South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Accidents in parking lots in Boca Raton are most likely to happen during the month of December. During this time, residents throughout the state are out combing our malls and shopping centers for the perfect Christmas gifts for friends and family members. This is when parking lots are crowded and lurking with dangers, but with the proper safety strategies shoppers can help to reduce the risks of an accident during this busy time of the year.

Boca Raton injury attorneys understand that the holidays are supposed to be a pleasant time of the year. But they can quickly turn disastrous if we're not careful. There are risks of car accidents, pedestrian accidents, robberies and muggings in parking lots during this time.

Hollander Law Firm offers you these parking lot safety tips to help prevent becoming a victim of a crime:

-Always remain aware of your surroundings. Never allow yourself to get distracted by children, shopping bags, cell phones, etc.

-You should never walk alone at night. You should always walk with a friend, a coworker, a security guard or a police officer.

-Always have your keys in your hand and ready to get into the car. Drivers are urged to keep a whistle on car keys to use if something happens.

-You should always walk with a purpose. Recent studies have concluded that those who walk quickly and purposefully are less likely to become the victim of a predator. This type of walking sends a signal that you're not an easy target.

-Keep one of your hands free at all times. This will allow you to fight off a would-be attacker.

-Always remember where you parked so you're not spending too much time walking through a parking lot.

-You should always walk in the middle of ramps and aisles instead of using the stairs of a parking garage or an elevator. Stairs and elevators are an easy place for these individuals to prey on their victims.

-You should always walk in areas that are well lit. Back into a parking space when you can so you can exit more easily.

-You should steer clear of parking spots next to vans and other large vehicles. Attackers can easily hide near these vehicles and get to your quicker.

-Only unlock the driver's door when getting in. Always lock the door behind you.

-Before you get into your car, look around the inside to make sure it hasn't been broken into and that no one is in there.

-Limit the time you spend idling in your car. Once you're in, start moving.

-Make sure you know where emergency telephones, security guards and parking lot attendants are located.

-Never keep any form of identification on your car keys. If you lose them or they get stolen, a thief may be able to find you, your house or your car.

-Be sure to always report suspicious activity. If you feel like someone's following you, you should run to a lighted area or towards people who can help to find assistance.

Motorists and pedestrians are urged to be cautious around one another when traveling in our busy parking lots through the holidays, too. Let's make this a safe holiday season and escape with no injuries. Happy Holidays and safe shopping.

Continue reading "Parking Lot Accidents in Boca Raton Common through Holiday Season" »

School can be a dangerous. Every day, there are students and teachers injured from accidents at school in Palm Beach.

A new campaign from Palm Beach County school officials, called "Safety Matters," is trying to reduce the risks of these accidents. Through the campaign, school officials are urging educators to perform regular fire drills and playground inspections -- it also seeks to report all accidents, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Schools report that they don't provide compensation for claims that can't prove that the school's negligent behavior caused the accident. Parents across the county are concerned for their child's safety and want to be ensured that their student is learning in a safe environment.

"Parents have said, 'If it leaves a mark, I probably need to know about it,'" said Linda King, the risk and safety manager for the school district.

Our Palm Beach child injury lawyers understand that parents expect school teachers and administrators to provide a safe learning environment for their children. Educators should be trained in not only how to prevent school-related injuries, but also how to effectively handle them should one occur. The new campaign was launched after local schools reported an increase in the number of campus injuries from the previous school year.

The most school accidents ever were reported in 2010. These accident reports are now kept on an online system, whereas before they were kept on paper and filed away unless they were needed to file legal claims.

An accident can happen anywhere. There are ways teachers can help keep students and themselves injury free. Floors should be free of debris and trip hazards, sharp objects should be removed from the classrooms and all children should be supervised at all times.

Recently, the Sun Sentinel looked through the student accident reports and workers' compensation information from eight schools from 2010 and 2011.

Accident reports at local schools:

-J.C. Mitchell Elementary School: Nearly 130 accidents.

-Boca Raton Middle School: 70 accidents.

-West Boca Raton High School: 60 accidents.

-Eagles Landing Middle School west of Boca Raton: More than 20 workers' compensation claims.

In the 2010 and 2011 school year, the school district spent nearly $15 million on workers' compensation claims. Student-related accidents resulted in 170 insurance claims during the same year. This is seven more than the previous school year. The school district has roughly 174,000 students.

Accidents involving students don't always result in a compensation payout, according to King. The school district will only provide compensation for the accident if it can be proven that it happened because of the school's negligence.

There were more than 40 schools built in the area since 2000 and another 50 modernized since then. Many of these buildings reported safety violations. However, reports indicate these violations have dropped by nearly 95 percent.

Continue reading "Officials Report Increase in School-Related Accidents in Palm Beach County" »

Nine people have died while parasailing in the United States since 2002. Most of these fatalities and tourist injuries in Palm Beach and elsewhere happen because of towline separation. This usually occurs because of high winds or general equipment failure, according to the Sun Sentinel.

A parasailing accident took the life of a tourist last week in Sarasota County. These accidents -- particularly injury accidents -- are not uncommon as parasailing is a popular Florida activity that takes place with virtually no government safety regulations. The Longboat Key accident happened when a tourist from South Carolina went parasailing and plunged to the water after the tow boat's propeller failed and the parachute lost buoyancy. Officials are still investigating the accident.

Naples injury attorneys understand that visitors come to Florida to relax and have some fun in the sun. What most tourists don't expect is to be involved in an accident on the beach, on our roadways and virtually any other place they visit throughout the duration of their vacation.

A number of these parasailing companies have nothing in place to ensure their safe operation. A number of bills that aimed to impose equipment and safety standards for parasails failed time and time again in this year's state legislative session.

It is estimated that there are roughly 100 commercial parasail operators in the state of Florida. Most of these business are located in tourist-oriented cities such as Panama City, Key West, Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach. A specific number of these companies is not available because no government agency tracks the industry.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifies parasails as "kites." The FAA does nothing more than make sure they're kept out of flight paths. The Coast Guard will only license a captain and inspect a boat if they're a certain size, but they do not inspect or set standards for parachutes, harnesses, training or procedures.

Parasailing.com offers these tips for those who would like to enjoy the windy ride:

-Ask questions about the company. Ask how long the company has been in business and how many incidents have been reported.

-Make sure that the parasailing company you do business with is licensed by both the state and city or county and exists in a well-established location.

-Ensure that the boat's captain is a U.S. Coast Guard Licensed Captain.

-Check the weather report before you make plans to hit the sky.

-Before your flight, make sure that the parasailing crew gives you a safety briefing that covers evacuation procedures, the usage of hand signals and a thorough description of the parasailing experience.

Continue reading "Summer a Risky Time for Florida Parasailing Accidents" »

April has been designated as National Safe Digging Month by The U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration according to an announcement by the National Safety Council.

Our Boca Raton personal injury lawyers want you to "Call Before You Dig" when tackling any of your outdoor spring projects.

A new federally-mandated national number, 8-1-1, was created to protect anyone be it professionals or do-it-yourselfers from accidentally hitting underground utility lines. A simple phone call is all it takes to avoid the potentially deadly mistake of damaging an underground utility line.

No matter what the size of the project is, workers should never dig into the ground without getting the utility lines marked first. Calling 8-1-1 can prevent you from making a costly mistake. Even if you aren't injured by disrupting an underground utility line, you could be slapped with fines and repair bills.

The 8-1-1 campaign was started by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA). It's purpose was to make sure the public was safe, protect the environment and avoid damage to underground utility infrastructure.

Created officially in 2000, CGA represents an arm of the United States Department of Transportation's Common Ground Study. This study determined that one agency should be in charge of monitoring and modifying best practices among the ever growing underground utility industry.

CGA continues to increase the public's knowledge regarding protecting America's substantial amount of underground cables, pipelines, wires and conduits.

Your 8-1-1 call goes into a call center; the operator will ask you some questions about your project. It is best to call a few days before you want to start your project. The call center operator contacts your local utility companies so they can send technicians out to mark the location of your underground utilities. It is literally as simple as that.

Ever wonder what all those color markings mean? Each utility has a universal color assigned to it as follows:

-White is use for the intended excavation site.

-Green means a drainage/sewer system.

-Orange is for any of communications (TV, telephone, cable).

-Blue is for potable water.

-Red means electric.

-Yellow is for gas lines.

-Purple means reclaimed water.

For local "Call Before You Dig" info visit:
Florida 811 site.

Continue reading "Avoid Construction Accidents in Palm Beach: Call Before you Dig" »

For any beachside community, the sight of sunburned happy tourists dangling from parasail rigs trolled behind motorboats is as ubiquitous as shoreline beach umbrellas and volleyball nets. Fortunately, most people who strap on the harness and take to the sky return safely to land with a camera full of images and fond memories of simulated flight.

But for some, a seemingly safe and brief trip to the clouds ends in serious personal injury or death. Such was the case this past weekend for one vacationing couple, the sptimes.com reports. As the pair was in air, a summer squall, long time in the brewing by all reports, ratcheted up sustained winds along the shoreline from a mild 6-7 mph to 22-35 mph gusts in a matter of minutes.

As the boat operator reeled the couple in, the winch spun out and the line tethering the pair to the boat snapped. One victim was able to free himself from his harness and fell to the water. His fiancée was not so fortunate and was dragged to the ground. Before coming to a rest after colliding with a 4-by-4 volleyball net post the 27-year-old Georgia woman was dragged across the sand, smashing into beach gear along the way. She remains in critical condition at Bay front Medical Center.

Experienced West Palm Beach personal injury attorneys and premises liability lawyers at the Hollander Law Firm know that surviving and rehabilitating from a serious or catastrophic injury can be a lengthy, painful, life-changing process. We recognize that business owners have a duty to provide a safe environment for their guests and employees and when unsafe conditions cause serious injury or death, victims can and should be compensated appropriately for their suffering and loss.

In most instances, whether renting a JetSki or a rowboat, a rental agency will require you to sign a waiver. This does not alleviate the company of their safety obligations. When a tourist or resident is injured on rented equipment, an experienced South Florida accident lawyer should always be contacted.

Continue reading "Tourism rental industry can be held responsible for serious and fatal accidents in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm" »

Retailers and lawmakers are making too big a deal out of a new law that went into effect July 1, which requires a South Florida injury lawyer to prove that a business knew or should have known about a dangerous condition that resulted in a slip and fall accident.

Lawyers and Settlements reports that Florida had been among the best places to try such cases, because an attorney for a fall victim needed only to prove that the accident happened -- not that a business knew or should have known of the dangerous condition. Samantha Hunter Padgett, an attorney for the Florida Retail Association, told the Naples Daily News that the new law puts both sides on an "equal footing."

"The burden was on the defendant to prove they had maintained the premises in a safe condition," Padgett said. "Cases will still move forward and go to court. They still have to prove the premises had a duty to them and failed."

In reality, customers trip or slip on business property because of an unsafe condition. In just about every instance, a business or property owner either knew, or should have known of the unsafe condition. Wet floors, loose handrails, poor lighting and uneven sidewalks or pavement are frequent causes of fall injuries. Customers are injured all the time because of careless business owners.

And fall injuries are a very real threat to the health and welfare of older adults. Each year, 15,800 older adults die as a result of fall injuries and nearly 2 million are treated in hospital emergency rooms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is just another attempt to curb the rights of citizens on behalf of big business -- Publix Supermarkets was reportedly among the large retailers that pushed for the change in law. Supporters of the new rule, including Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral, said slip and fall cases for retailers in the Sunshine State were double the national average.

Apparently, the fact that the Sunshine State is full of older adults was lost on him.

Continue reading "South Florida injury lawyers should represent victims of falls on business property" »

South Florida Injury Attorney Gregg Hollander and the staff at the Hollander Law Firm wish each of you a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July. We encourage you to celebrate responsibly while on the road and on the water and to leave the fireworks to the professionals.

As a Florida child injury lawyer, Attorney Hollander understands the risk fireworks pose, particularly to young children. Two-thirds of fireworks injuries occur around the Fourth of July each year - one-third involve children under the age of 15 and nearly half involve young people under the age of 20.

Adults are at risk as well. Fireworks injuries are no joke and they are a frequent danger among families and novice users. Each year, more than 9,000 victims are treated in emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The most common injuries occur to the hands, eyes, head, face and ears. The most common causes of fireworks injuries are the availability of high-grade professional fireworks sold to consumers, being too close to fireworks, operator error, child curiosity and experimentation with homemade devices.

Blindness, third-degree burns and permanent scarring frequently result. House and vehicle fires are also a real danger. The National Fire Protection Association reports there were more than 22.500 fires caused by fireworks in 2008, including 1,400 structure fires and 500 vehicle fires.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission reports there are 200 fireworks accidents a day during the month surrounding the Fourth of July.

A South Florida premise liability claim may be filed when a victim is injured in a private fireworks display at someone's home or during a professional fireworks show. A product liability case may be filed in cases where fireworks were inappropriately or illegally sold to a consumer or in instances where a defective fireworks causes a serious injury or death.

Channel 5 News has reported that 4,700 Super Lightning Rockets are being recalled by the federal government. They were sold in Florida and three other states and were apparently overloaded with explosives.

You can visit the CPSC website for more information on the Florida fireworks recall.

Continue reading "South Florida injury lawyers and staff wish you a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July" »