Archive for October, 2009

Car accidents that are head on create a different risk for those involved. A  7 year study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that despite the use of airbags and seat belts, deaths from head on or frontal collisions continue. Head-on crashes have always been very dangerous collisions, but the presence of airbags was expected to almost eliminate the risk of death from these kind of car accidents. The study shows that among other things the size of the occupant may determine how effective an airbag and seat belt system will be in preventing death from a head-on or front collision. Too big or too small and the airbag may not protect you. If the angle of impact is not completely head-on the airbag may not protect you. If the impact is very severe, the airbag may not protect you. Will this study bring about changes in airbag design? Unlikely in my opinion – at least anytime soon, the American auto industry has too much going on and safety improvements are unlikely to be part of their agenda (profits will be). The lesson is for drivers everywhere to not put too much faith in the “safety technology” in their cars. A front end collision in Nashville or anywhere else can result in serious injury even in a car with all the latest safety equipment. To review this study and other information about your rights go to our website, or click here for the details of this NHTSA study.

Auto accidents can cause fractures to the legs and arms when there are significant forces or the car rolls over. When people have seriously broken bones, orthopedic surgeons perform a procedure that shows up on a surgical note as “ORIF”. We often see victims of serious car and truck accidents who have had this procedure, but victims of motorcycle accidents are probably most at risk for this kind of serious injury. This procedure may be done when there is a fracture to the hip, ankle, wrist, the  femur, or either of the bones in the lower leg (the tibia and fibula).  To repair the fracture, the doctor surgically “opens” the area where the bone(s) is broken and then realigns the bone(s) so they are back in their natural position. This part of the procedure is called the “Open Reduction”.  The next step is for the surgeon to use the appropriate plates, rods, pins, nails, and screws to mend the broken bone together until it heals. This is the “internal fixation”. The surgeon than stitches close the opening, and hopefully the fracture will mend. There is a risk of blood clots, infection, and the failure of the broken bone to heal or fuse. When someone has an ORIF procedure, they have had a serious injury involving tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, lost work, and permanent impairment. The best that can happen is the regain the use of the injured arm, leg, etc. They will never be the same person. Our clients who have had ORIF procedures count on us to know understand their injuries and be able to ask their doctors the right questions. That’s our job. For a medical paper that reviews ORIF procedure and has x-rays of what the joints look like afterwards, click here.

We all think we know what local intersections and roads are the most dangerous, but most of the time our guesses are incomplete. Car accidents in Nashville happen all times of the day and night when we wouldn’t necessarily know about them, even when they are close to where we live or work. There is a website I came across that provides graphic digital information about dangerous accident scenes in Nashville, in Tennessee and throughout the U.S.A.  Safe Road Maps is fun to look at, and includes “hot spots” that you can identify by zip code. Detail views will tell you about any accidents or fatalities in an area, and the results will surprise you. If you are planning a trip, even a short drive in the country, a review of the road will give you some advanced idea where accidents and fatalities have happened in the past. Unfortunately, most of us have to drive the same routes to and from work every day. It’s those times that we are most at risk for being in a car accident or wreck in Nashville, in Tennessee, or anywhere else.

Guardrails save thousands of lives each year by keeping cars away from dangerous drop-offs, ravines, and other traffic. Traffic deaths would be infinitely higher without them. Like most things, there is a right and wrong way to place guardrails. There is a safe way, and an unsafe way.  If guardrails are place too high, too close to the roadway they don’t serve their purpose and can become an object that can cause injury and death. A recent case in New Jersey illustrates the tragedy from the unsafe, incompetent use of guardrails. A 34 year old man was in a car on his way to the airport. When the driver lost control of the car, the car hit the guard rail. So what? Usually this would mean some damage to the car, and missing an airplane…but nothing more. Unfortunately, this guard rail was too high and too close to the roadway, it served as a spear that ended up piercing the passenger compartment and killing the passenger. This unnecessary, wrongful death resulted in a lawsuit and ultimately a multi-million dollar settlement, but despite the settlement and dangers of the guardrail the turnpike authority didn’t fix it. They paid the money but didn’t fix the problem?  What kind of goobers are in charge of things up there? The widow has gone on record pointing out that the guardrail is still unchanged, and needs to be. Let’s hope they pay attention to her, finally.

Much is made about “safety fines” and government regulations that  might somehow affect business in a negative way. The fact is that most regulations have been developed in close coordination with the business community, and enforcement is weak or non-existent. Work place safety?  It is better than it was 50 years ago, but it’s not because the government has taken seriously its’ obligation to fine companies with safety violations. Some workers comp injuries continue to occur because of weak or non-existent enforcement of safety rules.  Here’s a real world example.  A deputy sheriff is on temporary assignment at a fire station, and is sleeping there overnight. The fire station has two doors about 15′ apart. One goes to the bathroom, the other to a shaft where the fire pole is located. There is no light or markings for either. At 3 a.m. the 43 year old deputy sheriff gets up to go to the bathroom and steps through the door in front of the shaft for the firepole, falling 18 feet. He breaks legs, ribs, and his pelvis. He is unable to ever return to work. Regulations about marking doorways into shafts have been around for decades.  The fine?  $800.00.  Can anyone realistically believe that an $800 fine will bring about change? The importance of lawsuits for personal injury often transcends compensating the injured and their families, it brings positive change and make this a safer world.

A Minnesota Judge has punished Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad for destroying evidence and lying about the cause of a rail road crossing accident that killed 4 young people in 2003.  After considering the conduct of the railroad, the Judge ordered them to pay an additional $4 million to the families and their lawyers. Hoorah! Businesses of all kinds can go over the top when it comes to defending themselves in lawsuits, often spending more to defend a case than it would cost to settle it. Why? Someone in the organization has an ego that prevents them from admitting a mistake, or accepting any personal responsibility for a tragedy. It’s always easy to blame the victim, and unfortunately there are some people on juries who will do the same. Is that the kind of society we want to live in? A society where companies can hire lawyers to fight off victims so that they get little or nothing? The railroad isn’t the only industry that has done this, the same has been said of insurance companies handling automobile accident claims. For more information about auto insurance companies attempts to unfairly deny, delay and defend claims, click here.  For additional information about this Minnesota case punishing the railroad, click here.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration traffic deaths for the first six months of 2009 decreased 7% from 2008, the lowest number of car accident deaths since 2005. Still over 16,626 people were killed in auto accidents, with Nashville and Tennessee getting more than their share. So far in 2009, February has the largest drop in motor vehicle deaths, more than 16%.  So, what’s the reason for the reduction in deaths from car wrecks in Nashville and other cities? One factor is a reduction in miles driven, but that’s only about 1% for the year. The rest of the explanation? Safer cars certainly has contributed to the drop, with anti-lock brakes and airbags being more and more common. For anyone who thinks they are getting a deal on a used car – don’t waste your money on anything that doesn’t have anti-lock brakes and airbags.  For more information about fatality data for 2009, click here.

I was working on a motorcycle injury case today involving a man who we now know has a serious brain injury. This brain injury is so serious that the victim is restricted to a wheelchair and suffers severe myoclonic seizures (severe shaking). At the time of the collision however, he seemed ok. He was conscious, was able to answer the state trooper’s questions about what happened, and he was able to stand unassisted during the interview. His motorcycle helmet only had a small gouge in it and he didn’t have any broken bones, something we see fairly often as Tennessee Motorcycle Accident Attorneys. So how did it happen? The answer has to do with the anatomy of the brain. When there is injury, there is always swelling which is part of the body’s defense and healing mechanism. That swelling is almost always visible, however swelling of the brain from an injury won’t be physically apparent because of the protection provided by the skull. Although most people who suffer a brain injury will have symptoms within 1-2 hours, it may take up to 24 hours before symptoms show themselves.  When we see someone in Nashville who thinks they may have a brain injury, we make sure they see a doctor immediately.  The most recent “famous” case of fatal brain injury without visible injury to the head involved the actress Natasha Richardson. Ms. Richardson had what she thought was a minor head injury while skiing. She developed a headache about an hour later and was brain dead shortly thereafter. There was no dramatic injury to her skull, no fracture, no cuts or external bleeding. Experts have speculated that she developed a bleed inside her brain that caused swelling and brain death. For more information about the Richardson case, click here.  There are over 1 million victims of traumatic brain injury each year, and more the 5 million Americans who have lifelong limitations as a result of a traumatic brain injury. For more information about brain injury, and links to informational sites, click here.

An Oregon jury has ruled that John Deere is not legally responsible for the mutilation of a little girl’s leg from a John Deere sit down mower that kept the blade moving when the mower was put in reverse. This is despite the fact that industry standards and competitor manufacturers do the contrary. When other mowers are put in reverse, the blade stops and eliminates any risk of injury from backing over something.  There are apparently between 250-300 injuries per year involving machines without this safety feature, why would a jury rule for John Deere when their mower was clearly unsafe compared to other models? Well, part of the story the jury heard is that the father who ran over his little girl’s leg and mutilated it, has 5 children under the age of 9 at home. He left them inside the house without supervision while he went out to mow the lawn. He didn’t know his little girl had come outside until it was too late. Is it really fair to blame the dad for this tragedy? Are parents in Oregon any different than parents in Tennessee? When there is a catastrophic injury to a child, any parent in Nashville or anywhere else would feel a sense of guilt, but is that fair ? Any other mower would have done comparatively little damage because the blade would have been stopped as the father put the mower in reverse. Injuries to children are often tragic, and quite frankly this is an injury that was foreseeable to a manufacturer. It’s why all the other manufacturers have blade stops on their sit down mowers. Parents should be responsible for their children, but going out to mow on a hot summer day (like we have in Nashville) while the kids are in the house doesn’t seem like an example of awful parenting. It was just one dad doing what 1000’s of other dads do when they have to. For the full story about this verdict, click here.

A study published by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has concluded that the way the parents communicate rules about driving to teenagers, and then monitor teen driving, can reduce the risk that their teen will be involved in a crash in Nashville, Tennessee, or anywhere.

Simple rules like:

• “no use of the cell phone while driving”,
• “no driving if you have had something to drink”,
• “no riding with someone who has had something to drink”, and
• “always use your seatbelt”

can have a significant impact on reducing the risks of teens being involved in automobile accidents.

Teen drivers are 4 times more likely to be involved in fatal accidents as adults, and most teen crashes are preventable. Research with teen drivers show that they do not think of themselves as inexperienced, and most (85%) do not think their peers are inexperienced.  Only 10% recognize that their passengers are potentially hazardous.

Teens with authoritarian parents are more likely to use their seat belts and less likely to speed. Teens who have their own car, as opposed to sharing a car, are more likely to use a cell phone while driving, and are more likely to speed.

We see teens who are the victims of bad teen driving all the time in Nashville and through out Tennessee. As Tennessee attorneys who handle personal injury cases, seeing the results of  these kind of tragic accidents is unavoidable. It is good to know, and have verified, that simple rules strictly enforced can make such a difference.

To review this study in detail, click here.