Fort Myers injury attorney

Florida Lawmakers Propose Tougher Texting-While-Driving Law

December 26, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Everyone knows a texting driver is a dangerous driver. But the consequences for doing so – particularly in Florida – are weak in comparison to the penalty paid by victims. That’s why it keeps happening, and why the number of crashes nationally attributed to texting drivers is now at 340,000, according to the National Safety Council.

In an effort to combat this problem, a group of Florida lawmakers have reintroduced a measure that would empower local law enforcement to make enforcement a greater priority throughout the state. As it now stands, F.S. 316.305, known more broadly as the “Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law,” stipulates that the violation is a secondary offense. What that means is a law enforcement officer isn’t allowed to stop a driver solely for breaking the texting law. There has to be some other valid reason for the stop, and only then can an officer issue a citation for texting-while-driving.

House Bill 537, introduced by W. Keith Perry (R), would revise this statute to make the violation a primary offense, meaning officers can stop drivers and issue citations for texting. If it passes the legislature, the measure would become effective Oct. 1, 2016 – exactly three years after the initial ban went into effect. Continue reading ›

Rear-End Collision Avoidance Technology to Become Standard

December 3, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has long been interested in driving down the number of rear-end collisions.

Nearly one-third of all collisions are rear-end accidents, the agency reports, and the vast majority of those are avoidable. The problem has only worsened in recent years with the proliferation of smart phones. Distraction was always a contributing factor to rear-end crashes, but now everyone has a a personal computer at their fingertips during every trip. In Florida, 1 in every 4 crashes can be attributed at least in part to some form of driver distraction.

Now, the U.S. Department of Transportation has announced that if car manufacturers want to receive a 5-Star Rating for safety, they’ll have to install automatic emergency braking systems standard by 2018. The announcement comes just weeks after 10 auto manufacturers indicated they would be doing just that voluntarily within the next several years. Continue reading ›

Injury Lawsuit Against 12-Year-Old Gives Woman “Worst Aunt” Label

November 1, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

It was her 8-year-old nephew’s birthday party, and he was thrilled to see her. The boy raced up excitedly to his aunt and tackled her, causing her to catch him as he jumped into her arms and she fell over. The result was a fracture of her left wrist.

Now, four years later, she has been dubbed by some media outlets and commenters as the “worse aunt” after a jury rejected the claims made in her personal injury lawsuit against her nephew, now 12, whom she alleged was negligent in his exuberant greeting.

But there is reason to stop and reconsider. This case was almost certainly not about a beloved aunt trying to collect money from a minor or his father (the boy’s mother, plaintiff’s cousin, died last year). It was an attempt to collect compensation for medical bills from a homeowner’s insurance policy. In Connecticut, as in most states, insurance companies can’t be named as defendants in an initial cause of action. The reason is because courts have found it may prejudice jurors who may more readily find against a defendant who is known to have insurance and therefore the ability to pay. 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 ›

Fort Myers Girl Injured in Back Over Driveway Accident

August 20, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A 1-year-old girl was injured in Fort Myers in a back over accident at a family gathering.

According to a news report by NBC-2, the family was gathered for an outdoor cookout on a recent Friday afternoon.

The girl’s mother told authorities a relative was pulling his truck out of the driveway when the toddler suddenly ran behind the vehicle. She then fell over, and the truck ran over her arm. Continue reading ›

Injury to Sports Fan Prompts Lawsuit Seeking Better Stadium Protections

August 2, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

When it comes to baseball and other spectator sports, courts have generally held that stadium owners have only a limited duty to protect vulnerable sections of fans from flying balls, bats, pucks or other game-related objects. For the most part, it has been found fans assume the risk of injury when they are hit by a foul ball or a hockey puck.

The idea is that if a fan chooses to sit in those closer seats, he or she assumes the risk of being struck by a flying object, and therefore has a duty to pay close attention to what’s happening so as to react quickly and prevent injury to themselves.

But a series of serious injuries suffered to sports fans in recent years has prompted a class action lawsuit that seeks to expand stadium owner duties of care and improve safety for those who patronize professional sports.

Report: Lee, Collier Emergency Responders Face Distraction Risks

July 30, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

At Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, we laud the hard work and sacrifice of our emergency responders. That includes police, firefighters and EMS workers who routinely rush into potentially dangerous situations for the safety and well-being of others.

This said, there was a troubling report recently released following an investigation by the Naples Daily News that raises concerns about the level of distraction with which these workers contend when they drive.

The newspaper found that more than 4,100 crashes throughout Florida in recent years were caused by distraction and involved an emergency responder. These are supposed to be the best-trained drivers in the state, and yet these workers – especially in Southwest Florida – had an especially high rate of distraction-related crashes when compared to the general public.

Growing Number of Fort Myers Traffic Deaths Frustrates Safety Advocates

July 18, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Lee County had a record number of traffic deaths in 2007. It was the height of the housing bubble burst, and the county’s population had ballooned rapidly. There were a host of construction vehicles, trucks and an influx of new residents. There were 106 people who died on our roads that year.

But then the recession hit, the price of gasoline spiked and fewer people were driving. There was also an exodus of residents and commercial vehicles weren’t seen as frequently.

Now, we’re back on the upswing financially. But that’s apparently not all good news, as The News-Press recently reported. As of June 30, county officials tallied 52 roadway deaths. The year is only half-over, which means at this rate, we are going to either meet or surpass the number of traffic accident deaths that occurred here in 2007.