Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
A 1-year-old in Daytona Beach has died after being hit by two cars while chasing family pet Wednesday, police say.
Officers with the Daytona Police Department responded to calls shortly before 8:30 p.m. about a child with “severe injuries.”
The child had allegedly bolted from the home after the family dog had escaped. The child ran into oncoming traffic and was hit by one car followed by another.
The child was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.
Information about who was with the child at the time of the incident or whether the drivers were speeding was not immediately available Thursday.
The investigation is ongoing.
Leesfield & Partners
In nearly five decades of personal injury practice, Leesfield & Partners has handled just about every incident that can occur on the road. From trucking crashes causing serious injuries and death to a negligent school bus driver who put children in danger, resulting in a boy’s serious injuries, Leesfield & Partners’ attorneys are dedicated to securing the best possible outcome for each client.
The firm has secured well over $$295,482,575 in motor vehicle incidents on Florida roads in 48 years, including a record verdict of $95 million for a family who lost their daughter and whose son sustained permanent injuries after a drunk driver hit them going down the wrong side of the road on I-95. The family in that case was headed to the airport to take their daughter to her medical school’s orientation. The driver had been negligently overserved as the result of the negligence of a popular Miami bar.
The son’s injuries following the crash were so severe that he can no longer speak, requires a wheelchair and round-the-clock care. This was the largest verdict in Miami-Dade County history of its kind and, at the time of litigation, was the fourth-largest verdict in state history for a motor vehicle accident case.
In nearly five decades of personal injury law, Leesfield & Partners’ skilled attorneys have represented drivers, clients and pedestrians alike. Through innovative trial strategies, sharp investigative skills and a profound understanding of the law, Leesfield & Partners relentlessly works to achieve exceptional results.
Previous Cases
Previously, the firm obtained an $8.5 million settlement following a $27 million arbitration award for the family of a young woman who was killed by a pickup truck driver while trying to cross the street. The woman, a wife and mother of two, was visiting Florida from her home in Toronto, Canada, when she was crushed by a pickup truck. The driver in that case claimed to not have seen her.
In the case of a woman who was walking back to her office following a midday break, Partner Justin B. Shapiro secured the maximum recoverable amount set forth in the defendant’s insurance policy limits. The woman was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk when a pickup truck driver made an illegal left turn, claiming to not have seen her. Injuries to our client included skull fractures and brain hemorrhages in addition to injuries to her left leg.
A $6 million settlement was secured for the client in that case.
In another pedestrian-involved case, Leesfield & Partners obtained a $2.9 million recovery our client who was injured due to a driver’s negligence.
The firm settled a pedestrian case in which our client was hit while walking on the sidewalk by a driver who was distracted by a cellphone. That case was resolved with a $1.5 million settlement.
In a fatal pedestrian case, Leesfield & Partners secured over $1.3 million for a driver’s negligence.
In another case that was handled by Mr. Shapiro, a confidential settlement was obtained for a minor who was hit by a speeding car while trying to cross the street to board his school bus. In that case, the minor was hit and severely injured by a distracted driver after his school bus driver instructed him to cross the street. Our minor client was waiting at the corner of the intersection just after 6 a.m. to wait for the school bus.
While it was pitch-black outside, the driver stopped in the middle of the road and turned on the vehicle’s flashing lights before signaling for the waiting children to cross the street where there was no designated crosswalk. Trusting their school bus driver, the group of children began to cross the street. A speeding driver then hit our client, causing him to be knocked unconscious and needing to be airlifted to the hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a traumatic brain injury.
Not only should the speeding driver have taken more care, but an investigation by Leesfield & Partners revealed that the school bus driver was in violation of state law by failing to ensure there was at least 200 feet of visibility in the direction of oncoming traffic. She also failed to stop in the lane that was the furthest to the right and instead stopped in a middle lane, leaving the children vulnerable to this kind of incident.
Crashes in Florida
In Florida, there have been approximately 103,678 crashes since the start of the year with 3,028 pedestrian-involved crashes. Of these crashes, about 161 pedestrians have been killed as of mid-April. In 2024, the state had 380,902 crashes with over 10,400 pedestrian-involved crashes. Nearly 700 pedestrians died in Florida in 2024.
In Miami-Dade County, where Leesfield & Partners first opened its doors in 1976, there have been over 15,400 crashes with 549 pedestrian-involved crashes and at least 12 pedestrian deaths in 2025. The year before, the county saw nearly 60,000 crashes with over 1,800 pedestrian crashes and 75 pedestrian fatalities.
In Volusia County, where this incident took place, there were just over 9,000 crashes in 2024. Of those crashes, 105 people were killed and more than 5,600 were injured. Pedestrians made up about 300 of those crashes and at least 18 pedestrians were killed, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ Crash Dashboard.
In 2025, there have been nearly 2,500 crashes in Volusia County. About 28 people were killed and nearly 1,800 others were injured. Of these crashes, 91 involved pedestrians and resulted in the death of at least four pedestrians.
