Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

April 1, 2011

Tampa, Florida Accident Attorney :: Construction Worker Stuck in Cement Hopper in North Hillsborough County

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

Hillsborough County Fire rescue responded to a construction scene in Lutz, Florida Monday where a worker fell into a cement hopper that trapped his arm and shoulder. He was transported to Tampa General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Fourteen firefighters responded to the scene at 2:37 p.m. According to MSNBC, the man’s arm and shoulder were freed by 3:37 p.m. after the cement mixer was disassembled.

A surgeon was flown to the accident site as a precaution.

Property owners, developers, and construction managers have a responsibility to keep their buildings and properties safe from issues that could cause an accident to an employee or visitor. This means equipment needs to be maintained, debris or materials must be stored safely so that slip and falls do not happen, toxic substances or hazardous objects should not be on site, all employees hired need to have proper training, proper building safety codes should be enforced and everyone on site from employees to visitors should be notified of unsafe areas within the vicinity of the property.

Through the state of Florida’s worker’s compensation laws, most employers must provide proper coverage for workers’ by paying into the Worker’s Compensation Insurance Program to protect their workers. Eligibility for worker’s compensation benefits depend on if the employee in question can prove they were injured on site during their term of employment. If injuries prove to be work-related then the employee can be compensated for lost wages and medical bills.

The man featured in this story could recover from third parties outside of the workers compensation system depending on what caused the injuries sustained. Accidents involving a construction site can be convoluted because of the many contributors implicated in the construction site including the owner, the general contractor and multiple subcontractors. If the injuries are caused by faulty machinery, the manufacturer of the flawed equipment may also be responsible for the damages.

March 28, 2011

Pinellas County, Florida Personal Injury Lawyer :: Largo Woman Involved in Hit and Run with Pedestrian

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

What do you do when you are the victim of a Leaving the Scene of an Accident in Florida? Pinellas County police have arrested a 25-year-old Largo woman after she allegedly struck a 32-year-old man with her vehicle and left the scene of the accident. Deputies have charged the woman with aggravated battery with a motor vehicle and resisting arrest after she hit and injured the man.

When purchasing your auto insurance it is imperative that you purchase Under and/or Uninsured Motorist (UM) protection. This specific type of insurance is sold by most reputable auto insurance companies and can be used to cover damages sustained when the at-fault party has no insurance or not enough insurance to cover the full extent of your damages. Unfortunately, in today’s economy everyone is looking to stretch the dollar and the amount of coverage on an auto policy can be the first to go. There is no exception to this rule –you must purchase UM to fully protect yourself and family from accidents like the one described here. For instance, had the vehicle never been found which allegedly caused this accident, the victim would have been able to make a claim on his UM policy as the at-fault driver was unknown, therefore was uninsured. This scenario is sometimes referred to as a “phantom vehicle”.

Police responded to the scene around 8:50 p.m. on Wednesday and reported that the Largo woman approached the man on the side of the street, whom she had a prior dispute with, in her vehicle and began yelling at him. According to the St. Petersburg Times, around 25 to 30 people surrounded the woman’s car and the man punched her in the face while another individual pepper sprayed inside the vehicle through the driver’s side window.

The woman allegedly hit the gas and slammed into the man.

The Largo woman allegedly dropped her car off with another person who stopped at gas station to clean up the pepper spray.

Deputies arrested the woman later on and the arrest report shows the woman was uncooperative, pulling her hands and body away from them.

She is being held at the Pinellas County jail with bail set at $20, 150.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.

National government statistics show that nearly 11 percent of all motor vehicle accidents are hit and run car accidents. Almost 700,000 hit and run accidents involving a car are reported every year in the United States. The National Highway Administration shows that the state of Florida ranks third in the nation with 3,300 hit-and-run accidents reported yearly.

The woman in this case hit a man with her vehicle and fled the scene, leaving the man injured. Florida law is clear that the driver of any vehicle involved in a collision must stop and wait at the scene of the accident. Breaching this requirement is viewed as a hit and run and could cause a violator to face criminal felony charges, suspension of their driver’s license, court-demanded community service, and other civil or administrative fines.

March 23, 2011

Bronson, Florida Auto Accident Injury Attorney :: Levy County, FL Teen Injured in Three-Car Collision

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a Bronson, Florida pile-up critically injuring an Archer, FL teenager. According to the Levy County Journal, a 1999 Saturn driven by a Bronson man was stopped attempting to turn left at an intersection. A 2004 Ford pick-up truck driven by a 51-year-old Archer man rear-ended the Saturn causing severe damage to the back of the car leaving a back seat passenger with life threatening injuries.

After the pick-up smashed into the Saturn, a 26-year-old Archer woman driving a 2004 Honda traveling behind the Ford slammed into the rear of the pick-up truck.

The driver and front seat passenger of the Saturn allegedly suffered minor injuries. The other drivers according to the report did not sustain injuries. The teen was taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville with grave injuries.

FHP from the Gainesville and Cross City Districts are continuing their investigation of the crash.

In 2007 the Florida Department of Transportation reported that vehicle accidents caused approximately 212,000 injuries resulting in 3,221 deaths. Car crashes are the most common form of automobile accidents in Florida and one of the top sources of personal injuries in the country. A car accident can be upsetting to the injured and their family, causing not only relentless physical and emotional damage, but financial difficulty also.

Depending on the seriousness of the injury, the National Safety Council reported that the standard cost of motor vehicle accident injury ranges from $24,400 to $62,500. These numbers include medical bills, lost wages from being out of work, loss of prospective salaries, and costs to repair or replace your vehicle. Many times insurance companies will want to arrange small financial settlements that will not cover past, present and future needs from the sustained injuries. If the teen in this story were to die from injuries from the accident this would be called wrongful death and his family could file a claim to compensate for medical bills, funeral and burial expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and loss of the teen’s company and companionship. After FHP concludes their investigation it will be known if one or all parties can be held liable for the teen’s injuries.

March 21, 2011

Gainesville, Florida Aviation Negligence Lawyer :: Pilot Injured in Experimental Plane Crash at Gainesville Regional Airport

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A Gainesville, Florida man was hospitalized Saturday morning with non-critical injuries after crashing his single-engine experimental plane.

The Gainesville pilot was returning for landing on the runway after taking his plane out when he crashed nose-first.

The man was alone in the plane and allegedly remained in the wreckage for some time, according to the Gainesville Sun.

Gainesville Fire Rescue cut the man out of what they identified as a biplane. He was airlifted to Shands at the University of Florida in stable condition.

The Federal Aviation Administration is supposedly investigating the crash.

The FAA registry shows the manufacturer of the plane to be Brown Narcisse and the model as a Christen Eagle II.

Air traffic is generally considered a safe means of transportation, but when something goes wrong it often results in fatal injuries. An aviation accident is any incident or series of occurrences that involve an aircraft and causes property damage, injures someone or causes wrongful death. A crash can occur while the plane is on the ground, ascending into flight or descending to the ground for landing.

Numerous airplane accidents involve an element of negligence. Most aviation negligence cases can be traced back to a Federal Aviation Administration violation dealing with licenses or certificates, flight rules, airworthiness of the aircraft and hazardous materials. There are many factors that can play a part in FAA violations such as equipment failure, human error and environmental conditions.

March 18, 2011

Tampa, Florida Premises Liability Lawyers :: Two Adults Injured When Apartment Stairway Collapsed

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

Two individuals suffered non-life threatening injuries Tuesday night when a wooden staircase between the first and second floor gave way at a Palm River apartment complex.

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue transported the two adults to a local hospital, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

A ladder truck safely escorted four adults, three infants, and one family dog off the second floor.

County code enforcement is further exploring how the collapse happened.

According to a Harvard University renter demographics study, 80 percent of Americans aged 29 and under rent homes. While the number of renter’s shows a trend of declining with age, 4.1 million households aged 65 and above fall within the home renter category.

Property owners are responsible for injuries on their property, such as negligence or communication errors. Any person or organization that owns a property has a legal obligation to keep the area free from hazards or notify the public if a hazard cannot be fixed immediately.

Property owners must provide reasonable accommodations for tenants and routinely examine, preserve, and restore all dangerous areas. Here, the two injured adults could file a premises liability lawsuit against the apartment complex owners for negligence in maintaining the property.

Since the adults were sent to the hospital for suffering injuries, whether they are permanent ones or not, they could be compensated for any medical expenses, lost wages, and any additional pain and suffering that is endured.

March 17, 2011

Gainesville, Florida Catastrophic Injuries Attorney :: University of Florida Student in Critical Condition after Attempting to Drive a Motorcycle

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A 21-year-old University of Florida senior endured critical head injuries late Sunday afternoon after she was supposedly being taught how to drive a motorcycle.

The Gainesville Police Department said the accident occurred at a local Gainesville apartment complex.

Karen Voyles from the Gainesville Sun is reporting that witnesses told the police that she was learning to drive the motorcycle when she allegedly lost control and smashed her head on a nearby stairwell. Following the crash, she was taken to Shands at the University of Florida in critical condition.

As of Monday, the accident still remains under investigation.

Catastrophic injuries are quite severe and usually mean lengthy recovery periods and extensive medical treatments. This woman could suffer from injuries that may never heal such as brain injuries or neurological disorders, which could affect her memory, speech, nervous systems and more.

Since the woman suffered critical head injuries she could have swelling, bruising, fractures and bleeding around the brain, which could leave her in need of assisted living and brain operations not normally covered by insurance. Once further investigation is done, it can be determined whether another person had any fault in this accident and if she can take legal action to compensate for her losses.

March 15, 2011

New Port Richey, Florida Wrongful Death Attorney :: Hudson Woman Charged in Crash Killing a Triplet

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A 5-year-old girl was killed on Nov. 5 in her front yard after an enraged Hudson, Florida woman got behind the wheel of her car and sped away from her house after a fight with her boyfriend.

Florida Highway Patrol estimates that the Jeep accelerated to somewhere around 44 mph before the woman lost control of her vehicle. The collision site was about 50 paces from the woman’s home.

The Florida woman allegedly lost control of her vehicle and jumped a curb, flattened a neighbor’s mailbox and smashed into a neighbor’s yard. She then hit a parked truck and drove into a group of small children, including the triplets. Two of the three were hit.

The woman was allegedly ejected from the Jeep, which kept rolling and hit the triplets’ parents’ van parked in their driveway.

One of the two triplets was pronounced dead the following morning at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa.

The other triplet hit by the accident suffered two weeks in the hospital with two broken clavicles, a broken pelvis, several broken ribs, a broken right leg, a collapsed lung and internal bleeding, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

The woman driving the vehicle suffered minor injuries. She faces criminal charges of vehicular homicide, reckless driving involving serious bodily injury and reckless driving involving property damage. She was issued infractions for no insurance, defective equipment and not wearing a seat belt.

The Hudson woman remained in Pasco County jail Friday evening with bail set at $15, 250.

Most motor vehicle accidents are unintentional and due to a driver’s distraction, which in this woman’s case was frustration from a disagreement with her boyfriend. For the vehicular homicide charge this woman is facing a Second Degree Felony with high fines and a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment along with a license revocation for a three-year minimum.

A wrongful death can transpire when the actions of a person are found to be negligent and the legal cause of another individual’s injury ultimately leading to death that could have been avoided. Under Florida law, the victim’s family would need to file a lawsuit within two years of the accident. Other forms of civil lawsuits must be filed in four years, so it is important for the family to act swiftly if they choose to file a claim so they do not lose the ability to do so.

February 25, 2011

Levy County, Florida Auto Injury Attorney :: Car Crash Leaves Two Teens Badly Injured

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

Two teenagers were seriously injured when a van carrying six teens ran a stop sign and crashed into a car carrying two teens in Levy County on Feb. 17.

Three of the passengers from the 2000 Plymouth van were wearing seatbelts and suffered minor injuries, according to The Florida Highway Patrol. Two passengers in the van were allegedly not wearing seatbelts and suffered serious bodily injuries. All five of the passengers as well as the driver were taken to Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

The other car involved in the collision was a 1999 Acura sedan. According to FHP, the driver and the passenger of the vehicle were taken to North Florida Regional Medical Center and suffered relatively minor injuries.

A trooper at the scene said that when the van ran through the stop sign, the right side of the van was hit by the front of the sedan. The van then spun off the road and the back of the van hit a corner fence post.

It is believed that the impact from the crash flung one of the passengers in the van not wearing a seatbelt through the back window of the van.

The driver of the van was cited for running a stop sign and driving with a passenger under the age of 18 not wearing a seatbelt, according to the Gainesville Sun.

Auto accidents are the most common cause of personal injury claims throughout the U.S. They are also the leading cause of death for all ages between 3 through 34, according to a 2006 analysis. In any investigation into cases like this, claims could be made by not only the driver and the passengers of the sedan allegedly not at fault, but also by all of the passengers in the at-fault vehicle. This accident may involve multiple insurance policies and an experienced insurance lawyer will be needed to enforce all of the rights of the injured against those policies.

January 9, 2011

Marion County, Florida Burn Injury Attorney :: Citra Woman Accused of Setting Boyfriend’s Genital Area On Fire

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

January, 2011
A Marion County woman, 29, was arrested Saturday for allegedly pouring gasoline on her boyfriend’s genital area and setting him on fire.

The man was taken to Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville with critical injuries. His condition is unknown as of Sunday morning, according to the Gainesville Sun.

The woman of Citra was charged with aggravated battery and taken to Marion County Jail. She was released Sunday morning on $10,000 bond.

According to a Marion County Sherriff’s report, the woman went looking for her boyfriend at his mother’s house. When she did not find him there, she tracked her boyfriend down at an Ocala man’s house. The man called the police to his house after a fight erupted between the woman and her boyfriend that resulted in her pouring a liquid on her boyfriend and allegedly lighting him on fire.

Upon police arrival at the scene, the boyfriend was covered with a blanket, kneeling in the yard. Deputies reported he had second- and third-degree burns on his genital area and torso.

A severe burn injury like the one this man endured is one of the most painful and complex injuries to recover from. Often critical burns leave the injured party with scarring and even disfigurement that can cause emotional trauma and anxiety.

Recovering from a severe burn injury is a long road that can include skin grafting, plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery, hospitalization and continued medical care. Despite the accident or injuries sustained, a knowledgeable personal injury attorney will be needed to try and gain you compensation for medical expenses, mental and emotional anguish, lost wages and more.

December 3, 2010

¿Que hacer si se encuentra en un accidente automovilístico? El Abogado Jason Melton, de Accidentes Automovilísticos en Spring Hill y Brooksville, Habla Sobre los Pasos Principales Que Hay Que Recordar Si Ha Sido Lesionado en un Accidente de Auto

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

La Firma Whittel & Melton que ejerce su practica en el área de lesiones personales (basada en el Condado Hernando, pero ejerciendo diariamente en los condados de Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Sumter, Lake, Marion, Orange and Alachua), nos ha enseñando la desafortunada lección de cuidarse de los otros conductores durante las temporadas navideñas.

Históricamente hemos observado lo peor de los conductores durante esta temporada y es por ello que queremos informarle a la comunidad los pasos a seguir inmediatamente después de haber sufrido un accidente automovilístico, en el que alguna persona haya sido lesionada. Como ejemplo, la administración National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA ha publicado estudios demostrando que durante el 2001-2005, hubo un aproximado de 36 muertes por día en las carreteras estadounidenses, como resultado de conducir en estado de ebriedad o DUI (conducir bajo la influencia de sustancias). Durante la Navidad, esta cifra, tan terrible, aumenta a 45 muertes por día y se incrementa todavía más durante la temporada del Año Nuevo a 54 muertes por día.

Si usted ha estado involucrado en un accidente automovilístico en Tampa, St. Petersburg, Dade City, New Port Richey, Spring Hill, Brooksville, Bushnell, Tavares, Orlando, The Villages, Ocala, Inverness, Crystal River, Gainesville, o en cualquier lugar en la Florida, el seguir los siguientes pasos le ayudará a salir delante de esta situación tan estresante y sin que se tome ventaja de usted. La peor parte de ser victima de un accidente automovilístico, en la Florida, es cuando la compañía de seguros continua victimizandolo al tratarlo como si usted hubiera buscado pasar por este problema en su vida. No se convierta en victima por segunda vez – lea los siguientes pasos y déjenos saber como podemos ayudarle- 352-666-6666.