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10
Feb

Brother of Knicks star dies in Florida car crash

February 10, 2012

The brother of Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire was killed in a car accident early Monday morning in Florida, reports ESPN News.

Stoudemire has left the team to be with his family in Florida and missed Monday’s game against the Utah Jazz.

Hazell Stoudemire, 35, was traveling at a high rate of speed on U.S. 27 in Lake Wales, Florida, where Amar’e Stoudemire grew up. His Cadillac Escalade collided with the rear of a tractor trailer at 1:42 a.m. ET.

The report said that he was not wearing a seatbelt, and he was declared dead at the scene. Police are awaiting test results to see if alcohol was involved in the accident.

“I know he’s very close to his brother so my heart’s out for him,” the Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said on Monday, adding, “He cherishes his family; he does a great job of maintaining all the relationships. Like I said, this is just a trying moment for him.”

“My thoughts and prayers and everything’s with him,” said D’Antoni, who also coached Stoudemire in Phoenix for the first six years of his career. “Whatever time he needs to take, he’ll take, and we’ll get him back as soon as possible.”

Amar’e Stoudemire is a former Mr. Basketball in Florida and went straight to the NBA out of high school.

Read more.

The Florida auto accident lawyers at Steinger, Iscoe & Greene send our condolences to Amar’e Stoudemire and his family.

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8
Feb

Trooper hurt in one of more than 10 crashes on Tuesday in South Florida

February 8, 2012

Heavy rain and flooded roads caused more than 10 scattered crashes in South Florida on Tuesday morning, reported the Miami Herald. None of the accidents were fatalities, only injuries.

Involved in one of these crashes was a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) trooper. He was injured in a three-car accident on Florida’s Turnpike between State Road 836 and Northwest 41st Street, Miami Herald news partner CBS 4 reports.

He was taken to Baptist Hospital where authorities said he had neck and lower back pain, but is in stable condition.

In Miami-Dade, accidents exceeded the average. FHP worked on more than 10 crashes on major roads including the following:

• Westbound I-195 at Biscayne Boulevard

• Westbound 836 at Northwest 27th Avenue

• Southbound Interstate 95 at Miami Gardens Drive

• Southbound I-95 at Northwest 79th Street

• The ramp connecting I-95 and I-395

• Southwest Eighth Street and 97th Avenue

Also, a disabled bus blocked the southbound I-95 express lane at Northwest 125th Street, causing traffic to back up.

Many of the crashes came amid early downpours and slick roads. More than four inches of rain fell overnight in parts of South Florida, according to local reports.

Read more.

The Florida auto accident lawyers at Steinger, Iscoe & Greene urge drivers to slow down and be particularly cautious when the weather turns bad.

If you’ve been injured in a Florida auto accident, we may be able to help.

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6
Feb

A pair of triple-fatality crashes occur in Tampa Bay area

February 6, 2012

Roads in the Tampa Bay area turned deadly Sunday morning when six people were killed in two separate accidents, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

None of the six people who died in the two crashes was wearing a seat belt, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

In southern Hillsborough on U.S. 41 south, three fathers of young children, one 27-years-old and two 29-years-old, died after the 2001 Ford Expedition that they were in overturned and ejected them at about 3:10 a.m.

For some reason, the SUV went off into the grassy median and overturned.

All three men were thrown from the Ford onto the southbound lanes and shoulder of the highway, the patrol said. They died at the scene.

Less than eight hours later in Pasco County, a 2000 Toyota driven by a 22-year-old man of Wesley Chapel, heading west on SR 54, failed to stop for traffic, and collided with the rear of a 2008 Volkswagen, sending that car onto the shoulder. The Toyota driver continued traveling, veering into oncoming, eastbound traffic–where it smashed into a 2002 Toyota.

Three people in the eastbound 2002 Toyota, a 90-year-old woman of Zephyrhills and a 78-year-old man and his 77-year-old wife of Holland Patent, N.Y., died at the scene.

The crashes remain under investigation.

Read more.

Have you or someone you know been injured in a Florida auto accident?

The Florida auto accident lawyers at Steinger, Iscoe & Greene may be able to help.

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3
Feb

Florida highway pile up on I-75 kills 11, injures 21

February 3, 2012

Identifying the dead and injured from Sunday morning’s multiple-vehicle accidents on Florida’s I-75 has taken several days.

Two local college students were killed in the Interstate 75 accidents. A 27-year-old woman, who was a graduate of the University of Florida and Sante Fe College (SFC), and was taking a dance class at SFC, and her boyfriend, a 26-year-old student, who listed his hometown as Richmond, Virginia, and was attending college in Gainesville.

Also killed was a 22-year-old man from Williston, who had just buried his infant son on Friday. He was returning from bowling with his brother before the accident occurred.

Five members of a Kennesaw, Georgia, church died in the crashes. These parishioners were among a contingent from a largely Brazilian congregation, who were returning home to Marietta from a conference in Orlando. A 43-year-old pastor and his 39-year-old wife, and their 17-year-old daughter were killed, along with the pastor’s 38-year-old brother, and his 41-year-old girlfriend.

Also killed were a man and his wife and daughter, who were traveling to a funeral in Sarasota.

A total of 21 patients were taken to hospitals, and seven people are still in the hospital as of today.

The Florida Highway Patrol is still investigating the accidents.

The Florida auto accident lawyers at Steinger, Iscoe & Greene send our condolences to the families who lost loved ones in these horrible accidents.

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1
Feb

Death toll rises in Gainesville accidents

February 1, 2012

The death toll rose to 11 on Tuesday from Sunday’s fiery chain collisions, reports The Gainesville Sun. In addition to the 10 already reported dead, an additional victim has been located in the wreckage.

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) reported Tuesday evening that the Medical Examiner’s Office determined that another victim was in a Dodge pickup that was incinerated in the southbound lanes. The person’s identity is unknown.

Crashes in the southbound lanes involved six vehicles, including two semis, according to the FHP. One semi came to a stop in the right lane and another semi in the middle lane. A car then hit the back of the semi in the right lane, and an SUV hit the back of the car.

Then the Dodge truck hit the back of the semi in the middle lane, and a car hit the back of the Dodge. A post-crash fire destroyed all the vehicles except the semi cabs, which had been unhooked from the trailers.

Northbound crashes involved 10 vehicles, including two semis.

Alachua County Fire Rescue triaged the injured and then transported them to hospitals–if needed–based on their condition. Crews had to use electric cutting tools to be able to get some of the injured out of their cars.

Read more.

Have you or someone you know been injured in a Florida truck accident?

The Florida truck accident lawyers at Steinger, Iscoe & Greene may be able to help.