NOYES LEGAL NEWS

What is "National Seat Check Saturday"?

To close out National Child Passenger Safety Week, this Saturday is known as "National Seat Check Saturday." Too many children are injured and even killed in car accidents because they are in an improper child seat. Organizations around the country have agreed to have certified technicians inspect your child car seat, in most cases, free of charge - and show you how to correctly install and use it. To find a location in your area, simply click here and enter your zip code.

Florida law requires that every operator of a motor vehicle, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if the child is 5 years of age or younger, provide for protection of the child by properly using a crash-tested, federally approved child restraint device. For children aged through 3 years, such restraint device must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer’s integrated child seat. For children aged 4 through 5 years, a separate carrier, an integrated child seat, or a seat belt may be used.

The following research indicates the importance of the proper care seat or booster seat:

• During 2009, 5366 passenger vehicle occupants age 4 and younger were involved in fatal crashes. For those children where restraint use was known, 23% were unrestrained; among those who were fatally injured, 46% were unrestrained.
• Research on the effectiveness of child safety seats has found them to reduce fatal injury by 71% for infants younger than 1 year of age and by 54% for toddlers ages 1-4. Children ages 2-6 years old in child safety seats (including child restraints and belt positioning booster seats) are approximately 28% less likely to receive a fatal injury than those using safety belts alone.
• When children ride in a rear vehicle seat they reduce their injury risk by 64% for newborns to 8 year olds and 31% for 9-12 year olds. It appears to be a norm now that young children ride in vehicle back seats as observation studies from 2008 found that 99% of infants and 92% of children 1-3 and 89% of children 4-7 ride in back seats.

So, take steps to protect your child in the event of a car accident. Believe me, it tears me and my staff up when we represent parents of kids who are injured or killed in car accidents.

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Personal Injury Attorney Matthew Noyes has been representing those injured in car accidents, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents and other personal matter matters for nearly 20 years. His Clearwater personal injury law firm - Perenich Caulfield Avril & Noyes - has been helping Tampa Bay residents since 1955. Click here for a free case consultation or call 727-796-8282.

One Out of Four Florida Drivers Don't Have This -- What is It?

If you or your family member are injured in a car accident in Florida, the chances are nearly 1 in 4 that the at-fault driver doesn't have the insurance to cover your injuries, according to a new national study.

It is important to remember that Florida law does not require a driver to purchase bodily injury liability insurance. Thus, many drivers elect not to purchase this coverage. This is why purchasing uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is so important. If you or a loved one are injured in a car accident because of the negligence of an uninsured motorist, you will be able to seek compensation under your uninsured motorist benefits. Without it, you could be left responsible for some of your medical expenses and most of your lost wages.

The Insurance Research Council ranks Florida in the top five of uninsured motorists states with an estimated 24 percent of Florida's drivers are uninsured, based on its national study of uninsured motorist insurance clams in relation to bodily injury claims.

"Despite laws in many states requiring drivers to maintain insurance, about 1 in 7 motorists remains uninsured," Insurance Research Council Senior Vice President Elizabeth Sprinkel said in a statement accompanying the study. "This forces responsible drivers who carry insurance to bear the burden of paying for injuries caused by drivers who carry no insurance at all." Sprinkel said it is "an unfortunate consequence of the economic downturn and illustrates how virtually everyone is affected by recent economic developments."

Click here to read an article in Florida Today on how a car accident caused by an uninsured motorist changed the life of a young woman. To prevent this from happening to you, check your automobile insurance policy today to make sure that you are carrying uninsured motorist coverage before you are involved in a car accident.

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Personal Injury Attorney Matthew Noyes has been representing those injured in car accidents, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents and other types of crashes for nearly 20 years. His Clearwater personal injury law firm -- Perenich Caulfield Avril & Noyes -- has been caring for clients since 1955. Click here to schedule a free case consultation with Attorney Matthew Noyes to better understand your rights after a car accident.

 

 

Where Have Tampa Bay Workers Died in Recent Work Comp Accidents?

Workplace fatalities happen. In the past 5 years, there have been 86 fatal accidents that occurred in the Tampa Bay area or involved a Tampa Bay-area employer. Unfortunately, Florida workers' compensation law is inadequate to compensate the surviving family when a death occurs on the job.

If death results from a work comp accident within one year thereafter or follows continuous disability and resulted from the work-related accident within five years thereafter, the workers' compensation carrier is required to pay death benefits. These workers compensation benefits include actual funeral expenses not to exceed $7,500.00. Further, the employer/insurance carrier shall pay the deceased employee’s dependents up to two-third of the deceased employee’s average weekly wage depending on the type of dependent (spouse, child, parent, etc.). In addition, the carrier would be responsible for payment of school of the surviving spouse. However, the maximum the workers' compensation carrier is required to pay to the family for the death of an employee is $150,000.00.

So, where have these work-related death occurred? ABC Action News has formulated a database of these fatal accidents using the information from OSHA. Click here to search the name of the employer or information on all the fatal work comp deaths in a given city.

Be safe on the job, but be educated about the law after a workers' compensation injury. For free information about your rights and benefits after a Florida workers' compensation accident, click here and email Attorney Matthew Noyes to request his workers' compensation packet.
 

Where Does Your City Rank in Best/Worst Drivers?

Is your cities one of the most automobile accident cities or one where the least car accidents occur. This week, Allstate Insurance Company released its seventh annual "Allstate America's Best Drivers Report™." The report ranks America's 200 largest cities in terms of car collision frequency to identify which cities have the safest drivers, according to Allstate claim data.

This year's top honor of "America's Safest Driving City" is Fort Collins, Colorado. This is the second year in the row for Fort Collins to be at the top spot. According to the report, the average driver in Fort Collins will experience an auto collision every 14 years, which is 28.6 percent less likely than the national average of 10 years.

Car accidents in general have declined over the last few years, but fatalities from car accidents still average more than 32,000 every year despite technological advances, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

So, what cities have the best drivers? The top ten include:

• Fort Collins
• Boise, Idaho
• Lincoln, Neb.
• Chandler, Ariz.
• Huntsville, Ala.
• Knoxville, Tenn.
• Springfield, Mo.
• Reno, Nev.
• Eugene, Ore.
• Chattanooga, Tenn.

The safest "big cities" (population of at least 1 million) are as follows:

• Phoenix
• San Diego
• San Antonio
• Houston
• Chicago

What about the worst drivers or cities with the highest chances of being involved in a crash? The worst cities for car accidents include:

• Washington D.C. (the worst at 193rd worst city)
• Baltimore, MD (ranked 192)
• Providence, RI (ranked 189)
• Philadelphia, PA (ranked 188)
• Hartford, CT (ranked 187)
• San Francisco, CA (ranked 185)

Of interest to me is that Tampa was ranked 176, St. Petersburg was ranked 74, and my hometown of Naperville, IL was ranked 125. Click here to check out the cities that interest you.

Drive safely and watch out for those who don't. If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, click here to schedule a free case consultation with me, Personal Injury Attorney Matthew Noyes. My Clearwater personal injury law firm -- Perenich Caulfield Avril & Noyes -- has been caring for clients since 1955. Benefit from our experience!