Sobering news: NSC announces that automobile deaths in first half of 2016 increase 43% in state of Florida

In its semi-annual report released recently, the National Safety Council announced that distractions while driving combined with lower once again were the leading causes in another significant rise in fatal auto accidents throughout the United States in the first six months of 2016. In the report, the National Safety Council said that approximately 19,100 motor vehicle deaths occurred from January through June of this year – an increase of 9% from the same period in 2015. That also puts the U.S. on pace to have more than 40,000 automobile accident fatalities by the end of the year; the first time we have exceeded that number since 2007.

Even worse for us Floridians, that same report also stated that driving-related deaths in Florida were up a whopping 43% over last year. This jump comes on the back of significant increases in both 2015 and 2014. Florida was one of only three states to have more than 1,000 deaths in the first half of the year, and has the 5^th largest increase of any state in the country. Only Vermont, Oregon New Hampshire and Idaho have seen a higher rate of increase in the death rate.

As quoted in an article in the Insurance Journal, “Our complacency is killing us,” said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council (NSC). “One hundred deaths every day should outrage us. Americans should demand change to prioritize safety actions and protect ourselves from one of the leading causes of preventable death.”

To read the entire article go to: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2016/08/24/424297.htm

At Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.ASlinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. we agree with the NSC President and CEO that as Floridians and Americans we need to figure out how to reverse this trend immediately. If you are injured in an auto accident because the other driver was distracted or otherwise impaired, you may have a right to bring a claim for various damages and injuries incurred. Call us at Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne. We offer a free initial consultation, and our phone number is (561) 686-3400.

At Slinkman, Slinkman, & Wynne, we know that automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents and fatal accidents involving all types of vehicles unfortunately happen all the time. If you are in an accident and need any type of legal help then you should contact us right away. We help our clients obtain payment to cover hospital and other medical expenses, pain and suffering, and more, if the situation warrants it.

If you want to learn more about how we can help you in a situation where someone you love has been in an auto accident, then go to this page on our website: http://www.sswlawfl.com/areas-of-practice/auto-accident/. We also specialize in Slip and Fall accidents, Wrongful Death & Serious Injury, Medical Malpractice, Defective Products, and many other types of legal situations where injury or death has occurred.

Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. school driving safety tips, part 2 – dropping off children at school

At Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. we believe that if we help one person avoid a potentially dangerous situation that leads to an injury or their death. That is why we dedicate many of our blog posts and articles to sharing information that helps you and your loved ones to be safe and hopefully stay healthy. In the next several blog posts we offer “back to school driving safety tips”. Important tips to help you share the road safely with other cars, pedestrians, school buses and bicyclists.

In this post we offer tips on do’s and don’ts of what to do if you are dropping off children at school here in Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach or anywhere else in a community where schools and/or children reside.

When you are dropping off children at school:

• Carpool wherever possible
  • Carpooling reduces congestion and helps reduce pollution.
• Do not drop your children off across the street from the school
  • Yes, it takes a few extra minutes to get in line and drop off in front of the school. It also saves your children from crossing a very busy, potentially dangerous street.
• Do not double park
  • This raises congestion and causes potentially dangerous blind spots. It also raises everyone’s frustration level, just like the next point.
• Do not cut the line
  • Every car in front of you is waiting to pick up their child just like you. The more respectful everyone is, the quicker each person moves through, picks up their child/children, and completes the process.
• Try to stay off your mobile devices, if possible.
  • Particularly if you are moving. Children can be unpredictable, and one can come jumping out from the sidewalk or from behind a vehicle in a split second without notice. If you are distracted, if even for a moment, it can change that other person’s life, forever. And, your own.

We acknowledge using and sharing this important information with you from the National Safety Council. To read their entire article dedicated to back to school safety, please go to: http://www.nsc.org/learn/safety-knowledge/Pages/back-to-school-safety-tips-for-drivers.aspx

Unfortunately, we all know that automobile accidents in school zones and everywhere else where vehicles travel happen every day. If you or a person you care about gets injured or killed in an automobile accident or any other situation, contact us at Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. Or, if you have a question about any type of personal injury situation that you have not yet had answered, please call us at Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. We offer a free initial consultation: our phone number is (561) 686-3400 and our email address is info@sswlawfl.com.

Accidents involving children happen. We help our clients obtain payment to cover hospital and other medical expenses, pain and suffering, and more, if the situation warrants it. If you want to learn more about how we can help you in a situation where someone you love has been in an accident, then go to this page on our website: http://sswlawfl.com/areas-of-practice/accidents-serious-injury/. We also specialize in Wrongful Death & Serious Injury, Medical Malpractice, Slip and Fall, Defective Products, Motorcycle accidents, Boating accidents and many other types of legal situations where injury or death has occurred.

Whether you are in Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Stuart, West Palm Beach or any other city in the state of Florida, you need to find and hire a law firm that has the level of knowledge and experience that will get you the financial results you deserve, while also working with you throughout your case until some type of resolution has been reached. With over four decades of experience, that firm is Slinkman, Slinkman, & Wynne, where we have been devoted to protecting south Florida families for over 40 years.

Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne safety tips: driving during school days in Florida

The middle of August here in Florida means several things: the summer season weather-wise (hot and humid) is about half over, but more importantly, schools are back in full swing. Even if you do not have any children that are school-age, you know school is back in session with the significant pick up in traffic and congestion on the roadways as you try to make your way to and from work. That also means you must be significantly more careful where ever you are driving at this time of year.

Therefore, we will do a 2-part blog on driver safety during school days. This first part is a refresher of general driving safety tips for all drivers at this time of year to help keep kids, other drivers and yourself accident and injury-free during school days. In the second part we will share with you some safety tips for parents and others driving kids to and from school:

• Plan to leave your home a few minutes earlier than you did during the summer to get to your destination.
  • Between school buses, kids walking and on bikes, and parents trying to drop off or pick up their kids, traffic congestion is significantly more than it was just two weeks ago. Adjust for that so you keep yourself from getting frustrated, angry and impatient behind the wheel.
• Slow down and pay attention to the road AND the surrounding sidewalks
  • Even the safest of drivers can not predict a child darting out into the middle of the road apparently out of nowhere. The slower you are driving, the more time you will have to react when unexpected, potentially dangerous actions by others, particularly kids, happen.
• Do NOT pass a bus that has its “Stop Sign” and blinkers on. Ever.
  • Of course we all have had that morning we are running late, and then we get stuck behind a school bus stopped to pick up kids… and it is taking forever. There is no one on the other side of the road, and it looks so tempting to go around the bus and continue on your way. Don’t do it. The leading cause of death among kids and teenagers is accidents/unintentional death, according to https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001915.htm

 

If you or a person you care about gets injured or killed in an automobile accident caused by negligent driving or you simply have a question about a potential personal injury situation that you have not yet had answered, please call us at Slinkman, Slinkman & Wynne, P.A. We offer a free initial consultation: our phone number is (561) 686-3400 and our email address is info@sswlawfl.com.

At Slinkman, Slinkman, & Wynne, we know that automobile accidents involving children happen. We help our clients obtain payment to cover hospital and other medical expenses, pain and suffering, and more, if the situation warrants it. If you want to learn more about how we can help you in a situation where someone you love has been in an accident, then go to this page on our website: http://sswlawfl.com/areas-of-practice/accidents-serious-injury/. We also specialize in Wrongful Death & Serious Injury, Medical Malpractice, Slip and Fall, Defective Products, Motorcycle accidents, Boating accidents and many other types of legal situations where injury or death has occurred.

Whether you are in Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Stuart, West Palm Beach or any other city in the state of Florida, you need to find and hire a law firm that has the level of knowledge and experience that will get you the financial results you deserve, while also working with you throughout your case until some type of resolution has been reached. With over four decades of experience, that firm is Slinkman, Slinkman, & Wynne, where we have been devoted to protecting south Florida families for over 40 years.