Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

SWFL Child Injuries & High Risk of High Chairs

December 28, 2013 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Close to 9,500 children visit an emergency room because of pinches, falls, cuts and other high chair-related injuries each and every year, according to a report in the Daily News.

In a recent study, researchers found that parents aren’t using their high chairs’ safety restraints (properly — or at all) and that there are many high chairs that aren’t meeting the current federal safety standards.

Our product liability attorneys understand the risks for high chair-related accidents are on the rise. The number of injuries has actually spiked more than 20 percent from 2003 to 2010. The findings of this new study are raising some pretty serious questions regarding high chair safety. Of these injuries, close to 90 percent are to the face and head. Less than 3 percent of these injuries were considered “mild”. The rest required hospitalization.
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Driving with Children: The Ultimate Distraction

December 27, 2013 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

In a first-of-its-kind study, Monash University researchers have found children are 12 times more distracting to a driver than talking on a mobile phone while at the wheel. According to the study, parents typically take their eyes off the road for about 3 minutes and 22 seconds during a 16-minute car trip — time spent tending to children instead of focusing on the road.

The Australian study looked at the driving habits of 12 families by installing cameras into their vehicles. All families had children between 5 and 8. Of the 92 car trips that were observed, researchers found that parents engaged in child-related distractions in 90 of the trips. The researchers then reviewed all video for potentially distracting driver behaviors where the driver took their eyes off the road. Researchers found that parents were much more likely to engage in distractions involving their children than distractions involving cell phones.

Our Cape Coral car accident lawyers understand the holidays are a busy time for family travel – so take notice of these risks and do your part to keep you and your family safe. Whether crying infants on the morning commute, fighting teenagers or other factors, the risks are real. The truth of the matter is that distracted driving is thought to be the cause of 80 percent of all crashes. Officials with AAA found that children are about four times as distracting to drivers as adult passengers, while babies make it eight times harder to concentrate. When a child needs attention a mothers’ instincts are to turn round and deal with the child. But you can’t take your eyes off the road for a moment because losing concentration, even for a couple of seconds, can be deadly.
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A Year In Review: Drivers’ Questionable Habits Too Often Blamed for SWFL Collisions

December 26, 2013 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The annual Traffic Safety Culture Index from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety will soon be released. This is the study that tells us exactly what is going on in the minds of drivers behind the wheel — both the good and the bad.

While we await this release, safe driving advocates with AAA and with other organizations across the country are working diligently to help raise awareness about some of the most dangerous driving habits on our roadways — impaired, distracted and drowsy driving.

Our Fort Myers car accident attorneys understand that officials most recently addressed distracted driving. In the AAA study “Distracted Driving and Perceptions of Hands-Free Technologies“, we found drivers understand the risks of this dangerous driving behavior, but many are not willing to make the changes in their own driving habits to help ensure safety on our roadways. Although close to 90 percent of U.S. drivers who were surveyed said that driving while distracted is a serious threat, about 70 percent admit to doing it themselves. It’s the “do as I say, not as I do” mentality. Still, we continue to lose thousands of lives from this preventable tragedy each and every year.
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Protecting Children from Dangerous Gifts this Holiday Season

December 19, 2013 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Officials with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) monitor and recall toys and other children’s products to help keep dangerous products out of our home and away from our children. Some of the most important regulations that officials have implements is to require testing by a third-party, independent laboratory and to enforce strict lead and phthalate limits to keep violative and dangerous toys at the ports and out of the marketplace and your child’s hands. With all of these efforts, Americans can be more at ease when shopping for their child’s holiday gifts. But consumers aren’t free from risks. Unfortunately, there are still items that make it through these checks and into our homes with some serious risks for accidents and injuries.

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Over the last 5 years, officials with the CPSC and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have stopped close to 10 million units of roughly 3,000 different toys from getting into our homes. These stopped products violated federal standards.

Child product injuries in Broward are likely this holiday season if parents and guardians aren’t prepared. In 2013, there have already been more than 30 toy recalls placed by officials with the CPSC. Although the number of recalls has declined in recent years, with more than 170 in 2008, roughly 50 in 2009, about 34 in 2010 and less than 40 in 2011, there are still serious risks. The most common of recalls were the result of chemical and magnetic dangers. Even with the decrease in recalls, there will still more than 11 child fatalities result from dangerous products in the U.S. in 2012. Thousands of children are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year for toy-related injuries.
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December: National Impaired Driving Prevention Month

December 18, 2013 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The month of December is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month and with good reason. With all of our holiday parties and gatherings, many will be celebrating the occasion with a few drinks. Unfortunately, many of these celebrators will be hopping in their vehicle and driving home afterward.

Officials with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) use the month of December to raise awareness about the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Bruce and Cheryl Scheiner and the entire Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner family has long been supporters of MADD and local law enforcement in the fight against the devastating consequences of drunk driving.

Our Fort Myers drunk driving accident lawyers understand that the month of December is one of the busiest months on our roadways. It’s also one of the most dangerous times of the year because of the increase in drunk drivers. During December of last year, there were more than 800 people killed in drunk driving car accidents in the U.S. Alcohol-impaired motor vehicle crashes cost more than an estimated $37 billion annually.

We want to make sure that everyone enjoys this joyous time of the year, but we want to make sure that everyone enjoys it safely.
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Child Injuries, Product Liability & Holiday Risks

December 17, 2013 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Officials with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have estimated that there were close to 20,000 injuries that involved holiday decorating in E.R. rooms across the country from November through December of 2012. Unfortunately, this is the fourth year in a row that the number of injuries has increased. Each year since 2009, there have been approximately 12,000 or more visits to the E.R. in the U.S. each season. Falling from a ladder and stepping on a broken ornament may be humorous when featured in a holiday film, but these incidents are real-life threats that result in thousands of E.R. visits every year.

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Our Fort Myers personal injury attorneys understand that there are roughly 250 such injuries each and every day during the holiday season. When you make your list, and check it twice, you’ll want to make sure that ‘holiday safety’ is listed at the top. Last year, the most common visits to the E.R. resulting from holiday mishaps were because of falls, lacerations and back strains. But we can’t forget about fires. From 2009 to 2011, fire departments across the nation responded to an average of 200 fires each year resulting from Christmas trees. These incidents resulted in 10 fatalities, 20 injuries and more than $15 million in property loss. Candle-related fires were also a top concern throughout the year, resulting in about 70 fatalities, close to 700 injuries and more than $300 million in property loss from 2009 to 2011.
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SWFL Drunk Driving Enforcement a Holiday Priority

December 11, 2013 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

There’s no question about it — Americans know it’s dangerous to drive under the influence of alcohol. As a matter of fact, 97 percent of Americans agree. And 75 percent of Americans say that the country needs tougher and more severe penalties to fight the risks of intoxicated drivers.

With that being said, how is it that someone is killed in the U.S. in an alcohol-related traffic accident every 30 minutes and someone is injured every 2 minutes? According to the National Safety Council (NSC), national and state organizations are rallying around several specific and effective strategies, and targeting certain populations of drivers, to improve safety for innocent motorists.

Our drunk driving accident lawyers understand that there were close to 34,000 DUI convictions in Florida in 2011. There were also more than 700 people killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents in the Sunshine State that year, according to The Century Council. When it’s all tallied up, close to 30 percent of all traffic fatalities recorded in the state in 2011 were the result of alcohol-related accidents.
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Americans Addicted to Distracted Driving Despite Dangers

December 10, 2013 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Safety experts have been working long and hard to convince Americans to stop engaging in distractions behind the wheel, but the problem is only getting worse.

According to NBC NEWS, there’s an overwhelming amount of evidence that shows cell phones and text messaging devices are some of the most dangerous driver distractions and that they’re some of the most common.

According to a release from State Farm, a good majority of American drivers openly admit to driving while distracted. Some of these distractions have increased in recent years. According to the report, close to 60 percent of drivers admit to talking on a cell phone, close to 40 percent admit to texting. That’s a number that’s up from about 30 percent in 2009. It’s the 18- to 29-year-old drivers who are most guilty, showing us that more than 75 percent talking on a phone while driving and close to 70 percent admit to texting behind the wheel.

Our Cape Coral car accident lawyers understand that although almost all drivers admit to engaging in electronic distractions behind the wheel, most drivers understand that it’s dangerous and they support serious bans against the behavior. More than half of all drivers support imprisonment as the appropriate penalty for deadly cellphone-related accidents.
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SWFL Senior Driving Safety in Focus as Season Begins

December 9, 2013 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

You’ve probably noticed, our roadways are getting a little more cramped with each passing day. The snowbirds are heading south and they’re setting up camp here in South Florida. Did you know that the state of Florida leads the country with more than 17 percent of our population being 65-years-old or older?

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) reports that’s a number that’s going to continue to grow. By the year 2030, over 27 percent of our population will be over the age of 65, compared to 19 percent for the rest of the nation. I

Our car accident lawyers in Fort Myers understand that of the 16 million drivers here in the state of Florida, more than 3 million of them are over the age of 65. These residents and seasonal visitors want to remain active and productive members of their community. Unfortunately, there comes a time when we can no longer do that behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. And that’s why officials with the DHSMV are pushing Older Driver Safety Awareness Week. This week-long campaign is used to help ensure that senior residents can still partake in community activities and every day duties while being able to do so safely.

“We know the [older] population is going to increase,” said Gail Holley, with the Safe Mobility for Life program at the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). “What we’re trying to do is not let the crashes increase.”
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Red-Light Running and Intersection Traffic Accidents in Southwest Florida

November 30, 2013 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

In 2011 alone, there were more than 700 people who were killed and another 120,000 who were injured in accidents that involved red-light running drivers. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), about half of the people who were killed in these accidents were the occupants of the other vehicles involved, bicyclists or pedestrians.

As a matter of fact, a recent study from the IIHS shows us that, in urban accidents, drivers who ran stop signs, red lights and other kinds of traffic control devices accounted for the highest percentage of car accidents (more than 20 percent). Injuries occurred in nearly 40 percent of these accidents.

Our Naples car accident lawyers understand that intersection collisions typically involve a side-impact and personal injury, including fractures, head injuries, neck and back injuries disability, permanent injury and disfigurement.

Unfortunately, these crashes occur with alarming regularity in Florida. A driver thinks he is able to run through an intersection as the light turns yellow. But unless he passes under the light when it is yellow and not red, that driver is setting himself and others up for a serious or fatal collision. As such, even one negligent or reckless driver can injure many victims in the span of only a few seconds.
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