Transportation Secretary Buttigieg previously said the government was working to reduce deadly car accidents by commencing a “safe system” approach that would evaluate roads and cars designs. The program will be funded from the infrastructure law, which includes a $5 billion fund that will provide grants aimed at protecting bicyclists and pedestrians. The infrastructure law requires technology that could address some causes of fatalities, such as including breath monitoring devices in cars. The government released this deadly car accident information in advance of the Labor Day holiday, in hopes of educating drivers to avoid reckless conduct, like drinking and driving, and texting while driving. The government is also introducing a multi-million-dollar campaign to advanced driver education and safety. While NHTSA has responsibility for the safety of vehicles, much of its budget is dedicated to advertising campaigns and help for law enforcement. Some safety advocates say the federal government has struggled to move beyond its long-standing focus on driver behavior.

As we remember during the beginning of the pandemic, roads had much less traffic but those on the roads drove at much faster speeds, not being burdened by rush hour congestion. With most people thinking the pandemic is in the past, Americans drove more than 750 billion miles between January and March, a rise of more than 5 percent versus 2021.NHTSA determined that the death rate on U.S. roads during the first three months of this year was 1.27 per 100 million miles driven, also a significant rise from 2020. .

As car accident lawyers, we at the Law Offices of Joseph Lipsky, sadly see the life altering consequences of reckless drivers. We remind all drivers that with the ready availability of ride shares, that there is no reason to drink and drive. And as for your cell phone, remember there is no call or text worth your life, the phone can wait. Being careful behind the wheel is safer for everyone.

In Florida, the law requires business and apartment owners and operators to take precautions to protect their business invitees, that is, their paying customers, from crime which is foreseeable. Basically this means, businesses must keep abreast of crime on and around their property; and, depending upon that level of crime over the past couple of years, take reasonable measures to deter and prevent future crime from occurring. One of the most valuable tools for business owners is the FBI crime report, which is based upon actual police reports from every police department across the United States. Also, in Miami and the surrounding communities of Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines and Hollywood, most local police departments have readily accessible on-line instant crime data.

While a responsible business owner will regularly monitor the crime reports, so as to change the level of protection they provide for their customers, too many businesses bury their head in the sand and purposefully ignore the crime report and their customers’ safety. By reviewing nearby crime, a business owner who is concerned about the customers may justifiably install additional lighting, add video surveillance cameras, locked gates, fencing and armed guards. Florida law does not require every business to enact all of the various types of crime prevention techniques, but only those which are reasonable for their property based upon the history of crime on and around their premises. Also, the law does not require a small mom and pop type business to have the same level of crime prevention as a large apartment complex, such as a government subsidized section 8 type property, or a large gas station. Larger businesses generally have more resources to provide a higher level of crime deterrence than small less profitable ones.

Just as the rising number of murders and other violent crimes should be a warning to business owners, the U.S. Justice Department is understandably concerned with the rising crime rate. Understandably, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch voiced her concerns about how growing violent crime “tears at the fabric of our common life.”

Given the timing of the release of this report, on the eve of the first presidential debate, we have no doubt that each candidate will try to politicize the rising violent crime rate. However, to personal injury attorney Joseph Lipsky, who has helped dozens of innocent victims of violent crime hold business and apartment owners accountable for placing their profits over people, by failing to provide adequate security, this report should be a wake-up call for business owners.

One of the first things insurance companies and their attorneys do when an accident victim files a claim for personal injuries is investigate that person’s past for any other accidents and/or injuries. Thereafter, when an injured accident victim fails to disclose any such prior injuries and accidents, especially in a deposition or in answers to interrogatories, the insurance company’s attorney will seek to present evidence to the presiding judge about those prior accident and injuries, for purposes of having the judge will dismiss the case.

Recently the Third District Court of Appeals, which presides over Miami-Dade and Monroe County, took such action when it dismissed a personal injury case against Home Depot. In that case, the injured plaintiff did not disclose a prior accident in which she received medical care. The plaintiff also failed to disclose a prior hospital visit in which she complained of pain in her back, which was one of the injuries she was suing Home Depot for causing. Once Home Depot presented evidence to the trial judge that the accident victim provided false and misleading deposition testimony, in not revealing the prior accident and medical care, the judge dismissed the personal injury case.

In addition to disclosing prior accidents and injuries to their own attorney, it is now equally important for accident victims to let the doctors who are treating them for accident related injuries know about those “priors.” If the so-called treating doctors are not aware of prior accidents or injuries, they will have a difficult time later testify that the current accident was the cause of the injuries which are part of the personal injury claim. Many accident victims mistakenly believe that telling a doctor about a prior accident or injury will lessen the value of their current case; in fact, the opposite is actually true. When a treating doctor knows about a prior accident or injury they are able to make a proper differential diagnosis about a current injury; meaning, they are able to knowingly rule out prior accidents or injuries as a cause of current complaints. When current treating doctors are not told about a prior accident or injury and are later questioned about them in a deposition, that doctor will be placed in a difficult position of trying to explain how an accident or injury they did not know about, does not play a role in the patient’s current complaints. This means, both the accident victim and the treating doctor’s credibility will be brought into question.

Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney Joseph Lipsky hopes those unfortunately injured in accidents remember the importance of disclosure. As the old saying goes, “tell me now or else I’m going to find out about it anyway.”

While a car’s warning systems are supposed to alert drivers about possible hazards, tests results reveal that every vehicle’s accident prevention systems vary greatly. Incredibly, tests demonstrated that when a car with rear warning systems was parked in between two other vehicles, it failed to warn the driver of passing motorcycles, bicycles, smaller cars and pedestrians about 50% of the time. Sadly, most drivers are unaware of this significant likelihood of failure, as they are lead to believe, mainly by mainstream advertising, that the car’s systems are truly reliable. Regardless of the manufacturer, and the added costs of such warning systems, which averages around $3,000.00, tests proved that no on vehicle was 100% reliable in detecting all hazards behind a vehicle.

We agree with the AAA that all motorists, regardless of which safety features their vehicle has, should always look behind and to the sides of their car and check the rear and side-view mirrors before backing up. Backing into a parking space will can assist drivers in eventually preventing accident, unfortunately, most parking lots require vehicle “head in” parking. This is precisely one of the reasons why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is requiring all new vehicles, by the model year 2018, to have mandatory backup cameras. The government hope is that requiring such cameras will help avoid wrongful deaths and personal injuries. According to the NHTSA, backing up accidents cause more than 250 deaths and over 15,000 personal injuries each year.

Miami personal injury attorney Joseph Lipsky concurs with the AAA and NHTSA that drivers need to remember that their attentiveness, and not relying upon technology, will have the biggest influence in preventing accidents.