Sarasota Motor Vehicle Accidents Law Blog

It is well established in Sarasota that the person who is distracted by either sending or receiving a text message while behind the wheel could be held liable for damages resulting from a car accident caused by the negligent behavior. But what about the person who was not in the car but sent the text message that distracted the driver who caused the accident?

A judge in Morris County has been asked to answer the question. In an accident that caused a husband and wife to each lose one of their legs, the sender of a text message was named as a defendant in a personal injury lawsuit. The person who sent the text message has asked the court to erase her name from the lawsuit, to eliminate the potential for liability.

Nearly two weeks ago, a 20-year-old girl got all dressed up and ready to go out for a friend's birthday downtown. She was heading west on Fruitville Road, but when she crossed the intersection at U.S. 301, a second car came out of nowhere, striking the driver's side of her vehicle.

The young girl has spent every minute since the car accident in a hospital after suffering trauma to the head, three pelvic fractures and several large cuts on her face. As doctors tended to her injuries and physical therapists helped her relearn how to use the lower half of her body, investigators have been working hard to determine exactly what caused the accident. It was reported this week that the intersection's red light camera caught the whole thing on tape.

We see it all of the time on Sarasota roadways: drivers who fail to signal a turn, decide that they just cannot wait five more seconds for your vehicle to pass before they make their turn or make a u-turn despite the giant street sign indicating that it is illegal to do so. Most of these incidents result in a hand being slapped on the steering wheel, a quick slam of the brakes or a maybe even a not-so-friendly gesture and everyone continues on their way.

This is not always the case as the family of one Florida motorcycle officer had to find out in the worst way possible. The family received a call in late December 2011 that the 53-year-old officer had died in a motorcycle accident on State Road 414. According to a report released this past week, it was the other driver's fault.

A person may talk on their cellphone and become distracted while driving, and we consider it negligence. A person may fail to see a stop sign, and the action could fall under negligence. A person may turn around to scold their children, and if a collision occurs they could be held liable under the theory of negligence.

While these types of negligence may make a person liable for injuries to another after a car accident, there are certain behaviors that reach another level because they involve a more voluntary choice. Drunk driving is one of these choices. Another occurs when a person turns an accident into a hit-and-run after leaving the scene of the crash. The driver of one of these accidents that occurred in Sarasota has recently been identified as a Bradenton man.