Car Accident

On Friday, September 20th, an early North Tampa car accident held up morning commuters and resulted in a single fatality. Two cars collided head-on at Morris Bridge Road and Pictoral Park Drive.

According to information provided by detectives, the head-on collision took place early in the morning around 4:00am. A Honda Accord headed northbound on Morris Bridge Road when it drifted off the road, crossed the safe zone median, and entered oncoming southbound lanes. The Honda struck a southbound Ford Explorer head-on.

Hillsborough County Fire Heavy Rescue Unit crews worked to cut the driver out of the wreckage. The vehicle’s sole occupant, Rita Marie Sutliff of Zephyrhills, was pronounced dead on the scene by emergency responders.

The driver of the Ford Explorer, Kunjummen Arun Babu, was taken by paramedics to a nearby hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries. As Hillsborough County detectives worked to sort through the accident scene details, Pasco County deputies arrived to help control Friday morning traffic.

County detectives told reporters that both drivers had been wearing their seat belts and that each car was travelling at about 50 miles per hour. According to accident report details, authorities had ruled out any impairment from drugs or alcohol and determined they were not a contributing factor in the crash.

Authorities were unable to determine whether the deceased driver fell asleep at the wheel or experienced any health complications in the seconds leading up to the collision. The cause of the crash is pending further investigation.

References:

WFLA Tampa

Faulty accelerator pedals have recently forced Kia Motors to recall approximately 209,000 cars in the United States. The cars recalled are solely Soul compact cars, whose accelerator pedals have been reported to break or bend with increased pressure over time.

A correspondent closely linked with Hyundai Motors, the proprietor of Kia Motors, reported that the 209,000 cars recalled were from the 2014 and 2015 electric and gasoline lines of the Kia Soul. Due to the lack of support that the specific cars have received involving the malfunctioning accelerator pedals, Kia issued a recall. According to the U.S. national Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the pedals caused drivers problems with acceleration of the vehicle and maintaining speed. The problem undoubtedly increases the likelihood of a car accident.

“If the vehicle has a bent or broken accelerator pedal, the driver may have difficulty accelerating the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash,” said NHTSA in a summary of the recall.

Twelve different claims had been reported to Kia as of February 24th, but even sooner had Kia already sent some of the fractured pedals to South Korea for evaluation. Although no accidents due the malfunctioning pedal have yet been reported, the tests concluded that the pedals needed proper adjustments. Kia plans to add a supporting rubber beneath the accelerator pedal at no costs, which can be taken care of at local Kia dealerships.

The recall officially began on March 24th. So if you or anyone you know happens to own a Kia Soul manufactured within the last two years, please make a scheduled appointment with the Kia dealership. Any other information regarding the recall or Kia specific can be taken care of by contacting Kia’s customer service line at 1-800-333-4542.

Source: autoworldnews.com

To fully evaluate how much a personal injury case is worth, whether suffered through a car accident or some other injury, one must consider the significance of the damages due to the injury. These damages relate to the amount of money, whether monetarily, physically, or mentally, the victim loses or will lose because of the injury. In most injury cases, the victim, or plaintiff, receives compensation by those found legally responsible for the accident. Usually, a damage reward is agreed upon after negotiations between the insurance companies and attorneys, or is ordered by a judge after a court trial.

Because most personal injury lawsuits are classified as “compensatory”, which implies that the injured plaintiff will be compensated monetarily for the injury, most of the time is spent looking for a nominal amount to partially rectify the damage. Although some of the components are easily quantifiable, such as bills for property damage or medical treatment, others such as mental anguish or physical limitations are difficult to define in money.

There are different types of compensatory damages that are common in these cases. The first, medical treatment contains all the medical care costs associated with the injury, whether it is treatment you have already received or treatment you will receive. Another deals with the amount of income the victim will lose because of his or her inability to work due to the injury. Property lose also come into play during a personal injury case. Vehicles, clothing, or other items irreparably damaged during an accident will likely be compensated. Although there are a myriad of other potential damages, the last major factor deals with emotional suffering ranging from loss of enjoyment to emotion distress. The ability to calculate in dollars the fear, anxiety, and depression correlated with personal injuries can be understandably difficult. The degree of damage is taken into consideration, and luckily, the array of details is carefully factored into the equation when considering the extensive damage done to a victim’s life.

Lastly, there are extenuating circumstances such as punitive damage or the plaintiff’s actions that could further the case’s compensation. When the defendant’s conduct during the accident seems apparently egregious or offensive, the plaintiff may be awarded more money. This is done to act as a type of deterrent to the defendant, who should be punished so the same accident won’t happen again. The victim’s actions during the accident must also be taken into consideration. If instances such as comparative or contributory negligence have been awarded against the plaintiff, then the final compensation will undoubtedly reflect that award. Also, if the victim purposefully neglects any potential steps to mitigate the cost of damage then his final award will be reduced.

Source: nolo.com

On Monday, March 24th, a woman who claims to have been the victim of a road rage tailgating incident also says she witnessed “instant karma” when the driver of a pickup truck elected to pass her on the right on wet pavement and then lost control of his vehicle and crashed on a grassy median.

The incident took place when the woman behind the wheel, identified by local Tampa area news stations as Tracy Sloan, took out her smartphone and began filming video of a large, Heavy Duty Ford pickup truck tailgating closely behind her on US Highway 41 in Hillsborough County.

Sloan claims the pavement was slick and that she was just trying to drive carefully. The driver of the pickup truck, later identified by Florida Highway Patrol as Jeffrey White, age 33, appeared to stay on her tail. The video then shows White pulling up alongside Sloan in the right lane and making an obscene gesture. In the video, as White pulls ahead and appears to cut her off, he loses control of his truck and skids into the left turning lane and across a wide grassy median. The truck then crashed into a light pole.

Troopers said Sloan ultimately pulled to the side of the road and waited for help to arrive, but White fled the accident scene on foot. On March 26th, Florida Highway Patrol arrested him for leaving the scene of a traffic crash, careless driving, and failure to wear a seatbelt. The video, posted on YouTube and entitled “Redneck Karma,” has already had almost 1.2 million views.

Safe driving etiquette and many state laws require motorists to drive in the right lane on highways and interstates and use the left lane to pass.

Some viewer comments posted on news websites featuring the story allege that both drivers are guilty of unlawful, unsafe behavior. Other comments criticize Sloan for not moving over to the right lane and for using her cell phone to shoot video while her vehicle was still in motion. Respectively, many user comments also agreed that White’s reaction was grossly inappropriate and unsafe.

References:

Local 10 News Miami