Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog

Findings from a recently released study from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) concluded that governing the speed limits on our nation's roadways, especially of commercial trucks, may be the way to go.

Reducing speed limits may be the key to helping us to achieve safer roadways and fewer trucking accidents and elsewhere. Transportation officials with the FMCSA have determined that there are plenty of benefits of in-vehicle technology that can govern and limit the top speed of commercial trucks.

It's these same trucks that often produce fatal results in roadway accidents.

"This study confirms what ATA has been saying for years – speed kills and one of the most effective ways to prevent hundreds, if not thousands, of crashes on our highways is to slow all vehicles down," said Bill Graves, President and CEO American Trucking Associations.

Our Wilton Manors injury attorneys understand that the ATA petitioned both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the FMCSA nearly 10 years ago in an attempt to mandate the installation and the use of these speed regulation devices on all commercial vehicles that were made after 1992.

The recent FMCSA study backs up the ATA's claims as they continue to call on rules and regulations to require these devices on most, if not all, trucks on our roadways, according to Vehicle Service Pros.

Researchers with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the American Transportation Research Institute completed this most recent study.

Speed is one of the most common factors in fatal accidents across the country. Still, drivers of all kinds continue to push the pedal to the metal and risk their lives in doing so.

According to Graves, slowing down these large commercial trucks may be one of the most beneficial ways to help make our roadways safer for everyone. Both he and the ATA are proposing a measure to make a national speed limit of 65 miles per hour for all vehicles. He goes on to give a big thanks to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) for backing such a thorough study. And he is asking officials to use these findings to create new safety regulations for large trucks throughout the nation.

Speed can be found as a top factor in about a third of all fatal accidents, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Officials estimate that speed-related accidents result in an economic cost to U.S. society of more than $27 billion each year.

Speed significantly reduces the amount of time that a driver has to react to a roadway danger and a potential accident. The faster a vehicle is driving, the higher the risks are for an accident. Slow it down and keep it safe.

Continue reading "Reducing Risks of Trucking Accidents in Wilton Manors and Elsewhere with Slower Speeds" »

Just shy of 7 a.m. on Jan. 18, a Florida East Coast Railway train engineer reported spotting a body alongside the track just south of Canal Street in New Smyrna Beach, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. Cops believe the victim – a white male – was side-swiped by a southbound train late Monday night. Details determining the exact time and cause of death are still being investigated.

As our West Palm Beach injury lawyers noted in an earlier post to our South Florida Injury Lawyers blog, a full investigation into the cause of death or injury in a pedestrian-related Florida train accident is a critical step in protecting the rights of the injured.

In 2009, Operation Lifesaver reports, there were 1,916 reports of highway-railroad crossing collisions nationwide. More than 60 percent of them happened in just 15 states. Of those, Florida ranked 13th with 50 reported railway-related collisions.

Another 246 highway-railroad crossings were fatal. Again, nearly three-quarters of those deadly accidents happened in just 15 states. Florida ranked 7th with 10 deaths linked to railroad accidents. Florida also ranked 7th for pedestrian-railway crossing fatalities with 19 pedestrians killed by trains in 2009. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports that overall in 2009, Florida railroad crossings were the site of 199 traffic crashes; 29 fatal and nearly 2,000 with injuries.

Pedestrian-railway crossing accidents remain the leading cause of railway-related fatalities at an estimated 500 pedestrian deaths each year. A three-year investigation by the Federal Railroad Administration revealed that the average victim of a pedestrian-railroad crossing death is most often a white male in his late 30s.

Operation Lifesaver offers some tips to help pedestrians avoid becoming a railroad fatality statistic:

~ First and foremost, even if you can’t see or hear one, ALWAYS expect a train is heading your way. Trains are fast and can approach from any direction at any time.

~ The safest place for a pedestrian is well off the track and well outside the overhang zone that extends at least three feet beyond the tracks on both sides. Tracks may appear inactive, but most times they are not.

~ Never try and beat the train. Even if you don’t slip and fall, it is an optical illusion that a train seems further away and to be moving slower than it actually is. A 100-car train traveling 55 m.p.h. requires 18 football fields in length to come to a complete stop.

~ Only cross at designated locations when you know the rail is clear to cross. Never walk over rail bridges or through tunnels or climb on or between moving or non-moving rail cars. Of course, never try to hop onto a moving train or jump from train to train if astride along a railway.

Continue reading "South Florida train accidents a risk for pedestrians and motorists" »