Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Alva Jet Ski Accident Proves Fatal for 53-Year-Old Lehigh Acres Man

October 24, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A Florida jet ski accident claimed the life of a Lehigh Acres man in Alva, according to a report by Fort Myers news station NBC-2.

An investigation by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) revealed the fatal accident was alcohol-related. The report indicated the 53-year-old man was riding on the personal watercraft in the Caloosahatchee River when the vessel struck a dock, ejecting him. Neighbors indicated they heard a commotion and came out to find a number of people working to pull the man out of the water. Despite spending a half hour performing CPR on him, he died. His exact cause of death is unclear, but initial reports appear to indicate blunt force head trauma.

The FWC reports that in 2014, there were 104 personal watercraft accidents in Florida, with 98 resulting in injuries and causing five deaths. There are a total of 111,441 registered personal watercraft vessels in the state last year. Those figures indicate a slight decrease in personal watercraft accidents in the state from the previous year, when there were 108,113 registered vessels, 137 accidents, 125 injuries and eight deaths. Continue reading ›

Carter v. Bullitt Host, LLC – Slip-and-Fall Liability and Open Obvious Doctrine

October 23, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

One key defense used in the tort action of slip-and-fall premises liability is the “open and obvious doctrine.” While property owners have a duty to maintain the site to be reasonably safe to guests, those guests also have a duty to avoid dangers that are glaringly open and obvious.

However, the defense isn’t absolute. Florida courts will apply the doctrine of comparative fault – that is, the percentage of fault held by the injured party – to determine whether damages should be reduced accordingly. Many other state courts do the same.

In the recent case of Carter v. Bullitt Host, LLC, the Kentucky Supreme Court reversed an earlier grant of summary judgment favoring defendant in a slip-and-fall case, finding the lower courts failed to properly apply the comparative fault doctrine in a slip-and-fall lawsuit wherein the slippery condition was naturally-occurring and the hazard was deemed open and obvious. Rather than determine what percentage of fault plaintiff had in the case (potentially reducing damages), the lower courts simply rejected his claim outright. The state high court held that was improper, and a jury should decide the percentage of fault apportioned to each party for the accident and injury. Continue reading ›

Adult Portable Bed Handle Recall Re-Announced, as Response Rate Less Than 1 Percent

October 12, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

An adult portable bed handle is defective, and has proven fatal in at least three instances. Yet since the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall in May 2014, there has been a response rate of under 1 percent.

Approximately 113,000 of these devices were sold from 1994 through 2007. The purpose of the handles is to attach to bedsides in order to help people roll over, sit up or stand. The problem with these devices is that when they are attached to the side of an adult’s bed without the use of safety retention straps, the handles can slide out of place, resulting in a dangerous gap between the side of the mattress and the handle of the bed. The result is a major risk of entrapment, strangulation or death.

Many product recalls unfortunately have a low response rate. However, given the severity of potential injuries and the possibility of death, the CPSC made the unusual move of re-announcing the recall.

Of the three women who died as a result of use of this product, one was disabled and two were elderly. All three of them were residing in group facilities (i.e., nursing homes and assisted living centers). Continue reading ›

Driverless Trucks Aim to Drive Down Construction Accidents in Highway Work Zones

October 10, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Another construction accident in a highway work zone in South Florida has claimed the life of a 26-year-old worker.

The accident happened on the Veteran’s Expressway in Tampa, late one Wednesday night, as a dump truck, driven by a 20-year-old with an 18-year-old in the passenger seat, backed south into the northbound lane. Victim was standing at the rear of the truck as it moved in reverse. He was pulled underneath the vehicle, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Decedent worked for a subcontractor on the $380 million construction project, and the driver of the dump truck worked for another subcontractor on the job. Most of the work is being carried out during overnight hours, which is a particularly dangerous time for workers at these sites, especially if there isn’t proper lighting or if others working the site aren’t properly trained. Continue reading ›

O’Connor v. George – Misrepresentation of Evidence in Crash Case

October 8, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Evidence that is submitted for consideration of a judge or jury in a car accident case must be stipulated as a true and accurate representation, to the best of knowledge available.

When evidence is not properly represented, it deprives jurors of the opportunity to fully weigh the facts. If such an error is allowed to proceed uncorrected, it could be grounds for a mistrial or a retrial.

That’s what happened in the case of O’Connor v. George, before the Montana Supreme Court. Continue reading ›

Fort Myers Bicycle Crash Prevention Touted by Local News Reporter

October 6, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Florida is the No. 1 worst place for bicyclists who prize their safety. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released statistics revealing the bicycle death rate in this state is 0.57 deaths per 100,000 people – the highest of anywhere in the nation. In fact, the state with the second-highest rate, Delaware, clocked in at 0.38 deaths per 100,000 people.

There are a number of issues, including the fact that we have an abundance of tourists, who are unfamiliar with the area and driving patterns. Distracted driving is a major problem, and we have cyclists year-round, so there are bound to be more crashes.

News-Press Reporter Janine Zeitlin noted all of this a few years ago, and quit riding her bicycle on public roads because of the risks. But then, as the number of bicycle-versus-car accidents continued to mount, as did severe injuries and deaths and light penalties for drivers, she began to aggressively report on the issue. According to a new article by the Columbia Journalism Review, with backing from her editors, Zeitlin not only delved into a long-term, in-depth progress on the issue, she helped set up a “Share the Road” page on the newspaper’s website, a community page on Facebook and engaged with bicycle safety advocacy groups across the region to raise awareness of the problem. Continue reading ›

Parking Lot Trip-and-Fall Can Lead to Land Owner Liability

October 4, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Property owners are responsible for maintaining the site in a way that ensures it is safe from unreasonable hazards for guests. When it comes to businesses and public buildings, that includes the parking lot area.

That means owners have a duty to fill cracks and holes in the walking surface. That means making sure any variations in walking surface height should either be gradual or there should be a warning to pedestrians about the potential hazard. It also means making sure there is adequate lighting, adequate security and regular inspections for areas or aspects that might pose a fall risk, such as oil, cracked wheel stops or other debris.

Failure to do this can result in litigation if someone is injured as a result, and the danger wasn’t obvious to the person who was hurt. Continue reading ›

Deadly Defect in GM Cars Leads to $900 Million Penalty, No Criminal Charges

October 3, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The General Motors ignition switch defect linked to 124 deaths and many more injuries resulted in a criminal case by the U.S. Department of Justice, which is now being settled for $900 million.

That may sound like a lot of money, but those who have lost loved, were injured or even faced felony charges for crashes they did not actually cause, say it’s of little solace. Primarily, their issue is not so much with the dollar amount, though it is 25 percent less than the $1.2 billion Toyota agreed to pay last year for the fatal flaws in its vehicles. Rather, the issue is the fact that no one with the company will face criminal charges.

In fact, the DOJ has agreed to defer prosecution of the company for three years. If the company abides by the terms of the agreement – which include an independent safety practices monitor – the company will walk away with a clean record. Continue reading ›

Slora v. Sun ‘N Fun Fly-In, Inc. – Third-Party Liability Lawsuit May Proceed

September 27, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

When a tornado struck at an air show in Polk County four years ago, a worker took shelter inside a security guard shack. But that shack did not provide the protection she’d hoped. It was instead lifted off the ground, overturned and tossed into a nearby ditch by the powerful storm.

The injuries she sustained were clearly compensable under workers’ compensation laws. After all, there was no dispute she had been working (as a security guard) at the time of the incident. She made a claim for – and received – workers’ compensation benefits from her employer, a security firm.

However, the question that would later arise in Slora v. Sun ‘N Fly-In, Inc. was whether the organizer of the airshow was also considered an employer. Of course, it was not her direct employer. But when the injured security guard filed a third-party liability lawsuit against the air show organizer, the company asserted it was a contractual employer. Continue reading ›

Bicycle Injuries Doubled From 1998 to 2013, Analysis Shows

September 26, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A new study, conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), reveals bicycling injuries in the U.S. have risen astronomically in the last 15 years.

Sifting through the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System data, researchers wanted to find out more about trends in adult cycling injuries and related hospital admissions.

What they discovered was that in 2012-2013, there were 15,427 hospital admissions for bicycle injuries. That was a significant uptick than what was reported in 1998-1999, when there were 8,791 hospital admissions. Another revelation was that the age of cyclists has shifted dramatically. While the majority of victims used to be primarily children, we now see that figure has dropped dramatically. This is good. But the number of over-45 cyclists who suffer serious injury and death sharply rose. Continue reading ›