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Sometimes drivers fail to bring their vehicles to a complete stop for a variety of reasons, such as going too fast for the conditions, brake failure, stuck accelerator pedals, and bunched up floor mats jamming the pedals. As it turns out, driver error is typically the cause of most runaway vehicles.
Now, soft drink bottles are another driver error factor to add to the list. Recently, a Bradenton resident was driving on Ninth Street East and could not bring her vehicle to a complete stop. The reason? A coke bottle fell from her hand and got wedged underneath the brake pedal.
As a result, 28-year-old Dustin Dennis Krum, of Bradenton, was critically injured when Brandy Nicole Fransworth, 34, ran her Lincoln Navigator into the back of his motorcycle. This Bradenton motorcycle crash caused Krum to be thrown from his 2006 Honda Italia bike and taken to Blake Medical Center in critical condition.
The Florida Highway Patrol cited Fransworth for careless driving after they learned a soft drink bottle was the reason she couldn’t bring her vehicle to a stop. When drivers eat and drink or do anything else that distracts them from driving safely, they can injure innocent motorists in the process.
Drivers need to refrain from eating and drinking at the wheel and smooth out their floor mats—ensuring the mats are secure—in order to avoid serious Bradenton motorcycle crashes. If for some reason, drivers cannot get their vehicles to stop, they should shift to neutral or park in an emergency in order to get their cars to slow down and reduce the seriousness of an impact.
If you have been injured in a motorcycle crash because another driver failed to stop, you have rights to compensation. Contact a Sarasota motorcycle injury attorney today at Mallard Perez for a free initial consultation at 888-409-3805.
