Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

December 5, 2024

News: Crash on Interstate 75 in Marion County kills 1, injures 5

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

MARION COUNTY, FL – The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a deadly wreck that occurred north of Ocala in Marion County on Friday night, the Ocala StarBanner reports.

The FHP and first responders were called to the scene on Interstate 75 south of the exit for County Road 318 at about 5:50 p.m.

An investigation found that the driver of a Ford F-250 pickup truck lost control of the vehicle while heading south in the left lane of I-75. The pickup struck a guardrail and flipped over into the northbound lanes. The Ford then struck a Toyota Camry, and debris from the two vehicles hit a GMC Yukon SUV.

December 4, 2024

News: Suspect arrested in Belleview hit-and-run that killed pedestrian

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

BELLEVIEW, FL – A suspect is under arrest in connection with a fatal hit-and-run incident that occurred in Belleview on Sunday afternoon, the Ocala StarBanner reports.

The Belleview Police Department said that Christian Patrick Parker was charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident involving death.

Police said Parker was driving a 1998 Lincoln Town Car when he struck and killed 34-year-old Ariel Hartford on U.S. 441 south. An investigation determined that Parker allegedly went through a stop light and struck Hartford as she was attempting to cross the street at about 2:47 p.m. The driver kept going after the collision without stopping, according to police.

December 3, 2024

News: Spring Hill man, 45, killed when motorcycle collides with SUV

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

BROOKSVILLE, FL – A motorcyclist was killed in a collision with an SUV south of Brooksville on Thursday, according to a WTVT report.

The accident happened at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Ayers Road. The Florida Highway Patrol said the rider of a Honda motorcycle was heading west on Ayers Road at about 4:07 p.m. when the driver of a Chevrolet Equinox turned in front of him, and the vehicles crashed.

The motorcyclist, a 45-year-old man from Spring Hill, suffered fatal injuries. The driver of the Equinox, a 44-year-old man from Brooksville, was not injured.

December 2, 2024

News: Hurricane season ends after causing widespread damage in Florida

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season came to end on Saturday, but it left behind dozens of deaths and widespread damage across the state of Florida.

There were 18 named storms during the season that began June 1, including three that directly impacted Florida: Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton. 63 people died as a result of those storms, and the Tampa Bay Business Journal reports they caused estimated losses of $5.3 billion, while bringing 314,000 insurance claims from homeowners and 16,000 by commercial property owners.

Following Hurricane Debby in early August, Hurricane Helene intensified rapidly before making landfall in Taylor County on the Florida coast Sept. 26 as a major Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 140 mp. It brought catastrophic flooding and widespread wind damage from Florida’s Gulf Coast to the southern Appalachians.

November 29, 2024

News: Zephyrhills man dies after SUV crashes, overturns on Coats Road

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

ZEPHYRHILLS, FL – The Florida Highway Patrol said an accident in Pasco County early Thanksgiving morning left a driver dead.

A report by WTSP states that the motorist, a 24-year-old man, was driving a Chevy Tahoe SUV on Coats Road in Zephyrhills when the crash occurred shortly after 3 a.m.

The FHP said the vehicle crashed into large tree debris in the roadway, which caused it to rotate, collide with two mailboxes, and overturn.

November 28, 2024

News: 1 injured when vehicle crashes into building in Gainesville

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

GAINESVILLE, FL -Gainesville Fire Rescue said its crews responded to a vehicle crash on Wednesday morning.

A post on GFR’s Facebook page at 8:15 a.m. said that the incident happened at 1800 N Main St. Photos from the scene showed that a car crashed into a State Farm building.

Rescue crews successfully extricated a person from the vehicle. There was no word on the person’s condition.

November 27, 2024

News: Woman dies after being struck by propane truck in New Port Richey

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL – The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a pedestrian fatality that occurred in New Port Richey Monday morning.

Pasco News Online reports the incident took place in the area of State Road 54 and Grand Boulevard at about 5:40 a.m.. The FHP’s investigation determined that a woman was walking northbound across State Road 54 in a crosswalk when she entered the path of a westbound Freightliner propane tanker truck. At the time, the truck’s driver was turning north from SR-54 onto Grand Boulevard under a red traffic light

The pedestrian, a 43-year-old resident of New Port Richey, was struck and died at the scene. The driver of the truck was a 62-year-old man from Hudson.

November 27, 2024

6 Mechanical Failures that Cause Car Accidents

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

Most of us use our cars daily to commute to work and back home, take the kids to school, run errands, take road trips, and shuttle the family around town for whatever activities or excursions are going on that day. While we know that car accidents can happen at any time to even the most vigilant drivers, what may be surprising is that some of these accidents are not the fault of another driver, but mechanical failures. A mechanical failure occurs when a component of the vehicle malfunctions and falls short of the manufacturer’s specifications.

Here are the top 6 mechanical failures that cause car accidents:

Tire Blowouts

November 26, 2024

News: Head-on collision on County Road 314 leaves 1 dead, 3 injured

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

MARION COUNTY, FL – A two-vehicle crash in Marion County on Saturday evening left one person dead and three others seriously injured, WESH reports.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the wreck happened on County Road 314 near NE 170th Avenue shortly after 7 p.m.

A witness reported seeing the driver of a westbound sedan try to overtake another vehicle and then cross the double yellow lines into the eastbound lanes. The sedan collided head-on with another vehicle before flipping onto its side and ending up in a grassy area.

November 25, 2024

News: Ocala man, 82, dies following car wreck in Marion County

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

OCALA, FL – State troopers said an elderly man died after his vehicle was involved in a crash in Marion County early Friday morning.

WKMG reports the accident happened in the vicinity of SW 87th Avenue and SW 90th Place. The Florida Highway Patrol believes that the victim was driving north on SW 87th Avenue when he lost control of his vehicle at about 5:40 a.m. after suffering a medical event.

The vehicle went off the roadway and crashed into a boulder. The driver, an 82-year-old man from Ocala, died after being taken to an area hospital. He was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, according to the FHP.