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Mon 9th Mar | 2015

Clark Fountain’s Settlement Results In New Guardrail On Florida Turnpike

Auto Accidents & News BY

Roadway design violation led to the tragic deaths of two young women

Florida, FLA. – Attorneys Poorad Razavi and Donald R. Fountain, Jr. of Clark, Fountain, La Vista, Littky-Rubin & Whitman, headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla., recently reached a settlement in a devastating Miami-Dade case of negligent construction that led to the deaths of two young women. The attorneys’ in-court success however resulted in the installation of a guardrail on Florida Turnpike’s southbound ramp at Northwest 41st Street in Miami-Dade County, ensuring this tragic accident does not happen to additional drivers.

In March 2012, the two young women were on the southbound ramp when the driver lost control of the vehicle and went off the roadway, crashing into a high mast steel light pole. The concentrated nature of the impacting forces of the vehicle into the pole resulted in the rupture of the fuel tank, explosion and fire, which consumed the vehicle and its two occupants.

After examining tens of thousands of pages of documentation, attorneys Razavi and Fountain discovered that the high mast pole was placed too close to the travel lanes, violating roadway standards. The pole was 16 feet away when according to Clear Zone Standards # 2.11.2, it was required to be at least 23.62 feet from the travel lanes or protected by a guardrail. If the pole had been properly placed, the accident would have been avoided.

The suit was filed against multiple defendants, including the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT); the design engineer, Reynolds, Smith & Hills (RSH); the general contractor, Community Asphalt, and various other contractors. With the case drawing so much attention to the deadly violation, FDOT recently put up a guardrail around the pole.