West Palm Beach Legal Blog

When two vehicles collide, the force of impact often results in serious injuries to drivers and passengers alike. In a head-on crash, the injuries are often fatal. In the early morning hours of a recent Wednesday, a fatal auto accident occurred on a Florida highway in Panama City.

Both of the vehicles involved in the head-on crash were Ford Fusions. One of the drivers had been traveling in an eastbound direction moments before the collision. Investigators are still working to determine what may have caused the vehicle to veer out of its lane into the westbound side of the roadway.

If you suffer injury on the job in a Florida workplace, you might have to take time off work during recovery. Depending on the severity of your condition, you might not even be able to return to the workplace at all. Whether you have moderate to minor or more serious injuries, the workers' compensation program is in place to provide you means to obtain financial assistance to help cover injury-related expenses and to replace lost wages. You also may qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits in certain circumstances.

Upon initiating a workers' comp claim, you may be one of many injured workers who encounters challenges in the system. Your employer or an insurance agency might seek to deny the claim. This does not necessarily mean you don't qualify for benefits.

Florida workers who deal with heavy equipment or large, commercial vehicles are constantly at risk of suffering workplace injuries. While an office can also suffer injury, those who work in construction, use machinery or drive trucks during the workday typically have a greater chance of being involved in a workplace accident. Workers' compensation benefits provide financial relief to injured workers during recovery, as well as to spouses or immediate family members in cases where an on-the-job accident resulted in a worker's death.

A work accident occurred in another state when a man was working on the hopper at the rear of a garbage truck. The hopper, or compactor, is the rear part of a garbage truck where trash is compressed by a machine to make room for more garbage inside the compartment. On a recent Monday, a man who had been employed by a particular trash company for a long time was killed when something went wrong as he was carrying out his duties at the rear of a garbage truck.

As we get deeper into summer, more people will head outside as a way to have some fun. Walking can be both a form of transportation, as well as done for leisure and exercise. 

However, walking does not come without its risks. One of the biggest associated risks occurs when pedestrians are in close proximity to vehicle traffic. Far too many people lose their lives in a pedestrian accident involving a motor vehicle every year. However, some areas of the nation pose a higher threat than others. A study done last year found the 20 deadliest cities for pedestrians, and almost half of them are located in Florida.