Car Accidents

Excessive Speed a Factor in Horrific Crash That Killed Family on Way to School Play

July 12, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The family of four was on their way to a school play at a local high school. They were just minutes from it starting. Meanwhile, a 20-year-old driving a turbocharged BMW was heading home after picking up some Chinese takeout for his family. He was traveling at a mind-bending 115 mph – 70 mph over the speed limit on the Maryland road.

The crash was described by The Washington Post as “thunderous.” The BMW struck the Chevrolet Volt at a broadside angle. Although horrified onlookers tried valiantly to rescue the family in the Volt – uprooting a metal sign so they could fight to pry the door open, smashing the rear car window and a doctor who crawled into the car to try to administer medical attention – three of the four inside perished. The sole survivor lost her mother, father and her 18-year-old brother, her only sibling, in that crash. She suffered life-threatening injuries, but ultimately survived.

Meanwhile, the driver of that BMW was in hysterics nearby. “It’s all my fault!” he could be heard screaming. Continue reading ›

Wrong-Way Crashes Curse Florida Roads

July 7, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Wrong-way crashes are becoming a serious problem on Southwest Florida roadways, and The News-Press recently explored this issue on both a micro-level and from a statewide perspective.

As The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) noted in its 2012 investigation into the issue, wrong-way driving tends to have very serious consequences – in fact much more so than other types of dangerous driving behaviors. Although it occurs relatively infrequently – about 3 percent of all accidents on high-speed, divided highway accidents – drivers are 27 times more likely to be killed in wrong-way crashes than in other types of accidents.

Local media picked up on the issue after a series of high-profile wrong-way crashes in Southwest Florida. One of those included a teenager killed in a Lehigh Acres car accident in which a wrong-way driver struck her head-on. Continue reading ›

Deputies: Distracted Driving Kills 7-Year-Old in Fort Myers

July 2, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The family of a 7-year-old girl is reeling from an unfathomable loss after she was struck and killed by an alleged distracted driver in front of her Fort Myers home.

It happened near her father’s house on Jupiter Road, where she was riding her tricycle.

The suspect, a 27-year-old man also from Fort Myers, was reportedly driving his work van, which belongs to a local roofing company. Witnesses told Lee County Sheriff’s deputies the driver, a relative of the girl, was distracted and waving to family members when he struck the girl. Authorities later discovered an open container of alcohol inside the work van, but investigators do not believe the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash. However, he did not have a license. Continue reading ›

Allen v. Montalvan – Florida Car Accident Settlements Involving Minors

June 30, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Motor vehicle accidents are known to be the No. 1 killer of children in the U.S. under the age of 14. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates every year that more than 1,100 children are killed and 167,000 are injured in traffic crashes.

So it makes sense that a fair amount of car accident settlements would involve minors as interested parties. Florida law requires that anytime there is a settlement with a gross amount that meets or exceeds $50,000, the court must appoint a guardian ad litem to ensure the child’s interests are protected. This is outlined in F.S. 744.3025(1)(b). The law also allows the courts to appoint a guardian ad litem in any case for personal injury, property damage or wrongful death that exceeds $15,000 if the court believes it’s necessary to protect the minor’s interests. However, once that gross amount hits $50,000, the appointment is mandatory.

This was a sticking point in the recent case of Allen v. Montalvan, before Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal. This was a tragic case in which a grandmother was killed while her two children (one adult) and two minor grandchildren were injured when a drunk driver slammed into their vehicle. The passengers, including the underage children, all suffered varying degrees of personal injury. Continue reading ›

Collier County Jury Awards $5M in Fatal Marco Island Crash Lawsuit

June 24, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A Collier County jury recently awarded $5.1 million the family of a 91-year-old woman killed in a Marco Island car accident caused by a man reportedly traveling 77 mph in a 30 mph zone before running a stop sign in November 2013.

The civil judgment comes almost exactly one year after the conclusion of the criminal case, in which the defendant, also from Marco Island, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. This was just one year less than the maximum 15 years he faced on the charge of vehicular manslaughter. Defendant had three prior DUI arrests and two tickets for excessive speeding. He was not charged with DUI manslaughter in this instance, prosecutors say, because only one official at the scene detected signs of impairment that might warrant a blood draw. Without that evidence, proving defendant was drunk at the time of the fatal crash was nearly impossible. Nonetheless, the criminal court judge apparently wasn’t swayed by his pleas for leniency that pointed out his participation in half a dozen charitable golf outings annually. His attorney asked for a maximum of three years. The judge gave him nearly five times that.

At the civil trial, plaintiffs attorneys presented evidence that defendant had consumed five shots of liquor and three beers in the hours just before the crash. A bartender at the establishment defendant had earlier patronized testified at trial. Continue reading ›

Car Accident Victim Awarded $1.2M From Own Auto Insurance Company

June 17, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A car accident victim in New Jersey has just been awarded $1.2 million from her own insurance company after fighting for years following a 2013 crash with an uninsured driver.

Why would one need to battle their own insurer?

It’s especially common in Florida, a no-fault state when it comes to insurance. That means the first $10,000 paid out to car accident victims is through personal injury protection (PIP) benefits. PIP benefits cover 80 percent of your reasonable medical expenses related to the accident, 60 percent of wage losses and $5,000 for death benefits. When you are seriously injured, your damages are inevitably going to exceed that.

Also in Florida, 25 percent of drivers do not have insurance. That is 1 in every 4 motorists you pass on the road. Even those who do carry insurance are only required to maintain $20,000 in bodily injury liability insurance. That is probably not even going to scratch the surface of your medical bills in a bad wreck. So what option do you have at that point? Uninsured/ Underinsured Motorist Coverage (also sometimes written UM/ UIM coverage). Continue reading ›

Kotlyer v. Metro Casualty Insurance Co. – Florida Car Accident Default Judgment Improper

June 4, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal recently weighed the issue of whether it was proper to grant default judgment against the owner of a vehicle in a car accident lawsuit when there had not yet been a determination on the liability of the alleged negligent driver.

The court’s answer: No.

Beyond that, the court determined the insurance company seeking subrogation in this action, Kotlyer v. Metro Casualty Insurance Co., had wrongly characterized the damages as “liquidated” when in fact they were “unliquidated.” The reason that matters is that courts can’t issue a default judgment without a hearing on unliquidated damages because a hearing is required to determine the exact amount. No hearing had been granted in this case before the judgment was rendered.

A default judgment is a binding judgment in favor of one party on the basis of some failure to take action by the other party. In most cases, default judgment is issued when one party fails to respond or appear before a court of law. Continue reading ›

Florida Texting and Driving Law Lacks Leverage

June 2, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

It’s common knowledge that distracted driving is dangerous. Yet that doesn’t seem to deter Floridians from injuring and killing each while distracted by smart phones or other technology.

A recent analysis by The Palm Beach Post found that between 2012 and 2015, the number of distracted driving crashes in that county spiked 30 percent. That’s according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. It’s worth pointing out that those distracted driving accidents are only the ones about which we know. Almost certainly, the numbers are much higher because distraction at the time of impact is not easily measured or often reported.

“No one is going to tell (the cops), ‘Hey, I was on the phone,’ or ‘I was texting and driving and caused that crash.’ That’s not going to happen,” said Florida Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton. Slosberg and some of his colleagues have been pressing for a tougher Florida texting and driving law that might serve as an effective deterrent. Continue reading ›

Fatal Fort Myers Truck Accident Involves 7 Vehicles

May 29, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A seven-car pileup in Fort Myers on Summerlin road killed one and injured several others after a semi-trailer truck rear-ended a passenger car, setting off a fiery chain-reaction crash.

Officials with the Florida Highway Patrol were investigating the details, but The News-Press reported all vehicles involved were traveling northbound on Summerlin Road near Winkler Road in South Fort Myers. All were in the process of slowing down for impending traffic congestion, as it was shortly before 4 p.m. They included a tractor-trailer ruck, two vans and four cars.

The tractor-trailer truck driver reportedly failed to stop in time for the traffic ahead of him. He slammed into a Town Car. That vehicle was driven by a 70-year-old man. A 38-year-old woman was riding in the rear passenger seat of that vehicle. The Town Car burst into flames. The 38-year-old woman, from Iowa, died instantly. Continue reading ›

Trotter v. Harleysville Ins. Co. – Auto Insurance Policy Limits Per Person, Vehicle

May 27, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Auto insurance policies all carry limits, which specify the maximum insurer will pay per person who is injured and how much it will pay for the entire accident.

So for example, a policy with a $125,000 per person limit and a $250,000 per accident limit will pay a maximum of $250,000 – no matter how many people get hurt. So the fewer victims there are, the more they stand to receive – up to the per-person limit of $125,000. However, if three people are injured and each of their injuries are equal and exceed $125,000, the most each stands to receive under that policy would be $83,333.

But as in any policy or contract, the language must not be ambiguous. Any ambiguity in a policy should be skewed in favor of the plaintiff. Continue reading ›