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We are entering the height of hurricane season in Southwest Florida and that means any number of additional dangers on the road.

NBC-2 reported a motorist escape injury last week after crashing a car into deep standing water in a field in Fort Myers. The incident illustrates the risks drivers face anytime they leave the roadway during rainy season in Southwest Florida, where standing water, retention ponds, and hundreds of miles of canals, rivers and inlets pose unique risks to motorists. lightninginjuries-240x300

In a separate incident, six people were hurt after lightning struck the rooftop of an apartment complex. In that case, the injured were working on the roof. One woman fell two stories. Another victim fell from a ladder and struck his head on the pavement.

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The News-Press has reported a number of serious multi-vehicle accidents in Southwest Florida in the last month.

In one incident, a multi-vehicle collision closed the westbound lanes of NE Pine Island Road while the Lee County Sheriff’s Office questioned a number of witnesses and others who were at the scene. Media reports indicate a blue Bentley crashed into a silver Honda SUV as traffic was stopped for another accident further up the road. The Florida Highway Patrol also was called to the scene to investigate.highway

Our injury lawyers in Fort Myers and Cape Coral know there are a number of things you can do to reduce the risk of being involved in such collisions, and to protect your rights in the event you are involved in a crash with multiple parties.

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The school year gets underway in Southwest Florida on Aug. 12, and motorists should expect to begin seeing an increasing number of young people walking or cycling to school, particularly during the early morning hours and the start of the afternoon commute.

Florida is already the most dangerous state in the nation for both bicyclists and pedestrians. The beginning of the school year, and the arrival of early darkness, often lead to an increased risk of child injury. schoolbusstop-300x225

Our Fort Myers child injury lawyers urge you to use caution, particularly near school zones or while traveling through residential neighborhoods. Providing children the right-of-way is always the best bet when it comes to reducing your chances of being found responsible for causing a tragic accident.

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School buses will be back on the roads of Southwest Florida next week as the 2019-2020 school year officially begins Monday Aug. 12.

Our injury lawyers in Fort Myers and Cape Coral urge all motorists to use caution as the school year begins. Taking an extra couple of minutes can literally avoid a tragedy. More than 70 percent of eligible students ride the bus in Lee County, which operates more than 700 buses traveling more than 12 million miles each school year. schoolbus3-300x225

For parents, the Lee County School District offers a searchable database of school-bus routes. Motorists should just count on seeing school buses during their morning and afternoon commute.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is coming under fire for lacking the proper expertise to identify dangers posed by defective vehicles.

Safety advocates content the government’s primary traffic-safety watchdog is often reluctant to order recalls and is constrained by a small staff and tight budget. Among the consequences is an agency that too often relies upon safety studies conducted by auto manufacturers, the Detroit Free Press reported. defectivevehicles-300x200

The agency countered by reporting an increase in staff with significant knowledge of new technologies and cited a record number of recalls issued in each of the last four years.

Fort Myers car accident lawyers know modern technology makes the agency’s task more critical than ever, as the industry begins deploying self-driving and autonomous vehicles and continues to incorporate more and more multi-media technology, which many safety advocates also cite as a primary cause of distracted driving. Continue reading →

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If you’ve been on I-75 or another divided highway this summer, perhaps you have been surprised, even startled, by passing drivers traveling far faster than the speed limit.

It isn’t your imagination; the number of drivers busted for traveling more than 20 mph over the speed limit is on the rise. This week, law enforcement in five states began “Operation Southern Shield” to crack down on speeding drivers and save lives. Florida joins Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina in the enforcement effort. night-highway-1450204-300x184

Fort Myers injury lawyers continue to see far too many collisions caused by speeding. Excessive speed not only reduces reaction time, it exponentially increases the force of impact, increasing the risk of very serious or fatal injuries.

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The raging debate over the safety of e-scooters is coming to Southwest Florida, as Florida lawmakers largely swept away any final hurdles to the self-transportation devices that have proved wildly popular with teenagers and millennials.e-scooterinjury-273x300

The Tallahassee Democrat reports more than 1,000 e-scooters hit the streets of the state capital this week for a 3-month pilot program. The scooters can be rented at 21 locations operated by five different companies as tens of thousands of people visit the area for college football games this autumn. Pilot programs are also underway in numerous other Florida cities, including Tampa and Fort Lauderdale.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration projects a slight decline in the final tally of traffic fatalities in 2018, even as the number of pedestrian and bicycle deaths continues to rise.

Overall traffic deaths are projected to decline by 1 percent, Forbes reported. However, pedestrian deaths were up 4 percent last year, while bicycle deaths surged 10 percent. Both were already at historic highs. Nationwide, more than 36,000 people were killed on the roads last year. pedestriansafety-225x300

Our injury lawyers in Fort Myers note Southwest Florida continues to be one of the deadliest areas in the nation for bicycle and pedestrian injuries and fatalities. The Governor’s Highway Safety Association reports California, Florida and Texas annually report the highest number of pedestrian deaths. All three states join Arizona and Georgia in reporting more than 100 pedestrian deaths a year and together account for nearly half of the nation’s fatal pedestrian accidents.

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Florida has been named the third most-dangerous state in America. ambulance-300x201

ABC News reports Florida ranked 48th safest in a study that looked at five factors: Personal and residential safety, financial safety, road safety, workplace safety and emergency preparedness. Only Louisiana and Mississippi ranked worse.

The annual WalletHub report looked at a total of 52 key indicators, including homicides and assault, unemployment levels, and the impact of natural disasters.

Injury lawyers in Fort Myers and Cape Coral know Florida residents continue to be most impacted by road safety. Florida ranked almost dead last for traffic safety and reports the highest levels of traffic fatalities for pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents and motorcycle accidents, while ranking behind only California and Texas when it comes to drunk driving accidents, car accidents and accidents involving trucks or other large commercial vehicles, according to annual data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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Corporate America continues to use mandatory arbitration agreements to strip consumers of their right to make civil claims in court. medicalrecords-200x300

“Voluntary” and forced arbitration agreements are quickly becoming the norm as businesses seek to shield themselves from liability. Kiplinger Finance recently examined the trend of forced arbitration agreements in credit card and other financial contracts. In many cases, consumers are given the option of opting out of arbitration. It’s critical to read the fine print of your contracts and follow up by opting out of such agreements whenever possible.

While most civil claims, including personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, are decided in court, arbitration agreements force both sides to agree to settle their differences through an arbitrator of facts, outside the court of law. Frequently, these arbitrators survive on corporate business.

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