“What Really Causes Fatigue-Related Truck Accidents”

I just come across an article, “What Truck Accident Lawyers Should Know about the Trucking Industry” posted December last year, which discusses the reasons behind most truck accidents. In the light of the increasing incidents involving trucks in major highways, this article is worth reading.

According to the article, the main reason why truck accidents happen is due to overworked and fatigued drivers. Drivers who have worked on extended hours - which is often more than the allowed work time - are prone to commit mistakes on the road and thus, vulnerable to accidents. The factors that predict a fatigued-related truck accident are:

• The duration of the last sleep period
• The total hours of sleep obtained a day prior to the accident
• Split sleep patterns or the breaking of sleep into small blocks of time

While the article mentioned the reasons behind fatigue-related truck accidents, it is interesting to know that some truck drivers cheat on their log books and continue to work beyond the allowed time. Consequently, they fail to rest properly which often lead to accidents.

The article pointed out the despite federal regulations that require drivers to have at least eight continuous hours of rest and sleep after 10 to 15 hours of duty, truck drivers continue to violate rules, cheat the entries on their log books and drive without regard of their conditions.

Most truck drivers are paid on a “per mile” basis. This explains why some of them who want to earn more by driving beyond permitted hours. If this practice continues, what safety guarantee can one get on the road? Isn’t it time to have truck drivers paid on a fixed salary or hourly basis?

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“A Trucking Accident Story’s End”

The news article, “Montana Trucking Company Reaches $1 Million Settlement with Injured Motorist”, posted in October 2007 is the end of the story for an injured motorist’s quest for justice. The trucking company made a settlement with Lucy-Jones Parker and her 10-year daughter who figured in a truck accident last year.

Truck accidents have become common in California, especially in Los Angeles and Orange counties, the article noted. These accidents often result to serious or fatal injuries.

Parker’s lawyer said the incident occurred in an intersection where a truck owned by a Montana company crashed into the crossing van of the Parkers. Witnesses said the truck driver did not stop at the intersection and continued driving into the van despite seeing it.

In my opinion, most vehicle accidents happen because of the recklessness and wrong driving habit of drivers.

I would suggest some safety driving tips to motorists crossing intersections:

• Yield the right-of-way to approaching vehicles in an intersection, especially when no traffic light is posted
• Obey traffic lights and signals.
• Yield to police cars, fire trucks ambulances and other emergency vehicles.

By practicing these correct driving behaviors, you can make our roads a little safer for commuters and other motorists.

This trucking accident should serve as a warning to other motorists. This is a reminder that truck accidents always result to serious injury or death; hence, we must pay attention to our driving habits. Defensive driving techniques must be encouraged to avoid the same incident from happening in the future.

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New Bicycle Laws, Enacted

A recently signed law may become the key in decreasing, if not totally preventing bicycle accident occurrences in California. Last September 26, 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has formally signed Assembly Bill 478 to require the bicycle fanatics to use lights on sidewalks, pathways and any other bicycle routes. This will to revise the older statutes that only require bikers to use lights on highways, at nights and early mornings.

In addition, the bikers will be compelled to use reflectors on their bicycle’s rear end and both pedals and their shoes or ankles to increase their visibility especially during nights and bad weathers. Indeed, I believe that this bill drafted and proposed by State Representative Lois Wolk will be of great help for bikers.

It is quite so long bike-riding safety legislation has been given attention despite the great number of injuries and casualties it has already caused. In fact, an average of 1,800 bike-related accidents happens across the state every year. This has even caused 1,626 injuries and at least 44 fatalities.

Although the implementation of this particular law will mean expenses for them, the bicyclists should be thankful that the government is doing their part to protect, not only their safety but as well as of the other motorists and pedestrians. They should not put their lives at risk for only a small amount.

However, despite your strict abidance of this law and you have still been injured in an accident while riding your bike, you may still file charges against the reliable parties. This is to obtain justice and recover suitable damages to cover for the effects of the accidents to you and your family.

More so, in this pursuance of a bike accident claim, you will definitely need a formidable ally to gain a positive result. Thus, it is vital to consider hiring Los Angeles Lawyers who have that expertise in handling this particular type of cases.

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Increased penalties for drunk drivers

In a press release yesterday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, their top official Nicole Nason called on the law courts and prosecutors to allow their officers to increase their use of ignition interlocks. This plan is to castigate further those individuals who have been repeatedly caught under excessive influence of liquor while driving. The whole story may be found at DUI-NHTSA.

I would say that this plan of action is indeed a positive development, especially for those law-abiding drivers. Those “alcohol addicts” must be taken away from the road and incriminate them so that they may not cause any harm to other motorists and even pedestrians. Providing them with stricter penalties might give them a lesson and compel them of not doing the same mistake again.

We just have to imagine the risks of sharing our road paths with them. According to the statistics conducted, 13,470 casualties resulted from motorcycle accidents wherein the drivers were found to be intoxicated above the level of accepted Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). This does not include the number of victims who had incurred severe personal injuries from it.

Furthermore, studies also showed that people who got involved in excessive drinking are more likely to cause vehicle accidents since their sensory motor are very much affected. Hence, they must first get enough rest in order to drop the BAC on their body. This means that they should be hindered from driving for at least five hours or after they already have a nice sleep, depending on the level of their intoxication.

Thus, if you have the habit of getting behind your car wheels after a night out with your friends, better think twice. If this proposal by the NHTSA was finally given action by the judiciary, there would be strong chances that you might be penalized according to the government plan.

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Theories in Making Product Liability Claims

Product liability is among the growing cases being filed and litigated in courts especially in California. The growing need of consumers for newer varied products fuel the manufacturers drive to produce more innovative products in less time.

Generally, manufacturers owe its consumers the responsibility of keeping their products safe for public use or consumption. Unfortunately, some manufacturers are more concerned with profit but less with public safety.

If you have been injured or if a member of your family died due to a defective product, you are entitled to product liability claims against the manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers or retailers depending on the defect of the product.

There are three legal theories that you can pursue in order to acquire damages due to defective products - negligence, strict liability and breach of warranty.

In negligence theory, you must prove that the manufacturer failed to use due diligence and care in designing, manufacturing or selling the product and such failure caused your personal injuries.

Strict liability theory, on the other hand, focuses on the condition of the product itself. In this theory you just need to prove that the product is defective making it unreasonably dangerous for use or consumption and such defect caused your personal injuries.

Last, breach of warranty focuses on the presentation or promise made by manufacturers to the public. The warranty may be expressed or implied. So long as you can prove that this warranty was breached by the lesser quality of the product causing you injuries, then you are entitled to damages.

In all these theories, however, you need the aid of expert personal injury lawyers with skill in handling product liability cases in particular.

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Slip Trip and Fall, No Laughing Matter

Premise liability accounts for thousands of personal injury cases in the country. It chooses no time and place. Premise liability can happen to you while you are at work, having lunch out, visiting a friend’s house or doing recreation.

The usual cases of premise liability are slip and fall or trip and fall accidents. A slip and fall accident happens when there is water or any slippery substance on the floor and you slip and fall as a result. A trip and fall case, on the other hand, is when your foot got caught or tripped due to a hole on the ground or debris strewn on the floor resulting in a trip and fall accident.

In both cases the owner of the property is liable for your injuries. Usually, it is funny if you see somebody slipping or tripping and falling, especially if the person is not you. However, premise liability accident is no laughing matter. A lot of serious injuries are sustained during a premise liability accident to include:

1. Scrapes and bruises
2. Sprain and strain injuries
3. Head injury
4. Back injury
5. Fractures; and
6. Death

As you can see, serious and debilitating injuries could be sustained if you happen to fall and your head hits the floor hard or you happen to fall down the stairs that could paralyze you for life.

If you or any of your loved ones has been a victim of a premise liability, you know you have a right to seek damages. The personal injuries sustained as well as the consequent financial damage is really no laughing matter. Seek the assistance of expert premise liability lawyers to help you get a reasonable and just claim.

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Dangers: Apparent and Hidden

Premise liability happens anytime at any place. It is a result of the negligent maintenance of the owner or manager of the property. Sometimes they could also be the result of engineering and building code violations. These violations are also known as hidden defects.

Apparent defects, on the other hand, are defects that can be readily seen by the naked eyes like the puddle of water left on the floor or the pocks or holes on the ground due to poor maintenance.

Regardless of whether the defects are hidden or apparent, property owners are liable to any person who gets injured as a result the dangerous property.

Property owners are required by the state and federal law to maintain safe premises at all times. A property injury that occurs resulting from negligent design, maintenance or operation can result in serious injuries requiring substantial funds for medical bills, lost wages and long-term care. These costs can be claimed from the property owner as penalty for negligence.

Ignorance of the dangerous condition is not a defense that a property owner can claim against a victim of a premise liability especially with regard to commercial establishments.

If you are in a restaurant on at a mall or even playing hoops at a paid gym, there is an unspoken obligation on the part of the owners of these establishments to keep you safe from the dangerous conditions that may occur on the property. If you slip and fall due to a puddle of water while in a restaurant, the restaurant owner is liable. If you have been injured by falling stocks of products while in a mall, you can claim damages from the store or mall owner.

Every person has the right to be secured in another person’s property whether it is commercial or private. The fact that you are only a guest or a by stander does not give anybody the right to bring you hurt due to negligence.

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Your Right to be secured in Another’s Property

Many people go visit the homes of their friends on a daily basis. If you are invited by your friend to his or her house, that friend has a responsibility to make his or her property generally safe and free from dangerous and hazardous condition.

If, while in the house of your friend, you slipped and fell, and sustained injuries because of it, your friend may be liable to you for damages. Your friend, in law, is answerable for the premise liability for failing to make his property reasonably safe from hazardous and dangerous condition resulting in your accident.

There are a lot of factors that could contribute to a premise liability. Dangerous property can be caused by failure to make repairs, unsafe products, building code violations, engineering problems, architectural errors, electric hazards and many more.

In any case, if you have suffered injuries, temporary or permanent disability as a result of a slip, trip and fall accident on another person’s property, the negligent party is answerable to you. In case of your negligent friend, you will be able to claim at least actual damage for you medical costs, loss of earnings and pain and suffering.

You need expert personal injury lawyers for . These lawyers are very competent in proving negligence on the part of the property owner and are adept in presenting proof of your economic and non economic losses as a result of the slip and fall accident.

Remember, even if you are invited to a friend’s house, that doesn’t mean that your injuries as a result of their negligence is free.

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Your Right to be secured in Another’s Property

Many people go visit the homes of their friends on a daily basis. If you are invited by your friend to his or her house, that friend has a responsibility to make his or her property generally safe and free from dangerous and hazardous condition.

If, while in the house of your friend, you slipped and fell, and sustained injuries because of it, your friend may be liable to you for damages. Your friend, in law, is answerable for the premise liability for failing to make his property reasonably safe from hazardous and dangerous condition resulting in your accident.

A lot of factors could contribute to a premise liability. Dangerous property can be caused by failure to make repairs, unsafe products, building code violations, engineering problems, architectural errors, electric hazards and many more.

In any case, if you have suffered injuries, temporary or permanent disability as a result of a slip, trip and fall accident on another person’s property, the negligent party is answerable to you. In case of your negligent friend, you will be able to claim at least actual damage for you medical costs, loss of earnings and pain and suffering.

You need expert personal injury lawyers for . These lawyers are very competent in proving negligence on the part of the property owner and are adept in presenting proof of your economic and non economic losses as a result of the slip and fall accident.

Remember, even if you are invited to a friend’s house, that doesn’t mean that your injuries as a result of their negligence is free.

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Value for Your Money

We live in a complex world where we cannot almost do anything without the use of products which makes our lives easier. As we move forward, we find faster and better ways of doing things with less effort. From instant meals to faster cars and easier means of communicating with others.

However, these products come with a price. Sometimes a lot of people become slaves of the things they own. Their possessions define them instead of the other way around. The problem is, sometimes their possessions bite them back. I am talking about product liability.

Not all the products out there in the market, however expensive, live up to your expectations and the manufacturers’ representations. Unfortunately, these defective products may even cause injuries to you. You may be poised by a toxic product or get cut or bruised by a defective tool or even get seriously injured by a defective vehicle or other mechanical and electrical device or appliance.

If ever you are injured by defective products either due to defective manufacturing, defective design or defective warnings or instructions, remember that you have a cause of action against anyone or all of them.

There is such a legal animal called strict liability theory which is used in California among many other states, where you just need to show that the product is defective, that the defected existed before the product leaves the manufacturer’s hands and that this defect caused you injuries in order for you to claim damages.

If you have been injured or suffered a loss of loved one's life because of defective products seek the aid of an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately to assure that your rights are well protected and properly pursued.

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Slip, Trip and fall in all its forms Is Actionable

Slip and Fall accidents are quite common accident. More often, it is the negligence of the owner of the place that is the cause of the slip and fall accident. A slip and fall accident generally speaking is a slip due to a wet surface or substance on the floor causing the person to fall and resulting in injuries. A trip and fall, similarly, is a trip over cracks, holes or any uneven surface in violation of building code or negligence in maintenance of the premise causing the person to trip and fall resulting in injuries.

However, for the same slip or trip and fall accident, a cause of action , though premised on negligence by another person could give rise to different causes of actions.

In one instance, if you are walking in a mall and slipped and fall due to water or other slippery substance left lying on the floor uncleaned resulting in injuries, you are entitled to general damages for the medical costs of treatments as well as pain and suffering against the manager or store owner. Your claim will be pursued under a premise liability claims theory that the owners of establishment have a duty to keep the public and their patrons safe from any accidents while inside their establishments.

On the other hand, if you are at work and you tripped and fall due to a crack on the floor inside the premises of our employment resulting in your injuries, you are entitled to claim damages against your employees. However, instead of just general damages, you are entitled to worker’s compensation under the theory that your employer should provide you with a secure and safe working environment.

Furthermore, if you are a patient in the hospital and you slip or tripped and fall on the hospital floor due to poor maintenance of the place and below standards care and service to patients, then you are entitled to damages against the hospital staff or owner for any further injuries caused to you by the negligence of the hospital. Your claim for damages maybe pursued under medical malpractice claims since hospitals as well as doctors and all the medical and non-medical staff of the medical facilities owe you the responsibility of great care as mandated by professional medical standards.

As you can see, a slip and fall, regardless how and where committed, will entitle you to claims for damages. In order to be successful in claiming your just and reasonable damages, however, you should seek help from expert slip and fall lawyers like the lawyers of the Mesriani Law Group in California. They will make sure that your claims are protected and pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

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Rolling Tumbling Down

It is fun to roll around if you are in an amusement park riding inside one of the amusement rides. The rides are designed to tumble and there are safety harness or other precautions present during the rolling and tumbling of the rides. In essence, those rides are meant to roll and tumble and turn to the joy of the thrill seekers.
Vehicles, on the other hand, are not meant to turn over, tumble, roll or even tip on its sides. When one of these things happen while you are inside a car, the results could be very painful to say the least. The most common injuries sustained from a roll-over accident is injuries to head and neck. This is due to the violent rolling of the car thrashing our head and neck back and fort. An incident also of this violent roll over accident is spinal cord injuries which could result in temporary or permanent paralysis.

Don’t also be fooled by movie stunts where cars roll and rip apart keeping the driver and pasengers intact. First, the drivers operating the vehicles in the movies are stuntmen with years of professional training on how to protect themselves in case of a roll over accident. The roll over they experience are intentionally done and they know how to position themselves to cusion the blow of the impacts in a roll over car scene. Also, their vehicles are made to sustain the impact of a roll over accident.

Roller bars or cages are placed to protect the car from crumpling like paper during the roll over and protecting the stuntman behind the wheel. The vehicle is also stripped of any glass or plastic that would break or detach and could hit or stab the stuntman during the roll over. If this is not enough, paramedics are already on stand by even before the roll over incident happens for good measure.
Imagine yourself in a roll over situation, without any of the above protective mesures. Had enough? Drive safely and your nightmare may not come to reality.

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Speed Demon, Not a Turn On

Car accidents happen every day regardless of time, place or weather conditions. In
California, where car enthusiasts are everywhere, car accidents are even higher. There are a lot of people who are not content with the muscles under the hood of their cars. Supping up cars so to speak, where engine performance is boosted among other things, are a fast growing hobby and business for a lot of car lovers.

However, it doesn’t matter how buff your car’s muscles are, there is no excuse for reckless speeding. A lot of car accidents are caused by excessive speed while driving on the road.

Section 22350 of the Vehicle Code provides: “No person shall drive a vehicle upon a roadway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.”

Even if you have not endangered anybody on the road, you will still be liable for speeding. This, plus the fact that if you are lucky, the only damage that you will sustain is a ticket or citation from authorities. But this luck seldom happens. The reality is, serious injuries as well as fatalities are often the results of accidents due to over speeding.

Is this scenario familiar to you? A person, while traveling eastbound on Venice St. was forcefully rear-ended by another person who was gunning his pedals without care to prevailing traffic conditions. As a result, the poor fellow died when his head hit the steering wheel with great force or was permanently paralyzed when his spine was snapped as a result of the violent collision.

Only a fool would think that it is cool to endanger or even kill another person just for speed rush. Remember, it is cool to have a great car, but it is even better to have the freedom to drive it rather than getting the car wrecked or impounded with you behind bars instead of behind the wheels of your car.

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Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

It is said that over 100,000 pedestrians are injured each year in the United States alone. Almost half of those involved in the accident are killed.
Pedestrians are exposed to hazards everyday. They have no protection against vehicles. Even if a pedestrian is hit by a slow moving vehicle, chances are, the injuries are not that minor. Spinal cord injuries and head trauma as well as fractured limbs are the usual results of having been involved in a pedestrian versus vehicle accident.

To make matters worse, statistics show that a great number of pedestrians involved in an accident are our children and the elderly. Children are not yet fully equipped to read the dangers of traffic while elderly are not anymore capable in reacting as quickly as necessary when presented with traffic dilemmas.

Drivers of vehicles have the obligation to adhere to traffic and road rules. If you are a victim of pedestrian accident, chances are you can claim damages against the driver of the vehicle. However, you need to secure the services of apersonal injury lawyer with expertise in pedestrian accident cases, to represent you. Otherwise, the negligent driver or the adjuster of his insurance agency will try to impute negligence on you, thereby frustrating your claim. It is one thing to know you are right and another thing to prove that you are indeed in the right.

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Factors That Contribute to Drowning Incidents

Drowning incidents also account for some of the fatalities in children and adults alike. Especially during summer or hot season, people tend to frequent pools and other recreation water areas.

Don’t let your fun time turn into a nightmare. Drowning can be caused by a lot of things. It is also worth to note that fatalities do not differ with people who know how to swim and those who cannot. If you want to prevent or minimize the risk of drowning while enjoying water sports and water recreations, these tips could just help save you and your family members from water related injuries as well as drowning or near drowning accidents.

First, do not consume too much alcohol. Alcohol disrupts your analytical thinking and slows your reaction time. If you are engaging in any water sports, be sure to have proper equipment. Do not overload your water vessels. Also, do not swim alone. Always make sure that somebody can see you. Even great swimmers get into accidents.

Some factors that may cause drowning regardless of whether you are a great swimmer or not are brought about by natural conditions such as water currents, bottom surface gradient and stability. These are the main reasons why, even if you are a great swimmer, you always need to make sure that somebody can see you or knows where you are while engaging in sports or fun activities in bodies of water.

It is well and good if all you get is a cold, a bump on the head, some scrapes and bruises in the skin. However, you may not be so lucky and end up near drowning or drowning ever. It is always better to be safe than sorry. Keep the above tips in mind and stay enjoying the waters longer.

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Rules to Remember in Operating Your Bicycles

III.Operation on Roadway (See CVC Sections 21202 - 21212)

Do you know that you should ride as close as practicable to the right curb or edge of the road when you are driving your bicycle and traveling slower than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction?

However, there are exceptions to this rule and these exceptions are as follows:

• When you are passing/overtaking a bicycle moving in the same direction;

• When you are preparing for a left turn;

• When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (surface hazards, pedestrians, objects, etc.); and

• When you are on a one-way street, you may ride to the far left of the lane;

Also, in operating your bicycle, the law says you cannot carry any package that prevents you from keeping at least one hand on the handlebars.

Similarly, when riding in bike lanes, same rules apply as when riding to the far right of the road, except that you cannot leave a bike lane until the movement can be made with reasonable safety after giving a proper signal.

Furthermore, you or any other person cannot obstruct a bike lane. Finally, if you are under 18 years of age you are required to wear helmets while bicycling. Follow the above tips to make your riding experience more safe and enjoyable.

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Dog Handler’s Reflections

Are you planning to have a pet dog? Do you know how to properly handle and take good care of them? Although plenty of us are very much aware of the fact that dogs are one of the greatest pets, yet some do not even know how dangerous a misbehaving dog is. However, a number of pet lovers still opt to take care of at least a breed of dog in their own homes without being mindful of the legal liability they may face in case their dogs have bitten a person. Before deciding of owning a dog, maybe you should reflect of the following.

In reality, most dogs strictly abide by their handler’s instructions on how to behave well in dealing with other people. But like any other animals, once a dog is teased off and provoked in a certain manner or extent, it will definitely react violently to the extent of attacking a person especially on the absence of the owner. In these cases, the dog handler has no legal liability on what his pet has done.

On the other hand, some dog breeds are violent in nature. They attack even without being provoked. Thus, the dog owners have the responsibility over the harm inflicted to the victim.

In most of the cases which were filed in courts, a big number of dog bite victims have acquired millions worth of damages against the dog owner through the help of a personal injury lawyer who has qualified experience in handling animal attack cases. This is due to what the law stated as sole ownership responsibility. So if you are planning to have a pet dog, make sure that you will be able to strictly watch over it.

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