Fort Walton Beach Personal Injury Law Blog

If you are in an accident on one of Florida's streets or highways, you may have to think fast to avoid complicating your claim for compensation, whether through an insurance company or a personal injury lawsuit. Most drivers understand that they may be involved in a motor vehicle accident at some time in their lives, but few prepare for the possibility.

Understanding Florida laws related to accidents, injuries, insurance claims and other items can be complicated. The fact that these laws change frequently does not help. However, some basic information may improve your chances of emerging from an accident without making mistakes that could cost you dearly.

Statistics from the National Safety Council reveal that at least nine individuals die and about 100 are injured in the United States each day because of accidents related to distracted driving. Florida residents may be interested in learning about how artificial intelligence and visual monitoring systems may be able to attack driver distraction and reduce car accidents.

Driving while distracted currently costs society around $40 million every year. This economic impact is almost the same as what society pays when it comes to DUIs, which is $44 million. Despite the fact that everyone knows driving while distracted is dangerous, this does not stop many people from using their phone to read and send text messages, check social media or use GPS. Other ways that drivers become distracted include interacting with children or pets, eating while driving, changing the radio station and looking at incidents that happen outside their own vehicle.

Florida motorists may not have to contend with snow that much, but they still want to be careful when driving during the winter months. It all begins with determining when one must absolutely go outside and when one can stay inside. If work or errands require one to go outside, then the first thing to do is slow down so as to not slide on patches of ice. The faster one travels, the less traction there is between the tires and the ground.

In addition, drivers should neither accelerate nor decelerate too quickly. This will prevent skidding on the road. Drivers should keep a distance of five to six seconds from the vehicle in front; this is, in fact, good advice for any season.

Drowsiness can become a major issue for drivers in Florida in the days following the end of daylight saving time. The reason is that the change disrupts the body's sleep/wake cycle and circadian rhythm, requiring the body to readjust over the course of several days. To make matters worse, some people stay up late before the end of DST, thinking that the extra hour of sleep will make up for it.

Some 328,000 car crashes occur annually in the U.S. because of drowsy driving. Around 109,000 of these crashes involve an injury, and 6,400 involve a fatality. According to the Insurance Bureau of British Columbia, drowsy driving crashes are more prevalent during the late afternoon commutes in the two weeks following the end of DST than in the two weeks preceding it.