Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
A 12-year-old maneuvering an all-terrain vehicle ran a stop sign, causing a deadly crash with a car in Louisiana, police say.
Emergency responders were called regarding the crash around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. The minor who was driving was accompanied by three passengers — ages 10, 6, and 4 — at the time of the incident. None of the children were wearing seatbelts, police said.
The 12-year-old allegedly ran a stop sign and collided with a car.
The 6-year-old, whose name has not been released as of Monday afternoon, died at the hospital from his injuries. The 10 and 12-year-olds were critically injured. The 4-year-old had minor injuries. No names or additional information was immediately available.
Police in Alexandria, the city where the crash occurred, released a statement reminding the public that ATVs are illegal on city roads and are a “recipe for disaster.”
The investigation is ongoing.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners is a personal injury law firm with over five decades of experience handling personal injury cases on Florida roads. With offices in Miami-Dade County, Orlando and Key West, our attorneys have secured numerous record verdicts and settlements throughout the state. One such case includes a $95 million verdict, the largest for a car accident in Miami-Dade County history and the fourth largest in the state.
In that case, a family was on the way to the airport to drop off their daughter so she could travel to her medical school’s orientation when they were hit head-on by a drunk driver. The driver in that case was speeding down the wrong side of I-95 after having been overserved at a popular Miami bar. The family’s daughter was killed in the accident. She was 23.
The family’s son, also in the car, suffered catastrophic brain and orthopedic injuries that left him needing a wheelchair and unable to speak. Due to the severity of his injuries, he required round-the-clock care.
A jury awarded $57 million to the son and $38 million to the parents.
“The result in this case shows what hard work and creative lawyering can do for clients with devastating injuries,” said the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield. “Along with co-counsel Aaron Davis, we are happy to settle with two defendants and to obtain this record verdict for them.”
Additionally, Leesfield & Partners attorneys obtained over $36.9 million for a family whose life was forever changed following a fatal motor vehicle crash.
In addition to auto and motor vehicle accident cases, Leesfield & Partners attorneys have decades of experience handling ATV accidents.
Previous Cases
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that there are about 100,000 ATV-related injuries requiring emergency room visits in the U.S. annually. Of these ATV incidents, approximately 650 people died, the data showed.
Children are particularly at risk of dying or being injured in ATV accidents, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. One out of three ATV deaths and injuries requiring emergency room treatment involves a child under 16 years old.
“In the large majority of children’s deaths resulting from the use of an ATV, the child was not wearing a helmet,” Leesfield & Partners said in a previous blog post.
Children are especially vulnerable in these crashes because of their lack of experience operating such a vehicle and a lack of judgement that can result in them taking bigger and more dangerous risks. This is why Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, has vehemently opposed ATVs being marketed as “toys.”
When that was happening, Mr. Leesfield set out on litigating ATV accident cases across the country, resulting in more than $10 million of verdicts and settlements obtained on behalf of children. In many of these cases, the children had been gifted these vehicles as holiday and birthday gifts.
Previously, the firm settled an ATV products liability case for $5 million, causing a ripple effect throughout the entire industry. This case was one of several handled by the firm that highlighted the instability of these three-wheeled vehicles. As a result, the ATV industry abandoned their previous design and added a fourth wheel.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys were obtained to represent the family following the tragic death of their teenage daughter following an ATV crash. The girl, 15, was riding a recreational vehicle when she was killed.
The firm secured a $4.5 million settlement for the negligent entrustment of a recreational vehicle to a minor and the failure of the responsible parent to supervise the children.
Leesfield & Partners previously handled a cruise ship excursion case in which multiple people were injured in an ATV incident. In that case, a rollover crash occurred on a cruise-sponsored shore excursion, causing serious injuries to multiple passengers.
The firm settled the case for over $1.2 million.
If you or a loved one was involved in an ATV incident, don’t wait. Call a Leesfield & Partners attorney today at 800-836-4900 for a free consultation.
