Child Pedestrian Injury

It’s alarming to know that despite the road signs and designated pedestrian crossing, pedestrian injury is still prevalent in this modern era. In Montgomery County, a strategic plan was designed to minimize pedestrian collisions and make sure that all areas of the County provide safe and convenient travel options for pedestrians.

However, it is more alarming to know that child pedestrian injury remains the number two cause of accidental death among children ages 5 to 14 in the U.S.

It’s only safe to conclude therefore that these efforts of preventing pedestrian injury are falling short given its rampant occurrence. Various factors contribute to it such as:

• Hostile and negligent drivers
• Lack of knowledge on pedestrian rules
• Insufficient training of children by their parents
• Dangerous or hazardous roads or curves

However, given their tenderness of age and carefree attitude, children could not be expected to understand fully the danger it brings. All they could think of is play and have fun which is normally the case.

Needless to say, the responsibility of preventing pedestrian injury for children should not be entirely depend on the government but must be a community effort. Parents and teachers should equally participate in educating children on how to cross the streets safely. Parents should make their children understand that it is not safe to cross the street alone. They should be a role model to their children by obeying traffic signals and markings. Teachers, on the other hand, should reinforce this by reminding their students to take extra precautions when crossing the streets.

These efforts taken as a whole will minimize, if not totally eliminate child pedestrian injury.

Suggestions on How to Minimize Truck Accidents

Not so long ago a fatal truck crash and was engulfed by fire at the Bridger Valley Interchange east of Lyman damaging and forcing WYDOT to detour traffic around the bridge using the exit and entrance ramps.

A scene like this is horrific. If the crash resulted to the damaged of a strong structure such as bridge, then what more can it cause to pedestrians. Certainly, being hit by a truck will result to terrifying consequences. It can even claim ones life.

Just imagine sharing the road with 80,000 pound truck about 65 to 75 feet in length. Cars and other vehicles are definitely no match for these monstrous beasts. It is inevitable to not go near them as they may share a lane as your car or go side by side with them on the road.

Efforts must be done to prevent truck accidents or any accident for that matter. Extra precautions must be undertaken. I suggest that the following precautionary measures must be undertaken:

• Trucks should be provided with a lane exclusively for their use. This will prevent them and other vehicles from having a close contact with each other.

• They should be permitted to use the roads for certain hours of the day or night. This will allow an easy road access for other vehicles especially during rush hour or traffic jams otherwise stern punishment shall be imposed.

No amount of care will hinder accidents from happening. However, it is still advisable to observe safe driving and rules on road use. This will prevent loss of precious lives and property destruction.

Worker’s Compensation as a Vital Election Issue

The article “S. 2044: Obama Weighs in on Independent Contractors”, posted in February 25, 2008, has put the issue of worker’s compensation under the spotlight in this year’s vital election issues that presidential candidates must give attention to.

The article was based on a news item about the bill sponsored by Senator Barack Obama, now a Democrat contender in the presidential elections. S. 2044 or better known as ‘Independent Contractor Proper Classification Act’, confronts the issue that many employers may face once the proposed amendments are made.

According to Obama's bill, the Revenue Act of 1978 must be amended in three key areas:

1. It would require employers to treat workers misclassified as independent contractors as employees for employment tax purposes

2. It would eliminate the defense of "industry practice" as a justification for misclassifying workers as independent contractors.

3. It hopes to repeal a ban on Treasury regulations or revenue rulings on employee/independent contractor classification issues

Among its many effects, the bill would also enable workers to petition the Treasury Secretary for clarification of their status. Added to this, it would prohibit employer retaliation against any workers filing these petitions.

Moreover, the petition would be added to required workplace postings regarding employment rights. Finally, the bill requires any employer hiring an "independent contractor" to provide the following notice to the individual:

‘Each employer shall notify any individual who is hired...as an independent contractor...of the Federal tax obligations of an independent contractor, the labor and employment law protections that do not apply to independent contractors, and the right of such independent contractors to seek a status determinations from the IRS.’

Once approved, the amendments could pave the way for many so-called ‘independent contractors’ and employees to enjoy workers compensation which regular workers and employees are entitled to.

Workers compensation benefits are given to workers who are injured in work-related accidents. Under the law, the workers' compensation system would provide replacement income, medical expenses, and sometimes, vocational rehabilitation benefits. This includes on-the-job training, schooling, or job placement assistance.

In most states, employers are required to purchase insurance for their employees from a workers' compensation insurance company called as an insurance carrier.

By all means, this bill will help improve treatment of our workers and its passing can surely benefit countless people. At this time, we can only hope that this bill does not get stuck too long in the committee hearing.

Burden of Proof in Negligence Cases, a Burden in Itself

In all cases, in all situations and in varying jurisdictions, in order to collect on an injury claim, it is required that you must prove that the person who caused the injury was negligent, reckless, careless and imprudent.

That means that the plaintiff in a legal action, has the obligation to prove the allegation that it presented in an action. The burden of proof lies in his hands.

This has been the standard that most law or courts have followed in ascertaining who will be liable and for whom.

Technically, in legal parlance, this is what they termed as burden of proof or onus probandi.

Burden of proof varies depending on the particular action that has been raised.

In personal injury actions, there are component elements in the aspect of proving negligence. To be specific, the plaintiff must establish and prove the following concurring elements, namely:

• First, the defendant must have had a duty of care towards the claimant.
• Second, the claimant must show that the defendant has breached that duty by not exercising reasonable care.
• Third, that an injury was caused to you by reason of the breach of duty;
• Fourth, there was a reasonable connection between the other person's duty to you and your injury, in other words, that the negligence must be a "proximate cause" of the harm.
• Finally, the claimant must be able to establish what kind of damages, or compensation, he should get for his or her harm.

Viewing the aforesaid elements would give you the impression that it is not easy to prove negligence, more so, a claim for compensation.

Aside from those elements, there are also other factions of law that would pester your right to claim. Specifically, the law on comparable negligence would work against your claim. It would mitigate the damages that accrue to you.

Aside from the complex process that revolved in it, proving a negligence case is very hard.

By having these stringent requirements and the taxing burden of proof, it can be gleaned that the law or procedure seems to discredit negligence cases.

Instead of providing more protection to the injured, the law or procedures have tilt on the side of the negligent actor.

It becomes the burden of the injured instead of being a haven for them.

This is quiet unfair on the side of the injured, but nothing really can be done about it except to cling to it. These set of precepts should be discounted as an old-fashioned theory.

The burden of proof in negligence cases is indeed a burden in itself.

Determining Personal Injury Liabilities during Fire Disasters

In Los Angeles and any part of California, fires are quite threatening not only on your properties but as well as your own family’s life. And sadly, this frightening incidents happen unexpectedly and due to various reasons, which you definitely can think may lead to your destruction.

After the blaze has been extinguished, it is now the time to determine liability in the tragedy, especially if the fire resulted to injuries and even fatalities. Consult your Los Angeles personal injury attorneys for proper assistance and advice.

In common, these parties may be held responsible for a fire disaster:

• Product manufacturers – for an instance, if the fire was caused by the sudden explosion of a gas tank used in the kitchen and the reports said that this product fails to meet the standards of quality; its manufacturer may be subjected to lots of legal injunctions and liabilities.

• Premise owners – in some cases where a person sustained an injury or died in a fire, which happened in another’s property, the premise owner may also be charged if proven negligent guilty of some violations or negligence.

In various circumstances, building owners choose not to place safety equipment and high standard materials on their properties just to lessen their expenses. With this, violations such as the failure to have accessible fire exits, working fire extinguishers and emergency lighting devices may also cause them serious penalties.

• Other parties involved – if the fire was done deliberately by a person or a group of individuals, the resulting victims may file not just file their personal injury claims but as well push through criminal cases in court.

Personal injury liabilities in fire cases may vary depending on several circumstances involved. To be certain about the legal; action that you may pursue against whom, you will definitely need the help coming from personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles who have the expertise in handling these types of cases.

What Does a Wrongful Attorney Can and Cannot Do

I’m pretty sure you can still remember the December 30 crash on the 405 Freeway where as a result singer Brandy had been charge with a $50M wrongful death lawsuit by the parents of the deceased victim.

A wrongful death lawsuit can't bring the person you love back to life, but it can help you acquire compensation for your loss. In your quest for justice, you must have someone who knows the law and process. You may want to have a wrongful death lawsuit attorney by your side.

This is so because in wrongful death cases, negligence must be proven. And only a wrongful death lawsuit attorney can help you with your case and prove the following four critical components in your claim:

1. The defendant had a duty to the deceased

2. The defendant failed to observe such duty (breach of duty)

3. That the death was caused by the defendant’s breach of duty

4. That the survivors are entitled to damages as a consequence of the loss of a family member

Proving the foregoing elements is not sufficient. The case must be well within the statute of limitations to have a valid claim. The statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim is shorter than that of a personal injury claim.

It seems to me that the law provides longer time within which to file personal injury cases than that of wrongful death cases. Is it because the law favors those who are alive than those who are already dead? It may not be so, but why?

In wrongful death cases, the lawyer is only there as a guide. it is the surviving family of the deceased who can initiate the suit. However, you cannot expect them to jump into filing their claim as they would want to pay their final respects to the deceased. And by the time their mourning and grieving are done, which in most cases would take months, their time to file the suit had already prescribed which even the best wrongful death lawsuit attorney can do nothing about.

The denial of the claim just because it has been filed beyond the statute of limitations is too much for the surviving family to bear. Not only do they have to deal with the loss of a loved one but also they have to face the fact that the offending party walks away without being held responsible. Is it not an added insult to an already injurious situation?