By Eddie Farah on September 13, 2008 -
It was a tragic end to a Jacksonville police officer’s life.
50-year-old Officer Michael Hartsfield died July 30, when the car her was a passenger in crashed off Fort Caroline Road. It was driven by his friend, 45- year-old Vicki Mullins.
She reportedly lost control of the car on a curve during the evening hours. No other cars were involved. The car hit a ditch and then bounced off the culvert before landing on its roof. The car was a convertible Ford Mustang. Officer Hartsfield died at the hospital after he was cut out of the vehicle. Mullins was hurt also.
Now police say her blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit and they believe speed may have been a factor. She’s been charged with DUI manslaughter and is in jail tonight on $750,000 bond.
Read the rest »
By Eddie Farah on September 12, 2008 -
The nursing home industry has launched a campaign designed to fight a Senate vote on consumer protections for those living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act, sponsored by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Herbert Kohl (D-WI) would make pre-dispute binding mandatory arbitration provisions that a person signs in a nursing home contract unenforceable.
Buried in the fine print of these contracts is wording that says if a dispute arises, the elderly and their families lose their right to take a deficient nursing home to court. That would even apply to cases of abuse or neglect. Litigation is frequently one way to force some nursing homes to comply with compassionate care. What nursing facilities want instead of a court date, is for you to take your complaint before a private and secretive forum.
Read the rest »
By Eddie Farah on September 10, 2008 -
Florida is a comparative negligence state, and that means you can make a personal injury claim based on the percentage of the other side's negligence.
If they are half at fault, you get 50 percent. If you are 30 percent at fault, you’ll get 70 percent of the value of your case.
From time to time, people ask us, if they are intoxicated and in an accident, say they stumble in the street and are hit by a car, can they make a claim also? The simple answer is NO.
Read the rest »
By Eddie Farah on September 5, 2008 -
We are in the middle of hurricane season in Florida and most of us are keeping an eye on the latest storm, Hanna, heading offshore of North Florida, soon to be followed by Ike.
Forcasters and the Florida Highway Patrol have the same mantra, “don’t go out on the roads unless you have to.”
That’s fine, but what if you have to? What if you risk losing your job if you decide to stay home with your children, whose school has been cancelled and to follow the recommendations of safety officials?
Here’s where the disconnect comes in. While it’s advised that you stay home, the simple answer is yes, you can be fired if you don’t.
Read the rest »
By Eddie Farah on September 5, 2008 -
School has barely been in session one week and we have a horrible accident to report involving a school bus, a minivan, and a cement mixer truck.
One eight-year-old girl is dead and seven other children were injured Friday when they got into an accident in a bus owned by a Boys and Girls Club. It was transporting 27 Tallahassee-area students from Apalachee Elementary School to the club.
A cement truck rear-ended the bus while it stopped at a red light. It was waiting in the left-turn lane. The impact tipped the truck to its side and caused the bus to hit into a minivan that was sitting in front if it.
8-year-old Roshay Dugans died at Tallahassee memorial Hospital. The other injured students were treated and released. Apparently the children sitting in the back of the bus had the fewest number of injuries.
Read the rest »
By Eddie Farah on September 3, 2008 -
It is bad enough when a young person died in an auto accident, imagine if you are his friend now charged with his death.
A Jacksonville teen has been charged with vehicular homicide in the death of his friend in an accident that happened in Mandarin last June. Early in the morning of June 23, 17-year old Daniel R. Farren had been drinking.
Police later said his blood alcohol level (BAC) was 0.04, not legally intoxicated but enough to be “buzzed”- and as the slogan goes – buzzed driving also impairs judgment behind the wheel.
Read the rest »
By Eddie Farah on September 3, 2008 -
A new traffic control technique got underway this week in Central Florida that is aimed at catching those among us who feel compelled to run red lights.
You know the people who cross in your path and if they were two seconds later would have T-boned your car.
Seven of the most dangerous intersections in Orlando will have the cameras and lasers placed on poles about 12 feet high. They will take images as the vehicle approaches an intersection, taking a still photo and video of violators.
Read the rest »
