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New Jersey 7th State To Implement “Sara’s Law” For Car Accident Emergency

In 2007, Sara Dubinin of Sayreville was in a car accident which left her in a coma before she died of her injuries. It was almost two hours before her parents were notified of the accident.

On April 11, Governor Chris Christi signed legislation that will hopefully eliminate this lengthy delay before next of kin are notified when there has been a serious accident. “Sara’s Law” will establish a next-of-kin registry that will provide authorities with immediate access to contact information when a family member is involved or injured in a motor vehicle accident. It will go into effect in 18 months.

New Jersey is now the 7^th state to have this procedure, along with Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado and Delaware. Read the rest of this entry »

$8.8M Awarded In Defective Product Suit

A New York jury has awarded a 21-year-old woman $8.8 million for injuries she suffered when the pocket of her coat was caught on a bolt of a digger being operated by her stepfather.

The bolt was protruding from the drive shaft of an auger-like post-hole digger and her arm wrapped around the digger when the pocket was caught on the bolt, resulting in the loss of her arm in 2004 when she was only 16-year-old.

The jury cited the manufacturer of the digger, Ford New Holland (now known as Case New Holland) for selling a defective product.   The bolt that caught on the girl’s coat was supposed to be covered by a shield, but the shield broke under normal use and was removed by Peter A. Smith, the owner of the digger, in 1999.  The lawsuit alleges the shield was always inadequate and there is nothing to support the fact it was ever tested.

The jury placed 35% of the blame on Case New Holland and 30% each on Peter A Smith, the  owner of the digger and the person who loaned the digger to the stepfather, and on SMC Corp. from Sioux Fall, S.D., the company who assembled the digger.

Products are often made carelessly, designed without using the most appropriate design standards, are haphazardly tested, or have insufficient instructions, warnings or labels. This includes products around the home.

Personal injury cases involving defective products often involve serious injury and permanent disability. A qualified and experienced personal injury lawyer is needed to make sure you receive the maximum compensation for your loss.

Medical Negligence Often Not Reported

I have known for sometime that most acts of medical negligence are never reported, let alone brought into litigation.  In a previous post I have also decried the fact that legislators are limiting the rights of these people who have been harmed by medical negligence – medical malpractice – without addressing the source of the harm – mistakes made by our medical profession including doctors, hospitals and drug companies.  Read the rest of this entry »

Grandparents Sue Over Granddaughter’s Death

Grandparents who moved to the United States from Africa in 2004 to save their granddaughter’s life have file a wrongful death lawsuit against their former landlord over her death in a fire in 2009.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the 10-year-old died from smoke inhalation the day following the fire and the grandparents were in comas for months with severe burns.  They are now disabled from their injuries.

The lawsuit states the windows in their second floor apartment were not able to be opened either because they were designed that way or they were sealed or painted shut, leaving the three people no way to escape the fire.

The fire started when a man with a mental disorder andwho lived in their building passed out with a lit cigarette.

The lawsuit states the landlord should have ensured the windows would opened and should have cautioned them about their neighbor who has a history of starting fires.

The landlord claims the apartment complied with city codes and had passed inspection.

More Information On Deadly Crash At PTI

Authorities have identified Marcia Salmons Keaton, 50, from Fuquay-Varina as the pilot of the Beechcraft Baron 58 that crashed into a house in High Point, North Carolina, roughly 3 miles from touchdown at Piedmont Triad International Airport, reports WRAL in Raleigh.  The pilot and her passenger, Dr. Thomas Littlejohn III of Winston Salem were killed in the crash. No one on the ground was injured.

It has now been confirmed that the National Weather Service reported heavy fog in the area at the time, with visibility as low as a quarter-mile. The pilot spoke with air traffic controllers (ATC) and was routed to PTI via “radar vectors,” which means she was directed to the bigger airport every step of the way by air traffic controllers.

In the air traffic control recording the pilot of Air Logistics 569 (AirLog 569), after receiving the 100-foot ceiling weather, is heard that it (the weather) wouldn’t help much. After that, the pilot discussed holding—which means waiting for the weather to clear—with the air traffic controller. The air traffic controller told her that everyone was getting into Greensboro—no “go-arounds”—then the pilot of Air Log 569 agreed try an approach. The controller then guided the aircraft to an instrument approach to runway 5 left. AirLog 569 was cleared to 3000 feet, and then was cleared for the ILS Rwy 5L approach 9 miles from Cives, which is 4.7 nm miles from touchdown. AirLog 569 was instructed to maintain 3000 feet until established on the approach.

Fifty seconds after this, the controller contacted the Air Logistics aircraft saying that it had flown through the localizer course, and the pilot responded that the aircraft was coming back to the course. Approximately two minutes later, ATC cleared AirLog 569 to land on Rwy 5L. Just over a minute later, called AirLog 569 to advise it of a low altitude alert and the pilot responded that they were going around. The controller issued go-around instructions.

ATC tried several times after this to contact AirLog 569 but there were no responses.

Two Die In High Point, NC Plane Crash

A twin-engine Hawker Beechcraft Baron Model 58 belonging to Jet Logistics of Charlotte, N.C., crashed into a home in High Point, North Carolina, killing the aircraft’s two occupants. One was a noted physician from Winston-Salem, N.C., the other victim was the pilot who has yet to be identified.

The aircraft had flown earlier in the day (7:11 am) from Raleigh-Durham International Airport and arrived at Smith-Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem thirty minutes later, departing for Wilmington, N.C. at 8:50 a.m. It arrived in Wilmington at 9:42 a.m. and departed on the accident flight at 4:23 p.m. en route back to Smith Reynolds with an intended landing at 5:20 p.m. Read the rest of this entry »

Legislative Folly in North Carolina

A few comments on portions of the so-called “tort reform” bills now in the North Carolina legislature being pushed by lawmakers who are supported by the insurance industry.

The product liability portion of the current legislation is setting up a constitutional challenge in the aviation area. The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 and cases say that the federal regulations as to aircraft are “minimum standards” and do not establish a level or guarantee of safety. Every aircraft design is approved, to various degrees, by the federal authorities. But there are federal cases saying that these approvals, and the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR’s) themselves, are not determinative of the legal safety of a design (that’s my summary of 40 years of case law—there are exceptions). I have not fully thought this all through, but it seems to me that this provides ample constitutional and preemptive challenges to be in the courts for years. Read the rest of this entry »