Motorcycle accidents

Motorcycle Riding Season Underway in Southwest Florida

February 20, 2020 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The remainder of the tourist season in Southwest Florida will be the deadliest time of the year for motorcycle riders. A series of high-profile riding events, great riding weather, and burgeoning visitor and tourist traffic brought by baseball spring training and spring break, mean the risks to motorcycle riders will reach their annual highs.

As part of our Be a Better Driver 2020 focus, we continue to emphasis the high risks faced by vulnerable road users in Southwest Florida, including bicyclists, pedestrians and motorcycle riders. But the next three months are undoubtedly the most dangerous of the year for motorcyclists.

This year’s Daytona Bike Week runs March 6 to March 15. One of the nation’s largest annual motorcycle destination locations, the event will draw thousands of motorcycle riders from across the nation. Many of those riders will spend the next several weeks riding Florida’s coastline, visiting the Florida Keys, and otherwise taking advantage of the best winter riding weather in the nation.

Autumn Motorcycle Safety a SWFL Focus

October 15, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A series of serious and fatal motorcycle accidents in Lee County has authorities renewing calls for safety and awareness as we head into the height of the winter riding and tourist season.

The News-Press reported a motorcycle accident occurred on Bayshore near I-75 when the victim was thrown from his 2006 Kawasaki. The pickup truck driver fled the scene on foot but was later apprehended and charged with failing to report a crash, driving on a suspended license and obstruction. The victim was transported to Lee Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. The Naples Daily News reports a man was killed and another critically injured after a motorcycle collided with a motor vehicle in Charlotte County.

A Cape Coral man was killed and a Michigan man was injured in separate motorcycle accidents last week, according to media reports.

Our Fort Myers injury lawyers have long been advocates for riding safety and rider rights. We know October is the beginning of peak riding season in Southwest Florida, as the temperatures moderate and the rains abate. While northern riders are storing their bikes for winter, Southwest Florida sees a significant increase in the number of riders on the road. Add to this the increase in visitors and seasonal traffic, many of whom are unfamiliar with the area and not used to looking for motorcycle riders during winter months, and the number of serious and fatal motorcycle collisions typically increases as the winter riding season gets underway.

Cape Coral Bike Night Season Opens Oct. 12

September 12, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner is once again proud to provide headline sponsorship for the 2019-2020 Cape Coral Bike Night Season.

For more than a decade, we have been a leading sponsor and participant in this event, which has grown into the largest family-friendly motorcycle event in Southwest Florida. The event has featured an increasing number of headline musical acts; this year’s season kicks off October 12 with “zz’s best,” one of the best “ZZ Top” tribute bands, on the main stage.

You can find our booth at the edge of the main-stage viewing area along SE 47th Terrace, where we will be promoting motorcycle safety, accident prevention, and rider rights.

The City of Cape Coral has made a number of infrastructure and other improvements for the upcoming season. This year’s other dates are December 14, February 8 and April 11. The events run from 5 to 10 p.m.

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month

April 16, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.

Many motorists think that means it’s time for motorcycle riders to focus on safety. In reality, it’s drivers and vehicle occupants that need the reminder to share the road.

Nearly 600 riders are killed on Florida roads each year, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Motorcycle deaths account for 1 in 5 of Florida’s road fatalities each year, despite there being far fewer motorcycles than vehicles on Florida roads.

Our motorcycle accident lawyers in Fort Myers and Cape Coral have been representing injured riders and their families in Southwest Florida since 1971. Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, is once again providing headline sponsorship for Cape Coral Bike Nights, the area’s largest family-friendly motorcycle event. You can also find us promoting rider rights and safety awareness at events throughout Southwest Florida.

Motorcycle Safety a Top Concern as Daytona Bike Week Opens

March 5, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The opening of Daytona Bike Week starts prime winter riding season in Southwest Florida.

This year’s event runs March 8-March 15, and will bring thousands of riders from across the country to Florida roads. Statewide, the risk of motorcycle accidents reaches annual highs over the next several months. The risks in Southwest Florida will be no less than those in the Daytona Beach area, as riders travel back and forth or choose Florida’s quieter West Coast for a ride down the state to the Everglades and Florida Keys.

Our motorcycle injury lawyers urge motorists and riders alike to use caution on the roads.

Southwest Florida Bikers for Babies Event a Success

November 10, 2018 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The 18th Annual Bikers for Babies Ride was a success this past weekend, as thousands were raised for charity on the ride from North Collier Regional Park in Naples to the Seminole Casino Immokalee Hotel.

Attorney P.J. Scheiner was among the riders to participate in the Nov. 4 ride. The event was one of several to benefit the March of Dimes the attorneys and staff at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, are participating in to kick of the holiday season. WINK News was one of the local media outlets to cover Sunday’s popular ride. To date, the event has raised more than $2.2 million to support March of Dimes.

Naples Daily News also published a photo gallery of the thousands of motorcycle riders who participated in this year’s event.

Man Killed in Fort Myers Motorcycle Accident After Driver Violated Right-of-Way

May 19, 2018 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

When motorcycles and other vehicles collide, it’s usually because the other driver violated the motorcyclist’s right-of-way. It’s a fact well-established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and backed by other research.

We saw this scenario play out again recently right here in Fort Myers, with the tragic death of a 22-year-old motorcyclist who was struck while riding on McGregor Boulevard.

According to WINK News, the motorcyclist was driving northbound on McGregor, approaching Water Lane, when a 34-year-old driver traveling the opposite direction on McGregor tried to turn left onto Water Lane. As she did so, she violated the motorcyclist’s right-of-way, the investigation Florida Highway Patrol reported. The result was the car struck the motorcycle, and the young biker died days later. A teen passenger in the car also suffered minor injuries.

Road Debris Motorcycle Injury Case Weighed by State High Court

December 28, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The Kentucky Supreme Court recently considered the personal injury lawsuit of a man who was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident when he encountered a large, downed tree in the roadway.

Plaintiff suffered serious personal injuries and sought compensation from the county’s engineer and public works director, arguing these individuals owed a duty of care to maintain the roads in reasonably safe condition, and were negligent in failing to remove the tree or warn motorists about the danger. Defendants filed a motion for qualified official immunity in their individual capacities, which the trial court granted for the public works director, but not for the county engineer. An appellate court later affirmed this decision, citing the state statute that specifically states a county engineer is responsible to remove trees or other obstacles from public roads when the road debris is a hazard to traffic. (Defendant argued he wasn’t aware of the statute and it was the county’s public work’s maintenance department that was responsible for tree removal). With qualified immunity protection not available for defendant, the case went to trial and lasted eight days. Defendant testified he was never responsible for tree removal and his team didn’t have equipment to do so, as it had always been the job of the public works department.

After all evidence was presented, defendant sought a directed judgment, which was denied, but the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of defendant, concluding plaintiff hadn’t proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the engineer failed to comply with his statutory duty. Continue reading ›

Florida Motorcycle Accident Awareness Needed Every Month

June 11, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Tragedy struck recently when a motorcyclist was killed in a Florida motorcycle accident in Melbourne, leaving behind to mourn him his pregnant 22-year-old wife and their 1-year-old daughter.

Florida Today reports the 22-year-old welder had just finished work for the day and was on his way home when the crash happened. News accounts have few details, but here’s what we can say: Motorcycle accidents claim far too many lives in Florida every year.

May was Motorcycle Accident Awareness Month, but the truth is, this is an issue that affects Floridians daily – directly or indirectly. These are people’s fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, wives and husbands. They are the people we rely on, and those we love. This young man who had his whole life ahead of him has now become a statistic in what is an appalling toll of casualties in Florida and nationwide. Continue reading ›

Court: Motorcycle Accident Liability Hinges on Proximate Cause

May 12, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Proximate cause is a legal concept that limits liability along the chain of causation. In order to establish that one person’s negligence is the proximate cause of another, a plaintiff must show there was:

Defendant’s negligent act was the cause-in-fact (i.e., a reasonable certainty defendant’s actions caused the injury and injury would not have occurred but for defendant’s conduct);
Defendant’s negligent act was the legal cause of injury (i.e., The injury was foreseeable/ of a type that a reasonable person would see as the likely result of his or her conduct).

Questions regarding proximate cause come up a lot anytime there are chain reaction collisions. However, the farther apart in space and time the crashes occur, and the more that happens in the meantime (i.e., superseding causes), the lesser the chance that an act of negligence will be deemed the proximate cause of another’s injury. This is what was seen in a recent case out of South Dakota involving a motorcycle accident wherein two bikers crashed on the same road, near the same curve, but a 40-minute time span apart. The two motorcyclists never collided with each other. Still, the second motorcyclist (plaintiff) alleged the negligence of the first (defendant) created a dangerous condition that was the proximate cause of his crash. Continue reading ›