Legal Recourse

July 7, 2012

Motorcycle Helmet Laws in Massachusetts Save $400 per Motorcyclist Annually?, Says CDC

Hot off the presses: motorcycle helmets don’t just save lives, they save money as well-a lot of money. When someone is involved in a motorcycle accident, the last thing on the injured biker’s mind is money, and yet in our society, money talks. So the Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a study from 2008 to 2010 to find out just how much is saved when motorcycle riders and passengers strap on a helmet before hitting the road.

According to the study, over $3 billion was saved in 2010 alone, with total costs saved due to helmet use ranging from $2.6 million in New Mexico to $394 million in California. Economic costs saved from helmet use per registered motorcycle ranged from $48 in New Mexico to $1,627 in North Carolina, with a median of $286. In Massachusetts, the savings was over $400 per registered motorcycle.

Massachusetts personal injury attorney Mark E. Salomone is always glad to hear of any new research that supports the prevention of motorcyclist injuries and their passengers. See : Worcester Massachusetts Motorcycle Accident Attorneys Having defended countless victims of motorcycle accident injuries, however, he knows how much helmets do to protect riders. “Every time riders take their bikes to the streets,” he says, “they’re placing themselves at risk of serious injury and death. When a motorcyclist is hit by a distracted driver in a high-speed collision or if their bike has brake defects, helmets are even more crucial, as they can prevent serious head injuries and brain damage. ”

Over 40 percent of motorcyclists killed in accidents between 2008 and 2010 did not have a helmet on, says the CDC report. On the other hand, helmets reduced fatalities by 37 percent for motorcycle drivers and 41 percent for passengers, which translated to 1,544 fewer motorcyclist deaths in 2010.

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July 5, 2012

More than half of teens admit to texting while driving

Texting while driving in Los Angeles continues to be a dangerous trend, particularly among teenage drivers. An alarming new survey reveals that more than half of high school seniors admit they text or email while behind the wheel. The survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides the first federal statistics on how common the texting is among young drivers.

The national survey, which was conducted in 2011, found that 58 percent of high school 12th graders said they read or wrote text messages or emails while driving during the previous month, according to a report in The Associated Press. About 43 percent of high school juniors also admitted to texting while driving or emailing while driving.

As a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles, Mickey Fine knows first-hand how dangerous texting and driving, or emailing and driving, can be. Serious accidents resulting in catastrophic or fatal injuries can be traced back to someone who was looking at a phone instead of at the road.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced it was sending Sacramento $1.5 million for a “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” campaign. The money will be used to boost advertising and increased police enforcement, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Distracted driving is an epidemic,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a news release.

California law bans texting and hand-held cellphone use while driving. According to the Office of Traffic Safety, 10.8 percent of Californians use cellphones while driving at any given daylight hour.
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The Law Offices of Mickey Fine – Bakersfield, CA
1801 Oak Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: (661) 369-7735

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June 18, 2012

Breaking News Roger Clemens verdict Not guilty on all six counts

Filed under: Car Accident Lawyers — Tags: — Lawyer @ 5:17 pm

After eight weeks, 46 witnesses, two dozing jurors and an estimated $2-3 million spent in taxpayer money, the Roger Clemens trial is finally over.

The verdict: Not guilty on three counts of making false statements, not guilty on two counts of perjury and not guilty on one count of obstruction. The charges stemmed from testimony that Clemens made in Feb. 2008, telling a Congressional committee that he had never taken steroids or HGH.

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June 6, 2012

Maritime Lawyer Says Offshore Personnel Transport Accidents Can Involve Oil Rig, Barge, Dredge and Drill Workers

The May 28 tragic crash of a helicopter used for transporting offshore workers to drilling rigs and oil production platforms is a case in point that not all maritime offshore worker seamen injuries happen on offshore vessels or structures.

Because production platform rig explosions usually get the most media attention, the general public might not know that there are many other causes of offshore worker injuries, and getting from the shore to offshore job site is one of them. And since offshore workers do a lot of traveling between their offshore work location and land, there are many dangers of maritime worker transport injuries. Seamen employees often have to be transported by a crane carrying a personnel transfer basket or via helicopter onto various worksites, and many things can go wrong out at sea, including airborne equipment failure.

Maritime injury attorney William Gee III, who provides Louisiana and the Gulf Coast with aggressive legal representation in offshore and maritime law cases, has seen countless offshore worker injuries that occurred during travel across the Gulf to offshore structures.

Personnel basket transfers are especially hazardous, as they involve crane operation and present a high risk of offshore worker injury due to potential mechanical problems, operator inexperience, bad weather or poor visibility. An offshore worker may use a personnel basket to be transferred to and from a crew boat onto a submersible, semi-submersible, jack-up, inland barge, drill ship, barge, dredge or other maritime work structure in the Gulf of Mexico.

Offshore employers must therefore do all they can to protect offshore and maritime workers not only from oil drilling rig disasters and production platform accidents but from offshore accident injuries that maritime workers sustain on the way to their job or when going ashore.

The recent offshore helicopter crash caused one death at sea, which was that of the pilot. The Associated Press article, which appeared in the Miami Herald, said a Coast Guard news release reported that divers from the Ocean Inspector vessel had discovered the pilot inside the helicopter cockpit. Though the pilot’s fatal Gulf accident was a tragic loss, thankfully there were no other helicopter passengers or offshore workers on board at the time of the wreck. Only a few years ago in 2009, however, nine people were killed on their way to an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The event was a warning to all offshore and maritime workers that they take great risks the moment they board a boat or helicopter on their way to work.

Offshore workers need to know that they have rights to legal recourse and compensation, even if they are injured on the way to or from their offshore job. If a maritime worker is injured due to negligence of a third party who is not the offshore worker’s employer, federal maritime law usually provides the rules of law and remedies. In offshore transport accidents, such as a case of a defective transfer basket, mechanical crane failure, faulty helicopter, negligent crane operator or reckless helicopter pilot, maritime tort could apply.

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