Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Florida Woman Sues Gun Maker in Death of Teenage Son - Thursday, June 21, 2007

In mid-June 2007, a Florida woman who lost a child in an accidental shooting in 2000 was one of three people who won a settlement against a gun manufacturer. Linda Bullard's 15-year-old son, Billy, died in their Macon, Florida home in 2000. Mrs. Bullard is due to receive an amount that has not yet been specified, but one that has been estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Bullard sued RKB Investments, an umbrella partnership set up in Florida by California gun manufacturer Bruce Jennings, whose company, Bryco Arms, manufactured guns called "Saturday Night Specials." Bullard's attorney, Joel Grist, referred to these guns as the "Ford Pintos of firearms" and said it was great to be able to shut them down after what they had done.

Billy Bullard was killed in March 2000 after his older sister, Tiffany, legally purchased one of the guns in a local pawn shop for protection and then accidentally dropped the gun on a glass table causing it to discharge. The bullet struck her brother in the aorta, and he died on the way to a hospital.

Bullard's attorney stated that he doesn't expect his client or any of the other plaintiffs to see any money anytime soon as the verdict will be appealed and will likely be tied up in the courts for at least two more years.

Grist said his client's lawsuit wasn't an attempt to curb the rights of gun owners but to get a dangerous product off the street. Grist said, "This has nothing to do with the rights of gun owners; nobody should be able to manufacture a defective product."

Defective Seatbelt Victim Awarded $32.5 Million - Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Three trials and over ten years later, a California man who suffered severe brain injuries when his seatbelt failed in a car accident, was awarded an astonishing $32.5 million; Ford Motor Company and Mazda Motor Corporation were found negligent for failing to warn consumers about the 1993 Ford Escort seatbelt defect.

One of the lawyer's for the victim explained the specific seatbelt defect as the shoulder belt not locking up to prevent the victim's head from being thrown forward. The lawsuit claimed the defective shoulder belt lacked a web grabber to prevent it from slacking. This defect allowed the victim's body to move forward on impact. Prior to this particular crash, Ford had received 45 complaints about the belt not locking up in crashes, and Ford did nothing to warn consumers.

Ford has denied fault and is appealing the verdict. A Ford spokesperson asserted that the seatbelt "did all it could to protect...from such a violent impact."

Although the 38-year-old victim in this case survived, he had to have surgery to remove twenty percent of his brain and will need long-term care for the rest of his life.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of an automobile crash involving a defective seatbelt and you would like to speak to an attorney that specializes in defective seatbelt law, please click here to visit personalinjury.com, the authoritative resource on automobile-related and defective seatbelts injuries.

Canadian Ship Sinking Blamed on Human Error - Tuesday, June 19, 2007

More lawsuits have recently been filed against the Canadian company B.C. Ferries over the March 22, 2006 sinking of the Queen of the North. The ship ran aground and then sank off the northern coast of British Columbia last year, and two passengers, still missing, have been presumed dead.

Lawrence and Nancy Papineau of Vancouver, British Columbia claim B.C. Ferries did not train the crew adequately, failed to supervise the crew on the bridge, and failed to keep a proper lookout.

According to emergency responders, the ship took approximately an hour to sink, giving passengers time to evacuate into lifeboats. The internal investigative report issued by B.C. Ferries concluded that the Queen of the North failed to make required course changes, and the ship traveled straight on an incorrect course for almost 15 minutes until its grounding on an island.

In late March 2007, B.C. Ferries released its final report on the sinking of the ship and blamed the accident on human error caused by three members, specifically the helmswoman, who was at the wheel of the ship and the ship's second and fourth officers, who were in charge of navigation.

Victim of Defective Firearm Awarded $600,000 - Monday, June 18, 2007

Robert Taylor, who lost his right leg in a firearm accident four years ago, was awarded $600,000 in damages against gun manufacturer Freedom Arms Inc. following a three-week jury trial. The jury unanimously found that there was a defect in the design of the firearm.

The lawsuit alleged that the .454 caliber revolver produced by Freedom Arms is "defective and unreasonably dangerous" because it allows the firing pin to make contact with the primer cartridge before the firearm is fully set to be fired. As a result of this defect, a user of the gun can inadvertently discharge the gun even though the hammer is not pulled back. The lawsuit further alleged that the revolver was defective because it failed to live up to the company's claim that the firearm was one of the "world's finest handguns."

While Taylor was horseback riding with friends on September 9, 2003, the revolver was in a holster on his right thigh. While Taylor was taking off his coat, a part of the coat caught the hammer of the gun, causing it to discharge a bullet into his lower right leg. The bullet blew a 5-inch by 8-inch hole in the front of his leg, and his leg had to be amputated just below the knee.

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