A tragedy to report from Lake Como, Florida where an Amtrak train hit a car crossing the train tracks and killed a woman and her two children. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the crossing tracks were unguarded and in southern Putnam County.
The accident happened Monday afternoon, June 14 at about 3:45 p.m. The Amtrak was the northbound Silver Meteor. The collision happened at Highlands Avenue crossing reported to be one of the older crossings without a flashing light or arms. Instead a traditional railroad crossing sign and stop sign was the only warning for the mother, says the FHP.
The woman is identified as 34-year-old Melissa Johnson and her sons Brandon, 9, and Blake, 6. They were leaving the home of relatives and traveling on the private road when for some unknown reason, their Ford Taurus pulled in front of the Amtrak train going about 70 mph. Readers of News4Jax say the father is in the Army. All three were pronounced dead at the scene. The family is from Pomona Park, Florida.
No one among the 259 passengers on board the Amtrak train was hurt. At 70 mph it took a while for the train to stop.
Whoever owns the train track, reported to be CSX, has an ethical duty to put up a modern sign complete with an audio sound and arm to stop as a fair warning of an approaching train. If in the case of private property the owners of the road were advised to install a more modern warning device, they opted not to do so.
An experienced Florida auto accident attorney would need to investigate the railroad crossbucks. Was there any stop sign or any signage warning motorists to look both ways? Did the train engineer sound his horn at least 20 seconds before entering the public crossing? Federal law states these things the horn blasts are a requirement when approaching a public crossing.
Only when the at-fault party is determined can civil remedies be sought to compensate the father for his immense loss. Our hearts go out to the family at this difficult time.
According to a Florida Times-Union story, the parents of a Florida Coastal School of Law student have filed a lawsuit against Continental Airlines for her death last year in a plane crash. Ellyce Kausner, 24, died along with 49 others when a Continental Airlines commuter jet, flown by two tired pilots, crashed over Buffalo, New York. One of the pilots had a year of experience and both complained before the crash that they were tired and inexperienced why trying to fly in an ice storm. Named in the action beside Continental is Colgan Air, the regional carrier, and Pinnacle Airlines.
50 people were killed in the February crash, 49 on the plane and one person on the ground. Kausner was a native of Buffalo and was on her way to visit friends after departing from Newark, New Jersey for the evening flight. The transcript of the last few minutes has been released and the two pilots talk about de-icing, something neither had experience with.
Capt. Marvin Renslow, 47 was commanding a Bombardier Q400 turboprop. Previously he had flunked numerous flight tests, and when the plane started stalling as he and his co-pilot chatted, he did the opposite of what he needed to do to gain speed and altitude.
As the plane dropped to 115 miles per hour, Renslow pulled back on the “stick-pusher” that goes into a dive to regain speed. When he yanked back on the controls he lost lift and started to roll.
It was the deadliest accident in commercial aviation in seven years.
Unfortunately the name Captain Marvin Renslow is now symbolic of the failings of the commuter airline industry and its under-paid, under-trained and exhausted crew, in sharp contrast to the experienced professional Captain Sully who brought his plane artfully into the Hudson, saving everyone onboard.
It’s surprising we haven’t seen more of these in our area. According to a News4Jax article, a protest ordered by the Jacksonville MoveOn Council was held at a BP gas station in Jacksonville Beach, Saturday, June 12. Carrying large signs with an anti-oil message, the protestors waved at passing cars to try and share the message – that BP is only technically on the hook to pay $75 million in damages to the Gulf of Mexico and beaches.
President Obama says he will hold BP accountable for the total dollar cost of the cleanup and the BP CEO has said it will pay “all necessary and appropriate clean-up costs” not mentioning who will determine which claims are “appropriate.”
BP has limited liability to $75 million which was capped under the Oil Pollution Act, established after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in a concession to the industry. Sens. Bill Nelson and Robert Menendez have introduced legislation to raise the cap to $10 billion and to allow claimants to collect from future BP revenues.
The $75 million cap however goes out the window if BP or any other defendant is eventually found to be grossly negligent or violated the law.
Expect years of oil spill damages litigation ahead to determine the responsible parties.
Anadarko Petroleum is a 25% stakeholder in the project. Transocean drilled the well. Cameron International was responsible for the blowout prevention equipment. Halliburton who is the private contractor for the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan was supposed to have cemented the well.
Sen. Nelson has called for a halt in new oil drilling. Despite BPs estimates, government estimates on the oil spill indicate 53 to 64 million gallons have spilled into the Gulf.
The Florida oil spill attorneys at Farah and Farah are investigating damage claims resulting from the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill. If you have suffered financial losses a comprehensive consultation will help you determine your next step.
A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that there has been a spike in emergency room visits for recreational use of opioid prescription drugs, which has more than doubled between 2004 and 2008. The number of ER visits for prescription drugs is now equal to the number of visits for illegal drugs and the misuse of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs according to the CDC.
It’s fair to say that the abuse of prescription drugs is a growing national problem for all ages, although the report shows that it is more common for women to abuse these common painkillers than men. The painkillers are typically written to someone recovering from surgery.
ER visits for prescription narcotics went from 144,644, in 2004 to 305,885 in 2008, which represents a 111 percent increase. People in the ER took a higher than recommended dose of the narcotic, took someone else’s prescription, or misused the drug.
Top on the list of most widely abused is oxycodone. That alone rose 152 percent. Hydrocodone rose 123 percent, and methadone rose 73 percent. Among other drugs commonly abused is the family of anti-anxiety drugs known as benzodiazepines. Also alcohol use and abuse was seen combined with the drugs and contributing to the ER visits.
It is not unexpected that the spike in ER visits coincides with a sharp increase in the prescribing of these types of drugs, according to the CDC. Looking at raw numbers, the number of ER visits rose from 1.6 million in 2004 to 2 million in 2008. Do you wonder if it is ultimately up to the taxpayers to pay for this reckless use and misuse of prescription medications?
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, June 17, ruled that the state can widen the beach without paying compensation to beachfront property owners. A Miami Herald article reports that the issue was brought before the high court by six homeowners in the Florida Panhandle. They argued that when the state widened the beach, it changed their property from ocean front private property to an ocean view property, simply overlooking a now public beach.
But the justices voted 8-0 confirming a lower Florida Supreme Court decision that the beach-widening project did not amount to the “taking” of property. Justice John Paul Stevens abstained from voting because he owns a waterfront condo in Ft. Lauderdale slated for a beach-erosion project where sand is brought in to offset erosion of the beach.
Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection believes that adding sand to offset erosion provides storm protection for upland properties, restores plant and animal habitat, and creates recreational areas of the beach which draws to Florida about 27 million visitors a year, but the U.S. Constitution says the government is supposed to pay “just compensation” when private property is taken for public use.
The six homeowners said that replenishing the beach made the value of their property decline and they wanted Florida to compensate them for taking their property which is supposed to run to the water line at high tide.
There is nearly seven miles of storm-battered beach that is supposed to receive new sand from Destin through neighboring Walton County. It is to be designated as public property rather than private property of the homeowners forcing them to lose their exclusive beach rights.
Homeowners in the Gulf coast areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida may be seeing some relief from foreclosure on their home if they have their mortgages through Citigroup Inc. Citigroup, which offers mortgages through CitiMortgage, plans to suspend home foreclosures through September 17th while Fannie May says the companies representing their home loans may suspend or reduce payment up to 90 days. In order to qualify, the homeowner must have a first time buyer loan through CitiMortgage. Based on an Associated Press report, homeowners with loans serviced by Fannie May could expect to have their loan suspended or reduced up to 90 days or beyond. Certain criteria must be met such as being within 25 miles of the coastal areas. Homeowners need to contact Fannie May or Freddie Mac to see what special relief is offered them if they are in the service area.
And for travelers, travel giant Orbitz is trying to persuade them to come to the Sunshine State. If you had a reservation within 20 miles of the oil slicked coast at one of 120 Florida hotels, you can have your hotel costs refunded if a beach is closed or declared dangerous. Consumers must have made their reservation between June 14 and July 31 on Orbitz and the travel company may expand the guarantee to hotels in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Farah and Farah is representing consumers and business owners who have no recourse on their own due to the Deepwater Horizon spill caused by BP. Call our economic losses Florida oil spill attorneys for a consultation and more information.
George Grant is a 69-year-old man who takes care of his mother as best he can. With the temperate approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit lately in Florida, the temperature inside his Northside home was up to 91 degrees. That’s the best the three window air conditioning units can do since the house does not have much insulation.
The elderly are especially at risk for high heat and with the cost of electricity, there is not much that most people can do. That’s what happened to Emma Watson, 102. JEA had cut her power and she had no air conditioning and no water. She had been on a payment plan with JEA but stopped paying and had more than $2,000 in unpaid bills. Embarrassed when her story was in The Florida Times-Union, JEA credited her all but $300 assuming there was a leak because of her high water use. Her power and water is now back on after help from a charity associated with the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters.
For other seniors, help is available through ElderSource at 888-242-4464. JEA is extremely fortunate that this woman was found before she became the first statistic of the season. With limited mobility some elderly do not adjust well in the heat and can suffer heat stroke or heat exhaustion. Local hospitals are seeing some of those cases come in during our hot spell.
If you or a loved one has been adversely affected by this heat and your power has been turned off and you have been left in dire circumstances, you would be well advised to consult with a Jacksonville personal injury attorney about your rights and we’ll see what we can do to help.
Alex Sink is Florida’s chief financial officer but it doesn’t take a state official to figure out that the state should sell off its 15 million shares of BP stock. The stock is plunging as the Gulf of Mexico is filling with crude oil. Florida has already lost more than $21 million from selling the BP stock it owned that was devalued since the April 20th Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. The state had the rest in the state pension fund which has lost more than $64 million or about 40% of its value, says The Palm Beach Post. The BP stock accounts for about one-tenth of one percent of the total pension fund value. The State Board of Administration manages the state’s $114 billion pension fund, and Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum are SBA trustees along with Sink. No one wants to force a sale of BP stock preferring to leave it up to fund managers. The pension systems heavily invested in BP – Louisiana Municipal Police Employees Retirement System and the New Orleans City Employees Retirement system – have both filed suit against BP.
As of Wednesday morning, June 16, the stock’s value sank to a near 14-year low of $29.58 with the value rising slightly at the end of the day to $31.85.
Remember the Exxon Valdez tanker accident that spilled 11 million gallons into the Alaskan shoreline? That stock has increased ten-fold since 1989, 21 years after the accident. Do we believe that the Gulf of Mexico and the shoreline of Louisiana, Alabama and Florida will return to their pre-spill condition in 21 years? Probably not.
If you or a loved one has been injured or suffered damages due to the BP oil spill, you may have a claim that could include property damage, wrongful death or injuries, lost employment or business losses. Our Florida BP oil spill lawyers are dedicated to helping you recover from substantial losses.
Three bicyclists were hospitalized after they were injured by a hit-and-run driver on U.S. 1 in St. Augustine Monday afternoon, according to an article in The Florida Times-Union. Two cyclists were taken to Shands in Jacksonville and one was transported to Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine. The driver who hit the cyclists has been identified as Michael Nally, 42, who was behind the wheel of a PT Cruiser heading northbound on Ponce De Leon Boulevard when he swerved into the three cyclists just before 1 p.m., hit them, but then kept driving. Fortunately, a Good Samaritan followed Nally and then called police and told them he pulled into a bar on North Ponce De Leon. The witness also told police that he saw a beer can thrown from the car. Police tracked down Nally to Arnold’s Bar where he was arrested and charged with three counts of leaving the scene of an accident with bodily injury.
As we’ve said here before, leaving the scene of an accident where there is an injury or possible death is the worst thing you can possibly do. The first degree felony criminal charge will be added that can bring 30 years in state prison.
Despite being seventh in population, Jacksonville is third in the state in the number of hit-and runs.
The state reports there were 349 hit –and-run driving prosecutions in 2006 in our area. By 2007 and 2008 there were 2,000. That is such a sad statement about how we fail to care.
DUI charges are possible pending the result of a blood test.
Fortunately, the bicyclists were wearing helmets and those taken to Shands had the most serious injuries. We now know the identities of the three. They all worked for the St. Johns County technology department and were out for a lunchtime ride.
They are identified as Robert Jolley and Daniel Phillips who went to Shands and were in fair condition. Derick Tillman went to Flagler Hospital as a precaution. How many more accidents of this kind do we need before we dedicate bike paths for riders? After all, the roads are there to be shared by everyone, not just those with the biggest vehicle.
If you have been hit by a drunk driver or a hit-and-run accident, a dedicated and experienced Florida hit and run accident attorney can help you get the resources you need to begin the road to recovery.
Just in time for the summer travel season comes word that parents are advised to use child restraint systems when traveling with children on a plane. Many times parents allow children to sit on their laps on flights. But in case of turbulence or even a sudden stop on the runway, experienced travelers will tell you that bodies go flying, including adult bodies. Anyone not strapped in is likely to violently hit their head on the ceiling of the cabin or fall on the floor.
In issuing this Safety Alert – the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says that parents will not be able to hold onto their children during turbulence and survivable aviation accidents. Deaths have occurred in children under the age of two who were not secured in an airline approved seat. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in its official guide, says the safest place for young children in turbulence is in an approved child restraint system, not on an adult’s lap. The NTSB is asking the FAA to make the suggestion a requirement which won’t make some parents happy about having to buy an extra seat for their little one. But then again, when the seat belt sign is lighted, how safe in a child restrained by someone’s arms? Not very. As it stands now, the official policy of the airline industry is that children can ride on their parent’s lap if they weigh less than 40 pounds.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says the lax policy for children on planes is not consistent with all other national policies on safe transportation. The AAP recommends a mandatory federal requirement for the appropriate restraint for children on planes. In fact, back in 1996 in a report to the president, the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security said it was inappropriate for infants to be granted less protection than older passengers. The Commission recommended the FAA revise its policy then – 14 years ago! Of course that makes sense, what does not make sense is that it’s taken so long to act.
