TEXTING AND DRIVING Make the right call on texting and driving
After years of false stops and starts, a bill to curb texting while driving is finally building momentum in the Florida House. The current bill would impose a $30 fine for anyone texting while driving, and a $60 fine for doing so again within the same five-year period. Texting would still be allowed when stopped or at a red light.
Last year, we reported on the military investigation into the death of two soldiers during on-base exercises and the link with the two men’s ingestion and consumption of a dietary supplement called ‘Jack3d’ (pronounced Jacked)
This week, the parents of 22-year-old Michael Sparling, who died on the morning of June 1, 2011, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Dallas-based manufacturer of Jack3d, USPlabs, and GNC, the store where Michael purchased the product.
In its lawsuit, the family alleges that USPlabs was negligent under several theories of liability including defective design of the product, failure to warn its users, breach of warranty, and unlawful business acts and practices in violation of California law.
After being alerted by the landlord that something was wrong, Paulette Campbell arrived at the apartment of her grandparents, Wylene and Bobby Floyd of Miami Gardens. Upon entering their home, she discovered the body of her grandparents. Wylene had already succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Her grandfather Bobby was still alive, but needed immediate medical attention. Bobby was transported emergently to Jackson Memorial Hospital where his condition is unknown at the present time.
The Miami personal injury attorneys at Leesfield & Partners have led the legislative battle in the State of Florida which gave birth to a new law finally requiring that commercial buildings be equipped with CO detectors. More information on the Florida legislation pertaining to Carbon Monoxide exposure can be found here.
On average, 60,000 Americans suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning every year. The grave danger associated with carbon monoxide is the nature of the deadly gas itself. Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless and slightly lighter than air. Undetectable to humans, it is highly toxic and can be deadly when leaked in high concentration.
On January 4, 2013, a small airplane carrying three passengers crashed into a Florida home approximately located one mile south of the Flagler County Airport. Investigators and Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were on scene on the day of the crash. While findings have not been made public thus far, the communications between the pilot and the Air Traffic Controllers moments before the crash were relayed.
We now know that the 1957 Beechcraft H35 Bonanza took off from Port Pierce, FL and was on its way to Knoxville, TN. There were three people on board: Duane Shaw (59) from Albany, KY, Charissee Peoples (42) from Indianapolis, IN, and the pilot Michael Anders (57) from Albany, KY (right). The three occupants had actually stopped in Fort Pierce on their way up from the Caribbean where they had been vacationing.
Shortly after takeoff, Anders contacted the Air Traffic Controllers and notified them of a problem with the airplane. The small aircraft was vibrating, oil pressure was inadequate, and the cabin became engulfed with smoke. “I need some help here” Anders told the ATCs. When asked, he advised there were “three souls on board”. According to FHP, the airplane also flew into bad weather at some point, even though it is too early to say whether bad weather played a role in the plane’s demise.
Today, a small aircraft plunged into a home on Florida’s northeast coast. Deputies who immediately responded to the accident said the three people who were inside the house at the time were able to escape the flames relatively unharmed. At this time, three of the five occupants of the small plane were confirmed dead. The other two passengers have yet to be found.
According to reports, the planed crashed into the home at 2:22 p.m. Friday on Utica Path, about 1 mile east of the Flagler County Airport, off State Road 100. The house exploded and flames could be seen several thousands of feet away.
As reported by Bay News 9, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the pilot of the plane declared an emergency around 2:10 p.m., saying the plane was severely shaking.
A normal traveling day at Miami International Airport turned into a surreal and deadly scene when an 11-foot-bus crashed into an 8-foot 6-inches overpass. The bus crash killed two of the passengers while several others were taken to Jackson Memorial’s Ryder Trauma Center and remain in critical condition.
The bus driver, Ramon Ferreiro, made a wrong turn off Lejeune Road and entered the airport by error. Ferreiro continued on, passing several road signs warning tall vehicles to stop and turn around. Seconds later, the 11-foot tall bus approached an overpass which it could not clear and the bus crashed at full speed with the concrete-overpass.
Among the 32 bus passengers, 13 were critically injured, and 17 were transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Serfin Castillo, an 86-year-old Miami resident was killed on impact. 56-year-old Francisco Urana died from his critical injuries shortly after arriving at the hospital.
At around noon on Wednesday October 10, 2012, a large portion of a five-story building collapsed without warning, killing 2 construction workers, injuring several others, and another man is still missing at this hour.
The cause of this tragic incident is not yet known, but the police, construction investigators, and code experts are currently on site to determine what may have provoked the under construction parking garage at Miami-Dade College in Doral, Florida, to fall like a house of cards.
Last night around midnight, rescuers found a worker who had been trapped under the rubble for almost 12 hours. Attempts were made to extract the man, but the decision was made at around midnight last night to amputate both his legs in order to save his life. About one hour later, the man was cut above both knees, freed from under the collapsed concrete and rushed to the local hospital by ambulance.
Rick Rutigliano, an electrical supervisor who was on site at the time of the collapse, was on the other side of the building when he began to hear and feel a loud rumble. He ran to the other side of the building and saw the destruction that had just occurred. He later told the authorities that the collapse seem to have started after a crane set down an expansion beam on top of another beam. It has yet to be determined whether this was the cause or even a contributing factor to the incident.
It is believed that the two workers who lost their lives, as well as the 7 injured and one missing person are all construction workers employed by the garage contractor, Ajax Building Corporation, headquartered out of Tallahassee, Florida, and doing construction work in all southeastern States.
The garage was scheduled to open to the public in less than two months. It was a $22.5 construction contract which came to a tragic halt yesterday. Below the parking garage, office and classroom space were also built to house stores and students on campus.
This marks the second garage collapse in less than a month in South Florida. Unfortunately, fatalities related to construction accidents if far from uncommon. In 2011, construction work is the leading industry in the entire country with the most fatalities, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Francisco Araica, 26, was arrested this week for sexually assaulting a guest at the Fontainebleau Hotel where Araica works as a masseur.
Last Sunday, a female guest, who was a habitual visitor of the Lapis Spa at the hotel was sexually assaulted during a massage. The victim told police that the assault happened in the middle of the massage. Apparently the victim was in too much fear that Araica would become more violent, she confronted her assailant after the assault had stopped. Approximately 10 minutes later, Araica left the room. She immediately left the room as well and contacted police. Through his attorney, Araica surrendered and was charged with one count of sex battery.
This morning, the alleged molester paid his bond and was seen leaving the Miami-Dade County jail with a jacket over his face, not to be seen by cameras.
Texting and driving has been and continues to be one of the leading causes of fatal car accidents in the State of Florida. Easily explaining the reasons for the situation is the ever standstill of the Florida legislator on this issue. For several years Ira Leesfield and the personal injury lawyers at Leesfield & Partners have argued in favor of, and pushed legislators to pass a ban on texting while driving. Last week, despite a House and Senate either ignoring the reality of distracted driving, or incapable of coming to a sensible piece of legislation, a Broward County Judge allowed punitive damages in a civil negligence lawsuit for the first time in the State of Florida.
We have reported multiple times in the Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg the calamitous reality in Florida. As explained in our recent post “Florida still refuses to ban texting while driving“, Florida remains one of only six states without any limitations on cell phone use while driving. Every other State has either a total ban or a partial ban on texting and driving.
Over the years, Ira Leesfield has been a spokesperson for greater safety and common sense in the law. His experience fighting for the rights of innocent victims injured by the negligence of others has flourished in the passage of many important laws during his career as a personal injury attorney in Miami, Key West, throughout the State of Florida and the rest of the nation.
Ira Leesfield pushes for national attention as he appeared on Nancy Grace.
