Naples Legal Blog

Certain state teens most likely to drink and drive

On behalf of The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. posted in Car Accidents on Tuesday, October 15, 2019.

Drunk driving remains a major traffic safety issue in Florida and across the U.S. Worse, statistics show that a significant portion of drunk drivers are teenagers, and some states have more underage drunk drivers than others.

Researchers from CheapCarInsuranceQuotes.com analyzed data from the High School Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which is a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They found that teens in Arkansas were most likely in the nation to drink and drive with 10.7% of survey participants from that state admitting to drinking and driving in the last 30 days. Meanwhile, teens in Louisiana were second most likely to drinking and drive with 10% of participants from that state saying they got behind the wheel after drinking in the last month. Teens in Montana came in third with 7.6% of participants from that state saying they are guilty of drinking and driving in the last month.

Florida's hardship license requirements

On behalf of The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. posted in Drunk Driving on Tuesday, October 15, 2019.

The consequences for an arrest and conviction of drunk driving in Naples often go far beyond the act itself. Such an offense will typically require that your license be revoked. Meeting the demands of your daily schedule can be difficult without having immediate access to transportation. Many in your same situation have come to us here at The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. wondering if there is any way for them to have their licenses reinstated earlier than the timeframes imposed by their sentences. You will no doubt be pleased to learn that there is, even if only on a limited basis.

A driver's license revocation due to a DUI in Florida can last anywhere from a few months to several years. During the revocation period, you may be eligible for a hardship license. This would allow you to drive on a limited basis (such as to and from work). According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, however, you must meet the following criteria:

For your first DUI conviction, you must complete and apply for a hardship license through the state. An ignition interlock device is required for your vehicle if your blood-alcohol content was above .15.
For your second DUI conviction, you must have waited one year and completed DUI school. You will remain in the state's DUI supervision program throughout the remainder of your revocation period.
For your third DUI conviction, you must have waited two years to apply, completed DUI school and continue to participate in the state's supervision program.

East Manatee County collision claims man’s life

On behalf of The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. posted in Car Accidents on Tuesday, October 8, 2019.

If asked, most in Naples would likely say that their greatest tool at avoiding auto accidents is their own strong driving skills. Indeed, there is something to be said about the effectiveness of smart, defensive driving in avoiding collisions with others. At the same time, however, one cannot account for another’s reckless, negligent or irresponsible actions. Sadly, people can easily become victims to such actions, suffering devastating injuries that leave them and/or their families having to deal with potentially massive emotional and financial losses.

This fact was on full display in an accident that recently occurred in East Manatee County. A Lakewood Ranch man was traveling along a local road when, upon entering into an intersection, his vehicle was hit on the right side by a truck. The impact occurred with such force that it caused both vehicles to drift into intersecting lanes of traffic, where they both struck a third vehicle. The accident remains under investigation and authorities have yet to report why the driver of the truck hit the man’s vehicle. The driver of the truck escaped the accident unharmed, while the occupant of third vehicle involved suffered minor injuries. Unfortunately, the Lakewood Ranch man was killed in the collision.

Has your underage college student been charged with DUI?

On behalf of The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. on Thursday, October 3, 2019.

Sending your child off to a Florida college may have been a bittersweet moment for you. It may have caused you some heartache to see your young adult heading out on his or her own, but you likely also felt a sense of pride in knowing that your child would be working to brighten his or her future.

However, after just a few weeks away, those bittersweet feelings may have turned just bitter after learning that an officer pulled over your underage child and arrested him or her for DUI. When you learned the news, you may have understandably felt a number of emotions, from anger to confusion to concern. What has your child gotten into?

What is the dangerous instrumentality doctrine?

On behalf of The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. posted in Car Accidents on Tuesday, October 1, 2019.

Your immediate concern after having been involved in a car accident in Naples should be your recovery and/or the repair of your vehicle. Enough stress is associated with these processes; you should not have to worry about dealing with more related to how you are going to afford to pay for them. That should not even be a concern when your accident was caused by someone else. Yet what happens if you discover that the person that hit you was not driving their own vehicle? Your worries about whether or not compensation will be available through insurance coverage might be compounded even further if you also learn that the person that caused your accident had a checkered driving history.

Why would someone loan a vehicle to such a driver? Should that person not also share in the liability for your accident? According to the dangerous instrumentality doctrine, they can. Per this legal principle (as cited in rulings by Florida's Supreme Court), the owner of a vehicle can indeed be held responsible if they allow their vehicle to be used by a person whose personal driving history suggests that they are reckless or incompetent behind the wheel (and that person subsequently causes an accident).

Defining the different types of driving distractions

On behalf of The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. posted in Car Accidents on Monday, September 23, 2019.

“Distracted driving” is a term that you hear more and more in relation to car accidents in Naples. Yet like most, you likely assume that when authorities are referencing it, they are referring to people using their cell phones while driving. That is the assumption held by many of those who come to see us here at The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. They, however, have discovered (as you may also have) that distracted driving is less a designation of a singular type of action than it is a broad categorization.

Exactly what do we mean by this? A joint research effort between the Auto Alliance and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons identified the following three distinct types of driving distractions:

Manual distractions
Cognitive distraction
Visual distractions

Should you go to the ER after a car accident?

On behalf of The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. on Friday, September 20, 2019.

After a car accident, you may understandably feel shaken. You may have a hard time understanding what is happening or even answering questions that others may ask you. You could even feel a bit detached and not know whether you are hurt.

Sometimes, adrenaline and other chemicals in your body can mask feelings of pain after a startling event. As a result, when someone asks if you are hurt, your first instinct may be to say no. In reality, you could have suffered serious injuries but not realize it yet.

Understanding dram shop liability

On behalf of The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. posted in Car Accidents on Tuesday, September 10, 2019.

With the harsh penalties that can result from a drunk driving conviction, many in Naples might wonder why people would even chance getting behind the wheel after drinking. Yet statistics show that many of those who drive drunk may not ever be caught. Indeed, information shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the $1 million people who were arrested in the U.S. on DUI charges in 2016 only represented a fraction of the 111 million who admit to driving drunk every year.

Many might view knowingly driving while intoxicated is the ultimate form of carelessness, yet what about those who help them get drunk? Often, a person’s drinks will be furnished by a host or the staff at a bar. Should those people or parties share in the liability when one that they provide alcohol to causes a car accident?

Head-on collision in Orange County nets fatal results

On behalf of The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. posted in Car Accidents on Monday, September 9, 2019.

The term “car accidents” is apt given that while people in Naples may indeed be at fault in such instances, there typically is no element of intent to have caused a collision. Yet the fact that a person did not mean to cause an accident so not necessarily exclude them from liability for the incident (particularly in cases where negligence or recklessness might have contributed to an accident). In such a scenario, it might reasonably be argued that had one not demonstrated such careless, the accident never would have occurred in the first place.

Oftentimes, negligence is not blatant, but rather the byproduct of one who simply may not comprehend the consequences of their actions. One might assume that the driver that caused a recent accident in Orange County certainly had no intention of causing the violent collision that ended up claiming their life. According to reports, they were trying to pass another vehicle while traveling eastbound on a local road (despite the fact that they were traveling through a no-pass zone). While trying to pass, their vehicle slammed into a truck that was traveling westbound, causing extensive damage to both vehicles. As was mentioned previously, the driver trying to pass was killed, while the occupants of the truck were taken to a local hospital for treatment for injuries sustained in the collision.

Rate of negligent drivers running through red lights is rising

On behalf of The Caldarone Law Group, P.A. on Thursday, September 5, 2019.

When a person gets behind the wheel of a vehicle, he or she is responsible for the choices made while driving. Each person bears the burden of being attentive and cautious while driving, doing everything possible to avoid a collision. When a Florida driver focuses on something else, even for a second, the results can be catastrophic.

One of the possible consequences of inattentiveness behind the wheel is running through red lights. In fact, the number of accidents caused by this error is on the rise, and it is quickly becoming one of the leading types of motor vehicle collisions. Some people believe this trend is because of distracted driving, but no matter the reason, red light accidents are a cause of major concern.