Posts tagged General Personal Injury

• Winter Driving Accidents

  Ken Margolin | February 14, 2007 1:15 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Automobile Accidents
  

  While the northeast of the country experiences nasty winter weather, from 2 feet of snow to frozen precipitation, it's a good time to remember the added responsibility on anyone who drives in the winter. Most serious highway accidents in winter conditions are the direct result of driver negligence. The most frequent cause of fatal car crashes in winter is the same as other times of year - speed;...

• Railroad Worker Injury Cases

  Ken Margolin | February 09, 2007 3:45 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Workplace Injuries
  

  A colleague called me recently with questions about the rights of a railroad employee who suffers injury or death as the result of railroad negligence. The answer lies in a special statute, known as the Federal Employers Liability Act ("FELA"). FELA covers all claims resulting from the injuries or deaths of railroad workers in the course of their employment if the railroad was engaged in...

• Big Box Store Head Injury Hazard Continues

  Ken Margolin | February 05, 2007 12:15 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Head & Brain Injuries
  

  One of the earliest blogs I wrote on InjuryBoard, entitled "Shop till you're Dropped," pointed out the hazards in big box hardware and home goods stores, from falling overhead objects. Here is a news flash - based on my one store survey this past weekend, nothing has changed. I went to this cavernous home supplies store - you would all recognized its name - to purchase some rug pads. As I...

• Parking Garage Crimes

  Ken Margolin | February 02, 2007 3:00 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  A United States Department of Justice survey lists parking garages as the second most likely site of non-violent crimes and the third most likely location of violent crimes (as of 1999). The problem seems especially pronounced in college settings and in urban areas. Floors of unattended vehicles with plenty of places to escape or hide, a general lack of good lighting or consistent security...

• Space Heater Hazards

  Ken Margolin | January 31, 2007 3:00 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Portable space heaters, while seemingly a convenient option for adding some warmth to a work or living space, are in fact extremely dangerous. It is estimated that electric space heater fatalities account for almost half of all home-heating related deaths. Statistics vary, but the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission cites approximately 25,000 space heater fires per year, as well as 300...

• Reducing Traffic Fatalities

  Ken Margolin | January 30, 2007 4:00 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Automobile Accidents
  

  A widely cited USA Today analysis of 2006 statistics shows that traffic fatalities were down significantly in sixteen states. Obviously that's good news. The causes of reduced fatalities raise some interesting cost-benefit questions. Some measures - public relations campaigns to reduce aggressive driving - are not controversial. Other means to reduce car accidents force the public to think about...

• Failure to Warn

  Ken Margolin | January 29, 2007 2:15 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Head & Brain Injuries
  

  Tools and machines, simple and complex, carry risks. Manufacturers have an obligation to design their products to eliminate the most obvious risks, for example, placing effective hand guards on power tools. Obviously, though, the ways in which tools and machines may be used are many. Mechanical design safety measures have some practical limits, not the least of which is financial. One the...

• Power Window Injuries to Children

  Ken Margolin | January 26, 2007 3:30 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Defective & Dangerous Products
  

  Ford Motor Company recently settled a tragic case involving death of a 21 month old girl who was strangled by a rear-seat power window that she inadvertently activated. It turns out that the on-off switch could be activated with very little pressure, that the window rose quickly, and that there was no mechanism to stop the window if it encountered pressure. There was a wrinkle in the case, as is...

• Blame it on the Trial Lawyers

  Ken Margolin | January 26, 2007 11:15 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Head & Brain Injuries
  

  I was thinking the other day about the gripes of the anti-justice forces who would reserve the courts for corporations and the wealthy and who enhance political careers by bashing trial lawyers. If they long for an America of 100 years ago, they have a good reason for their animosity. Want your segregated schools back? Sorry. Brown v. Board of Education took care of that, using trial lawyer...

• Large Truck Crashes

  Ken Margolin | January 25, 2007 3:00 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Tractor-Trailer Accidents
  

  Last year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA") reported to Congress, the results of a 3-year study into the causes of large truck crashes. Large trucks were defined for the study, as any truck weighing 5 tons or more. The study was the most comprehensive yet conducted, involving a thorough review of nearly 1,000 crashes in 17 states. The purpose of the study was to gain an...