Resort Injury Lawyer Blog

A report by The Orlando Sentinel indicates that officials in Central Florida's Volusia County are slow to make beach driving safer, following the death of a 4-year-old boy who was hit and killed by a truck on New Smyrna Beach. He is the second 4-year-old killed on a Volusia driving beach in the past four months - the first occurring on Daytona Beach in March.

Resort torts typically involve the liability of resorts, hotels, motels, recreational activity operators, etc., but in this case the decision by the County to allow beach driving is immune to liability, as a policy making/ discretionary function.

Volusia County manages 40 miles of beach, 17 of which allow vehicle driving and parking. Forty-five deaths and injuries by vehicles on the driving beaches have occurred in the past five years.

One Volusia County Council member proposed banning beach driving in three years, while the county searches for more off-beach parking. No other Council members agreed to a ban. The Council only agreed to study the traffic and driving patterns and review potential changes to make the beaches safer. Ideas included creating one-way traffic, posting more signs, banning the use of cell phones by drivers, and creating family-only beach sections, though none of the ideas was immediately adopted.

Miami Beach Police Chief Carlos Noriega said that Miami Beach's Heathrow Lounge, located in the bustling nightlife area on popular Washington Ave., had security measures in place but "something slipped through the cracks," The Miami Herald reported today.

That "something" was a pistol, carried into the nightclub and used by a gang member to kill a young man thought to be the leader of a rival gang. "We're not going to tolerate any gang activity here," said Noriega.

Violent crime is no stranger to Miami Beach - in the last month, a couple was robbed at gunpoint in their hotel room on Collins Avenue, and a Russian prostitution situation led to a fatal shooting at a popular Resort & Spa. In all three situations, it seems that innocent bystanders were fortunately not harmed.

But with murder weapons entering tourist and entertainment premises on a regular basis, that might not always be the case. Inadequate security and premises liability lawsuits usually involve criminal assaults and violent crime due to negligent security, insufficient lighting, inadequate security equipment, inadequate security personnel, or other causes. In negligent security cases, the plaintiff who has been injured due to a criminal act brings an action against the owner or manager of the premises or business. Those who are in control or in a position to prevent the incident where the plaintiff was injured are the parties who are most often defendants. The law governing these cases is derived from the general principle that those who own or possess property have a duty to protect users from accidental, negligent, and intentional acts of third parties.

Tourists at Miami Beach's The Parisian Hotel on Collins Avenue were robbed at gunpoint inside their hotel room, reports The Miami Herald. The couple had returned to the hotel around midnight Sunday and found two men burglarizing their hotel room. The robbers took their personal belongings, cash, car keys, and their brown Dodge Avenger. Tipsters should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

The couple was lucky - this could have turned out much worse. Inadequate premises security is too often the culprit in personal injury cases that occur in tourist destinations. Inadequate security and premises liability lawsuits usually involve criminal assaults and violent crime due to negligent security, insufficient lighting, inadequate security equipment, inadequate security personnel, or other causes. The law governing these cases is derived from the general principle that those who own or possess property have a duty to protect users from accidental, negligent, and intentional acts of third parties.

ResortTorts are cases of civil liability for negligent or criminal acts that arise out of a resort, vacation or recreational setting. involve aspects of hotel and motel safety, cruise ship litigation, pleasure boating and jet ski incidents, amusement and theme park liability, aquatic, diving and swimming incidents, foreign travel and medical emergencies, gaming and casinos, aviation (commercial and general), rental car liability, moped, bicycle and motorcycle safety, buses and tour guides, travel industry liability for crime victims, and medical care provided to vacationers. ResortTorts can encompass a vast array of types of cases but they all have one thing in common: tourists, business travelers and locals alike are all exposed to risk while traveling, vacationing or engaging in resort or pleasure activities.

A marine toxicologist and Exxon Valdez survivor reports in The Huffington Post that beach goers in four Gulf states are suffering skin rashes, blisters, welts, sore throats, ear bleeds and bronchitis after being in the ocean. The culprit? Dispersed oil - tiny bubbles of oil encased in chemical dispersants in the water column - and they're invisible. Overexposure to crude oil through inhalation and skin contact are known to create these symptoms.

Worse -- not only are small children at risk of breathing a higher dose of contaminants per body weight than adults, but children, pregnant women, people with compromised or stressed immune systems like cancer survivors and asthma sufferers, and African Americans are more at risk from oil and chemical exposure - the latter because they are prone to sickle cell anemia, reports the toxicologist.

Long-term effects of exposure to the chemical dispersants being used on the BP oil spill are yet to be seen but, as reported in The Tampa Tribune, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention assert that long-term exposure can cause central nervous system problems or damage to the kidneys or liver.

BP and hotels alike - particularly those with private beaches - would do well to post warning signs about the hazards and potential for personal injury in the water. This may give rise to resort and hotel liability for failure to warn guests of a known hazard.

Cruise lines must now report to the FBI all crimes aboard cruise ships AND must take actions to protect the crime victims. The new legislation requiring these measures was passed in Congress last month. Once it is signed by President Obama, it will enforce security measures requiring ships to install peep holes on cabin doors and make further changes affecting rail heights, warning devices, and other security measures. Cruise lines will also be required to provide shipboard medical care for victims of sexual assault and medical staff that knows how to collect forensic evidence, reports USA Today. Inadequate premises security is too often the culprit in personal injury cases that occur in tourist destinations, where vacationers naturally let their guard down to relax and 'get away from it all.' Inadequate security and premises liability lawsuits usually involve criminal assaults and violent crime due to negligent security, insufficient lighting, inadequate security equipment, inadequate security personnel, or other causes. The law governing these cases is derived from the general principle that those who own or possess property have a duty to protect users from accidental, negligent, and intentional acts of third parties.

ResortTorts are cases of civil liability for negligent or criminal acts that arise out of a resort, vacation or recreational setting. involve aspects of hotel and motel safety, cruise ship litigation, pleasure boating and jet ski incidents, amusement and theme park liability, aquatic, diving and swimming incidents, foreign travel and medical emergencies, gaming and casinos, aviation (commercial and general), rental car liability, moped, bicycle and motorcycle safety, buses and tour guides, travel industry liability for crime victims, and medical care provided to vacationers. ResortTorts can encompass a vast array of types of cases but they all have one thing in common: tourists, business travelers and locals alike are all exposed to risk while traveling, vacationing or engaging in resort or pleasure activities.

The Miami Herald reports that the Miami Beach Budget Advisory Committee has voted: Officials should consider placing surveillance cameras in the city's hot spot entertainment areas as a crime deterrent and a way to reduce police costs.

The new surveillance cameras would be installed in public areas to capture activity in tourist areas on tape - an invasion of privacy and a step towards 'Big Brother,' according to Mayor Matti Herrera Bower. "I don't know that in a tourist area people would love to have cameras watching what they do," she said.

But 35% of calls to Miami Beach police come from the entertainment district and, just last month, Miami Beach commissioners approved the installation of a $225,000 security and surveillance system including 16 cameras for the new Lincoln Park. "Cameras make people feel safe," Police Chief Carlos Noriega said.

The first of 30 cameras at Miami Beach intersections have already been installed. Meant to videotape cars that run red lights, they also stream 24-hour video that could capture other criminal acts.

In 2006, Miami installed surveillance cameras in the downtown area. Broward, Lighthouse Point, Hallandale, Fort Lauderdale and Dania Beach also have cameras for surveillance purposes.

All 1,000 guests at one of Miami Beach's most popular hotels were evacuated Saturday night after a deadly shooting at the Resort and Spa. Guests at a wedding party underway on the top floor of the hotel were among the evacuees, as was Prime Minister of Belize Dean Darrow, who was in the midst of a dinner speech and was accompanied by his own security team, reported NBC News.

Police have not released details of the incident, however both NBC and CBS4 reported details from various sources: Allegedly some men hired prostitutes after checking into the hotel but were also visited by a pimp who shot and killed one of them. The pimp and prostitutes allegedly escaped. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.

Inadequate security and premises liability lawsuits usually involve criminal assaults and violent crime due to negligent security, insufficient lighting, inadequate security equipment, inadequate security personnel, or other causes. In negligent security cases, the plaintiff who has been injured due to a criminal act brings an action against the owner or manager of the premises or business. Those who are in control or in a position to prevent the incident where the plaintiff was injured are the parties who are most often defendants. The law governing these cases is derived from the general principle that those who own or possess property have a duty to protect users from accidental, negligent, and intentional acts of third parties.

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