Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Defective Cars major issue in Roll Over Accidents

Have you watched the movie Transformers? If yes, did you find it cool that cars transform? Unfortunately, tumbling and transforming cars are only cool in big screens.

In real life, if your car tumbles or turns, chances are you will sustain serious injuries. There are many factors that cause vehicles to roll over; weather conditions, road conditions or driver's negligence are among them.

However, one alarming factor is vehicle defect. If you are traveling within the speed limit during a fair weather and your car suddenly rolls over during a safe turn, you may have a defective vehicle.

Law provides that you may claim damages for serious injuries as a result of car accidents caused by defective vehicles. Car manufacturers should know that defective cars could cause serious injuries or even fatalities and they may be responsible for any injuries caused by a defect in the automobile under the personal injury law regarding product liability.

If car companies produce a defective car – either through the process of manufacturing, designing, assembling, or labeling – they are liable for any injuries, loss and catastrophic accidents the defective vehicle causes.

Remember, if your car suddenly turns and you are not dreaming, you are definitely not in a movie. Unlike movie stars, you get hurt and you are given the right to claim damages for that accident. Through a product liability claim, a person injured by a defective vehicle can recover compensation from the manufacturer or distributor.

Two Major Factors of establishing Premise Liability

Every property owner or possessor has a responsibility to make sure that the property is safe from dangerous conditions.

If a person gets hurt while inside the premises or property, the property owner may be held liable for injuries sustained as a result of the accident.

There are two main factors in establishing premise liability:
1. Negligence of the owner or possessor of the property; or
2. Dangerous conditions present in the property with or without knowledge of the property owner.

In negligence, an owner or possessor is responsible for the upkeep or maintenance of his or her property. He or she is liable for injuries caused to other people as a result of failure to clean or make necessary repairs in the property.

If an individual slips and fall due to a wet surface on the floor the owner is liable. Also, if a visitor trips and falls on a broken tile floor the owner is liable for damages. Even failures of machines could be factors for making the owner negligent like malfunctioning elevators or escalators.

On the other hand, dangerous conditions on the property means there are certain conditions present on the property that could reasonably lead to accidents for people who happen to walk or be in the vicinity of the property. This factor resulting in premise liability may not also be known by the owner but the latter is still held liable nonetheless.

If a person trips and falls on the stairs due to the uneven rise of the steps or the absence of the railings, the owner is liable for the personal injuries caused by the defect in the construction of the stairs although the owner has no technical knowledge in building stairs. In effect, owners are made liable for premise liabilities as a result of code violations in the construction of any part of their house or property.

If the asphalt on the property leading to the house is slippery, the owner is held liable although he does not know anything about the application and composition of driveway asphalts.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Product Liability Claims for Defective School Bus

Millions of children ride in school buses on a daily basis. Consequently, thousands of these schoolchildren are injured due to bus accidents.

Many factors can cause bus accidents, including negligence, starting from the manufacturers of the bus parts down to the driver. Whatever the reason for the bus accident, somebody or some entity are bound to be liable for the personal injuries sustained by the schoolchildren.
The substantial size of a school bus makes it less dangerous for children if the bus becomes involved in a collision crash, if in case it is a low impact one.

However, many serious injuries associated with school buses occur during passenger boarding and disembarking. Schoolchildren are more prone to being hit by other vehicles while stepping out of the bus rather than getting hurt inside the bus after a bus collision accident.

There have also been cases wherein the school bus itself runs over a child after the latter is already out of the bus due to its many blind sides.

In any event, if your child has been injured in a school bus accident, it may be very difficult to claim for damages if the bus is owned or operated by the government or state. Generally, the government is immune from lawsuits. This means that the government cannot be sued for the negligence caused by the bus driver or even due to poor maintenance of the school bus.

Besides immunity, other problems may hinder the filing of lawsuit against the state. Even if the government gives its consent to be sued for the school bus accident, claiming liability is a different matter. You may sue and you may win, but the problem is claiming your damages. The government may be liable but it is hard, if not impossible to exact damages from the government.

If you want to try claiming from the government for the injuries sustained by your child because of a public school bus accident, you should hire expert personal injury attorneys who are very experienced in litigating claims against the government. Otherwise, you might find all your efforts are wasted.

Pool Accidents involving Children

In the United States mortality statistics, after vehicle accidents, shows that pool drowning is the second leading cause of death for children under the age of five. Hundreds of children die every year due to pool drowning.

It is no surprise, however, why children drown easily in pools. It only takes a few minutes for a child to drown in a pool when nobody is looking. Furthermore, when a child drowns, no splashing or thrashing occurs that could easily alert adults in the area. Most parents whose children died of pool drowning thought at first that their child is missing and only much later do they realize that the child drowned in the pool.

There are many factors and liabilities involved in a child's pool drowning accident. More often than not, the owner or manager of the place where the pool is located or situated can be charged with premise liability.

Laws are applied mandating pool owners to install security and protective measures, which would make certain that no children, can enter the pool area without adult supervision or control.

Unfortunately, not all pool owners are diligent enough with this responsibility. Many children drown in unattended pools. Either the door leading to the pool area was negligently left open or that the latch or lock was broken making it accessible for children to go inside and play in the pool area.

If a beloved child of yours has been a victim of drowning in somebody else's pool, you can file wrongful death claims against the owner of the pool. You can claim economic damages that would cover the actual medical and burial costs and non-economic damages for the pain and suffering of losing one's beloved child.

The law imposes a more strict responsibility to pool owners due to the dangerous possibility present at every pool area. If somebody is injured or dies in a drowning accident, there is always a presumption that the owner had been remiss in his or her duty to make sure that everybody is safe from the possibilities that may harm a child in a pool area.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Post Car Accident Tips

Not everybody who has driven a car has been involved in a car accident. Regardless if you are the one who caused the accident or not, it would benefit you to know what to do in case of a car accident.

In an accident, somebody is usually at fault. However, an individual needs to preserve his or her evidence in order to pursue personal injury claims later on. In preserving evidence and collecting information, regardless of who is at fault, an individual must do the following immediately after an accident:

1. Make sure that you or your car is not prone to secondary accidents on the road. If you are in the middle of the road, try moving your car to the side. If your car is not operating anymore, leave your car and go to the shoulder of the road;
2. Check yourself for injuries including the other party. Make sure that both of you are not in critical need of medical attention;
3. Exchange personal information to include: names, contact information, car registrations and insurance information.
4. Look for witnesses and get contact information as well as statement of the incident;
5. Call 911 for medical attention if necessary and wait for police officers to get a report of the incident;
6. Last, but not the least important, call a car accident attorney who will advice you on legal matters concerning your future claims.

The above information will save you a lot of time later on in case you end up litigating your personal injury claims. Your lawyer will thank you as well for doing a great job at protecting and preserving your personal injury claims.

Seatbelts Save Lives

Road accidents happens everyday. A lot of people get seriously injured and badly hurt due to accidents such as:
1. Car accidents;
2. Bus accidents;
3. Motorcycle accidents;
4. SUV accidents;
5. Truck accidents; and
6. Other vehicular accidents

In all the above road accidents, all sorts of injuries can be sustained like:
1. Bumps and bruises;
2. Scrapes and wounds;
3. Back injuries;
4. Head injuries;
5. Neck injuries;
6. Fractures; and
7. Limb amputations.

Try hard as we might, we cannot escape some accidents, especially, if the accidents are caused by the negligence of other people. However, we can do something about the effects of these car accidents.

Most road related injuries could have been avoided or minimized by the use of seatbelts. In California, it is illegal to drive without seatbelts on. This, actually, is for the benefit of the drivers and passengers of vehicles.

Wearing seatbelts prevent your body from being thrown front and back or side ways in case of car accidents. It also prevents the driver or passengers from being thrown from the car in case of violent collisions.

Kids are particularly vulnerable in car accidents and proper safety restraints help them avoid getting seriously injured during an accident.

If you love life, your family and even your money, strap your seatbelts before heading off on the road. You will definitely be saved from a lot of hurt in case of an accident and maybe save some of your hard earned cash to by avoiding getting a ticket from an officer of the law for failing to drive with seatbelts on.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Law Suit for Dangerous Products

Product liability lawsuit arises when a person is injured or killed as a result of a defective product. The suit is usually against the manufacturers but may also be filed against the distributors, wholesalers and retailers of the defective products.

There are many legal theories in which one may sue for product liability due to personal injures caused by the defective products. Among these theories are negligence, strict liability theory and breach of warranty.

If you have been injured or a family member killed by a defective product, you can definitely claim damages by filing a product liability suit. However, you will definitely need the services of attorneys who are expert in product liability cases. In pursuing your personal injury claims you will be facing large corporations or businesses with lawyers and insurance companies who are very experienced defense lawyers. You then need expert personal injury and product liability claims lawyers to even the playing field.

If you are going to pursue a product liability claim you must ask an experienced product liability lawyer first about the value of your claim. It is better to determine if you have a chance in succeeding with your claims. Or even if you succeed, you must know if the value of the award is worth the trouble of pursuing your claims.

Regarding the cost of professional fees, there are personal injury attorneys who take on cases on a contingency basis. This means that you will not spend any money if you lose but rather you will just have to pay them a percentage of your award if you won. The percentage of the lawyer’s lien may vary however. Other lawyers bill you on an hourly basis or on a package deal agreement.

As you can see, these are the hurdles that you need to think of in pursuing your product liability claims. If you get injured by a defective product, think about your case before you go out with guns blazing.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Have You Been Drinking?

Automobile accidents happen almost every time especially in the busy roads of America. Many factors can cause vehicle accidents. These include driver’s negligence, driver’s physical condition, road conditions, weather conditions and pedestrian negligence among many others. However, the most common cause of car accident and most devastating is the human factor: drunk driving.

If you were involved in an accident, a police office will definitely come to investigate the matter. It is usual for a police officer to ask if anyone of the persons involved in the accident were drunk. If a police officer asks you this, you are not required to answer this question. However, you should always be polite to an officer, especially the one investigating your car accident.

A good reply to the query of whether you had been drinking before the car accident would be to politely tell the officer that you would want to speak with your attorney first.

If you are confident enough however, that you only had one or two beers, your condition does not incriminate you and make you liable as a drunk driver. One or two bottles of beer are not sufficient to cause intoxication even under California laws. In a way, it may help you explain also the odor of alcohol on your breath if you really had consumed alcohol before the accident.

Remember, although less alcohol intake is not intoxicating enough, it may still limit your driving capability depending on your condition. The right thing to do is not to drink and drive for your safety and the safety of others.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Regulating Defective Products

Manufacturing corporations, distributors and even retailers of products have the duty and responsibility to consumers to make sure that their products meet the standards of health and safety for the benefit of the consumers.

The responsibility of these commercial and industrial entities do not end from the manufacturing of their products, they must see to it that the products are also properly labeled and tagged with appropriate warnings to prevent hazards to whose who would use them. Finally, they also need to remove or recall products if they have knowledge that such product could be or are rendered dangerous for public use or consumption.

It is true that there are government regulatory bodies that are responsible for policing these institutions and make sure that the consumers or the public are safeguarded from substandard, dangerous and hazardous products that are flooding the markets. However, more often than not, these regulatory bodies are understaffed and are overworked. This is largely due to lack of funds and enforcement powers. This is why, due to the increasing number of products being manufactured and peddled to the public, there have been more and more cases of personal injuries due to product liabilities.

Due to these constraints, we need to help police the market from these unwanted products. It does not take much to call and report to the manufacturer, distributor or seller if some of their products in the market are defectives and are potential hazards to the consuming public. If these people will not take responsibility for the defective products you can then call the attention of the proper authorities for them to initiate the proper proceedings.

On your part, if you have been injured due to a defective product, the manufacturer or distributor has the liability to pay you for the damages. You should seek the counsel of expert personal injury or product liability attorneys immediately. A reliable personal injury attorney will make sure that you get reasonable damages for your injuries as well as assure that the same defective product will not injure the public.

Bus Inspection, Vital for Children’s Survival

Bus accidents happen more often now than before. With a lot of people turning to public commute like buses than to drive their own cars to save money, it is no wonder there are more buses now rolling down our streets especially in California where traffic is getting worse.

Buses, especially school buses have been involved more frequently with accidents causing a lot of injuries to school children on a daily basis. The safety of children being transported to and from school has been nationally and locally highlighted over the recent years due to the alarming number of school children being admitted in clinics and hospitals throughout the country as a result of bus accidents.

Recent study showed that 20% out of 25 school buses did comply with the school bus safety. Some of the defects are minor such as unsecured windows or cracked window screens. However, some have potentially dangerous defects like oil leaks and brake leaks that could easily lead to the school bus being out of control on the road in figuring in a serious bus accident.

Authorities say that many school bus defects can easily be prevented by a daily or routine check of the school bus by the bus drivers before using them to pick up school children.

Bus accident injuries are unpredictable. However, if the bus figures into any collision because of negligence or defect or even poor maintenance, there is a big possibility that a lot of children can get badly hurt including yours.

If you have reason to believe that any of the school buses in your area are not being kept or well maintained, please report this to the school or to the local authorities. Remember the life of the child that you might save could be yours.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Liability for Auto Defects

Everyday hundreds of Americans get injured or killed due to defects in their cars. These automotive defects are among the common theories of product liability. Vehicles are engineered machines built for travel and speed. With the bulk of any types of vehicles, automotive defects are always causes of grave injuries.

Manufacturers of automobiles try to come up with different designs and engineering plans to make sure that the automobiles that are going to be built in their respective car factories are among the best ones in the market. Due to the ever growing and cut throat race of making muscle cars and speed machines with sleek bodies, it is not far off from our imaginations that some of these automotive plans will have kinks or defects in their products.

Some product liability concerning vehicles can be due to design defect or manufacturing defects. Design defects in car manufacturing is among the top problems of market loss that an automotive car industry can sustain. Design defects mean that all of the vehicles manufactured are defective and not fit for market use or consumption. One example is the growing number of SUV rollover accidents. The design of some of the recent SUVs are defective making it more prone to roll-over accidents causing large number of accidents throughout the United States. Others are manufacturing defects relating to some problems in the line of production where few of the vehicles manufactured have mechanical or electrical problems for some reason or other causing accidents to motorists.

If you or any of your loved ones have been injured in an auto accident, you need expert product liability lawyers like the expert auto accident lawyers of the Mesriani Law Group in California. Lawyers like them have extensive experience in personal injury claims and product liability claims that will greatly help you claim product liability damages caused by defective products used in the manufacture or operation of automobiles.