Miami Gardens, located in North-Central Dade County, is halfway between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. The city, over 20 square miles, was incorporated last year and is easily accessed via I-95, SR 826 (the Palmetto Expressway), and the Florida Turnpike. The city is home to the Calder Race Track and buzzing commercial corridors serving the auto and furniture trades.
While this activity is positive in Miami Gardens, the city is still not immune to its fair share of car accident mishaps. According to the Miami Herald, the city's most dangerous part is along Northwest 27th Avenue - between Northwest 179th and 183rd Streets. So, beware, as this is a particularly dangerous zone for drivers.
The main reason cited for the high collision rate is speeding. While part of the road has a speed limit of 45 mph, the lengthy straightaway also encourages faster speeds. Moreover, there is heavy pedestrian traffic along apartment complexes and bus stops. In some areas, poor lighting and a lack of crosswalks lead to unfortunate crashes. Some of the accidents happen when speeding cars collide with people who are attempting to cross the road.
The Miami Herald's article states, "The part of 27th Avenue near North Miami has become one of Miami-Dade County's deadliest road sections in recent years due to speed and lack of pedestrian infrastructure." It's not uncommon to see multiple fatalities along the corridor.
It helps to create clear and identifiable crosswalks, install traffic-slowing speed humps, and improve street lighting to reduce accidents. Increased speed enforcement by police can undoubtedly help as well. If you've been injured in a car accident, enlist the help of a Miami Gardens car accident lawyer to protect your rights and seek justice.
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How Careless Driving and Road Hazards Increase Traffic Deaths in a City's More Dangerous Zones
Over 90 percent of motor vehicle crashes result wholly or partly from driver error, often from careless or inattentive driving. When combined with inadequate road conditions and hazards, the potential for fatal outcomes multiplies further. Understanding and mitigating the causes of negligent driving and infrastructure deficiencies can save tens of thousands of lives annually.
Driver Inattention and Poor Decisions
Driver inattention contributes to careless driving in danger zones as well as in areas that are considered relatively safe. Drivers engaging in secondary activities reduce their observation, focus, and processing of roadway risks and events.
Reading texts, interacting with passengers, personal grooming, using mobile devices, and eating while behind the wheel all contribute to reduced vehicle control and situational awareness. Reports show that 3,522 people died as a result of distracted driving.
Many drivers also make reckless spur-of-the-moment decisions - all of which may result from speeding, following a car too close, illegal maneuvers, and not yielding the right-of-way. This happens when a driver is impatient or feels rushed because of time constraints.
Younger teenage drivers are particularly susceptible to these mishaps due to a lack of experience assessing hazards and too much confidence in their skills.
However, younger people are not totally to blame, as risky behavior is problematic across all demographics—especially when the driver is distracted, intoxicated, or drowsy behind the wheel.
Road Deficiencies and Hazards
While driver failures cause most accidents, faulty road infrastructures, and conditions dramatically influence crash outcomes and the likelihood of fatalities. Poor lighting makes pedestrians and obstacles harder to discern at night as well. Construction areas, filled with unexpected merges, confuse many drivers. In addition, bad weather renders stopping distances unpredictable.
While rural two-lane roads only account for 40 percent of the traffic in the US, they make up over 50 percent of traffic fatalities. Insufficient barriers, poor illumination, a lack of animal crossing signs, and hard-to-see shoulders increase hazards substantially.
While interstate highways allow for high speeds, they sometimes lack adequate rumble strip centerline dividers or runaway truck ramps to prevent accidents. Also, most urban intersections rely solely on colors instead of shapes, symbols, or text for colorblind drivers. As a result, many infrastructure designs fail to adequately assist drivers in being more aware of the safety hazards and risks.
Recommendations for Improvement
Implementing proactive safeguards, addressing problematic driving habits, and deficient road designs can substantially lower traffic deaths.
Research reveals that 39,508 fatal motor vehicle accidents occurred in the United States in previous years. These crashes listed 42,939 fatalities. This translates to 12.9 deaths per 100,000 people and 1.37 deaths per 100 million miles traveled.
Harsher penalties for texting while driving, including license suspensions, might be implemented to better match the seriousness of the offense. Widespread adoption of vehicle assistance systems that alert drowsy or distracted drivers may also help prevent accidents.
Likewise, relatively inexpensive infrastructure changes offer immense fatality reductions. Simply painting contrasting colors on roadside objects instantly cuts intersection fatalities. Shoulder rumble strips outside highway travel lanes also alert straying drivers to stay on the road.
Enhanced rural road markings and reflectors better identify lanes and edges during nighttime hours. Wildlife tunnels, warning reflectors, and fencing slash animal collisions significantly over time. Dangerous junctions that morph into safer roundabouts reduce casualties and promote safer speeds, which also calms the traffic flow.
The Federal Highway Administration(FHWA) states that the use of roundabouts leads to the following advantages:
- Improved safety
- The promotion of reduced speeds and traffic calming
- A reduction of conflict points
- Improved operational performance
- Better implementation of traffic condition prevention because of the roundabout's versatility in shape, size, and design.
What are the Common Characteristics of Dangerous Roads and Highways?
While no roadway is immune from accidents, clear patterns emerge regarding road segments, intersections, and other zones with consistently higher crash rates and injury severity. Understanding key traits of hazardous roadways helps drivers anticipate risks and reinforces the need for infrastructure improvements.
Dangerous By Design
The highest vehicle crash and fatality rates cluster on roads built with insufficient safeguards - given traffic speeds and volumes. For example, permitting left turns across multiple lanes inherently invites collisions. Allowing parking lot exits to funnel cars directly onto fast-moving thoroughfares defies basic safety logic.
A primary characteristic of hazardous zones involves poor initial planning and design. Unfortunately, the addition of warning signs, speed limit reductions, access controls, and highway dividers comes as an afterthought following the wake of preventable tragedies.
Simply widening roads lures faster speeds and capacity. However, planners often fail to enhance lighting, add median barriers, re-slope lanes, or deploy complementary measures that address safety rather than merely the traffic flow.
Features of Danger Zones that Spark Unsafe Driving
Hazard zones also share commonalities of environmental features that encourage unsafe driver behaviors that lead to severe collisions. For example, extremely wide straight lanes with unvaried scenery promote fatigue and speeding.
Traffic lights that leave cars sitting through multiple cycles also induce impatience and risk-taking. Ambiguous lane markings, poorly timed signals, and frequent merges perplex motorists erode orientation and require difficult split-second judgments.
Traffic Calming Solutions
Once you've crashed in a known busy or hazardous zone, you'll no doubt seek quieter thoroughfares when driving in the future.
The signs and tools used to calm traffic go beyond treating a street as a mere conduit for traffic flow. They include methods to reduce the impact of traffic volume by slowing things down. This makes navigating an area on foot, on a bicycle, or inside a car safer.
Below are some common signs, street markings, and infrastructure treatments that reduce vehicle speeds - helping drivers avoid accidents.
Speed Humps/Bumps
Speed humps or bumps represent raised pavement areas that extend across the entire roadway. They slow down drivers by forcing them to drive over uneven road surfaces. Speeds typically are reduced to under 25 mph.
Speed Cushions/Tables
Similar to speed humps/bumps, speed cushions/tables include wheel cutouts to allow unimpeded passage of emergency vehicles. They reduce speeds to around 30 mph.
Traffic Circles
Traffic circles are raised circular islands constructed in the middle of residential intersection crossings. Drivers must slow down to maneuver around them when turning.
Lane Narrowing Techniques
Curb extensions, bicycle lanes, or landscaped islands narrow travel lane widths, inducing lower and safer speeds. The visual perception of restricted space reduces problems with speeding.
Rumble Strips
Ground-in grooves or raised buttons, strips, or bars across roadways create noise or vibration - alerting straying drivers via sound and feeling sensations to slow down.
Pavement Markings
High visibility transverse strips, bars, or chevrons painted perpendicular to roads give a visual sense of speed and hazard that encourages drivers to reduce their speed.
Radar Speed Signs
Display panels alongside roadways with radar detectors show vehicle speeds that encourage drivers to check their speedometer.
By introducing some warnings and alerts above, drivers remain aware of their speed and need to slow down.
Six Reasons for Seeking Legal Help in Miami Gardens
Florida's complex auto insurance laws and strict deadlines resolve an injury claim challenge without professional legal help. An experienced Florida car accident lawyer guides victims through the post-crash claims process, evaluates a case's merits, and negotiates strongly with insurers – allowing clients to focus on recovery.
A Lawyer Understands No-Fault Insurance Rules
Like 13 other states, Florida follows a no-fault auto insurance system requiring drivers to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and property damage liability coverage. Hiring a local personal injury attorney well-versed in state auto policies helps you determine the covered expenses. An attorney also deals directly with insurers, so you'll receive a fairer payout.
An Attorney Knows How to Settle Liability Disputes
Accident cause and proportionate fault are frequently disputed, especially on busy, fast-moving highways that lack reliable eyewitnesses. Therefore, a police report provides a starting point - determining collision details and liability.
Retaining a lawyer's services shortly after a collision allows for the timely gathering of evidence before memories fade and testimonies are difficult to access. Contacting an attorney sooner rather than later is crucial for constructing a strong accident legal claim.
A Car Accident Lawyer Can Submit Your Lawsuit in the Required Time
Injury victims have only four years under Florida's statute of limitations to take legal action and sue at-fault drivers for compensatory damages. Your lawyer will begin promptly filing notices to preserve all legal recovery rights, initiate a settlement dialogue where appropriate, and prepare strong complaints against defendant motorists promptly - especially if reasonable pre-trial resolutions prove impossible.
An Attorney is Familiar with the Operation of the Courts
Should settlement talks stall and a claim enter litigation, you'll need a car accident lawyer's help navigating court procedures and processes.
A personal injury lawyer is familiar with local injury laws and judges, so they can handle the burdensome paperwork and appearances on your behalf. Attorneys translate messy legal maneuvering into simple progress updates.
Your Lawyer Will Do Everything Possible to Maximize the Cash Value of Your Claim
Documenting the full extent of physical, emotional, and financial damages after a crash is critical to seek proper restitution. However, gathering this evidence can also be difficult for distressed victims - victims who are overwhelmed with treatment plans and insurance paperwork.
An auto accident lawyer will quantify the costs of an accident claim - something they can do quite efficiently. Because they are familiar with common crash injuries and treatments, they can estimate and request compensation cumulatively aligned with current and future costs.
Therefore, the amount you request will depend on the nature of the accident, any lack of safeguards at the accident scene, and how state rules impact your case.
An Attorney Will Only Charge You Their Fee If They Win Your Case
Retaining a lawyer on a contingency basis means you pay nothing out of pocket until your case settles. Top attorneys also front the case costs for professional testimony, investigative work, and legal filings until they resolve a claim or a verdict is rendered in a jury trial.
Attorneys usually charge 20 percent to 50 percent, plus litigation costs. So, what you spend will depend on the complexities of the case. On average, attorneys request a contingency fee of 33 percent.
Contact a Car Accident Lawyer in Miami Gardens Now
Contact an attorney immediately if you experienced an accident in Miami Gardens where the other party is at fault. You can benefit from legal advice even if you think you're partly to blame.
Florida is a no-fault state. Therefore, as a driver, you must carry personal injury protection (PIP) insurance to cover your lost income and medical expenses, regardless of who is at fault in the auto crash.
Suppose you have experienced a serious injury, defined in Florida as a bone fracture, permanent limitation of a body member or organ, or significant disfigurement. In that case, you can step outside the state's no-fault insurance system and file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. Talking to a personal injury lawyer in Miami Gardens is, therefore, a priority.