Tampa Bay Auto Accident Lawyer

July 7, 2023

News: 2 hurt in SUV, Amtrak train crash in Tampa

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

TAMPA, FL – Two sustained minor injuries after an Amtrak train collided with their SUV at the East Broadway Avenue and East Tampa Boulevard intersection in the Orient district around 1 p.m. Friday.

WTSP said the SUV occupants, women in their 40s, wore seatbelts when they were struck by the train going 70 mph. Wearing their seatbelts, may in fact, could have been the reason why they only sustained minor injuries. This detail, though, has not been confirmed.

The 169 passengers aboard the train were unharmed.

November 23, 2021

Be Road Trip Ready in Tampa for Thanksgiving | Tampa Car Accident Lawyers Whittel & Melton

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

Thanksgiving is upon us, and that means millions of people are hitting the U.S. roadways to get to their families and friends for the holiday.

A spokesman for AAA estimates that 2.6 million Floridians will be road tripping this year (2021), which is 200,000 more than last year. With so many drivers on the roads this year, AAA also estimates that 400,000 motorists will need roadside assistance this Thanksgiving weekend.

So, what are the most common auto issues for road trippers?

Dead Batteries
Flat Tires
Lock Outs

Due to the stretching months of the COVID19 pandemic, many motorists may have neglected their vehicles and left them sitting for long stretches. This means that something like low tire pressure could easily turn into a big problem once out on the road. Underinflated tires can quickly lead to tire blowouts, which is the last thing you want to deal with once your trip is underway and you are on the highway travelling 50-60 mph.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), 2020 saw 3,069 tire-related crashes in the Sunshine State, resulting in 184 injuries and 61 deaths.

Luckily, AAA has a pretty cool trick to check your tire inflation level. Start by grabbing a quarter. Then stick Washington’s into the tread, and if you can still see the top of his head, then this means your tread is too low and it might be time to replace your tire.

AAA also noted that you should check these 5 things on your vehicle before making any long trips:

Tires
Battery
Brakes
Fluids
Wiper Blades

If your car has been sitting for extended periods of time, then sediment can be lingering at the bottom of those systems, so you may need to flush your brake fluids, coolant, and power steering because if left untreated then your car could overheat, your brake cylinder could fail, or power steering pump could go out.

Before you head out for the holiday, get your car serviced by an expert. A simple inspection could make all the difference in how your road trip goes and whether you make it safely to Thanksgiving dinner or not.

Prep Your Car for Safe Travels

Just because your car has been running without issues, never assume it is ready for a road trip. Our Tampa Car Accident Lawyers at Whittel & Melton recommend taking your car to a trusted mechanic for a thorough inspection before you head out for your long Thanksgiving trip. Your mechanic should change your oil, top off all fluids, rotate your tires, check your tire air pressure, and make sure all components of your vehicle are in excellent condition for travel. All repair should be made before you make your trip.

A proper maintenance check before you head out on a road trip can keep you from being stranded on the side of the road in an area that you are not familiar with. Most road trips mean many hours spent in the car or behind the wheel, so you want to make your trip as pleasant as possible.

We want to make sure you get to your destination safely this Thanksgiving holiday. However, we know that accidents happen. If you are involved in a car accident this holiday weekend, then we are available 24/7 to help you. You can call us day or night at 813-221-3200 or contact us online to request a free consultation. Continue reading

May 14, 2019

Lakeland Man Killed in Lake Wales Multi-Vehicle Crash

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A 29-year-old Lakeland man was killed Thursday in a multi-vehicle crash on State Road 60 at the intersection with Grape Hammock Road in Lake Wales.

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the 2:45 p.m. crash involved four vehicles, including two semis, which resulted in significant diesel fuel and oil on the roadway and debris.

Deputies said a silver 2012 Volkswagen car being driven by the man Lakeland was heading westbound on SR 60 just west of Grape Hammock Rd at a high rate of speed when it began to hydroplane, as it was raining heavily at the time.

The VW went into the eastbound lane and bounced off of a 2019 red Kia Sorento. The VW rotated and was then struck by an eastbound 1986 Kenworth semi truck pulling a trailer, causing significant damage and killing the Lakeland man.

The semi exited the roadway and came to a rest in a ditch, with the trailer still in the eastbound lane.

Another semi heading westbound struck some debris from the crash and came to a controlled stop.

None of the other drivers were injured.

Hydroplaning happens when road conditions are wet and the surface of the asphalt becomes slippery. The combination of moisture and oil residue on roadways can result in a very slippery surface. For drivers experiencing this, the tires of their vehicle can become separated from the road surface by a thin layer of water, and they can experience a loss of steering, as well as a loss of braking ability and vehicle control. A hydroplane crash can be catastrophic, as this case shows, and affect multiple vehicles and cause significant injuries and property damage.

May 1, 2019

7-Year-Old Boy Hit By SUV in Clearwater

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A 7-year-old boy is in critical condition at the hospital after he was hit by an SUV in Clearwater Tuesday night.

Emergency crews responded to a call at an apartment complex in the 2200 block of Nursery Road a little after 7:30 p.m. Upon arrival, officers on scene were told the boy was riding a bike in the parking lot of the apartment complex when he rode into the path of a Nissan Armada, which ultimately hit the child.

The driver remained on scene and is cooperating with the investigation, according to officials in Clearwater.

The boy was taken to Bayfront Health in Saint Petersburg and is in critical condition, according to officials.

When drivers fail to take proper safety precautions and check all areas surrounding their vehicle, parking lots can be the site of very serious or even deadly pedestrian or bicycle accidents. Larger vehicles, especially SUVs and trucks, have several blind spots, so driver’s must pay extra attention to their surroundings. There are far too many preventable accidents that occur every day when driver’s do not take a few extra seconds to check out the area before beginning to drive.

April 30, 2019

Pretrial Hearing Held for Woman Accused of Fleeing Scene of Accident After Suffering Seizure

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A woman, who caused a crash that killed three after she suffered a seizure, was in a wheelchair at her pretrial hearing Monday morning.

In August of 2017, prosecutors say the woman was driving over 100 miles per hour when she slammed into a Hyundai, killing a man, his wife and their 8-year-old daughter.

Investigators say the woman did not stick around after the crash. She fled the scene, but did not make it far.

Police caught up with the woman a couple of miles from the crime scene.

While being questioned by detectives, she allegedly said she takes anti-anxiety medication for her seizures.

She was emotional after the crash, even breaking down during a bond hearing.

Fleeing the scene of an accident, or hit and run, is a very serious criminal offense. Under Florida state law, drivers are required to stop and exchange information or render assistance when they are involved in an accident that causes property damage or bodily injury. Even though it is against the law to leave the scene after an accident, data from the AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety shows that 11% of all car accidents involve hit-and-run drivers.

When a driver flees the scene of an accident, they leave behind victims without taking any responsibility for their actions. Our Tampa Bay Auto Accident Attorneys at Whittel & Melton regularly file personal injury and wrongful death claims on behalf of those injured or killed in hit-and-run accidents. We can answer any questions you may have regarding your legal options following an incident involving a fleeing driver.

April 26, 2019

Florida Senate Green Lights Texting While Driving Bill, With Changes

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A bill to make texting while driving a primary offense in Florida is closer than it has ever been to the governor’s desk.

The Florida Senate voted 33 to 5 Thursday to pass the House version of the bill, (HB 107) substituting it for the Senate version, which was broader and prohibited using any wireless communication device.

However, the Senate added an amendment to the House bill that would ban the use of any wireless device while in school zones or work zones. The Florida House will now have to decide what to do with the amended version of the bill.

The bill is the closest Florida has ever gotten to allowing law enforcement to pull over drivers for texting while driving. Currently, texting while driving is a secondary offense, which means officers need another reason to pull over a driver in order to cite them for texting while driving.

If the bill passes the Florida Legislature and is signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, it would go into effect on July 1.

Texting while driving has been identified as the most dangerous form of distracted driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 480,000 drivers use cell phones while driving every day. These devices create a huge potential for injuries and fatalities to drivers, passengers, and everyone else sharing the road.

The truth is that most drivers underestimate the time it takes for a car accident to happen. When you are travelling 55 mph, in a matter of just five seconds – the approximate amount of time it takes to read a text – you will have travelled the entire length of a football field. Serious collisions can happen in as little as three seconds.

April 23, 2019

Distracted Driving Everpresent on Florida Roadways

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

Lawmakers, law enforcement and families who have faced the danger of distracted driving firsthand are urging all Florida drivers to put the phone down while behind the wheel.

At least 233 Floridians were killed by distracted drivers in 2018, according to data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The Florida Highway Patrol says, on average, distracted driving accounts for more than 1,000 crashes in our state every week.

Under current Florida law, texting while driving is only a secondary offense. That means drivers can’t be pulled over for texting alone.

Some, are trying to change that, and Florida’s laws could soon change.

Even though Florida does have a statewide texting ban in place, many people continue to engage in the behavior. Distracted driving is defined as any activity that could take a driver’s attention away from the primary task of driving. While texting behind the wheel is considered the most dangerous distraction, others include:

Talking on the phone
Eating and drinking
Talking to or interacting with passengers
Personal grooming
Reading maps
Watching videos
Adjusting a radio or other audio player
Using a navigation system

April 22, 2019

Clearwater Beach Testing Driverless Buses

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A driverless bus for tourist pickups on Clearwater Beach is in the planning for testing on Mandalay Avenue, according to the city.

The City Council agreed during a recent work session to write a letter of support for the demonstration of a 12-passenger, self-driving vehicle along Mandalay. The letter will be included in an application for a federal grant to run the project.

The federal government in December announced $60 million in grants to entities that test the “safe integration of automated driving systems” into the nation’s road systems.

The proposed test, a collaboration between the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, engineering firm Stantec and the city, would run between October and January, before the height of the winter tourist season kicks in.

The proposed one-mile test route would run a loop from the Pier 60 area north on Mandalay to Juanita Way. A technologist monitoring the onboard systems can grab the wheel to go around stopped delivery vehicles and avoid other mishaps.

Onboard cameras will constantly record surrounding traffic and all incidents.

The Clearwater police and fire departments are on it on the project, too and have discussed using a lot adjacent to Fire Station 46 at 534 Mandalay Ave. to serve as a staging area for the vehicle, which resembles a small, square bus.

The location provides electricity to recharge the vehicle at night and access to wireless Internet, which lets researchers download data collected by the vehicle’s systems during the day.

Wifi is vital to the driverless vehicle trials on public roadways. Two competing systems are being tested in the country: One would have driverless vehicles depending on sensors along the route to guide them; the other system constantly downloads data into the vehicle to avoid collisions and make such decisions as where to turn and where to stop.

There are limits to the vehicle’s abilities, however.

It runs about 12 mph, and to ensure it runs all day without a recharge, the route it follows can’t be longer than a mile and it also can’t negotiate the traffic circle on Clearwater Beach.

The buses can still get in accidents. That’s what happened on the first day the Navya bus was tested in Las Vegas, according to city officials.

A delivery truck driven by a human driver backed into the shuttle just a few hours after a city ceremony launching the test in November 2017.

According to extensive media reporting on the incident, no one on the bus or in the truck was injured. Las Vegas Metro Police cited the delivery truck driver, and said the French-built, self-driving vehicle was not at fault. City officials wrote that the “shuttle did what it was supposed to do, in that its sensors registered the truck and the shuttle stopped to avoid the accident.”

Driverless cars or autonomous driving vehicles are no longer a thing of the future. They were designed with cameras, sensors, artificial intelligence and algorithms to replace human drivers and eliminate human error, which is one of the leading causes of truck accidents, car accidents and bus accidents. However, like everything else, nothing is perfect and these driverless cars can be involved in collisions. Because driverless car accident lawsuits are relatively new, these claims involve thorough investigation to determine liability and a tenacity to initiate a new venture when it comes to pursuing justice for accident victims.

April 3, 2019

Man Charged in Deadly Hit-And-Run in St. Pete

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

A 48-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for a deadly hit-and-run crash that occurred on March 16, in downtown St. Petersburg.

According to police, a Ford F-150 truck was traveling northbound on 28th Street North crossing Central Avenue when it hit a pedestrian.

The pedestrian, identified as a 74-year-old man, suffered serious injuries and died on March 28 at Bayfront Health.

Officials said the driver of the truck failed to return to the scene after a witness told him he struck a pedestrian.

Police were able to catch up with the driver more than 35 blocks away, however, he was not arrested until March 31.

He has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death.

Sadly, many people are injured or killed in hit and run accidents every year throughout the Tampa Bay area. The driver causes a collision, knows they are at fault, and flees the scene in the hopes of avoiding the serious consequences of causing an accident. Our Pinellas County Pedestrian Accident Attorneys at Whittel & Melton can help if you or a loved one has been the victim of a hit and run accident.

After fleeing the scene of an accident, a hit and run driver, when found, is subject to both criminal penalties and civil liability. Even if the at-fault party is never identified, victims of hit and run accidents or their families may be able to recover compensation from their own insurance companies.

Uninsured motorist (UM) insurance covers injuries caused by unidentified hit and run drivers. We can help you use UM insurance to secure financial compensation for medical costs, property damage and other losses.

March 28, 2019

Family of Woman Killed by Garbage Truck Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Tampa

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

The family of a woman hit and killed by a garbage truck last year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Tampa.

The complaint asks a circuit court to find the municipality liable for the negligence of its truck driver.

The 65-year-old woman was on her morning walk on Davis Islands when she was killed by a waste management truck that was backing up in an alley.

The complaint outlines that the truck was reversing without working backup lights, and that there were no beepers or alarms that might have helped the woman know it was coming.

The lawsuit asserts that as a result of the accident the woman’s family had to pay medical and funeral expenses, and suffered “mental pain and suffering” because of her death.

Wrongful death cases allow families to seek financial compensation from the negligent party for damages suffered after the loss of a loved one. Generally, family members who are entitled to bring a wrongful death lawsuit include a surviving spouse and/or surviving children.

Wrongful death claims can be complex in the state of Florida, which is why we urge family members interested in pursuing compensation to seek competent legal representation from our Tampa Bay Wrongful Death Attorneys at Whittel & Melton. Without an experienced lawyer on your side, you are likely to receive far less than you are owed. If you choose to settle with the insurance companies involved, you may be barred from pursuing any future claims.

Our team at Whittel & Melton has several decades of experience representing the families of wrongful death victims in the Tampa Bay area. If you choose to work with us, we will make sure that you receive the just compensation you deserve.