November 24, 2010 – Lake Worth, FL – A 78-year-old woman died November 16 after she was in a traffic accident that involved 3 vehicles at an intersection with a malfunctioning traffic light in Lake Worth, according to authorities.

Virginia Murray, who lived in the suburbs of Lake Worth, was traveling in a Lincoln sedan where Kirk and Lake Worth roads intersect. The 1992 Lincoln and a Dodge pickup truck collided at that intersection around 11:45 a.m., The Palm Beach Post reported.

Authorities are not sure whether either vehicle had stopped, but the Palm Beach County sheriff’s Office has confirmed that a traffic signal wasn’t working during the crash.

After the Lincoln and the 2006 Dodge collided, the Lincoln was thrown off course and barreled into the path of a 2007 Dodge SUV.

Murray was transported to Atlantis for treatment at JFK Medical Center. She died at the hospital.

Minor injuries were sustained by William Murray, 40, who was driving the Lincoln; Faustino Gonzales, 59, of Lantana, who was driving the pickup truck; and Dinorah Leon, 72, of Wellington, who was driving the SUV.

According to a police report, charges might be filed.

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ 2009 Traffic Crash Statistics Report, there were 197,214 traffic crashes resulting in injury and 2,563 fatalities as a result of vehicle accidents in Florida.

As a service to the residents of South Florida, our firm will frequently publish blogs about local traffic accidents. We do this to raise awareness about the common types of motor vehicle accidents that occur in South Florida that may result in serious injury or traffic fatalities.

Common accidents include, but are not limited to:

• single-car accidents;
• accidents caused by hazardous road conditions; and
• accidents caused by distracted drivers or aggressive driving.

If you have been named in this blog or you are the victim’s family member or friend and would like the blog posting removed from our website, please feel free to contact us and we will promptly accommodate your request.

November 24, 2010 – South Florida – Aggressive driving and road rage are growing issues in South Florida, particularly on heavily traveled roadways like Interstates 95 and 75.

A story from SunSentinel.com details issues related to the apparent rise in road rage. According to a 2007 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aggressive driving has increased 51% in the past 2 decades and was a factor in two-thirds of vehicular fatalities. Additionally, Florida was among the most notorious states for aggressive drivers.

Additionally, a 2010 survey conducted by GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test revealed that 25% of drivers in Florida are likely to fail the written driver’s license exam. 

Two incidents on November 15 underscore some of the issues of aggressive driving and road rage in South Florida in particular. The first incident was on I-95. According to Hollywood police, Don Shaul Cohen, 18, of Plantation, suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder, which led to him crash his Chevy Tahoe. 

Several hours after the I-95 incident, there was another incident near Miami Lakes on I-75. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Vahid McLaughlin, 37, of Weston, shot Itamar Silva, 40, of Virginia, who was en route to the airport.  Raphael Cardozo, Silva’s nephew, was driving. 

Police said road rage led the men to exit their vehicles and fight on I-75, at which time Silva was shot with a .40 caliber gun. Silva has been hospitalized and McLaughlin faces an attempted murder charge. 

The SunSentinel.com story details other cases of aggressive driving and road rage in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties:  

• In 2008 – road ranger Yves Rho witnessed 2 vehicles cut off one another and race on I-95 in central Broward County. The race ended when one driver sideswiped the other and took off, Rho said. Although he has never witnessed motorists exchange gunfire, Rho said he has seen violent tailgaters leaning on the horn and cutting off drivers.
• In July 2010 – a teenage driver in Lake Worth had a heated verbal exchange with a motorcyclist. The teen attempted to hide, but the motorcyclist, who was armed, found him and shot twice. The gunshot wounds led to a 2-day hospital stay.
• In August 2010 – shots were fired from an SUV in south Broward County. The target: a Greyhound bus with 25 passengers en route to Orlando. FHP has not called that incident road rage.
• In 2009 – Samuel Ferguson, 47, of North Miami, was fatally shot from another vehicle on Florida’s Turnpike near Griffin Road. Davie police are still investigating.

Alexander Annunziato, an FHP lieutenant, said road rage has increased in the past decade. In Miami-Dade, he said, the FHP receives about 15 cell phone calls each shift from frightened drivers reporting aggressive motorists.

Authorities say the best thing to do is breathe deeply and drive away when a motorist tries to provoke you.

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ 2009 Traffic Crash Statistics Report, there were 197,214 traffic crashes resulting in injury and 2,563 fatalities as a result of vehicle accidents in Florida.

As a service to the residents of South Florida, our firm will frequently publish blogs about local traffic accidents. We do this to raise awareness about the common types of motor vehicle accidents that occur in South Florida that may result in serious injury or traffic fatalities.

Common accidents include, but are not limited to:

• single-car accidents;
• accidents caused by hazardous road conditions; and
• accidents caused by distracted drivers or aggressive driving.

If you have been named in this blog or you are the victim’s family member or friend and would like the blog posting removed from our website, please feel free to contact us and we will promptly accommodate your request.

November 17, 2010 – Delray Beach, FL – Josephine Patterson and her poodle were killed on the morning of November 5 when they were struck by a neighbor’s car in a pedestrian accident, The Palm Beach Post has reported. 

The fatal accident occurred on Mansfield Hollow Road at the community of Pine Ridge in west Delray Beach.

The 83-year-old Patterson became a widow in August, but family members and friends said she was in strong health and spirits.

Neighbors said the driver who hit her was the son of another neighbor. According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the driver was Richard Rubin, 52, and he was in a Toyota Avalon. Investigators said alcohol was not involved in the crash.

Rubin, who has 2 speeding fines on his record, was not able to be reached to comment on the accident.

Although Patterson had bad knees, she rejected offers from neighbors to take her poodle for a walk. Friends said the dog became very important to her after the death of her husband, Jim, whom she was married to for 62 years.

The couple is survived by 3 children: Sara Tambellini, 53, who lives in Delray Beach; James Ray Patterson Jr., 61, who lives in Aptos, Calif.; and Joanna Patterson, 51, who lives in Belleair.

According to the 2009 Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Traffic Crash Statistics Report, there were 197,214 traffic crashes resulting in injury and 2,563 fatalities as a result of vehicle accidents in Florida.

As a service to the residents of South Florida, our firm will frequently publish blogs about local traffic accidents. We do this to raise awareness about the common types of motor vehicle accidents that occur in South Florida that may result in serious injury or traffic fatalities.

Common accidents include, but are not limited to:

• single-car accidents;
• accidents caused by hazardous road conditions; and
• accidents caused by distracted drivers or aggressive driving.

If you have been named in this blog or you are the victim’s family member or friend and would like the blog posting removed from our website, please feel free to contact us and we will promptly accommodate your request.

November 10, 2010, Boca Raton, FL – An elderly man from suburban Boca Raton has died after he sustained critical injuries in an October car crash, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reported on November 4, 2010.

Ralph Lessman died on the morning of November 3 at a center where he was receiving hospice care, The Palm Beach Post reported. The 86-year-old was injured on October 20 in a collision where Central Park Boulevard North intersects with State Road 7.

The report from the Sheriff’s Office stated that Lessman was on State Road 7 southbound. As he approached Central Park Boulevard North, he turned and entered the path of a vehicle that was northbound. That vehicle, a Toyota Camry, rammed into his Honda Accord.

Lessman was transported to West Boca Medical Center, and then hospice, the Sheriff’s Office said. 

The Camry’s driver, Rashida Abdullah, 21, was not injured.

Charges have not been filed. The fatal car accident remains under investigation.

According to the 2009 Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Traffic Crash Statistics Report, there were 197,214 traffic crashes resulting in injury and 2,563 fatalities as a result of vehicle accidents in Florida.

As a service to the residents of South Florida, our firm will frequently publish blogs about local traffic accidents. We do this to raise awareness about the common types of motor vehicle accidents that occur in South Florida that may result in serious injury or traffic fatalities.

Common accidents include, but are not limited to:

• single-car accidents;
• accidents caused by hazardous road conditions; and
• accidents caused by distracted drivers or aggressive driving.

If you have been named in this blog or you are the victim’s family member or friend and would like the blog posting removed from our website, please feel free to contact us and we will promptly accommodate your request.