Posted on 17th May 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Metro-North Railroad, train crash, train derailment
During the evening rush hour Friday, two commuter trains serving New York City collided in Fairfield, Conn., with 60 people sent to local hospitals, according to the Associated Press. Five of the victims were critically hurt, and another one very badly injured.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/metro-north-train-crash_n_3295562.html?ncid=webmail1
The crash involved the Metro-North Railroad, which was caused by a derailment. A train that had left Grand Central Station to go to New Haven derailed near Fairfield, AP reported. Then a westbound train on an adjacent track hit the derailed train, causing some of its cars to derail.
Rail officials told AP that there was major damage to the to the two trains and the track.
Authorities were investigating the cause of the collision.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 15th May 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
0.05, 0.08, BAC, blood alcohol levels, drunk driving deaths, National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday urged states to reduce their threshold for a driver to be considered legally drunk by nearly a half, to 0.05 percent blood alcohol from 0.08 percent.
http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2013/130514.html
The NTSB cited research that showed that although impairment begins with the first drink, by 0.05 BAC (blood alcohol concentration), most drivers experience a decline in both cognitive and visual functions, which significantly increases the risk of a serious crash.
“Currently, over 100 countries on six continents have BAC limits set at 0.05 or lower,” the board said in a press release. “The NTSB has asked all 50 states to do the same.”
All in all, the NTSB released a list of 19 recommendations to eliminate alcohol-impaired driving crashes. The suggestions call for stronger laws, swifter enforcement and expanded use of technology.
“Most Americans think that we’ve solved the problem of impaired driving, but in fact, it’s still a national epidemic,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said in a statement. “On average, every hour one person is killed and 20 more are injured.”
Each year in the United States, nearly 10,000 people are killed in crashes involving alcohol-impaired drivers and more than 173,000 are injured, with 27,000 suffer incapacitating injuries, according to the NTSB.
Since the mid-1990s, even as total highway fatalities have fallen, the proportion of deaths from accidents involving an alcohol-impaired driver has remained constant at around 30 percent. In the last 30 years, nearly 440,000 people have died in alcohol-related crashes.
“The research clearly shows that drivers with a BAC above 0.05 are impaired and at a significantly greater risk of being involved in a crash where someone is killed or injured,” said Hersman.
Among the other findings, investigators said that high-visibility enforcement efforts, such as sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols paired with media campaigns, deter alcohol-impaired driving. And to increase the effectiveness of these programs, the NTSB recommended that police use passive alcohol sensors to help better detect alcohol vapor in the ambient environment.
The NTSB, which in December 2012 recommended that states require ignition interlocks for all DWI offenders, said that because only about one in four offenders ordered to have an interlock actually have one installed, states should employ measures to improve interlock compliance.
Further, the board said that an intervention known as administrative license suspension, which allows law enforcement authorities to immediately suspend or revoke a driver’s license at the time of a DWI arrest, would be more effective if states required offenders to have an ignition interlock on their vehicles before licenses could be fully reinstated.
The NTSB recognized the effectiveness of specialized state DWI courts in addressing the particular challenges represented by repeat offenders. DWI courts hold offenders accountable through intensive monitoring, treatment for underlying disorders, alcohol testing and graduated sanctions. The NTSB recommended that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration assist states in maximizing their effectiveness by providing the courts with current best practices.
Over the past year, the NTSB sharpened its focus on impaired driving and has taken a number of actions, including issuing recommendations following a December 2012 special report on wrong-way driving.
That report found that more than 60 percent of wrong-way crashes were caused by alcohol-impaired drivers. In May last year, the NTSB hosted a forum on substance-impaired driving to understand how the latest research, technology, and countermeasures were being used by a range of advocacy groups as well as federal, state and local authorities to address substance-impaired driving.
Tuesday the NTSB issued 10 safety recommendations and reiterated nine others to NHTSA, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
“Alcohol-impaired crashes are not accidents,” said Hersman. “They are crimes. They can – and should – be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 8th May 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
celephone use and fatal crashes, distracted driving
The number of fatal motor vehicle crashes caused by cellphone use are vastly under-reported, according to a study released this week by the National Safety Council.
http://www.nsc.org/Pages/Study-Car-Crash-Deaths-Involving-Cell-Phones-Vastly-Under-Reported.aspx
That was the finding of a recent analysis of national statistics on fatal motor vehicle crashes, part of a report entitled, “Crashes Involving Cell Phones: Challenges of Collecting and Reporting Reliable Crash Data.”
http://www.nsc.org/safety_road/Distracted_Driving/Documents/NSC-Under-Reporting-White-Paper.pdf
Based on risk and prevalence of cellphone use, as reported by research and NHTSA, the Council estimates that 25 percent of all crashes involve cellphone use. That may be a factor why in 2012 highway fatalities increased for the first time in seven years.
The report from the Itasca, Ill., advocacy group reviewed 180 fatal crashes from 2009 to 2011 where evidence indicated driver cellphone use. Of those fatal crashes, in 2011 only 52 percent were coded in the national data as involving cell phone use.
“We believe the number of crashes involving cellphone use is much greater than what is being reported,” National Safety President and CEO Janet Froetscher said in a statement. “Many factors, from drivers not admitting cellphone use, to a lack of consistency in crash reports being used to collect data at the scene, make it very challenging to determine an accurate number.”
Even when drivers admitted cellphone use during a fatal crash, the Council’s analysis found that in about one-half of these cases, the crash was not coded in federal data (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatal Analysis Reporting System).
There were also an unknown number of cases in which cellphone use involvement in crashes is impossible to determine, according to the Council. One example of that would be when a driver reading an email or text message dies in a crash without any witnesses.
The report also notes the large differences in cellphone-distraction fatal crashes reported by different states. For instance, in 2011 Tennessee reported 93 fatal crashes that involved cellphone use, but New York, a state with a much larger population, reported only one. Texas reported 40, but its neighboring state Louisiana reported none, the Council pointed out.
“The public should be aware that cellphone-involved fatal crashes are not accurately being reported,” said Bill Windsor, associate vice president of consumer safety at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., which partially funded the analysis.
“These statistics influence national prevention priorities, funding decisions, media attention, legislation and policy, even vehicle and roadway engineering,” he said. “There are wide-ranging, negative ramifications to safety if a fatal crash factor is substantially under-reported, as appears to be the case of cell phone use in crashes.”
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 7th May 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
distracted driving, texting and accidents, texting and driving
Here’s a case that could have national impact: A New Jersey appellate court is being asked whether a texter can be held liable if the message’s recipient “crashes and causes harm to other while reading and driving,” according to The Daily Record of Morristown.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20130506/NJNEWS/305060023/Is-texter-liable-person-receiving-text-crashes-?gcheck=1
The three-judge appeals panel heard arguments on the case Monday, for an appeal of a judge’s ruling a year ago. Back then Superior Court Judge David Rand decided that Shannon Colonna of Rockaway, N.J., couldn’t be held civilly responsible for aiding and abetting the actions of Kyle Best, then 19, of Wharton, N.J., The Record reported.
While reading a text from Colonna, Best got into an accident with his pickup truck and hit a couple traveling on a motorcycle in Mine Hill, N.J. As a result of the 2009 accident, David and Linda Kubert each lost a leg.
During Monday’s arguments, the Kuberts’ attorney maintained that texters have a “duty of care” not to send messages if they know the recipient is driving and shouldn’t be distracted, according to The Record. The Kuberts want Colonna added back as a defendant in the lawsuit stemming from the accident.
In turn, Colonna’s lawyer told the panel that she can’t be held liable for when Best decided to read her texts, The Record reported. She had sent Best more than 60 texts during the hours before the 2009 accident.
According to the local newspaper, last year the Kuberts settled their lawsuit with Nest for $500,000, the limit on his truck’s insurance. He also pleaded guilty to driving while using a hand-held phone, and for his sentence he had to lecture at 14 high schools on the dangers of distracted driving.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 19th April 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Louisiana oilfield accidents, oil rig accidents, oilfield accident, Oilfield accident lawyer
An accident at an oilfield in DeSoto Parish, La., left four workers injured Friday morning, according to KTBS-TV.
http://www.ktbs.com/news/Four-injured-in-oilfield-accident/-/144844/19823456/-/e7tmff/-/index.html
The four workers fell from a workover rig, according to the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office. Three of the workers were critically hurt, KTBS reported, with one airlifted to a local hospital.
The accident took place shortly before 10 a.m. in Kingston on Bradshaw Road.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 9th April 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
rural lawyers, shortage of rural lawyers, South Dakota lawyer subsidies, subsidies for rural lawyers
Across the nation, law schools are downsizing their classes. Law school graduates are struggling to find work. There appears to be a glut of attorneys — everyplace but rural America.
The New York Times recently did a story headlined “No Lawyer For Miles, So One Rural State Offers Pay.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/us/subsidy-seen-as-a-way-to-fill-a-need-for-rural-lawyers.html?hp&_r=1&
The story is about South Dakota becoming the first state to offer lawyers a subsidy to hang there shingles there. As The Times points out, this program is modeled after one that offers doctors, dentists and nurses a special stipend to work in the depths of America’s Heartland.
States such as South Dakota are desperately in need of lawyers. In Bennett County, the retirement of Fredric Cozad means there’s not a working lawyer for 120 miles, according to The Times.
Only 2 percent of small law practices are located in rural America, even though about 20 percent of the country lives there, The Times reported. And on not only South Dakota but states such as Arizona, Georgia and Texas most lawyers are clustered in major urban areas.
The South Dakota law, which takes effect in June, is being looked at by other rural states, such as Iowa. According to The Times, the subsidy requires a lawyer to commit for five years and will establish a pilot program for up to 16 participants.
The subsidy will be $12,000 a year, which amounts to 90 percent of tuition at the University of South Dakota Law School, The Times reported.
That’s a lot less than doctors receive under the National Health Service Corps. It pays up to $60,000 in tax-free loan repayment for two years working in rural areas and as much as $140,000 for five years of service, according to The Times.
Americans in rural regions need lawyers like everyone else, to draw up wills and deeds, buy homes, and defend themselves in court.
I hope that this South Dakota program is successful, and that it establishes a model for other states in dire need of lawyers.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 6th April 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
train accident, truck accident
A Metrolink commuter train Saturday crashed into a dump truck in Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press. The accident is under investigation.
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Metrolink-train-collides-with-truck-in-LA-12-hurt-4415197.php
A city fire department spokesman told AP that there were 190 passengers on the train, and that 11 were sent to the hospital for treatment.
The truck driver was released after being treated at the scene.
The truck was on the tracks near Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley when it was struck by the train, AP reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 1st April 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal chain reaction crashes, heavy fog and pileup, tractor trailer accident
Fog is a mass murderer.
I’ve written several blogs about vehicular accidents where dozens of cars and trucks pile up when they hit foggy patches on highways. And unfortunately, one of these horrific accidents happened this weekend.
On Sunday a chain reaction of crashes involving 95 vehicles killed three people and injured 25 others on Route 77 near the Virginia-North Carolina border, according to the Associated Press. Heavy fog had descended on that stretch of the highway, near Fancy Gap Mountain.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/3-killed-25-injured-massive-crashes-n-va-border-article-1.1304464?localLinksEnabled=false
There were about 17 different crashed in the pileup, AP reported. The wire service cited stats from The Roanoke Times, which said that 1997 there have been at a half dozen similar pileups in this mountainous area.
Highway authorities tried to warn motorists of the danger. Since 6 a.m. Sunday morning, there were overhead signs telling told drivers to slow down because of the thick fog, according to AP.
At the core of the pileup was a crash that involved eight vehicles, including a tractor-trailer, AP reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 25th March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal oilfield accidents, North Dakota oilfield accident, oil rig accident lawyer, oilfield accident, Oilfield accident lawyer
A 31-year-old worker was killed earlier this month in North Dakota, according to the Minot Daily News. It wasn’t the typical oilfield accident, but it just illustrates once again how dangerous this kind of work is.
http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/574065/Minot-man-dies-in-oilfield-accident.html?nav=5010
Joshua Lee Hoiland of Minot was in a vac truck owned by his employer, First Choice Energy Services of Minot, cleaning it up when an agitator inside the vehicle started up. It hit him in the chest and head, the Daily News reported.
Emergency responders found Hoiland unresponsive, and pronounced him dead at the scene.
The accident happened around 7 p.m. March 14 at a site owned by Fidelity Exploration and Production, just a few miles south of Stanley, N.D., according to the Daily News.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 23rd March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
falal oil rig accident, oil rig accident, oil rig accident attorney, oil rig accident lawyer
A Carlsbad, N.M., man was killed in an oil rig accident Monday in Texas, according to the Carlsbad Current-Argus. The accident took place right over the Texas-New Mexico state line, less than 10 miles off U.S. Highway 285.
http://www.currentargus.com/ci_22835540/carlsbad-man-dies-oil-rig-accident-culberson-county
Brian Scott Callicoat, 22, was working on an oil drilling rig for Patriot Drilling when the accident happened. He was at the rig’s base while his co-workers were trying to get a pipe out of a piece of metal casing, the Current-Argus reported. The pipe popped out of the casing and hit Callicoat, who was badly injured and bleeding profusely.
Callicoat, who leaves a pregnant wife behind, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Current-Argus. His body was transported to El Paso to undergo an autopsy.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 6th April 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
jet crash, plane crash, Virginia Beach Navy jet crash
A Navy fighter jet crashed into a Virginia Beach, Va., apartment complex Friday, injuring at least seven people and leaving three others still unaccounted for, according to Reuters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/07/us-usa-crash-navy-idUSBRE8350EX20120407
The F/A-18D jet “suffered a catastrophic mechanical malfunction” while conducting a training flight, according to the Pentagon.
Both pilots ejected from the jet before the aircraft hit the Mayfair Mews, damaging six buildings, Reuters reported. The Mews is a facility for the elderly, and is located less than two miles from Naval Air Station Oceana, where the Navy jet was based.
Four people were taken to the hospital to be treated. Both pilots were found conscious, and didn’t appear to have suffered major injuries, according to Reuters.
Responders were still searching for three residents of one of the Mayfair Mews’ buildings.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 7th April 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Chrysler and punitive damages, Chrysler immune from punitive damages, punitive damages in auto lawsuits
The federal government’s 2009 bailout of Chrysler has had an unintended consequence: It makes the auto maker immune from liability for punitive damages from any defects in cars made before the financial restructuring.
Or so said The Wall Street Journal in a detailed story last week.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304450004577277802983129074.html#
According to The Journal, Chrysler was given this loophole during federal bankruptcy proceedings, and it was all approved by a judge. The federal law permits “sick companies at times to abandon product liability or other risks, overruling state laws that give consumers the right to seek damages,” The Journal reported.
Chrysler’s immunity, which The Journal says no other car maker has, is the result of a clause that Chrysler put into its sale deal to Italian Fiat SpA.
The loophole applies to more than 28 million cars and trucks, according to The Journal. And that’s not good news to anyone who owns an older Dodge Caravan or a Jeep Cherokee, which are suspected of having dangerous structural flaws.
For example, Stephen Mares’ Caravan burst into flames about two years ago, supposedly because of a fuel system leak. But now he’s been told he can’t sue Chrysler for punitive damages for the burns that he and his children suffered, The Journal reported.
And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether there are problems with the Jeep Cherokee.
Chrysler got $12.5 billion in assistance from the government, aid that it has already paid back. But the auto maker is firm in its belief that it is only fair that its current management shouldn’t be held liable for punitive damages stemming from work done by previous executives, according to The Journal.
A Chrysler spokesperson brought up the issue of how punitive-damage awards can be wide-ranging and pricey.
The point of punitive damages is to make companies pay the piper when they engage in “reckless or intentional wrongdoing.”
“They sometimes exceed actual losses and aim to deter future wrongdoing by the defendant or others in a position to engage in similar conduct,” The Journal wrote.
The paper offers a detailed analysis of the history of punitive damages and Chrysler’s situation, with defenses by the auto maker and denunciation by lawyers and representatives of Ralph Nader’s Center for Auto Safety.
It’s an enlightening story. My vote is that Chrysler shouldn’t have been left off the hook for punitive damages.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 29th April 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
SUV accidents, van accidents
Seven people were killed Sunday when their SUV fell more than 50 feet from a highway overpass and landed in a ravine on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo in New York City, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jUED1wjQqbz3hte4gdh7AkOlGpSw?docId=308f2b21837d4d349432457dd28a55a7
The Honda Pilot appeared to be out of control when it crossed several lanes, went over an iron fence and then landed upside down, AP reported.
All the passengers in the SUV died. They included three girls who were 3, 7 and 10. The other victims were a 45-year-old woman, who was apparently the driver, an 81-year-old man, and two women ages 81 and 39, according to AP.
The SUV was found in woods near the edge of the zoo’s property. Authorities are investigating why the SUV went out of control.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 7th May 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
$24 million cellphone award, cellphone accidents, cellphone lawsuits, cellphone verdicts, cellphones and distracted driving
A Texas jury has awarded $24 million to a woman hit by a Coca-Cola truck driver who was talking on her cellphone, the Associated Press reported Monday.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2012/05/07/246574.htm
Vanice Chatman-Wilson, 37, was given $10 million in punitive damages and $14 million in actual damages by a jury in Corpus Christi last Friday, according to AP.
Chatman-Wilson now suffers from neck and back pain and had to have surgery following the 2010 accident, when her Ford Fusion was struck by a truck driven by Araceli Vanessa Cabral. According to AP, Cabral testified that she was not aware of the danger of driving while using a cellphone.
Where has she been living, under a rock?
Coca-Cola plans to appeal the jury’s verdict. No surprise there.
The soft drink company has a policy mandating that its drivers use a hands-free device when driving and using a cellphone. Cabral claims that she was using a headset, according to AP.
That policy should be no cellphones, period. Even with a headset, drivers are distracted when they are talking on a cellphone.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 10th May 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
crash dummies, female crash dummies, what cars should women buy, women and car accidents
It looks like Detroit and federal safety officials are finally taken women’s vulnerability in car accidents into account in crash testing, according to a report by ABC News.
It used to be that vehicle crash tests only used dummies that were built like men — because car makers and designers were all men.
But now, according to ABC, the auto industry has finally tumbled to the reality that females actually drive cars, as well. So now dummies modeled after women are being used in crash tests, so that vehicles can be designed with female-safety needs specifically addressed.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/female-crash-dummies-injured/story?id=16004267#.T6yWiFLhccq
General Motors uses 200 dummies (costing as much as $200,000 each) for its crash tests, with 35 of them considered female, ABC News reported.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began using female dummies several years ago, because as it turns out research shows that women are much more liable to be injured in a car accident.
“Studies show that women, having smaller bones and lower bone density, are at greater risk than men of suffering injury or death in crashes,” ABC reported. “Their less muscular necks make them more vulnerable to whiplash. In general, smaller people cannot tolerate crash forces as well as can full-sized men.”
The NHTSA offers vehicle safety ratings regarding women and men. The group’s website has a consumer shopping feature named Safercar.gov, which offers limited guidance on how well different vehicles safeguard women and men in crashes.
http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Owners/
Apparently, the auto industry is taking the different safety needs of women to heart, by designing cars that are safer for women, ABC News reported.
A spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) told ABC News that women are more likely to be hurt not only because they are typically smaller than men, but also because of the way they sit in cars. For example, because they are often shorter than men, women sit closer to the steering wheel, moving their seats forward, ABC News said.
That means if a women driver’s car is hit on the side, by a larger vehicle such as a truck, the woman’s head is often in the middle of the side window, a target for any object crashing through the glass. In contrast, a man is more likely to be sitting back more, which means he is often protected by the post between the car’s front and back doors, ABC News reported.
In 2003, the IIHS employed a female dummy for its side-impact tests. As a result of that research, changes were made to side air bags, with them moved slightly so they would do a better job of protecting female passengers, according to ABC News.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 14th May 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
A sheriff in Texas is blaming an oil boom for driving up the number of vehicular accidents in his county: He claims oil workers are reckless drivers.
The story, “Fracking Boom Blamed for Deadly Accidents,” was reported by WOIA.com.
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/Fracking-boom-blamed-for-deadly-accidents/WFq46QTp1U-4jEWlg5HEQQ.cspx
According to the article, Kames County Sheriff David Jalufka says that accidents have soared since the oil company Eagle Ford Shale has come to town.
There were only 642 traffic citations and warnings handed out two years ago by the sheriff’s department, WOIA.com reported. But that number soared to 2,600 last year.
As the sheriff notes, Eagle Ford Shale and the oil boom have transformed Kames County into a rich area, from a poor one, according to WOIA.com. The population in the county has grown. But at what cost, the sheriff seems to wonder.
He pointed out that there have been seven fatal accidents since Jan. 1, even though even just one such death a year used to be an oddity.
Jalufka blames oil workers with driving recklessly by overloading their trucks, and even whizzing by school buses when they are letting children off, WOAI.com reported. He said he’s been told that oil industry drivers are always in a rush because “time is money,” according to WOAI.com.
The sheriff did get eight more deputies, but it’s still not enough to put the oil industry drivers in check.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 15th May 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
oil accident attorney, oil accident lawyer, oil industry accidents, oil industry traffic accidents, oil rig accident lawyer, oil rig accidents
I knew that oil industry work was dangerous, but even I didn’t realize how dangerous. I’ve been tracking the many deaths that have happened when workers fall off derricks. But I didn’t realize that the largest cause of fatalities in the booming industry is highway crashes.
The New York Times this week did a story, with the headline “Deadliest Danger Isn’t at the Rig but on the Road,” that spells out and explains the reasons why oil workers are being killed in vehicular crashes. The bottom line is that exhausted crew members are being forced to drive even after working 17 hours days, due to ridiculous exemptions that the industry has received from federal highway safety regulations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/us/for-oil-workers-deadliest-danger-is-driving.html?_r=3&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120515
According to the well-researched Times’ story, during the past 10 years more than 300 oil and gas workers have died in highway crashes, making such accidents the largest cause of death in the industry. The story starts out talking about one of these victims, Timothy Roth.
He was killed when he and three other crew members, tired after working as long as 17 hours, drove back to a company office in West Virginia last summer. They were almost at their destination when the driver fell asleep and the truck crashed into a pole, according to the Times.
Ironically, Roth had survived a similar crash two months before, when the driver of the truck Roth was in fell asleep and hit a pole.
The story’s main point is that unless federal regulators remove safety exemptions, which allow employees in the oil and gas industry to work longer hours than drivers in other businesses, there are going to be a lot more deaths.
That’s because there’s an oil and gas boom in this country that is boosting the economic fortunes of formerly poor towns and regions, providing jobs and tax revenue. In fact, The Times says that more than 200,000 new oil and gas wells will be drilled in the United States during the next decade.
That means a lot more oil workers, a lot more pressure to work long hours, and a lot more accidents. The fatality rate for the oil industry is already seven times the national average, according to The Times. And from 2003 to 2008, almost one-third of the 648 oil field workers’ deaths were from highway crashed, the paper reported, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC said that the oil industry is becoming more dangerous because workers are doing longer shifts, inexperienced workers are being hired because of the boom, and older rigs are being used, according to The Times.
The oil industry is able to legally skirt the highway safety rules that are mandatory for other businesses. Most truckers are required to stop driving once they have put in a 14-hour workday. But in the case of the oil industry, drivers don’t have to count any time they spend waiting while another crew does its duties, yet such wait times can be as long a 10 hour, The Times reported.
These safety exemptions were granted to oil companies in the 1960s when the industry maintained that is drivers needed more scheduling flexibility, according to The Times.
There have been a number of efforts to have these exemptions voided, but the oil industry lobby is powerful, and has stopped them. Even the National Transportation Safety Board hasn’t been able to get traction on this issue.
But someone should. These exemptions need to be scrapped, for safety’s sake.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 19th May 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
A New Jersey judge is weighing whether a woman who texted a male friend can be held liable for a crash he had after reading her message — an accident that caused two victims to each lose a leg.
Morris County Superior Court Judge David Rand will have to rule on the case, and decide whether a lawsuit filed against Shannon Colonna by David and Linda Kulbert of Dover, N.J., should be dismissed. The case has gotten a lot of media attention, including a story on The Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/shannon-colonna-text-message-kyle-best-texting-while-driving_n_1501437.html
In 2009 Colonna sent a text message to Kyle Best, who was driving a pick-up truck. Best was apparently responding to her message when he drove into oncoming traffic and struck the motorcycle that the Kuberts were riding.
Each of the Kuberts lost their left legs because of injuries stemming from the accident. They initially sued Best, according to The Huffington Post, and then added Colanna as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Colonna’s lawyer has asked Judge Rand to remove her as a defendant in the case. The attorney argued that Colonna can’t be held responsible for when Best decided to read her message, The Huffington Post reported.
Evidence shows that Best texted Colonna just before 5:48 p.m., according to The Huffington Post, and that she responded half a minute later. He messaged her back, and shorty thereafter he called 911 for help after the accident.
Best has already pleaded guilty in Montville Municipal Court to using a hand-held cellphone while driving, failing to maintain a lane and careless driving. The Huffington Post reported that Best’s sentence was a $775 fine and a requirement that he talk at 14 schools about the dangers of texting while driving.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 25th May 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
trcuk accident, truck accident attorney, truck accident lawyer
A tractor-trailer driven by a Wisconsin man Tuesday struck and killed two people who were on a motorcycle on a Kentucky highway. The motorcycle had stopped because of an accident in front of it.
James M. Hoerman, 60, of Antigo, Wis., was driving on Interstate 24 near Paducah, Ky., when the accident happened, according to The Herald-Sun of Durham, N.C.
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/18731653/article-Duke-grad-student–fianc%C3%A9-killed-in-Kentucky-crash
http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/153060065.html
Jessica Caroe, 27, who was studying for an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and her fiance, Robert Storrs, 30, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Their Honda Shadow motorcycle had stopped on Interstate 24 because of a traffic backup due to an accident that had taken place a bridge over the Ohio River.
According to The Herald-Sun, Hoerman didn’t slow down for the traffic. His truck clipped off the mirror on another truck, and then it hit the Honda motorcycle that Caroe and Storrs were on. They were thrown from the bike.
Hoerman then crashed into the back of a tractor-trailer that was driven by Jeremy Wuels, 31, of Carlisle, Ill., The Herald-Sun reported.
Hoerman and Wuels were taken to a local hospital, but their injuries weren’t critical.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 25th May 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
texting and accidents, texting and driver distraction, texting and liability
In what’s thought to be the first case of its kind in the country, a New Jersey judge ruled Friday that a woman who texted her boyfriend right before he struck — and badly injured — a couple on a motorcycle can’t be held liable for the accident.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/nj-judge-woman-who-texted-driving-boyfriend-from-afar-isnt-responsible-for-his-car-crash/2012/05/25/gJQATT45pU_story.html#
In Morristown, Superior Court Judge David Rand dismissed claims filed against Shannon Colonna by David and Linda Kubert, who each had to have part of their leg amputated following a September 2009 crash in Mine Hill, N.J., according to the Associated Press.
Shortly before the accident, Colonna had texted Kyle Best, who was driving. As he texted her back, he hit the Kuberts on their bike. Their lawyer argued that Colonna should be held accountable for the accident, and that she should have known that Best was driving.
In turn, Colonna’s attorney she wasn’t responsible, and could not control, when he looked at or responded to her text messages.
According to AP, in his ruling Rand said that it’s not extraordinary for someone who sends a text message to assume that the recipient “will behave responsibly.” The judge also noted that drivers face many kinds of distractions.
“Were I to extend this duty to this case, in my judgment, any form of distraction could potentially serve as the basis of a liability case,” AP quoted the judge as saying.
Best has already pleaded to charges of distracted driving.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 6th June 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fall into septic tank suit, septic tanks and lawsuits
The family of a 3-year-old who fell into a septic tank and died in Massachusetts has won a $21.5 million award, according to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
http://masslawyersweekly.com/2012/05/24/boys-fatal-fall-into-septic-system-results-in-21-5m-award/
The case stemmed from the death of Jaecen Cambronero, who drowned when he fell into an 8-foot-deep septic tank in his backyard in Taunton, Mass., in 2006.
He and his family had moved into the duplex where the accident took place just days before the death, according to Lawyers Weekly.
As it turned out, the septic tank’s lid wasn’t properly closed and fastened, so when the boy sat on it it apparently flipped over and he went into the tank, Lawyers Weekly reported.
His family noticed him missing, and tried to find him, but Jaecen was stuck – unseen — in the tank and was unable to get out.
The family sued in 2007, and received a $1 million settlement each from the property owner, and the maker, installer and inspector of the septic tank, according to Lawyers Weekly.
A home inspection company, the sole remaining defendant, defaulted after never answering the suit.
Judge Thomas McGuire assessed that company’s damages at $21.5 million. Each of Jaecen’s parents will receive $10 million, of that Lawyers Weekly reported.
They will also receive $1 million for pain and suffering, as well as $50,000 for punitive damages.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 9th June 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
teens and distracted driving, teens and texting while driving, texting and driving
A survey about the driving habits of teenagers had some good news and bad news.
The good news was that high school students are buckling up more, and they are less often getting into a vehicle with driven by someone who’s been drinking.
The bad news was that 1 in 3 high school students had texted or emailed while driving a car or other vehicle during the past 30 days.
Those are the results of the 2011 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), which was released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2012/p0607_yrb_telebriefing.html
Although motor vehicle crashes account for more than 1 in 3 U.S. teen deaths each year, the survey found what it called show dramatic improvements during the past 20 years in motor vehicle safety among youth:
- From 1991 to 2011, the percentage of high school students who never or rarely wore a seat belt declined from 26 to 8.
- From 1991 to 2011, the percentage of students who rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol during the past 30 days declined from 40 to 24.
- The percentage of high school students who had driven a car during the past 30 days when they had been drinking alcohol decreased from 17 in 1997 to 8 in 2011.
- Between 2009 and 2011 encouraging improvements were also shown in the percentage of students wearing a seat belt, not riding with a driver who had been drinking alcohol and not driving a car when they had been drinking alcohol.
However, “the YRBS found that the use of technology among youth has resulted in new risks; specifically, 1 in 3 high school students had texted or emailed while driving a car or other vehicle during the past 30 days,” the CDC said in a press release.
“The survey also found that 1 in 6 had been bullied through email, chat rooms, instant messaging, websites, or texting during the past 12 months,” according to the release.
Last year was the first that the YRBS included questions about bullying through electronic media and about texting or emailing while driving.
“We are encouraged that more of today’s high school students are choosing healthier, safer behaviors, such as wearing seat belts, and are avoiding behaviors that we know can cause them harm, such as binge drinking or riding with impaired drivers,” Howell Wechsler, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, said in a statement.
“However, these findings also show that despite improvements, there is a continued need for government agencies, community organizations, schools, parents, and other community members to work together to address the range of risk behaviors prevalent among our youth,” he said.
The 2011 YRBS results show that high school students still engage in risk behaviors that are harmful to their health and increase their risks for disease and injury:
- Current cigarette use did not change significantly between 2009 (19 percent) and 2011 (18 percent).
- During that same time period, current marijuana use increased from 21 percent to 23 percent although there has been an overall decrease in current marijuana use (from 27 percent in 1999 to 23 percent in 2011).
- Current marijuana use among high school students was more common than current cigarette use (23 percent compared to 18 percent).
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 29th June 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
bus accident, semi accident, truck accident
A Friday morning accident involving a SMART bus, a semi-trailer and a car led to the closing of part of 14 Mile in Warren, Mich., according to the Detroit News. Three people were hospitalized as a result of the accident.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120629/METRO05/206290404/1361/Bus–semi-crash-closes-part-of-14-Mile-in-Warren
The Detroit News reported that the car was behind the bus in the right lane, and when the bus stopped the car tried to pass it by going into the left lane. When the car made that move, it was hit by the semi.
Police said that none of the bus passengers were seriously hurt.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 6th July 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
crane accident, fatal crane accident
One worker died and another one was hurt Thursday after a crane collapsed on a construction site on Butte des Morts bridge in Oshkosh, Wis., according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/crane-collapses-on-butte-des-morts-bridge-49616iu-161433035.html
Joseph Bidler, 35, of Green Bay, Wis., was killed in the accident on Highway 41t. He worked as a driver for Spancrete of Waukesha, Wis., the Journal Sentinel reported. The injured worker’s name wasn’t released.
The crane was doing construction work, attempting to lift a beam on the Butte Des Morts bridge, when it suddenly collapsed, according to the Milwaukee paper. The crane operator, who works for Lunda Construction Co. of Black River Falls, Wis., was hurt.
Lunda is the contractor working on a $54 million project for the state Department of Transportation, while Spancrete is a subcontractor, the Journal Sentinel reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 9th July 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
crane accident attorney, crane accident lawyer, crane accidents, Crane Collapse
Two construction workers were killed Saturday when a crane collapsed at the University of Texas (UT) at Dallas campus, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/officials-2-workers-dead-in-crane-collapse-on-campus-of-university-of-texas-at-dallas/2012/07/07/gJQAjtFpUW_story.html#
On Saturday the school reported on its website that there was an accident on campus Saturday afternoon during the dismantling of a crane at the Arts and Technology Building, which is under construction.
“The accident claimed the lives of two workers with an outside construction company,” the post said. “There are no reports of UT Dallas students, staff, or faculty injured in this accident. Students, staff, faculty and community are encouraged to stay away from the southeast side of campus. The University extends its condolences to the families of those involved.”
http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2012/7/8-18741_Updates-Crane-Accident-at-ATEC-Construction-Site_article.html?WT.mc_id=NewsHomePageCenterColumn
On Sunday, the UT System’s Office of Facilities Planning and Construction released this statement:
<em>A construction crane at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Arts and Technology Building collapsed Saturday afternoon, killing two construction workers. The crane was being dismantled when it fell across the building.
The two workers were employees of Harrison Crane and Hoist, an outside construction firm. No UT Dallas students or employees were injured. Our sympathy and deepest condolences go out to the family, friends and colleagues of the two workers killed in this tragic accident.
Our primary concern at this point is maintaining the safety of the students, faculty and staff, and of the site construction workers.
The cause of the accident is under investigation. OSHA was notified immediately, and their investigation staff arrived on-scene last night. Engineers have been engaged to assess the damaged crane and to develop a plan to safely remove it from the site.
Both OSHA and independent investigators will review this plan and witness the safe removal of the crane and repair to the damaged facility. Work is not expected to resume until after the completion of the OSHA investigation and removal of the damaged crane.</em>
Monday, the university website reported that UT Dallas student leaders were organizing a “Moment of Reflection” at noon Wednesday on the campus mall to honor the two construction workers who were killed.
The website said:
<em>The event is a response to student concern over the accident, said Gene Fitch, dean of students.
“This is a way in which we can honor the deceased and show our respect to the families of those who lost their loved ones. It also is an opportunity for us to grieve as a community,” Fitch said.
Student Government president Raj Dwivedi will address the gathering at “Spirit Rock,” just outside the Green Hall at the center of campus. Dr. Tom Linehan, director of the Arts and Technology program, also will offer remarks.
The offices of Student Affairs and Student Volunteerism are helping to coordinate the event, which is open to the public.</em>
The university is also offering free counseling services to students and faculty in need of help after Saturday’s accident.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 11th July 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
motorcycle accidents, semitrailer accidents, truck accidents
Two Madison, Wis., teenagers were killed Tuesday when their motorcycle was hit head-on by a semitrailer, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/teen-victims-identified-in-motorcycle-semi-crash-in-columbia-county/article_19551f30-cb9d-11e1-bcc8-001a4bcf887a.html
The accident took place at roughly 5 p.m on U.S. Highway 51 in Leeds, Wis., south of Arlington, the newspaper reported.
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office issued a news release that identified the deceased as Jeremy Brewster, 17, who was the motorcycle driver and Trevor Jones, 17, his passenger. Both youths were declared dead at the scene.
A semitrailer that was going south on Highway 51 crossed a center line on the highway and hit the motorcycle, which was traveling north, according to the release from the sheriff’s office. The accident took place near the intersection of Highway 51 and Highway 22.
A medical helicopter, ambulances and sheriff’s officers at 6 p.m. were performing CPR on one of the victims, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. But then they stopped, and then covered the body.
The truck driver, who lives in Portage, wasn’t injured, the paper said.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 11th July 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
train accident, train accident attorney
A freight train carrying ethanol derailed in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday morning, exploding into huge flames that lit the night sky and leading to the evacuation of a mile-wide area around the accident site, according to The Christian Science Monitor.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0711/Updated-Freight-train-derails-triggers-fiery-explosion-in-Ohio-video
Eleven cars of a Norfolk Southern Corp. train derailed at roughly 2 a.m. not far from Ohio State University, near Interstate 71, The Monitor reported. The train had been on its way from Chicago to North Carolina when it went off-track in an industrial area that, luckily, was away from residential areas.
According to The Monitor, several of the tanker cars that were on fire were carrying ethanol, and authorities opted to let the fire burn out by itself rather than trying to extinguish it. The flames at times reached 20 to 30 feet.
Authorities were investigating what caused the derailment. Two people were hurt when they approached the train before it went on fire, but The Monitor said they were able to get to the hospital by themselves.
Red Cross organized an area at the state fairgrounds were 50 evacuees went.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 13th July 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
oil field accident, oil field accident atttorney, oil field accident lawyer
A 62-year-old worker was killed at a Texas oil field accident last Thursday morning, according to Big Country Home Page.
http://bigcountryhomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=514082
Danny Howk was found at a well location where he had been sent to service a pump jack, the website reported. The oil field was near Breckenridge, Texas, in Stephens County.
Authorities believe that Howk sustained his fatal injuries while he was working on the jack, and his body was taken to the Tarrant Medical Examiner’s Office to be autopsied, Big Country Home Page reported.
The Office of Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is conducting an investigation of Howk’s death.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 20th July 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal truck accident, tractor trailer accident, truck accident
Six people were killed in upstate New York Thursday when a tractor trailer slammed into a line of vehicles that had slowed down for a road-paving project, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120720/us-roadwork-fatal-crash/
James Miller Jr., 45, of Myerstown, N.Y., was driving an 18-wheeler south on Route 11 near Fort Drum, which is roughly 85 miles from Syracuse, AP reported, when he hit an SUV.
Miller was awake, but apparently didn’t notice construction signs warning about the work that was being done on the rural road, according to police. When Miller crashed into the SUV, it caused an accident that involved six cars.
The initial investigation found that Miller did attempt to brake before hitting the SUV. And he had not been texting or on a call at the time of the crash, an inspection of hie cellphone found, AP reported.
Vehicles on Route 11 had slowed down in the area where the road was being repaved. As a result of the crash, five people in the SUV that Miller hit first were killed after the vehicle exploded with flames, according to AP. In addition, a woman who was in another SUV, which flipped over, also died, AP reported.
At the scene, Miller helped rescue a New York State Department of Transportation employee, pulling Lewis Lottie Jr. out of hie car before it burst into flames, according to AP.
Miller underwent toxicology tests and was released. No charges have been filed in the accident.
The victims were: SUV driver Laurie Dana, a speech therapist from Lawrence, N.Y.; her daughters Caitlyn, 14, and Lauryn, 11; mother-in-law Janet Dana, 69; and Shannon Planty, 14, Caitlyn’s friend.
The victim in the other SUV was Maryann Gregory, 59, of Dickinson Center.
Miller’s truck, which was carrying yogurt, is owned by MBM Customized Foodservice Distribution in Rocky Mount, N.C., AP reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 21st July 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
distracted driving, New Jersey distracted driver laws, texting and driving, vehicular homicide and cellphones, vehicular homicide and texting
New Jersey last week enacted a tough distracted-driver law: A motorist who kills someone while using a handheld cellphone can face charges of vehicular homicide.
New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno last Wednesday signed into a law legislation that permits the prosecution of distracted drivers who cause fatal accidents, according to The Record of New Jersey.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Tougher_NJ_driver_cellphone_rules_signed_into_law.html?page=all
The newspaper noted that the legislation has been tagged the “Kulesh, Kubert and Bolis Law,” named after three victims of accidents caused by drivers too busy with their cellphones to watch the road.
Helen Kulesh, 89, died in 2006 in Elizabeth, N.J., struck by a driver was on a cellphone, according to The Record.
David and Linda Kubert each lost a leg following a 2009 accident in Mine Hill, N.J. They were on a motorcycle when they were hit by a distracted motorist.
And Toni Donato-Bolis, and her 9-month-old unborn son, were both killed in 2011 in Gloucester County in a crash caused by a driver who was allegedly texting, The Record reported.
In New Jersey, a conviction for vehicular manslaughter carries a penalty of five to 10 years, a fine of up to $150,000, or both, according to The Record.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 24th July 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
tire accident, truck accident
A pickup truck’s tire separation apparently caused an accident that killed 15 people in rural South Texas, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/cause-of-texas-car-crash_n_1700089.html?1343172505&ncid=webmail1
The crash involving a 2000 Ford F-250 pickup truck took place Sunday night on U.S. Highway 59 between Goliad and Beeville, Texas, AP reported.
The truck, overloaded with 23 suspected illegal aliens — from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras — went off the highway and hit a tree. There were 11 people dead at the scene, and four others died later at the hospital, according to AP. The 15th victim died Tuesday.
Another eight people are still in the hospital.
The truck was headed to Houston, and officials blamed the crash on “front right tire separation,” AP reported. Authorities didn’t comment on whether the tire had a defect or if it was just worn, and its brand wasn’t disclosed.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 31st July 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal oil rig accidents, oil rig accident attorney, oil rig accidents
And the oil field deaths keep coming.
The latest took place in Reagan County, Texas, last Friday. The victim this time was Chase Dillon, a 21-year-old San Angelo, Texas, resident who was working for Robinson Drilling of Texas Ltd., according to the San Angelo Standard-Times.
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/jul/30/san-angelo-man-killed-in-oil-field-accident/?partner=RSS
The county sheriff wasn’t offering any information about Dillon’s death. He would not comment on Dillon’s cause of death, or even if he died from injuries sustained at an oil rig, the Standard-Times reported.
Dillon’s demise is being investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is also is mum about the death.
In June last year, a local CBS affiliate did a report that said that an area family wanted one of Robinson’s oil rigs closed when there were three deaths there in just one year, according to the Standard-Times.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 3rd August 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
distracted driving, texting and driving
Chance Bothe waited a little too long to take his own advice.
The 21-year-old Texas native on Jan. 24 sent a prescient message to a friend.
“I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident,” he texted while driving. The next thing you know, Bothe drove his truck off a bridge down into a 35-feet-ravine.
The youth sustained brain injuries, and “nearly broke every bone in his body, including his cheekbones, neck and skull,” according to The Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/02/chance-bothe-text-crash_n_1735137.html
Bothe’s injuries were so bad that he was hospitalized for six months. He underwent rehabilitation for his traumatic brain injury (TBI), and had to be taught how to walk and talk again, The Huffington Post said. He also had many reconstructive surgeries.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/crash-survivor-preaches-dangers-texting-while-driving-132609321.html
The youth believes he survived so that he can warn others about the dangers of texting while driving, according to Yahoo! News. It reported that Texas doesn’t ban texting while driving, although it is barred in some towns and school zones in the Lone Star State.
Currently there are texting-while-driving prohibitions in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 4th August 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
oil rig accident lawyer, oil rig accidents, Oklahoma oil rig accidents
For a microcosm of the dangers of working in a U.S. oil field, look to Oklahoma.
Since October 2011 nine workers have died in oil and gas field accidents, according to a recent report by StateImpact. Those deaths coincide with the boom in domestic oil production.
http://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2012/08/02/the-human-toll-of-a-drilling-boom-in-oklahoma/
The rise in oil-field accidents has people concerned about safety in many of the states where oil drilling has blossomed, such as North Dakota. And in Oklahoma City in June, oil workers gathered to go over the fatal accidents at a confab sponsored by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the state Department of Labor and the Mid-Continent Exploration and Production and Safety Network, StateImpact reported.
The story noted that even though these oil workers, so-called roughnecks, are hard-nosed men, some of them had to “wipes away tears” when there was discussion of accidents where their friends were killed.
As Oklahoma’s OSHA director told StateImpact, oil-field gear is “big” and “it moves fast.” That means accidents often end in deaths.
The story also noted that there are few Oklahoma state safety regulations regarding the oil industry, and only five OSHA inspectors to cover the entire state.
There is a pattern in the Oklahoma oil field fatalities, according to StateImpact.
“The average worker killed is young — only 35,” it reported. “Their tenure at the company is often short — less than five years. Most of the men died after being crushed or struck by equipment, and most of the accidents happened at small drilling or service companies with less than 100 employees.”
The report by State Impact offers a thoughtful look at oil-drilling safety, and is well worth reading.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 8th August 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
bus accident, truck accident
A semi tractor trailer Tuesday struck a Madison County transit bus in Granite City, Ill., injuring many passengers, according to Fox2Now.com.
http://fox2now.com/2012/08/07/semi-crashes-into-bus-multiple-injuries/
The accident took place on Route 3 and Chain of Rocks Road at 7 p.m.
The bus was picking up passengers at a bus stop when it was hit in the rear by the truck, Fox2Now.com reported. Seven ambulances and two helicopters were called to the scene.
The bus driver and five passengers suffered minor injuries, but were taken to a local hospital. The semi driver was flown to St. Louis University Hospital, where he was in serious condition, according to Fox2Now.com.
Local police said that the tractor trailer hit the back of the bus, which in turn hit a pick-up truck that was in front of it. The semi then hit two traffic lights and then landed in a ditch, Fox2Now.com reported.s
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 11th August 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal truck accident, pickup truck accident, tractor trailer accident, truck accident, truck accident attorney, truck accident lawyer
Friday was death day in Oklahoma City, where six people were killed in two separate truck accidents, according to NewsOK.com.
http://newsok.com/2-separate-automobiles-accidents-claim-6-lives/article/3699729
Five people died in a crash involving a car and a tractor trailer on Interstate 35, south of Interstate 40, at 1 a.m. Friday. The car was driving south on I-35 when it went off the road, came back on and then went under the truck rig, NewsOK.com reported.
The roof was sheared off the car, which then went into the westbound lane of I-40 and went on fire. The five people in the car were all thrown out of it, and were all killed, according to NewsOK.com. Four of the five victims were from India. Authorities didn’t release the names of the deceased.
The tractor trailer driver wasn’t hurt in the accident.
Then there was a second crash at 1:40 p.m. Friday. A pickup truck was traveling east on I-40, west of I-35, when it struck some oil-field gear that was in the road, NewsOK.com reported.
The pickup then veered off and crashed into a retaining wall, and flipped over. The driver, who didn’t have his seat belt on, died of traumatic head injuries, according to NewsOK.com.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 23rd August 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
000 settlement, David Kubert, driver distractions, Kyle Best, Linda Kubert, Shannon Colonna, texting and driving, texting lawsuits
A New Jersey couple has reached a $500,000 settlement of a suit they filed when their motorcycle was hit by a motorist who was texting on his cellphone, according to press reports. The man and woman each lost a leg in the accident.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20120821/NJNEWS/308210023/Dover-couple-agree-500G-settlement-teen-who-hit-them-while-texting-driving
David and Linda Kubert, who lived in Dover, N.J., at the time of the accident, had filed a lawsuit against Kyle Best, 19 at the time of the crash, who got distracted while texting and went into their lane in Mine Hill, N.J., according to The Daily Record. The accident took place Sept. 21, 2009.
The amount of the settlement, $500,000, is the policy limit on Best’s auto insurance, The Record reported.
Both David and Linda lost a leg in the accident. They are now living in Florida, and are having a hard time financially, with neither one working, according to The Record.
Best pleaded guilty in municipal court this year to using a hand-held cellphone while driving, and was sentenced to talk at 14 high schools about the dangers of texting and driving.
A judge previously ruled that the woman who texted Best right before the accident, Shannon Colonna, cannot be sued for aiding and abetting his conduct the day of the crash. The Kuberts are appealing that ruling.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 9th September 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
truck accident, Wisconsin truck accident
A three-vehicle crash, which involved a Dodge truck, in Wisconsin left one woman dead and three others hurt Saturday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/vilas-county-woman-killed-3-injured-in-greenfield-crash-ut6pv4b-169099366.html
The crash victim was from Vilas County and was driving Toyota Corolla on South 27 Street in Greenfield, Wis. The Journal Sentinel said that she the woman tried to make a left turn in front of the Dodge, the vehicles collided.
During the crash, one of the cars hit a stoplight and knocked it down. The downed light hit a third car, which was stopped at an intersection there.
The driver of the Toyota, 51, didn’t have a pulse and wasn’t breathing by the time EMTs arrived on the scene, the Milwaukee paper reported. Although they managed to revive her, she passed away at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, according to the Journal Sentinel.
The woman’s two passengers in the Toyota, 15 and 19, were both in the hospital in critical condition.
The Milwaukee woman, 70, who was driving the truck said she had pain in her neck and back. She was treated and released.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 11th September 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
cellphone accidents, cellphones and driving, distracted driving
This is why drivers shouldn’t be chatting on their cellphones when they are behind the wheel.
A Bridgewater, N.J., man Saturday was talking on his cellphone when he lost control of his car and drove it into the Raritan River, flipping it over, according to The Star-Ledger of Newark.
http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2012/09/raritan_township_police_say_dr.html
The man, Snehl Patel, 46, was charged with careless driving and driving while using a cellphone by Raritan Township police.
A witness told The Ledger that he saw Patel driving along River Road but then suddenly veer left and slip down a six-foot embankment, with the car landing upside down in the water. The water was just knee-deep, so the witness and his friends were able to get Patel out of the car.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 13th September 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin car crash, wisconsin drunk driving
Two people were killed and two others seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 45 in Auburn, Wis., Thursday night, according to Fox6now.com.
http://fox6now.com/2012/09/13/two-killed-two-seriously-injured-in-fond-du-lac-county-crash/
A vehicle being driven by a Campbellsport man, 24, apparently crossed over a center line on the highway and struck a vehicle driven by a 73-year-old Eden man, the website reported.
The elderly man and one of his passengers, a 59-year-old woman who was also from Eden, died in the accident. A 13-yearold who was in their car was brought to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, while the Campbellsport driver was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in West Bend, Fox6now.com reported.
The teen and the driver suffered serious injuries.
The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene and is conducting an investigation. They suspect that alcohol may have been a factor in the crash, according to the website.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 15th September 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
train crash, train crashes into van, Wisconsin train crash
A train crashed into a van in Delafield, Wis., on Saturday but miraculously no one was injured in the accident, according to WISN.com.
http://www.wisn.com/news/south-east-wisconsin/waukesha/Rescue-crews-respond-to-train-vs-van-crash/-/10150328/16616876/-/amcigiz/-/index.html?absolute=true
Rescue crews responded to the scene, which was on Highway KE at the Glacier Road intersection, shortly after 8 a.m.
According to WISN.com, the van was hauling a trailer but got stuck on the railroad tracks. The van’s driver was able to escape from the vehicle and wasn’t injured.
The van was pushed roughly a half-mile by the Canadian Pacific Railroad train that hit it.
The incident is being probed by both the railroad and the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department, WISN.com reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 18th September 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
cellphones and distracted driving, driver distration, jury verdictd in distracted driving csded, jury verdicts in
People just don’t seem to be getting the message that driving and talking on a cellphone is dangerous. And innocent bystanders suffer the consequences. Just look at Franchesca Motta.
She was crossing a street at a crosswalk in urban Paterson, N.J., in February 2010 when a cab driver — busy talking on a cellphone — hit her, ran over her and dragged her. The cab driver then ran over Motta a second time when he put the taxi in reverse and started moving again, according to The Record.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/170103676.html?page=all
On Monday a state Superior Court jury in Paterson awarded 20-year-old Motta $785,000, The Record reported. But the story points out that Motta may never get that money, because neither cab driver Bolivar Abreu or his employer, Latino American Car Services, have enough insurance or assets to cover that amount.
The driver and cab company only have $35,000 of coverage.
Motta testified at her lawsuit’s trial that she felt the cab’s tires roll over her stomach. She had to have several operations and plastic surgery done, on scars on her knee and upper leg, according to The Record. Her nose also had to be realigned.
She testified that she is still in pain and has been disfigured by the burn she received from the taxi’s frame when it ran over her.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 21st September 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
AT&T, distracted driving, Randall Stephenson, texting and driving
AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson has become a vocal anti-texting-while-driving advocate, delivering that message at investor conferences, shareholder meetings and club meetings, according to The New York Times.
The paper, in a story headlined “AT&T Chief Speaks Out On Texting At The Wheel,” wrote about Stephenson last week. The article pointed out that the telco executive has a personal interest in the issue because someone “close to him” got into an accident while texting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/technology/att-chief-speaks-out-on-texting-while-driving.html?_r=1&ref=business
As Stephenson explained to The Times, AT&T sells smartphones, which are being used “inappropriately.” But while the CEO wants AT&T to be more aggressive about championing public awareness of the dangers of distracted driving, he’s not in favor of laws that ban motorists from texting, according to The Times.
Yet experts say that tough anti-texting laws, not mere public service campaigns, are the real deterrent when it comes to stopping drivers from using their cellphone keyboards behind the wheel, The Times reported. Right now, 39 states ban texting while driving.
The article also talked about an interesting new app. At the end of the month AT&T is going roll out a free updated version of an app for Blackberry and Android that will won’t permit texting on a cellphone that’s traveling over 25 miles an hour, according to The Times. But at this time, there isn’t such as app for iPhones.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 2nd October 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
train accident, train crash, truck-train accident, truck-train collision
At least 20 passengers were injured Monday when a tractor-trailer struck an Amtrak train in the Central Valley region of California, derailing several of its cars, according to the Associated Press.
http://news.yahoo.com/least-20-injured-california-train-crash-205833933.html
The train, carrying 169 passengers in all, wasn’t far from the farming town of Hanford when the crash took place. AP reported that the tractor-trailer, carrying a load of cotton trash, failed to stop at the train tracks and hit the train. The impact derailed two train cars and a locomotive.
Authorities believe that the train, coming from Oakland to Bakersfield, may have been traveling at about 80 mph when the accident took place, according to AP.
The tractor-trailer driver sustained minor injuries, and authorities are probing whether the accident was due to driver error or whether the arm of a crossing gate didn’t work properly.
AP described the injuries to passengers as “minor to moderate.”
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 3rd October 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
oil accident attorney, oil accident lawyer, oil field accidents, oil field deaths
One oil field worker died of a head injury and a second was injured in an accident Wednesday at a plant north of Bakersfield, Calif., according to BakersfieldNow.com.
http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/2-oil-field-workers-hurt-north-of-Bakersfield-172524761.html
The victim was identified as Barry Snelson, 54, of Bakersfield. The fatal accident took place shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Live Oak Cogen plant, BakersfieldNow.com reported. Investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were on the scene.
Snelson and another worker were in a 15-foot-tall tank, which they were reportedly testing for leaks. But authorities weren’t quite sure what happened to ultimately kill one worker and injure another, according to BakersfieldNow.com.
The workers were adding air pressure to the tank, which had a false bottom, to test it. Authorities suspect that the pressure may have made the false bottom suddenly move, catching the workers off-guard. Witnesses heard what they said sounded like an explosion, BakersfieldNow.com.
Firefighters had to rescue the two workers by sending someone down into the tank by rope. That firefighter had a harness to bring up the two injured workers.
When Snelson was taken out of the tank he had no signs of life, no pulse and no breathing, BakersfieldNow.com reported. The injured worker who survived suffered a fractured ankle.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 6th October 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Blitz USA, flame arresters, gas can explosions, gas cans, lawsuits, product liability, tort reform
Well, here’s a textbook lesson in how to spin a story, a very negative story.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, lobbying for tort reform and against frivolous lawsuits, picked out Blitz USA as its poster child for injustice. That Oklahoma company, which manufactured gas containers, closed this summer, putting 117 workers out on the street.
Blitz USA blamed its demise on the cost of litigating lawsuits that alleged its red plastic containers were dangerous. The chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform used Blitz USA in a commercial it produced about the evils of litigation.
In its story Friday on this battle, “Two Sides of Product Liability,” The New York Times noted that the commercial failed to mention one little factor: That dozens of people allege they were hurt, some killed, when the gas cans exploded.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/business/in-a-shuttered-gasoline-can-factory-the-two-sides-of-product-liability.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
The phenomenon, according to The Times, is called “flashback,” when gas fumes “outside the cans ignited and followed the vapor trail back to the container.” Blitz could have easily put an end to such explosions, by simply putting a device called a flame arrester at the opening of its gas containers. A flame arrester is wire mesh that stops fire from entering the opening of a gas container.
Instead, Blitz apparently preferred being sued. And it has been, 62 times since 1994, according to The Times. Blitz argues that of the 14 million cans it’s sold in the past 10 years, there have only been two reported incidents for each million cans sold. Blitz blames the victims for misusing its cans, by doing things such as pouring gas on an open fire, according to The Times.
This is probably little solace to Chad Funchess, a South Carolina firefighter who had burns over half his body after a explosion with a Blitz gas can. He was putting gasoline in a chain saw when it exploded. He is suing Blitz, which has filed for bankruptcy, The Times reported.
And Blitz’s excuses, and even a $4 million jury award, were probably little solace to the father of a 2-year-old girl who died when a gas can exploded, according to The Times. Blitz claims that the father was stupid, and liable, because he poured gasoline directly on the flame of a gas-burning stove. The father claimed that Blitz’s can should have had a flame arrester, The Times reported.
The headline on the newspaper’s story was two sides of liability. In this case, there’s only one side: Blitz isn’t the victim of unwarranted litigation. It should have taken steps to make its red gasoline containers safe.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 13th October 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
accidents, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, driver safety, John McCain, Joseph Biden Jr., Mitt Romney, motor vehicle safety, The New York Times
The New York Times ran an interesting op-ed piece last week about how a number of American presidents have lost loved ones in fatal car accidents. And the author, Cynthia Wachtell, has a theory about how that has impacted national policy on auto safety: She believes it has made presidents shy away from spearheading action on that issue.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/opinion/make-motor-vehicle-safety-a-priority.html?ref=politics&_r=0
Wachtell kicked off her piece by noting that during the vice presidential candidate debates last Thursday night, Vice President Joseph Biden Jr. recounted how he had lost his first wife and a daughter in a car accident 40 years ago.
President Barack Obama’s father was killed in a car crash in 1983, Wachtell wrote. Former President Bill Clinton’s dad died in a car accident three months before Clinton was born.
And Republicans haven’t been spared. Former presidential candidate John McCain came back to the U.S. after years of capture in North Vietnam to find that his then-wife had been badly disfigured in a car accident, according to Wachtell. The couple later divorced.
And GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney sustained a concussion and several other injuries in France during a head-on crash.
Wachtell is an advocate of tougher federal laws to increase traffic and road safety. After all, she cited statistics that in just the first quarter this year, about 7,630 people have been killed in motor vehicle accidents. That compares to a total death toll of 6,600 military who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, she said.
There are many steps the government could take to cut down on accidents, such as instituting national bans on driving while using a cellphone, or texting while driving. But Wachtell postures that presidents like Obama don’t focus on driver safety because it dredges up upsetting memories.
She urges whoever is elected President next month to use to their personal experience with car accidents, painful as it may be, to champion motor vehicle safety during their four-year term. And I think that’s a great idea.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 22nd October 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
texting, texting accidents, texting and walking
The dangers of texting just don’t sink into people’s noggins, despite all the warnings.
Late last month an Anchorage newspaper published a story about a woman who fell about 60 feet down the side of a cliff. She was a distracted walker: She was texting when she fell, according to the article in the Anchorage Daily News.
http://www.adn.com/2012/09/26/2641426/texting-woman-rescued-after-fall.html
The foolish woman was Maria Pestrikoff, who lives near the beach in Kodiak, Alaska. On Sept. 17 she walked toward the edge of a nearby cliff to toss a cigarette butt over its edge. She was texting at that time and slipped on wet grass and plunged down the cliff onto rocks, the Daily News reported.
With much difficulty, the local fire department used a ladder to go down the side of the cliff to rescue Pestrikoff, who sustained a number of injuries. The responders apparently got to her in the nick of time, because the incoming tide was only about 10 feet away from her and she was at risk of drowning, according to the newspaper.
Rescuers got the woman onto a stretcher and lifted her up to safety, the Daily News reported. She was initially taken to a hospital in Kodiak, but was subsequently airlifted to an Anchorage hospital.
In addition to not texting, Pestrikoff shouldn’t have been littering a beautiful beach with a cigarette butt.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 29th October 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
car crashes in oil-boom towns, oil accident attorney, oil accident lawyer, oil field accidents, oil rig accidents
A TV station in Midland, Texas, recently did a report that looked at the increase in fatal car accidents in the Odessa area and whether they were linked to the oil boom. The story seemed to come to the conclusion that there was no direct connection, but I disagree.
http://www.kwes.com/story/19938802/special-report-fatal-accidents-on-the-rise-during-oil-boom
The report by KEWS gathered accidents statistics from six West Texas counties, and compared the numbers from 2007, last year and this year. There is no question that deadly accidents have risen. In 2007, there were 65 deaths from car crashes, compared with 86 deaths in 2011, according to KEWS.
And this year the statistics look like they will outpace last year. Year to date, there have been 87 fatalities. But the TV station’s report ends up not really putting any of the onus for these accidents on the oil industry.
An expert quoted by KEWS attributed the increase in fatalities to the region’s “immature transportation system.” So according to the TV station, the means the accidents “aren’t just oil field related.”
They may not be “just” oil field related, but I bet dollars to donuts that they are in large part oil field related. In fact, there are been several newspaper stories, including one by The New York Times, about how how fatal motor vehicle accidents have skyrocketed in towns where the oil field industry has exploded.
No. 1, in such towns there are now a lot more people, hence the chance of more accidents. Secondly, many oil field workers toil – or are made to work — more hours than they should, without sleep. These exhausted employees fall asleep at the wheel and crash. Their widows were quoted in some of these stories.
It’s the same situation with truck drivers for the oil industry: The business has an exemption from federal laws regarding how long drivers can be on the road without rest. Hence, oil truck accidents have skyrocketed.
Clearly, I’m not the only one who sees the link between the oil industry and death on the road. It’s too bad that KEWS let the industry off the hook so easily.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 6th November 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
oil field accidents, oil field lawyer, oil rig accidents
Chalk up another oil rig accident.
A worker on a drilling rig in Carlsbad, N.M., was hit in the head and shoulders by a 100-pound metal gate that fell on him, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.newswest9.com/story/19993543/man-hurt-in-oilfield-accident-near-carlsbad
Milo Schoonmaker, 33, was on the job on one of Silver Oak Drilling’s rigs last Thursday when the gate was picked up 20 feet in the air by a hoist, which then fell on him.
Poor Schoonmaker continued working for 30 minutes after he was injured, AP reported. He was then flown to a hospital in Texas for treatment.
According to the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, there have been 19 serious oil field accidents in that county during the past 12 months, AP reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 16th November 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Black Elk Energy, oil platform accidents, oil rig accident lawyer, oil rig accidents, oil rig lawyer
Have safety conditions improved in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon explosion?
It would appear not, since just a day after BP pleaded guilty to criminal charges stemming from that disaster, there was another unfortunate oil rig accident in the Gulf, about 25 miles from Grand Isle, La.
In an accident Friday morning there was an explosion and fire at a oil pumping rig owned by Black Elk Energy. A number of news reports said that two workers were missing, but The Christian Science Monitor reported late Friday night that two workers were confirmed dead, two were missing and 11 were injured,
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/1116/Deadly-oil-rig-explosion-puts-spotlight-back-on-embattled-Gulf-drillers-video
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/11/black_elk_energy_accident_rene.html
The oil traveling to the rig platform had been shut off so that a pipeline from the platform to the land could be replaced, NOLA.com reported. But there was an explosion when a contractor from Grand Isle Shipyard used a torch on the pipeline, which was apparently connected to a tank that had oil and gas vapors.
According to NOLA.com, the accident lends credence to the concerns of environmentalists who fear that small companies such as Black Elk don’t have the financial wherewithal to comply with new safety standards mandated by the new federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Coast Guard.
Federal officials and Black Elk will be investigating blast, and looking into why the pipeline still had oil and natural gas in it when workers took a cutting torch to it, NOLA.com reported.
And this should come as no surprise: Black Elk has had other oil rig accidents, and paid a $300,000 fine for not using proper procedures on one of its platforms, according to NOLA.com.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 16th November 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Midland train crash, train crash, veterans float
Investigators are trying to determine what happened, how a parade float carrying wounded veterans and their wives was struck by a train at a crossing in Midland, Texas, killing four of the vets Thursday afternoon.
According to ABC News, at least two of the veterans died after pushing their wives off the float, saving the women’s lives. Seventeen people were hurt in the crash.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/midland-texas-train-crash-purple-heart-hero-saved/story?id=17735939#.UKchGGfXOuI
What was envisioned as an event to honor veterans turned into a horror show instead. About two dozen people were seated in chairs on a flatbed truck that was headed to an honorary “Hunt for Heroes” dinner for the vets. There were actually two floats, and the first one went over a rail crossing with no problems.
But the second float was hit by a Union Pacific train. That train was sounding its horn, and the crossing’s lights and gates were working. No one knows why the float still tried to proceed through the crossing.
Army Sgt. Maj. Gary Stouffer, 37, and Sgt. Maj. Lawrence Boivin, 47, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to ABC News. Sgt. Joshua Michael, 34, and Sgt. Maj. William Lubbers, 43, were pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Both Michael and Boivin pushed their wives off the float, to safety.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 19th November 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Midland train accident, train accident lawsuit, train accidents
One of the veterans injured when a freight train struck a parade float last week, an accident that killed four people, plans to file a lawsuit against Union Pacific, the man’s attorney’s said Monday.
According to Reuters, U.S. Army Sgt. Richard Sanchez, who was among 16 people hurt in the crash last Thursday in Midland, Texas, is the first victim who has announced his plan to sue. Four veterans died in that tragedy.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-texas-crashbre8aj03l-20121119,0,2378835.story
One of Sanchez’s lawyers, Bob Pottroff, disputes the National Transportation Safety Board’s claim that the train’s signal system worked as it should have, providing a 20-second warning, according to Reuters. But Pottroff maintains that the signal should have provided a warning of 30 seconds or longer.
With that longer warning, the crossing safety gates could have come down before the float attempted to cross the tracks, according to the lawyer, Reuters reported. The gates reportedly came down on top of the float, toward its end, when it was already crossing the tracks.
In the collision veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were seated on chairs on a flatbed truck, a float that was part of a parade honoring them. It started to go across the train crossing when it was struck by the Union Pacific train.
Union Pacific says that it was in compliance with all laws, and alleges that the driver of the flatbed truck crossed the train tracks despite the red warning lights.
Sanchez pushed his wife Heather off the float, saving her life, according to Reuters. But he injured his spinal cord and hasn’t had any feeling in his legs since the crash, the wire service said. Sanchez is a wounded warrior who lost the use of his right arm in combat in Afghanistan, Reuters reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 20th November 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Black Elk Energy, Grand Isle Shipyard Inc., oil rig accident, oil rig accident attorney, oil rig accident lawyer
Black Elk Energy Tuesday night suspended the search for the body of a second oil rig worker who is missing and presumed dead following an explosion last week on a platform the company owns in the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.blackelkenergy.com/temp-docs/Statement-20-November-12.pdf
Black Elk posted a statement on its website.
“Based on the advice and counsel of search rescue experts who have been engaged in this effort since the outset, Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations LLC announced Tuesday evening it will suspend formal search and rescue efforts after more than 100 hours,” the company said.
“In conducting a thorough and robust search effort, Black Elk worked closely with state and federal agencies including Plaquemines Parish, U.S. Coast Guard, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement as well as private industry experts,” it said.
“The search encompassed more than 1,400 square miles of Gulf waters through the efforts of three commercial dive boats; search and rescue dogs; beach and near shore searches and several helicopter companies that fly in support of surface search efforts,” Black Elk said. ” We also completed a perimeter search surrounding the platforms up to and extending 150’ outward.”
In closing, the company said, “We will continue to remain focused on the victims and their families, including those injured in the incident. An official investigation is underway and we will continue to cooperate with all authorities as this process develops.”
On Saturday evening the body of one missing oil worker was recovered.
“The U.S. Coast Guard transported the individual to its station in Grand Isle, La.,” Black Elk said.”The local fire chief and ambulance service received the body around11:45 pm. The body was taken to the corners office in Jefferson Parish.”
http://www.blackelkenergy.com/temp-docs/Black-Elk-Expanding-Search-for-Missing-Worker.pdf
The accident remains under investigation. According to The Wall Street Journal, 14 of the 22 of the workers on Black Elk’s platform were actually employees of Grand Ilse Shipyard Inc. And The Journal reported that last year Grand Isle Shipyard workers from the Philippines filed suit against the company.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323622904578129562045592532.html
In the lawsuit, the Filipino workers alleged that Grand Isle recruited them from their home country and then overworked them, underpaid them and threatened to deport them, according to The Journal. Some of the workers injured last week on Black Elk’s platform were Filipino.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 22nd November 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
truck crash, veteran train crash
The train crash that killed four veterans in Texas a week ago is a tragedy piled upon tragedy. It turns out that the man who was driving the flatbed truck, filled with vets, that was struck is a veteran himself. And according to his lawyer, he has been “traumatized” by the accident, according to the Los Angeles Times.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-midland-train-crash-driver-identified-20121120,0,4627193.story
The truck driver was identified as Dale Andrew Hayden, 50, who has received hate mail since the crash in Midland, Texas, his lawyer told the Los Angeles Times.
Hayden was driving a truck that was acting as a float in a parade honoring veterans, carrying about a dozen of them. As that trucks crossed some rail tracks, it was struck by an oncoming train, killing four veterans and injuring others.
Hayden, who didn’t sustain any physical injuries in the accident, works for Smith Industries, which is an oil field equipment manufacturing company, according to the Los Angeles Times.
He has been cooperating with a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) probe into the accident, giving it a blood sample the day after the crash, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The NTSB has already found that the rail crossing’s safety gear, such as its flashing lights and gates, were working when the accident happened. The lights went on 20 seconds before the truck came to the crossing, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The organizers of the parade honoring the veterans did not seek or get a permit from Midland to hold the event, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 22nd November 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
multiple vehicle pileup, truck accident, truck crash
Two people died and more than 80 were injured Thanksgiving morning in a pileup that involved about 140 vehicles on a foggy highway in Beaumont, Texas, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/22/texas-highway-pileup-crash_n_2175909.html?ncid=webmail1
The crash took place at 8:45 a.m. Thursday on Interstate 10 about 80 miles east of Houston, and photos of the mess showed trucks and cars piled on top of each other, AP reported.
The victims who were killed were a man and a woman in a who were in a Chevy Suburban SUV that a tractor trailer landed on top of, according to AP.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department in a press release said that 80 to 90 people were hospitalized, with about a dozen of them in serious to critical condition. There were 140 to 150 vehicles involved in the tragic incident.
The local sheriff told AP that the fog was so dense on Interstate 10 that initially his deputies didn’t even know that there were accidents.
There were actually accidents on both sides of the highway, with one crash leading to a chain reaction of other crashes, leavings cars and trucks piled on top of each other, AP reported.
Authorities and motorists who weren’t hurt both went through the wreckage to help find survivors, AP said.
Interstate 10 was closed for more than eight hours.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 1st December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
oil drilling accident, oil field accident, oil field accident lawyer, oil rig accident
An oilfield worker sustained serious injuries in a drilling accident on the job Friday in Winkler County, Texas, according to NewsWest9.com
http://www.newswest9.com/story/20233261/winkler-county-oilfield-worker
The unidentified worker was flown to Medical Center Hospital in Odessa after reportedly being hit in the chest with tongs, NewsWest9.com reported.
The man worked for Nabors Drilling, and was transported by air from Kermit to Odessa.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 3rd December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal truck crash, truck accident, truck crash
A 22-yearold Minnesota man was killed in an accident Saturday evening when he missed a stop sign and crashed into a semi truck in Pierce County, Wis., according to the Pioneer Press.
http://www.twincities.com/wisconsin/ci_22111742/prescott-wis-man-killed-crash-identified
The victim was identified as Matthew Douglas Amos of Cottage Grove, Minn. He was declared dead at the scene of the accident on U.S. 10 in Oak Grove Township.
The passenger in Amos’ Oldsmobile sedan, Nancy Graves, 22, of St. Paul, was transported to Regions Hospital, the Pioneer Press reported. She remained in the hospital.
The driver of the truck was Michael Morgans of Tomah, Wis. He wasn’t hurt in the accident.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 7th December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
oil rig accident, oil rig accident lawyer, oilfield accident
Four oilfield workers in West Texas sustained serious burns in a rig accident this week, according to Permianbasin360.com.
http://permianbasin360.com/fulltext?nxd_id=236562
The mishap took place in Reeves County, at an Eagle Gas rig that was roughly three miles from Pecos on Farm to Market Road 1450.
One of the injured workers was transported by helicopter to a local hospital, while the three others were taken by plane to Reeves County Memorial Hospital in Pecos, Permianbasin360.com reported.
The names of the workers were not released, and authorities had not determined the cause of the fire.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 7th December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
oil rig accident lawyer, oil rig accidents, Oilfield accident lawyer, Oilfield accidents, Texas oilfield accidents
A oilfield worker in Levelland, Texas, was hospitalized Thursday following an accident at the Oxy Lease on Wildcat Road, south of Farm to Market Road 1585, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2012-12-07/levelland-man-taken-hospital-after-oilfield-accident#.UMKg3ayXmiA
Levelland EMTs were called to the scene around 10:30 a.m., and they transported the 42-year-old worker to University Medical Center with “non-life threatening” injuries, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported.
Apparently, the male worker was hurt when there was “a blow-out” on a carbon dioxide line when workers were testing oil quality.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will lead the investigation of the workplace accident.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 7th December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Dale Andrew Hayden, fatal parade crash, Texas veterans' parade crash, train crash, truck crash
West Texas police have decided not to file any charges against the driver of a parade float, carrying veterans, that was struck by a train, killing four ex-servicemen, according to the Los Angeles Times.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-police-no-charges-against-driver-in-texas-train-crash-20121207,0,5043575.story
What’s perplexing to me is why the police department in Midland, Texas, decided not to take any action against Dale Andrew Hayden, even though it and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) never even interviewed him, according to The New York Times.
Hayden, himself a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, wasn’t questioned by officials even though the accident took place on Nov. 15.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/us/driver-in-texas-fatal-parade-crash-has-not-been-interviewed.html
The NTSB said that while Hayden had not declined to be interviewed, he also had failed to make himself available, The New York Times reported.
Midland police said that they have a report coming on the crash that may offer more insight as to why it isn’t charging Hayden, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Hayden was driving a flatbed truck carrying 12 veterans and their wives as part of a local celebration honoring the men for their military service. As the truck was crossing the tracks, it was hit broadside by the train. Safety officials have said that the crossing’s warning bells and lights were working when Hayden drove across the tracks.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 9th December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Learjet crash, plane crash, Singer Jenni Rivera killed in plane crashl
Mexican-American star singer Jenni Rivera was feared dead in the crash of a small Learjet Sunday in northern Mexico, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-12-09/plane-of-singer-jenni-rivera-missing-in-mexico
The wreckage of the plane was found, with no survivors. Mexican authorities said that the remains at the scene were unrecognizable and have not confirmed Rivera’s death. But her father, Pedro Rivera, told AP that he believes Jenni was in fact on that plane.
Rivera, 43, was from Long Beach, Calif. She described her personal woes in her songs, and was known as the “Diva de la Banda,” according to AP. At her young age, she already had five kids, two grand kids and had been married three times, AP said.
Rivera had been going from Monterrey, Mexico, where she had just performed, to Toluco, which is not far from Mexico City. The plane was a Learjet 25, and it was reported missing 10 minutes after it took off, AP reported.
Authorities said that Rivera’s PR person, lawyer and makeup artist were also aboard the Learjet, according to AP.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 11th December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
bicycle accidents, fatalities, highway accident deaths, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, truck accident fatalities, truck accidents
Last year deaths from traffic accidents involving large trucks, as well as bicyclists, jumped dramatically, even as overall highway fatalities dove to their lowest level since 1949, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported Monday.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2012/New+NHTSA+Analysis+Shows+2011+Traffic+Fatalities+Declined+by+Nearly+Two+Percent
In its analysis, the NHTSA said that that highway deaths fell to 32,367 in 2011, a 1.9 percent decrease from the previous year. The updated 2011 data shows the continuation of the “historic downward trend” in recent years of traffic fatalities, representing a 26 percent decline since 2005.
“The latest numbers show how the tireless work of our safety agencies and partners, coupled with significant advances in technology and continued public education, can really make a difference on our roadways,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “As we look to the future, it will be more important than ever to build on this progress by continuing to tackle head-on issues like seat belt use, drunk driving, and driver distraction.”
But the numbers for trucks and bicyclists took a surprisingly upturn. Fatalities increased among large truck occupants 20 percent and among pedal cyclists 8.7 percent.
“NHTSA is working with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to gather more detailed information on the large truck occupant crashes to better understand the increase in fatalities in 2011,” the NHTSA said in a press release.
Deaths for of pedestrians rose 3 percent, and were up 2.1 percent for motorcycle riders.
Although Americans drove fewer miles in 2011 than in 2010, the nearly 2 percent drop in roadway deaths significantly “outpaced the corresponding 1.2 percent decrease in vehicle miles traveled,” according to the press release.
And the updated Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) information showed that last year also saw the lowest fatality rate ever recorded, with 1.10 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2011, down from 1.11 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2010.
Other statistics included:
- Fatalities declined by 4.6 percent for occupants of passenger cars and light trucks (including SUVs, minivans and pickups).
- Deaths in crashes involving drunk drivers dropped 2.5 percent in 2011, taking 9,878 lives compared to 10,136 in 2010.
- The number of people killed in distraction-affected crashes rose to 3,331 in 2011 from 3,267 in 2010, an increase of 1.9 percent. NHTSA believes this increase can be attributed in part to increased awareness and reporting.
An estimated 387,000 people were injured in distraction-affected crashes, a 7 percent decline from the estimated 416,000 people injured in such crashes in 2010, according to the press release.
Thirty-six states had fewer traffic fatalities, led by Connecticut (100 fewer fatalities), North Carolina (93 fewer), Tennessee (86 fewer), Ohio (64 fewer) and Michigan (53 fewer).
“In the past several decades, we’ve seen remarkable improvements in both the way motorists behave on our roadways and in the safety of the vehicles they drive, and we’re confident that NHTSA’s 5-Star Safety Ratings Program and nationwide collaborations like ‘Click It or Ticket’ and ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ have played a key role in making our roads safer,” NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said in a statement.
“Even as we celebrate the progress we’ve made in recent years, we must remain focused on addressing the safety issues that are continuing to claim more than 30,000 lives each year.”
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 21st December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal truck accident, tractor trailer accident, truck accident
An 18-wheel tractor-trailer crashed into several cars Wednesday afternoon on Long Island, starting a chain reaction of multiple-vehicle accidents that left one woman dead and 33 others injured, according to the Associated Press.
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP7ca73b7a12f2407b8637b6921f6c7c7e.html
About 35 vehicles ended up in the pileup on the Long Island Expressway (LIE) in Shirley, N.Y. The tractor-trailer that started it all wound up on fire, along with several other vehicles. The fatality, a 68-year-old resident of Blue Point, was dead at the scene, AP reported.
The tractor-trailer driver, Raymond Simoneau, 42, of Vermont, was driving east on the LIE when he hit several cars at 2:40 p.m., starting a pileup that stretched across the many lanes of the LIE, according to AP. He wasn’t hurt.
Authorities were investigating why Simoneau seemed to lose control of his truck and crash into other vehicles. Weather like fog wasn’t to blame, since the accident took place on a sunny day.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 26th December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Blitz USA, gasoline can explosions, gasoline can flashbacks, gasoline can lawsuits
Here’s another gas can explosion — a so-called “flashback” — to add to the list, with this one injuring six children in Texas on Christmas Eve, according to the Associated Press.
http://news.yahoo.com/6-children-hurt-gas-explodes-texas-210823755.html#
Apparently the kids were playing near an open fire pit in McKinney, Texas, and one of them poured some gasoline from the gas can onto the fire, AP reported.
The child then left the can near the fire pit, never a good idea. As has happened in many previous accidents, some of them fatal, the fumes from the gas can ignited and it exploded. In other words, the gas fumes outside the can ignited and followed the vapor trail back to the can, make it burst like a bomb.
The six children were right by the can when it blew up, and they were burned by the flames, according to AP.
Four of the kids, who suffered serious burns, were airlifted to a hospital in Dallas. Two others were also in the hospital, one with serious injuries and one with minor burns. The children ranged in age from 4 to 11, AP reported, and apparently had been left unsupervised in the backyard.
This type of incident is not an isolated case. The New York Times did a story on the issue, which I blogged about, in October.
http://semi-accident.com/blog/2012/10/bankrupt-gasoline-can-maker-isnt-the-victim-of-frivolous-suits.html
The article was about a gas-can manufacturer called Blitz USA, which said it was forced to file for bankruptcy protection because of the cost of litigating lawsuits charging that its red plastic containers were dangerous. Blitz USA has been sued more than 60 times, with one of the suits involving a death.
There is a relatively easy solution to the safety hazard posed by gas cans: All you have to do is install a device called a flame arrester near the opening of the can. A flame arrester is a piece of wire mesh that prevents fire from entering the gas can’s opening. That basically puts the kibosh on any flashbacks.
Apparently, the gas can in the Christmas Eve case didn’t have a flamer arrester. I wonder if it was manufactured by Blitz USA.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 27th December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
North Dakota, semi accident, truck crash
Six men died in Jamestown, N.D., Wednesday when their pickup truck hit an icy patch on Interstate 94, went out of control and was hit by a semi, according to The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/384444/group/homepage/
The pickup truck was traveling west on I-94 when the driver lost control, and the vehicle went over a median. The pickup was then hit by the semi, which was traveling east on the interstate, The Forum reported.
Three of the pickup’s passengers were thrown from the vehicle, and all six — none of whom was wearing seat belts — were killed. The driver of the semi, a 23-year-old, was taken to Jamestown Regional Medical Center for minor injuries.
The fatal accident took place at about 10:30 a.m., and at that time roads in Jamestown were icy and had slick compacted snow, according to The Forum.
Authorities said that it was the worst accident, in terms of the number of fatalities, in recent memory in North Dakota.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 28th December 2012 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal truck accident, tractor trailer accident, truck accident, truck crash
Three Georgia residents were killed Thursday in a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike involving a tractor-trailer, according to The Star-Ledger of Newark.
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2012/12/turnpike_accident_seriously_in.html
Police are investigating the cause of the accident in Mount Laurel, where a tractor-trailer struck the rear of a Toyota Camry at 10 a.m., The Ledger reported. The Camry’s male driver, 51, a woman passenger, 49, and a 12-year-old boy passenger were all declared dead at the scene.
The three were believed to be family members, according to The Ledger, as was an 18-year female teen who survived the accident.
The names of the victims were not made public, but they came from Stone Mountain, Ga.
The tractor-trailer driver was not hurt in the crash, nor was the driver of a Ford Edge that was also part of the accident, The Ledger reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 3rd January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
semi accidents, semi truck accidents, semi-crashes, truck accident attorney, truck accidents
Three people were injured Wednesday when two semi trucks carrying logs collided in Minnesota near the Canadian border, according to Northlands News Center.
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/iron-range/Three-Airlifted-to-Duluth-Following-Accident-with-Semi-Truck-185496412.html
The trio of victims from the accident in International Falls, Minn., were airlifted to Essentia Health St. Mary’s hospital in Duluth.
Northlands News Center reported that at roughly noon one of the semis slowed down because of a vehicle on the side of the road on Highway 11. That truck was then hit in the rear by a second semi. The second semi jack-knifed and hit an oncoming pickup truck, according to Northlands News Center.
A passenger in the pickup, Nicholas Phillips, 26, of Indiana was airlifted to receive medical care, as were two others, Northlands News Center reported. Phillips was in serious condition
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 4th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
$1.4 billion settlement, BP, Clean Water Act, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Department of Justice, Gulf of Mexico, oil rig accidents, Transocean Deepwater Inc.
Transocean Deepwater Inc. has agreed to pay a record $1.4 billion to settle charges stemming from its part in the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, where 11 workers were killed and almost 5 million barrels of oil were dumped into the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Justice and Transocean both announced the settlement Thursday, a deal that entails $1 billion in civil penalties and $400 million in criminal fines.
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/January/13-ag-004.html
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=113031&p=irol-newsArticle_print&ID=1770985&highlight=
Transocean agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA). The criminal information and a proposed partial civil consent decree to resolve the U.S. government’s civil penalty claims against Transocean and related entities were filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Transocean was the owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that was leased by BP and then exploded and sank when a oil well blew out.
“These important agreements, which the company believes to be in the best interest of its shareholders and employees, remove much of the uncertainty associated with the accident,” Transocean said in a statement. “This is a positive step forward, but it is also a time to reflect on the 11 men who lost their lives aboard the Deepwater Horizon. Their families continue to be in the thoughts and prayers of all of us at Transocean.”
Transocean signed a cooperation and guilty plea agreement with the government admitting its criminal conduct, according to the Justice Department. As part of the plea agreement, Transocean has agreed, subject to the court’s approval, to pay $400 million in criminal fines and penalties and to continue its ongoing cooperation in the government’s criminal investigation.
In addition, pursuant to the terms of a proposed partial civil consent decree, Transocean Ocean Holdings LLC, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., Transocean Deepwater Inc. and Triton Asset Leasing GMBH have agreed to pay an additional $1 billion to resolve federal Clean Water Act civil penalty claims for the massive, three-month-long oil spill at the Macondo Well and the Transocean drilling rig Deepwater Horizon.
Under the civil settlement, the Transocean defendants also must implement court-enforceable measures to improve the operational safety and emergency response capabilities at all their drilling rigs working in waters of the United States.
The Department of Justice has agreed that it will not pursue further prosecution of Transocean and its subsidiaries for any conduct regarding any matters under investigation by the Deepwater Horizon Task Force relating to or arising out of the Macondo well blowout, explosion, spill or response, Transocean said in its press release.
“This resolution of criminal allegations and civil claims against Transocean brings us one significant step closer to justice for the human, environmental and economic devastation wrought by the Deepwater Horizon disaster,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
“This agreement holds Transocean criminally accountable for its conduct and provides nearly a billion dollars in criminal and civil penalties for the benefit of the Gulf states,” he said. “I am particularly grateful today to the many Justice Department personnel and federal investigative agency partners for the hard work that led to today’s resolution and their continuing pursuit of justice for the people of the Gulf.”
Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, also issued a statement.
“Transocean’s rig crew accepted the direction of BP well site leaders to proceed in the face of clear danger signs — at a tragic cost to many of them,” Breuer said “Transocean’s agreement to plead guilty to a federal crime, and to pay a total of $1.4 billion in criminal and civil penalties, appropriately reflects its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.”
Ignacia Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, also chimed in.
“The development and exploration of a domestic source of energy is vitally important, and it can and must be done in a responsible and sound manner. This unprecedented settlement under the Clean Water Act demonstrates that companies will be held fully accountable for their conduct and share responsibility for compliance with the laws that protect the public and the environment from harm,” Moreno said.
Court documents said that on April 20, 2010, while stationed at the Macondo well site in the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon rig underwent an uncontrolled blowout, setting off explosions and fire, which resulted in the deaths of 11 rig workers and the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
In agreeing to plead guilty, Transocean admitted that members of its crew on board the Deepwater Horizon, acting at the direction of BP’s “Well Site Leaders” or “company men,” were negligent in failing fully to investigate clear indications that the Macondo well was not secure and that oil and gas were flowing into the well.
The criminal resolution is structured to directly benefit the Gulf. According to court filings, $150 million of the $400 million criminal recovery “is dedicated to acquiring, restoring, preserving and conserving – in consultation with appropriate state and other resource managers – the marine and coastal environments, ecosystems and bird and wildlife habitat in the Gulf of Mexico and bordering states harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” the Justice Department said.
This portion of the criminal penalty will also be directed to barrier-island restoration and/or river diversion off the coast of Louisiana to further benefit and improve coastal wetlands affected by the oil spill. An additional $150 million will be used to fund improved oil spill prevention and response efforts in the Gulf through research, development, education and training.
The civil settlement secures $1 billion in civil penalties for violations of the Clean Water Act, a record amount greater than last year’s $70 million civil penalty paid by MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC, a 10 percent partner with BP in the Macondo well venture.
The unprecedented $1 billion civil penalty is subject to the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (Restore Act), which provides that 80 percent of the penalty will be to be used to fund projects in and for the Gulf states for the environmental and economic benefit of the region.
Under the civil settlement, the Transocean defendants must also observe various court-enforceable strictures in its drilling operations, aimed at reducing the chances of another blowout and discharge of oil and at improving emergency response capabilities.
Examples of these requirements include certifications of maintenance and repair of blowout preventers before each new drilling job, consideration of process safety risks, and personnel training related to oil spills and responses to other emergencies. These measures apply to all rigs operated or owned by the Transocean defendants in all U.S. waters and will be in place for at least five years.
The Justice Department said that the guilty plea agreement and criminal charge announced today are part of the ongoing criminal investigation by the Deepwater Horizon Task Force into matters related to the April 2010 Gulf oil spill.
The Deepwater Horizon Task Force, based in New Orleans, is supervised by Assistant Attorney General Breuer and led by Deputy Assistant Attorney General John D. Buretta, who serves as the director of the task force. The task force includes prosecutors from the Criminal Division and the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, as well as other U.S. Attorneys’ Offices; and investigating agents from the FBI, EPA, Department of the Interior, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
The settlement is part of the ongoing litigation against defendants BP Exploration and Production Inc., the Transocean defendants, and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (among others) for civil penalties, injunctive relief, and a declaration of unlimited liability for removal costs and damages under the Oil Pollution Act.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 5th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Escalades, General Motors recall, roll away, trucks, vans
General Motors Co. said Friday that it is recalling more than 69,000 trucks and vans because of a defect that could let the vehicles roll off after they are parked, according to Reuters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/04/us-gm-recall-idUSBRE9030HK20130104
The vehicles under the recall potentially have a steering column flaw, either “a fractured park lock cable or a malformed steering column lock actuator gear,” Reuters reported, citing documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The defects mean that a vehicle could just roll away once the driver has left it.
There haven’t been any accidents yet stemming from the defect, according to Reuters, which also said that General Motors believes most of the affected trucks and vans are in dealer lots or on their way to dealers. The automaker claims that only about one in a 1,000 recalled vehicle will have the defect, Reuters reported.
Some 55,000 of the recalled vehicle are in the United States.
The recall involves: 2013 Cadillac Escalades, Escalade EXT and Escalade ESV SUVs; Chevy Express vans; Silverado and Avalanche pickups; Tahoe and Suburban SUVs; GMS Savanna vans; Sierra pickups; and Yukon and Yukon XL SUVs.
Reuters reported that if a vehicle has the defect, a driver could go from “park” when the key is out of the ignition or the key is in the “off” position. In addition, according to Reuters the transmission could be taken out of “park” when the brake pedal is applied while the key is in the “off” position, or the key could be turned to “off” and taken out even if the shift isn’t in “park.”
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 6th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
missing plane, plane crash, Vittorio Missoni plane missing
The head of the upscale Italian fashion line Missoni, whose trademark is its zigzag pattern, is feared dead after his plane disappeared Friday off the coast of Venezuela, according to The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/world/europe/plane-carrying-italian-designer-lost-near-venezuela.html
Vittorio Missoni, owner of the Missoni label, and his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, were among the four tourists on the plane, which took off from the Los Roques resort and was en route to Caracas, The Times reported. In addition to the tourists, three were two crew members on the missing plane.
A search was continuing for the aircraft, a BN2 Islander, according to The Times.
Missioni and his wife were on vacation in Los Roques in Venezuela, which The Times said was a resort area that attracted affluent Italians.
Missoni is a family owned company, and it made headlines in 2011 when it created a low-cost line of various products for mass retailer Target. Demand for the Missoni goods the day they debuted was so high that it crashed Target’s website.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 9th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
ferry crash, New York ferry crash, traumatic brain injury
Roughly 60 people were injured Wednesday morning, including a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he fell down some stairs, when a commuter ferry crashed into a pier on the Hudson River in lower Manhattan, according to The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/nyregion/ferry-accident-in-lower-manhattan-leaves-many-injured.html?_r=0
The accident involved a boat owned by Seastreak Ferry, which transports workers from the Atlantic Highlands area of the Jersey shore to Lower Manhattan, the Wall Street area. The ferry involved in the crash, the Seastreak Wall Street, can carry up to about 500 people, The Times reported. There were 356 passengers and five crew members on the ferry Wednesday.
This week’s accident harkened back to a horrendous crash in 2003, when a Staten Island Ferry hit a pier at full speed, killing 11 people and injuring 70 others, according to The Times.
Wednesday’s accident was under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
It was around 8:45 a.m. when the ferry, coming in to drop off passengers at Pier 11, suddenly hit the dock at 10 mph, “well above the pace of its typical crawl into the dock,” The Times wrote.
Many of the ferry’s 300 passengers went flying, with some falling down stairs, including the man who had severe head trauma when he hit his head in such a tumble, according to The Times. That man and another passenger were critically hurt, and nine others had serious injuries, The Times reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 10th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal truck accident, semi accident, truck accident
A woman was killed Wednesday when her car crashed into a semi tractor head-on in Ohio, according to CantonRep.com.
http://www.cantonrep.com/news/x1441686038/Woman-dead-in-car-semi-crash-south-of-Navarre?photo=0
The fatal accident took place about 10:15 a.m. on Route 21 in Bethlehem Township, Ohio. The victim was driving a Buick Park Avenue when the car suddenly went over the center line and hit the southbound truck, Cantonrep.com reported. The front of the woman’s car was totally demolished.
The man who was driving the truck, a 52-year-old Carrollton resident, was taken to a local hospital to be checked, but appeared to be uninjured.
The crash was under investigation by the Ohio Highway Patrol, according to Cantonrep.com.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 11th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
semi accident, truck accident, Wisconsin truck accident
A car and semi collided Thursday afternoon in Superior, Wis., killing a male victim and sending a woman to the hospital, according to Northlands NewsCenter.
http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/Fatal-Car-vs-Semi-Crash-in-Superior-186396591.html
The identities of the man who died and the woman who was injured weren’t released by police.
The crash took place near the intersection of Hill Avenue and 28th Street at around 5:30 p.m., Northlands NewsCenter reported. The two victims were apparently on their way to see their grandson play in a basketball game, the media report said.
The semi driver didn’t sustain any injuries.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 16th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Boeing 787, Boeing Dreamliner, FAA bans 787s from flying, fire risk, United Airlines
After a second incident involving battery failure, Wednesday the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded the Boeing 787, the Dreamliner, until fears about its batteries sparking a fire are resolved.
In addition, Europe, Japan and India joined the United States in grounding the jet, according to Reuters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/17/us-boeing-dreamliner-idUSBRE90F1N820130117
United Airlines is currently the only U.S. airline operating the 787, with six airplanes in service.
The FAA issued a press release saying that it had issued “an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) to address a potential battery fire risk in the 787 and require operators to temporarily cease operations. Before further flight, operators of U.S.-registered, Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration that the batteries are safe.”
http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=14233
The FAA put out the order after a jet had to make an emergency landing earlier Wednesday in Japan, similar to an incident with a 787 on the ground in Boston on Jan. 7. There was an issue with the jet’s lithium ion batteries in both instances.
“The battery failures resulted in release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage, and smoke on two Model 787 airplanes,” the FAA said. “The root cause of these failures is currently under investigation. These conditions, if not corrected, could result in damage to critical systems and structures, and the potential for fire in the electrical compartment.”
A few days after the Boston incident, the FAA announced that it would conduct a comprehensive review of the Boeing 787 critical systems, including the design, manufacture and assembly.
http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=14213
Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney issued a statement about the FAA’s directive.
http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=2563
“The safety of passengers and crew members who fly aboard Boeing airplanes is our highest priority,” he said. “Boeing is committed to supporting the FAA and finding answers as quickly as possible. The company is working around the clock with its customers and the various regulatory and investigative authorities. We will make available the entire resources of The Boeing Company to assist.”
He continued, “We are confident the 787 is safe and we stand behind its overall integrity. We will be taking every necessary step in the coming days to assure our customers and the traveling public of the 787′s safety and to return the airplanes to service. Boeing deeply regrets the impact that recent events have had on the operating schedules of our customers and the inconvenience to them and their passengers.”
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 17th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
semi crash, truck crash, Utah truck crash
An accident in South Salt Lake, Utah, Thursday left a car stuck beneath a semi-trailer rig, and two men ended up in critical condition, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55648769-78/lake-salt-car-semi.html.csp
Authorities said that the small Dodge car got wedged under the semi when the truck, traveling south, attempted to make a U-turn. The car was also going south, and was unable to stop in time to avoid colliding with the semi, The Tribune said.
The two men in the car, one in his 40s and one in his 30s, had to be pried out of their wrecked vehicle. Firefighters had to take off the car’s roof with hydraulic tools to get the men out, The Tribune reported.
The two men were transported to local hospitals. The truck driver wasn’t injured.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 19th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Oilfield accident lawyer, oilfield workers, oilfield workers and fatal motor vehicle accidents
Oilfield workers apparently face more dangers on the road that out on a rig, according to a new study published by Accident Analysis & Prevention.
The research, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that oil and gas workers are 8.5 more times likely to die in a motor vehicle crashes while on the job than those in other businesses, according to FuelFix.com.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/01/18/oilfield-workers-at-higher-risk-of-fatal-motor-vehicle-accidents/
And Texas has the sad distinction of having a huge chunk of these deaths. Over one-third of oil field workers who lost their lives in traffic accidents while they were working were toiling in the Lone Star State, which has a bustling oil industry.
The study found that from 2003 and 2009, 202 gas and oil workers where killed in motor vehicle accidents while they were working, FuelFix.com said.
The data showed that motor vehicle crashes make up 28 percent of all-work related deaths in the oil industry, and it is the leading cause of deaths on the job in that business, according to FuelFix.com
The website reported that the study’s findings are no surprise to anyone who has ever worked on an oilfield. That’s because more than 50 percent of the fatal accidents involve pickup trucks, and workers don’t have to have a commercial driver’s license to get behind the wheel of those vehicles, FuelFix.com said.
Roughly 56 percent of the accidents had only one vehicle involved.
The research blamed the high accident rate in the oil industry on workers not using seat belts, long work days, long drives on country roads and driver fatigue, according to FuelFix.com.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 20th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
distracted driving, fatal distracted driving accident, tractor trailer accident, truck crash, trucks and distracted driving
Here’s an absurd case of distracted driving that resulted in someone being killed.
A tractor-trailer driver Saturday morning crashed into a car on Interstate 74 in Indiana when a lens from his eyeglasses fell to the floor, and he reached down to grab it, according to WRTV in Indianapolis. One of the passengers in the car died in the accident.
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/distracted-tractor-trailer-driver-blamed-in-crash-that-killed-24-year-old-indianapolis-man
An Impala had stopped on the side of the highway in Montgomery County so that its passengers could switch drivers, the TV station reported. Unfortunately, at that same time truck driver Max Jackson, 38, of Beech Grove had the problem with his glasses.
When Jackson tried to bent down to pick up his lens, his rig veered to the right and hit the car, according to WRTV.
As a result Hugh Guild, a 24-year-old Indianapolis man, was killed. He was the passenger who had moved from the Impala’s back seat to the front seat to drive, WRTV reported.
The original driver, Christopher Jensen, 21, of Nebraska and passenger Kentrell Vertner, 27, of Nebraska were not hurt in the crash. But front-seat passenger Sheldon Nez, 21, of Arizona, sustained head injuries and was taken to an Indianapolis hospital, according to the TV station.
Authorities didn’t charge Jackson for any violations in the accident.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 21st January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
North Dakota oilfield accident, oilfield accident, Oilfield accident lawyer
A Minnesota man was struck in the head and killed in an oilfield accident Saturday at a Halliburton fracking site in western North Dakota, according to the Duluth News Tribune.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/256260/publisher_ID/36
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration will be conducting an investigation of the circumstances of the death of Mike Krajewski, 49, of Duluth at the hydraulic fracturing site not far from Watford City, N.D., the newspaper reported.
Krajewski’s task was to pump fluids at high pressure as part of the fracking process. Somehow when he was working Saturday around 3:30 p.m. a valve was turned in the wrong direction, causing a pipe to disconnect and then hit him in the head, the News Tribune reported.
Krajewski was an Air Force veteran and dad of three who only fairly recently became an oil worker, according to the newspaper. He had owned a painting business, but last year joined a friend who was working for Halliburton in North Dakota.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 21st January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Boeing 787 grounded, jet fires
In its latest update on a fire in a Boeing 787 in Boston, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that the jet’s lithium-ion battery hadn’t been overcharged. But safety officials said are still investigating if there is a problem with any of the battery’s components.
http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2013/130120.html
In a statement Sunday the NTSB said it has examined flight recorder data from the Japan Airlines Boeing 787 airplane that had a fire Jan. 7 at Logan International Airport in Boston. That data showed that the “battery did not exceed its designed voltage of 32 volts,” according to the NTSB.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all 787s last week after a second battery incident Jan. 15 involving an All Nippon Airways B-787.
As for the Boston 787 incident, the NTSB reported that the lithium-ion battery that powered the auxiliary power unit has been examined at the safety body’s Materials Laboratory in Washington.
“The battery was X-rayed and CT scans were generated of the assembled battery,” the NTSB said. “The investigative team has disassembled the APU battery into its eight individual cells for detailed examination and documentation. Three of the cells were selected for more detailed radiographic examination to view the interior of the cells prior to their disassembly. These cells are in the process now of being disassembled and the cell’s internal components are being examined and documented.”
In addition, investigators examined several other components removed from the airplane, including wire bundles and battery-management circuit boards.
“The team has developed test plans for the various components removed from the aircraft, including the battery management unit (for the APU battery), the APU controller, the battery charger and the start power unit,” the NTSB said .
On Tuesday the group is slated to convene in Arizona to test and examine the battery charger and download nonvolatile memory from the APU controller. Several other components have been sent for download or examination to Boeing’s facility in Seattle and manufacturer’s facilities in Japan.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 21st January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
multi-vehicle pileups, multiple vehicle crashes, pileups
It seems like there have been several massive, multi-vehicle chain reactions crashes in the past few months, and you can add one in Ohio to the list now — after a freak snowstorm.
On Monday morning at about 11:30 a.m. 52 vehicles were involved in a pileup that closed down southbound Interstate 75 in Middletown, Ohio, for four hours, according to WCPO.
http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/traffic/multiple-vehicle-crash-causes-major-delays-on-sb-i-75-between-middletown-and-monroe
Weather was the culprit in the major crash, with a whiteout and blizzard-like conditions suddenly developing on the highway in just seconds, one person who witnessed the pileup said on Facebook, WCPO reported.
Miraculously, no one was killed in the accident. About 10 people were transported to area hospitals for minor injuries, according to WCPO.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 23rd January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal oilfield accidents, oilfied accident, Oilfield accident lawyer
A worker killed in an oilfield accident in North Dakota died of chest and abdominal injuries, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/572623/Man-s-oil-field-death-in-ND-ruled-an-accident.html?nav=5583
The North Dakota Medical Examiner’s Office Tuesday released the cause of death of Halliburton employee Mike Krajewski, 49, of Duluth, Minn. The death was ruled an accident,
Krajewski was struck in the chest by equipment at a hydraulic fracturing site Saturday afternoon, and died. According to AP, high pressure was to blame for sending the gear crashing into Krajewski’s chest.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration is investigating the accident.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 25th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
$45 million, boat accidents, ferry accidents, John Urbanowicz, Seastreak Wall Street ferry
The family of a man who has been hospitalized and unconscious since a Jan. 9 ferry crash in Manhattan have filed suit, seeking $45 million for the injuries he suffered, according to The Star-Ledger of Newark.
The lawsuit lodged by relatives of John Urbanowicz, 39, of Red Bank. N.J., is one of about a half dozen suits filed so far regarding the accident. More than 70 people were hurt when a commuter ferry, traveling to lower Manhattan from the Highlands at the Jersey shore, crashed into a concrete slip.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/01/lawsuit_seeking_45_million_in.html
While Urbanowicz’s family is seeking $45 million from the Seastreak Wall Street’s operator, the company contends that under maritime law its liability is capped at $7.6 million, the value of the ferry, The Ledger reported.
Urbanowicz hit his head when the ferry crashed, and hasn’t regained consciousness since, his lawyer told AP. Urbanowicz, a Wall Street broker, is in intensive care at New York-Presbyterian with injuries that include a fractured jaw and fractured skull.
A woman who sustained a spinal fracture during the crash is asking for $10 million in damages, according to The Ledger.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 29th January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
North Dakota oilfield injuries, oil accident attorney, oil accident lawyer, oil rig accidents, Oilfield accidents
Injured oilfield workers are flocking to hospitals in North Dakota, which has had an oil boom. But this deluge of patients, many of them uninsured, is taxing the state’s health care system, according to The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/us/boom-in-north-dakota-weighs-heavily-on-health-care.html?_r=0
The story, “An Oil Boom Takes a Toll on Health Care: North Dakota Hospitals Grapple With Rising Debt and a Flood of Patients,” illustrates what I already know. The oil industry is an extremely dangerous one for workers, who are falling off rigs or being injured in traffic accidents on now-crowded roads.
The story described the situation as laborers “flocking to dangerous jobs.”
The article focuses on McKenzie County Hospital in Warford City. Three years ago, the medical facility was averaging 100 emergency visits a month. With the oil boom, last year that number jumped to 400, according to The Times.
The newspaper also reported that the number of traumatic injuries has risen 200 percent from 2007 to the first half of last year.
It all offers real insight into what is happening in North Dakota.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 31st January 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
tractor trailer accident, tractor trailer crash, train crash, truck accident, truck crash
Ten people were injured Wednesday when a tractor-trailer transporting a load of paint was struck by a commuter train in Little Falls, N.J., according to The Record.
http://www.northjersey.com/littlefalls/Train_strikes_vehicle_in_Little_Falls.html
Truck driver Jaswinder Singh was attempting to make a left turn from Main Street to Fairfield Avenue, an area with a railroad crossing, but didn’t judge it correctly. He was trying to back up his truck and try again, with guidance from crossing guard Linda Knauer, 61, when the train crashed into the 53-foot-long tractor trailer, The Record reported.
Knauer was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, and was released Thursday. Eight people who were on the NJ Transit train, including the engineer, were also injured, according to The Record, as was a firefighter who came to the scene to help passengers.
The truck was hauling cans of yellow paint, which spilled all over the crash site and train.
Singh was given a summons for careless driving and for being in a railroad crossing when its gates were down, The Record reported. Singh told authorities that he doesn’t remember the gates being down.
Several business owners and Little Falls residents told the newspaper that the turn Singh was trying to make is a very difficult one for large trucks to negotiate, and that it has been a problem for years. There was also fog Wednesday morning, which may have played a factor in the accident.
http://www.northjersey.com/littlefalls/Tight_turn_near_Little_Falls_rail_crossing_has_been_a_longtime_concern.html?page=all
Singh maintained that there should have been signs warning trucks that the turn onto Fairfield Avenue was a tight one, or that trucks should be prohibited from making a left turn at the intersection, according to The Record.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 1st February 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
cellphone bans, distracted driving, LaHood leaving Department of Transporation, President Barack Obama, texting bans, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
Quite frankly, I usually don’t lament any Republican leaving public office. But I have to make an exception for U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
On Tuesday LaHood announced that after serving for four years in President Brack Obama’s cabinet, he would not be staying on for the second term. He said he will remain until is successor is name and confirmed.
http://www.dot.gov/briefing-room/us-transportation-secretary-lahood-announces-he-will-not-serve-second-term
LaHood was a staunch advocate for public safety. And while many are lauding him for the many jobs his department created with its work on the nation’s transportation infrastructure, that’s not why I’ll miss him.
LaHood was a fierce supporter of laws to prevent distracted driving, setting an example for many states. In his list of the Department of Transportation’s accomplishments, there is reference to this topic.
http://www.dot.gov/sites/dot.dev/files/docs/Accomplishments%20Overview%20US%20Department%20of%20Transportation_0.pdf
“Safety is DOT’s primary mission,” the list said. “Secretary LaHood created the U.S. Department of Transportation Safety Council to identify and address the top safety issues that cut across all DOT agencies and to ensure an even stronger safety culture throughout the department.”
It continued, “DOT launched an aggressive national campaign in 2009 to end the dangerous practice of distracted driving, and specifically texting and cell phone use behind the wheel. In 2009, only 18 states had laws against texting and driving. Today, 39 states, D.C., Guam and the Virgin Islands ban texting while driving, and 10 states, D.C., Guam and the Virgin Islands ban all hand-held cell phone use behind the wheel.”
In an email to DOT employees, LaHood said, “Our achievements are significant. We have put safety front and center with the Distracted Driving Initiative and a rule to combat pilot fatigue that was decades in the making. We have made great progress in improving the safety of our transit systems, pipelines, and highways, and in reducing roadway fatalities to historic lows. We have strengthened consumer protections with new regulations on buses, trucks, and airlines.”
It’s all true.
LaHood, a former GOP congressman from Illinois, was the sole Republican in Obama’s cabinet. The president praised LaHood for his work as head of transportation.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/29/statement-president-secretary-transportation-ray-lahood
“I want to thank Secretary LaHood for his dedication, his hard work, and his years of service to the American people – including the outstanding work he’s done over the last four years as Secretary of Transportation,” Obama said in his statement.
“I also want to thank Ray for his friendship,” the president added. “Years ago, we were drawn together by a shared belief that those of us in public service owe an allegiance not to party or faction, but to the people we were elected to represent. And Ray has never wavered in that belief.”
In his email, LaHood said, “I’ve told President Obama, and I’ve told many of you, that this is the best job I’ve ever had. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to work with all of you and I’m confident that DOT will continue to achieve great things in the future.”
I hope so Secretary LaHood. You will be missed.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 1st February 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
gas grill safety, Hannah Storm, Hannah Storm PSAs, National Fire Protection Association, Super Bowl
Don’t end up grilling yourself when you barbeque those steaks during the big game Sunday.
On the eve of the Super Bowl, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is making good use of PSAs that “ESPN Sports Center” anchor Hannah Storm did about the dangers of gas grills. Storm, if you remember, sustained serious burns to her face and neck while using a grill in December.
In a missive to consumers, the NFPA put out an alert about grilling safety.
http://ebm.e.nfpa.org/c/tag/hBRDBxrAQPK-TB8wnynNslXMIjd/doc.html?t_params=EMAIL%3Dg%2540gordonjohnson.com%26PASSWORD%3DAQPK-TNslXMIBRDBxrGlmaxKGAYRV%2524
“This weekend many of you will be using your grills for your Super Bowl celebration,” the NFPA said. “’ESPN Sports Center’ anchor Hannah Storm has an important message for you based on a terrifying incident that she recently experienced.”
“In December 2012, she was badly burned while preparing to cook dinner for her children on her gas grill. After wind blew out the flame, propane gas pooled and became an explosive fireball when she attempted to re-ignite it. Hannah suffered serious burns and wanted to do what she could to make sure that others would not have to experience what she went through.”
“Grills are involved in thousands of fires per year that result in injuries and sometimes even death. You can prevent most grilling fires by following a few basic safety tips. The next time you are grilling, whether it is this weekend for the Super Bowl or later this year, please remember Hannah’s message and keep fire safety in mind.
In the video clip, Storm warns viewers that if their gas grill goes off, they should wait at least 15 minutes until trying to re-light it.
The NFPA also noted on its website that “flammable or combustible gas or liquid was the item first ignited in half of home outdoor grill fires.”
http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=298&itemID=18346&URL=Safety%20Information/For%20consumers/Outdoors/Grilling&order_src=D225&cookie_test=1
The safety organization said that Storm feels that it is “important to tell and share this story because it was a very simple mistake that I made, but it was a very common mistake. People all over the world grill and they grill all the time, and most of the people that I know really don’t understand the proper procedures.”
In a statement NFPA Vice President of Communications Lorraine Carli said, “Fires and burn injuries are not only traumatic for the person, but for the family and community as well. Hannah is very courageous to share the personal details of her fire experience and burn injury to remind the public to take steps to prevent fires and avoid injuries.”
The NFPA also offered these facts:
- In 2006-2010, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 8,600 home and outside fires. These 8,600 fires caused an annual average of 10 civilian deaths, 140 civilian injuries and $75 million in direct property damage.
- More than one-quarter (28 percent) of the home structure fires involving grills started on a courtyard, terrace or patio; 28 percent started on an exterior balcony or open porch; and 6 percent started in the kitchen.
- Flammable or combustible gas or liquid was the item first ignited in almost half of home outdoor grill fires. In almost half (46 percent) of the home outdoor fires in which grills were involved, 53 percent of the outside gas grills, and 26 percent of gas grill structure fires, the fire started when a flammable or combustible gas or liquid caught fire.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 9th February 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Boeing 787, Deborah Hersman, Federal Aviation Administration, fire, investigation, lithium-ion batteries, National Transportation Safety Board, smoke
Federal safety officials are still going back and forth, and doing some finger-pointing, over the lithium-ion batteries that have proved so problematic on Boeing’s new 787 jets.
The New York Times Friday had a story in which Deborah Hersman, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), accused the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of accepting test results from Boeing about the batteries that weren’t quite up to snuff about the smoke and fire danger they posed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/business/us-officials-fault-faa-for-missing-787-battery-risk.html?hp&_r=1&
Hersman told the press that in terms of the battery, one of its eight cells short circuited and that spread a fire to the rest of the cells. But she said that the tests Boeing did on the battery did not give any hint that they could catch on fire, “and concluded that they were likely to emit smoke less than once in every 10 million flight hours,” according to The Times.
Unfortunately, during two flights last month the batteries got hot and released smoke twice, and caused a fire, after just about 50,000 hours of flight, The Times reported.
A fire that started on a 787 at a Boston airport on Jan. 7 began with a short circuit in one cell and then spread to other cells, Hersman said at her press conference, according to The Times.
But no one had figured out yet what caused that short circuit in that cell that led it to overheat to 500 degrees, spreading to the other cells.
There’s a lot of Monday-morning quarterbacking going on here now, with some scientists saying that the batteries need to be bigger to leave a bigger separation between their cells.
Battery experts said that the finding pinpointed one step Boeing could take to make the batteries safer: It could expand the size of the battery to create more physical separation between the cells. Ralph J. Brodd, a battery industry consultant in Henderson, Nev., said Boeing and its Japanese battery subcontractor, GS Yuasa, could make the design and manufacturing changes needed to do that fairly quickly.
But unless the feds and Boeing folks doing the investigation still have to figure out what made the first cell short circuit, according to The Times.
Two possibilities have already been crossed off the list, namely a mechanical or electrical shock from outside the battery, The Times reported.
Boeing issued a response to Hersman’s comments.
http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=2586
“Boeing welcomes the progress reported by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the 787 investigation, including that the NTSB has identified the origin of the event as having been within the battery,” it said. “The findings discussed today demonstrated a narrowing of the focus of the investigation to short circuiting observed in the battery, while providing the public with a better understanding of the nature of the investigation.”
The Boeing statement continued, “The 787 was certified following a rigorous Boeing test program and an extensive certification program conducted by the FAA. We provided testing and analysis in support of the requirements of the FAA special conditions associated with the use of lithium ion batteries. We are working collaboratively to address questions about our testing and compliance with certification standards, and we will not hesitate to make changes that lead to improved testing processes and products.”
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 16th February 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Cessna 310 plane crash, plane crash
Three people were killed in a plane crash Thursday not far from Vero Beach , Fla., according to news reports by Inquisitr and WPTV.
http://www.inquisitr.com/526895/indian-river-county-plane-crash-2013-video/#Z0rpHTDTWkdasoFB.99
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_st_lucie_county/missing-cessna-310-plane-found-in-indian-river-county
The Cessna 310 left from Okeechobee en route to Bartow when a Miami control tower lost contact with it around 4:30 p.m.
Rescue teams mounted a search for the plane Thursday, and due to bad weather stopped the hunt and resumed it Friday. They found the aircraft 20 miles from Vero Beach, Inquisitr reported. It was located in the Fort Drum Conservation Area.
The crash site was a marsh, so rescuers were brought down to the area by a United States Coast Guard helicopter. The bodies of the three victims were then retrieved.
They were not immediately identified. National Transportation Safety Board officials told Inquisitr that they wouldn’t have a preliminary cause of the crash until the end of the month.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 17th February 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal tractor trailer crash, TBI, tractor trailer accident, traumatic brain injury, truck accident
A 69-year-old man sustained traumatic brain injury (TBI) when his pickup truck and a tractor trailer collided in Pennsylvania last Thursday, according to Phillyburbs.com.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/quakertown/crash-victim-has-serious-brain-injury/article_8b789a83-40bd-5a67-add6-6017003911ae.html
The accident victim, who Sunday remained hospitalized, hasn’t been identified by authorities.
About 10 a.m. a John Christner tractor trailer struck the pickup at the intersection of Route 309 and West Pumping Station Road, Phillyburbs.com reported. The pickup was thrown over an embankment and fell into a retention basin near a shopping center.
The pickup’s driver was flown to a local hospital for care of his brain injuries, Phillyburbs.com said.
The tractor trailer driver, a 39-year-old Tennessee man, submitted to blood tests at a local hospital.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 22nd February 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
jet crash, medical plane crash, plane crash
Five people were killed Wednesday night when a small jet crashed at a Georgia airport, according to the Savannah Morning News.
http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2013-02-21/thomson-jet-crash-kills-5-2-survivors-hospitalized#.USeccPJ9tvQ
The plane, which had seven people on board, landed at Thomson-Duffie County Airport in Thomson, Ga., about 8 p.m. and then ran off the runway. The jet was owned and operated by Vein Guys, a medical chain with outlets in several Southeastern cities, the Savannah Morning News reported.
The pilot and a passenger survived the crash of the Hawker Beechcraft 390/Premier I, according to the newspaper.
The jet had taken off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville en route to the airport in Thomson.
The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the cause of the accident. Authorities hadn’t released the identity of the victims.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 22nd February 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Congress, Federal Aviation Administration, flght controllers, flight delays, furloughs, NPR, sequestration
Get ready for flight delays and more sitting out on the tarmac for hours if automated federal budget cuts take place this coming Friday, March 1, according to NPR. Congress will have to act in order for this s0-called sequestration to be averted.
http://www.wbur.org/npr/172524523/one-place-you-may-notice-the-sequester-at-the-airport?utm_source=cc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nwsltr-13-02-21
All federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will take a haircut in their spending if Washington doesn’t come to a consensus about the federal budget and the deficit.
The head of the Office of Management and Budget told the Senate last week, according to NPR, that the FAA will lose $600 million in funding is the slated federal budget cutbacks go forward. That will force the FAA to put most of its 47,000 employees on a furlough one day a week for the rest of the year.
That means that air traffic controllers will have to take this forced day, for example, as well as FAA technicians, who monitor and fix equipment such as radar and navigation systems.
What this will add up to, in a nutshell, is delays in your flights because of this diminished staffing.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 23rd February 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
conspiracy, criminal fraud, federal indictment, Peanut Corp. of America, peanut salmonella outbreak, salmonella outbreak, Stewart Parnell
In the wake of one of the deadliest salmonella outbreaks, the ex-owner and several workers of a now-closed peanut company have been named in a 76-count indictment that charges fraud and conspiracy, according to The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/business/us-charges-former-owner-and-employees-in-peanut-salmonella-case.html?_r=0
Stewart Parnell, the former owner of Peanut Corp. of America (PCA), was among those charged in the indictment, which legal experts told The Times was very unusual. They said that the government rarely brings criminal charges in food safety cases.
The difference in the PCA case is that authorities believe that Parnell and PCA shipped peanut products that they knew were contaminated around the country, sparking a salmonella outbreak in 2009 that killed nine people and made more than 700 sick, according to The Times. In contrast, most food safety cases involve negligence, unknowingly distributing tainted goods.
Parnell’s defense attorney denied the charges, saying his client did not know that the PCA products were contaminated.
The indictment charges that Parnell, two PCA employees and a broker knew that a lab had found salmonella in peanut products made in the company’s plant in Blakely, Ga., but they did not tell their customers about those test results, The Times reported.
http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/resources/61201322111426350488.pdf
PCA filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and a fifth person has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the case.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 1st March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
tractor trailer accident, truck accident
There’s a reason why school crossing guards are stationed at corners.
On Thursday morning a 6-year-old boy was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer in East Harlem. The crossing guard who was stationed at the intersection – First Avenue and 117th Street — where the child was hit never showed up for work that morning, according to The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/nyregion/guard-was-not-at-east-harlem-crossing-when-truck-killed-boy-6.html?_r=0
Amar Diarrassouba and his brother, 9, were crossing First Avenue on their way to Pubic School 155 when a tractor-trailer turning right from 117th Street hit Amar, The Times reported.
Crossing guard Flavia Roman was supposed to be at the intersection where Amar was hit at 7 a.m. The boy was struck at 7:54 a.m. A man on a bike tried to help the boy, who was lying in a pool of blood in the street. Amar was taken to Harlem Hospital, but was in cardiac arrest and died.
Shortly before the accident, Roman had lied about her whereabouts. She had called into the police station for the 23rd Precinct, which is procedure, to tell the youth officer there she was at her post, according to The Times. Obviously, she wasn’t.
Roman was suspended without pay. New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told The Times that Roman won’t be charged criminally, but will likely face administrative charges. She could be just reprimanded, or she could lose her job.
The truck driver, Robert Carroll, 42, of Woodbury, N.J., had a green light when he made his turn. According to press accounts, he said he didn’t see Amar, who had the right of way, according to the New York Post.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/crossing_guard_lied_truck_supervisor_cYH04eesvfDLz01iuQxZIO
Carroll was given a summons for failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care, the Post reported.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 2nd March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
tanker truck crash, truck accident, truck crash
A tanker truck transporting 1,400 gallons of gas was struck head-on by a Chevy Malibu in Worcester, Mass., Friday, in a multi-vehicle crash, according to WHDH.
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/10009986529915/tanker-truck-accident-ties-up-traffic-in-worcester/
The Malibu was traveling south on West Babylon Street, or Route 12, when it suddenly crossed a median and hit three parked cars. At that exact time, the tanker was driving north and hit the Malibu, WHDH reported.
Witnesses said that the Malibu was moving at about 30 mph and didn’t slow down as it went over the median and struck the tanker truck head-on.
Amazingly, none of the vehicles involved in the accident exploded. But the driver of the Malibu appeared to be in bad shape. He was taken to a local hospital, and wasn’t identified by police, WHDH said.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 2nd March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
oil rig accidents, Oilfield accidents
An oil rig worker died Monday in an accident at an oil well in Carroll County, Ohio, according to the Times Reporter of Dover-New Philadelphia.
http://www.timesreporter.com/newsnow/x898139064/Coroner-rules-on-cause-of-death-in-oil-rig-accident
Abdal Audeh, 28, of New Philadelphia died of massive blunt-impact injuries to his chest, the Stark County Coroner found Tuesday. Audeh was working at an oil-well site run by R.E. Gas Development, part of Rex Energy Corp., in Washington Township, when the fatal incident took place.
He and Alex Cox of Cadiz, Ohio, were working on a rig at 4 p.m. Monday, and they neglected to attach a safety line, The Times Reporter said. That line stops drilling gear from swinging on an oil platform and striking workers. As it turned out, both men were struck by a piece of equipment.
Audeh was brought to Aultman Hospital in Canton, where he died at 5:30 p.m., according to the Times Reporter. Cox had a head injury, and was treated and released at Mercy Medical Center in Canton. Both men worked for Sidewinder Drilling, which is headquartered in Houston. They were Rex Energy contractors.
“Yesterday afternoon, the Sidewinder Drilling family tragically lost a dedicated and valued member of our team,” Travis Fitts, senior vice president of HR and HSE, Sidewinder Drilling, said in a prepared statement, which was printed by the Times Reporter.
“Our deepest sympathies remain with our colleague’s family and friends as they mourn this loss. Sidewinder Drilling is working with all relevant authorities to investigate this accident and determine its cause. We are also reviewing all corporate-wide safety training and procedures. Our company has no higher priority than the safety of our employees.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has already started investigating the accident, the local newspaper said.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 3rd March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
distracted driving, tractor trailer accident, tractor trailer crash, truck accident, truck crash, Wisconsin
Six people, including members of a Wisconsin family, were killed when a tractor-trailer crashed into an SUV Saturday in Kentucky, according to USA Today. Police suspect that a second accident just minutes later was caused by drivers who were rubbernecking and distracted.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/02/ky-crash-kills-6/1959595/
The SUV-tractor trailer accident shortly after 11 a.m. in Elizabethtown, Ky., was followed less than a half hour later by another crash on the other side of Interstate 65. Three people hurt in that multi-vehicle pileup.
The victims in the SUV, a Ford Expedition, were on their way home from Orlando, Fla., to Marion, Wis., when it was rear-ended by the tractor-trailer, USA Today said. Their SUV burst into flames after it was hit, and two of its passengers were found outside the vehicle. They were rushed to local hospitals.
USA Today identified the six who were killed as: driver James Gollnow, 62, and his wife Barbara, 62; friend Marion Champnoise, 92; Sarina Gollnow, 18, whose relationship to the others wasn’t known; and Gabriel Zumig, 10, and Soledad Smith,8, both foster children.
There were two other foster children in the SUV who survived. They were Hope Hoth, 15, who was taken to a local hospital with a broken spine, and Aidian Ejnik, 12, who was hospitalized with cuts on his head, according to the Associated Press.
http://news.yahoo.com/pair-ky-highway-crashes-kills-6-injures-5-004905594.html
The SUV was struck from behind by the tractor-trailer, which was driven by Ibrahim Fetic, 47, of Troy, Mich., AP reported.
While firefighters were trying to douse the flames of the SUV, there was a wreck involving four vehicles on the other side of the highway median. Three people were hurt in that crash.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 4th March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
expectant parents killed, livery cab crash, Raizy and Nathan Glauber
Even out of tragedy comes miracles.
In a case that the New York tabloids were all over, two expectant parents — Raizy and Nathan Glauber, both 21 — were killed shortly after midnight Sunday when their livery cab was hit by a car broadside, according to The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/nyregion/expectant-couple-killed-on-way-to-hospital.html?hp&_r=0
But doctors managed to deliver the Glaubers’ baby boy, a premature birth at 24 weeks pregnant. According to The Times, the couple was was rushing to see a doctor late at night “because she could no longer feel the baby.”
The accident took place in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, home to a large community of Orthodox Jews. The Times reported that the couple was on its way to a doctor in a livery cab, a Toyota Camry, when that vehicle was hit by a gray BMW sedan. It all happened at Kent Avenue and Wilson Street.
Raizy was ejected from the car and was found beneath a parked tractor-trailer. She was conscious at that time.
The driver of the BMW and his female passenger exited their wrecked car and left the accident scene, The Times reported. Police were searching for them. The BMW belongs to a Bronx woman who wasn’t in the car when it crashed, according to The Times.
Raizy Glauber was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, a trauma center. She was declared dead on arrival, and the baby was delivered at that medical facility, The Times reported. Her husband Nathan was taken to Beth Israel Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Livery driver Pedro Nunez Delacruz, 32, did not have city approval yet to pick up passengers, The Times said. His application to use his Toyota as a livery cab was pending.
The Jewish community buries its dead immediately, so there was a funeral service for the Glaubers on Sunday. And as The Times pointed out, their orphaned son will forever celebrate his birth on the day his parents died.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 4th March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
cab crashes, fatal cab crashes, Nachman and Raizy Glauber
The miracle didn’t last very long.
A premature baby, who was delivered by C-section Sunday after his parents were killed in a hit-and-run accident in Brooklyn, died Monday. New York City police also identified the man, who has a conviction for a shooting death, that they are seeking for allegedly driving the car that took the lives of the parents.
The infant boy of Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21, had been in intensive care since his birth. His cause of death Monday was listed as “extreme prematureness due to maternal blunt force injuries,” according to WNBC-TV.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/51020480/#51020480
Police are now searching for Julio Acevedo, 44, of Brooklyn, who is expected to be charged with the deaths of the Glaubers and their son. Acevedo allegedly drove the BMW that crashed into a livery cab in Williamsburg that was carrying Nachman and Raizy. They were heading to a hospital because expectant Raizy was feeling ill.
Raizy was thrown from the cab, with her body found under a parked tractor-trailer. Nachman’s body had to be extricated from the cab. The BMW’s driver and his passenger left their car and fled the accident scene.
The three deaths have left the Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg devastated. The Glaubers were newlyweds, only married about a year.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 7th March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal car accident, Julio Acevedo, Nachman Glauber, Raizy Glauber
The suspect wanted in the hit-and-run deaths of a newlywed couple and their baby in Brooklyn surrendered to police Wednesday, according to The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/nyregion/suspect-in-fatal-hit-and-run-crash-in-brooklyn.html?_r=0
Julio Acevedo turned himself in to New York City police detectives in the parking lot of a convenience store in Pennsylvania, the Turkey Hill Minit Market in Bethlehem, The Times reported.
Acevedo did several interviews with reporters, while on the lam, claiming that he fled the scene of the fatal accident because he was scared.
Early Sunday morning Acevedo was driving a BMW that slammed into a livery cab that was carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, who was seven months pregnant. The two 21-year-olds died, and the couple’s baby boy was delivered by C-section. But the newborn died Monday.
In his interviews, Acevedo claimed he fled the scene of the accident because he panicked, and didn’t know that anyone had died. He said he was in a hurry because he had been trying to escape from an attacker who had fired a gun at him. Acevedo expressed remorse for the three deceased.
It remains to be seen what charges are filed against Acevedo, apart from leaving the scene of an accident that ended in a death, The Times reported.
The Glaubers were members of Williamburg’s large Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, and the group wants to see Acevedo punished for his action, according to The Times.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 8th March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
accidents kills Nachman and Raizy Glaubers, criminally negligence homicide, Julio Acevedo, vehicular manslaughter
The suspect who allegedly killed a young couple and their premature newborn in a hit-and-run crash last Sunday has been charged with one count of criminally negligent homicide, three counts of assault and leaving the scene of an accident, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57573225-504083/brooklyn-hit-and-run-update-julio-acevedo-ny-man-charged-in-crash-that-killed-couple-and-baby/
Julio Acevedo, 44, was arraigned on Thursday night after surrendering to authorities in Pennsylvania Wednesday. A judge suspended Acevedo’s driver’s license at the hearing.
He is charged in relation to an accident that killed Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21. She was seven months pregnant, and she and her husband were on their way to see a doctor in Brooklyn in a livery car that was struck broadside by a BMW driven by Acevedo.
The Glaubers both died. Their infant was delivered by cesarean section, but died.
Acevedo was originally charged with one count of vehicular manslaughter. But later on Thursday, the district attorney’s office changed the charge to criminally negligencv homicide, AP reported. Prosecutors declined to say why they changed the charge.
In press interviews, Acevedo has said that he was scared and fleeing a gunman and didn’t realize anyone had died in his collision.
The judge at the arraignment also issued a protection order to the livery driver who was driving the Glaubers, who were members of Williamsburg’s tight-knit Orthodox Jewish community.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 9th March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
Amar Diarrassouba, Flavia Roman, Issouf Diarrassouba, lawsuits, tractor trailer accident, truck accident, truck accident lawsuits, truck accident lawyer
The family of an East Harlem boy who was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer, at a corner where a crossing guard was absent, plans to sue New York City for $50 million, and has already filed suit against the trucking company, according to the New York Post.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/mow_kid_family_suit_jMsEMOc3sHlDoFZWVLtPwL
The “notice of claim” against the city was filed on behalf of the victim’s brother, 9-year-old Issouf Diarrassouba, in the city Comptroller’s Office, the Post reported. Issouf was with his 6-year-old brother Amar on Feb, 28 when the younger boy was hit by a tractor trailer at First Avenue and East 117th Street in Manhattan.
The Post also reported that the family has already filed a lawsuit in New Jersey against the truck driver involved in the accident, Robert Carroll Jr., and his employer, McLane Foodservice Distribution, for negligence.
According to the Post, the notice to the city claims that Issouf could have been killed, as well, and that he has suffered psychological and emotional injuries because of the horror of seeing Amar die.
The notice said that the lawsuit will name the city, the New York Police Department and crossing guard Flavia Roman as defendants, the Post reported. Roman was supposed to be on duty at the corner, at the time, that Amar was struck and killed.
The Post reported that the lawsuit notice specifically said that the crossing guard “deserted her post, abandoning the children who were promised her protection.”
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 11th March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
plane crash, Prowler crash, U.S. Navy aurcraft crash, Washington
Three crew members were killed Monday morning when a U.S. Navy plane crashed in eastern Washington state, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/military-aircraft-crashes-washington-state-article-1.1285367
The E/A-6B Prowler aircraft was from Naval Air Station Whidbey, which is on Puget Sound. Planes from the base often fly across Washington on training missions, AP reported.
The cause of the accident was under investigation, but all three crew members aboard were presumed dead. Officials hadn’t released their identities.
The plane, part of Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ-129, crashed on farmland some 50 miles from Spokane, according to AP. The aircraft basically disintegrated, and left a big crater where it fell, AP said.
The wire service reported that the Prowler engages in “electronic warfare,” such as jamming radar signals.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 13th March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
787 Dreamliner, Boeing Co., FAA, lithium-ion batteries fires, Ray LaHood
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this week approved Boeing Co.’s plan for testing proposed fixes for the lithium-ion batteries that sparked on-board fires, resulting in the grounding of the 787 Dreamliner jet.
The federal agency announced the approval Tuesday, saying it had thoroughly reviewed Boeing’s proposed modifications for its 787 battery system.
http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=14394
In its press release, the FAA said that the certification plan is the first step in the process to evaluate the 787’s return to flight. It mandates that Boeing conduct testing and analysis to demonstrate compliance with the applicable safety regulations and special conditions.
“This comprehensive series of tests will show us whether the proposed battery improvements will work as designed,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a prepared statement. “We won’t allow the plane to return to service unless we’re satisfied that the new design ensures the safety of the aircraft and its passengers.”
The FAA grounded Boeing Dreamliners in January after there were two battery-related fires in planes in Boston and Japan.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/12/travel/faa-dreamliner/index.html
The battery improvements include a redesign of the its internal components “to minimize initiation of a short circuit within the battery, better insulation of the cells and the addition of a new containment and venting system,” according to the press release.
“We are confident the plan we approved today includes all the right elements to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the battery system redesign,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in a statement. “Today’s announcement starts a testing process which will demonstrate whether the proposed fix will work as designed.”
The certification plan requires a series of tests that must be passed before the 787 can return to the air. The plan sets specific pass/fail criteria, defines the parameters that should be measured, prescribes the test methodology and specifies the test setup and design.
FAA engineers will be present for the testing and will be closely involved in all aspects of the process, according to the federal agency.
The FAA also has approved limited test flights for two aircraft that will have the prototype versions of the new containment system. The purpose of the flight tests will be to validate the aircraft instrumentation for the battery and battery enclosure testing in addition to product improvements for other systems.
The FAA said it will only approve the redesign if Boeing passes all the required tests and analysis to proved the new design complies with federal requirements.
The FAA’s Jan. 16 airworthiness directive, which required operators to temporarily cease 787 operations, is still in effect, and the agency is continuing its comprehensive review of the 787 design, production and manufacturing process.
Boeing issued a lengthy statement in response to the FAA’s approval.
http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=2619
“Our team has been working around the clock to understand the issues and develop a solution based on extensive analysis and testing following the events that occurred in January,” Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney said in a statement. “Today’s approval from the FAA is a critical and welcome milestone toward getting the fleet flying again and continuing to deliver on the promise of the 787.”
Ray Conner, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said that the company’s focus has been on developing a permanent resolution.
“Working with internal and external experts in battery technology, we have proposed a comprehensive set of solutions designed to significantly minimize the potential for battery failure while ensuring that no battery event affects the continued safe operation of the airplane,” Conner said.
“Our proposal includes three layers of improvements. First, we’ve improved design features of the battery to prevent faults from occurring and to isolate any that do,” he said.
“Second, we’ve enhanced production, operating and testing processes to ensure the highest levels of quality and performance of the battery and its components. Third, in the unlikely event of a battery failure, we’ve introduced a new enclosure system that will keep any level of battery overheating from affecting the airplane or being noticed by passengers.”
Design feature improvements for the battery include the addition of new thermal and electrical insulation materials and other changes. The enhanced production and testing processes include more stringent screening of battery cells prior to battery assembly.
Operational improvements focus on tightening of the system’s voltage range. A key feature of the new enclosure is that it ensures that no fire can develop in the enclosure or in the battery.
Boeing made its certification plan proposal to the FAA in late February.
The FAA also granted Boeing permission to begin flight test activities on two airplanes: line number 86, which will conduct tests to demonstrate that the comprehensive set of solutions work as intended in flight and on the ground; and ZA005, which is scheduled to conduct engine improvement tests unrelated to the battery issue. Additional testing may be scheduled as needed.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 18th March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal plane crash, Oklahoma Sooners, Steve Davis killed in plane crash, University of OKlahoma
Ex-University of Oklahoma star quarterback Steve Davis was one of two people killed in a jet crash Sunday in Indiana, where the aircraft struck several homes, according to NPR.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/18/174641752/steve-davis-oklahoma-star-qb-in-the-70s-killed-in-crash-of-small-plane
Davis, 60, took the Oklahoma Sooners to national championships in 1974 and 1975. He and the other pilot of the Beechcraft Premier twin-jet, Wesley Caves, 58, died in the accident in South Bend.
Two passengers in the plane, which had taken off from Tulsa, survived the crash. NPR identified them as Jim Rodgers and Christopher Evans.
Diana McKeown, who was on the ground, was hurt.
The National Transportation Safety Board was at the scene investigating the crash.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 23rd March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
airport accidents, falling sign accident, sign hits ng
A 10-year-old boy died Friday when a 300-pound sign at the Birmingham, Ala., airport fell down on him and his family, according to the Associated Press.
http://news.yahoo.com/ala-airport-sign-falls-family-killing-boy-223646881.html#
The airport had just completed the first part of a $201 million renovation, and one can’t help but wonder if this arrival-departure sign was not hung properly as part of that work.
Victim Luke Bresette of Overland Park, Kan., was pronounced dead at a local hospital, Children’s Hospital of Alabama, AP reported. Two other children hurt in the accident were also taken to that medical facility, while mother Heather Bresette was transported to University Hospital. She was in critical condition.
The sign, estimated weight 300 to 400 pounds, fell down in what AP called a “pre-security area of the hospital around 1:30 p.m.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Posted on 23rd March 2013 by gjohnson in Uncategorized
fatal tractor trailer crash, oil tanker accidents, truck accidents
I guess the trucking industry will get this message.
Last Wednesday a jury in Santa Fe, N.M., awarded $58.5 million to the estate of a man who died following an accident involving an oil industry tanker, a record-breaking verdict for that Southwestern state, according to the Associated Press.
http://www.daily-times.com/ci_22846625/nm-jury-awards-58-5-million-tanker-accident
The verdict in the wrongful-death suit included $47 million in punitive damages for the death of Kevin Udy, a Carlsbad, N.M., resident. In rendering the verdict, the jury foreman also read a statement in court, according to AP.
The jurors said that they “expect a much higher standard of safety and training from the trucking industry,” AP reported.
Udy, a mechanical engineer, was married with five kids and a stepson.
In 2010 a tractor-trailer tanker, carrying water extracted from oil wells near Carlsbad, collided with Udy’s pick-up truck, according to AP. The truck turned left in front of Udy’s pickup, who then hit its trailer.
The defendants in the lawsuit were the truck driver; Zia Transport of Hobbs; and Bergstein Enterprises and Standard E&S LLC, both of Lubbock, Texas.
The jury held all four defendants negligent, and for the punitive damages said that the three companies were “malicious, willful, reckless and wanton,” AP reported.
The defense said it planned to appeal.
Attorney Gordon JohnsonPast Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
