After reading my book, people have shared that they had no idea that out of the 80,000 Florida lawyers- only 2 percent are certified as specialists in civil trial law, which includes car and truck accidents. Everyone should understand that car and truck accident cases have many complex issues that lawyers who do not specialize may not be aware of. Unfortunately, if a lawyer does not know the important issues involved in car and truck accident cases, it is the client who will suffer.

Many people have asked why we are giving away such a valuable book. Well, we believe that people deserve to be treated fairly. Over the past 20 years, we have seen too many decent, honest people taken advantage of after a car accident. This book gives injured people a fighting chance right from the start-Before it is too late.

As recently as January, some 77 percent of U.S. consumers polled by Consumer Reports ranked Volvo as the safest car brand. According to Consumer Reports no other brand dominates a category the way safety is owned by Volvo. But other carmakers have learned safety sells and are putting out their own safe credentials. As Orlando car accident lawyers we think this can only improve car safety more quickly. That is a very good thing.

Prevention of needless injury and death from car accidents is an issue that deserves everyone’s attention. Taking the injury out of car accidents is one solid method to address occupant safety. The other is building car crash avoidance into new vehicles. We applaud these approaches by auto makers.

As Orlando car accident lawyers, it was even more disturbing that school provided all of its families with a written statement that it would notify police if it became aware of illegal activities by students. Certainly, parents had an expectation that this school would not knowingly allow alcohol to be served to minors at a school function. Yet investigators of this needless alcohol-related car accident found the remains of a car driven at perhaps 100 mph- with halves of the car coming to rest on opposite sides of the median. Indeed, the car accident was so bad that the medical examiner never determined who was driving.

Of course, most people will not have any additional risk factors. For most drivers, there must simply be a better overall awareness that driving tired may impair your faculties in ways that are similar to alcohol usage. We have seen too many car accidents that could have been prevented, if the drivers had not been on the road so late at night or for so many hours.

Finally, this tragedy also involved the failure to wear seat belts. Had the passengers simply taken a moment to buckle up, they may not have been ejected. Sadly, once a driver or passenger is thrown from a vehicle the risks of serious or fatal injury increase. With all the new and improved safety features we see on vehicles, it is so sad to read another report of passengers failing to buckle up.

In a recent Orlando car accident case, we again investigated the facts in an accident report and determined that our client never should have been ticketed. We proved that our client did not violate the other driver’s right of way. From our pre-trial work it became apparent that the other driver was in a turn lane when he, without warning, decided to continue through the intersection. However, our client, who had been taken to the hospital for his serious injury, never had an opportunity to speak with the officer before he was sent the ticket in the mail. Fortunately, our client received the justice he deserved. Indeed, once we demonstrated the true facts, the insurance company changed their evaluation, accepted responsibility for the other driver and resolved the case months before the scheduled trial date.

Pedestrians alongside highways are usually invisible at night unless they are wearing something reflective. Getting out of a car, changing a tire, or even just standing on the shoulder beside a highway is extremely hazardous at night time. Oncoming autos and trucks can see the reflective lights on the parked vehicle, but cannot see the people standing or working beside the autos.

In response to this hazard companies have created safety apparel to keep in one’s car that can be used in these circumstances. One such item is called the VizVest to protect drivers and passengers when out on the highway. The benefit of such apparel is that when walking along the flow of traffic it allows people to be detected from much farther distances, especially at night, dawn or dusk. The increased distances translate to increased time for drivers to recognize a person, decide to respond and then make appropriate maneuvers to avoid collisions.

Importantly, the study also found that a lot of sleepiness-related crashes tend to be more severe. Typically, these car accidents involve a driver asleep at the wheel who hits a tree or crosses the median and hits another car head-on. Such car accidents often prove deadly.

Even if a driver does not fall asleep at the wheel, it has been shown that patients with sleep apnea or sleep deprivation have reduced motor function. It affects coordination, dis-tractability or vigilance. While car accidents will occur, they are more likely when a driver is operating his car at less than full capacity. In addition to alcohol, drugs or prescription medications, sleep apnea is a serious contributing factor in a number of car accidents. Sadly, it is believed that sleep apnea is a condition that is often undiagnosed or ignored.

While highway patrol and state transportation officials blamed motorists for not slowing down as they entered the thick veil of fog and smoke from a nearby brush fire that got out of control, this condition developed very quickly. In fact, it would appear that the road should have been closed due to such conditions. Troopers have the authority to close a road when they think public safety is in jeopardy. They can set up flares and block the road with their cars if they think the roadway is too treacherous for travel. The highway patrol then calls the Transportation Department to erect signs.

While procedurally, nothing may have been done wrong, these hazardous conditions appear to have completely overwhelmed and surprised the drivers. The series of crashes halted traffic in both directions for a 14-mile stretch of interstate for nearly 36 hours as workers removed the wreckage and then repaved a 650-foot portion of the roadway ruined by the fires that burned after the crashes.

What is so disturbing about all this is that the federal agency charged with the responsibility of protecting consumers from faulty automotive products, appears to be failing Ford owners. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration in the massive recall of August 2006, stated that with the three recalls Ford announced, all of the models that Ford built ... that exhibit the factors that can cause the switch to fail resulting in a fire while the ignition is in the off position will be candidates for a free remedy. Yet these Ford fires continue.

As Orlando car accident lawyers we see too many faulty products contribute to serious injury and death. These Ford fires must be prevented. No one really knows how much property damage; catastrophic financial loss; and personal deaths and injuries have been caused by these fires. Consumers should remain vigilant.

One recent study examined consumer complaints where those involved in car accidents said airbags failed to deploy and protect them. Sadly, most of the accidents were the type that drivers expect will cause their airbags to deploy: head-on collisions, rollovers, and broadside crashes. Few were minor fender-benders.

Many consumers suffered serious injury when their airbags failed to deploy. Others lost loved ones. Reportedly, these accidents and injury occurred in cars, trucks, minivans, and SUV's made by Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Mitsubishi, Kia, Volkswagen, Nissan, and Honda. While car makers would like consumers to believe that it can not happen, some of thes reported air bag failures occurred in new vehicles.

Although it is true that air bags should not deploy for every type of accident, these kind of consumer complaints remind all of us that we must not take our families' safety for granted. Always wear your seat belt and shoulder harness and make sure all little ones are properly restrained in appropriate car seats as well.

Representative John Legg wants to ban drivers under the age of 18 from using cell phones. He has filed a bill that would prohibit minors from talking on a cell phone when they are driving. He thinks this tailored legislation makes more sense because minors are the drivers who need to be completely focused on the road. He is not alone.

Seventeen states currently have laws restricting cell phone use for teenage drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Six states and the District of Columbia have banned all drivers from using handheld cell phones. Six more states allow local governments to ban drivers from using cell phones. Florida is one of eight states that prohibit local governments from issuing such a ban.

Whether our legislature moves forward with this bill to reduce car accidents is yet to be seen. Many will think this gives up to much freedom-and perhaps it does. Others may think it will not do much to reduce car accidents. However, no one can really dispute that most accidents occur when drivers are not focused on driving.

According to the 3rd District Court of Appeal a trial judge committed error by allowing testimony alluding to hundreds of Ford Explorer accidents without requiring the plaintiffs to establish similarities between those accidents and the fatal one that caused the death of the teenage driver. During the trial, witnesses reportedly testified that rollover accidents involving Ford Explorers caused hundreds of injuries and deaths, and that Ford could have prevented this young man’s death by quickening design changes it made to the Explorer after the accident. The appellate court obviously found the admission of such evidence harmful and determined that it denied the giant car manufacturer a fair trial.

It is unfortunate for the family of the deceased driver that no effort was made to qualify any of the other Ford Explorer car accidents as being similar and therefore relevant to the jury’s consideration of the issues before it. We should all remember that in the late 1990’s, hundreds of deaths involving rolling Ford Explorers and failing Bridgestone tires made national headlines and led to a $19 million recall campaign by both companies in 2000 and 2001. In this case the Explorer in which the teenager was riding flipped four times. The accident ejected him from the sports utility vehicle even though he was wearing his seatbelt.

The 4 years old was innocently riding in his family's car when it hit by a pickup truck driven by a drunk driver. The car accident and impact caused pieces of the little boy’s skull to be pushed into his brain, damaging his frontal lobes according to treating doctors. As a result, the child requires round-the-clock care for the rest of his life as a result of this needless car accident.

Before trial the drunk driver had pleaded guilty to DUI involving serious bodily injury and was sentenced to five years in state prison to be followed by 10 years probation. Of course, when the drunk driver who caused this car accident completes his punishment, this child will still be suffering and unable to lead a normal life. His mother described the emotional outbursts and violent behavior that plagues her son. There will never be an end to this victim’s life sentence.

Under siege by trial lawyers who say it drags out insurance claims, Allstate won a major legal victory after a Kentucky jury unanimously found it was not responsible for a two-year delay in settling a woman's car accident claim.

A Kentucky woman and her lawyer claimed she was the victim of a systematic scheme by Allstate to bully car accident victims into accepting lowball offers for their pain and suffering. They demanded $1.425 BILLION from the jury because, they claimed it was the only way of ending a corporate culture of greed.

But confronted with such an approach, the jury thought it was Allstate that was the victim. According to juror comments, they thought the figure was outrageous. That alone seemed to leave little hope for the plaintiff’s claims. But evidence that the plaintiff was trying to hide injuries and medical problems that pre-dated the car accident also contributed to the outcome.

In closing argument, Allstate’s attorney was able to accuse the plaintiff’s case as being built upon lies, distortion and greed. Allstate argued that the plaintiff and her previous attorney, tried to conceal a previous injury and two pre-existing conditions: a form of arthritis and an abnormal curve in her spine. Allstate blamed the plaintiff for any delay by being untruthful with the company.

This case illustrates the importance of truthfully and fully dealing with the facts. Many clients have had prior injuries or medical conditions that healed well before an accident. Those unfortunate folks must again deal with injury and rehabilitation-oftentimes, the new injury has so aggravated a pre-existing condition that the result may be prolonged difficulties or worse. The point to remember is to simply be honest and never overreach.