As you can see from the break lights, the heavy traffic was unexpectedly slowing. By analyzing the actions of all veihicles we aggressivly persued each insurance company to obtain a substantial total recovery for our client from each available insurance policy.
The commission contracts with the North Carolina Rate Bureau to collect information about when an employer purchases, renews, or cancels an insurance policy. The commission has acknowledged that it uses the database to find out which insurer is responsible for paying a claim, but it does not monitor for cancellations.
In June, legislators approved a bill that would require the commission to get all the information about these policies from the bureau so that it can more readily detect which employers do not carry the required insurance and enforce compliance. On July 2, Governor Bev Perdue signed the bill into law.
Prior to her signing the bill into law, many were calling on Governor Perdue to veto the bill because a last-minute amendment was added stating that information provided by the Rate Bureau to the commission will no longer be public record.
Call for Transparency
A group of media representatives and open records advocates pushed for a veto of the new law. The group includes the North Carolina Press Association, the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, and News & Observer publisher Orage Quarles III.
Open records laws allowed the News & Observer to obtain the information for its investigation, which put a spotlight on the problem of employers not carrying required workers’ compensation insurance. If this information were to be kept private, not only would it prevent public scrutiny, but it would also prevent workers from finding out if their employers had the required insurance.
Representatives who supported the amendment said that it will protect private information, such as social security numbers. However, personal information such as this has long been redacted from public records.
North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
If you have been hurt on the job or have been denied workers’ compensation benefits, possibly because your employer did not carry the required insurance, the North Carolina workers’ compensation lawyers at the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin may be able to help you. Call 1-866-900-7078 for a free evaluation of your case 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By Austin Baird The News and Observer
Wrongful death is a death that occurs due to someone else’s negligence or reckless indifference. Negligent conducts can include drinking while driving, falling asleep at the wheel, and medical malpractice to name a few.
It is not recommended. Wrongful death claims can be complicated. Certain requirements have to be met. A Kansas City wrongful death attorney knows the laws and can navigate the legal process for you and deal with the insurance company while you focus on taking care of your family.
Typically, the only cases we recommend that a person handle themselves are property damage only claims or claims with minimal property damage and minor injuries. If an insurance company can take advantage of you and your loved ones, they will. Personal injury attorneys know the arguments that insurance adjusters will make and can protect you against those.
Another reason you should have a Missouri wrongful death lawyer fighting for you is that there are several types of damages that can potentially be recovered following the death of a loved one caused by someone else’s negligence, and an experienced Kansas City personal injury attorney can help you evaluate what losses you and your family have suffered that may be compensable.
Losses may include but are not limited to:
If you have lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, don’t hesitate to contact the experienced Missouri wrongful death attorneys at Castle Law Office for your FREE consultation.
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Texting while driving in Los Angeles continues to be a dangerous trend, particularly among teenage drivers. An alarming new survey reveals that more than half of high school seniors admit they text or email while behind the wheel. The survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides the first federal statistics on how common the texting is among young drivers.
The national survey, which was conducted in 2011, found that 58 percent of high school 12th graders said they read or wrote text messages or emails while driving during the previous month, according to a report in The Associated Press. About 43 percent of high school juniors also admitted to texting while driving or emailing while driving.
As a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles, Mickey Fine knows first-hand how dangerous texting and driving, or emailing and driving, can be. Serious accidents resulting in catastrophic or fatal injuries can be traced back to someone who was looking at a phone instead of at the road.
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced it was sending Sacramento $1.5 million for a “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” campaign. The money will be used to boost advertising and increased police enforcement, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Distracted driving is an epidemic,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a news release.
California law bans texting and hand-held cellphone use while driving. According to the Office of Traffic Safety, 10.8 percent of Californians use cellphones while driving at any given daylight hour.
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The Law Offices of Mickey Fine – Bakersfield, CA
1801 Oak Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: (661) 369-7735
Buyer beware: Consumer Reports has released its annual list of worst cars, and one of the country’s most popular pick-up trucks is at the top of the list due to poor car test ratings. The Consumer Reports website is a common resource for new car and truck buyers, with a great deal of information on safety such as car accident statistics, crash avoidance systems and “rollover 101.” In place with long stretches of highway on which drivers speed fairly often, such as Texas, catastrophic truck accidents can cause roll-over wrecks and head-on collisions.
According to an article in the New York Daily News, the list is based on testing scores from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Consumer Reports, the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration and consumer analyst JD Power. Due to low ratings on car roll-over accidents, side impact collisions and seatbelt safety concerns, there are several defective cars on the market.
Fort Worth, Texas personal injury attorney David Glenn encourages new car and truck buyers to study as many safety and crash ratings as possible before making their purchase. By being informed, they will not end up with a vehicle that has safety problems such as a dangerous risk of roll-over, defective airbags, faulty brakes or unreliable seatbelts.
Due to overall poor crash test results, the Dodge Ram 1500 pick-up truck was been named as 2012’s most dangerous car in the United States, despite being a popular, high-selling vehicle. With so many trucks in Texas, catastrophic accident injuries here could be lowered if truck buyers consult Consumer Reports ratings first. Traumatic brain injury, brain and head injury, spinal cord injury are some of the most devastating Texas accident injuries, and while many are due to drunk driving, sometimes it is just a case of a dangerous car on the road.
Other cars that on the list of most dangerous cars on the road were the Chevrolet Colorado Super Cab, the Mazda CX-7, the Mazda CX-9, the Nissan Pathfinder, the Jeep Wrangler and the Suzuki SX4. No European automakers are among the worst-scoring seven models, which contained three US-made cars and four Japanese-made models.
Glenn Law Firm
210 W. Wall Street
Grapevine, Texas 76051
According to a June 24, 2012 article in the Philadelphia Enquirer, Senator Barbara Boxer asked car rental companies to make a public pledge “not to rent or sell any vehicles under safety recall until the defect has been remedied.” So far, only Hertz has agreed to the pledge, while their competitors rejected the challenge. For anyone planning to rent a car from one of those non-compliant companies, this means that the consequences of unrepaired mechanical defects, such as faulty seatbelt car wreck injuries or defective brakes whiplash, could not only mar their holiday fun-they could risk lives.
The Knoxville, Tennessee personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of G. Turner Howard III believe car safety recalls should be heeded by both consumers and car rental companies, and hope that Hertz’s response may set a precedent for other auto rental companies to follow suit.
In a letter addressed to Sen. Boxer, Hertz said the pledge reflected a “long-standing Hertz policy.”
New legislation sponsored by Sens. Boxer and Charles Schumer would make it a legal issue, forcing car rental companies to stop renting recalled cars until needed repairs or modifications have been made. Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety says
Hertz has been lobbying with her, Boxer and Schumer to write the policy into law.
A nationally publicized defective car accident lawsuit sparked Boxer’s challenge to car rental companies and the subsequent proposed legislation she co-authored. The case involved a malfunctioning rental car rented by two young college-age sisters in 2004. Jacquie and Raechel Houck were fatally injured in a rental car crash when they lost control of their Enterprise Rent-a-Car PT Cruiser due to leaking steering fluid. During the accident, a fire erupted under the hood and both women lost their lives. After protracted litigation, Enterprise admitted liability two years ago, and accepted a jury verdict that awarded $15 million to their family.
Shahan says that Enterprise and Avis Budget Group are two of several rental car companies seeking to water down the legislation. One of their suggested changes would make it possible for them to attend to repairs “as soon as practicable” rather than before renting the vehicles out to customers. Another change to the legislation would allow them to still rent out unrepaired cars as long as they let car-rental counter customers know about what repairs needed to be made.
Unfortunately, the hazardous vehicle rental risks go beyond the car rental counter, since many car rental companies also sell their previously rented cars on the used-car market. That means many cars will end up on roads and highways that have, in fact, been recalled, which translates to a greater risk of car accident injuries and fatalities across the country. It is, therefore, a case of both renter and buyer beware.
At the offices of Tennessee personal injury lawyerG. Turner Howard III , we do all we can to ensure that our clients who have suffered car accident injuries are informed of their rights and any car recalls that may pertain to their Tennessee car crash. If you or someone you love has been involved in defective rented car accident, call us today for a free consultation at 1-800-HURTLINE or complete our online contact form. We are compassionate, experienced aggressive legal representatives who can seek justice for your injuries.
The Law Offices of G. Turner Howard III
5915 Casey Drive
Knoxville, TN 37950
Hot off the presses: motorcycle helmets don’t just save lives, they save money as well-a lot of money. When someone is involved in a motorcycle accident, the last thing on the injured biker’s mind is money, and yet in our society, money talks. So the Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a study from 2008 to 2010 to find out just how much is saved when motorcycle riders and passengers strap on a helmet before hitting the road.
According to the study, over $3 billion was saved in 2010 alone, with total costs saved due to helmet use ranging from $2.6 million in New Mexico to $394 million in California. Economic costs saved from helmet use per registered motorcycle ranged from $48 in New Mexico to $1,627 in North Carolina, with a median of $286. In Massachusetts, the savings was over $400 per registered motorcycle.
Massachusetts personal injury attorney Mark E. Salomone is always glad to hear of any new research that supports the prevention of motorcyclist injuries and their passengers. See : Springfield Massachusetts Motorcycle Accident Attorneys Having defended countless victims of motorcycle accident injuries, however, he knows how much helmets do to protect riders. “Every time riders take their bikes to the streets,” he says, “they’re placing themselves at risk of serious injury and death. When a motorcyclist is hit by a distracted driver in a high-speed collision or if their bike has brake defects, helmets are even more crucial, as they can prevent serious head injuries and brain damage. ”
Over 40 percent of motorcyclists killed in accidents between 2008 and 2010 did not have a helmet on, says the CDC report. On the other hand, helmets reduced fatalities by 37 percent for motorcycle drivers and 41 percent for passengers, which translated to 1,544 fewer motorcyclist deaths in 2010.
After eight weeks, 46 witnesses, two dozing jurors and an estimated $2-3 million spent in taxpayer money, the Roger Clemens trial is finally over.
The verdict: Not guilty on three counts of making false statements, not guilty on two counts of perjury and not guilty on one count of obstruction. The charges stemmed from testimony that Clemens made in Feb. 2008, telling a Congressional committee that he had never taken steroids or HGH.
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For many car seats, parents have had two options: Using the seat belt in the car to attach the seat, or using the LATCH system – Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children – which most parents consider easier to use for installing the seat.
However, with a new federal rule that will take affect in early 2014, child safety-seat manufacturers will be required to tell parents not to use the LATCH system if their child and the car seat have a combined weight of 65 pounds or more.
Many car seats weigh as much as 15 to 33 pounds, so children as light as 32 pounds or as young as 3 may be affected by this new rule. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children remain in car seats with harnesses until they are 8.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers petitioned for the new rule because the strength of the lower tethers was not enough to assure the safety of heavier children. Other safety advocates say that seat belts need to be strengthened to reduce the risk of njuries to children.
Other problems have been noted with the LATCH system.
Last summer, a study by Safe Kids Worldwide found that community checkpoint technicians were only using lower anchors to attach child safety seats about 30 percent of the time, and parents were only using the top tethers about 30 percent of the time.
Laws regulating Oklahoma auto accidents might seem strict. But a national safety study recently gave Oklahoma a low grade for injury prevention. On a scale of 10, Oklahoma received a score of five.
Oklahoma also ranked 6th highest in the nation in a state-by-state analysis of injury fatality rates for 2007 through 2009, according to the same national study. A total of 83 people per 100,000 died due to a fatal injury during that time period. New Mexico had the highest injury fatality rate nationwide, with 97.8 deaths per 100,000 people.
The report entitled “The Facts Hurt” examined a wide range of factors, including each state’s laws concerning seat belts, bicycle helmets and car booster seats. Each state’s safety grade was based on statewide auto accident injury and fatality statistics. See: personal injury attorney oklahoma Injury prevention grades also took into account factors such as motorcycle helmet laws, federal funding for injury prevention efforts and other strategies to designed to save lives and reduce serious injuries.
“There are proven, evidence-based strategies that can spare millions of Americans from injuries each year,” said Jeff Levi, Executive Director of The Trust for America’s Health, which co-authored the study with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “This report focuses on specific, scientifically supported steps we can take to make it easier for Americans to keep themselves and their families safer.”
Oklahoma drivers face all sorts of hazards every day on the road. Just recently, a 34-year-old man from Oklahoma died on Interstate 44 in Grady County when the tread separated on his tire and his vehicle struck a guardrail, according to NewsOn6.com. The accident may be grounds for a defective tire lawsuit.
