Articles Posted in Bicycle Accidents

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Back to school season is here, and while it is an exciting time for students and parents, it is also a time of major chaos on the roads.  Parents battle rush hour traffic to drop off and pickup their kids at school, yellow school buses make their rounds, kids walk and bike to and from school, and new teen drivers are out on the road.  Unfortunately this makes school zones, which are designed to be safe areas, a high risk for pedestrian and motor vehicle accidents.

Statistics show that approximately 25,000 children are injured each year in school zone accidents.  These accidents are a combination of pedestrians being struck while walking or cycling to and from school, and vehicle on vehicle collisions.  100 children are killed every year walking to and from school. While the rate of pedestrian deaths in teens 12-19 has decreased overall over the past two decades, the number has increased in the past two years.  These statistics are alarming considering the fact that school zones are designed to make commuting to and from school safer for students.

Many school zones attempt to enforce safety by creating cross walks with signs and flashing lights, designating drop off and pickup areas for parents and school buses, and by imposing speed limits. Violating any laws accompanying these precautions often carry heavy fines. So, why are more and more accidents occurring in school zones

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Miami and the surrounding areas are known as very active flourishing communities in many ways. One thing all of these areas have in common are avid bike riders. Many members of the community choose biking as their favorite past time, a more efficient form of transportation, or a way to preserve the environment. This all sounds like a great trait for a community until you look at the number of bicycle riders injured or killed yearly in the Miami-Dade and surrounding areas due to negligent drivers.

It is important to note that bicyclist have many responsibilities when riding on public roads, however if you are injured in a bicycle accident or hit by a motorist your injuries you may have a claim for damages from the party that injured you. These tragic accidents can result in a daily struggle to recover. Sadly, many times these accidents are fatal and the families of the riders must move forward without their loved one and manage the loss of income, support, and services the family member was previously capable of providing to the household.

If you or a loved one is involved in an accident involving a bicycle it is important to contact an experienced bicycle injury attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney will be able to evaluate the liability among all of the parties and guide you to the solution that will result in the greatest remedy for your situation. A family member that becomes disabled or injured will never be replaced with any monetary award however, these remedies will help in the transition for the rest of the family in managing their new daily way of living.

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  • Uber and Lyft have increasingly become a streamlined part of everyday life for a majority of people looking for an inexpensive and convenient way to get around. Uber has over 15.6 million users a month in the United States and is a prominent transportation option for most of us who live in the Miami-Dade, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and other surrounding areas.Uber and Lyft are helpful and convenient but what happens when your ride doesn’t go as smoothly as planned? Both ridesharing companies employee the general public to use their own vehicles in conjunction with the Uber or Lyft platform to transport passengers and make a little extra money. Uber and Lyft operate a service that puts every customer in the car of someone they do not know. So, when there is a car accident and an Uber or Lyft customer is in the car during the accident what can they do?
  • Many people are surprised to hear that Uber and Lyft both provide additional insurance to their drivers. The companies require their drivers to carry specific insurance based on the type and frequency of services they plan to provide and based on the car they own. Additionally Uber provides $1 million of liability coverage per incident, $1 million of uninsured/underinsured insurance, comprehensive and collision insurance, no-fault coverage is provided in some states and coverage for bodily injury up to $50,000/individual/accident with a total of $100,000/accident and up to $25,000 for property damage.

    It is very important to understand the urgency in reporting and filing your claim because there are limitations on how much time you have to take action before the opportunity expires. Contact the auto accident and personal injury attorneys at the Friedland | Carmona today to ensure you are properly cared for and potentially compensated for your accident.

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Dressers leading to the death of small children sounds like a bad horror film. However, this unfortunate series of events has been a reality for at least three families so far. Sold in several small pieces requiring extensive instruction and a bit of time are the typical furnishings purchased from the Swedish company, IKEA.

IKEA is a leading furniture seller across the world and valued itself at over 11 billion dollars in 2012.1  IKEA has been aware of the danger posed by the dressers and made a first attempt to remedy the defect by providing kits to every purchaser of the dressers with instructions to secure the dressers to the walls where they will stand. Unfortunately, this did not solve the problem and another infant death followed. After tragedy struck again IKEA made the decision to recall the dressers. The IKEA website describes the recall as follows.

The recall affects children’s chests and dressers taller than 23.5 inches and adult chests and dressers taller than 29.5 inches … manufactured and sold through June 2016 and include the 3-drawer, 4-drawer, 5-drawer and 6-drawer models. Other IKEA chests and dressers in this recall were sold at various times through June 2016.”

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Sometimes a very unfortunate event affects those who cannot advocate for themselves because they are under the age of 18. If your child is injured on a playground, in a car accident, in a bicycle accident, at a store or in any way that results in a physical injury to your child and is someone else’s fault, you as their parent have the ability to bring a lawsuit on their behalf.

Children have the same access to remedies for harm to them as adults do and as their parents, you also have a right to recover medical expenses you incur while tending to the needs of your injured child.

Children have special rules in court. Some of these exceptions are:

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Someone rear ends you or hits you as your driving down the street. At the moment you don’t notice any pain or obvious injuries but as the weeks go on you notice discomfort in your neck, back, knees or other parts of your body. A common misconception among those injured in auto accidents in Miami is if they do not make the claim for injuries immediately after reporting the accident they are barred from recovery for injuries developed or intensifying in the future. Or you notice that the auto shop you took your car to for repairs did not adequately or completely make the fixes to your vehicle. These situations are common in the Miami- Dade, Coral Gables and all other surrounding areas in South Florida.

Every state has a statute of limitations that dictates how long a party has to bring a claim against those that injured them or breached the contract or duty owed to them. In Florida the statute of limitations includes but is not limited to the following:

Injury to Person 4 yrs. §95.11(3)(o)
Libel/Slander 2 yrs. §95.11(4)(g)
Fraud 4 yrs. §95.11(3)(j)
Injury to Personal Property 4 yrs. §95.11(3)(h)
Professional Malpractice 2 yrs.; Medical: 2-4 yrs. §95.11(4)(a) and (b)
Trespass 4 yrs. §95.11(3)(g)
Contracts Written: 5 yrs. §95.11(2)(b), 1 yr. specific performance§95.11(5)(a)Oral: 4 yrs. §95.11(3)(k)
Judgments 20 yrs. domestic §95.11(1); 5 yrs. foreign judgment §95.11(2)(a)

From: http://statelaws.findlaw.com/florida-law/florida-civil-statute-of-limitations-laws.html

For a more complete list of the applicable statute of limitations in Florida see Florida Statute 95.11

Statutes of limitations involve many exceptions and cross reference with other applicable Florida laws. To assist in what can be a difficult area to understand and navigate the Experienced Personal Injury Lawyers at Friedland | Carmona are ready and eager to assist you immediately. Having a lawyer familiar with this area of law and experienced in handling all types of cases can make all the difference in the outcome of your claim.

The South Florida personal injury attorneys at the Friedland | Carmona handle all types of negligence, product liability, personal injury, negligent security, slip/trip and fall, and car accident cases throughout the state of Florida, including Boca Raton, Homestead, North Miami, South Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Pembroke Pines, Hialeah, Kendall, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach. The Friedland | Carmona handles all types of personal injury cases, including dog bites, wrongful death, defective products, medical malpractice, slip and falls, negligent and reckless drivers, and automobile and motorcycle accidents. Call the Miami personal injury attorneys today and let our family take care of your family.

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Personal injury law is utilized when someone causes physical harm to another and the injured wants to be made whole or compensated for that injury. The experienced attorneys at Friedland | Carmona provide free consultations to those who believe they may have a case and are seeking more information on the options available to them. Examples of situations when people normally seek personal injury lawyers in Miami, Coral Gables, and the surrounding areas include but are not limited to:

Auto accidents,

Trip and falls/slip and fall: There are many dangerous conditions like torn carpeting, changes in flooring, poor lighting, narrow stairs, or a wet floor can cause someone to slip and be injured. Same goes if someone trips on a broken or cracked public sidewalks, or falls down a flight of stairs. In addition, a slip and fall case might arise when someone slips or falls outdoors because of rain, ice, snow or a hidden hazard, such as a pothole in the ground. In any event, the plaintiff must have sustained some kind of injury, however minor, in order to collect, http://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/slip-and-fall-accidents-overview.html

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Snap chat is the new social sharing phenomenon that people cannot seem to get enough of. With daily filters, geotags, interactive platforms and story sharing, Snap chats over 100 million daily users have little time to do anything else with their day then snap it, including drive.

Snap chat is most popular between people ages 14-21 but is widely used across many age groups, including new and experienced drivers while they are on the road. Cell phones are the cause of one of every four car accidents according to USA TODAY and in Miami, that percentage is on the rise. Miami is already one of the most dangerous cities to drive in. The city leads to over 5% of Florida’s total reported auto accidents which equate to over 200,000 accidents annually.

Car accidents cost the United States over $871 billion a year on average. With costs that high, it is not hard to understand why states and the federal government are working to make the roads safer. However, more and more distractions are introduced to the smartphone daily. Drivers are distracted by these distractions leading to increased car accidents.

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Early on Wednesday morning, two cyclists travelling Eastbound on the Rickenbacker Causeway were struck by a silver Volkwagen Jetta, causing serious injury to one cyclist, and killing the other.  Police arrived to find that the driver of the car, 21 year old Alejandro Alvarez, had fled the scene.  He later attempted to make it look like his car had been stolen the night before, but eventually turned himself in.  49 year-old Walter Reyes was killed at the scene, while 40 year-old Harry Hernandez was rushed to the hospital with injuries not disclosed by the police.  Reyes was a well-known figure in Key Biscayne, as a prominent executive with Keyes company.  The two cyclists were out for a training for an upcoming charity biking event, the Dolphin Cycling Challenge.

Alvarez will be charged with driving under the influence, and vehicular manslaughter.  Police told reporters that the cyclists were following the applicable traffic rules, while the driver was not.  Police claim that Alvarez had wandered into the bike line, striking both cyclists before driving off to his home.  The case therefore, was handled like a normal homicide.   The situation here is much like one that happened very recently on the same stretch of the causeway to another young husband, which caused an outcry from the cycling community and led to a new statute to protect cyclists sharing the road with drivers.

Police and public officials again urge drivers to drive carefully on the causeway, as visibility is not always ideal for cyclists and drivers alike.  Police also warn that this has been a particularly bloody couple of years on the causeway, and that drivers and cyclists need to prepare and be cautious for the contingencies of others not following road rules.  You can read more about the story, and follow the upcoming trial of young Alejandro Alvarez on most major local news agencies here.

Cycling accidents that include cars are some of the most damaging and deadly in the field of personal injury.  Like in the case above, these cases often times have aspects in both criminal and civil law.  While Alvarez will be brought up on charges, he will also likely face damage suits for the injuries he inflicted and the wrongful death of Mr. Reyes.  On top of over 20 years of experience in car accident and personal injury cases, the attorneys at the Friedland | Carmona have experience in dealing with these types of bicycle accident cases, having won large awards for cycling injuries when they are lawfully riding on roads and with others.  As a cyclist himself, Jonathan Friedland understands the dangers of cycling, and can help get the compensation you deserve when drivers do not share the road.  The Friedland | Carmona has been awarded multiple commendations for his work, and remains one of Florida’s Best Lawyers in the South Florida Legal Guide.  If you or someone you know has been injured because of the fault of another in bicycle, car, boating or slip and fall accidents, call us today! Continue reading

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An unnamed man is dead in Hialeah after being run over by a Miami-Dade public transportation bus. Witnesses claim that the cyclist lost control of his bicycle around West 49th Street and 10th Avenue when a car, which has yet to be identified, attempted to pull out of the shopping center without seeing him. The cyclist fell into traffic, and was run over by the bus. Police have yet to release the cyclist’s name, or any speculation as to the direction the investigation into the crash is heading.

The interaction between cyclists and motorists a very dangerous one, especially in the South Florida area. Drivers and riders have a very tenuous relationship, with odd laws about sharing the road and disallowing cyclists on sidewalks, but not really having the necessary infrastructure to support cyclists on the major roads that criss-cross Miami and the South Florida area. Accidents between cars, trucks, and buses and cyclists are some of the most deadly, as the recent crash in Hialeah has demonstrated. You can read more about the accident and the following investigation here.

In complicated cases involving both cars and bicycles, it is important to have extensive experience in handling the law, injuries, and nuances that are commonplace with these kinds of cases. The attorneys at the Friedland | Carmona have that experience, and have worked tirelessly on several cases involving injured cyclists. Preserving the share the road laws and protecting the compensation rights of injured cyclists are especially important to the Friedland | Carmona, with Mr. Friedland, Esq. being an avid cyclist himself. If you or a family member have been injured in an accident due to the negligence of another, and need the representation of one of the most experienced personal injury attorneys in South Florida, call today!

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