Eight Killed In Off-Road Truck Racing Accident In Southern California

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Posted on 16th August 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Thrills are a real lure to some people, and that’s one reason why fans of off-road racing love that sport, according to The Los Angeles Times Monday.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-california-200-20100816,0,2728389,full.story

“Nothing beats the danger, dust and noise of watching 3,500-pound trucks roaring past — close enough almost to touch – and then rocketing into the air over treacherous jumps,” The Times wrote.

Tragically, the danger turned deadly in the Mohave Desert in California Saturday, when one of the racing trucks went out of control during a jump and flew into a crowd of spectators. Eight people were killed and five others were seriously hurt. Six people died at the actual scene, with two others succumbing to their injuries at local hospitals.   

The racer who was driving the modified Ford Ranger that became a deadly rocket was Brett Sloppy, 28, of San Marcos, Calif. It was his truck that went airborne when it hit a spot called “the rock pile,” rolling over fans who were too close to the race course to have time to get out of the way.

In their defense, there was no fence or barrier to hold them away from the race course.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/accident-at-california-off-road-race-kills-eight/19594078?icid=main|main|dl1|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Faccident-at-california-off-road-race-kills-eight%2F19594078Df 

AOL News reported that Sloppy wasn’t hurt, but that he had to flee from the fatal accident scene when the crowd began throwing rocks at him.

The crash took place during the California 200, which is run in the Soggy Dry Lake Bed some 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. It’s an annual race that draws thousands of fans who view the 50-mile dirt track from the sidelines.     

As AOL News pointed out, this recent crash in the “Mad Max”-like setting of the Mohave is just one of several accidents where spectators were killed at races this year. In the spring, for example, a woman was hit and killed by a flying tire when a car crashed at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it’s time to craft safety measures that will protect racing fans.

Safety Officials Urge That Kids 2 And Under No Longer Sit In Adults’ Laps During Flights

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Posted on 12th August 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Federal air safety officials are once again recommending that all flyers, even children under age 2, have a seat on flights, The New York Times reported Thursday.

In other words, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that children 2 and younger no longer be permitted to sit on the laps of adults during air flights. The NTSB made that suggestion to the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/us/12brfs-004.html?scp=1&sq=National%20Transportation%20safety%20board&st=cse

 In fact, the safety board is urging the FAA to require that tiny kids on all types of flights – private, commercial and charter — have their own seats. 

 Those 2 and younger “should be afforded the same level of protection as all other persons,” the NTSB said in its letter to the FAA.

But the federal agency has nixed that recommendation on prior occasions, claiming that parents who don’t have the money to buy separate tickets for their youngest kids would instead drive to their destinations, making the number of highway accidents increase, according to The Times. 

Parents Of Two Hungarian Students Killed In Philadelphia Duck Boat Accident File Suit

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Posted on 11th August 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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 The parents of two Hungarian students who died in a tourist duck boat accident on the Delaware River in Philadelphia last month have a filed a wrongful death suit. 

 http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/families_of_hungarian_tourists.html

The lawsuit stemming from the deaths of Dora Schwendtner, 16, and Szabolcs Prem, 20, names the tour operator, Ride the Ducks, the city and others as defendants, according to The Star-Ledger of Newark.

The legal papers charge the tour operator with negligence for turning off the boat’s overheated engine and dropping anchor in the busy river July 7. The duck boat, with 37 passengers and crew members, was hit by a city barge being pulled by a tugboat and capsized. 

The lawsuit claims that the tugboat company was reckless for not having a crew member stationed to watch for any dangerous situations, since the river has blind spots.

The lawyer for the families of the two victims also alleges that the duck boat’s canopy trapped people, creating a “death cage,” according to The Ledger.  

    

Revised Michigan Auto Law Means Wisconsin Accident Victims May Now Be Able To File Suit

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Posted on 11th August 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Here’s important news for auto crash victims, particularly Wisconsin residents, who have been hurt in car accidents in Michigan but were told they couldn’t sue there. You can now.

As of Aug. 1 Michigan is no longer officially the worst state in which to get injured in a car accident, according to my colleague in Michigan, Steven Gursten. 

The law, now much more fair to accident victims, means that Wisconsin residents who were hurt in car crashes in Michigan may be able to bring lawsuits regarding their accident in our neighboring state.

Steve’s website ably decribes all the details and implications of the change in Michigan’s law.

http://www.michiganautolaw.com/caraccidents/auto-law/index.php

There are probably a few hundred cases of people who were told by Michigan lawyers that they had no case because  has the state one of the strictest auto accident threshhold law, according to Steve.  That old unfair law required that an accident victim be on disability for months.

The change in the law will be retroactive, so anyone from Wisconsin who has been injured in any type of car accident but was told they did not have a case for the past there years may now have a second chance and should speak with a Michigan attorney immediately.

You can contact me for a referral to a qualified Michigan auto accident lawyer.

Legendary Sen. Ted Stevens, 3 Others Killed In Alaska Plane Crash

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Posted on 11th August 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Press reports are painting a grim portrait of the scene of the Alaska plane crash that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens and four others during a fishing trip in a remote area Monday.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/former-alaska-senator-ted-stevens-dies-in-alaska-plane-crash/19587666?icid=main|main|dl2|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Fformer-alaska-senator-ted-stevens-dies-in-alaska-plane-crash%2F19587666

Stevens, 86, who survived a plane crash that killed his wife in 1978, was among those onboard an amphibious plane flying out of Dillingham, Alaska., to go to a salmon fishing camp. Stevens’ group boarded that float plane after 3 p.m. local time Monday, and a search began at 6 p.m. the group never appeared at the fishing camp.     

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/gruesome-details-of-alaska-plane-crash-that-killed-ted-stevens-emerge/19589115?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Fgruesome-details-of-alaska-plane-crash-that-killed-ted-stevens-emerge%2F19589115

 The wreckage of the DeHavilland DHC-3T was spotted on a mountainside. A physician and EMT workers had to be flown to the area of the crash, and then they actually had to hike to the wreckage, according to the Associated Press.

There Stevens’ body was in the plane’s fuselage, the muddy mountainside was covered in fuel and the survivors had many broken bones that needed medical attention. The weather was foggy and rainy, and the survivors were cold. They had to spend the night at the crash site, with the rescuers covering them with blankets and making a tarp tent over one man who was still strapped into his seat, afer breaking both his legs in the accident.

In addition to Stevens, pilot Theron Smith, 62, of Eagle River, Alaska, died, as did William Phillips Sr.; Dana Tindall, 48, a GCI executive; and her daughter Corey, 16,  AP said.

The four survivors included former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe, 54, and his teenaged son; William Philips Jr., 13; and Jim Morhard of Alexandria, Va.

 Sean O’Keefe, a friend and Washington colleague of Stevens,  was in critical condition while his son was in serious conditon, AP reported.

 The crash is under investigation, with authorities expected to study the weather — strong winds and rain — to learn what role it had in the accident that killed the man that AP called “the most revered politician in Alaska history.”  

 

Families Of Flight 3407 Get Air Safety Bill Passed And Signed By Obama

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Posted on 2nd August 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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The family and friends of those who were killed in last year’s crash outside of Buffalo, N.Y., have finally seen the bill they lobbied for become law.

On Sunday President Obama signed an aviation safety bill that has been the cause celeb for the families of Continental Flight 3407, a commuter flight that ended with death for 50 people on Feb. 12, 2009. That crash was the result of pilot error, according to federal investigators.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/capital-connection/article88123.ece

The  new law that the Federal Aviation Administration must abide by and enforce applies to all airlines, and it aims to prevent accidents similar to that of Flight 3407 from taking place in the future.

One of its provisions mandates that pilots now have 1,500 of flight time before they can be hired as co-pilots, versus the former 250 hours. 

The new law also establishes a pilot database that will allow airlines to check how many times a pilot candidate has flunked flight tests. The pilot of Flight 3407, Capt. Marvin Renslow, had failed numerous tests.  

The law also calls for the FAA to come up with tougher regulations regarding pilot fatigue, and for the agency to draft new rules regarding pilot qualifications.   

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