Times reports that being most recent death of Leonardo Llana on March 3, 2009, is the third fatality on to exit ramp according to the Florida Highway Patrol. This young man died when his car lost control and struck the exit’s outside wall. Two years ago, a tanker truck driver died on the same ramp when his truck crashed and exploded. In 2001 a motorcycle rider also died at the scene and when his bike struck the wall.  This exit needs to be carefully evaluated by the Department of Transportation to ensure that there are no design defects causing these tragedies.

The previous post revealed findings by the Insurance Research Council. IRC stated that 1 in 6 drivers on U.S. roads will be uninsured by the year 2010.  The recent study by Allstate Insurance reveals nearly 1 out of 4 drivers on Florida roads do not have automobile insurance and that number will continue to increase as the economy worsens.

According to this study, twenty three percent of Florida drivers on the road in 2007 were driving without insurance. As these numbers continue to increase, we are all at a greater risk for being involved in an accident with an uninsured motorist, should an accident occur.

The correlation between our state’s unemployment rate and the percentage of uninsured motorists underscores the need to check your policies and make sure you have the coverage you can afford. If you need additional information, request a free copy of James W. Dodson’s consumer guide, Buying Car Insurance-The Ultimate Guide to Your Protection from Irresponsible Drivers in Florida.

Sheriff Deputy Ed Hale was involved in a collision at Stickney Point Rd. and Albert Place when a car jumped the median and crashed head on with his cruiser, at 2:45 am on Feb 10, 2009. The article in the Herald Tribune reports Hale suffered minor injuries. The identity of the man who was killed was not immediately released. However, the Florida Highway Patrol says the deceased man was not wearing a seat belt. I have written another article which discusses the most dangerous times to drive which can be found HERE.

The “aggrieved class” included customers who purchased certain cosmetics between May 29, 1994 and July 16, 2003. The settlement required the companies to give $175 million of free cosmetics “for as long as supplies last” beginning Jan. 20th.

The article’s writer went to a department store only to find the free supplies had lasted only days! Her point, however, was the lawyers who filed the suit were paid $24 million while the settlement benefited an insignificantly small number of the aggrieved class, who had allegedly been wronged.

I fully understand the value of class action lawsuits which have clearly served a larger good. For example, companies causing soil and water pollution come to mind, when no individual plaintiff could afford to take on the company. In such cases, they were exactly as designed.

The cases, however, which dominate the news, are ones like this cosmetic case or one involving toothbrush manufacturers- where the aggrieved class gets a new toothbrush while the lawyers receive millions of dollars. Everyone has their pet example since most of us receive notice regularly that we are a member of some aggrieved class, which some lawyer is suing for our alleged benefit.

This is another example of the doctrine of “unintended consequences.” The drafters of the class action laws, I’m sure, never intended them to be used to enrich lawyers, while the affected parties received a few cents. Unfortunately, it plays into the hands of the tort reformers who argue our system is broken.

I am opposed to broad tort reform; we have certainly had enough of that in Florida. However, unless these types of class action suits are limited, we may lose large ground in the tort wars as these cases are trumpeted as evidence to bolster the reformers agenda.

Apparently, cyber crooks are moving into their sites to search for passwords (phishing) and stealing sensitive personal information. Many of these attacks carry malicious malware and come from messages that look like they are from a friend or urge you to link to something which sounds interesting.

The companies are aggressively working to protect their customers. At the same time, we need to be as vigilant on their sites as we would be on any other site. Everyone is not your friend out there.