett was charged with 30 counts of culpable negligence and four counts of child abuse without great bodily harm.
Nearly a decade after promising all properties listed on its platform would have detectors to safeguard guests from carbon monoxide poisoning, Airbnb’s CEO, Brian Chesky, called the task “very hard.”
The comment was made in a recent interview Chesky had with NBC discussing difficulties that the company has faced.
“It’s really hard to mandate things in 220 countries and regions and cities all over the world,” Chesky said in the interview. “And then if you mandate something, you have to have a mechanism to verify that it happens.”
Any pedestrian crossing the street on U.S. 1 or trekking down the sidewalk on Kendall Drive during rush hour knows to remain vigilant. Drivers in Miami have been known to text behind the wheel, speed, take traffic laws as suggestions and honk when unnecessary. The joke that Miami’s distracted drivers don’t know what they are doing is shared among coworkers, friends and grocery store clerks alike with a disapproving shake of their heads.
It is only when there is a horrific and violent crash that cannot be undone that the chuckling stops and people are reminded of just how dangerous the roads can be.
What happened?
People all over the world rely on public transportation to get them where they need to go every day. They go to work, school and are expected to come home safely. Sadly, that was not the case for at least 46 people last week in Marion County after a bus rollover crash killed eight farm workers on board and injured 38 others.
According to a statement from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, there were 53 people aboard a bus just before 7 a.m. on May 14 when it had a sideswipe crash with a 2001 Ford Ranger private truck. The bus went off the road following the crash, through a fence and later rolled over.
At least eight of the 38 passengers who were injured were reported to be in critical condition, according to the Miami Herald. The driver of the truck involved in the incident, 41-year-old Bryan Maclean Howard, of Ocala, was charged Tuesday with eight counts of driving under the influence and manslaughter. Details on the name of the transportation company that operated the bus in the crash were not immediately available.
Dear Friends, Colleagues and Clients:
Good news as we enter our 48th year! We now added three trial lawyers and one appellate lawyer to assist in our quality service to you, your clients and contacts. Over the years, we have developed one of Florida’s most diverse personal injury practices in State and Federal Court, working with lawyers and strategic alliances in every state. Your loyalty is appreciated as we go forward with our commitment to bringing the highest and best results possible.
Over four decades, and in recent years, we have forged unique and groundbreaking theories of law in practice areas that have helped thousands of clients recover for the harmful acts of others. For instance:
A recent accident in Key Biscayne, Florida, involving a 12-year-old riding an e-bike and a traditional bicycle, tragically resulted in the death of the bicyclist, Megan Andrews, a career-educator and pillar in the community. This incident has once again brought the dangers of e-bikes, particularly when operated by younger riders, into sharp focus.
Key Biscayne’s local leaders, under massive public pressure, approved a temporary complete ban on e-bikes during an emergency meeting. The temporary ban will be in place for 60 days, the maximum length of time the Village could approve without running afoul of the law. The ban applies all roads of the Village of Key Biscayne except for Crandon Boulevard (the main and highest-traffic roadway of Key Biscayne) because it is owned and regulated by Miami-Dade County.
Electric bikes, or e-bikes, have become increasingly popular in the entire country, including Florida. However, when it comes to children using e-bikes and the dangers they bring, the legislator has dropped the ball miserably by failing to address crucial safety concerns:
In 2022, the 2-year-old child of our clients drowned in the swimming pool of a Central Florida house the family rented on AirBnb’s platform. It took less than a minute before she was pulled out unconscious, and despite the medical team’s every effort to keep her alive, she tragically died weeks later. The investigation revealed that the house was not equipped with a compliant child safety fence, and as a result, Leesfield & Partners attorneys filed a lawsuit against multiple parties, including the owner of the home located in Osceola County and AirBnb.
In the recent past, Leesfield & Partners has litigated several pool drowning cases with liabilities resting on property owners, pool contractors, and property managing companies. In one South Florida case that resulted in the drowning of a toddler, Ira Leesfield and attorneys at the firm were able to secure a seven-figure settlement against multiple defendants for the inadequate installation of a defective pool fence.
Florida Laws and Local Regulations
Over the last 47 years, Leesfield & Partners has led verdict and settlement recoveries in road construction cases throughout the state of Florida. In every road construction case, a rapid response is necessary and paramount for our team of investigators and experts, as well as, our firm’s road construction litigation division, to take vital witness statements, and obtain documentary, video and photographic evidence. The importance of acting quickly and decisively cannot be overstated. To respond quickly, Leesfield & Partners maintains offices at strategic locations throughout the State of Florida, including an office in Key West since 1987.
Below are recent results our team has obtained in road construction cases on behalf of our injured clients and their family:
Confusing highway construction case ends in eight-figure result
