Per Florida state law, you must have car insurance in order to drive and if you fail to have it, you could face fines or even a jail sentence.

An increasing problem, however, is that not everyone complies with the law. Especially in challenging financial times like these, the cost of car insurance keeps many drivers from purchasing the basic liability policy.  According to the results of the Insurance Research Council’s Uninsured Motorists study, which were released in April 2011, an alarming twenty-four percent of Florida
drivers do not carry car insurance. Florida is one of three states with the highest number of uninsured drivers. Across the United States, the IRC further notes, approximately one out of seven drivers is uninsured.

Knowing this, you may wonder what you can do to protect yourself and your family from uninsured motorists.  The answer is to obtain insurance coverage called Uninsured Motorist (UM)/Underinsured Motorist (UIM).

UM/UIM can pay for the following:

• Costs related to any injury you may incur when someone without car insurance causes an accident or if you are hit by a driver who flees the scene.
• Costs related to any injury you may incur when someone causes an accident but does not carry enough insurance to cover all of your costs.
• UM/UIM will reimburse you for lost wages if you have to stay home from work due to your injury.
• UM/UIM coverage pays for health care expenses before your health insurance kicks in.

Consider the fact that if you do not have UM/UIM coverage and are hit by an uninsured motorist, your only option may be to pursue the driver in civil court or small claims court, which can prove to be extremely costly and time consuming, while offering no guarantee that you will recover any compensation for the damages they caused.

An additional fact to consider is that people rely heavily on suggestions made by their insurance agents.  Insurance agents are at times influenced by financial incentives and steer clients toward certain products, coverage, and/or insurance companies.  Other times, an insurance agent may not fully explain the type of coverage clients are signing up for, leaving some drivers to believe they are ‘fully covered’ when in fact, they may only carry the basic liability policy required by law.  The term ‘fully covered’ tends to mean different things to different people and unfortunately, Florida Personal Injury Attorney Shannon J. Sagan has had the unpleasant task of breaking the news of insufficient coverage to clients.  For this reason, it is extremely important to openly discuss these topics with the public.

Do not simply accept an insurance agent telling you that you have full coverage without understanding the facets of the coverage you have and knowing that you are truly sufficiently covered.

To ensure you are well-protected, call Florida Personal Injury Attorney Shannon J. Sagan at 1-800-FLA-LAWYER today to schedule a free 30 minute insurance coverage evaluation.  If you or a loved one has unfortunately already been injured in an auto accident due to the negligence of another driver, call toll free 1-800-FLA-LAWYER today to schedule a consultation and discuss your legal rights at no cost to you.

How many of us, myself included, consider our pets part of our family?

A controversial Texas court decision has this topic at the center of some heated debates.  According to a report posted by News4Jax.com, last November, Fort Worth’s 2^nd Court of Appeals ruled that value can be attached to the love of a dog, contradicting a 120-year-old Texas Supreme Court decision that said plaintiffs could only recover the market value for their pets in wrongful death cases.

This case involved a Texas couple whose beloved dog escaped from their backyard and was taken to a local animal shelter.  The husband found Avery but did not have enough money to pick him up that day.  He was told he could return the following day and that a sign would be put up on Avery’s cage to indicate he would be back for him.  When the man returned for his dog, he had been euthanized.  The couple sued a shelter employee, claiming the employee’s negligence was what caused Avery’s death.

Until this decision, U.S. law has treated pets as personal property, limiting any recovery for the loss of a pet to fair market value with no consideration for anything beyond that.  Avery’s parents claimed that the value of their dog could not be determined by market value and they sought to recover “sentimental and intrinsic” damages. Their lawsuit was originally dismissed in trial court on the basis that it did not state a claim for damages recognized by law but the Court of Appeals overturned that ruling. This decision came in sharp contrast to the 1891 Texas Supreme Court decision that held a plaintiff could recover only the market value of a dog or the particular value of a dog’s services to the owner.

The shelter employee in this specific case has asked the Texas Supreme Court to reverse the latest decision but the court has not yet made a decision.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Florida Car Accident due to the negligence of another person, call Florida Car Accident Lawyer Shannon J. Sagan at 1-800-FLA-LAWYER today to schedule a free consultation and discuss your legal rights.

According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, Jonathon Parker, 18, was killed in a car crash resulting from racing another teen in Brooksville, Florida.  The report says 18-year-old Jonathon Parker was racing 19-year-old Paul Snyder down a two-lane road a little over a week ago.  As the teens approached oncoming traffic, troopers say Snyder made an attempt to move into the northbound lane to avoid a collision. His car struck the front left side of Parker’s car and both drivers lost control of their vehicles.

Troopers say that is when Parker’s car crashed into a tree and he died at the scene of the accident.

Authorities say Snyder fled the scene, but with the help of witnesses he was identified, contacted by troopers and returned to the scene.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Florida Car Accident due to the negligence of another person, call Florida Car Accident Lawyer Shannon J. Sagan at 1-800-FLA-LAWYER today to schedule a free consultation and discuss your legal rights.

45 year old Harold Charles Fleming, Jr. was struck and killed while on his wheelchair crossing a street near his home in St. Petersburg, Florida early last Sunday morning.

Fleming was badly injured in a motorcycle crash in 1984, just before graduating from high school, and was in a wheelchair ever since.  Family members, neighbors and friends have all spoken very highly of him saying he was always friendly, had a positive outlook and determined to take care of himself despite his physical limitations.

The 26 year old police officer who struck Fleming said he did not see Fleming who was wearing dark clothes.  Further investigation has shown that there was also a street light out in that area.

Not too long ago, there was a man operating a motorized chair in Palm Springs, Florida who was also hit by a driver who did not see him.  There are so many things to look out for when you are driving, so many things that can go wrong in a split second and various factors that can come into play.  Take your time when operating any type of motor vehicle on Florida roadways.  Getting somewhere a few seconds or minutes before is not worth risking your safety or the safety of others.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Florida Motor Vehicle Accident due to the negligence of another person, call Florida Motor Vehicle Accident Attorney Shannon J. Sagan at 1-800-FLA-LAWYER today to schedule a free consultation and discuss your legal rights.

There was a time when kids counted the days until they turned 16 and could get their driver’s license.  Times have changed.

Despite the fact that the number of Florida teens from age 15 to 19 has increased by almost 17% between 2000 and 2010 (per the U.S. Census), since 2006, there has been a 10% decrease in teen drivers in Florida.

There are no official study results to review but there could be a number of reasons for the drop:

• Increase in gas prices
• Technological advances taking the place of ‘in person’ communication (talk, text, email, IM, social media sites, etc.)
• Economy – costs related to car ownership (car, insurance, maintenance, repairs)
• Too busy with school work

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, at the start of 2006, there were a total of 793,020 drivers between 15 and 19 on Florida’s roads and by the start of 2012 that figure had dropped to 712,767.  In Broward County, there were 72,771 drivers between 15 and 19 in 2006 which has dropped to 66,649. The number of Palm Beach County teens on the road has dropped from 50,982 to 47,100 during the same time period.

According to the Palm Beach Post, a study last year by the University of Michigan found that 46.2 percent of the nation’s 16 year olds had licenses in 1983, compared to 31.1 in2008, a drop of 15.1 percent.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Florida Car Accident due to the negligence of another person, call Florida Car Accident Attorney Shannon J. Sagan at 1-800-FLA-LAWYER today to schedule a free consultation and discuss your legal rights.

Around 8:20 p.m.this past Saturday night, a man is said to have been walking directly in a westbound lane of traffic on Southern Boulevard in Wellington when he was struck and killed by an automobile.  The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office says the man may have had either alcohol or drugs in his system.

Investigators have identified the man as 38 year old Carlos R. Mateo Pascual.  His place of residence is still unknown and attempts have been made to contact family members.

The driver of the car which struck Pascual is Wilma Ivelisse Rios of Loxahatchee.  Rios was not injured in the accident.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Wellington Automobile Accident due to the negligence of another person, call Wellington Automobile Accident Lawyer Shannon J. Sagan at 1-800-FLA-LAWYER today to schedule a free consultation and discuss your legal rights.

Downtown Lake Worth and the Greater Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce invite you to the 18^th Annual Lake Worth Street Painting Festival, which claims bragging rights as the world’s largest. The 2-day event transforms the downtown streets with more than 200 street paintings sponsored by businesses, organizations, families and individuals, covering more area than any other festival of its kind in the world. Hundreds of artists converge to display their diverse talents on the asphalt – using only chalk –
in styles that range from Renaissance classicism to Cubism and Pop Art. Street performers, strolling minstrels and Mainstage musical entertainment add to the creative atmosphere. And of course, don’t miss the Festival Food Courts, accommodating culinary tastes and thirsts as diverse as the surrounding artwork.

Our team at the Law Offices of Shannon J. Sagan sponsored the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival in 2010 with a cubist tribute to music; a bright, multi-colored chalk drawing of a guitar with the words “Music is a Universal Language” wrapped around it.  This year, we are doing something a little different.

Please come out and support Downtown Lake Worth, the arts, and the community, this Saturday February 25 and Sunday February 26!

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident due to the negligence of another person, call Lake Worth Injury Attorney Shannon J. Sagan at 1-800-FLA-LAWYER today to schedule a free consultation and discuss your legal rights.

The Florida legislature has been unreceptive to texting while driving bans with the general reason given being that it would represent the government infringement on people’s lives.

There are arguments for both sides.  Jim Harper, the director of information policy studies for the libertarian Cato Institute says, “There are already laws on the books that make it illegal to drive unsafely.”  He adds, “There were accidents after they started putting cup holders in cars, but we didn’t outlaw cup holders.”

The many innocent victims involved in accidents caused by some one else who was distracted with texting adamantly disagree.

The bills up for debate would make texting subject to secondary enforcement which means a police officer could cite a driver if they have been pulled over for another violation such as speeding or running a red light.  A first violation of the texting law would result in a $30 fine while a second violation within five years of the first would result in a fine of $60, and if texting caused a car crash, the driver would be assessed six points (12 points within a year results in a 30-day driver’s license suspension).

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates the trucking industry, drivers who are texting take their eyes off the road for approximately 5 seconds.  At 55 mph, during those 5 seconds, a driver can cross the length of a football field with their eyes off the road.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a West Palm Beach Car Crash due to the negligence of another person, call West Palm Beach Car Crash Lawyer Shannon J. Sagan at 1-800-FLA-LAWYER today to schedule a free consultation and discuss your legal rights.

On November 23, 2001, a 20 year old woman decided to get in the car after having drinks in Fort Lauderdale.  She admits she had two beers and two shots and does not remember driving at all.  She was woken up by an air bag hitting her, walked across the street to make a phone call with the friend who had been in the car with her, and when she returned to the car there was a Sheriff standing next to her car.

It was at that moment, she says she saw hair coming from the bottom of her front bumper and an arm around a tire.  She had struck and killed 41 year old Patrick McDonough, a newspaper vendor for the Sun Sentinel.

Jessica Leslie, now 30 years old, says she lives with this every day.  She says contemplates suicide often and thinks of the innocent man whose life she stole just over 10 years ago.  Leslie thinks about how one bad decision had such a huge and heavy impact on so many lives.

She says, “If you didn’t know prior to hearing my story, you should know what the consequences are and for me it’s not just a matter of losing your license. It’s a matter of losing your life.”

Today, Jessica tries to make a difference by going to local schools and speaking to kids about drinking and driving, in hopes that her story will stay with them and they will not make the same mistake she did.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a South Florida Car Accident due to the negligence of another person, call South Florida Car Accident Lawyer Shannon J. Sagan at 1-800-FLA-LAWYER today to schedule a free consultation and discuss your legal rights.