South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog
Each and every year, there are more than 12,000 Florida residents who die in car accidents, falls, domestic violence, work-related accidents, burns and other accidents in Stuart City and elsewhere.
These numbers, recently released from an injury report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America’s Health, conclude that Florida ranks in at number 18 in the country for death by injury, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The report, “The Facts Hurt,” looked at the fatality rates of each state and determined which one’s residents were most likely to die in. It also looked at what preventative measures were being taken and which could be taken to help to keep residents and visitors safe.
In the state of Florida, about 67 out of every 100,000 Floridians are killed each year in preventable accidents, such as motorcycle accidents, drunk driving, falls, domestic violence and drug overdoses. Nationwide, states average about 58 fatalities for every 100,000 residents. Males account for about 70 percent of these fatalities.
Our Stuart City injury attorneys understand that the loss of anyone is emotional. Unfortunately, these fatalities cost the state a little more than sadness. They rack up a tab of nearly $120 million in total lifetime medical costs. Luckily, the report also put forth some suggestions for how each state could help to improve their numbers to help keep residents alive. In addition to saving lives, the report’s suggestions could help to prevention millions of injuries every year too.
Of the suggestions to make states safer for everyone, Florida already has six of them. What our state is lacking is tougher breathalyzer and ignition interlock laws, tougher motorcycle helmet laws, our state failed to meet the American Academy of Pediatrics standards for kids’ car and booster seats in cars and we should have been working harder to break the cycle of teen dating violence.
In our state, laws already require motorists to wear seat belts, for riders to wear helmets while driving bicycles and we also had a prescription drug monitoring system. We earned some bonus points in the study for those, but it still wasn’t good enough.
In comparison to other states, Florida ranked about in the middle for preventative measures. California weighed in at number one for these, holding down 9 out of the 10 preventative measures. Its strict laws and aggressive enforcement that help to keep residents alive and well.
Motor-Vehicle Accident Preventative Measures:
-Seat belts were able to help save nearly 70.000 people from 2006 to 2010.
-Motorcycle helmets saved an about 8,000 lives between 2005 and 2009.
-Kids’ car seats saved nearly 2,000 kids from 2005 to 2009.
•Sobriety check-points helped to cut alcohol-related accidents by about 20 percent.
If you or someone who is close to you has been injured or killed in an accident in Stuart City, Hallandale, Royal Palm Beach, Pompano Beach or elsewhere in the area, contact the personal injury lawyers of Freeman, Mallard, Sharp & Gonzalez, LLC to set up a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights. Call 1-800-561-7777.
More Blog Entries:
Child Injuries in Margate and Elsewhere: Focus of New NHTSA Campaign, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog, April 24, 2012
Car Accidents in Parkland Likely Caused by Cell Phones, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog, April 11, 2012