The Florida Legislature passed a claims bill that would compensate a former Palm Beach County basketball star for the injuries he sustained as a result of a Wellington bus accident. In Florida, if someone is injured by a state or local government agency the law caps damages at $300,000. To get the rest of the money, injured victims must find a lawmaker to file a claims bill in the Florida Legislature. There, it must be approved by both House and Senate committees. And then passed by the House and Senate and signed by the governor. As you can see, this process takes an extremely long time, and often, the injured may never get fully compensated.
WELLINGTON BUS ACCIDENT
This incident happened all the way back in 2005, and the young man is now just getting compensated for his injuries. Back in 2005, a young man by the name of Altavious Carter was a 14-year-old freshman at a South Florida high school. At that time, he was already 6 feet 4 and a standout basketball player.
On the day of the accident, he was a passenger in a van driven by his assistant basketball coach. The coach stopped at a red light in Wellington, Florida, when suddenly, a Palm Beach County School District bus traveling 48 mph plowed into them from behind. Both Altavious and his coach were wearing their seatbelt, but due the impact of the crash, they went flying to the back of the van still attached to their seats.
Altavious was then rushed to Wellington Regional Medical Center by ambulance and was eventually sent to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where they treated his injuries. As result of harsh impact of the Wellington bus accident, Altavious broke his neck and his coach was temporarily paralyzed.
At some point after this horrendous incident, Altavious hired a Florida personal injury lawyer to sue the Palm Beach County School Board for their negligent actions which left him severely injured. Eventually, Palm Beach County School Board agreed to settle the claim for $790,000. And 12 years after the accident, the Florida Legislature has finally done the right thing and agreed to compensate the young man for the terrible injuries he sustained.