South Florida Injury Law Blog

Proximate cause is the legal term referring to an act that causes an injury as a natural, direct, uninterrupted consequence and without which the injury would not have occurred. It's an important issue in any Florida personal injury case. In Sunbelt Environmental v. Gulf Coast Truck and Equipment Company, the First District Court of Appeal explains that a court can't determine whether or not a particular defendant is liable for an injury sustained in an accident without first establishing the injury's proximate cause.

Clifford Smith had his arm amputated as the result of an accident in which he was hit by a garbage truck while riding a bicycle. Smith and his wife sued Sunbelt Environmental, Inc. and the parties settled the matter before it went to trial.

Sunbelt then filed a third party complaint against the truck's manufacturer, Gulf Coast Truck and Equipment Company, and Wastequip Manufacturing Company, which installed a tarping device on the truck to prevent debris from leaving the bed. Sunbelt raised claims for negligence and strict liability against both parties as well a breach of implied warranty of merchantability claim against Wastequip. Specifically, Sunbelt alleged that an "arm" connected to the truck to keep the tarp in place - which allegedly caught Smith's clothing, causing the accident - made the truck wider than allowed under state and federal law.

Following discovery, Sunbelt and Wastequip filed a joint motion for summary judgment, arguing that they were not liable because the truck's driver - a Sunbelt employee - acted negligently by "by failing to pass at a safe distance of not less than 3 feet," in violation of Florida law and in failing to decrease his speed as necessary in order to avoid colliding with Smith. Defendants also argued that the truck width was within the legal requirement.

The trial court granted Defendants' motion for summary judgment, ruling that while the truck exceeded the width limits, Sunbelt - as the truck's owner - was required to ensure that it comported with the law. The court further held that because it replaced the tarping unit in 2006 using its own employees, "Sunbelt assumed the risk associated with its own labor." Thus, according to the court, neither Gulf Coast nor Wastequip could be held liable for any illegality as to the width of the truck.

Continue reading "Proximate Cause in Florida Personal Injury Cases - Sunbelt Environmental v. Gulf Coast Truck and Equipment Company" »

Anyone who's ever worked on a construction site knows that the work of building, clearing, excavating and the like can be very dangerous. That's why Florida law requires contracting companies to obtain workers' compensation insurance for each of their onsite employees. As an incentive to obtain the proper coverage, however, the law also makes complying companies immune from personal injury liability through all other legal channels for injuries stemming from onsite accidents. But, as the Fifth District Court of Appeal explains in Lovering v. Nickerson, the doctrine of workers' compensation immunity's applicability to a specific accident depends on whether the person injured was an "employee" at the time.

Plaintiff Homer Lovering sued defendants Middlesex Corporation (his employer) and Leslie Nickerson (a Middlesex employee) for injuries he sustained while working for Middlesex as a heavy equipment operator on a road project in which workers removed concrete barriers. Specifically, Plaintiff was struck by a large concrete barrier as it was being loaded onto the flatbed of the tractor trailer truck that he was driving. As a result of his injuries, both of Plaintiff's legs were amputated. Defendant Nickerson was operating a fork lift used to load the barrier at the time of the accident.

The trial court hearing Plaintiff's complaint granted summary judgment to Defendants, finding that because Plaintiff was a Middlesex employee at the time of the accident, Defendants are immune from liability for the injuries pursuant to the Florida Workers' Compensation Act (the Act). The statute provides that contractor company working on a construction site must provide workers' compensation of each if its employees. In turn, the contractor receives immunity from negligence liability for injuries suffered by any employee at the site. The statute's mandatory coverage and immunity, however, apply only to so called "statutory employees," which in the construction context are defined as an independent contractor performing services in - or a sole proprietor engaged in - "the construction industry." The industry, for statutory purposes, encompasses "for-profit activities involving any building, clearing, filling, excavation, or substantial improvement in the size or use of any structure or the appearance of any land."

In reversing the trial court's decision, the Fifth District ruled that the Act does not bar Plaintiff from suing for personal injuries in this matter because was not working or performing services in the "construction industry" at the time of the injury and, therefore, is not an employee covered by the Act.

Negligence is the most common theory of recovery for persons injured in any type of accident, including construction accidents as well as car, motorcycle and boat accidents and incidents of medical malpractice. In order for a plaintiff to successfully assert that a defendant was negligent, he or she must show that: 1) the defendant owed the plaintiff a "duty of care"; 2) the defendant breached the "duty of care"; 3) the plaintiff was injured; and 4) the breach caused the plaintiff's injury.

Continue reading "Florida Construction Accident Injuries: Workers' Compensation and Personal Injury Lawsuits - Lovering v. Nickerson" »

On Wednesday of last week, two truck drivers were injured in a crash involving three tractor trailers on the Florida Turnpike in Palm Beach Gardens. The accident occurred after a semi-truck slowly entered traffic in the path of an oncoming UPS truck, which was driving at full speed. The collision destroyed the fuel tank on the UPS truck, and moments later, a Honda Civic hit the fuel tank and sent it flying into opposing traffic. A third truck swerved to avoid the tank, but jackknifed.

Only a week earlier on the same freeway, a dump truck collided into a tractor trailer, which caught fire and left the driver with third degree burns. Both of these recent accidents on the Florida Turnpike caused major traffic delays.

While truck and big rig accidents are relatively uncommon, they can be devastating. Because big rigs are so large in comparison to the other vehicles on the road, there is a high potential for serious injury after a big rig accident. Tractor-trailers, trucks, and big rigs also have huge fuel tanks, so an accident with one of these large vehicles can cause a major fire hazard.

Truck and big rig accidents also tend to involve multiple vehicles. From a personal injury lawyer's perspective, the more parties involved in an automobile accident, the more complicated it can be to resolve all of the conflicts between the parties. An experienced personal injury attorney can help those injured in multi-car accidents to make claims against all appropriate insurance policies and, if necessary, pursue just compensation in a court of law. A good multi-car accident attorney will be extremely organized, know all of the relevant law, and have the persistence it takes to resolve a complex legal dispute.

Continue reading "Tractor Trailer Crashes Wreak Havoc on the Florida Turnpike, Raise Issues About Liability In Multiple Viehicle Accidents" »