The American Medical Association supports such laws, calling text messaging while driving “a public health risk.” The National Safety Council calls the use of a wireless communications device while driving “one of the most significant distractions that affects driving performance.” Even the recent Will Smith movie “Seven Pounds” addressed the dangers of text-messaging while driving.

Opponents, however, point out that text messaging isn’t the only distraction that drivers face. People also drive while eating, drinking, listening to the radio, talking to passengers and reading. They argue that existing laws already address such careless driving behavior.

Our firm has seen its share of cases involving persons who were injured as a result of negligent drivers sending text messages or dialing while driving. I’m happy to see the Florida Legislature doing its part to address this dangerous situation.

Last month, a Marion County jury awarded her $2.7 million in compensation for her medical injuries and lost earning capacity. This is a significant dollar award for Marion County and illustrates the jury’s attentive deliberations in delivering a personal injury award commensurate with the defendant’s negligence and the extensive injuries that have drastically changed our client’s life. The award also sends a strong message to others who may deliberately or unintentionally run stop signs that the consequences of their action can be devastating both personally and financially.

Our firm represented the man’s widow to recover damages resulting from the wrongful death of her husband. In December 2008, a Polk County jury awarded her $3 million. This case sends an important message that the consequences of drunk driving can be devastating both personally and financially.

The truck driver was so distracted by his cell phone that he left the roadway entirely and collided with the school bus that was stopped on the side of the road. The truck driver’s negligence caused the death of a 13-year-old girl and left four other students in critical condition. Car accidents and fatal car crashes involving drivers using cell phones are on the rise in Florida and around the country.

In Orlando last year, 525 car accidents were linked to red-light running. The city is installing 10 red light cameras at seven intersections around the city and come Sept. 1 will begin fining red light runners $125 for the first two offenses, then $250 for subsequent ones.

Drivers who run red lights cause car accidents that result in preventable death and injury to others. I commend the National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running for its efforts to prevent these types of car accidents.

Florida’s road can be a dangerous place, making it more important than ever to purchase as much uninsured motorist protection insurance coverage (UM) as possible, including the option of purchasing stacked coverage. Many people do not appreciate the significance of UM coverage until they are involved in a car accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver. Without UM coverage, there is no way to recover for the loss.

In response, this year’s NHTSA “Click It or Ticket” seat belt enforcement campaign, which began on May 19, will focus on nighttime seat belt use when the odds of being killed in a car crash are three times greater.

Too often, our practice sees the catastrophic results when unbelted drivers and occupants are involved in car crashes. The lesson learned from the vast majority of these cases is that serious injury and death can be avoided by making seat belt use a habit for both drivers and passengers.

“Seat belt use among young drivers and occupants is not what it should be, especially at night when the risk of dying in a crash triples,” said NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason. “Clearly, we need to do more to make people of all ages understand that – whether traveling by car, SUV or truck – a seat belt is the best way to stay alive, day or night.”

In Florida, it’s the law. Governor Jeb Bush signed the “Move Over Act” in 2002, requiring drivers to slow down and move over when approaching an emergency or law enforcement vehicle stopped on a highway in Florida. Five deaths and 419 injuries occurred on Florida roadways between 1996 and 2000, caused by motorists crashing into working law enforcement vehicles stopped along Florida roadways.

In addition to the loss of human life, traffic accidents cost American motorists $164.2 billion per year, more than double the costs for traffic congestion, according to a new report released by AAA this month. The report titled Crashes vs. Congestion: What’s the Cost to Society? demonstrates that traffic safety issues warrant increased attention from the public and policymakers.

If there were two jumbo jets crashing every week, the government would ground all planes until we fixed the problem” said Darbelnet. Yet, we’ve come to accept this sort of death toll with car crashes.

Unfortunately, the reality is that car accidents do happen and they can change the lives of people forever. I whole-heartedly agree that we need to implement laws that enhance road safety, such as AAA’s support for a national safety goal to cut surface transportation fatalities in half by 2025. While the per person cost of traffic accidents is staggering, I would surmise that those figures are less that one percent of the revenue generated by the automobile industry which has largely floated our economy in the 1950s and decades thereafter.

This is a classic example of the auto industry covering up a known defect in the hopes that it would not be discovered. Unfortunately, this unreported defect took the life of a young man and left loving parents mourning the death of their son.

Government agencies do not have the money or manpower needed to effectively police the U.S. auto industry. As a result, dangerous vehicles are allowed to enter the marketplace. In this case, the vehicle had done poorly on crash tests yet was allowed to go on the market. Then, Mitsubishi replaced the model halfway through the year without communicating the defect to the thousands of people who owned the earlier model. Product liability cases such as this are the only way to force the auto industry to change.