Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis Still Unexplained - Friday, August 3, 2007

The death toll is six at the time of this writing with as many 30 more people missing from an interstate bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The final number is likely to grow as divers search for victims in the twisted steel and chunks of concrete that fell into the Mississippi River August 1, 2007.

The eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge was in the midst of repairs, and two lanes in each direction were closed when the bridge buckled during the evening's rush hour.

More than 75 people were injured and as many as 50 vehicles ended up in the river leaving occupants of those vehicles scrambling for the shore. Some of the injured were carried to the riverbank, and emergency workers tended to the injured on the ground. Some rescue workers jumped in the river to look for survivors.

Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty said the bridge was inspected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2005 and 2006, and, at those times, no structural problems were noted at those inspections. The inspectors did notify the state that from an engineering standpoint, the deck might need to be rehabilitated or replaced in 2002 or beyond.

The 40-year-old bride was rated as "structurally deficient" two years ago and possibly in need of replacement. A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Transportation noted that many other bridges around the country carry that same designation.

There were 18 construction workers on the bridge at the time of collapse, and at the time of the writing of this article, one of those workers is still unaccounted for.

Air Bag Deployment (or Lack of) Still Causing Problems - Thursday, August 2, 2007

For as long as air bags have been in automobiles, they have saved lives, but, unfortunately, they have taken lives, also. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), from 1987 to 2005, it is estimated that air bags saved approximately 20,000 lives, but needless air bag deployments have seriously injured or killed thousands more.

Recently, a Florida woman crashed her 2003 Ford Windstar minivan into the passenger side of another car while going 50 mph and her air bag did not deploy. In 2000, a Fort Lauderdale woman died from chest injuries when her air bag did deploy when she drove into a barrier going only 10 mph.

These and similar cases have led to numerous complaints of air bag malfunction since they came into regular use in the mid-1990's. Car safety experts claim that in cases such as these, the air bags performed exactly as designed, whether they deployed or not. Orlando lawyer, Rich Newsome, handles auto product liability and personal injury cases and was the attorney for the family of Mayling Semidey (the woman who died when her airbag deployed at 10mph). In 2003, Newsome won the $3.3 million lawsuit against Ford on behalf of Semidey's son.

Newsome contends that the airbag is Semidey's case was defectively designed to deploy in low-speed crashes when it was not needed. Air bags are designed to prevent catastrophic injuries caused when the driver or passenger's head would strike the steering wheel, dashboard, windshield or other equipment at a high rate of speed. To prevent such serious injuries, air bags must deploy within 1/20th of a second and with enough force to cushion the blow; the force of an air bag deployment is like an explosion. In courtrooms, lawyers have deployed air bags to give the juries an idea of their force.

In response to the high number of deaths and injuries due to air bag problems, in the late 1990's, car manufacturers provided car owners the ability to turn off passenger side air bags. They also raised the deceleration speed that triggers deployment and lowered the force at which they come out. Ford safety spokesman Dan Jarvis has explained that forward quick-stopping pressure, not driving speed, is the determining factor in air bag deployment.

According to an NHTSA employee, air bag malfunctions are rare. In some cases, air bags may fail to deploy due to the car being in an earlier crash and not repaired properly. The NHTSA does not compile statistics about air bag failures or complaints; however, it does keep records of complaints and investigations searchable by specific make and model through its Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) website. If the NHTSA receives enough complaints about a particular make and model, it will investigate. If it finds a problem, it can force the automobile manufacturer to issue a recall.

While air bag-related injuries and deaths are dropping, they still happen. There are still many problems with air bags that continue to kill people and cause serious injuries including deployment at low speeds, untimely deployment, deployment with too much force, and failure to deploy.

Defective Seatbelt Not a Lifesaver - Tuesday, July 31, 2007

For decades we have heard about the importance of "buckling up" when we sit in our cars, whether we're driving or simply riding as a passenger, and we have all seen the commercials with police officers describing the horrible and possible deadly result of not wearing your seatbelt. Furthermore, in many states, the law states that all occupants of a vehicle must wear a seatbelt or a ticket with a nominal fee can be issued.

Driving or riding in a car with a buckled seatbelt usually provides the feeling that we are safer should we be involved in a car accident. However, recent laboratory testing has shown that seatbelts can unlatch under certain crash conditions, but proving a seatbelt became unlatched during an impact is very difficult. For this reason, the vehicle, seatbelt, and the scene of the accident must be evaluated as soon after the crash as possible.

Most incidents with seatbelts becoming unlatched involve the buckle or retractor. There have been occurrences where the seatbelt has simply come unlatched on impact, and another problem is a buckle appearing to be latched but not being fully secure. This is referred to as "false latch." Another common problem is when the belt unspools in a collision, and the wearer of the belt slips right under or over the belt.

When a victim of a car accident is ejected from the vehicle, is it assumed that no seatbelt was being worn. This is not necessarily the case, and tragic injuries and deaths caused by a defective seatbelt should not be compounded by an inadequate investigation.

Canadians See Need for Adult Helmet Use - Monday, July 30, 2007

In Canada, provinces that have adopted mandatory bicycle helmet legislation for children have seen a 45% decrease in the number of bicycle-related head injuries compared to a 27% drop in provinces that have not mandated helmet use.

Unfortunately, cycling-related head injuries among adults continue to increase. In fact, in Ontario, which has helmet laws for children but not for adults, has 20% more adult cycling-related head injuries over the past three years. This increase, and those in other provinces as well, have renewed the call for all-ages helmet legislation. At the current time, only three provinces have all-ages helmet laws: British Columbia, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

According to research conducted by Alison, Macpherson, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health science at York University in Toronto, 69,670 adults were treated for cycling-related injuries in Ontario emergency rooms between 2003 and 2006; of those injuries, over 16,000 were head injuries.

Charles Tator, a neurosurgeon at the Think First Foundation (brain injury prevention promoter), said the most devastating consequence of a cycling-related accident is almost always brain injury. He states, "The impact of a head with the pavement…you sustain horrible injuries." He noted that it can cost up to $8 million to treat a serious brain injury. A bicycle helmet costs around $10 and can prevent or, at least mitigate most injuries.

Studies show that today only a minority of adult cyclists wear helmets and cite barriers to helmet use as they are uncomfortable, unattractive-looking, and mess up hair.

Contact Personal Injury dot com today to find an experienced motor vehicle accident lawyer near you.

Find a Personal Injury Lawyer

Free Claim Evaluation !

Date of Incident:

* Required Field

Practice Areas

No Recovery No Fee at PersonalInjury.com
Personal Injury Lawsuits