Articles Posted in Personal Injury

If you live in Hollywood, Florida, you may already be planning for Halloween. You may be buying Halloween candy, decorating your home for Halloween, and planning Halloween costumes for you and your family. In addition to all these preparations, however, it’s important to plan for Halloween safety as well. Each year in South Florida and Hollywood, personal injuries happen during holiday weekends, including Halloween weekend. There are many ways that you can prepare to avoid these types of accidents from happening to you and your family:

1) Make sure that your pool is secured to avoid Hollywood pool injuries. When trick-or-treaters are out and about on Halloween, they may be attracted to a shimmering pool in the evening. Whether you’re having a party at your home or are simply handing out treats, you want to make sure that your pool is covered with a durable pool cover, and that your pool is locked with a self-locking gate. However, keep in mind that even small amounts of water can be a hazard. If you are playing traditional games, such as bobbing for apples, keep the game area supervised and pour out the water as soon as the game is done.

2) Make sure that your home will be well lit for Halloween. While a dark property may set the mood for Halloween, it can also lead to Hollywood trip and fall accidents and slip and fall accidents. Make sure that walkways are clear and well lit for trick-or-treaters as well as your guests. You may want to plan on having additional lighting for Halloween night.

3) Plan only on handing out pre-wrapped, commercial candies. Most children and parents will not accept homemade goods or goods that have not been securely wrapped.

4) Have a Halloween safety plan for your children. If your children are young and heading out trick-or-treating, set up some ground rules. For example, insist that your children are accompanied by an adult or an older sibling. Make sure that they wear costumes which allow them to see well and which pose no tripping hazard. Ensure that your children are highly visible with flashlights and reflective costumes.

5) Take a second look at your Halloween decorations. Avoid using candles – including inside pumpkins – and make sure that any decorative lights you have are in good condition and pose no fire hazards. Ensure that no Halloween decorations drag or hang in a way that they pose a trip and fall hazard.

The legal team at the Flaxman Law Group wish you and your family a safe and happy Halloween. It’s important to plan ahead to ensure that your Halloween is spooky, and not filled with real tragedy. A little bit of prevention can help ensure that your home and your Halloween are safe.

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If you have been in a Miami car accident, workplace accident, or have otherwise sustained a serious injury in some other fashion in the city, negotiating the legal and medical help you need can be difficult. Many Miami accident victims are frightened and confused after their accident, unfamiliar with the legal and medical procedures often required after a serious injury or accident. Many victims are also initially reluctant to contact a Florida personal injury attorney, assuming that an attorney is only necessary in cases where a victim wishes to go to court. However, calling a Miami personal injury attorney can be one of the smartest things you do after your accident. That’s because a qualified Miami personal injury attorney can do several things, including:

1) Offer immediate help and advice after your accident. After a serious Miami motorcycle accident or other type of injury or accident, you will need many types of help. For example, you may need to determine how to replace lost income if you are unable to work. You may need help finding a car repair shop, car rental, or medical help. This can be especially confusing if you are only visiting Miami and no familiar with the area. Qualified attorneys, including the legal team at the Flaxman Law Group, can offer immediate over the phone advice that can help you get the help you need.

2) Offer legal advice. It can be very confusing to determine what your options and legal rights are after an injury or accident. Laws are often written in confusing jargon, and may span entire volumes. As well, laws are costly changing, thanks to precedents set in court cases. A qualified Miami attorney can help you determine what your rights and options are, which can help you make the right decision in your case.

3) Help you determine the true cost of your accident. If your insurance carrier offers you a sum of money as compensation for your accident or injury, how can you determine what is a fair estimate of your costs? It is all too easy to underestimate the many costs following a Miami accident or injury. You may require long-term care, home care, rehabilitation, medicine, car repairs, and many other expenses. A qualified Miami attorney can help you determine the true cost of your accident, including long-term costs, so that you know what you need to try to recover.

4) Help investigate the cause of the accident. If you have been in a serious Miami truck accident or other type of accident, you may have plenty of questions about how the accident occurred. A qualified Miami attorney works with networks of private investigators and other professionals who can determine the cause of an accident. This can help protect you if you are held liable for an accident and can help you get the answers you need.

5) Help find all liable parties. If you have been in a Miami traffic accident or other type of accident, it is important to find all liable parties in the accident. Doing so can ensure that you get a fair settlement and are able to recover a fair amount — one that covers most of your medical expenses, lost income, and other costs.

6) Review insurance and other legal documents with you. If you get documentation from your insurance company or from other sources, the legal language in these documents can often be difficult to understand. You shouldn’t sign anything before speaking to an attorney. A qualified Miami attorney can go over settlement offers, insurance claim offers, and other legal documents with you to ensure that you do not sign away your rights.

7) Negotiate with insurers on your behalf. If, as often happens, your insurance company is offering you less than the full cost of your medical care, lost income, and other expenses after your accident, your Miami attorney can negotiate with your insurance carrier to ensure that you get a fair claim amount and that you have to pay fewer expenses yourself.

8) Represent you if you decide to pursue your case in court. If you and your attorney decide that pursuing your case in court is the best option for getting a fair claim settlement, your attorney can represent you in court and can fight aggressively for a fair settlement on your behalf.

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Back to school shopping traditionally means savings on clothing and school supplies. However, stores often discount a wide range of products at this time of year, making this the ideal time to stock up on items that can help you and your family stay safe:

1) Bicycle Helmets. Whether your children will be bicycling to school (or friends’ houses) or whether you want to take rides to see the autumn leaves, you need a good bicycle helmet. While you don’t want to entertain the idea of a serious Florida bicycle accident affecting your family, the truth is that these accidents happen every day. Wearing a helmet is one of the best ways to avoid a brain injury or fatal injury if you are in an accident. Many stores are putting bicycles and bicycle helmets on sale at this time of year to make room for winter sport stock. This is also a great time to stock up on reflective clothing or lights for your bicycle, for night rides.

2) Pool accessories. Again, since stores are getting fall and winter stock, they want to get rid of summer accessories, and that often means pool-related items. This is a great time to buy pool covers, self-locking gates, and even alarms for your pool area. These items will likely be on sale and can help keep your pool safer all year long, helping you to prevent a Florida premises liability lawsuit.

3) Computer programs and software. You may not think of computers as having anything to do with your safety, but they do. Many office supply stores have computers and computer accessories on sale at this time of year, and this is a perfect time of year to buy a full suite of anti-virus and anti-malware programs for your home computers. This type of software can protect you from identity theft. You may also find computer-based home security and home monitoring systems on sale. These can also help keep your home safer and can protect you against Florida premises liability claims.

4) Sports equipment. If your children take part in school sports and activities during the school year, this is the time to stock up on mouth guards, sports equipment, and the right helmets for your children’s sports. Pay special attention to helmets – they can help prevent concussions and brain injuries.

5) Fire safety equipment. Having working smoke alarms in your home can help you reduce your risk of sustaining a serious Florida burn injury. At this time of year, batteries are often on sale to fuel all those back-to-school electronics and gadgets. Take advantage of that by stocking up on batteries and checking the batteries in your smoke detectors at home. In addition, larger stores sometimes have “dorm safety” kits on sale at this time of year for students going away to college. These kits sometimes contain fire extinguishers and first aid kits. This can be a good investment for your home.

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If you have a teen headed to college for the first time, there is probably a lot of excitement in the air. Moving away from home for the first time and starting college life is a major milestone. It brings many new opportunities and much excitement, but it also brings some challenges and risks. Your teen may not be worried about safety at school, but it is something you will want to keep in mind. While college campuses are generally safe in the US, each year crimes and accidents do occur on college property and instances of violence on campus keep parents anxious. You can keep your new student safer if you:

1) Find out about personal safety precautions on campus. Colleges are held liable if they do not take precautions to help keep students safe, but many students are unaware of the safety features of their campus. Many Florida premises liability lawsuits occur when campuses do not take due precautions. Find out about the safety features of your child’s school and make sure your teen knows where to find help on campus. If there is a walk-home safe program for late night study sessions, make sure your teen knows. If there are emergency buttons on campus or a security station, let your teen know. Find out if the school has an emergency preparedness plan in the event of an instance of violence. If there are known dangers or issues at the school, join other concerned parents and students in alerting the school.

2) Help your teen select safe appliances and accessories for the dorm room. When your teen is choosing items for the dorm, consider safety as well as functionality. Make sure to check about dorm rules before buying items such as candles, microwave ovens, and toasters; some dorms do not allow these types of appliances.

3) If your college student is heading to school with their own car, give them a going-away gift: have the car serviced. A well-maintained car is more likely to respond correctly and could help save your teen’s life. If your teen is going away to college in a state with harsh winters, give your teen free winter driving lessons and winter tires. If your teen has always driven in Florida, he or she may know how to avoid Florida car accidents but may struggle with winter driving.

4) Create an emergency kit for your teen. Include a first aid kit, a cell phone, a list of emergency numbers, and useful safety tips. You may also want to include a basic tool kit and sewing kit for less-serious “emergencies.”

5) Talk to your teen about safety at home. If your teen has never lived away from home, review the basics of fire safety and personal safety when living away from home. Review things such as locking the door and using caution on campus. Many teens know the basics, but reviewing safety rules is important for building good, safe habits.

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Florida has excellent diving conditions. In addition to excellent weather and warm waters, the coast off of Florida has some amazing features, including shipwrecks and reefs which are very popular with divers. Each year, many visitors and tourists arrive in Florida just for the purpose of diving. While most divers in Florida leave with great memories and smiles, each year some divers are injured and even killed in diving accidents. In 2011, nine divers have been killed in the Florida Keys alone.

1) Instruction. Divers must be certified in order to take part in most diving activities. More complex dives – such as dives into shipwrecks – require additional certification and training. Just as new drivers in Florida are more at risk of Florida car accidents, new divers are more at risk of personal injury and accidents. In one of the most recent Florida diving accidents, one of the two divers who passed away after a diving accident had limited experience.

2) Operators. Divers require boats and assistance at dive sites and there are a number of operators in Florida, offering diving adventure packages. Quality operators take additional precautions to ensure that divers ensure safe dives.

3) Human error. In some cases, human error contributes to diving accidents and fatalities. In a recent diving accident off Florida’s Plantation Key, divers may have made some errors when trying to share a regulator mouthpiece. In that diving accidents, two divers lost their lives.

4) Equipment Failure. Divers require a range of equipment for diving, including an “octopus” regulator mouthpiece to assist breathing, tanks of gas and oxygen, and weights and buoyancy compensators to control the dive. When equipment failure takes place – due to faulty equipment or for other reasons – fatalities can occur. For example, during the Plantation Key accident, a diver’s air line was leaking and the diver was unable to use her buoyancy compensator to bring two divers up to the surface. In cases where equipment is faulty, divers and their families may have a Florida products liability case.

5) Physical condition. Many individuals do not realize that diving is actually riskier than driving a car. Diving can put additional pressure on the heart and lungs as well as on other organs, especially during deeper dives. Divers need to be in good physical condition and in physically fit shape in order to dive. Underlying medical problems can cause complications on a dive and can lead to accidents or injuries.

If you would like to take advantage of Florida’s amazing dive sites, the Flaxman Law Group hopes that you will have a wonderful and injury-free experience. However, to help prevent diving accidents, the legal team would also like to remind readers to:

1) Check equipment or have an instructor check equipment before each dive.
2) Get the training and certification you need for your dive and work your way up slowly to more challenging dives as you gain experience.
3) Dive with experienced divers.
4) Check the credentials and experience of diving instructors and diving operators before signing up.

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Summer is supposed to be about fun and excitement. Unfortunately, breaks from routine and some summertime activities can create a host of risks and hazards, including:

1) Amusement park accidents. Summer is peak time for Florida’s many amusement parks, but larger crowds can also mean more traffic and more accidents. In May 2011, a woman was found unconscious at a ride at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. In March 2010, an employee at Walt Disney World was injured after a guest struck him with a car. That same month, eight people were injured in a Florida bus accident near Epcot. The crash involved a Disney bus and Waldorf-Astoria bus near Epcot. In April 2010, a boy was killed after being struck by a bus at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. In March 2011, a Disney employee was injured after being struck by a guest driving a car.

2) Pool accidents and near drownings. Unfortunately, Florida pool accidents are very common in the summer, when many residents flock to pools to beat the heat. If you have a pool, make sure that it is well supervised and has a self-locking locked gate that keeps the pool safe when you are away. As well, there are devices that can be worn on your child’s wrist. When the devices are submerged in water, they emit an alarm.

3) Boating accidents. Authorities have been cracking down on Florida boating accidents – especially those caused by boating under the influence – but the state still leads the nation in the number of boating injuries and fatalities. To enjoy boating safely, take advantage of a boating course and be sure to always boat sober. Have enough life jackets for all your passengers.

4) Burn injuries. Summer can mean a higher risk of burn injuries, partly because of more fireworks and more grilling and barbecuing. Make sure that your smoke detector systems are working and have fresh batteries this summer. If you decide to grill or have a fire near your home this summer, have a fire extinguisher handy and ensure that flames are well away from the house and from any flammable areas (such as the deck).

5) Traffic accidents. More road trips during the summer and more traffic during tourist season can mean more Florida bus accidents, bicycle accidents, car accidents, and traffic accidents. This is a good time to pledge not to drive distracted or under the influence – and stick to that resolution. It’s also a good idea to have your car checked, since a car that responds well can help you avoid a collision.

6) Children left behind in cars. In the summer, a closed car can become dangerously hot in just minutes, yet every year some parents forget a child or pet in a car when running errands – sometimes with tragic consequences. This summer, two children in Southwest Florida were forgotten in a car in the space of one week alone; one child in Cape Coral passed away as a result of the injuries sustained. It is important to always check the back seat of the car when stepping out of the car. As well, there are devices available which sound an alarm when a parent walks six feet away from the car with a child still in the back seat of the vehicle.

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Florida leads the nation in boating accidents, but lately a great deal of emphasis has been placed on another type of Florida water-related injury: parasailing accident injury. This year, there has already been a parasailing fatality in Sarasota County and since 2002 there have been nine deaths as well as a number of injuries. Experts and Florida personal injury victims claim that lack of safety regulations are to blame for the accidents. Currently, there are no equipment and safety standards for parasailing operators, and attempts to impose such rules have not been able to pass the legislature.

No government agency even tracks the number of parasail operators in Florida, but it is estimated that in 2011, there were between 70 and 120 such enterprises in Florida alone. Many are in cities such as Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and other cities with strong tourism markets. Many tourists trying out parasailing spend considerable money on the adventure and many assume that the industry is regulated. In Florida, this is currently not the case.

The Federal Aviation Administration regulates many businesses, but the agency lists parasail as “kites.” As a result, they are only regulated to the extent that they are kept at a safe distance from flight paths. The Coast Guard inspects boats and licenses boat operators of all water craft above a certain size. However, the agency does not regulate the procedures, training, parachutes, harnesses, and other facets of a parasailing business. Therefore, the parasailing equipment, towlines, are harnesses are not regulated by any agency.

According to experts, many parasailing accidents occur because of equipment failure or due to towline separation. Since Florida does not currently have any regulations in place for equipment, it is challenging to ensure that all operators use safe equipment. Reputable operators work to ensure that they protect customer safety, but with no federal regulations, there are no formal requirements for safety.

Parasail operators and the parasail industry have been supporting the introduction of safety standards for parasailing. In fact, the Parasail Safety Council helped draft the Alejandra White Act – the bill which would have imposed safety standards, regulations, and insurance on parasail operators in Florida. That bill failed to pass legislature. The Parasail Safety Council has stated that until regulations and standards are in place, injuries will continue to take place. In an effort to stem more Florida brain injuries and serious life-threatening agencies, it is likely that a new bill will be introduced in the next session to regulate the industry.

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Over the holiday weekend, two people were injured in South Florida due to fireworks-related accidents. A man in Coral Springs sustained serious injuries to the face when hit by a firework. A man in Pembroke Pines was also injured when trying to light a firework. In Coral Springs, a garage fire that caused extensive damage over the weekend was started when someone was lighting fireworks and one of the fireworks traveled further than anticipated. In all three cases, the injuries involved fireworks displays at home.

Home fireworks cause Florida burn injuries and other serious injuries each year. They can cause damage the eyes and face, as they can misfire or fire more quickly than users suggest. Since children are especially attracted to fireworks, they are also a cause of injuries to children and teens.

Now that the Fourth of July weekend is over, however, there is still cause for parents to remain concerned and vigilant. Many retailers still sell fireworks after the holidays and in many homes, leftover fireworks are left over from the holiday. As well, some retailers offer discounts on unused stock, making them an attractive purchase for teens.

If you have fireworks in your home, now is the time to dispose of them or store them safely. Read the instructions and warnings on the label and be sure to follow all directions carefully. If you are saving fireworks for later in the summer, store them well out of reach of children, preferably in a locked room or cabinet that stays cool and dry. Make certain that children cannot easily access the keys to the area.

If you have older teens, consider having a talk with them about fireworks safety. Discuss the risks of burn injuries, eye injuries, and other common fireworks-related injuries. Set rules about fireworks. For example, make sure that your children know that unsupervised fireworks are out of bounds and discourage them from purchasing fireworks from retailers to use in private.

If you plan on having some fireworks display for an event this summer, consider leaving it to the experts. Professionals can put on very impressive displays while keeping you and your family safe. If you do decide to launch your own fireworks, do so with caution and by following all manufacturer’s directions.

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