car accident lawyer Fort Myers

Fort Myers Car Accidents: Damages Exceed PIP Coverage

August 4, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Florida law establishes strict requirements for auto insurance, including requiring all drivers to carry a type of coverage called personal injury protection, or PIP. Per F.S. 627.736, this PIP coverage provides up to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits and $5,000 in death benefits resulting from bodily injury, sickness disease or death arising from the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle. This applies to crashes, regardless of who is at-fault.

When lawmakers established Florida as a “no-fault” state, the goal was to make it easier to obtain fast coverage for injuries suffered in a crash – even if the other driver didn’t have insurance – and to reduce the burden on the court system.

However, our accident lawyers know that while there are some benefits to this PIP system, the problem is far too many victims who have suffered serious injuries are denied benefits, or else they are offered settlement “deals” that are far less than the actual losses they suffered. Plus, there are a number of exclusions. Still, the only way a person can step outside the boundaries of PIP is to meet the threshold of injury as outlined in F.S. 627.737. Continue reading ›

Report: Lee County Fatal Crash Count Topped 100 in 2016

January 9, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The number of traffic fatalities in Lee County topped 100 for the first time since 2007, according to a report late last month from The News-Press. As of the third week of December, there were 102 traffic fatalities in 2016 – more than it’s been in a decade. That figure does not account for the fatalities that occurred the last week of December, including over the Christmas and New Year’s Eve holidays.

These figures mirror those we saw more than 10 years ago when the region saw explosive population growth. In 2007, there were 106. In 2006, there were 121. The number of traffic deaths peaked in 2005 with 150. In more recent years, the number of Lee County traffic deaths didn’t surpass 100. Now, it seems that is changing, which is in line with the increases reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agency reports there was a 7.2 percent increase in traffic deaths in 2015 – resulting in 2,348 additional lives lost that year. Early figures from 2016 suggest a further upward trend.

The more than 100 traffic fatalities in Lee County last year included cars, trucks, school buses, bicycles, pedestrians and motorcycles. In one instance, a child wasn’t properly buckled in. In another case, a young man was waiting at a red light on his way home from school. Numerous drivers weren’t paying attention. Others were impaired by drugs and/or alcohol. Continue reading ›

Fatal Car Accidents In Lee County Now Total 75 in 2016

October 1, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A Florida Gulf Coast University student was killed recently in a Fort Myers car accident, making him the 75th person to die on Lee County roads in 2016. The 20-year-old student was killed on Michael G. Rippe Parkway, near the intersection of Briarcliff Road, shortly before noon when his passenger vehicle was rear-ended by a dump truck, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

WINK News reported the victim, Ryan Wendler, had been an Eagle Scout who worked at Moe’s Southwest Grill while earning his degree in sociology at FGCU. He had recently started volunteering at a local soup kitchen and Meals on Wheels. Authorities say he was stopped at a red light when he was struck by the truck, driven by a 75-year-old man from Cape Coral. Investigators are exploring whether speed might have been a factor, and charges may be filed depending on the outcome of that investigation. It’s not clear which company owned the dump truck, but it should be noted that companies can face vicarious liability for the negligence of an employee who was either working at the time of a crash or driving a company vehicle off-the-clock.

The 74th traffic fatality in Lee County happened just a couple of days earlier, when a Punta Gorda man reportedly suffered a medical event before losing control of his vehicle while traveling northbound on I-75 just north of Daniels. The News-Press reported the vehicle, a Cadillac DeVille, drifted off the shoulder, through a wire fence and then slammed into a sound barrier wall and numerous trees. The driver of that vehicle died after he was transported to Gulf Coast Hospital Medical Center, though it isn’t clear if that was the result of the underlying medical condition or due to injuries sustained in the wreck. Continue reading ›

Etherton v. Owners Insurance Co. – Bad Faith Insurance After Car Accident

July 17, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Auto insurance companies make lots of promises. They vow to be “on your side” and “like a good neighbor.” The truth of the matter is, when it comes time to pay a claim, they will do anything in their power NOT to pay it – or at least to minimize the amount they will compensate you.

Bad faith insurance action – when an insurance company fails to deal with a customer in good faith – the penalties may be quite severe. If a judge or jury holds an insurer liable for bad faith action, the insured may be paid triple the original damages. This is intended to deter such action in the first place.

Many actions can be categorized as “bad faith,” but we generally see it manifest in car accident claims through claims that are swiftly denied or wrongly delayed or in low-ball settlement offers that are far below what the claim is actually worth. Continue reading ›