Miami Personal Injury Attorney Blog

Automated Cars May Soon Be Coming to Florida. Are We Ready?

March 7, 2019 | Wolfson & Leon

accident-miami-300x225 For years now various car companies have been developing the technology for automated cars. What was once a long-away dream, may soon be reality.

In an article, the South Florida Sun Sentinel explored just how drivers in Southern Florida would be affected by the new technologies. Driverless cars will affect everything from the width of the driving lanes to speed limits. Due to the driverless cars’ technology, driving lanes will become narrower, there will be fewer public parking lots, speed limits will increase, there will be flyover ramps at intersections, and there may even be more shortcuts through neighborhoods.

The reason for this is that all of the automated cars will be able to not just communicate with each other, but also with the traffic signals and roads. All of this technology will be used to prevent accidents with other vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, and anything else (like deer or fallen tree branches).

The Electric Scooter Revolution Comes to Florida

March 6, 2019 | Wolfson & Leon

hospital-300x200 If you have been in a large city recently, you may have noticed a lot of people riding around on electric scooters. The trend is sweeping across the United States, with large companies investing millions of dollars and dropping hundreds of dockless electric scooters in cities across the nation.

The electronic scooter companies are aiming to reshape how people get around cities by creating a new era of environmentally friendly micro transportation. Bird and Lime are two of the largest electronic scooter companies in the United States, each with valuations of $2 to $3 billion.

The appeal? Both companies offer fairly cheap and convenient services. It costs just $1 to rent an electronic scooter, plus 15 cents per minute. There is no docking station, which means that riders are allowed to just “drop” their electronic scooters as soon as they are done with them. Moreover, the companies require that each rider is at least 18 years-old, and technically requires the riders to use a helmet, although enforcement of the helmet rule is difficult to police.

When Can You Use Building Code Violations for Florida Slip and Fall Accidents?

March 1, 2019 | Wolfson & Leon

Miami-Rooftop Unfortunately, slip and falls accidents are very common in Florida, and they can result in serious injuries and expenses. Slip and fall accidents can lead to a host of injuries, from simple sprains and bruises to broken bones and back injuries. These injuries can lead to permanent disability and costly medical bills.

If you have a slip and fall accident in Florida, you may be forced to file your claim with the property owner, instead of the business owner. This happens most often when stores lease space from a property owner. The property owner is then generally responsible for the upkeep of the common areas, such as the parking lot.

When you file your claim with a property owner, you will need to prove that the accident you had stemmed from the property owner’s negligence. This can often be difficult to prove. Many times negligent property owners are able to get away completely free due to a lack of proper evidence. This is because it can often be hard to determine exactly what caused the fall.

Walking Can Be Bad for Your Health in Florida

February 28, 2019 | Wolfson & Leon

hitandrunax Going out for a walk may seem like a great idea. However, ironically, going out for a walk in Florida may actually lead to a serious injury or death.

Smart Growth America, a non-profit organization founded in 2000, found in a recent study that over the past decade, over 49,000 people in the United States were stuck and killed by drivers while walking on streets. Put another way, that is the equivalent of approximately 13 people per day.

The number of pedestrian fatalities has increased almost every year since 1990. In the past decade alone, there was a dramatic 35.7 percent increase in the number of pedestrian fatalities, with 2016 and 2017 being the deadliest since 1990.

What’s the Difference Between Comprehensive and Collision Insurance in Florida?

January 28, 2019 | Wolfson & Leon

Ramp When people think of auto insurance, they probably think of the comprehensive and collision insurance. But, most do not actually full understand the terms. So, what is the difference?

Comprehensive and collision insurance are two of the most common types of auto insurance that are offered to repair damaged vehicles. The two insurances, however, act very differently as they cover different types of damage.

Comprehensive car insurance is meant for damages which are caused by non-collision-related damages. So, anything that deals with inclement weather or theft or vandalism. Collision insurance, on the other hand, is meant for damages just caused by collisions. In both types of insurance, the coverage may include individual repairs or a full replacement of your vehicle.

Top 5 Factors that Raise Your Florida Car Insurance Rates

January 28, 2019 | Wolfson & Leon

Flat-Iron-Miami Shopping for car insurance is certainly not something that people look forward to. But, it is important for people to know exactly what goes into the calculation of insurance rates.

To many, insurance policies can be a confusing jumble of technical words and differing prices that do not make any sense. There is, however, an actual logic to the process. Companies use complex algorithms based on personal factors to determine how likely it is that you will have an accident. The idea behind all of the factors is that the higher risk, the higher the rates.

Most people know that your insurance rate is highly affected by the amount of coverage a person chooses and the amount of deductibles a person chooses. In general, a person can reduce their rates by choosing lower amounts of coverage or by raising their deductibles.

Florida’s Fight Against Uninsured Motorists

January 28, 2019 | Wolfson & Leon

Miami-Rooftop Florida may soon make some dramatic changes to the realm of auto insurance.

Auto insurance is not exactly an exciting topic of conversation, but several states around the U.S. have recognized that a significant portion of drivers are uninsured, putting drivers who are insured at high risk. A few states’ legislators have started considering investing considerable money in programs to help local governments combat this increasingly serious issue.

Just how bad is the problem? According to a 2018 study by the Insurance Research Council, an industry-funded not-for-profit research organization, which was co-sponsored by The Hanover Insurance Group, almost thirteen percent of all U.S. motorists were uninsured in 2015. Put another way, almost one in eight drivers are uninsured. The 2015 rate was an increase from the 2010 rate which was just above twelve percent.

Diverging Diamond Interchange Accidents in Miami

August 15, 2018 | Wolfson & Leon

In August 2018, Miami drivers were introduced to Diverging Diamond Interchanges. It began on NW 27^th Avenue and State Road 836 (Dolphin Expressway). The second area for implementation is NW 57^th Avenue and the Dolphin Expressway (SR 836) which will come in the next few months. At the present time, DDI’s are also planned for five locations in Broward County. All of the Broward Diverging Diamond Interchanges will be installed at the intersections of the Sawgrass Expressway and:

Sunrise Boulevard
Oakland Park Boulevard

More Car Accidents and Fewer Tickets in Florida – Who Would Have Guessed?

August 1, 2018 | Wolfson & Leon

In South Florida, the number of crashes in Florida increased by more than 33,000 from 2012 to 2017. Yet in that same period in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties law enforcement officials issued 500,000 fewer tickets. If you received a ticket recently, then this means little to you. If you were in a crash, then it makes you wonder. If the person who hit me had received a ticket before, would they have been more careful? Maybe that driver who injured you shouldn’t have been on the road at all? Eventually you will want to know why have the number of citations issued gone down while traffic accidents have increased in South Florida? South Florida personal injury attorneys know that the answers from authorities are vague but hardly conclusive.

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Statistics

A statistical study from 2012 to 2017 reveals:

How Could Instacart Not Be Insured?

July 23, 2018 | Wolfson & Leon

You might be surprised by this but Instacart doesn’t provide commercial automobile insurance coverage for its drivers. As a result, most Instacart drivers will not be insured. The Instacart driver may have their own car insurance, but unless they disclosed to the insurer that they were using that vehicle for commercial purposes then the personal car insurer is likely to deny coverage.

The only remaining option is for the Instacart driver to purchase and pay for their own commercial policy of insurance – and that is extremely unlikely as it is not required by law and the cost of a commercial policy is prohibitive. After all, we are talking about hard-working people trying to hustle and make a few bucks by shopping and delivering food for people.

Instacart in Florida