Posted on April 12, 2021 in Car Accident

When the driver of an 80,000-pound commercial truck displays road rage, the results are often catastrophic injuries or fatalities. Approximately 1,500 people are seriously hurt or killed by aggressive driving every year.

Truck Drivers Prone to Road Rage

Semi-truck drivers have demanding and often stressful jobs. Many truckers work long hours, sometimes spending days struggling to meet deadlines as they transport goods hundreds of miles to their destination. As a result, truck drivers are prone to road-rage. These factors are no excuse for erratic, dangerous behavior like speeding, tailgating, unsafe lane changes, or trying to run other motorists off the road, however.

Since 2009, accidents involving commercial trucks have risen over 51%. Approximately 68% of all truck accident fatalities are passenger vehicle occupants.

Commercial trucks have greater ground clearance than the average passenger car and they can weigh up to 30 times more. Therefore, smaller vehicles colliding with large trucks already have the odds stacked against them. When a large truck collision involves aggressive behavior, the incident is all the more terrifying.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

Corrupt nursing homes are prone to incidents of neglect and abuse. Improper supervision of nursing home staff, understaffing, negligent care, and irresponsible or even abusive actions of caregivers in these facilities can put elderly residents in danger.

Concealing Neglect and Abuse in Nursing Homes

The horror stories in the news regarding nursing home abuse and neglect are astounding. In October of 2019, 3 nursing home facility workers in North Carolina were charged with forcing residents to participate in a fighting ring with other residents. In some instances, staff members were recording the fights and encouraging nursing home residents, many of which had Alzheimer’s and dementia, to abuse one another.

The month prior to the North Carolina case, Philip Esformes, CEO of a chain of nursing home and assisted living facilities, was convicted of numerous schemes that involved bribing doctors to refer patients to Esformes’s facilities, inappropriately moving residents between facilities to keep ratios stable, and even bribing government officials to give facilities notice when a surprise inspection was about to take place. As a result, many residents received inadequate medical care, lived in poor or unsafe conditions, were charged for unnecessary services, or denied any services whatsoever. After years of investigations that began in 2016, multiple charges were admitted to, and a 20-year sentence along with a $44 million penalty was received. In addition to criminal charges, Esformes may face civil lawsuits from the victims’ families.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Personal Injury

“We are seeing an increased amount of traumatic brain injuries in our cases. The popular press is discussing this more and more in relation to professional football. We asked our research clerk, Hannah Grace, to firm up our research in this area and the following is an article by Hannah summarizing her findings. As a caution to the public nothing herein is intended as medical advice and anything anyone can rely upon medically. Consult your physician.” — Charles E. Adler

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is defined as a severe, violent strike to the head that causes the brain to bump against the inside of the skull.  The injury can range from mild to severe. The degree of trauma depends on different factors including the force of impact and nature of the accident. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the leading causes of TBIs are falls, blunt trauma, and motor vehicle accidents. Violence, sports injuries, and explosive blasts are also common in causing TBIs. Symptoms for both mild and severe TBI can include some of the same symptoms. Intellectual and communication problems are also known to develop after a TBI. In 2014 an average of 155 people died each day from injuries that included a TBI. Deaths that were related to TBI were the highest among people 75 and older.  Emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths relating to TBI’s increased 53% from 2006 to 2014. Different tests are used to diagnose a TBI.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Construction Accidents

Concrete workers face a variety of hazards that can cause serious injuries, disabilities, or death. As a result, OSHA mandated a number of safety standards geared towards keeping workers safe. Despite these standards, however, employers often fail to take precautionary measures to protect their workers. Unsafe conditions in the concrete industry continue to cause approximately 28,000 serious injuries and illnesses and about 40 deaths each year. By recognizing workplace hazards and following a few safety tips, concrete workers can reduce their risk of getting seriously injured, becoming permanently disabled, or dying. 

Hazards Concrete Workers Face

Some of the most common hazards that cause serious injuries or death to concrete workers include:

• Falls from cranes or other elevated workspaces
• Getting crushed or pinned by heavy slabs of concrete when partially constructed foundations collapse

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Car Accident

Forward-Collision Warning, Blind-Spot Monitoring, Automatic Emergency Braking, and other advanced safety systems are keeping drivers safe. These systems use radar, cameras, and other sensors to keep an eye on what’s happening on the roads around them. Using onboard computers, they process the collected information and respond when a crash appears imminent.

Forward-Collision Warning (FCW)

This safety feature uses cameras, radar, or lasers to watch the road ahead and monitor relative speed and distances between vehicles. It provides a visual, audible, and/or tactile warning of an impending collision with a pedestrian, car, or another object. These systems are sometimes accompanied by auto-braking features that will automatically hit the brakes if the driver fails to heed the warning.

Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)

Using radar and forward-facing cameras, the AEB system detects potential collisions and warns the driver of an impending forward crash with another car, object, or pedestrian. If the driver fails to react in time, the system automatically applies the brakes to prevent or reduce the severity of a crash.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice cases usually involve complex legal terminology. To navigate the deep waters of medical malpractice claims, it’s important for a medical negligence victim to understand the legal terms and how they may apply to his or her case.

Common Medical Malpractice Terms to Know

Below are some common terms in medical malpractice cases.

Affidavit: A sworn statement that assures the merit of facts written down and confirmed by oath.

Allegation: A statement made against the defendant and dictating what the claimant intends to prove.

Arbitration: A process of coming up with a resolution without involving the court system.

Assumption of Risk: This is a defendant’s allegation that the plaintiff was aware of the danger of the actions taken but willingly chose to take the risk.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Car Accident

Bicycle accidents can result from one primary factor or a combination of factors that are often motorist-related. Whether people ride a bike for their daily commute, exercise, or fun, they face risks every time they hit the road. In 2019, 864 cyclists were killed in traffic crashes. Hospital admissions due to bicycle accidents have increased by 120% over the last 15 years. 

The most common causes of bicycle accidents are:

Distracted Driving

Distracted drivers pose the greatest danger to bicyclists. When drivers are talking on the phone, texting, taking selfies, or conducting video chats, they are significantly more likely to cause dangerous collisions. Drivers are 23 times more likely to crash when texting and 3 times more likely to be involved in an accident when making a phone call.

Failure to Yield

Bicycles should be treated like other vehicles on the road. Unfortunately, motorists often overlook bicyclists when checking for oncoming traffic. Drivers failing to yield at intersections, in street lanes, or stop signs poses severe risks for bicycle riders. Additionally, drivers often hit cyclists when they don’t pay attention to their blind spots while turning or changing lanes.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Car Accident

A properly written witness statement could play a pivotal role in helping car accident victims to recover damages. An eyewitness may have knowledge about the accident that is not available in any other pieces of evidence. A witness statement puts observations in writing. A successful witness statement should include the witness’s contact information, details of the accident, information about injuries and property damage, and a signature. 

Witness’s Name and Contact Information

A witness statement should include the full legal name of the person making the statement. It should also contain important contact information including a phone number, home address, and email.

Including the Who, When, What, and Where of the Car Accident

The witness statement should address the who, when, what, and where of the car accident. It should list the names of all involved parties, details about the vehicles involved in the crash, the date and time the crash took place, and where the accident took place. The witness should be as specific as possible about what he or she saw and heard.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Uncategorized

Overworked doctors are twice as likely to make medical mistakes that injure or kill their patients. With the rising demand for their services, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals are often required to work long hours, juggle multiple tasks at a time, and see many different patients. Doctors who are overwhelmed by their workload are likely to take shortcuts or miss important details, which could lead to medical errors and negligence.

Long Hours and Burnout Create Dangerous Situations

Over-scheduling, near impossible workloads, and medical staff shortages can easily lead to doctor burnout and disastrous errors. For instance, errors are bound to occur when doctors are expected to work for more than 20 hours or when surgeons are expected to perform delicate procedures after excessively long shifts.

Burnout doctors are twice as likely to make diagnostic errors, use poor judgment, and make technical mistakes during medical procedures. Injuries and death can occur as a result of hospital-acquired infections, delayed treatment, improper anesthetic administration, missed or delayed diagnosis, medication overdose or underdose, surgical mistakes, inadequate monitoring after a procedure, failure to take proper precautions, and failure to act on tests results. The highest percentage of errors caused by physician burnout occurs among surgeons, radiologists, emergency room doctors, family doctors, neurologists, and urologists.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Car Accident

Whether traveling or hosting a huge gathering at home, Thanksgiving should be celebrated with safety in mind. The Thanksgiving holiday means family, friends, food, and fun. However, winter weather, busy traffic, alcohol consumption, and kitchen chaos can result in accidents that dampen the celebrations. These accidents can be avoided with just a bit of extra caution. Here are some tips to make the holiday safer and ensure everyone has a great time.

Driving Safety

The risk of auto accidents increases with millions of people crowding the highways and byways during the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Those who’ll be driving should have their vehicles inspected, serviced, and cleaned before the trip. They should also remember to drive defensively, be aware of the weather and road conditions, observe the speed limits, allow for more time to reach their destination, and avoid distracted, drowsy, or impaired driving.

Continue Reading ››