Injury Law Blog : Florida Injury Lawyer & Attorney : LaBovick & LaBovick Law Firm: Serving West Palm, Boynton, North Palm, West Palm Beach, Jupiter

The City of West Palm Beach is embracing the new trend of traffic light cameras to help issue fines.  The Palm Beach Post reports that new data on the first 70 days of the project shows that accidents increased and rear-end collisions doubled compared to the same period of 2009. 

It is important to note that West Palm Beach implemented installed the traffic light cameras in the name of safety. However, the snowball effect of this safety measure helped the City of West Palm Beach capture a third of a million dollars from 2,675 camera fine tickets in the month of March.

Motorist group AAA pointed out that Goldman Sachs partly owns the private camera contractor American Traffic Solutions based out of Arizona.   Kevin Bakewell, a vice president with AAA stated, "It's more about the money than it is traffic safety". AAA and other opponents were unsuccessful in urging Gov. Charlie Crist to veto the state law on traffic light cameras in Florida. 
 
Traffic division director Dan Weisberg stated that Palm Beach County plans to put cameras at 10 intersections because research in other states such as Virginia tends to show at least a moderate reduction in side-angle crashes with cameras, even if rear-end crashes sometimes go up.
 
In 2007 a Virginia study found red-light running crashes decreased 42 percent , while rear-end collisions increased 27 percent after red-light cameras were installed. These statistics are unsettling for something that is supposed to help promote safety.  The data on the cameras in Palm Beach County are new.  Time will tell how the traffic safety stats in Palm Beach County will shape up, by year end.

West Palm Beach Drivers beware: The days of getting away with running a red light without being caught are over. However, your chances of getting into a rear collision car accident in West Palm Beach have increased. Drive with caution in West Palm Beach the cameras are watching.

Click on the following link to read more on Rear-end collisions jump at red-light camera intersections in West Palm Beach.

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Florida Motorists, mark your calendars, on June 30, 2009, the Dori Slosberg and Katie Marchetti Safety Belt Law will go into effect in the State of Florida.Thanks to the valiant efforts of concerned citizens and organizations such as the Dori Slosberg Foundation and the Katie Marchetti Foundation, this law will finally become a reality. This law is named in memory of two Florida teens that were killed in separate traffic accidents and died as a result of not wearing their seatbelts. This new seatbelt law will have far-reaching implications for those motorists that continue to violate the law by failing to wear their seatbelts either as the driver of or as passengers in a vehicle. While many might argue that every individual should have the right to choose whether or not to buckle up on Florida’s roadways, the state feels that it is in the best interest of public safety to enforce safety rules and regulations regarding seatbelts. Hence, Florida motorists will want to be aware of the new seatbelt law and how it will affect them.

While the percentage of motorists wearing seatbelts has increased over the last several years, Florida’s percentage of those that adhere to seatbelt laws is still below the national average. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that the national percentage of seatbelt use in 2008 was 83 percent. In Florida, the percentage of seatbelt use in 2008 was just under 82 percent. Even though Florida’s seatbelt use percentage is close to the national average, 1 in 5 drivers still do not wear their seatbelts according to the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT). Furthermore, the Florida DOT states that 3 out of 5 motor vehicle fatalities are the result of a failure to buckle up.

Florida joins 28 other states plus the District of Columbia with the passage of th new primary seatbelt law that will allow Florida law enforcement officers to pull over and ticket motorists for simply not wearing their seatbelts. No other type of violation will be necessary under the new seatbelt law for Florida law enforcement officers to make a traffic stop. When the driver or any passengers in the vehicle are not wearing their seatbelts, a Florida law enforcement officer will have a legal right to pull over the car and ticket those not wearing their seatbelts. The state fine for a seatbelt violation will be $30, and each county may impose additional fines and court fees as well.

According to Florida Governor Charlie Crist, "The most important function of government is to protect." With that said, Governor Crist signed into law the Dori Slosberg and Katie Marchetti Safety Belt Law. The Florida Highway Patrol predicts that at least 124 individuals will be saved each year as a result of the state’s new seatbelt law. It is important for drivers and their passengers to be aware of these changes to the state’s seatbelt laws, and drivers should ensure that they and their passengers are buckled up before hitting the Florida roadways beginning June 30.

Check out  the Governor's Highway Safety Association website to learn more about the various state seatbelt safety laws.
 

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We all know that accidents can happen when a driver is experiencing distractions. It is a no-brainer that texting or talking on a hand held cell phone while driving can be dangerous. In fact, there are a few states have made it illegal to use hand held cell phones while driving, those states include California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah, and Washington) and the District of Columbia. According to the Institute for HIghway Safety, there are states that have left it up to local government to ban cell phone use, those states include Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) specifically.  On the otherhand, there are 8 states prevent localities from  from banning cellphone, our very own State of Florida, is among the group of states, including Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah.

We came across some useful studies and statistics that we felt our Injury Law Blog Readers would find useful. We encourage you to share and pass this along.  If we help save the life of one individual, by sharing these statistics, we will be grateful. Our Florida Law Firm partners with the Dori Slosberg Foundation and proudly supports their efforts in promoting driving safety among teens. Managing Partner, Brian LaBovick, joins Frmr. State Representative Irv Slosberg by speaking at High School Assemblies to High School students about  the importance of highway safety for teen drivers.

Important Safety Stats on driving safety and cell phone use:

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) shared that in 2007, teens accounted for 12 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths. (Note: there were 4,956 teen deaths involving motor vehicles).

AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a report on Cell Phone driving and research update and provided the following:

• Over half of U.S. drivers report having used a cell phone while driving.
• Onee in seven drivers admits to text messaging while driving.
• Young drivers were overwhelmingly more likely to text message, and somewhat more likely to talk on cell phones while driving than older drivers.
• Higher levels of education were also found to be associated with higher levels of cell phone use and text messaging while driving, especially among males.
• Dialing a hand-held device was associated with nearly triple the odds of being involved in a crash or near-crash, and talking or listening to a hand-held device was associated with about a 30% increase in the odds of being involved in a crash or near-crash.

We encourage you to be safe and to exercise caution while driving and using a cell phone. To read more from the American Automobile Association cell phone driving report click on the following link.

injurylaw.labovick.com/uploads/file/AAA_cell phones_and_driving_report(1).pdf

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