Car Accidents

Cooperation With Auto Insurer Paramount to Approval of Claims

August 31, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

If you are involved in an auto accident in Florida, it’s important to contact an attorney before you give any more than basic information to your auto insurer. Your attorney can negotiate the claim on your behalf. A lawyer can also advise you of your obligations as an insured – and this is extremely important when it comes to ensuring your claim will be covered.

Your coverage is contingent upon meeting the contractual obligations in your policy. If you fail to hold up your end of the bargain, your claim could be denied.

Several insureds learned this the hard way in a recent case out of Kentucky. Continue reading ›

8th Circuit: Designated Driver Not Held to Higher Standard of Care

August 28, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

All drivers are required to use reasonable care in protecting passengers as well as other motorists from foreseeable harm. That means operating the vehicle in a reasonably safe manner.

Some drivers may have a heightened duty of care. Primarily, these include common carriers, such as bus drivers. It does not, according to a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, include designated drivers. Such drivers are members of the group who agree to abstain from drinking alcohol or taking drugs in order to be able safely to drive others in the group, thus avoiding a potentially tragic drunk driving accident.

In the case recently before the Eighth Circuit, the trial court in North Dakota applied a higher standard of care to the sober designated driver – something statutory and case law did not support. This fact was especially important here because of the way that state approaches comparative fault. Here in Florida, we follow a pure comparative fault model, per F.S. 768.81. This means even if a plaintiff is deemed 99 percent at-fault for an accident, he or she can still collect on the other 1 percent (though an attorney would have to weigh carefully the wisdom of pursuing a case with such long odds). However, many other jurisdictions do not allow plaintiffs to recover if they bear 50 percent or more of the fault burden. Continue reading ›

8th DCA Reinstates $1M Jury Verdict Favoring Car Accident Victim

August 26, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

We trust the vehicles in which we rely on daily to be properly tested for safety. Unfortunately, too many auto manufacturers and makers of auto parts fail to adequately test these machines. When they fail or there is a vehicle defect, the consequences can be catastrophic personal injuries.

Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit reinstated a $1 million jury verdict in favor of a car accident victim rendered quadriplegic after his seat belt failed to prevent his head from striking the roof of the vehicle in a rollover crash. These types of product liability cases should be explored anytime someone is in

According to court records, the crash occurred five years ago when plaintiff driving a van collided with a boat that was being towed by another vehicle. At the time, plaintiff was driving his two sons and eight other people on a return trip to St. Louis following a Boy Scout camping trip in Minnesota. The initial impact of the crash didn’t cause significant damage. However, the van plaintiff was driving swerved and rolled at a relatively low-speed. Plaintiff was wearing his seat belt, but still slid far enough out of the seat for his head to connect with the roof of his van, dislocating his neck and severing his spinal cord. Nobody else in the vehicle was seriously hurt. Continue reading ›

GEICO Liable to Cover Wrongful Death Damages After Insured Absconded, 3rd DCA Rules

August 19, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A recent decision by Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals upholds the liability of auto insurance company GEICO in covering damages awarded to plaintiffs who won a $15 million verdict against GEICO’s insured.

The case is a tragic and complicated one, and despite the commonality of Florida auto accident claims, how complex they can sometimes be when it comes to disputes with insurers. That’s why it’s so critical that claimants seek top quality legal counsel to represent them in such cases.

The case began with events that occurred in March 2011 in Miami. Court documents revealed defendant driver was operating his mother’s vehicle when he slammed into a cluster of other vehicles on the shoulder of I-95. The other motorists had just been involved in a minor chain-reaction crash set off when one vehicle clipped a stalled vehicle that was parked in an emergency lane. A total of seven cars were involved in the initial crash. People had exited their vehicles and were waiting on police to arrive when defendant swerved from the express lane, slammed into a concrete barrier and then crashed into the crowd. He instantly killed four people and a fifth died several days later of severe personal injuries. Continue reading ›

Fort Myers Car Accidents: Damages Exceed PIP Coverage

August 4, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Florida law establishes strict requirements for auto insurance, including requiring all drivers to carry a type of coverage called personal injury protection, or PIP. Per F.S. 627.736, this PIP coverage provides up to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits and $5,000 in death benefits resulting from bodily injury, sickness disease or death arising from the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle. This applies to crashes, regardless of who is at-fault.

When lawmakers established Florida as a “no-fault” state, the goal was to make it easier to obtain fast coverage for injuries suffered in a crash – even if the other driver didn’t have insurance – and to reduce the burden on the court system.

However, our accident lawyers know that while there are some benefits to this PIP system, the problem is far too many victims who have suffered serious injuries are denied benefits, or else they are offered settlement “deals” that are far less than the actual losses they suffered. Plus, there are a number of exclusions. Still, the only way a person can step outside the boundaries of PIP is to meet the threshold of injury as outlined in F.S. 627.737. Continue reading ›

Venus Williams’ Florida Car Accident: The Tricky Business of Determining Fault

August 2, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Initial investigation of a fatal South Florida car accident involving tennis star Venus Williams resulted in law enforcement’s conclusion that Williams was at-fault. However, new video evidence – specifically, surveillance footage obtained form a nearby community just south of the Palm Beach Gardens intersection where the crash occurred – led police to walk back their original findings.

Although Williams is listed in a defendant by decedent’s widow, who was also in the vehicle at the time of the crash, police now say it was Williams who was cut off by another vehicle upon entering the intersection. This in turn set off a chain event crash that within seconds resulted in a fatal collision with a third vehicle that critically injured a 78-year-old man who died two weeks later.

His estate, represented by his bride of 33 years, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Williams, alleging Williams was negligent and seeking damages for medical and funeral expenses, pain and suffering, lost earnings, loss of companionship/ consortium and funeral expenses. Although Williams has expressed her “devastation” over the incident, her attorney insisted from the beginning that she was innocent, traveling only 5 mph when she entered the intersection with a green light.

The case underscores how determinations of “fault” in Florida car accidents may not always be a simple, straightforward matter. Eyewitnesses to the very same events can emerge with a different accounting of what happened. Experts must work to piece together what they can with accident reconstruction methodology and technology, but even that sometimes is subjective. Absent clear video footage of the crash – and even that sometimes doesn’t tell the whole story – the truth of what happened may be obscured. Continue reading ›

Court Affirms $11M Defective Vehicle Verdict

July 15, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

An $11 million verdict stemming from a claim of a defective vehicle resulting in a fatal crash was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Among the plaintiffs were family members of decedents, as well as one of the drivers, who was originally convicted of vehicular homicide. That conviction was later vacated after the vehicle manufacturer began recalling vehicles for the same defect involved in this case – unintended acceleration.

The three-judge panel ruled unanimously in favor of plaintiffs, who alleged the vehicle malfunctioned, leading to three deaths and the driver’s imprisonment.

At trial two years ago, driver was found 40 percent at-fault and vehicle manufacturer deemed 60 percent at-fault. Total damages were set at $14 million, but that was reduced to $11 million based on damages obtained in previous settlements with other defendants. That $11 million will be divided among plaintiffs. Continue reading ›

Court Rules ‘Good Samaritan’ Can Receive UIM Auto Insurer Benefits

July 12, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

You may recall several months ago in Fort Myers the case of the a North Fort Myers mother who lost her legs after a horrific collision on I-75 when she pulled over and assisted the victim of a previous car accident. She survived the crash and has since returned to work, though she will require ongoing treatments and assistance.

A very similar situation occurred several years ago in Rhode Island and now, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has decided that the Good Samaritan victim in the crash is entitled to collect underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage from the insurer who provided a policy for the vehicle in which she was a passenger prior to being struck. Insurer initially denied the UIM claim, asserting victim was not “occupying” the insured vehicle at the time of the crash, and therefore was not entitled to coverage.

While the trial court agreed with defendant insurer, the Rhode Island Supreme Court vacated, holding plaintiff was entitled to recover UIM benefits under the terms of the policy. Continue reading ›

Holiday Driving: Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day Among the Deadliest

June 18, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

People think of summer driving as easy sailing: Clear skies, downtime and road trips.

Unfortunately, some of the most popular summer holidays are also incredibly dangerous on the roads. In fact, a new study by Value Penguin ranks all major holidays by their potential for a fatal crash. No. 1 on the list was Memorial Day, followed by Labor Day at No. 2 and 4th of July weekend at No. 3.

This is a bit jarring for some because people generally associate holidays like New Year’s Eve as being the deadliest. In fact, it’s the summertime holidays – when the weather is nice, more people are outdoors, many people are drinking and teens/ young adults are off school that are the most hazardous. Continue reading ›

Injury Attorneys Must Often Fight for Underinsured Motorist Benefits

June 9, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

UM/ UIM benefits (uninsured motorist/ underinsured motorist) are extended to insureds who are injured by someone without insurance or without enough insurance to cover their injuries.

In a no-fault auto insurance state like Florida (see F.S. 627.7407), the first avenue of recovery for damages is one’s own personal injury protection (PIP) benefits. One can receive up to $10,000 in PIP benefits, which cover 80 percent of one’s medical bills and 60 percent of lost wages. However, one can only receive $2,500 unless they can prove emergency care was medically necessary (per a recent legislative change), and they can only pursue compensation from the other driver if they can show their injury is sufficiently serious/ disabling.

But just because you have UM/ UIM coverage doesn’t mean getting it is a cakewalk. More often than not, insurers will try to offer low-ball settlement agreements or sometimes deny your claim outright. That’s what happened in a recent case before the Michigan Supreme Court (also in a no-fault insurance state). Continue reading ›