Orlando Car Accident Lawyer Blog

After two years of soaring property insurance rates, Floridians may get a break on their auto insurance. Some auto insurers say they will lower premiums for most drivers if the state's no-fault accident system expires as scheduled in October. The move could save Florida drivers hundreds of dollars a year in auto insurance premiums.

State Farm, Florida's largest auto insurer with 2.7 million policies, already has filed to reduce rates an average of 16 percent. The company estimates an annual savings of $360 for a typical two-car household, a statewide total of $435 million a year.

Florida's largest car insurers claim that No-fault has been plagued with legal loopholes and fraud and has become too expensive and gotten out of control. The no-fault system requires drivers to carry $10,000 in personal injury protection (PIP). It covers medical bills for drivers and their passengers' injuries regardless of who's at fault in an accident.

In 1972, Florida became the second state to adopt no-fault, which was designed to limit lawsuits by eliminating minor injuries from the tort system. In return for medical benefits, the No-fault law restricts people's right to sue if they are hit and injured in an accident. Today, only 12 states retain the no-fault medical provisions.

Some auto insurers want to retain the No-fault law. GEICO, Florida's third-largest auto insurer, supports improvements to the current no-fault system. Likewise, the Florida Justice Association and the Florida Chiropractic Association support re-enactment of PIP. In addition, the Florida Hospital Association says PIP should remain or be replaced with another mandatory medical coverage. Florida trial lawyers favor mandatory bodily injury coverage, now required in 47 states, to make at-fault drivers pay for injuries.

Florida drivers pay the sixth-highest auto insurance rates in the country, according to the Insurance Information Institute. New Jersey is No 1. The annual Florida premium averaged $1,062 compared with $838 nationwide in 2004, the most recent year measured.

The Central Florida family of a teenager killed last summer in a motorcycle crash is trying to prevent underage drinking. By suing the motorcycle driver and the couple who hosted a "going-off-to-college" party before the wreck, the family may help protect injuries to others. For certain, this personal injury lawsuit is fueling efforts by local lawmakers and the advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving to create stiffer penalties for those who host house parties that include underage drinking. This case involves the death of 19-year-old Jaclyn Bien, of Bradenton, and left driver Ricky Lee Rowell, 20, in critical condition. According to information, before the crash, Rowell was drinking at a house party in the area. Rowell's blood alcohol level was above the legal .08 limit to drive in Florida, according to Florida Highway Patrol. The parents of Jaclyn Bien filed the suit against Rowell and the Librizzis in Manatee County Florida. According to the complaint, the Librizzis "willfully furnished or negligently made alcoholic beverages available to decedent, Jaclyn Bien, and to many other persons" including Ricky Rowell. It further alleged that the Librizzis hosted the party and knew all the party's guests were not old enough to drink. Unfortunately this is another example of underage drinking taking the innocent lives of so many of our children and young adults. Perhaps lawsuits like this will bring more needed attention to this growing problem in our community. For its part, MADD is working with legislators to create steeper punishments for those who provide alcohol to minors at parties. Currently, serving alcohol to minors at an open house party in Florida constitutes a second-degree misdemeanor. That means a person convicted of the crime can spend no more than 60 days in jail. That may change, in part, due to this tragedy.

In our Florida car accident cases, we routinely inquire about cell phone use during client interviews and discovery. As personal injury lawyers, we have seen first hand evidence to support those studies which have shown that distracted drivers, especially those who talk on cell phones, pose a hazard. According to one study talking motorists are four times as likely to be involved in accidents.

In that study, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, cameras and sensors were placed in 100 vehicles that were tracked for about a year. In that time, more than three-quarters of the 69 crashes and two-thirds of the 761 near-misses involved driver distraction, usually involving a cell phone conversation. A University of Kansas study found that drivers engaged in a conversation are less likely to respond to visual cues because too much of the processing power of their brain is already in use for them to adequately focus on the road. Because of this, the study said, hands-free devices do not lower the risk of crashes.

As a father of three teenage drivers that concerns me a lot. While we can prohibit our children from driving and using their cell phones, we cannot control every other driver out there. That's alarming today when you consider that the number of cell phone subscribers has risen to more than 230 million according to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. And according to a recent Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. survey, at least 73 percent use them while in the car.

These statistics have generated action by several local governments. Four states and the District of Columbia have passed laws criminalizing the use of hand-held cell phones while driving; several others have passed restrictions on young drivers' cell-phone use while behind the wheel. More than 40 countries have enacted outright bans. In Florida there is presently no such regulations to address this growing concern for the safety of the traveling public.