Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Wrong-Way Drivers Devastate Florida Families, Target of MADD Campaign

December 29, 2014 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Just last month, a 59-year-old woman was driving Old 41 in North Fort Myers around 2 p.m. when she was struck head-on by a 63-year-old woman driving south in the northbound lane. Both women were rushed to the hospital. The at-fault driver lived. The other lost her life.

It’s not yet clear whether alcohol was a factor in the crash, but we do know many wrong-way crashes in Florida are predicated by alcohol consumption.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports there were 164 people killed in wrong-way crashes in the state between 2003 and 2012. Another 1,322 were seriously injured. According to research by traffic engineers at the University of Central Florida, each fatal crash costs an average of $6.6 million when you factor in medical bills, emergency response services, property damage, lost wages, loss of productivity and other factors. Wrong-way crashes involving injuries, meanwhile, cost an average of nearly $640,000 each, according to that same study.
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Florida Drunk Driving a Grave Risk This Holiday

December 27, 2014 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

On Christmas night three years ago, two cars collided on a roadway in Largo, Florida, killing two men, critically injuring a third and seriously wounding a fourth. The at-fault driver, who lost control of his vehicle and swerved into oncoming traffic, was drunk, according to authorities.

Right next to the crash scene was a memorial road sign that read, “Don’t Drink and Drive.” The sign was placed in memory of two teens killed in a crash almost exactly six years before – on Dec. 28, 2005. The driver at fault in that case also was drunk.

December is an especially dangerous time for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists in Florida. We already have one of the highest rates of roadway fatalities in the country, particularly for those not traveling in traditional vehicles. Combine that with the fact that December brings a higher-than-average number of travelers and a greater incidence of drunken driving, and the statistics are inevitably bleak.
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Lee County Bicycle Injuries, Deaths Continue to Mount

December 21, 2014 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

There is evidence to suggest 2014 may be the deadliest year in the past decade for bicyclists in Lee County.

Most recently, ABC-7 reported on an incident in which a 13-year-old cyclist suffered critical injuries after colliding with a passing motor vehicle. Authorities say the child was riding on Burnt Store Road around 2 p.m. when a vehicle attempted to pass. For reasons unclear, the child swerved into the road at the last minute, causing the pedal of the bicycle to hit the car. The child flew onto the hood of the vehicle and landed on the road.

News reports indicate the total number of bicycle fatalities in the county as of mid-November was eight – just one shy of the record-setting 2005 total of nine. That doesn’t include the dozens of injuries that occured – including this case. That figure also doesn’t include the 22 pedestrians struck and killed by vehicles this year.
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Chandler v. GEICO – Liability for Unauthorized User of Rental Car

December 19, 2014 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Last year, according to Auto Rental News, the car rental industry in the U.S. raked in approximately $24.5 billion – a 4 percent increase over the previous year.

The companies involved are typically substantial, with an average fleet size of 1.95 million. One of the peak months for car rentals is December, when millions of people are traveling out-of-town to visit family members and either use a rented vehicle to get there or rent a vehicle while they’re there.

These firms are not hurting for revenue, and yet they have proven successful in limiting liability in many cases for injuries that occur in their vehicles. For example, the federal Graves Amendment, signed by then-President George W. Bush in 2005, eliminates vicarious liability for owners of rented or leased vehicles. Prior to that, there were more instances where these companies could be found liable for damages caused by one of their vehicles.
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Dangerous Toys Top Concern Amid Holiday Gift-Giving

December 17, 2014 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Dangerous toys are a problem year-round, but heightened concern is warranted during the holiday gift-giving season.

In recent years, both federal authorities and even toymakers themselves have initiated higher standards, meaning the majority of toys on the market are safer than they’ve been in the past. Still, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports toy-related injuries resulted in 200,000 hospitalizations last year.

The journal Clinical Pediatrics indicates the toy-related injury rate has spiked 40 percent between 1990 and 2011. According to their research, 3 million children were injured by toys during that time, which means there was a child getting hurt every 3 seconds. More than 50 percent of those were children under the age of 6.
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Mosley v. Lloyd – Comparative Fault No Bar to Compensation

December 16, 2014 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

In Florida, it is possible to be largely to blame for one’s own injuries, and still collect damages from another party.

At first blush, this might seem unfair. But it’s worth pointing out one person’s negligent actions do not negate those of another – even if the latter contributed to the former’s injuries to a lesser degree. In a comparative fault system, each individual is only responsible for damages connected to his or her own actions. So if a person is 20 percent at fault, he or she will pay 20 percent of the damages.

This is a model that upholds personal responsibility, and does not bar those who incurred serious injury from seeking compensation for negligence simply because they played some role in what happened.
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Holiday In-Store Injuries a South Florida Risk

December 15, 2014 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

As the holiday shopping season nears a close, many people are hurriedly rushing from store to store in search of those last few necessities.

It should be noted, however, that there is a heightened risk of injuries throughout the year-end holiday period. These include slip-and-fall injuries, trip-and-fall accidents, falling merchandise from shelves or even a third-party attack by someone targeting shoppers exiting stores with expensive items.

In each case, owners and operators of these facilities owe their patrons the highest duty of care in ensuring their safety. Although not every injury that occurs at a store is compensable, many times these instances occur as a result of careless or negligent operators and property managers. You should not have to shoulder the burden of medical bills and lost wages because a store failed to maintain safe premises.
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Wilshire Insurance v. Poinciana Grocer – Premises Liability for Third-Party Assault

December 6, 2014 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Property owners are required to keep the site reasonably free of foreseeable harm to guests and patrons under Florida law. Generally speaking, property owners aren’t required to insure against harm caused by third parties except in certain circumstances.

Under Florida premises liability law, a property owner can be liable for third-party attacks when:
–There is a special relationship for which owner assumes a duty to protect.
–There is an element of foreseeability to the alleged crime (i.e., there have been similar crimes committed on site or nearby in the past).
–Precautions taken to protect or warn the guest of danger were inadequate.

There have been numerous examples of Floridians who were injured as a result of a third-party attack who successfully sue the site owner or manager for damages based on this aspect of premises liability law. However, these cases are often complex in nature and require the help of an experienced litigator. While a criminal prosecution may result in a judgment for restitution, in addition to other criminal sanctions, that’s not standard, nor is it the primary purpose of the criminal justice system. That’s why third-party lawsuits are initiated.
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Bilesky v. Shopko – Sanctions for Spoliation of Evidence

December 4, 2014 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

When important evidence in a civil injury case has been destroyed, altered or simply lost, this is called “spoliation of evidence.” Because this kind of action can throw off an entire injury case, it might seem defendants in such actions would have incentive to conveniently “lose” key documents, video or other evidence.

In order to counter this, both federal and Florida courts have consistently held that sanctions are appropriate when spoliation of evidence occurs.

The kind of sanctions imposed by the court will vary depending on the egregiousness of the act, whether it was intentional and how important the lost evidence would have been to the other party. Some examples have included entering a default judgment on the issue of liability, imposition of evidentiary presumption, exclusion of expert witness testimony or dismissal of a claim or counterclaim.
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Dion v. Y.S.G. Enterprises – Injury to Drunk Driver May Not be Compensable

December 2, 2014 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Drunk drivers cause unimaginable devastation. According to the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, nearly 700 people die every year in Florida due to drunk driving accidents. Thousands more suffer severe and permanent injuries.

Victims of drunk drivers in Florida may have several options when it comes to recovery of damages from at-fault drivers, vehicle owners, insurance companies and possibly from those who furnished alcohol to the driver (if he or she was a minor or known alcoholic).

However, drunk drivers themselves may have fewer options for recovery of damages for their own injuries. They may be able to collect the personal injury protection limits of their own insurance Beyond that, they may have a tough time suing anyone else for their own injuries.

F.S. 768.125, Florida’s “Dram Shop Law,” holds liability for drunk driving may only be imparted to a third party when a seller provides alcohol to a minor or someone they know (or should know) is habitually addicted to alcohol.
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