Thursday, February 26, 2015

Driving in the winter...

As many of you know, my specialty is workers' compensation but in the other half of my practice I litigate car and truck accident cases. What most people don't know, is that this is my greatest fear…being involved in a multi-car collision. When I watch videos like the one posted below, my heart begins to race. I've been doing this for 20 years and the main cause of car accidents is someone driving too fast. Either the other person is driving too fast and loses control or you're driving too fast and can't evade a car that's lost control. Please please please…I've seen too much death and destruction caused by car and truck crashes. Drive slow. Wear a seat belt. And get home safe to your family.

Watch this video compilation of car and truck accidents on my Facebook page and hopefully learn something from it.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Walmart Gives 500,000 Workers a Raise

Since many of my workers' compensation clients were injured on the job while working at Walmart, I was glad to see this article detailing how Walmart will raise their wages.  I usually have represent several injured Walmart employees per year.  Obviously, these raises should have happened years ago, but hopefully the company is coming around to paying its workers closer to a living wage.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Marijuana Is Not Linked to Car Crashes

Because many of my Pennsylvania workers' compensation clients are injured in car and truck accidents--either as a long haul truck driver or delivery driver--this article from Reason.com caught my eye.  Further, given that more and more states are making the use of small amounts of marijuana legal, this topic is on the front edge.
In "the first large-scale [crash risk] study in the United States to include drugs other than alcohol," NHTSA found that, once the data were adjusted for confounding variables, cannabis consumption was not associated with an increased probability of getting into an accident.  Further adjusting for alcohol consumption made the crash risk of cannabis consumers equal to that of drivers who tested negative for alcohol and all other drugs. In other words, the study provides no evidence that marijuana use increases crash risk. Furthermore, the authors note, that result is similar to what the best-designed previous studies have found: a small or nonexistent increase in crash risk.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

The Car You Are Most Likely to Die In...

Because many of my clients are involved in car or truck crashes, this article caught my eye.  Basically, the article describes what vehicles are the safest…and what cars are the most dangerous and most likely to cause serious injuries and death if it's involved in an accident.  The data was compiled by the Insurance Institute for Highway safety.  As you might guess, automobile insurance companies are very interested in lower the amount of injuries sustained in car crashes, thus lowering the amount of money they have to pay out for medical bills and damages in negligence lawsuits.

When you look closely at the list, the most dangerous vehicles are the smaller…or mini-vehicles.  The number one most dangerous car to drive is the Kia Rio.  So, check out the list…you have been warned.

As always, please feel free to contact me for a free evaluation if you've been seriously injured in a car or truck accident.