Drunk Driving Injury

Drunk drivers cause senseless tragedy. Every day in the United States. Every day in Florida.

The Fort Myers drunk driving accident lawyers at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, have been fighting for the rights of those killed or injured in Southwest Florida traffic collisions since 1971. We have built many special relationships with victims and families of those killed or injured by drunk drivers, and are dedicated to both zealous protection of these victims, and prevention of these needless tragedies.

Visit Florida reports more than 118 million tourists a year flock to Florida, primarily from the Midwest, including the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. That’s 25 percent more visitors in the past decade: 84 million visited the Sunshine State in 2008. The Southwest region, which includes Lee, Collier, Hendry, Glades, Charlotte, De Soto, Sarasota and Manatee counties, continues to see an increasing number of visitors. Lee County Visitor’s & Convention Bureau reports the number of annual visitors has more than doubled in the last 20 years and now exceeds 2 million – which is three times the total population of Lee County.

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports Florida drunk driving accidents kill 500 motorists a year.

Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Captiva are top beach draws. Spring training facilities for the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox push traffic figures to the breaking point each spring. Unfortunately, when people go on vacation they let loose, they put their guard down, and they often celebrate by consuming alcohol.

While our Fort Myers drunk driving injury lawyers have long represented local victims of these collisions, we also have seen an increasing number of these incidents caused by visitors, tourists and part-time residents. It’s another reason why Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, continues to support sobriety checkpoints and enforcement blitzes conducted by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the efforts of the national and Southwest Florida chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports more than 3,000 motorists are killed each year in Florida. More than 165,000 are injured. About 500 Florida traffic deaths a year are blamed on alcohol, making drinking and driving one of the most common contributing factors to serious or fatal traffic collisions in Southwest Florida.

Still, the states Annual Uniform Crime Statistics shows 44,000 motorists are cited for drunk driving in Florida each year. Unfortunately, little more than half are ultimately convicted. Lee County drunk driving arrests, including those handled by the Fort Myers Police Department, account for about 2,500 cases a year. That means about 8 people a day are charged with drunk driving in Lee County.

Our Fort Myers drunk driving injury lawyers encourage anyone in a collision blamed on a drunk driver—including passengers in a driver’s vehicle – to consult an experienced Fort Myers injury law firm in the immediate aftermath of a collision. It’s a primary reason why we offer free and confidential consultations 24 hours a day/7 days a week. There are never any legal fees unless we are successful in obtaining a recovery on your behalf.

While negligence of an at-fault driver may seem to be a forgone conclusion, these cases are among the most complex handled by personal injury and wrongful death law firms for a number of reasons, including very serious or fatal injuries, multiple victims, and at-fault drivers who lack adequate insurance (or who too often carry no insurance at all or even flee the scene). Identifying all at-fault parties and their insurance carriers is vital to obtaining an adequate recovery for victims. Beyond seeking damages from an at-fault party, your personal injury or wrongful death law firm must also look to uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage available to accident victims who carry such policies, as well as the potential liability of other third-parties, which may include bars, restaurants or irresponsible social hosts.

If you or someone you care about has been hurt, contact the Fort Myers drunk driving injury lawyers at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured. You pay us no fees unless we win.