Florida Resort Tort Accidents

Each year countless Americans feverishly plan their annual vacations. More than 80 million people select Florida as their destination, excitedly eyeing the state’s beautiful beaches, sparkling nightlife, world-renowned theme parks, and luxurious resorts.

Sometimes, though, a vacation or other travel excursion does not go as planned. When these unplanned events also involve injuries, the results can be incredibly difficult and stressful. You may be thousands of miles from home, which makes dealing with medical, insurance and other professionals exponentially more difficult. What’s more, the injuries you suffer could have consequences that change your life forever.

Resorts and other lodging establishments owe you, their guest, a duty under the law to maintain their establishments and premises in a condition that a normal person would consider reasonably safe. Additionally, resort or hotel owners should also take pro-active steps to fix any issue that could pose a danger to guests and to warn their guests about any potentially dangerous condition on the property that cannot be rectified right away. Tourists are less familiar with the surroundings of the area in general or their specific resort. That means that they tend to be less likely to identify risks that a local person might readily grasp.

Failure to take the necessary steps to protect guests may result in potential liability for the resort owner. These issues may arise in a variety of areas, including:

• Hotel/resort premises safety
• Injuries resulting from participating in an amusement or theme park attraction
• Boating/jet ski injuries
• Diving, swimming or water sports injuries
• Rental car liability
• Moped, bicycle and motorcycle injuries
• Buses and guided tour issues

The failure of a proprietor, owner or operator of a resort, hotel or other travel destination to meet their duties can manifest itself through a variety of problems.

For example, last year a guest at a hotel died in a fire at the establishment. An electrical system problem was believed to have started the fire. Also that year, an 18-month-old boy died after he fell into a fountain on the grounds of a hotel. Two tourists staying in Miami Beach were robbed at gunpoint… inside their hotel room.

Additionally, guests must also contend with pest infestations and other moving dangers. Pest control provider Terminix named Miami the 14^th-most bedbug infested city in the U.S. Earlier this year, a teacher visiting Broward County found herself run over by a Fort Lauderdale Rescue Truck while she sunbathed on the beach, and last year a drunk Miami police officer ran over a tourist with his ATV, inflicting severe brain injuries on the woman.

Regardless of whether you’ve been bitten, robbed, run over, or otherwise injured while at a lodging, travel or amusement establishment, the law may allow you to recover for your injuries. The owner and/or operators of those facilities have a legal responsibility to keep you reasonably safe from a variety of harms and to warn you about the risks that cannot be immediately rectified.

If you think you’re the victim of negligence at the hands of your resort or hotel, call the Florida injury attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. today. There is nothing to lose from sharing your story and seeing how we can help.