car accident attorney

Rideshare Insurance Mandate Passes Florida Senate

April 12, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Florida senators overseeing the state Senate Banking and Insurance Committee approved a bill that would establish regulations and insurance mandates for popular ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft.

SB 340 passed by a margin of 7-2.

If the bill makes its way through the entire state senate, it would establish a statewide regulatory framework for all drivers of the ridesharing service. This would include parameters regarding how much insurance coverage drivers would need to carry when they are not covered by the rideshare service’s plan. Continue reading ›

FHP: Hit-and-Run Crashes in Florida on the Rise

March 25, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A recent analysis by The Tampa Bay Times, looking at figures from the Florida Highway Patrol, reveals hit-and-run crashes in Florida are on the rise.

This creates a troubling situation not just for law enforcement companies, but for victims who are injured by someone else’s negligence with no one to hold accountable. Our injury lawyers in Fort Myers know there are sometimes a few different avenues to pursue in these cases, but it does often make the process more difficult.

Last year, there were more than 99,000 hit-and-run crashes in Florida, representing a 26 percent uptick since 2013, when there were about 78,660. Some of these were simple fender-benders, while others were major collisions, resulting in serious personal injury and death. In fact, 179 people did lose their lives in these crashes. Continue reading ›

Florida Given “Red Light” by Highway Safety Advocates

February 17, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Florida received one of the worst rankings for gaps in highway safety laws, which are costing lives on our roads every day. The ranking was issued by Advocates for Highway Auto Safety in its most recent report, 2017 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws. The 58-page report begins by detailing the fact that we’ve had two consecutive years nationally of rising death rates on our roads. In 2015, there were nearly 35,100 people killed in motor vehicle accidents, an 8 percent increase over the previous year. That’s a bigger increase than we’ve seen in almost 50 years, and Florida has followed similar trends.

The Florida Department of Transportation reported in 2015 that there were 374,350 total crashes that year, an increase of almost 9 percent from the previous year. As far as fatal crashes, there were 2,700 in 2015, which was an increase of 15.5 percent from the year before. There were an average of 1,025 crashes every day in the Sunshine State in 2015, versus 943 the previous year.

One of the main reasons, according to Roadmap researchers, has to do with the fact that states are failing to enact – or maintain – the kinds of legislation that we know can help save lives. Florida in particular is failing on this front. Continue reading ›

Report: Uptick in Traffic Deaths Outpaces Travel Increases

February 17, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

When word spread that traffic deaths had increased 8 percent in the first nine months of 2016, continuing an alarming surge in roadway fatalities, one of the many explanations offered by traffic safety experts was that there were more people on the roads. However, as The Associated Press pointed out, this is only half the story.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did note that drivers are logging more miles on the road these days than ever before. However, that doesn’t really give us the full picture because the increase in car accident deaths is actually rising faster than our collective increases in mileage. While crash deaths are up 8 percent, vehicle miles traveled only rose 3 percent during that time frame, according to the NHTSA.

In the first three quarters of 2016, there were nearly 27,900 traffic deaths nationally. That’s compared to the 25,800 recorded during the first eight months of 2015. Continue reading ›

NHTSA Proposes Rules for Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication

January 12, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The majority of Fort Myers car accidents are the direct result of human error. Someone wasn’t paying attention. Someone was too sleepy. Someone was speeding or drunk or misjudged how much time they had before a light. Now, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is looking to improve safety by mandating in-vehicle technology systems that will allow vehicles to communicate directly with other vehicles and certain infrastructure to counteract the danger caused by human mistakes.

It’s called vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication (also sometimes referred to as Connected Vehicle Technology), and the goal would be to require cars, trucks, buses and trains to communicate key safety and mobility information with each other. Creators say it could prevent serious and fatal crashes, reduce congestion and delays and help lower the carbon footprint of the millions of vehicles in motion in the U.S. every day. Considering that car accidents are the No. 1 cause of death for people ages 4 and 11 through 27 (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), this is feature that has the ability to make a huge impact on people’s lives.

Last month, the agency proposed a rule that would require V2V communication on all new light vehicles, allowing them to “talk” to each other and help drive down the number of serious crashes. The agency, in explaining how V2V works, noted that connected vehicles may well transform the way Americans travel. The systems would be connected via short-range communications technology, similar to WiFi. It would be fast, secure and reliable. In addition to vehicles, infrastructure like traffic lights, toll booths and school and work zones would be able to tap into this network to communicate information. Essentially, it will give drivers a 360-degree awareness of what’s happening in situations they can’t possibly see with their own eyes at any given moment. Continue reading ›

Holiday Travelers May Face Increased Roadway Hazards

December 22, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Holiday road trips are a tradition in the U.S., but they are also a perilous one. With rising costs in airfare, most travelers choose to drive to their destination.

AAA predicts travelers this season will top 100 million. That reflects not just a continuation of the steady year-over-year increase in holiday travel over the last decade, but also the fact that 1 out of every 3 Americans is going to be taking a trip. Rising incomes and lower gas prices are the primary catalyst for this surge. Approximately 92 percent of travelers will drive to their destinations.

Although people often take these trips for granted, complacency is not an option for drivers, who must be sober and alert and prepared for:

Dangerous trucks;
Impaired drivers;
Fatigued motorists;
Disabled vehicles;
Congested traffic;
Careless truckers;
Defective vehicles;
Inclement weather;
Poor road conditions.

Elderly Couple Die in Fort Myers Crash on Way to Church

November 26, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

An elderly south Fort Myers couple died in a car accident as they pulled onto Summerlin Road from their RV resort community, on their way to church. The driver of the vehicle that struck them was also injured. Investigators have concluded the 89-year-old decedent driver was at-fault in the collision.

According to The News-Press, the crash occurred around 6:30 p.m. when the driver of a 2012 Toyota tried to make a left turn onto Summerlin Road from M-Street, the primary entrance/exit to Siesta Bay RV Resort. He apparently misjudged the time he had to safely clear oncoming traffic and pulled into the path of a driver operating a 2007 Infiniti. Both occupants of the Toyota, the driver and his 87-year-old wife of 60 years, were rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead right away. he died shortly thereafter. The Infiniti driver also had injuries, though is expected to make a recovery.

The collision is still under investigation, but authorities have said that speed and alcohol are not suspected to have been factors. Decedent driver’s brother called the crash a bad mistake. He said his brother didn’t see the other vehicle as it approached. Reporters with Wink News spoke to several residents at the resort, who say they have expressed concerns that the intersection of Summerlin and M Street isn’t safe. There is no traffic light that gives those exiting the neighborhood an opportunity to safely enter traffic, which zooms by at 45 mph (or more, depending on whether motorists are obeying the speed limit). Continue reading ›

Ready v. RWI Transportation – Causal Link of One Car Accident to Another

November 20, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

As Fort Myers personal injury attorneys, we handle many cases that involve third-person liability. Regardless of the type of incident – whether it’s a construction accident or a car accident or a slip-and-fall – there are four necessary elements one must prove in order to prevail. Those are:

Duty.
Breach.

$3M Wrongful Death Lawsuit Judgment Upheld Against State DOT in NC

November 11, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is still liable to pay $3 million for the deaths of three people on a state roadway where a traffic signal was promised but never installed. That was the ruling handed down recently by the North Carolina Supreme Court in Holt v. N.C. DOT.

The state appealed the trial court verdict that found it was liable, despite the argument that fault rested solely with two drivers who were drag racing at speeds that topped nearly 90 mph. Justices ruled that fact didn’t negate the DOT’s responsibility to install this traffic light – one engineers knew was needed. Although state officials argued they could not anticipated every illegal action that might take place on a public road, the state high court justices found that speeding vehicles was a foreseeable possibility.

Victims in this case include a local professor and her 2-year-old daughter, who were on their way to church, and a 13-year-old boy who was returning from a nearby amusement park. According to appellate court records, the 13-year-old was riding in a vehicle with his 11-year-old friend, driven by a 20-year-old man. When the driver stopped for traffic at one intersection, he and decedent noticed two female friends in an adjacent vehicle. They began joking and gesturing at one another. When the light turned green, both drivers took off at a high rate of speed in the same direction, approaching the intersection where the professor was preparing to make a left turn. The two young drivers were engaging in a race in which speeds reached 86 mph. Continue reading ›

Finkel v. Batista and Sanchez – Car Accident Lawsuit Weighed by FL 3rd DCA

October 25, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Proving fault in a car accident is not enough to prove one is entitled to monetary compensation. One must also prove causation. This means the person injured has to show that it was defendant’s breach of duty that caused plaintiff’s injury, and not some other intervening action or inaction.

In the recent case of Finkel v. Batista and Sanchez, the issue was whether trial court erred in granting a new trial after defendant was found 100 percent liable for a car accident, yet plaintiff was awarded $0 in damages. The court was basing its decision on the precedent set in the 1997 case of Sparks-Book v. Sports Authority, Inc., wherein the Third District Court of Appeals decided as a general rule that plaintiffs should at least be able to recover medical expenses for diagnostic testing reasonably necessary to determine whether an accident caused injury.

However, the 3rd DCA, in weighing Finkel, reversed, noting there are exceptions to the general rule and there was sufficient evidence to support the verdict of the jury. Further, plaintiff might have valid grounds to assert a new trial on the basis of a verdict form that indicated the jury should return a verdict that was “all-or-nothing.” The problem was, plaintiff’s counsel never objected to that verdict form, and thus she lost the right to fight it on appeal. Continue reading ›