Customer Today, Victim Tomorrow: How Do You Protect Your Identity?

by Fraud

 

In the aftermath of the major security breaches that happened at Target and Neiman Marcus earlier this year, American customers are starting to wake up to a whole new reality: a banal trip to the store can leave them without their most precious asset – their identity.

 

Identity theft is the number one complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. Annually, more than 11 million U.S. citizens fall victim to credit card fraudsters, reporting an average financial loss of $4,930 per incident. The cost to the economy is also tremendous: a sobering new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics suggest that identity theft costs the United States $10 billion more than any other property crime. $24.7 billion was the loss caused by identity theft in 2012, while losses for property theft, burglary, and motor vehicle theft totaled only $14 billion.

 

So whose fault is it after all? Are companies we trust with our credit card information not doing enough to keep it safe? Or are customers the ones who fail at keeping their most important data out of the hands of fraudsters? It turns out, data breaches are no one’s fault – it’s the new normal we can do little about.

 

The Target Breach

 

 

Image source: http://bit.ly/1ldA5kC

 

Was it a network breach? Or did it look more like an inside job?

 

Experts’ opinions on what happened to U.S. retailer Target Corp. vary significantly, and the company is not willing to share any details other than confirming it was indeed a major security breach that resulted in compromised credit card information. First estimates suggest that more than 40 million customers shopping at Target between November, 27, and December, 15, are possible identity theft victims.

 

Right after the incident, a press release reassured customers that,

 

“Target alerted authorities and financial institutions immediately after it was made aware of the unauthorized access, and is putting all appropriate resources behind these efforts,” the retailer says in its statement. “Among other actions, Target is partnering with a leading third-party forensics firm to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.”

 

Not much is known about the extent of the damage, but company officials have stated that hackers have most likely gained access to clients’ names, credit and debit card information, card expiration dates, PINs, and CVV security codes. Apparently, the PINs are useless in the hands of thieves, given that “they were encrypted with Triple DES at the card reader, and the key for decrypting them was not stored on Target’s system.” Some experts believe that the attackers gained access to the company’s CRM databases, from where they’ve stolen names, addresses, and telephone numbers.

 

Repercussions of Target’s failure to protect its customers’ data will most likely range from millions of dollars in fines paid to credit card companies and banks that will report any image prejudice to class-action lawsuits filed by customers. At the moment, the company is working with forensics firms to thoroughly investigate the incident and minimize damage.

 

Who Becomes a Victim?

 

 

No matter how hard you try to protect yourself and keep your sensitive data private, the sad reality is you can become a victim of hackers, regardless if you shop online or file your tax returns on paper. The companies and government agencies you put all your trust in know they can only do so much to protect your financial information:

 

“Every company—no matter how good their security team and no matter how strong their security technology—has something valuable these thieves want, and they will get it,” said Theresa Payton, CEO of the digital security company Fortalice and former White House chief information officer. “It’s not a matter of will they get in. It’s what happens to your data once they get in.”

 

Estimates suggest that over 1 billion records have been compromised in the last decade. Although there aren’t any measures to guarantee 100% protection of credit card information, there are signs that indicate customers might be the victims of fraud. Here’s how to interpret them:

 

• If any goods and purchases you know nothing about appear on your statement (regardless of their value), it’s worth checking out.

• Check for errors and anything suspicious on your report. You are entitled to a free credit report from each of the three agencies, so it may help to ask for one every four months and keep track of your expenses.

• If you receive statements for an unknown credit card account, it could be a sign someone else is using your name to apply for credit cards.

• If a new credit card you didn’t apply for suddenly appears in your mail, it could be a mistake, but then again it could be a thief looking to go on a shopping spree in your name. Contact the issuing company immediately.

 

Tax Identity Theft: The New Crime in Town

 

 

Recently, there have been reports of an increase in tax-related identity theft, with thieves stealing Social Security Numbers to claim refunds. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), more than 14.6 million suspicious tax returns have been flagged since 2011 (a 66 percent increase from the previous year), keeping more than $50 billion in fraudulent refunds.

 

How does this happen? The most common schemes reported by an insightful Forbes article include:

 

– Financial service representatives working in hospitals and health care centers selling financial information to tax refund fraudsters

– IRS data-entry clerks not entering paper returns into the agency’s computers

– Military personnel serving in combat zones are allowed to postpone filing their return up to 180 days after leaving the combat area, which makes them easy victims to identity thieves

– Tax return preparers using past clients’ financial information to file false tax returns

– Thieves breaking in financial institutions’ offices and stealing tax papers of clients
No matter if you’re at home surfing the internet or at the store buying groceries, it always serves to be extra careful with how you handle your sensitive information. Don’t rely on others – banks, corporations, government agencies – to protect you from fraudsters. It’s time to face the fact that privacy in the age of big data is becoming more of a myth, and take matters into your own hands.

 

About the Author
Andrew M. Weisberg is a criminal defense attorney in Chicago, Illinois. A former prosecutor in Cook County, Mr. Weisberg is a member of the Capital Litigation Trial Bar, an elite group of criminal attorneys who are certified by the Illinois Supreme Court to try death penalty cases. He is also a member of the Federal Trial Bar. Mr. Weisberg is a sole practitioner at the Law Offices of Andrew M. Weisberg.

Slip and fall Lawyer

Could a Slipperiness Index Help Reduce Slip and Falls?

by Slip and Fall

Slip and fall Lawyer

We all know that there are all kinds of different reasons that a person might fall down and injure themselves. Uneven walkways can cause people to trip. Spills that haven’t been properly cleaned or marked in stores and other areas are known to put people on their backs. And, of course, the weather can cause a significant uptick in the number of falls that occur.

 

Unlike other areas, of the country, Floridians don’t really have to worry about snow and ice causing more falls. But that doesn’t mean we’re exempt from weather related problems. Instead of the cold, we have to fear the wet from hurricanes, thunderstorms, and the like.

 

Now, plenty of information is out there telling you what to do after a fall. But while it’s incredibly useful to know what you should do if you suffer a fall yourself, there’s something else that’s even more helpful – learning how to avoid a fall altogether. Naturally, there are plenty of things that you can do to take better care when you’re out and about, buta new University of Michigan study has come up with a way to tell you when you shouldn’t go outside at all – a Slipperiness Index.

 

What Exactly Does the Slipperiness Index Tell You?

 

Injury Lawyer

The idea behind the Slipperiness Index is to let people know when the weather outside mathematically increases their chances of not just suffering from a slip and fall, but actually suffering a fracture. The Michigan study was able to create a scale from 0 to 7 and determine how much more likely people are to get hurt at different points along the scale.

 

For example, if you knew that your risk of falling and breaking a hip was going to go up 21 percent because the Index read 4 for that day, you might decide to stay home and go out the next day. In this way, it is similar to how the Air Quality Index uses numbers from 0 to 500 to tell you how polluted the air in your area is (anything over 300 is generally considered bad), or the smog alerts used by environmental agencies in many cities.

 

Fewer Falls Favors the Aging

 

If this kind of thing catches on and cities all over start using it, there’s a chance that it could significantly lower the number of falls that plague our country – almost 9 million as of 2011. Fewer falls will mean fewer injuries and less time spent in the emergency room repairing broken bones.

 

This is especially important to Florida’s burgeoning elderly population, because older people are far more likely to experience a significant injury if they fall. By creating a sort of “early warning system” like the Slipperiness Index, more senior citizens will be able to avoid the most dangerous days and stay safer.

 

No Index to Warn You About Others’ Negligence

 

Unfortunately, while many slip and fall accidents are caused by inclement weather, a lot of them are due to the negligence of people and organizations in your area. So far, no one has ever heard of any researchers coming up with an index to warn you about times when negligence is going to be worse than others, which means you just have to be wary. And if you do fall because someone else created an unsafe environment, make sure that you contact us  as soon as possible so that we can work hard to help you get the compensation you deserve.

 

Motorcycle Accident

Why You Shouldn’t Ride Drunk

by Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcycle Accident
Everyone knows not to drive drunk, and it’s no different for motorcyclists– except that the nature of their vehicle puts them at even higher risk of injury or death because it requires more coordination to operate,and there’s far less protecting riders than those driving cars. Unfortunately, these facts don’t seem to have sunk in with many motorcyclists because the percentage of accidents and especially fatalities involving alcohol are extremely high.

 

In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says,“the percentage of intoxicated motorcycle riders in fatal crashes is greater than the percentage of intoxicated drivers on our roads.” Stats can be interpreted in many different ways, but this one seems pretty clear – either a higher percentage of motorcyclists choose to ride drunk when compared to car drivers or the numbers are similar, but the greater difficulty involved in operating a motorcycle leads to more accidents. Regardless of which scenario is more accurate, the resultis the same – if you ride drunk, you’re more likely to get hurt or even die.

 

This seems like something that should be obvious, but why then are so many motorcyclists still doing it? The trend isn’t a new one, either. A decade ago, Motor Cyclist Magazine reported that 45% of motorcycle fatalities in 2002 involved intoxicated riders, and when you looked at just weekends, that already high percentage skyrocketed to 62%!

 

You can find statistics like that all over the place, but maybe that’s not enough. Perhaps the problem is that reading numbers is an abstract exercise, and riders need a personal story to connect with and “scare them straight” as it were. Steven Dennis Parrett has just such a story.

 

Drunk Riding Leads to Jail, Sister in Nursing Home

 

Motorcycle Accident1

While this is certainly not true for all motorcyclists, some think of themselves as tough and adventurous – people who can get away with skirting the rules because they can handle it. There’s no real way of knowing if Parrett is one of those men or if he just did something stupid, but in the end it doesn’t really matter.

 

In July of 2011, 44-year-old Parrett was arrested by Michigan State Police after crashing his bike at around 12:30 in the morning. When they tested his blood alcohol level, it was found to be an insanely high .20, so Parrett was almost definitely in for a DUI charge. That’s bad enough, but it gets a lot worse.

 

You see, Parrett wasn’t riding alone that night. His older sister (46) was with him, and when he crashed, she was flung from the bike and landed in a ditch. Thankfully, the woman survived, so he doesn’t have to live with killing his sister, but that’s pretty much the only positive thing that can be said about the incident. She was still so severely injured that she now has to live in a nursing home and “remains unresponsive.”

 

None of this had to happen, and no other vehicles were involved in the accident. Parrett was simply so drunk that he couldn’t handle his bikeand it cost him and his sister dearly. You may not think that something like this could happen to you, but why take the risk in the first place? Motorcyclists are already putting themselves in more danger than regular car drivers by choosing a vehicle that doesn’t offer as much protection – don’t make riding harder by drinking before you get on your bike.

 

About the Author:
Jeffrey Braxton is a trial lawyer in Fort Lauderdale who has devoted his 22-year career to the practice of personal injury law. As lead trial attorney for The South Florida Injury Law Firm, Jeff has litigated thousands of cases and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an exclusive group of attorneys who have resolved cases in excess of one million dollars.

Personal Injury

New PIP Rules Limit Help Injury Victims Can Get

by Personal Injury Lawyer

Personal Injury

A few months ago in Florida, accident victims and their advocates were dealt a depressing blow when a group of businesspeople fighting the state’s new PIP laws lost in court. What kind of blow? Not only do those who suffer injuries in car crashes now have fewer options regarding where and how they get medical help, they’ll have less money to do so and be subject to strict rules about providing proof and acting within thenarrow time limits.

 

In order to understand the changes and why they’re bad for regular Floridians, first you have to know what PIP is, what it’s supposed to do, and what it actually does.

 

PIP Stands for Personal Injury Protection

 

Florida is one of only 12 states that require PIP insurance for drivers, and there are plenty of good reasons why the law isn’t more widespread. What is personal injury protection insurance? While it sounds like something that would be great for drivers (you won’t have to worry if you get hurt in an accident!), in reality the law is a sort of Band-Aid for states that have decided to make accidents “no-fault.” Basically, no-fault means what it sounds like – if you are in an accident with another driver, neither one of you will be held responsible for the crash, even if the blame clearly lies with one party.

 

The unfortunate side-effect of having a no-fault law is that when people are injured in a motor vehicle accident, they can’t expect to receive compensation from the other driver’s insurance unless they’re willing to take them to court. But because it can take months – or even longer – to go through the process of suing someone, that left victims footing the bill for their injuries or getting worse if they couldn’t afford treatment.

 

Florida’s PIP law, originally written in the ‘70s, requires motorists to purchases medical insurance as part of their car insurance plan. This allowed them to seek help immediately, but also led to all kinds of fraud. Lawmakers have been trying to fix the problem for decades, but instead of simply getting rid of PIP, they keep altering the law.

 

Over time, it’s evolved into something that’s less about making sure victims get the help they need and more about protecting insurance companies.

 

Latest PIP Rules Hurt Everyone Except Insurers

 

Personal Injury1
The most recent changes to PIP were supposed to go into effect in January of 2013, but a group of businesspeople filed a lawsuit to prevent them from becoming law. Unfortunately, they lost their suit this past October, and we’ve had to live with the repercussions ever since. Just a few of the changes that hurt regular Floridians include:

 

  • Less money for your injuries – Under the old rules everyone had up to $10,000 for medical problems, but now that’s limited to only the most serious injuries; most people will only be allowed up to $2,500.
  • Fewer options for care – Hurt your back or neck in an accident and want to see a massage therapist? Hope you’re willing to pay out of your own pocket, because PIP no longer covers those services or those of acupuncturists.
  • Less time, but more requirements – If you don’t seek medical help within 14 days of your accident but later notice a problem, the insurance company doesn’t have to pay anything. However, you can’t file an injury claim until you’ve gotten a statement from a doctor “proving” you need help.

 

The only good news from all of this is that the judgment against the acupuncturists and massage therapists practically begs an accident victim to file a similar lawsuit, because the court verdict seemed to imply that they would be on better legal grounds to fight the law. But until some enterprising lawyer finds a client willing to make this argument, injury victims are going to have to rely on compensation from injury lawsuits more than ever.

 

About the Author:
Jeffrey Braxton is a trial lawyer in Fort Lauderdale who has devoted his 22-year career to the practice of personal injury law. As lead trial attorney for The South Florida Injury Law Firm, Jeff has litigated thousands of cases and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an exclusive group of attorneys who have resolved cases in excess of one million dollars.

wrongful death

When Police Misconduct Leads to Wrongful Death

by Wrongful Death

wrongful death
Not everyone is cut out to be a police officer. The job can involve long hours, lots of stress, and often puts officers in life-threatening situations. However, sometimes it’s not just the stress and danger to law enforcement officials that’s the problem – it’s the behavior of the officers themselves.

 

Police officers are in a position of power and are armed while on duty. They’re not supposed to use their weapons unless lives are in danger, but there have been many cases reported of officers who have bullied or injured people who have posed no threat. Some of the most recent data available, from the National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project in 2010, shows that there were 6,613 reports of police misconduct and 6,286 alleged victims in just one year. Almost a quarter of those cases involved excessive force, which includes cases where police officers shot someone who didn’t pose a threat.

 

Family Mourns After Policeman Kills Their Unarmed Son

 

One of the most recent stories of police misconduct involves an officer in Charlotte, North Carolina shooting and killing Jonathon Ferrell, a 24-year-old former Florida A&M football player who was unarmed. According to Ferrell’s family, the young man had just dropped off a coworker around 2am when he veered off the road and had to kick out his rear window to escape the car.

 

Ferrell walked to the nearest house seeking help, but the woman on whose door he knocked believed he was trying to break in and called the police. According to police officers at the scene, Ferrell ran at them and one of the officers, Randall Kerrick, shot him 10 times. However, suspicion clouds the two officers’ accounts because Ferrell’s autopsy suggests that he was already on his knees or the ground when Kerrick fired most of his shots. It seems unlikely that Ferrell posed any real threat, and Kerrick is being charged with excessive force and voluntary manslaughter. Ferrell’s family is also suing Kerrick and the police department for wrongful death in the hopes of receiving both monetary compensation and gaining access to answers from the police officers’ dash-cam footage.

 

Police Need to Be Held Accountable for Excessive Force

 

wrongful death1

The story of Jonathon Ferrell’s death is tragic in its own right, and what makes it even worse is that it’s not an isolated incident. Police misconduct and brutality is reported all over the country every year, and according to a study summarized by the organization Stop Police Brutality, two of the areas with the highest misconduct rates are in Florida (Jacksonville, with 1.3% of their officers being charged with misconduct, and Palm Beach County, with 3.52%). While these rates show that the vast majority of police officers are able to handle the responsibilities of their jobs, the idea that almost four out of every 100 officers will wrongfully injure or even kill someone is unacceptable.

 

Whenever someone is in a position of power, they need to be held to a high level of accountability for their actions. Those police officers who are caught abusing their power are generally charged with a criminal offense, but it’s highly likely that police misconduct is underreported and that a number of officers get away with improper behavior every year. Our country needs to make an example of officers who use excessive force in order to discourage it from continuing. If someone you love has been wrongfully killed or injured by a police officer, contact a personal injury attorney who can help you review the case and discuss your options.

 

About the Author:
Jeffrey Braxton is a trial lawyer in Fort Lauderdale who has devoted his 22-year career to the practice of personal injury law. As lead trial attorney for The South Florida Injury Law Firm, Jeff has litigated thousands of cases and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an exclusive group of attorneys who have resolved cases in excess of one million dollars.

Cruising : The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

by Cruise Ship Accident

A cruise should be a memorable getaway from the daily stressful life, but the dream vacation of many passengers can rapidly turn into a nightmare, as they realize ships are not as unsinkable and safe as they were told. Here we take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly side of cruising, informing passengers on the right course of action in case of accidents or injury.

 

Slip And Fall Attorney

Slip and Fall Accidents Often More Serious for the Elderly

by Slip and Fall

Slip And Fall Attorney

Nobody ever enjoys falling—it can take you by surprise, cause both immediate and long-lasting pain, and bruise both your body and your ego. However, if you’re young and spry, you can heal relatively quickly from a lot of slip and fall injuries. Elderly people, on the other hand, are more likely to encounter complications and require medical treatment after this kind of accident.

 

According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 1 in 3 adults 65 and over fall each year, and between 20% and 30% of those people suffer hip fractures, head lacerations, and head trauma. Those injuries can result in costly medical treatment and, if the elderly adult has been living on their own, sometimes makes it difficult for them to continue doing so.

 

Why Fall Risk Increases as We Age

 

One of the most obvious reasons that fall injuries become increasingly likely as we age is because we become more susceptible to breaking bones and don’t heal as quickly as younger people. As you get older, your bone density decreases, making your bones more prone to fracturing on impact.

 

Of course, that’s not the only reason the elderly are more at risk for slip and fall injuries. There are a wide range of risk factors, including:

 

  • Difficulty balancing. There are a number of different balance disorders, such as vertigo and labyrinthitis, which become more common as you age. Dizziness or difficulty maintaining a center of balance can lead elderly people to fall more easily.
  • Limited physical activity. Although some elderly people do make a conscious effort to exercise on a regular basis, others become more sedentary as they age. A lack of regular physical activity leads to muscle atrophy, decreased strength, and loss of flexibility—all of which puts people at greater risk for falls.
  • Vision problems.If an elderly person has difficulty seeing due to cataracts, glaucoma, or other vision problems, they may have trouble seeing potential tripping or slipping hazards around them.
  • Environmental hazards. Sometimes falls are caused by something as seemingly minor as a folded over corner on a rug, an electrical cord on the floor, or an uneven step. If an elderly person falls due to an environmental hazard, the person or organization responsible for keeping that area safe may be liable.

 

How to Reduce the Risk of Falls for the Elderly

 

Personal Injury Attorney

There are steps that both elderly people and their loved ones can take to reduce the odds of experiencing a serious fall. Elderly people can:

 

  • Practice balance exercises for seniors on a regular basis
  • Maintain physical activity by walking, taking a water aerobics class, or playing a sport like tennis
  • Talk to a doctor if they begin experiencing dizziness, vision problems, or other health issues
  • Understand that they may have limits when it comes to certain activities, such as riding an escalator or climbing a ladder, and seek assistance when necessary

 

Family, friends, and caretakers of seniors can also help by:

 

  • Maintaining homes that are free of tripping hazards: remove clutter from walkways, store electrical cords, and make sure rugs are flush with the floor
  • Carefully supervise seniors with dementia when walking in areas with snow or ice, as they may not know to be careful around potential slipping hazards
  • Make sure all staircases have sturdy handrails
  • Install grab bars on the sides of toilets and bath tubs used by seniors
  • Contact a slip and fall lawyer if an elderly loved one falls due to the recklessness or negligence of another person; while a lawyer can’t heal the injury, they can help you recover the compensation you need to cover medical and care expenses

 

The effort it requires to take a few simple precautions is well worth it in order to protect the people you love from the potentially serious injuries of a slip and fall accident.

 

Motorcycle Accident

Common Motorcycle Accident Injuries

by Auto Accidents

Motorcycle Accident

Motorcycles represent power, freedom, and rebellion. More so than with cars, there’s a feeling that you can just hop on your motorcycle and escape from the world, and the fact that they don’t have things like doors or roofs can make you feel more connected to nature and the road.

 

Unfortunately, many riders end up literally more connected to that road when they’re involved in a crash because of those very things they love. No doors and no roof may mean that you get to feel the wind in your face, but it also means far less protection.

 

Exactly how dangerous are motorcycles? When you compare the number of crashes to cars that travel the same number of miles, someone riding a motorcycle is 30 times more likely to have an accident.

 

That’s an amazing statistic, but perhaps even more telling is the fact that 80 percent of all motorcycle crashes cause injury or death to the operator. If you crash while riding your motorcycle, you’re going to get hurt – and possibly worse.

 

So, what exactly can you expect to be dealing with after your crash? Some of the most common types of injuries include:

 

Road rash

 

This is a rather delicate name for something that can be deadly serious. What is road rash? Well, unlike car drivers and passengers, bikers almost always get thrown from their vehicle in a crash. This tends to mean landing on the road and often skidding or rolling a good distance before coming to a stop. If you aren’t wearing good, strong protective clothing, it’s likely that your skin is going to scrape across that road, and you’re going to have some damage. Mild cases might just mean a few red marks, but some riders have been known to lose entire patches of skin from road rash.

 

Broken bones

 

If you’re getting thrown from a motorcycle doing 60 mph on a highway, it stands to reason that there’s going to be a hard impact and you might suffer a fracture or two. Riders involved in accidents frequently end up with broken legs or arms, hip and pelvic fractures, cracked ribs, and so on. Severe breaks may poke through the skin and cause lasting damage that’s difficult to repair, including nerve damage. According to the CDC, riders are most likely to hurt their legs and feet, followed by the next group of injuries we’ll cover.

 

Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Head injury

 

Anyone who’s ever ridden a bike knows the mantra: helmets save lives. It may seem cliché or even annoying in its pervasiveness, but the statistics show that it really is true. Roughly a third of all deaths resulting from motorcycle accidents could be prevented if the rider was wearing a helmet. What does that mean in real numbers? Well, in 2008 alone,almost 2,000 riders had their lives saved because they were wearing a helmet. And that doesn’t even factor in the number of people protected from severe injury by helmets, because many riders who sustain head injuries and live end up with brain damage.

 

An experienced motorcycle accident attorney will tell you that in some ways, spine damage may be even worse because there’s little that you can do to protect against it – there’s no “helmet” for your back, and landing on it in the wrong way can lead to serious nerve damage or even paralysis.

 

How Do You Prevent These Injuries?

 

Injury Lawyer

Drive safe. Though there will always be events out of your control, studies show that 43% of all motorcycle accidents involve alcohol. Never, ever get on your ride after drinking, and always follow safe practices on the road, such as obeying speed limits and street signs, using your turning signals, and riding with others so that it’s easier for other drivers to see you.

 

Product Claims

Know Your Case: Types of Defective Product Claims

by Personal Injury Lawyer

Product Claims

Manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that their products are safe for consumers to use, and when an accident due to a defective product or a negligent manufacturer occurs, consumers are well within their rights to file a lawsuit.

 

Defective product lawsuits fall into several distinct categories. If you or a loved one has been harmed by a defective product, it’s important that you talk to an experienced personal injury attorney to determine what kind of case you have on your hands and how you should proceed. This area of personal injury law can be complex and going up against a big corporation or manufacturer can be intimidating, so you need to have a clear idea of what the manufacturer is responsible for in order to make the best possible case.

 

Here’s a brief look at the three general categories of defective product liability claims.

 

Failure to Provide Adequate Instructions or Warnings

 

In this type of case, a product may be dangerous to consumers if used in a certain way, but that danger isn’t apparent to the consumer without instructions or warnings. The clothing chain Ross recently got into hot water with the Consumer Product Safety Commission over this very issue.

 

Ross paid a $3.9 million fine for selling children’s jackets and sweatshirts with drawstrings that were a potential choking hazard. This settlement came about after Ross failed to add a warning or make their children’s clothing safer following an earlier penalty from the commission.

 

Defectively Designed Products

 

This is probably the kind of case we hear about most often. A defectively designed product is one that is inherently dangerous based on the manufacturer’s design specification. Defectively designed products are not just one item on the shelf that has some kind of error— it’s an entire product line. When a manufacturer releases a widely-used product that proves to be dangerous to users, recalls and lawsuits are likely to follow.

 

One recent case that’s been making headlines involves the health care giant Johnson & Johnson. The company recalled 93,000 hip implants after discovering that 12% fail in 5 years or even cause complications. While they have already paid out to insurance companies to cover the cost of removing the implants, they may face more lawsuits in the future if patients who were unable to remove the hip implant discover that the product fails and endangers them.

 

Defectively Manufactured Products

 

injury attorney

This is somewhat similar to the last category, but there’s an important distinction. Defectively manufactured products may have been designed safely, but somehow made unsafe during the construction process. This means that individual products can be responsible for an accident or injury rather than the entire product line. For example, a manufacturing error in specific lots of some of Plum Organics’ baby food products caused various illnesses among children and a mass recall.

 

While we’d like to think that the products we purchase have been thoroughly tested and couldn’t possibly harm us, injuries due to product defects or manufacturer negligence happen every day.

 

If you or a loved one is harmed because of a defective product, you should first seek the medical attention you need, then contact a personal injury attorney who has ample experience with these types of cases. We need to hold manufacturers accountable in order to prevent unnecessary accidents in the future.

 

Cycling Accidents

Most Common Cycling Accidents and How to Avoid Them

by Auto Accidents

Cycling Accidents
It’s never a pretty site when bicycles get tangled up with cars, but unfortunately these kinds of accidents do happen. Clearly, there is much more inherent danger for the cyclist, so if you enjoy riding your bike on the road, you need to know what kinds of potential problems to watch out for and how to protect yourself.

 

How Common Are Accidents Between Bicycles and Cars?

 

Way too common. According to ROSPA, there are 19,000 cycling road accidents every year and over 100 deaths. Additionally, 2% of all traffic deaths involve bicycles – even though bikes only make up 1% of traffic!

Not surprisingly, the bicycle accidents that are most likely to be fatal are those where a motor vehicle is involved. At least as alarming is the finding of a recent study that cyclists are only responsible for about 10% of all accidents between bikes and cars. Clearly, if you want to stay safe, you really need to pay attention to what others on the road are doing and follow all safety guidelines.

 

What Should Bicyclists Watch Out For?

 

Bicyclists Watch Out For

Some of the most common accidents are, thankfully, things that cyclists can help to prevent if they are careful and paying attention. These include:

 

  • A motor vehicle pulling into the path of a bike

    The simple truth is that much of the time, car drivers just don’t pay attention to cyclists. It’s not intentional, and it’s something that drivers need to get better at, but if you’re not sure whether or not a driver is going to pull out in front of you, slow down and be careful.

  • A motor vehicle turning into a cyclist’s path

    Again, car drivers often forget to look for bicyclists (or just can’t see them) when emerging, turning, or changing lanes. If you see someone trying to turn, take special care to make them aware of your presence and watch out for sudden movements.

  • Cyclist turning right and entering the path of a motorist

    If you are going to turn right when traffic is moving perpendicular to you, it is vital that you wait for a break in the flow of cars. Far too many cyclists think that, because they’re so comparatively small, they can easily turn even when there’s a car and still fit in the lane. These kinds of decisions lead to accidents and injuries.

  • Cyclist riding off of the sidewalk and into the path of a motorist

    This is just Biking 101, but you should never ride into the street without first stopping and taking a close look at the traffic situation to make sure that you can cross safely.

  • Both cyclist and motorist moving straight ahead

    Out of all these potential accidents, this one has to be the scariest for cyclists because most of the time it involves them getting hit from behind by a car. It’s pretty hard to avoid an accident when you can’t see it coming. Still, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t precautions you can take, and some of the simplest ones – using reflectors or flashing lights – are often the most effective.

 

Beyond these measures, cyclists should always – always – wear a helmet. You can’t always prevent an accident, but you can make yourself as safe as possible. Bikers are vulnerable, but that doesn’t mean that you are helpless. Stay safe and fight for your rights.

 

About the Author:
Jeffrey Braxton is a trial lawyer in Fort Lauderdale who has devoted his 22-year career to the practice of personal injury law. As lead trial attorney for The South Florida Injury Law Firm, Jeff has litigated thousands of cases and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an exclusive group of attorneys who have resolved cases in excess of one million dollars.