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Published on: November 3, 2021

Dangerous Home Elevators Prompt CPSC Warning to AirBnB, Vrbo, Other Vacation Rental Sites, Owners

Florida elevator injury lawyer Dangerous home elevators in use at rental properties throughout Florida and across the country have sparked an urgent call from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for action by the vacation rental industry. At issue are gaps in the elevators that can pose a risk of serious physical injury and death, particularly for small children.

“These injuries and deaths are horrific, and we need the property owners and rental agencies to disable elevators immediately until they have been inspected,” wrote Acting CPSC Chairman Robert Adler.

Florida is a very popular spot for residential vacation rentals. According to one online platform, there are more than 215,000 Florida vacation homes for rent just on their site alone. The actual number of residential rentals is probably much higher, though it’s not clear how many of those sites have dangerous home elevators inside them.

The reported risk with residential elevators is that occupants can be fatally crushed in a space that exists sometimes between doors. As our Florida elevator injury attorneys can explain, with a deep gap between the outside door and the inside door, a child can go in, close the outside door without opening the inside door. They then get entrapped between the two. If the elevator moves, it’s going to have tragic consequences. A 2019 investigation by The Washington Post indicated more than a half million residential elevators in the U.S. pose a risk.

As Fort Myers injury attorneys, we recognize this is not the first thing people want to picture when planning a getaway. Given the seriousness of the risk, however, vacationers as well as property owners must take the CPSC warning seriously. Continue reading

Published on: April 30, 2021

Florida Slip-and-Fall On-the-Job: Beyond Workers’ Compensation

by Leland Garvin

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Whether you are a construction worker, nurse, or teacher, if you are injured on-the-job in a Florida slip-and-fall, workers’ compensation may be your sole source of financial recovery. Workers’ compensation is considered the exclusive remedy for most work-related injuries in Florida, meaning it is the only recourse one has against an employer. Workers do not need to prove negligence so long as they were hurt in the course and scope of employment, and in turn the employer covers the cost of treatment and a portion of lost wages during recovery.

However, workers’ compensation tends to fall short of the damages (pain and suffering, loss of life enjoyment, etc.) one could recover in a personal injury lawsuit. Because the exclusive remedy provision of Florida workers’ compensation law makes it almost impossible to win a personal injury case against one’s own employer, our South Florida slip-and-fall injury lawyers would primarily be concerned with the potential liability of a third-party property owner/controller or other liable parties. This would be someone other than your direct employer. (Note: Independent contractors are often not considered “employees” for workers’ compensation purposes and thus may be allowed to pursue injury claims against the company for whom they were working.)

Slip-and-fall cases are a type of premises liability. Premises liability is a legal concept referring to an injury caused by an unsafe or defective condition on someone else’s property. To win, a plaintiff must prove negligence (failure to exercise reasonable care) in owning/maintaining the property. The mere fact of a dangerous condition or occurrence of injury does not automatically mean the property owner was negligent. In most cases, you must prove the property owner knew or reasonably should have known the site was unsafe and failed to take proper steps to address the danger. (The exact proof burden for slip-and-fall injury claims is spelled out in F.S. 768.0755.)

It is important that if you are seriously injured at work and believe a third-party was at least partially responsible that you speak with an experienced injury lawyer about your legal options. You may have grounds to pursue additional damages beyond workers’ compensation.

Published on: April 7, 2021

Holding Bad Drivers Accountable in Florida Pedestrian Accidents

by Leland Garvin

pedestrian accident lawyer South Florida

Walking in Florida can be hazardous for your health. According to Smart Growth America’s 2021 Dangerous by Design report, the Sunshine State is the deadliest in the nation for pedestrians. Of the 15 most dangerous cities for pedestrians in the U.S., 9 are in Florida. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area ranked No. 11.

Between 2010 and 2019, more than 17 pedestrians a day, on average, were struck and killed by U.S. drivers. That is more than 53,000 total lives lost, and it is getting worse, not better. The number of fatal pedestrian accidents spiked 45 percent in that time frame. Understanding why is critical to curbing the incidence rate. So too, is holding negligent drivers accountable.

Our Fort Myers pedestrian accident lawyers are committed to advocating for safer roads and aiding crash victims in collecting damages – whether via insurer negotiations or pursuing claims in court. While many people use the term “sue” in these kinds of cases, the reality is most Florida pedestrian crash claims are settled without litigation. This means we can often secure compensation while also sparing you the time, emotional energy, and financial resources of a trial. Still, it is important to know at the outset that your personal injury attorney is one who can be trusted to successfully prepare your case for civil trial if need be – especially if your injuries are serious.

Published on: August 5, 2020

Who is Liable for Florida Emergency Vehicle Accidents?

by Leland Garvin

We all know that when an emergency vehicle approaches with its lights flashing and sirens blaring, other motorists should make way – and fast. But what if you cannot move quickly enough? What if you did not see the lights or hear the sirens before it was too late? What if there were no lights or sirens activated at all? Over the years our law firm has received many calls regarding Florida emergency vehicle laws; As our South Florida injury lawyers can explain, state law allows for legal accountability in Florida emergency vehicle accidents in some circumstances. Proving it will likely require an extensive investigation, expert witness testimony, and an experienced legal team.

According to the National Safety Council, emergency vehicle crashes – those involving police vehicles, ambulances or fire trucks – caused 168 U.S. deaths in 2018. Of those, less than half (48 percent) occurred while the authorized vehicles’ lights and sirens were in use. Most of those who died were either an occupant of non-emergency vehicles or pedestrians (69%). Police vehicles were involved in the most fatal crashes (64%), followed by ambulances (28%), and then fire trucks (8%). These numbers provide some insight but do not give us a full picture as non-fatal crashes are not included.

F.S. 316.072 allows emergency vehicle operators some leeway when it comes to traffic rules. For example, they can proceed past a red light or through a stop sign – but only after slowing down as necessary for safe operation. They can exceed the maximum speed limit – so long as the driver does not endanger life or property. They can also disregard regulations governing direction, movement, or turning – but only so long as life or property is not endangered. Many departments also have written policies that outline the caution their employees should use when responding to an emergency.

What the law makes clear is that while these first responders are tasked with critically important duties for which seconds count, they do not have free reign to drive recklessly on our roads or needlessly endanger others.

Published on: July 9, 2020

Fort Myers Bicycle Accident Risk Remains High

by Leland Garvin

The coronavirus pandemic has spurred a nationwide biking boom. Bike sales nationwide have doubled in recent months compared to last year. Some cyclists like cheap transportation while others find it safer to cycle right now than take a public bus or subway. Many simply welcome a healthy outdoor respite from social isolation. Numerous Florida cities have seized on the reduced traffic counts as an opportunity to get a jump start on building new bicycle lanes or connecting existing ones to create a more expansive, safer biking network. However, South Florida is still one of the most dangerous regions in the deadliest state for bicyclists and the risk of a Fort Myers bicycle accident remains high.

The Miami Herald reports that despite the high demand for bike infrastructure, few South Florida cities are taking the initiative to make biking safer. Transportation safety advocates note that in many communities throughout the state, there is no network of safe bicycle pathways. Instead, we have these fragmented stretches of random bicycle lanes that do not connect to one another, are often not separated from traffic, and are far too frequently ignored by careless motorists.

Our South Florida bicycle accident attorneys know that many communities from Tampa to Miami have made big plans when it comes to bike safety, but many have stalled if they were ever begun in the first place. There has been discussion of expanding and connecting the Gulf Coast Trail, which would serve as a Southwest coast connector from Clearwater to Naples, with segments adjacent to motor vehicle traffic. WINK News reports the last time the City of Fort Myers created a plan to make biking and walking easier was in 2007, though they did recently release a survey asking residents to chime in with suggestions for improvement. Meanwhile, there has been little movement on Miami Beach’s nearly-200-page bicycle master plan for Miami Beach. So far, the city’s only built one-tenth of a mile of the 17 miles of protected bicycle lanes promised back in 2009.

Bicycling is great for individuals and communities in a number of ways, but there is cause for concern when there is an uptick in ridership combined with a lack of safety infrastructure – especially because Florida does not have a great track record when it comes to preventing bicycle accidents. Continue reading

Published on: September 9, 2019

Amazon Delivery Accidents – Florida Injury Lawyers Fight for Accountability

by Leland Garvin

In its dogged push for e-commerce dominance, tech firm Amazon.com, Inc. has spent years building a massive logistics empire, all on the promise of getting your stuff to your door in as little time as possible. It’s fast, reliable – and all-too-often deadly. Amazon delivery accidents are increasingly common not only because the company is ubiquitous, but its drivers are rushed and under intense pressure.

Fort Myers Amazon delivery accidents Amazon is a $1 trillion company, the founder’s net worth climbing by some $260 million daily, but according to a recent co-report by The New York Times and ProPublica, the company has been less-than-generous in covering the human costs associated with Amazon delivery accidents.

Part of what makes establishing liability so difficult is the fact that Amazon, in an effort to reduce any dependence on long-time carriers like UPS, has forged a vast network of independent contractors, each supplying their own vehicles and drivers. On the one hand, this does allow the firm to shrink and expand its delivery forces as necessary, with the added bonus of avoiding payment of benefits and workers’ compensation when injuries occur.

Published on: July 20, 2019

Miami Herald: Florida Ranks Top 10 in Country For Railroad Accidents

by Leland Garvin

“Every week it seems there’s a report of an accident between pedestrians and trains,” noted the Miami Herald in a recent story.

Fort Myers injury lawyer Fort Myers personal injury lawyers know that “trains” aren’t typically the first thing that comes to mind when we talk “crashes.” However, a recent four-year review of data from the Federal Railroad Administration revealed that Florida is No. 6 among states with the most railroad crossing deaths in the nation.

From 2014 to 2018, more than 460 railroad accidents. Of those: