Florida Personal Injury Caselaw Category Archives - Page 14 of 14 - South Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg Published by Miami Accident Attorneys

While a person typically has no duty to protect people from third-party harm, there are certain situations in which the lines blur and the rules become tricky. The case of Dorsey v. Reider illustrates such a situation.

In 2007, three men by the names of Dorsey, Reider, and Noordhoek were drinking at a neighborhood bar in Florida. All three men had consumed enough alcohol that they were over the legal limit. After some time, Reider became loud and boisterous, saying he wanted to fight everyone in the bar. Upon observing Reider’s behavior, Dorsey uttered a curse word at Reider and left the bar. Reider and Noordhoek followed Dorsey demanding an explanation for why Dorsey had used such language against Reider.

Dorsey proceeded to walk, ignoring the two men. Dorsey’s route took him between Reider’s truck and an adjacent car. As Dorsey tried to keep walking, the two men managed to trap him between the vehicles. They continued to harass Dorsey and prevented him from leaving. The altercation escalated, and Noordhoek reached inside Reider’s unlocked truck and retrieved a tomahawk, a tool that resembles an axe used in camping, bushcraft, or land-clearing situations. Upon seeing the tomahawk, Dorsey tried to escape the scene by pushing Reider, but Reider did not let him leave. A few seconds later, Noordhoek hit Dorsey over the head with the tomahawk, rendering him unconscious. Both Reider and Noordhoek immediately fled the scene. Continue Reading ›

The use of rental cars is very common in Florida due to the high volume of visitors who travel to the state for business and pleasure every year. The high rate of rental car use also means that rental car accidents are quite common. Unfortunately, Florida laws pertaining to collisions in rented and leased vehicles favor insurance companies and car rental companies as opposed to the car accident victims. If you’ve been injured in a rental car accident then South Florida personal injury attorney Robert Dixon can help.

In Adams v. Bell Partners, the plaintiffs were injured in an automobile accident involving a rental car. The rental car was paid for by the driver’s employer, Bell Partners. Bell Partners had rented the car for their employee to use for business purposes. At the time of the collision, the vehicle was being driven by the employee’s husband. Bell Partners had an express policy that prohibited the use of rental vehicles by anyone other than an employee. Despite this policy, it was known by the employee’s boss that the employee often let her husband drive the rented cars, and he was also listed on the rental policy as a permitted driver.

The plaintiffs sued Bell Partners alleging the employer was liable for the accident since the car was rented in the company’s name. Specifically, the plaintiffs cited the dangerous instrumentality doctrine claiming the employer was vicariously liable for authorizing and paying for the employee to rent and use the vehicle. Bell Partners’s insurance company denied liability citing that company policy forbade the employee’s husband from operating the rented car and they did not have to cover the plaintiff’s damages because the employee’s husband was not an authorized user. Continue Reading ›

Articles Posted in Florida Personal Injury Caselaw

The Duty of Care When There is a Foreseeable Zone of Risk – Dorsey v. Reider

Liability in Rental Car Accidents in Florida – Adams v. Bell Partners