Florida Construction Injury Lawyer: Car Accidents in Construction Zones Can Be Prevented

Brandon Stein

By: Brandon Stein

As a North Miami lawyer that helps those injured at or near construction sites, highway car accidents often occur when safety precautions are not properly followed. Highway construction is perhaps the most dangerous type of roadway construction for workers to perform. Drivers rarely obey highway speed limits, couple that with highway construction without proper safety measures taken, and you have an accident ready to happen.  Being a lawyer in South Florida with all of the highways throughout this state, I have come to recognize that highway construction accidents are prevalent — leading to injured drivers.  And this is not only limited to Florida highway construction car accidents.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) and Federal Highway Administration publish statistical tables pertaining to car accidents occurring at or near construction sites.  Here in South Florida, highways are often times the roadway of choice, thus Florida drivers must be cognizant of the startling statistics revealed by the U.S. DOT.

In 2010, the most common cause of highway car accidents had been due to rear-end collisions.  As a North Miami lawyer that helps those injured from car accidents at or near construction zones, this statistic is not shocking to me.  In fact, nearly half of the car crashes studied by the Federal Highway Administration were rear-end collisions at or near active construction sites.

These percentages dropped drastically for sideswipe collisions, fixed-object collisions, and other types of car crashes.  In my humble opinion, after helping several victims injured due to car and truck accidents near construction sites, rear-end collisions are most frequently due to tailgating by the other driver.  Simply stated, tailgating lessens the reaction time that a driver has to traffic traveling at a slower pace around a construction area.

Unfortunately, on highways and roadways in Florida, local police and highway patrol do not strictly enforce drivers keeping their distance from the car in front.  If there is one message that Florida law and authorities must stress to drivers: Slow Down when traveling through construction zones and keep your distance from the vehicle traveling in front of you.

If you or someone you know was injured in a construction site accident or car accident please contact our Florida Lawyers today.