A sprawling region of small towns, two-lane rural roads, dense hunting forest areas and waterfront along Lake Okeechobee, Hendry County is home to Labelle, Port Labelle, Fort Denaud and the annual Swamp Cabbage Festival. Visitors enjoy scenic drives and motorcycle rides, all-terrain vehicle and dirt bike racing, hunting, fishing and boating. It’s the perfect place for those who enjoy the best of rural Florida.
Labelle injury lawyers also know it is the site of numerous accidents, personal injuries and wrongful death. The Florida Department of Health reported that in terms of external causes of death in Hendry County, chief among them were:
At The Garvin Injury Law, our Labelle injury attorneys recognize that each personal injury case is unique and quite often can be very complex. Our experience ensures you are properly represented in these legal matters during a critical time. In addition to our close work with expert witnesses and investigators, our compassionate, knowledgeable team of personal injury attorneys knows how to win these cases – and we have the track record to prove it. We also work on a contingency fee basis, which means you are not expected to pay attorney’s fees unless and until we secure a result in your favor.
Personal Injury Claims in LabellePersonal injury claims in Labelle and elsewhere in Hendry County often involve motor vehicle accidents, including car accidents, truck accidents and pedestrian accidents. Many of these collisions occur on rural, two lane roads, including parts of State Road 80, SR 29 and US 27. (Parts of these roads broaden to highway lanes, and Intestate 75 runs through Hendry County too, so highway crashes happen even in rural Florida). Many Hendry county car accidents (particularly in Port Labelle and Fort Denaud) are head-on collisions on these rural roads because drivers are drunk or distracted and drift across the center lane. Others involve motorists who are carelessly trying to pass other traffic and misjudge the amount of time available to complete the maneuver safely (something explicitly spelled out in F.S. 316.084, detailing when overtaking on the right is permitted).
Drivers in Hendry are also sometimes careless in speeding or traveling too fast for weather conditions like heavy rain or fog from high humidity or nearby brush fires. Motorcycle accidents also tend to be quite severe on these rural roads because other drivers aren’t watching out for them.
Dirt bike accidents and ATV accidents in Labelle and throughout Hendry County have resulted in serious, life-threatening and sometimes life-ending injuries. A fatal ATV accident in Clewiston a few years ago involved a 55-year-old rider who struck a hill, causing the ATV to go airborne. Numerous ATV accidents occur when these vehicles rollover. These can result in serious burns, lacerations, internal organ damage, traumatic brain injury and amputations. Many ATV accidents involve children. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends ATV use be restricted to children over 16. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that nationally in a single recent year, nearly 28,000 were seriously injured enough to need hospital emergency room treatment and nearly 60 died. Among those of all ages, there were more than 97,000 ATV injuries and nearly 700 deaths.
Boating accidents in Hendry County are most common on Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee River. The latter is well-known for its oxbows, which is another term for a bend in the river. This makes it a great body of water to take photos, study nature and birdwatch, but sometimes those bends catch boaters by surprise. There have been airboat accidents, canoe accidents and kayak accidents in these areas. Serious and fatal boating accidents in Hendry County have occurred on Lake Okechobee too, including during the many fishing tournaments held there. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission reports more than 3,000 vessels are registered in the county.
Firearms are also sometimes the source of injury. Unintentional shootings, such as those that occur in hunting accidents, may be compensable through property owners’ insurance or by other means. Intentional shootings are a bit trickier because insurance doesn’t cover intentional injuries. However, if a third party was liable for creating a dangerous condition that played a role in an intentional shooting or other criminal attack (for instance, not having enough security at a local bar), then a premises liability claim might be made against the property owner or controller. Each case will vary depending on the circumstances.
If you are injured in any of these scenarios in Labelle or elsewhere in Hendry County, our injury attorneys can help you examine your legal options and advise you of the most likely successful course of action.
Contact Our Hendry County Injury LawyersCall or email the Garvin Injury Law today for a free consultation and we will evaluate your Hendry County injury claim and determine the appropriate course of action. We have been handling Labelle injury cases in Florida for over 30 years.
