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Swimming Pool Safety a Summer Focus in Southwest Florida

June 5, 2020 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Covid concerns and social-distancing restrictions have safety advocates worried about swimming pool accidents this summer as families and friends gather to make the best of this challenging time.

Our Fort Myers injury lawyers urge families to take proactive measures to keep swimmers safe at private pools this summer, especially in cases where toddlers or young children will have access to those irresistible backyard waters.

For those venturing out to public pools and swimming facilities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines in time for Memorial Day weekend. While the swimming might be safe, it’s the interaction with others that carries the risk. Recommendations include wearing a mask until getting into the water, staying six feet apart, covering coughs, frequent hand washing and not sharing goggles or other equipment.

Traffic Accident Risks Increase as Home Delivery Surges

April 10, 2020 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Brick-and-mortar businesses were in trouble long before COVID-19, thanks to the increasing ease and convenience of ordering from online retailers like Amazon. But the flu pandemic has brought a new wave of shoppers to the Internet, many of whom are likely to continue to rely on delivery of everything from toilet paper to televisions long after the economy restarts and local retailers reopen their doors for business.

There are many as-yet unknown consequences to this shift away from local businesses in favor of this international online bazaar of retailers. Dangerous and defective products are an often overlooked risk. And. as our Fort Myers injury lawyers know, holding multi-national companies responsible can be much more complicated. Amazon, for example, has more than 2.5 million independent sellers.

But perhaps nothing drives the risks home like the battalions of gray Mercedes Amazon vans and white cargo vans that can be seen zipping through almost every neighborhood in Southwest Florida. If you are ever at one of their distribution centers, including the one off Treeline Avenue, hundreds of delivery vehicles can be seen exiting these facilities dozens of times a day, bound for neighborhoods across Lee County.

Holiday Travel Safety in SWFL

November 5, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Thanksgiving is the busiest travel weekend of the year. But it also signals the beginning of the long holiday travel season and the beginning of winter tourism season in Southwest Florida.

Early darkness, holiday stress, more cars on the road, and a large number of visitors and tourists, all increase the risks of motor-vehicle collisions through the remainder of the year.

Last year, AAA reported about 54-million people traveled during the Thanksgiving holiday. And by the end of the year, 112-million people total traveled for the holidays. The agency is expecting to see that trend to continue this year. That means about 1-in-3 Americans are expected to travel more than 50 miles from home this year, or about 300,000 people traveling to or from Lee County this holiday season.

Drugged Driving Risks in Focus in SWFL

September 9, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is sponsoring events all month to promote recovery services. The agency’s theme this year is “Join the Voices of Recovery: Together We Are Stronger.”

About half of all fatal traffic accidents involve alcohol or drug use. Alcohol alone is confirmed to be involved in one-third of traffic deaths each year, claiming more than 10,000 lives nationally, and more than 800 here in Florida. The increasingly permissive use of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes also increases the risks on the road. In addition, the nationwide opioid epidemic is now blamed for more than 35,000 overdose deaths annually, which surpasses the number of motorists killed on the nation’s roads each year, an untold number of whom were under the influence of a prescribed or illicit opioid narcotic at the time of a motor-vehicle accident.

The personal injury lawyers at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, have been representing car accident victims in Southwest Florida since 1971, and continue to support Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and local law enforcement efforts to get impaired drivers off the road, including sobriety checkpoints and enforcement blitzes.

Lightning Liability in SWFL

September 5, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Lightning safety is in focus in Southwest Florida through the height of the hurricane season, which runs through November 30.

As Hurricane Dorian batters the Bahamas and threatens the East Coast of the United States this week, it’s easy to remember the power of Mother Nature.

But lightning is a primary threat throughout Southwest Florida’s long rainy season. In fact, South Florida is the lightning capital of the United States, with Rwanda being the only place in the world where lightning is a bigger threat. As a result, South Florida leads the nation in fatalities and injuries resulting from electrical storms.

Fort Myers injury lawyers know injuries resulting from lightning can include muscle pain, broken bones, burns, cardiac arrest, hearing loss and seizures. Lightning burns are characterized by a unique pattern of skin lesions. Alternative names for them include “keraunographic markings”, “feathering”, “ferning”, “Lichtenberg figures,” “lightning flowers” or “lightning trees”.

Safe Riding Reduces Motorcycle Accident Risks in SWFL

April 26, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

We wrote recently about driver liability for motorcycle collisions. Most traffic collisions involving a motorcycle and another vehicle are the fault of the vehicle’s driver. The vast majority of riders understand the risks and do whatever they can to help ensure they return home safely to their families.

But there are still a number of things riders can do to help reduce the risks of being involved in a motorcycle accident. Our Fort Myers motorcycle accident lawyers have been fighting for the rights of motorcycle accidents victims and their families since 1971 and have built a reputation throughout Southwest Florida as staunch advocates of motorcycle rights, both on the roads and in the courtroom.

Distracted Driving Poses Primary Threat to SWFL Motorists

February 6, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a report last week that found observable cellphone use has increased more than 50 percent in recent years. While the study linked at least 800 deaths to distraction caused by cellphone use in 2017, advocates believe distraction is responsible for about one-third of road deaths each year, killing some 10,000 motorists. Cellphone use is by far the leading cause of driver distraction.

Observational studies are a better indicator of road risks.

Our injury lawyers in Cape Coral and Fort Myers wrote last month about the growing risks of traffic accidents in Southwest Florida and so far 2019 has gotten off to a dangerous start. The Fort Myers News-Press reports 10 people were killed on Lee County roads in January. Last year, 84 people were killed in traffic accidents in Lee County after back-to-back years of more than 100 deaths.

SWFL Traffic Safety in Focus

January 24, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

The news is both good and bad when it comes to road safety in Southwest Florida.

Lee County ended 2018 with fewer than 100 traffic fatalities (84) for the first time in three years. However, Florida continues to be among the deadliest states in the nation for all types of traffic collisions, including car accidents, drunk driving collisions, motorcycle accidents, trucking accidents, bicycle accidents and pedestrian accidents.

Our injury lawyers in Fort Myers and Naples continue to see far too many clients injured or killed by reckless, careless, or negligent drivers. Yes the risks are significant in Southwest Florida, but so too is the impact safe driving habits can have on our roads.

Deadly Collision Puts Focus on South Florida Highway Safety

January 10, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Five children on their way to Disney World were among seven victims who were killed in a deadly South Florida highway collision.

The News-Press reported eight others were hospitalized after what authorities say was one of the deadliest traffic collisions in state history. The crash on Interstate 75 south of Alachua spilled diesel fuel across the highway. The Florida Highway Patrol reports the children were in a Pentecostal church van headed to the theme park when the collision occurred outside Gainesville. The van was an hour north of the park when a tractor-trailer collided with a car and burst into flames before running through the median divider and into oncoming traffic, where it struck the van and another semi, according to The Washington Post.

The tragedy is being compared to a January 2012 crash south of Gainesville that killed 11 motorists and sent 18 others to the hospital after a chain-reaction collision caused by low visibility. Our Fort Myers injury lawyers remind drivers there are steps they can take to improve travel safety as we enter the height of tourism season in Southwest Florida.

Hand-Held Ban Aims to Reduce Distracted-Driving Risks in SWFL

January 4, 2019 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Using a hand-held device while driving could soon be illegal in Florida.

The Tampa Bay Times reports lawmakers are considering a measure that would turn Florida’s texting ban into a law that would prohibit all drivers from using a hand-held device behind the wheel. The newspaper urged drivers to make it a 2019 resolution, noting it was not hyperbole to call distracted driving an epidemic.

Our car accident attorneys in Fort Myers and Cape Coral agree. We have marked the New Year with a number of driving-safety blogs aimed at reducing car accident deaths and identifying vulnerable road users.

No driving behavior creates more accident risks than driving distracted. Cell phone use is blamed for more than 1.5 million traffic collisions each year, according to the National Safety Council.