California City Sued for Dangerous Road Conditions

In June 2008, Randy Richards from Santa Clara County, California, was at the center of an accident on city property. Richards was working, as he normally did, on a roadway in the city of Mountain View, just behind his legally parked pickup truck. As Richards was loading the truck at the edge of the roadway, a driver in the northbound lane suddenly veered to the right and crashed into the parked truck, pinning Richards between the two vehicles.

Richards suffered a long list of brutal injuries that left him permanently disabled, including the complete, permanent loss of the use of his right leg, which was also severely disfigured in the injury accident. The leg is so damaged that it is possible future amputation might be necessary. His left leg also suffered disfigurement and now is only of limited use and causes him chronic pain.

Clearly, Randy Richards lost a lot that day, but who is to blame in this situation isn’t exactly clear. Was the driver of the out of control automobile strictly to blame? Did Richards put his welfare in jeopardy in the way he was working? Was Richards placed in harms way by his job? Or was it just “one of those things,” like so many everyday tragedies?

According to lawyers for Richards, it is the city of Mountain View who is at fault. Richards and his mother are seeking economic damages from the city for physical and emotional pain as well as past and future economic losses that are part of the results of the accident. It’s suggested that, despite several citizens’ complaints, the city failed to repair dangerous road conditions. They allege that had the roads met safety standards and been properly managed, the entire accident would never have taken place. The suit claims that at the location where Randy was injured, a variety of roadway dangers created substantial risk to him, citing inadequate drainage, the result of which can cause cars to slip and spin out of control, as well as the lack of a concrete island that helps prevent accidents like this one. These are just some of the precautions the city should have taken in the interest of better public safety.

Trucking Industry Calls for Construction of More Truck Stops to Prevent Accidents, Assaults

The lack of adequate numbers of safe rest areas for truck drivers and the high risk of accidents and assaults from unsafe truckstops is behind a proposed new law promoted by the trucking industry. It’s a legislation that truckers, their families and California truck accident attorneys would strongly support.

The American Trucking Associations is calling for lawmakers to pass Jason’s Law. The legislation is named after a truck driver in New York, who was brutally shot and killed as he rested in his commercial truck just outside a store. He had been waiting for the store to open so he could make a delivery.

Every day, thousands of truck drivers face similar situations - they have no place to pull over and rest, or wait for a facility to open for business. Many truckers choose to pull over on a highway shoulder, and greatly increase the risk of an accident involving motorists who fail to notice the parked truck. Other truck drivers continue to drive because they can't find a safe place to pull over. This can increase fatigue and tiredness, further increasing the risks of an accident.

More numbers of truck stops and safe areas for truckers to park their vehicles and rest for a few hours, can help reduce these risks. Jason's Law would provide for:

• Construction of new truck stops
• Construction of parking facilities close to these new truck stops
• Use of existing facilities for parking of 18-wheelers
• Promoting parking facilities for commercial motor vehicles on the National Highway System, either through public or private funding
• Building turnouts along highways for commercial motor vehicles
• Making improvements to the design of interchanges on the National Highway System, to facilitate easier access to parking and rest areas for truckers
  

Around the country, many states have cut down funding for rest areas, and have shut down many truck stops. This means that truckers have no other option, but to either park on a highway shoulder which is dangerous to motorists, or park in unsafe areas where they may be at risk of an assault.

California Mulling Legislation Requiring Helmets for Skiers, Snowboarders

If a new piece of legislation goes through in California, parents of children below 18 years of age will be required to make sure that they wear helmets while skiing or snowboarding. It's a bill that threatens to create a divide between California brain injury lawyers and health experts on the one side, and those who believe that safety issues are a matter of personal choice, on the other.

Every year, skiing and snowboarding accidents contribute to a number of brain injuries in California. This year, the focus on brain injuries has been especially harsh, although much of it has had to do with brain injuries in professional football players. UCB football player Jahvid Best sustained serious injuries this year, further highlighting the need for measures that can prevent head and brain injuries to California’s youngest and brightest. Nationwide, there have been congressional hearings into the incidence of brain injuries in football players, and the National Football League has come under fire for its tardiness in recognizing the seriousness of the issue.

Also last year, actress Natasha Richardson died of a brain injury she sustained during a skiing accident in Canada. It was a high-profile incident that brought to light the dangers of indulging in sports without proper headgear. Richardson had not been wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.

Next week, the California legislature will begin hearings on the proposed piece of legislation from San Francisco and San Mateo County Sen. Leland Yee, which proposes that parents of children below 18 be required to make the children wear helmets while skiing or snowboarding. Yet another piece of legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Dave Jones of Sacramento, would make operators of ski resorts responsible for making sure that young skiers comply with helmet rules. The hearings promised to be interesting, because not all lawmakers agree on the need for mandatory helmet laws for skiers and snowboarders.

Many brain injury lawyers in California, however, see no reason why we shouldn't extend the same protections to skiers and snowboarders that we have to bicyclists. We recognize bicycling without helmets as foolish and risky behavior, and there is no reason for any exceptions to be made for skiing and snowboarding.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District in Center of Sexual Harassment Scandal

In the latest in a series of sexual harassment complaints involving the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, a woman has filed a lawsuit against the agency. The lawsuit claims that she was repeatedly stalked and abused by a former fire chief.

Lisa Barsdale, in her lawsuit, claims that he was constantly harassed by former Deputy fire Marshal Stephen Broderick. Broderick who has since retired had been Barsdale‘s supervisor since 2005. The lawsuit claims a number of inappropriate behaviors including comments made to Barsdale, and requests for sexual favors. For instance, according to the lawsuit, in March of 2009, Broderick suggested to Barksdale that they spend time together at a conference that they were both supposed to attend.

On the 5th of March, Barksdale filed a complaint. The following month, the complaint was sustained, but she was placed on two days of administrative leave. Even after the complaint, authorities at the fire district simply ordered Barksdale to go back to work under Broderick’s supervision.

The lawsuit also names Fire Chief Donald Mette, who has also since retired from his position. Mette was in charge of overseeing the department at the time the harassment took place.

This isn't the first time that California sexual harassment lawyers have found the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District at the center of a sexual harassment controversy. In fact, it is only the most recent in a string of complaints alleging sexual harassment at the agency. Just a few years ago, the district was involved in a harassment scandal that involved several supervisors. That scandal ended with a payout of $550,000 to the woman who had filed the complaint. Since then, other employees at the agency have also filed their own lawsuits, alleging that they were unfairly terminated after the complaint. Investigations into their complaints are going on.

In order for certain behaviors to be considered sexual harassment, the harassment must be continuous or severe. A single instance of harassment, for instance, may not count as sexual harassment. However, in cases where a single act has been severe, like rape or assault, it will constitute as sexual harassment. Sexual harassment claims in California are governed both by federal laws as contained in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, as well as state laws contained in the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.

US Highway Accident Fatality Rates Drop to Lowest Levels since 1950s

Highway accident fatalities in the country have dropped to some of their lowest levels in decades, beating out earlier records set in 2008.

The Department of Transportation has just released its latest projections into traffic deaths in 2009. The agency is predicting a drop of 9% in traffic fatalities with a total number of 33,963 deaths on American roads. That's officially the lowest number of fatalities in a single year since 1954.

Besides, there's also a projected drop in the number of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. In 2009, there were 1.15 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Those numbers beat the last record from 2008, which had 1.25 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

The cynics have an explanation for why traffic accident fatality numbers have dropped so much this year. They point to similar trends back in the early 80’s and 90’s when the economy was sluggish, and people weren't traveling as much. Something similar is happening here, they say. Americans just aren't willing to travel as much, leading to fewer people on the roads, and therefore, fewer accidents. However, 2009 actually saw a small increase in the number of vehicle miles traveled by Americans. Vehicle miles in 2009 stood at 6.6 billion miles, which was an increase of about .2% from the number of vehicle miles traveled in 2008 and 2000.

Nevada personal injury lawyers have other explanations for this drop in highway fatality rates. Advancements in auto technology has been the biggest factor contributing to these lowered death rates. There is no question that auto safety technologies have grown exceedingly popular, helping more numbers of people survive potentially fatal accidents.

• Electronic Stability Control systems are now standard features on most models, and will become mandated on all vehicles on US roads very soon. These allow a motorist to retain control of the car thereby, preventing a rollover accident. Approximately 8,000 people die every year in rollover crashes. ESC systems have been instrumental in saving lives in these accidents.
• Side airbags that protect the occupant from side-impact collisions are also becoming a staple feature on many automobiles.
• More automobiles now come with adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance systems, pedestrian detection systems and other advanced safety technologies.
• Law enforcement agencies in many states have done a stellar job of enforcing seat belt use. The result is that seat belt use in the country hovers at a very respectable 84%.
• Several states have passed all-occupant seat belt laws that require backseat passengers to buckle up.
• There has also been a heavy national thrust on preventing drunk driving accidents, and crashes caused by distracted driving.
  

Class Action Lawsuits against Toyota May Cost More Than $3 Billion

Owners of Toyota vehicles who insist that their cars dropped in value post the acceleration-related scandal at the company, have filed up to 82 class-action lawsuits in the country. It's possible that the damages from economic loss-related class actions alone could cost the automaker more than $3 billion.

The Associated Press has discovered a total of 89 class-action lawsuits for economic losses against the company. These plaintiffs insist that their vehicles dropped in value, after the recalls announced by the company, beginning last year. More than 6 million Toyota owners are claiming lost value of their cars.

Those claims have been streaming since the automaker announced its first recall for more than 3 million cars last year. That recall was linked to a defective floor mat which the automaker claimed was responsible for the accelerator pedal getting jammed. The recall was followed by more recalls this year that have caused the resale value of Toyota vehicles to plummet. This month, Kelly Blue Book lowered the resale value of Toyota vehicles included in the company's recall list, by an average of 3.5%. Owners of a Toyota Corolla on the list could end up with a resale value up to $300 lesser than it was before the recalls.

Toyota and class-action lawyers in California will be waiting for the decision of a special panel of judges later this month. On March 25th, the panel will decide whether to consolidate these claims for economic losses into a single jurisdiction. Then, there will be a decision about whether all the claims across the country can be combined into a single civil action.

Considering the sheer volume of numbers of Toyota owners claiming loss of resale value, the damages to the company from these lawsuits may be far greater than any damages from personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, which have also begun to pile up against the company. So far, there have been 52 deaths confirmed from acceleration-related incidents from Toyota vehicles as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Even if you consider that each personal injury and wrongful death lawsuit could lead to settlements and verdicts in the tens of millions of dollars each, these will still be dwarfed by an estimated $3 billion plus total loss to Toyota from the lawsuits resulting from lowered economic value of the vehicles.

CPSC Promises Strict Action against Manufacturers of Defective Products

The stinging criticism that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has received from product liability lawyers in California and consumer safety groups has apparently forced the agency to assert itself. CPSC chairperson Inez Tenenbaum is promising strict action against manufacturers of defective children's products.

Tenenbaum's comments were included in a speech she delivered at a conference of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization last week. The speech had warnings for manufacturers of defective products, especially those used by little children. Children's products, like toys and accessories have been under special public scrutiny since 2007, when dozens of toy recalls were linked to the presence of excessive lead.

Since then, lawmakers have acted quickly to pass the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. The Act lays down stringent guidelines for permissible levels of lead in children's toys, strollers, high chairs, car seats, cribs and other products. The Act also limits the amount of phthalates that can be found in children's products. These are toxic chemical compounds that have been linked to a variety of injuries, including reproductive disorders in male children. Tenenbaum is promising strict action against manufacturers whose products are found to exceed permissible lead and phthalate standards. She also made special mention of manufacturers of children's products who blame the parents of the children for negligence after a fatality resulting from a defective product.

Tenenbaum has other plans for the CPSC. She intends to make the process of announcing recalls much faster than it is now. This will allow parents and caregivers to become informed about the latest dangerous products as soon as any defects are found. Currently, the same process can take months by which time children may be injured or killed from the dangers they're exposed to.

Tenenbaum has also promised a revision of current crib safety standards. Product liability attorneys in California have been especially concerned at the number of recalls linked to defective cribs over the past two years. It is clear to injury lawyers in California that current crib design and safety standards have proved inadequate, and must be revised.