Several Toyota trucks and SUVs -- certain 1989 to 1998 4Runners, T100 pickups and Toyota pickups -- are implicated in the faulty steering relay rods investigation. The defective steering relay rods, which connect the steering wheel to the wheels, reportedly break and leave the drivers without control of their vehicles, making this a very serious safety problem. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is apparently treating this as a criminal investigation. The investigation is looking into whether Toyota shrugged off complaints of steering relay rods breaking. Toyota had issued recalls first in only Japan, claiming that the problem would affect only Japanese drivers and not Americans because the tight maneuvering required in Japan would stress the steering mechanisms more. However, at least 15 crashes, 3 deaths, and 7 injuries have occurred in connection with the problem in the U.S., according to the NHTSA. Toyota issued a U.S. recall in 2005, but only a small number of the affected vehicles were fixed. In 2007, Michael Levi Stewart, an Idaho teenager, was killed after the steering relay rod snapped in his 1991 Toyota pickup, causing it to veer off the road and roll over.
As a St. Louis car crash lawyer, I hope that the NHTSA's toughening stance on Toyota's numerous recalls will deter other automakers from failing to warn consumers about safety issues in a timely manner. Accidents like Michael Levi Stewart's leave families and communities with tremendous emotional losses, especially when they happen through no fault of the victim's. Automakers do not have a right to withhold information about serious safety problems until they feel that the right time has come to disclose it. All manufacturers are legally required to tell the public about any unavoidable safety problems with their products. Automakers who place their company's financial and public relations concerns ahead of public safety can be held responsible for any harm that their products do. Their failure to warn the public is a form of negligence, or carelessness, and victims should not and do not have to bear the consequences of the company's negligence all on their own.
]]> Southern Illinois auto accident attorneys like me help victims and their families learn about and defend their rights in situations involving defective automobiles. Pain and suffering, medical costs, lost past and future wages, damage to relationships, funeral costs, and damage to property are some of the expenses that victims can recover from negligent companies that have harmed them. Carey, Danis & Lowe has years of experience litigating against manufacturers who have harmed people by ignoring their duty to warn of safety problems. Hundreds of our clients have recovered the money they need for medical care, making ends meet and being fairly compensated after a catastrophic injury or wrongful death. If you or someone you love has been hurt in a car crash caused by defective cars or parts, let Carey, Danis & Lowe help. To tell us your story and learn more about us, you can send us a message online or call 1-877-678-3400 today.]]>In short, you — and the pharmaceutical companies — have a lot riding on it. PDUFA first was passed in 1992 to help the FDA review drugs more quickly and get them out to patients sooner. It created a "user fee" that a company pays when it submits the large volume of research the FDA must review before approving or rejecting a drug, essentially paying the FDA to speed up its decision making process. The biggest question as Congress debates reauthorizing the law is if FDA should raise the fees and use a larger portion of that funding to look at drugs after they've been approved and gone to market.
Back in 1992, drug companies were screaming that it took far too long to get their drugs to market — particularly because it cut into the time a drug was under patent. Consumers also were lobbying for new drugs to be made available in a more timely fashion. (Of particular concern at the time were AIDS drugs.) Once passed, PDUFA was hugely successful, cutting the time almost in half for many drugs to hit the market. About 50 percent of all new prescription drugs now are available in the U.S. first vs. just eight percent before PDUFA. Pharmaceutical companies’ profits have soared because of it.
However, that speed of approval also is viewed by many as the main downside of the law. Drugs like Vioxx, Ketek and now Avandia are looming large in the new debate. All three of these drugs ran into problems after the FDA approved them. The possibility of heart attacks or liver failure weren't discovered in connection with these drugs until they had been approved and were in use in large numbers. So now many are calling on increasing the fees to cover the costs associated with follow-up on approved drugs. Some have argued that computer programs could mine huge databases like those of Medicare and HMOs to find potential problems with drugs on the market much more effectively than waiting for random doctors' reports — or lawsuits — to trickle in.
PDUFA has been a very effective law, but we must watch closely to see if it is updated to fix some of its shortcomings.
]]>Toyota's acknowledgement that the floor mat and sticking pedal problems are real came in the context of its investigation of about 2,000 reports of sudden acceleration. The company did not say how many of these incidents it believes were caused by floor mats or sticking pedals, but its spokesman, Mike Michels, said more of the incidents were related to floor mats than to pedals. Michels said that none of the vehicles with sticking pedals were involved in crashes, and he was unable to say how many crashes were related to the floor mats. Toyota maintains that in almost all crashes related to unintended acceleration, the problem was that the driver mistakenly pressed the accelerator rather than the brake.
Michels said there was no evidence of problems with the electronic throttle control system, despite the research of Southern Illinois University professor David Gilbert that demonstrated such problems. However, Toyota may be avoiding looking closely at its electronic throttle system because it’s afraid of what it might find. A Massachusetts consulting firm, Safety Research and Strategies, is taking a broader view of the unintended acceleration problems. Its president, Sean Kane, said, “You can’t ignore the fact that when they move to an electronic throttle control, you basically see a fourfold increase in complaints.” Toyota's investigation has focused on information gathered by vehicles' onboard data recorders, which are activated by crashes violent enough to cause the airbag to deploy. But Kane pointed out that these recorders rely on “the same sensing system that is unable to detect the failure to begin with,” so they couldn't prove that a car didn't accelerate suddenly on its own. And Toyota itself has argued in court cases that its onboard data recorders should not be used as reliable sources of evidence.
As a southern Illinois auto accident attorney, I find the suggestion that Toyota may be purposely avoiding looking at its electronic throttle control very troubling. Between Professor Gilbert's account of Toyota's possible attempts to quash his research into its electronics, and Toyota's own description of the onboard data recorders as unreliable, it seems clear that those who have been harmed by automobiles with runaway acceleration problems should keep pushing for real answers. They should also discuss with a St. Louis car crash lawyer how they might pursue compensation for any harm they have suffered as a result of Toyota's failure to warn consumers or investigate the cause of defects in their vehicles.
]]> Carey, Danis & Lowe helps victims of serious auto accidents caused by someone else’s negligence, such as automakers who refused to take appropriate action to ensure customers' safety. Manufacturers of consumer products are legally required to let the public know about any unavoidable safety problems with their products, or face lawsuits from people who were harmed by their failure to give an adequate warning. Our firm has years of experience litigating against manufacturers who have failed in that duty, and have helped hundreds of clients recover the money they need to pay for medical care, make ends meet and be fairly compensated after a catastrophic injury or wrongful death. If you or someone you love has been hurt in a car crash caused by defective cars or parts, please contact Carey, Danis & Lowe for help. To set up a free consultation, you can send us a message online or call 1-877-678-3400 today.But even more troubling, ATVs have been shown to cause a high number of spinal injuries in children. New research from a number of universities indicated that 7.4 percent of a group of 4,483 children studied over several years suffered spinal injuries while operating the machines. This reflects a 368 percent increase in spinal injuries compared to similar research conducted in 1997. Alarmingly, the average age of riders injured on ATVs was just 13 years old. Young riders are most vulnerable to injuries on these vehicles; in addition to spinal and head injuries, ATVs also are being blamed as the cause of many amputations and deaths.
Rollovers are the most common form of ATV accidents. ATVs can hit speeds of close to 50 miles per hour. Combine that with the vehicles’ high center of gravity and short wheel base, and you have an inherently unstable, fast-moving machine. While turning, one has to lean into the turn to shift the center of gravity, but smaller riders would have difficulty with this on a machine that can weigh up to a quarter of a ton. That is why young, inexperienced drivers are more than two times as likely to crash their ATVs. In the 1980s, ATV manufacturers did away with their three-wheel design because of instability issues. But there has been no move to modify the current four-wheel models in any significant way.
Sadly, more than half the patients who enter an E.R. for ATV accidents were not wearing helmets, making them much more likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries.
]]>In January, Gilbert discovered that he could cause runaway acceleration in a Toyota Avalon by manipulating its electronics. When he did so, the car's computer did not switch over to a fail-safe mode that would allow the brake to override the gas, as it should have. Gilbert went to Toyota with his findings, but after hearing what he had to say, they never got back to him. Gilbert felt he couldn’t stay silent, the article said, so he took his findings to the government and media. In response, Toyota sent some attorneys to meet with Gilbert and university officials about his testimony before Congress, a meeting that Gilbert said "was meant to maybe intimidate me." Toyota also assembled its own group of experts to refute Gilbert's findings, saying that the conditions under which he produced the runaway acceleration could never happen on an actual road. SIU's then-chancellor Sam Goldman also received an email from a man who said he was an SIU alumnus and a Toyota Motor Sales employee, complaining that Gilbert should be fired for making what he called false accusations about Toyota, and reminding him of his and Toyota's financial and in-kind contributions to the university. University officials apparently did their best to assuage Toyota and maintain the relationship.
In my view as a St. Louis car crash lawyer, it would be much better for the company to work with someone who could discover solutions to the runaway acceleration problem than to try to cover it up. If the allegations are proven, Toyota's alleged treatment of Gilbert and his work could actually hurt the company’s public relations and its financial bottom line. Evidence that Toyota passed up an opportunity to work on a potential fix for a serious problem could make the company look bad in all the lawsuits it's already facing over runaway acceleration. Not only is there evidence that Toyota had received over 2,000 complaints over the last decade and knew about the pedal problem three years ago, but Gilbert's story suggests that Toyota was more interested in denying any problem than fixing it. Unfortunately for Toyota, its customers may have a strong basis for a legal claim that it failed to warn drivers about the problem in a timely manner, in addition to a possible claim about a design defect. And if the automaker is found liable, it could be forced to pay its customers billions of dollars because of the seriousness of the claims and the huge number of affected vehicles.
]]> Carey, Danis & Lowe represents victims of serious auto accidents caused by someone else’s negligence, such as automakers who knowingly refused to solve serious safety problems, warn customers or take swift action on safety problems for fear of harming profits. All manufacturers in Illinois and Missouri are legally required to let the public know about any unavoidable safety problems with their products. Our Missouri car wreck attorneys have years of experience litigating against manufacturers who have failed in that duty. We have helped hundreds of clients recover the money they need for medical care, allowing them to make ends meet and be fairly compensated after a catastrophic injury or wrongful death.If you or someone you love has been hurt in a car crash caused by defective cars or parts, don’t hesitate to contact Carey, Danis & Lowe for help. To tell us your story and learn more, you can send us a message online or call 1-877-678-3400 today.In this case, the person hurt by a Polaris ATV wasn't even out having a good time on it. On the morning of July 4, Shad D. West, 36, of Greenfield, Missouri, was loading his 2004 Polaris ATV onto another vehicle or a trailer when it flipped over backward and landed on him. The Missouri State Highway Patrol report doesn't give much detail, but presumably West was trying to drive the ATV up a ramp into the other vehicle, in the usual manner for transporting an ATV. Sadly, West was seriously injured by the ATV rollover and had to be airlifted to Cox South Hospital in Springfield. I hope that West recovers quickly and fully, and I am sorry that this happened to him.
As a St. Louis ATV defect lawyer, I've worked with many clients who have been injured by defective ATVs. As I've discussed in this blog before, many ATVs' designs are inherently unstable, making them prone to flipping over on top of their riders and crushing them. But the unstable design isn't the only problem plaguing ATVs and their riders. Thousands of Polaris ATVs have been recalled over the years because of fire hazards and defective parts that could lead to drivers losing control of their vehicles. Most recently, at the end of 2009, about 8500 were recalled because the steering mechanism could come apart and cause the rider to lose control, posing a risk of injury or death to riders. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission had issued similar recall notices for out-of-control Polaris ATVs in 2007, 2004, 2001 and 2000. Thousands more were recalled due to dangerous fire hazards from various causes in 2009, 2008, 2007, 2005, 2004, and 2003.
This history of defects in Polaris ATVs is worrisome. It is particularly concerning that recalls keep happening year after year, meaning that defective ATVs keep getting manufactured despite repeated reports of problems with previous models. This puts consumers at risk of serious injury or even death. Who pays the price for these defects? The adults and children who suffer brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and amputations. Not only do they experience severe pain, they also incur thousands of dollars in medical bills, lose out on wages they or their caretakers could have earned at work, and potentially even lose their lives. This doesn't seem like a fair price to pay for what the victims had originally thought was going to be a fun outing in the outdoors.
]]> The law recognizes that in fact, it isn't fair to expect ATV riders to pay such a high price. Companies that manufacture consumer goods are required by Missouri and Illinois state law to ensure that their products are safe. If consumers are hurt by the product even though they were using them according to directions or common practice, that victim can sue the manufacturer for financial compensation for his or her injuries. That means that the victim can recover all the costs that he or she was stuck with as a result of the defective product, such as pain and suffering, past and future lost wages, damage to relationships, and past and future medical costs. Anyone injured by a potentially defective ATV through no fault of their own should consult an experienced, knowledgeable southern Illinois defective ATV accident attorney at Carey, Danis & Lowe to learn about their rights.If you or a loved one have been injured or a family member has been killed in an ATV accident, we urge you to contact Carey, Danis & Lowe for a free initial consultation. We can meet with you in our office, at the hospital or in the privacy of your home. You can call us toll-free at 1-877-678-3400, or send us a message online.
Blackwell told KMSU that Springfield's CoxHealth Hospital treated 12 ATV accident victims from March through May 2009. This year, 13 ATV accident victims were admitted to the hospital from March through May 2010. In addition, one patient died of an ATV-related injury, and 16 others were treated and released without hospitalization. Blackwell said she believed people are buying more ATVs because riding them is thrilling for children, but they should also be conscious of the safety risks involved. For example, state law requires riders under 18 to wear helmets, and the American Academy of Pediatrics advises that children under 16 not ride ATVs at all. If kids do ride them, which is legal, they should use smaller ATVs for smaller kids, have everyone under 18 wear a legally required helmet and consider taking a safety course. Further, ATVs are designed to be ridden only on off-road terrain, so riding them on paved roads can be more dangerous, and Missouri law restricts ATV use on public roads. But even when ATV riders obey these laws, which should improve ATV safety, injuries still occur. Blackwell said speed, multiple riders, tricks and rollover accidents can also increase the risk of a serious ATV injury.
As a St. Louis ATV crash lawyer, I think it's important for anyone considering riding an ATV to think about the risks of riding even after taking all these important safety precautions. Because ATVs are designed with high centers of gravity and intended to go on uneven off-road terrain, they are prone to rolling over easily. This could be considered a design flaw, but at the least, it’s a reason to be more careful when using one. ATVs are also motor vehicles that lack the lifesaving safety features that most cars and trucks have. Some are driven at speeds up to 80 miles per hour, yet it’s perfectly legal for children to use them, even if the children are nowhere near the legal age for driving. Despite all of these risks, ATVs are not regulated like other vehicles that can be driven at that speed. ATVs are regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and treated as if they were toys, not vehicles. Possibly as a result of that lack of regulation, the CPSC reports that ATV accidents nearly tripled in the nine years between 1995 and 2004, with children under 16 accounting for a third of the injuries and a quarter of the deaths.
]]> Even though ATVs are not heavily regulated, their manufacturers still have a legal and moral responsibility to make sure that they are as safe as possible for users. Missouri and Illinois law require ATV manufacturers to ensure that their products are safe for all conditions under which they can legally be operated. If they fail to do so and someone gets hurt because of the ATV’s defects, state law allows victims to demand accountability from the manufacturer. If you or a loved one have been injured or a family member has been killed in an ATV accident, we urge you to contact Carey, Danis & Lowe for a free initial consultation. Our ATV accident attorneys are experienced in helping people injured by dangerous ATVs. We will seek compensation for medical expenses, future and other affected wages, disability and other related damages, and pain and suffering, so that you will have the financial support you need to put your life back together after a devastating accident.To learn more, contct Carey, Danis & Lowe for a free consultation. You can call us toll-free at 1-877-678-3400, or send us a message online.
The recall of 25,334 2007 Chrysler Jeep Compass and Dodge Caliber vehicles comes after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigated five complaints of sticky gas pedals. The gas pedal assemblies were built by the same company -- CTS Corp. of Elkhart, Indiana -- that produced the 2.3 million pedal assemblies recalled by Toyota in late January. In the complaints about the pedals, drivers said that the pedals did not return to the idle position after drivers released them, and four drivers found parts from the assembly lying on the floor of the driver's side of the vehicle. The NHTSA discovered that the pedals' bearing housing was too large, and Chrysler said that this problem only existed in cars built between March 7 and May 19, 2006.
Chrysler told the NHTSA that it did not think the pedal problem was a safety defect since the vehicles have brake-override software. But in the wake of Toyota's gas pedal problems, the NHTSA and two congressional panels continue to investigate whether the electronic system that controls the pedals is to blame for the defects, rather than the pedals themselves or the loose floor mats that had been blamed by Toyota and, more recently, Ford.
Along with faulty accelerators found in three different companies' cars, vehicles from at least two different companies may pose fire risks as well. GM recalled 1.5 million Buicks, Cadillacs, Hummers, Chevrolets and Saturns because of an unfixable problem with a heated windshield washer system that had caused at least five fires. GM plans to disable the heating mechanism and give each owner $100 as compensation for the loss of the feature and, Center for Auto Safety executive director Clarence Ditlow suggests, to derail any potential class-action lawsuits over the problem. Chrysler is recalling Chrysler Town and Country minivans and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans for their own fire risks from short circuits in the electrical system operating the sliding door latch.
After Toyota's heavily publicized problems, many consumers thought they were being smart by choosing American cars that didn't have the same sticky pedal problems that Toyotas did. Now it seems harder to tell which cars are safe. A few months ago, I wrote about the ways in which liability lawsuits forced auto makers to make safer cars. As a Missouri automotive defect attorney, I help drivers who expected that their cars would be safe, but who got hurt because the cars had defects that they couldn't have known about. Drivers who get hurt because of flaws in their vehicle's design can work with an experienced product liability attorney to determine whether the automaker is liable. If so, drivers can sue the auto maker to pay for their medical costs, lost past and future wages, and pain and suffering. It's important to speak with a lawyer right away if you're in this situation, as there are time limits on lawsuits, and if you wait too long, you may not be able to sue.
]]> If you have been hurt in an automobile accident and suspect that the vehicle's design may have contributed to your injuries, the southern Illinois vehicle defect attorneys at Carey, Danis & Lowe can help. Please call us for a free consultation, toll-free, at 1-877-678-3400 or contact us through our website.The two boys lived in the same neighborhood and had played this game for some time, neighbors told police. But this time, the younger boy lost his balance and fell off his skateboard while being pulled by the truck. He let go of the passenger side of the truck, and the truck's back wheel ran over his abdomen. The young boy was then taken to an apartment in the neighborhood, and when emergency crews responded to a call there, they found him unconscious and having trouble breathing. The boy was airlifted to Children's Mercy Hospital, where he remained in critical condition.
Teen drivers are notorious for making bad decisions, which is why state governments often impose special restrictions on teen drivers, like graduated licensing, that don't apply to adults. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, newly licensed teen drivers are about eight times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than more experienced drivers are, and young males are much more likely than young females to be involved in crashes. In Missouri, about 250 people die each year in an accident involving a teen driver, making Missouri the tenth-deadliest state for such crashes. The factors that make teen drivers more likely to crash, such as inexperience and immaturity, were probably factors in the accident that led the 8-year-old boy's injuries. Unfortunately for the 16-year-old driver, the legal consequences of an accident like this are very serious. He could not only face criminal penalties for reckless driving, but be sued by the younger boy's family, even though the driver undoubtedly did not mean to hurt his friend. The driver's lack of ill will doesn't exempt him from the consequences of his bad judgment.
As a St. Louis personal injury attorney, I work with injured people every day, so I know how costly medical treatment can be for injuries like those that the 8-year-old suffered. The costs for being airlifted to a hospital and requiring overnight care for a critical injury can quickly add up to tens of thousands of dollars or more. Once the young boy is out of the hospital, he will most likely continue to need medical care, especially if any of his injuries are permanent. With permanent injuries, accident victims often need special equipment such as wheelchairs and accessible living accommodations. He may also need special academic help if he misses a lot of school due to medical appointments or illness, and this can mean missed work for his parents, which means lost income. The negative consequences of just one instance of poor judgment can snowball and severely affect the victim's life, not to mention the lives of family members.
]]> The best remedy for a problem like this is to avoid having preventable accidents in the first place. But once the damage is done, the law recognizes that it's unfair to expect victims to suffer all the consequences alone. With the help of an experienced southern Illinois personal injury lawyer, victims can recover compensation for the costs I described above, as well as for pain and suffering and lost quality of life. Often, victims feel reluctant to sue their neighbors for damages since they may have been friendly, or they may still have to see each other frequently. But it's important to note that personal injury lawsuits are directed at a driver's insurance company, and the insurance company handles almost everything involved with the lawsuit. Fear of a bad future relationship should never stop victims of accidents from recovering the money they need to handle injuries that were no fault of their own.At Carey, Danis & Lowe, we have spent years helping accident victims get compensation for their injuries and get on with their lives. For a free consultation, at which you can learn about your rights and your options, please call us at 1-877-678-3400 or send us an email through our website.
According to the Bellville News-Democrat, Illinois State Police say that Megan C. Gates, 21, was driving a 2006 Honda CR-V SE just after midnight on June 2 on Interstate 55/70 just south of Pleasant Ridge Road. A 2001 Chevrolet Silverado and a trailer were parked on the shoulder with warning lights on, while two construction workers stood on the shoulder preparing to mark off the construction zone with traffic control barriers. Gates swerved to avoid hitting an animal, she told police, and hit the Silverado on its driver’s side, causing her CR-V to tip over onto its side and slide about 300 feet, then tip back upright in a ditch. One of the construction workers, Timothy R. Ahle, 26, of Centralia, was hit by debris from the crash, and the other, Justin W. McQuary, 23, of Collinsville, was hit by the trailer when the CR-V hit the truck. Both men were taken to Anderson Hospital in Maryville with minor injuries. Gates refused medical treatment at the scene.
Gates admitted to talking on her cell phone while in the construction zone, which is illegal in Illinois, though she said she was not on the phone when she hit the truck. She was charged with using a cellular phone in a construction zone and failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident under Scott's Law. This law requires drivers to move over to give room to emergency vehicles and increases penalties for those who fail to do so and cause accidents or injuries to public safety or service personnel. The penalties include a fine of up to $10,000 and suspension of driver's license for up to two years.
In my work as a St. Louis auto accident attorney, I see many crashes like this in which a driver faces charges that suggest negligence, and I frequently counsel victims about how they can recover the costs imposed on them by the crash. Driving while distracted by cell phones or anything else is negligent, meaning that the driver is failing to live up to his or her responsibility to keep others safe on the road. It is unfortunate that distracted driving is so common -- University of Illinois computer science professor Sheldon H. Jacobson reports that driver distraction is behind nearly 80% of auto accidents in the U.S.
]]> But victims of drivers who aren't paying attention and cause a crash can hold those drivers responsible for the damage they cause and make them pay for medical costs, property damage, past and future lost wages, and pain and suffering. The Missouri car crash attorneys at Carey, Danis & Lowe specialize in helping victims of distracted drivers put their lives back together after a crash has hurt them or their property. Even minor injuries like the ones suffered by the construction workers can develop into worse problems as time goes on. Soft tissue injuries, for example, can be extremely painful, long-lasting, and hard to treat, but you might not realize you have one right after the crash happens. That's why it's important to consult an experienced lawyer with special expertise in personal injury cases as soon as possible after an accident. You can't predict how your body will respond to a crash, but with an attorney's help, you can preserve your right to recover the greatest amount of compensation possible from the driver's insurance company.Carey, Danis & Lowe helps people who have been injured through no fault of their own recover compensation for their costs, pain and suffering, and lost quality of life. For a free consultation in which you can learn about your legal options, please call us at 1-877-678-3400 or send us an email through our website.
]]>Fassnacht was allegedly driving more than 80 mph in a 45 mph zone while driving youth group members to church. As he drove down Northwest 68th Street, he struck a vehicle at North Ames Avenue in Kansas City, North. The driver of the other vehicle was hurt. One of Fassnacht's passengers, Kelsey Morris, 16, of Platte City, died, and three of his other passengers were hurt. While Fassnacht faces criminal charges for the accident, he and the church that employed him could also face a civil lawsuit brought by the victims who were hurt, and by the family of Kelsey Morris. Under a legal doctrine called respondeat superior ("Let the superior answer," in Latin), employers are generally held legally responsible for what their employees do while carrying out their work duties. If the employee was not acting on behalf of the employer, then the employee would be held personally responsible, and the employer would not be liable.
Driving kids to church is arguably within the scope of a youth minister's job. However, driving 80 mph with a car full of teenagers would have been risky on an interstate highway, given the possibility of distraction by lively conversation and music playing on the car stereo. Driving that fast within a city with that many young people in the car could easily be seen as reckless and negligent. If the victims of this crash chose to sue, they could name both the youth minister and the church as responsible parties in their lawsuit. As long as they could demonstrate that Fassnacht was acting within the scope of his employment, the victims would not have to show that the church should have known that the minister could cause harm, or that the church itself did anything wrong.
As a St. Louis car crash lawyer, I also want to address a potential misconception about churches in cases like this. Some people may have heard that churches cannot be sued like other employers. Churches do enjoy some protection in discrimination in hiring decisions and in some sexual abuse cases. But in a case like this one, the church would face the same legal circumstances that any other employer would face with an employee who acted negligently in the course of employment.
]]> In a lot of cases, victims and their families continue seeing the person who hurt them in their community, sometimes on a daily basis. This might make them feel uncomfortable about asking for compensation for their injuries, even though the other person is clearly at fault. As an experienced southern Illinois car wreck attorney, however, I stress to all of my clients that they are rarely suing the at-fault drivers themselves -- they are suing those drivers’ insurance companies. To get a fair settlement from that company, victims are strongly advised to get help from an experienced attorney. In a lawsuit, victims of serious crashes can claim repayment of medical costs, lost income and funeral costs, as well as compensation for pain and suffering, lost income and lost quality of life.If you or a loved one has been hurt in a serious car accident, please contact Carey, Danis & Lowe today. Our attorneys offer a free consultation so that you can tell us about your case and we can advise you of your rights. You can call us toll-free at 1-877-678-3400, or send us a message online.
Fun Services of Kansas City provided an inflatable obstacle course and other play equipment for the school carnival at Lakewood Elementary School on May 13. Police learned that two children approached a Fun Services employee around 8:30 p.m. to inform him that the boy was stuck between two parts of the obstacle course. Meanwhile, the mother of the boy had approached a Fun Services employee to say that two older children were playing inappropriately on the obstacle course, and that she had disciplined them herself. It was then that the employee told her that a child was not breathing, and she found out that it was her own son. A Fun Services employee pulled the boy out and Clay County sheriff's officials who were at the carnival performed CPR. The boy did begin to breathe on his own, but on the ambulance ride to Children's Mercy Hospital, his condition grew worse and he had to be ventilated when he arrived at the hospital. A letter sent to parents the next day from school principal Suzanne Baker said that his condition had improved, but he remained hospitalized.
This situation would be frightening for any parent, but other details described in the news report give me pause too, as a St. Louis personal injury attorney. I'm wondering whether anyone was specifically asked to supervise the children in the inflatable play areas. School carnivals can be very chaotic and noisy, making it all the more important that responsible adults plan out in advance who will make certain that the children stay safe. The district undoubtedly had its own safety policies before this incident, and now, it has instituted a new policy requiring that this type of play equipment be inspected and pre-approved by the central office. Fun Services said that their employees always followed safety regulations and maintained their equipment so that it was in safe condition. But the fact that it was up to the two children to report that the boy was stuck in the inflatable obstacle course raises questions about whether the employees and the school district really did follow all safety procedures that they reasonably should have.
]]> Injuries requiring CPR, ventilation, and overnight or longer hospitalization are very expensive and can cause serious damage. Victims like this boy may need special tutoring to help them keep up with schoolwork during recovery, and parents may lose income while making sure they get the medical treatment they need. The law recognizes that victims should not have to pay for all these costs themselves if they were not at fault for their injuries. But in cases where government entities like school districts may be at fault, a lawsuit to recover compensation is more complicated than it would be otherwise. Government entities have sovereign immunity, which means that they are generally exempt from liability just because they are part of the government. In order to succeed in a lawsuit against a government entity, a victim needs an experienced southern Illinois personal injury lawyer who knows how to carefully follow procedures and construct arguments to overcome the obstacles sovereign immunity sets up.The Lowe Law Firm focuses on helping people who have been injured through no fault of their own recover compensation for their costs, pain and suffering, and lost quality of life. For a free consultation in which you can learn about your rights and your options, please call us at 1-877-678-3400 or send us an email through our website.
]]>According to the Bellville News-Democrat, the state of Illinois has not accepted liability for the accident that led to the Uhl sisters' deaths. However, the state has admitted that State Trooper Matt Mitchell was acting in his role as a state employee at the time of the crash, rendering the state liable for damages in the event of a judgment for the Uhl family. The state's lawyers argue that even though evidence shows that Mitchell was driving 126 mph, and was distracted moments before the crash by his patrol car's dashboard computer and a cell phone call to his girlfriend, the accident was actually caused by a white car that pulled out in front of Mitchell. That, the state's lawyers said, is why Mitchell's car went off the highway, crossed the median, and slammed into the Uhl sisters' Mazda.
As a St. Louis car crash lawyer, it's obvious to me that this argument is trying to sidestep an important point. By driving at 126 mph and not devoting full attention to the road at that excessive speed, Mitchell was already driving negligently. At that speed and with those distractions, it’s very likely that he would have been unable to respond to obstacles or sudden changes in conditions on the road. If there was a white car that moved into Mitchell's lane, that driver should have stayed out of the way of a police car responding to an emergency. But state troopers also have a responsibility to drive safely and be prepared for unexpected conditions, including members of the public who may get in their way. The driver of the white car is not responsible for Mitchell's bad choice to drive distractedly at an excessive speed.
There are other factors suggesting that the state should be held liable here as well. One is that other emergency personnel had already arrived at the scene of the call to which Mitchell was responding, making his rate of speed even more unnecessary and dangerous. Another is that according to a University of Utah study, using a cell phone slows a driver's response time as much as being legally drunk (with a blood-alcohol count of 0.08%) does. As a Missouri car accident attorney, I have a hard time imagining anyone making the case that a drunk driver going 126 mph wouldn't be responsible for injuries he or she caused, even if another car unexpectedly moved in front of him or her.
]]> In both Illinois and Missouri, the law allows victims and their families to recover compensation for harm they have suffered from a driver who caused a serious accident. Carey, Danis & Lowe represents victims of these types of accidents and their families who are seeking to hold at-fault drivers legally and financially responsible for their accidents. In many cases, our clients have suffered serious financial strain because of high medical or funeral bills and loss of an income, in addition to their pain and grief. In a lawsuit, victims can recover these costs and more, including compensation for past and future lost income and a lifetime of medical costs. They may also recover compensation for the permanent loss of a loved one or a permanent disability, physical pain, emotional suffering and lost quality of life. Most importantly, they can seek justice from people whose negligence changed their lives forever.If you or a loved one have been hurt by someone else's negligence, please call our firm to learn about your rights and how you can seek justice. You can call us toll-free at 1-877-678-3400, or send us a message online.
]]>The Missouri State Highway Patrol report about the accident says that Alan L. Threet, 58, of Dixon, was drunk when he attempted to turn his 1995 Ford Ranger left across the path of a 1997 Ford Escort belonging to David Finnigan, 71, and Nicole Finnigan, 72. Threet was apparently trying to make a left turn from a highway onto State Route D. Threet suffered only minor injuries and declined treatment, but his truck was extensively damaged. The Finnigans did not escape so easily. David Finnigan was moderately hurt and Nicole Finnigan was seriously hurt, and both of them were airlifted to a hospital. Their car was totaled. Threet was charged with felony driving while intoxicated, felony vehicular assault, and careless and imprudent driving, and held at the Pulaski County Jail for 24 hours. His blood-alcohol content or other evidence of intoxication was not reported.
The criminal charges Threet faces are not the only potential outcome of this accident. As a St. Louis car crash lawyer, I hardly need to point out that drunk driving is not just illegal; it's reckless and it puts people's lives at risk. When someone gets behind the wheel of a car, they have a responsibility to drive safely. If a driver violates the law and common sense and then injures or kills someone, the law allows victims and their families to sue that driver. The law recognizes that the victim was not at fault for the injuries and should not have to bear the costs of the accident as well as the physical injuries it caused. Instead, victims have the right to sue, compelling the at-fault driver to pay for the harm that he or she caused. The news report does not give enough detail to verify this, but if Threet was drunk as a result of being served alcohol past the point when he was visibly intoxicated, the person, bar or restaurant that served him could also be held responsible, which happened in a recent case I wrote about here.
]]> Victims of serious accidents like this one can have strong financial reasons to sue. Medical flights are extremely expensive, as is the kind of medical care that a seriously injured older person might require. The most severely injured may need home health care assistance and help with daily household tasks, and may also need to replace a car. These costs can easily reach into tens of thousands of dollars, without even calculating lost quality of life, pain and suffering, and lost past and future wages. Even health insurance or Medicare do not pay for all medical expenses or most long-term care. That's why the Finnigans and victims like them would be wise to contact an experienced southern Illinois car wreck attorney right away. Even if you don’t believe you’ll end up in a lawsuit, an experienced attorney can help you understand your rights and protect you from insurance company representatives trying to minimize the size of the insurance settlement.If you or a loved one have been hurt by a drunk driver, please call the Lowe Law Firm for a free consultation. You can tell us about your case and we can advise you of your rights. You can call us toll-free at 1-877-678-3400, or send us a message online.
In the accident that led to the Independence wrongful death lawsuit, an Independence police officer was pursuing a driver who was fleeing the scene of a collision with another car. Christopher Cooper was crossing the street on a bicycle when he was struck by that driver, Wilfredo J. Pujols Jr. of Independence. Pujols is a cousin to St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols. He pleaded guilty in December 2008 to second-degree murder, resisting arrest and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. At the sentencing, Jackson County Circuit Judge Jack Grate described Pujols's actions as "horrific," and acknowledged the Cooper family's "incalculable" pain. But to the Coopers, the criminal case against Pujols did not resolve the problem of what appeared to be a pattern of police chases in Independence that risked public safety. In the fall of 2007, there were three deaths resulting from police chases in Independence within a ten-day period. Two of those killed were the people who were fleeing from the police, and the third was Christopher.
In their wrongful death lawsuit, Christopher's parents alleged that the Independence police shared the blame for Christopher Cooper's death because they had not followed the city's pursuit policy. They also alleged that, along with other emergency personnel, police failed to properly assess his injuries and made demeaning remarks at the scene of the accident. As a St. Louis car wreck lawyer, I could see the demeaning remarks that these emergency workers allegedly made as evidence that they weren't taking the situation very seriously, even though a young man's life was at stake, and ultimately was lost. The police could have chosen to deal with Pujols differently. Rather than chasing him when he fled from the scene of the first accident he caused, they could have alerted other officers to catch up him further down the road, or arrested him at his house later on. Instead, they chose what had already been shown, within the last few days, to be a dangerous course.
]]> The Lowe Law Firm handles many cases like the Coopers' in which innocent people are robbed of their lives or severely injured due to someone else's recklessness. Like the Coopers, victims and their families have a legal right to fight back against those who harmed them. In doing so, they can recover compensation for medical costs, pain and suffering, lost past and future earnings and quality of life, and funeral costs. As the law recognizes, it is simply unfair to expect victims to absorb all those costs when someone else's reckless behavior was the reason those costs ever became necessary. However, police agencies and other organizations frequently involved in car crashes know this, and some start trying to minimize their costs before victims fully understand what happened. Without an attorney's advice, you could inadvertently sign away your rights to full compensation. That's why it's very important to consult with an experienced southern Illinois car crash attorney right away if you find yourself in a situation like this -- so that you can recover all of the compensation that you're entitled to.If you or a family member or other loved one has been hurt by someone else's reckless behavior, please call the Lowe Law Firm. We offer a free consultation at which you can tell us about your case and we can advise you of your rights. You can call us toll-free at 1-877-678-3400, or send us a message online.