Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Blog

With many Florida drivers uninsured, particularly in Broward, Miami Dade, Palm Beach and Collier Counties, it borders on the irresponsible for people not to protect themselves with Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist insurance (commonly called just "UM") in the event they suffer serious personal injuries due to some other person's negligence. One recent South Florida client was sitting at a red light when she was struck from behind by an uninsured man who was travelling about 50 miles per hour. Our client's injuries were devastating, requiring immediate surgery to keep her neck bones together with metal plates, rods and screws. Although she had significant liability insurance in the event she injured someone else, she opted to save a few bucks and decline UM insurance. UM is a bargain because it protects you against the negligence of others - people you have no control over - unlike any other type of auto insurance. In fact, it is not a good deal for insurance companies, which is why the Florida legislature requires insurers who wish to sell automobile insurance in Florida to offer it to consumers. The person who injured her is without assets and now in prison for at least three years on unrelated drug charges. Had our client had UM insurance, she would have been able to collect the same amount of money for herself that she is insured for in the event she negligently harmed others.

We've spent our entire legal careers as personal injury lawyers, dealing with automobile accidents resulting in serious injury or wrongful death, and the attendant insurance issues that almost always arise. We have successfully found insurance where many thought none existed, and successfully sued Florida insurance companies who wrongly disclaimed coverage. Call us at 954.389.8150 or 239.793.3331, or email us through our website at www.fairnessforall.com, for a free consultation with Mark or Rhonda Weinstein.

A recent Broward County / Fort Lauderdale newspaper story detailed a rash of South Florida hit and run accidents resulting in serious personal injury, sometimes involving auto - on - auto car crashes, and sometimes involving Fort Lauderdale or Broward County pedestrians being struck by automobiles. Whether the rash is circumstantial, or due to people dropping their automobile insurance during troubled financial times, is unclear. However, so long as victims of these crimes have had the foresight to purchase Uninsured Motorist / Underinsured Motorist insurance, their damages often will be covered above and beyond their personal injury protection (pip) insurance, even when the perpetrator can not be found.

When "phantom" vehicles are involved, automobile insurers often try every trick in the book to avoid payment, but at Weinstein & Weinstein, P.A., we have been quite successful on behalf of innocently injured South Florida consumers who need a knowledgeable voice and someone to fight for them. Give us a call or send us a note through our website, www.fairnessforall.com, to set up a free consultation with Mark or Rhonda Weinstein.

Many in Broward County and Palm Beach County have heard, seen and read of the recent tragedy on the Florida Turnpike when a 2000 Ford Expedition rolled over, with a tire blown, causing the death of five, including three children. The people were on their way to church. Because Mark Weinstein at Weinstein & Weinstein, P.A. has been retained in the case by a loving father who lost his wife and two young children (ages 3 and 5) in the tragedy, and a wrongful death case will soon be filed, it would not be prudent to talk about any case-specific things on this forum at this time.

However, from the tragedy there are, in an objective sense, certain general reminders that ought to occur to anyone. The Ford Expedition is known nationwide for rolling over due to its faulty design, and yet it is kept on the road by Ford. Tires that ought to have been recalled have not been, and tires that have been recalled have not seen appropriately dilligent efforts by tire manufacturers to notify consumers as to exactly what tires are and are not recalled. Finally, there may well exist questions pertinent to all South Florida drivers - whether in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami - Dade, or Collier County - with respect to the barrier systems that were or are to be put in place by the Department of Transportation between the Florida Turnpike and other highways, and bordering canals.

Auto manufacturers and other large corporations and entities are not above the law. We truly believe in our motto, "fairness for all". If you or a friend has been injured due to the carelessness of others, Mark and Rhonda Weinstein offer free consultations at 954.389.8150 or 239.793.3331, or visit our website at www.fairnessforall.com.

A South Florida man was killed recently when his car slammed into a sable palm tree in the median of a road with a fifty mile an hour speed limit. This type of rigid landscaping, while pleasing to the eye, often causes much more harm than good - in fact, in many jurisdictions rigid trees are not allowed to be planted in the median of a road with a high speed limit, just for this type of reason. In Florida, cities, counties, and the Florida Department of Transportation can be sued for negligently allowing lanscaping to exist in a dangerous place, although in most (but not all) circumstances, recovery would be limited by certain statutory damage caps put in place by the legislature.

At Weinstein & Weinstein, P.A., we have handled almost every imaginable type of automobile crash claim, including single car crashes that result in much more severe injury than would normally be expected, due to the carelessness of other people or corporations. Call Mark Weinstein or Rhonda Weinstein at 954.389.8150 or 239.793.3331 for a free consultation, or visit our website at www.fairnessforall.com.

A Fort Lauderdale man was recently injured when his worst nightmare, no doubt, came true - a drunk driver was barrelling toward him on the turnpike, travelling in the wrong direction. The driver at fault had spent much time that afternoon, according to a newspaper story, at a local bar. The law in Florida does permit actions against bar owners under certain circumstances for personal injuries caused by a negligent, careless decision to continue to serve a patron who is intoxicated.

The lawyers at Weinstein & Weinstein, P.A., have over fifty years of collective experience with all aspects of personal injury law, no matter how familiar or novel the facts of the case. Call Mark and Rhonda Weinstein for a free consultation at 954.389.8150, or visit our website at www.fairnessforall.com.

A Fort Lauderdale man suffered catastrophic personal injuries recently when he was burned by a gas pump at a service station that exploded when a car crashed into it. The driver escaped injury - it was a patron who was injured. Gas pumps are obviously dangerous, and it is important that they are sufficiently guarded by bollards to prevent this all too common occurrence.

Mark and Rhonda Weinstein, at Weinstein & Weinstein, P.A., have devoted their legal careers to assisting those seriously injured by the carelessness of people or corporations. For a free counsultation, please call 954.389.8150 or 239.793.3331, or visit our website at www.fairnessforall.com.

We recently received a call from a hard working Broward County, Florida man who was negligently injured in an auto accident the day before, but despite his pain, refused the paramedic's request that he be taken to the hospital. Why? "I don't have health insurance", he told us. "I'm in pain, but I can't afford medical bills." It is an unfortunate truth that more and more people can not afford health insurance, and that people do not understand the terms and conditions of the insurance they do have.

This man, like all drivers in Florida, had mandatory PIP insurance (together with his property damage insurance and his bodily injury insurance, which most people understand), but he did not understand what the PIP insurance meant. PIP, essentially, is health insurance for injuries that you receive in an auto accident. It does not matter who is at fault. PIP typically pays 80% of your medical bills, and 60% of any lost wages, up to a cap of $10,000.00. The gentleman who called us WAS insured - he just did not realize it. He was in pain, and after speaking to us went to the emergency room, where of course his PIP insurance was readily accepted. He is now our client.

If you are severely injured in an automobile accident, we'd like to help. Remember that attorneys who are experienced in personal injury, wrongful death and automobile accident cases can ensure that all possible avenues of recovery are thoroughly exhausted and that your rights as an accident victim are protected. Call us at 954.389.8150, 239.793.3331, or contact us by email through our website at www.fairnessforall.com.

A negligent driver lost control and caused the wrongful death of one pedestrian, and catastrophic personal injuries to another last Sunday. We see this scenario often, unfortunately.

The damages recoverable in Florida for the wrongful death and the serious personal injuries here are different. In a wrongful death action, the bulk of the damages recoverable are generally economic damages such as loss of income, and non-economic damages for the loss of society and campanionship suffered by the family of the person who died due to negligence. A negligence action for serious personal injuries, however, awards a similar type of economic damages, but awards pain and suffering damages to the injured person, and often some damages to a spouse who suffered a loss of consortium, comfort and society as a result of the injuries to his or her spouse. Additionally, pedestrians often do not realize that when they are struck by a car, under many circumstances their own insurance might well provide benefits and coverage for lost wages, medical bills, and even pain and suffereing damages.

Please see our web page entries discussing wrongful death cases and automobile accidents for more information.

If you are severely injured in an automobile accident, whether as a driver, passenger, or pedestrian, we'd like to help. Remember that attorneys who are experienced in personal injury, wrongful death and automobile accident cases can ensure that all possible avenues of recovery are thoroughly exhausted and that your rights as an accident victim are protected. Call us at 954.389.8150, 239.793.3331, or contact us by email through our website at www.fairnessforall.com.

A Fort Lauderdale motorcycle accident took the life of one man and resulted in two serious personal injuries on Friday, May 2, 2008. Motorcycle crashes, obviously, often result in catastrophic injuries. They are most often the result of automobile driver negligence, but sometimes are the result of the negligence of the driver of the motorcycle. Passengers who are injured in cases where the motorcycle driver is at fault possess completely legitimate claims against the driver and/or his insurance company; motorcyclists injured by negligent vehicle operators not only have claims versus those negligent persons, but also find it easier in litigation if the personal injuries are not necessarily permanent. This is because in Florida those who are injured on a motorcycle generally are not barred from suing simply because they did not suffer a permanent injury, where that prohibition does exist in some other types of automobile cases.

We have successfully handled these types of cases, and recently received a large verdict in Naples, Florida, in a case where a care made a left turn in front of a motorcycle, causing the motorcyle to crash into the automobile, and resulting in serious personal injuries to both riders of the motorcycle.

If you have been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident occurring in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Naples, or elsewhere in the State or nation, we'd like to help. Call Mark or Rhonda at 954.389.8150, or 239.793.3331, or contact us through our website at www.fairnessforall.com.

A driver of a 1996 Jaguar sustained severe injuries and died at the scene when he lost control of his car on an exit ramp of I-95 in Broward County. The Fort Lauderdale vehicle accident happened at approximately 11:30 a.m, in broad daylight, on the southbound ramp of I-95 leading to Interstate 595, according the the Florida Highway Patrol.

An accident involving only one car is often caused by dangerous road conditions, other drivers who are speeding, drunk drivers who cause injuries or deaths and fail to stop, defective design and/or maintenance of an automobile, or simple error by the driver. Negligence of the driver in a single automobile accident often results in serious personal injuries to passengers, who have a claim against the driver and/or the driver's insurance company, or the injured person's own insurance company if uninsured motorists insurance or underinsured motorists insurance was purchased. The other types of negligence described possess an injured person with valid claims against the wrongdoer, be it against a municipality, person, private company, or automobile manufacturer. We have been successful in many instances in bringing cases for personal injury or wrongful death even when there is only one vehicle involved in a motor vehicle accident, be the accident in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Naples, or elsewhere in the State and nation.

If you are severely injured in an automobile accident, we'd like to help. Remember that attorneys who are experienced in personal injury, wrongful death and automobile accident cases can ensure that all possible avenues of recovery are thoroughly exhausted and that your rights as an accident victim are protected. Call us at 954.389.8150, 239.793.3331, or contact us by email through our website at www.fairnessforall.com.

Driving to court in Broward County recently, we saw yet another auto accident that was caused by a negligent left turn. We have been handling personal injury automobile accident cases for almost a combined 40 years between Mark and Rhonda, and the significant percentage of crashes involve people at red lights or stop signs who are suddenly hit in the rear by careless, negligent drivers, or who themselves crash into a car making a negligent left turn across traffic.

Although the case is certainly more straight forward when the injured victim is the one who had the right of way, we have been successful when representing the turning party as well. Often it might seem that an automobile crash resulting from a left turn across traffic must be due to the turning vehicles' negligence, but we have accident reconstruction experts who have successfully proven that speeding by the oncoming car was the real cause - something by doing metallurgy tests, sometimes by measuring the skid marks in order to determine speed, and increasingly by obtaining GPS data from both vehicles so as to get a precise reading of the speed.

Hit in the rear cases are more straight forward, although there do exist some exceptions to that rule. For instance, if a car stops short negligently, or tries to make an illegal U turn, and is struck from behind, then the claim by the struck driver is not necessarily a "slam dunk", and the driver who struck the leading vehicle, if injured, may have a claim himself.

It is always wise to have experienced attorneys deal with the big insurance companies in these situations. Remember, the goal of insurance adjusters is to save their company money, not to pay you! If they have to pretend to be your friend, so be it, but consumers need to be weary.

We'd like to help. Call Rhonda or Mark at 954.389.8150, 239.793.3331, or email us via our website at www.fairnessforall.com.