Slip and Fall Accidents

Holidays a dangerous time for accidents on business property in Fort Myers

December 11, 2010 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Black Friday gets the attention, but the next two weeks are make or break time for retailers, big-box stores and area malls looking to cash in on the holiday season. Business and property owners must work at least as hard to ensure a safe environment for customers and invited guests as they do at drawing customers into their businesses with last minute sales.

Our premise liability attorneys in Fort Myers and Naples understand the common dangers faced by employees and customers of retailers through the holidays. A business or property owner has an obligation to maintain safe conditions and an environment free of common dangerous conditions like wet floors and loose handrails. When they don’t, and a customer is seriously injured, he or she can and should be compensated for their injuries, including medical bills and pain and suffering.

Even the federal government issued a warning to start the holiday shopping season, when the Occupational Safety & Health Administration issued a stern reminder to some of the nation’s largest retailers regarding their obligation to the safety and welfare of employees and customers.

“Crowd-related injuries during special retail sales and promotional events have increased during recent years,” said Assistant Secretary for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “Many of these incidents can be prevented… with guidelines for avoiding injuries during the holiday shopping season.”

Common mall accidents and injuries on business property include:

-Slip and fall injuries

-Wet floors, loose handrails, crack or uneven sidewalks, dark or faulty stairwells
-Elevator and escalator accidents
-Dark parking lots
-Negligent security/Assault on business property
-Evacuation injuries
-Merchandise falling from shelving units
-Parking lot injuries Continue reading ›

Slip and Fall Accidents Not As Simple as They Seem…

September 23, 2009 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Each year, large numbers of people, many of them elderly, are seriously injured or even killed due to a “slip and fall” accident. The Florida Department of Health reports that accidental falls are a major source of injury, permanent disability and even death for Florida residents, mostly to people over the age of 65. Approximately 53,000 residents required medical treatment or a hospital stay after an unintentional fall in 2007, and about 1,700 died as a result of their injuries.

An injury caused by a slip or trip and fall usually occurs on someone else’s property, which brings into question the property owner’s liability for the accident. The owner, or the person or company responsible for maintaining the property in proper condition so as not to cause an accidental fall, may be held legally responsible. This area of case law is referred to as “premises liability”, and many factors need to be researched and investigated to determine if there is any fault on the owner of the property.

There are several reasons that contribute to a slip and fall injury. Some may be caused by unsafe and dangerous surfaces, such as worn, bulging or ripped carpeting, uneven levels of flooring, wet floors or uneven or narrow stairwells. Sometimes the dangers are not visible to the person using the premises, such as improperly secured floorboards or wooden walkways, unsecured handrails and loose carpeting. Other injuries occur due to cracked sidewalks or parking lot pavement, an escalator that may not be functioning properly or even inadequate lighting in or near a building.

Summer heat means safety concerns at Florida amusement and water parks

June 26, 2009 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

With the dog days of Florida’s sizzling summer and the family travel season in full swing, Florida injury lawyers are urging visitors to our many amusement and theme parks to exercise safety to avoid potential personal injury.

“Whether you are visiting the world-famous resort destinations in Orlando or the local water park or community pool just around the corner, ensuring a safe summer for you and your family means following a few simple rules,” said Attorney PJ Scheiner of Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Personal Injury Lawyers.

According to the widely respected website ThemeParkInsider.com founded and edited by Robert Niles, former attractions host at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, these are the top 10 things to consider to keep your park experience safe and enjoyable:

Florida injury lawyers debut 1-800-Dial-BLS, for car accident, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents and other personal injury questions in Southwest Florida

March 1, 2009 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

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The Florida injury lawyers at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Personal Injury Lawyers, begin 2009 with a new toll-free phone number, 1-800-Dial-BLS.

Whether you are injured in a car accident, motorcycle accident, truck accident or are the victim of a drunk driving crash or other personal-injury or wrongful-death situation, representatives are available 24 hours a day at 1-800-Dial-BLS to review your case.

The firm has four decades of experience handling car accidents and other personal injury cases throughout Southwest Florida, including Fort Myers, Naples, Cape Coral, Arcadia, Port Charlotte, Venice and Sebring.

Started in 1971 by Bruce L. Scheiner, the family-run firm is dedicated to representing Florida residents who have been injured by the negligent or careless acts of other individuals, businesses or insurance companies.

The firm has never worked for big businesses or insurance companies and practices exclusively in the area of personal injury law. Unlike many other firms, which split their attention between personal injury cases and other types of law, like divorce, real estate and criminal cases, Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Personal Injury Lawyers, is a team of almost 100 professionals dedicated to fighting for justice for those how have been injured or killed in Florida.

Bruce L. Scheiner still hand selects each case the firm represents. Together with his wife Cheryl, who runs the office, and son, Preston J. Scheiner, who is an associate attorney, the Scheiner team is dedicated to getting you and your loved ones the compensation you deserve.

After four decades of service in Southwest Florida, there promise to you is simple: at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Personal Injury Lawyers, you’ll pay nothing unless we win.

Look for the new toll-free hotline throughout Southwest Florida, on billboards, on television, in the yellow pages and online.
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Florida motorists warned of car accidents waiting to happen

February 11, 2009 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Some 148,000 people suffer a car accident each year without ever getting behind the wheel: They are injured by a closing car door in what the federal government has announced is the most common non-moving injury inflicted by automobiles.

For the first time, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has collected data for non-traffic related death and injuries and non-crash related death and injuries to the ways in which people are seriously injured or killed in or around automobiles.

“It shows you don’t have to be in a moving vehicle to be seriously injured,” said Bruce L. Scheiner, founder and senior attorney at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Personal Injury Lawyers.

Florida Injury Lawyers point out such cases can involve legal questions surrounding car accidents, bicycle and pedestrian injuries, property and premise liability law, slip and fall issues, injuries to children, vehicle defect, defective product law and other legal issues.

“The bottom line is, if you are seriously injured you should contact a lawyer to examine whether you have a case,” Scheiner said.

Such dangers are now being tabulated by the federal government, including: falls from vehicle, battery acid and antifreeze burns, jack accidents, tire explosions, window strangulation, and those injured or killed by being locked in the trunk.

“I don’t think anyone until now had an accurate sense of the extent of vehicle-related injuries and fatalities that did not occur on a public highway,” NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson told Forbes Magazine. “It certainly underscores the risks that exist in a vehicle whether it’s on the road or off, and I hope it will call some attention to some of those issues.”

The new statistics also shed light on what the government terms Nontraffic crash fatalities and injuries, including single-vehicle crashes on private roads, collisions with pedestrians on driveways and two-vehicle crashes in parking facilities.

Bicyclists and pedestrians account for about half (614 of 1,159) of non-traffic crash fatalities and about a third (34,000 of 98,000) of non-traffic injuries.

Backovers, where drivers injure or kill a non-occupant by reversing over them, account for another 19 percent of fatalities and 14 percent of injuries.

Annual average of non-crash fatalities by type:
Struck by falling vehicle: 168 Accidental carbon monoxide poisoning from exhaust: 147 Fall from vehicle: 88 Vehicle fire: 57 Struck by Object: 44 Hyperthermia (excessive heat): 37 Hypothermia (excessive cold): 14 Poisoning: 9 Exploding Tire: 7 Vehicle window asphyxia: 5 Electrocution: 4 Drowning: 3 Closed in trunk: 3 Radiator fluid burns: 2
The government reported that 22 percent of injuries (164,000 of 743,000) occur as people enter or exit a vehicle: falls (84,000), striking a door or door frame (36,000) and in other situations such as sprains or strains while exiting (44,000).
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