Orange County

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles compiles auto accident data from across the state and charts trends from these data on an ongoing basis. The most recent accident data on the DHSMV site is from 2009 and shows a drop in the crash rate for Orange County. Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham and other Central Florida auto accident lawyers welcomed the news but caution that the accident rate in Orange County is still dangerously high. From a statistical standpoint, Orange County is the fourth-most dangerous county in the state for auto accidents, behind Miami-Dade, Broward and Hillsborough Counties.

All of the top four counties registered lower auto accident rates from 2008 to 2009, which is good news, but much remains to be done to make Florida roadways safer for everyone. Accident rates in Miami-Dade County dropped 1.7 percent from 43,376 accidents in 2008 to 42,244 in 2009. Broward County showed a more modest 0.8 percent drop from 26,417 accidents in 2008 to 25,957 in 2009. Hillsborough County registered a dramatic 10 percent drop in accidents from 20,162 in 2008 to 18,168 in 2009. Finally, Orange County’s accident rate fell from 16,712 in 2008 to 16,092 in 2009, a drop of 3.9 percent.

Any drop in the auto accident rates in Florida is good and very welcome, given our state’s ranking near the top in the country for total number of auto accidents and people injured and killed each year in these accidents. However, Mr. Cunningham would like to remind readers that these numbers are still unacceptably high, and each of 2009’s 16,092 auto accidents in Orange County represents lives that have been altered and lost. Indeed, those accidents claimed 142 lives that year, and 66 of those people were killed in accidents involving alcohol.

If you or a close family member has been hurt in an auto accident caused by a negligent driver, you have a right to seek damages to help pay medical bills, replace lost time at work and compensate you for pain and suffering and other damages. If you want to learn more about your legal options and speak with an experienced Orlando personal injury attorney, call James O. Cunningham today at 888-425-2004 or 407-425-2000 to schedule a free consultation.

Florida Highway Patrol officers are requesting that those who may have seen a recent fatal hit-and-run pedestrian accident come forward with any information they may have. Accident investigators say that the accident occurred near the intersection of Semoran and Old Cheney Highway in east Orange County. They say an adult male pedestrian was crossing Semoran east-to-west when he was struck and killed by a black Jeep Wrangler. They say that after the jeep struck the man, the driver immediately fled the scene to avoid taking responsibility.

The pedestrian was taken to Florida Hospital for treatment but died of his injuries shortly after arrival. FHP troopers say that charges are pending in the accident, which remains under investigation. They are asking anyone who may have witnessed the accident or knows anything about it to call the Florida Highway Patrol at 407-737-2213 or Crimeline at 407-423-8477.

Since he began practicing law in 1977, Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham has seen the Orlando metropolitan area grow significantly in size and population. He has also seen the number of pedestrians injured and killed in pedestrian accidents climb steadily over the years and the metro area become the nation’s most dangerous for anyone walking or biking along roadways. Regular readers of this blog will know that a report issued last year named our area the worst in the country for pedestrian accidents after years of steadily increasing and tragic accident statistics. There are many reasons for this ignominious distinction, including the following:

• Infrastructure designed for automobiles
• Very large intersections
• Lack of sidewalks
• Large number of drivers who run red lights
• Talking and texting on cell phones while driving
• Intoxicated drivers
• Drivers who deliberately try to intimidate pedestrians and bicyclists

Pedestrians who survive being struck by an automobile often face a very long and expensive road to recovery. That is one of the many reasons why so many injured people choose Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham to help them seek damages against the negligent driver who injured them. Mr. Cunningham has a proven record of success, gives each client and case the individual attention they deserve and works hard to help clients receive the fair and just compensation they need to pay medical bills and recover from their injuries. If you would like to speak with Mr. Cunningham in a free consultation, call him today at 888-425-2004 or 407-425-2000.

Orange County officials are planning to install as many as 80 additional red light cameras at dangerous intersections throughout the county over the next two years, but they are holding off on installing them until Florida legislators make a decision about them slated for next spring. Currently, there are ten red light cameras in place in Orange County, which were installed after lawmakers approved the cameras and the $158 fines for running red lights. The use of the cameras was approved in recent years, but a bill in the Florida House last spring proposed eliminating these cameras. The bill did not pass, but opposition to the life-saving cameras remains strong, and Orange County officials want to make sure red light cameras laws will remain legal before investing in their installation.

Orange County commissioners mentioned that if red light cameras remain legal in Florida, they plan to add 40 new cameras in each of the next two years. They said that the focus would be on adding them to busy state roads in the area, with State Road 535 and Colonial Drive among the first new installations. Officials stressed that moving forward with the additional red light cameras was contingent upon what state lawmakers decide next spring.

“We don’t want to invest in more cameras with the prospect that the Legislature will rescind them,” one said.

Just how big is our county’s problem with drivers disobeying traffic signals? Consider that in the last six months, red light cameras in Orange County have generated $738,000 in fines from nearly 8,400 citations, with the state taking around half of that revenue and the county receiving $396,000. Of that dollar amount, the county plans to invest $282,000 in managing the red light camera system and honoring its contract with the vendor that sells the cameras. County officials say that the $114,000 that remains will be spent on improvements to make area roadways safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. The intersections of John Young Parkway at Central Florida Parkway and West Oak Ridge Road at Texas Avenue have generated the most citations, with each intersection averaging 87 citations a week.

If nearly 90 citations for running red lights from one intersection each week sounds alarming, that’s because it most definitely is alarming and profoundly disturbing. It makes no sense at all that drivers continue to value their time more than they do the lives of other people sharing the road, but that is essentially what they are doing. It is senseless, reckless and incredibly negligent. If you or someone in your family has been injured in an accident caused by someone running a red light and you want to learn more about your legal options, contact Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham today at 407-425-2000 or 888-425-2004 to schedule a free consultation. Please exercise extra care when entering an intersection after the light has changed.

Auto accidents are the leading cause of death for young people aged 16 to 20, but some forward-thinking people in Orange County are trying to change this fact. The Florida Safety Council announced recently that high school students in Orange County would be able to apply for free driver training. This free training will include six hours of behind-the-wheel driving lessons in traffic and driver education classroom courses.

“We actually take them out to the expressway. We don’t cut them loose until they’ve driven in traffic on I-4 and the 408 expressway,” said Glenn Victor, Florida Safety Council spokesperson.

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