Blog - Zweben Law Group

December 2, 2011

Click It or Ticket – Florida Seat Belt Law

The Stuart Police Department conducted a Click It or Ticket campaign from November 15 -November 27, 2011. During this twelve day campaign, police officers issued 296 seat belt citations. A Seat Belt study conducted immediately after the campaign found that 79% of drivers wear their seat belts, up 6% from a study conducted prior to the campaign. Under Florida law, individuals are required to wear both a lap belt and a shoulder harness. Children under the age of 5 are required to ride in a government approved child safety seat. Even though many argue that it is no big deal […]

December 13, 2011

To Sign or Not to Sign

Let’s face it, today’s economy is bad. Many people have had to find creative ways to cut back and lower costs. One such way is individuals who are seeking to obtain a divorce are choosing to go through the divorce process without hiring an attorney. Although this can be done successfully, it must be done with great caution and care. Emotions run high during a divorce, even when the divorce is uncontested and both parties want to obtain a divorce. It needs to be understood that decisions made during the divorce process will affect both spouses for the rest of […]

December 13, 2011

Teen Drivers

According to the Center for Disease Control, car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the United States. Each year, over 5,000 teens between the ages of 16 and 20 will die due to fatal injuries caused by a car accident and approximately 400,000 will be seriously injured. In Florida alone, there were 29,482 crashes involving teen drivers of which 153 teenagers were killed in 2009. Teenagers account for approximately 10% of the entire United States population, but account for 12% of all fatal car crashes. Researchers give several reasons for this unnerving statistic. First, teenagers tend […]

December 17, 2011

Ban on Texting While Driving

On December 13, 2011, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that all drivers be banned from texting and placing hands-free calls. The NTSB wants all states to enact laws that would disallow all non-emergency phone calls and texting by all drivers. Currently, nine states have enacted a ban on the use of hand held phones while driving including: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington, along with Washington D.C. and the Virgin Islands. Thirty-five states have banned texting while driving including Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, […]

December 28, 2011

Slip/Trip and Fall Accidents

A slip/trip and fall is the single most cause for emergency room visits in the United States. The Center for Disease Control estimates that over one million Americans suffer from a slip and fall injury each year. Out of that number, it is estimated that 20%-30% will suffer moderate to severe injuries such as serious bruising, hip fractures, or a head injury. Slip and falls are the number two cause of death and disability, following behind automobile accidents. Over 17,000 people die each year from slipping and falling. Under Florida law, property and business owners are accountable for maintaining safe […]

January 4, 2012

Children Born to Unwed Parents

In recent years, the negative stigma of children born to unwed parents has faded significantly and it is now considered socially acceptable to have children outside of a marriage. This is a noteworthy change from even twenty to thirty years ago. According to the Kids Count Data Center, in 2009, nearly half, 47.7% to be exact, of children born in the state of Florida were born to an unwed mother. As for the Treasure Coast and surrounding areas, in St. Lucie County 48.9% of children were born to unwed mothers, in Martin County 46.4% of children were born to unwed […]

January 16, 2012

Helmet Use Prevents Injuries

Johns Hopkins Study Finds that Helmet Use Helps Prevent Injuries In 2009, in Florida, motorcycle fatalities accounted for 15.6% of all traffic fatalities. According to a new study conducted by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle does in fact reduce a person’s chance of suffering from cervical spinal injuries and traumatic brain injuries. This new study debunks the long standing belief that helmets actually increase the likelihood of spinal injuries. Researchers studied information from more than 40,000 motorcycle collisions between 2002 and 2006 and found that helmet wearing motorcyclists were 65% less likely […]

January 27, 2012

Study Finds an Increase in Number of Injuries to Pedestrians Wearing Headphones

Last Monday, the Injury Prevention Journal published a study titled Headphone Use and Pedestrian Injury and Death in the United States: 2004\2011. According to this new research from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center, serious injuries to headphone wearing pedestrians have more than tripled in the last six years. The researchers reviewed 116 pedestrian injury cases from 2004 to 2011 where it was documented that the injured pedestrian was wearing headphones at the time of the accident. Based on those cases, researchers determined that: Seventy percent of the accidents resulted in death […]

February 9, 2012

Proposed Changes to Florida’s Alimony Laws

New legislation has been proposed in both the Florida House of Representatives (H.B. 549) and the Florida Senate (S.B. 748) that would make considerable changes to Florida’s Alimony Laws. If approved by the Legislature, these changes could result in significantly lower alimony payments.Some of the major changes proposed by House Bill 549 include: Capping alimony awards at 20% of the payor’s monthly net income over the last 3 years of the marriage.Defining the length of a long term marriage as 20 years instead of the current 17 years.Limiting the maximum time duration for alimony based on the length of marriage […]