Car Accidents

At Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the injured, we have been representing Lee County car accident victims since Bruce L. Scheiner founded his law firm in 1971, as Southwest Florida was becoming one of the fastest growing areas in the nation. Population had more than quadrupled over two decades, from 23,000 in 1950 to more than 100,000 when our current headquarters was built near Page Field at what then was the edge of town.

Over five decades, the Lee County car accident lawyers at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, have built a reputation for dedicated and experienced representation of victims injured or killed in traffic collisions throughout Southwest Florida.

Today, we are still experiencing rapid growth, with the population increasing from 440,000 residents in 2000 to about 800,000 residents today. Home to the county seat of Fort Myers, as well as fast-growing Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, Estero and Bonita Springs, Lee County features the islands of Sanibel and Captiva as well as popular Fort Myers Beach, Barefoot Beach, and Lover’s Key. Lee County is also the spring home of the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball teams for spring training.

US-41/Cleveland Avenue/Tamiami Trail consistently ranks among the deadliest roads in the country, with more than 700 traffic fatalities reported in the last decade.

Statewide, statistics show about 400,000 traffic accidents are reported to law enforcement each year in Florida, killing more than 3,000 motorists and injuring 250,000 people. Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports about 12,000 Lee County traffic collisions kill more than 100 motorists each year. Another 8,000 are seriously injured.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports Florida is the deadliest state in the nation for pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents and motorcycle accidents. The Sunshine State joins California and Texas as the deadliest states in the nation for car accidents, drunk driving collisions, and trucking accidents.

Traffic collisions are seldom “accidents” or random chance, but instead are almost always caused by some form of negligence. Typically this involves an at-fault driver, but may also involve negligence on the part of a private property owner, municipality, employer, or even a company that sold a defective product. The most common causes of car accidents and other types of traffic collisions in Lee County include:

• Speeding/Aggressive Driving: In some form, this behavior is most responsible for traffic crashes. Speeding, failure to yield, failure to use turn signals, abrupt braking, following too closely, failure to respect the rights of pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcycle riders and other poor driver performance is typically at the root of most crashes.
• Distracted Driving: Smartphones and onboard electronics have led to increasing distraction at the wheel. By some estimates, distracted driving is at least partially responsible for more than one-third of all traffic collisions.
• Drunk Driving: The U.S. Department of Transportation reports nearly one-third of Florida motorists involved in fatal accidents were intoxicated at the time, resulting in about 1,000 deaths a year. That means three people a day die in drunk-driving crashes in Florida.

Most lawsuits stemming from injurious traffic crashes will be made as a negligence claim under Florida tort law, as outlined in Florida Statute 768. At their most basic, these cases require plaintiff (injury victim) to prove a number of elements against one or more defendants.

• Violation of Standard of Care: This means proving an at-fault party violated standard of care a reasonable person would use under similar circumstances, and that the violation resulted or contributed to compensable injuries.
• Damages: Plaintiff must also prove full extent of damages.

At Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, our exclusive focus on the representation of personal injury and wrongful death victims provides our Lee County car accident lawyers with the knowledge, experience and resources to investigate your accident claim, identify all responsible parties, and formulate a comprehensive demand for damages.

Identifying all responsible parties and their associated insurance carriers is vital to your ability to collect adequate damages. You should not even expect fair treatment from your own insurance company, much less the representatives of the insurance company for the at-fault driver. We believe everyone injured in a serious or fatal traffic collision in Lee County deserve immediate access to experienced legal help – that’s why we offer free and confidential consultations 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

Insurance adjusters will be looking to defend against paying damages from the start and will employ any number of strategies, from blaming the victim to offering a minimal settlement in exchange for signing a release of all future claims.

Florida tort law recognizes comparative fault in negligence claims under Florida Statute 768.81, which means even victim’s found partially at fault may still have a valid claim against one or more at-fault parties. However, a victim’s negligence will proportionately reduce any ultimate damage award.

If you or someone you care about has been hurt, contact the Lee County car accident lawyers at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured. You pay us no fees unless we win.