highway safety - Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Florida Fails Again at Mandating Bodily Injury Insurance Coverage

Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 20:51:26 GMT

For the eighth year in a row, the Florida Legislature has considered but failed to make bodily injury (BI) insurance coverage mandatory for every owner or operator of a motor vehicle required to be registered in this state. The two bills proposed for this reason during the recently concluded legislative session failed to receive a committee hearing.

Florida and New Hampshire are the only two states in the Union that do not require all drivers to carry BI coverage.

What Florida does require is personal injury protection or PIP and property damage (PD) liability coverage in the amount of $10,000 because of damage or destruction to the property of others in a crash.

Three years ago, Florida’s Legislature passed a bipartisan bill that would have required BI coverage. Pressured by the insurance industry, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill. This year’s proposed bills addressed some of the concerns expressed by Gov. DeSantis when he vetoed the bill. Nevertheless, the insurance industry kept the bills from gaining traction.

Florida’s auto insurance premiums are among the highest in the country. Last year, HB 837 was sold by the insurance industry as a solution to the premium crisis. It was passed into law. The law compromises the rights of individuals harmed by the negligence of others. Meanwhile, insurance rates continue to skyrocket.

According to an analysis by Forbes, Florida drivers pay twice the national average for full coverage. A 2016 report commissioned by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation found that moving from PIP to mandatory BI would reduce insurance premiums on average from 5.6 to 9.6 percent, and up to 24 percent in Miami-Dade County.

Mostly because of Florida’s prohibitively high insurance rates, more than 20% of at-fault drivers will not have sufficient BI insurance to cover the losses suffered by the accident victim. See Insurance Information Institute, “Facts + Statistics: Uninsured Motorists.”

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Contact us at 305-758-4900 or by email (jgale@jeffgalelaw.com and kgale@jeffgalelaw.com) to learn your legal rights.

Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. is a South Florida based law firm committed to the judicial system and to representing and obtaining justice for individuals – the poor, the injured, the forgotten, the voiceless, the defenseless and the damned, and to protecting the rights of such people from corporate and government oppression. We do not represent government, corporations or large business interests.

While prompt resolution of your legal matter is our goal, our approach is fundamentally different. Our clients are “people” and not “cases” or “files.” We take the time to build a relationship with our clients, realizing that only through meaningful interaction can we best serve their needs. In this manner, we have been able to best help those requiring legal representation.

DISCLAIMER: This information provided by Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. is for informational purposes only and is intended to be used as a non-legal guide prior to consultation with an attorney familiar with your specific legal situation. It should not be considered legal advice or counseling. No such legal advice or counseling is either expressly or impliedly intended. This information is not a substitute for the advice or counsel of an attorney. If you require legal advice, you should seek the services of an attorney.

Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Republicans Push Sovereign Immunity for Private Companies

Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 18:12:22 GMT

This blog is the second on recent efforts by Republican legislators with the consequence of making Florida’s roads and highways more dangerous. (The first blog: Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Republican Legislators Work to Make Florida’s Roadways Less Safe.)

Section 768.28(5)(a), Florida Statutes limits the recovery against the state and its agencies and subdivisions for tort lawsuits to $200,000 per individual claim and $300,000 total for all claims arising out of the same incident or occurrence.

No matter how catastrophic and life-altering the injuries may be or whether death results from the negligence of the sovereign, this is the hard cap. It does not matter what a judge or jury decides regarding the extent of the damages.

Section 768.28(5)(a) is the outgrowth of section 768.28(1), which is a limited waiver by the state of the doctrine commonly referred to as “Sovereign Immunity.” The doctrine is derived from English common law under which the King could not be sued on the theories that he could do no wrong, and that there could be no legal rights against the authority that makes the laws upon which the rights depend. See Miles McCann, Visiting Fellow, National Association of Attorneys General, State Sovereign Immunity, Nov. 11, 2017, https://www.naag.org/attorney-general-journal/state-sovereign-immunity/(last visited Jan. 23, 2024).

In Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706, 728 (1999), the Supreme Court of the United States held that the doctrine was adopted by our country’s Founders in the Constitution itself rather than the Eleventh Amendment, solidifying its place in American jurisprudence. The doctrine is available to the federal government and every state.

Not every state chooses to hide behind sovereign immunity. California and New York, states with large populations and high costs of living and medical care like Florida, have no caps on suits against their state and local governments. Among the states using cap limits, Florida’s numbers are some of the lowest, making them a mere slap on the wrist to wrongdoers and failing to encourage safer practices and procedures.

The Florida Department of Transporation (FDOT) enters into contracts with private companies on many of its projects. The contracts require a degree of vetting to determine competence and allow for oversight by the sovereign. 768.25(5) extends the sovereign caps to these companies while performing under FDOT contracts, providing a measure of insulation not otherwise available to them on private projects. So, for example, the negligence of one of these companies on a private project resulting in catastrophic injuries could lead to a final judgment against the company for millions of dollars, whereas the same facts on a sovereign project would be limited to a $200,000 (per person) final judgment.

For two months every year, Florida’s senators and representatives meet in Tallahassee to create new laws. This year, bills were offered to extend the sovereign caps to companies that were not in privity of contract with the governmental entities. As such, they would not be vetted for competence by the sovereign or be subject to the sovereign’s scrutiny.

This is a recipe for an increase in dangerous conditions. Under no circumstances would the arrangement promote safety.

Thankfully, due to the hard work of the staff and members of the Florida Justice Association (FJA), the worst aspects of the proposed bills were eliminated or watered down.

All of the dangerous bills were proposed by Republicans.

Elections matter.

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Contact us at 305-758-4900 or by email (jgale@jeffgalelaw.com and kgale@jeffgalelaw.com) to learn your legal rights.

Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Republican Legislators Work to Make Florida’s Roadways Less Safe

Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 17:53:01 GMT

“Sine die,” the dropping of the handkerchief ceremony to signal the end of the legislative session in Florida, could not come soon enough this year for residents hoping for safer roads and highways.

During the 2024 legislative session, which ran from January 9, 2024 to March 8, 2024, Republican legislators proposed a variety of bills that would insulate trucking companies, road contractors, engineers and other contractors from liability when they make Florida’s roadways more dangerous.

Commercial Vehicles Penske Corporation, Inc., one of the largest trucking rental companies in the nation, backed legislation that would give vehicle owners, lessors, and operators immunity from liability when those vehicles were not equipped to meet industry safety standards. Florida is not the only state targeted for similar legislation.

Industry safety standards are developed from the practice of customary methods and conduct over time. In many instances, the standards are codified in statutes, regulations, and industry publications, while experts in various fields often testify based on their experience and knowledge. Evidence of violation of industry standards is admissible as non-conclusive evidence of negligence. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company v. White, 369 So.2d 1007 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). See also: St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company v. Burlison, 262 So.2d 280 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972); Clements v. Boca Aviation, Inc., 444 So.2d 597 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Nance v. Winn Dixie Stores, Inc., 436 So.2d 1075 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1983); Reese v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company, 360 So.2d 27 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978).

Sen. Travis Hutson (Palm Coast) and Rep. Randy Maggard (Dade City) sponsored bills lowering the safety standards commercial vehicle owners, lessors, and operators must meet to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (49 CFR 571) — which is only a portion of the federal regulations dealing with motor vehicles and does not include many of the safety standards that have become common industry practice. Under the proposed legislation, Penske and others would be immune from liability by showing mere compliance with 49 CFR 571, despite ignoring a wealth of tried and proven industry standards developed over millions of roadway miles.

Examples of things the bill would allow include:

A trucking company could remove or disable the forward collision warning systems that come standard in trucks, raising the risk of rear-end collisions.
Ignoring safety recalls.

Thankfully, through the efforts of the staff and members of the Florida Justice Association, the bill died.

Unfortunately, like zombies rising from the grave, these bad actors will be back. The war never ends.

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Contact us at 305-758-4900 or by email (jgale@jeffgalelaw.com and kgale@jeffgalelaw.com) to learn your legal rights.