2009 January Archive

You certainly have been passed by fast driving teens on the road. A teenage driver with less that one year experience can be the most reckless driver on the road. Speeding up to your tail, passing on the right side of your car, tailing you, aggressive driving and speeding are just some of the problems. I’ve often said I wish their parents could see them driving so they could provide a consequence – like taking away the car and keeping all of us safer from being in an auto accident.

Technology has heard your concerns and has responded. A GPS tracking system will tell you exactly what your child is doing behind the wheel of your car.

A number of these items are able to monitor speed, location, time, where they went, and how long they stayed. Fitting inside your car discretely, the GPS device works by receiving signals from 24 satellites orbiting the earth. Every second you get a reading and are able to access the tracking data.

GPS Teen Tracking has one for $229 and you can order online.

Now you can get one to monitor your teen’s speed and location. LandAirSea has a GPS device that allows you to monitor your teens speed and location at a cost of about $600. Learn more about it on their Web site.

Almost four thousand teens are killed every year in traffic accidents and hundreds of thousands of teens are injured, some critically and permanently. Add other teen passengers, traveling at night, and distractions such as cell phones, CDs, texting AND the youth and inexperience of the driver, one of these devices might just deliver a little piece of mind.

With auto accidents as the number one cause of teen deaths, this small investment and a slight invasion of privacy should be weighed against the cost of doing nothing. Farah and Farah is always there when you do need someone to help you through the maze of tragedy following a Florida auto accident. Call our Jacksonville offices if you need to talk to someone who is on your side.

Usually when you move into a new home, you hope to be free of home repairs for quite some time. But Florida residents are complaining about a foul smell coming from dry wall or plasterboard that is made in China.

According to a report from Bradentonherald.com, the state health department has received 39 complaints many from Manatee, Sarasota, Pinellas, St. Lucie, Collier and Lee counties.

In one account, the smell of rotten eggs has been so overpowering that many owners of newer homes have had to leave their homes. The reports are that the foul smelling drywall emits an odor that corrodes the air condition coils and wiring causing failure.

Much of the problem has been reported in Southwest Florida, but Lennar, the second homebuilder to acknowledge the problem reports at least two home in the Miami-Dade area have had the problem, according to a story from the Jacksonville Business Journal.

Lennar already has identified about 80 homes on Florida’s west coast with a Chinese drywall problem.

How did we get drywall from China? Apparently following Hurricane Katrina, there was a shortage and Knauf Pasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd. Of China was only too happy to accommodate.

The company, a subsidiary of a German company, was one of many exporters to home builders working in Southwest Florida, reportedly sending more than 10-million square feet of drywall from China.

The company says it now mines its gypsum, which makes up drywall from another mine and the foul smell doesn’t present a problem.

Lennar Homes appears to be doing a good job in replacing air conditioning systems that are being corroded by the caustic air. Also some neighbors report that belt buckles have tarnished, computers had to be repaired, and jewelry, mirrors and picture frames became tarnished.

No word from Taylor Morrison, the other home builder in the area about what they plan to do.

Before you have any work done consult with an attorney who understands the terms of your agreement with the builder. Do not sign away your rights to have work done, until the scope of the problem is understood. Homeowners in Georgia, Mississippi, Texas and California have also reported drywall problems so we may not yet know the extent of this problem.

You certainly do not want to sign away your rights if the work is not done to your satisfaction. And you do not want to sign any contracts that specify binding arbitration as an alternative to being able to go to court. An experienced attorney can tell you that binding arbitration means the deck will likely be stacked against you. Your home is your most important investment. Make sure you protect it and your rights by contacting our skilled Florida attorneys at 1-800-533-3555 so we can help defend your rights.

It happened in early February. Middle school students from Ribault in Jacksonville were misbehaving by setting off an alarm on the emergency exit. This made it unsafe to continue to drive the bus. Instead of pulling over and transferring students to another bus, or calling police, the school bus driver instructed them to get off the bus at Rutledge Pearson Elementary School and find their own way home. Thankfully, no students were injured to due any Jacksonville pedestrian accidents that could have resulted from the kids being off the bus.

This is an unacceptable reaction by an employee of First Student, the bus company. There are rules and regulations in Duval County for bus drivers. Students are supposed to conduct themselves in a respectful way to keep everyone safe. If not, they can be suspended from school and parents have the responsibility to make sure that their children understand that.

But a bus driver also has a huge responsibility, delivering those children safety to and from school. For a child to find their way home from a different school, meant many walked to a bus stop or called their parents. Many parents understandably were angry. First Student says it is conducting an investigation. Cameras on the bus will help tell the story, but even with misbehaving children, this is not the proper response, but a response of pure frustration. The liability of the school district if something had happened is not something they want to hear about.

Fortunately no children were injured due to the bus driver’s negligence. If you have any questions regarding the safety of your child in relation to bus-driving laws, please contact the skilled Florida personal injury attorneys at Farah and Farah by calling 1-800-533-3555.