November 12th, 2018 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents, Personal Injury
It was a birthday celebration that turned deadly. A crash involving a limousine in Schoharie, New York, on the afternoon of Saturday, October 6, killed 20 people, including the driver, 17 passengers, and two pedestrians. The limousine failed to come to a stop and lost control while proceeding through a busy intersection. An investigation showed that the stretch limousine, a converted 2001 Ford Excursion, had failed safety inspections shortly before the crash and was not supposed to be on the road. In inspections made on September 4, Prestige Limousine Chauffeur Service, the company which owned the vehicle, had its limos cited for defective brakes, lack of proper emergency exits, flat or balding tires, defective windshield wipers, and other maintenance problems. In addition, the driver was not even licensed to operate the vehicle, as he did not have a commercial driver license (CDL) with a passenger endorsement. Both the company and the vehicle had been watched by the New York Department of Transportation in the past, but the company still managed to put a defective vehicle on the road driven by a driver without a proper license. Factors like noncompliance with…
October 22nd, 2018 by Rieders Travis in Personal Injury, Products Liability
Roundup is a product commonly used by homeowners and commercial landscapers to kill weeds, but it has also been accused of killing people. Multiple lawsuits have been filed in recent years contending that Roundup (or glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup) is “dangerous to human health, unfit and unsuitable to be marketed and sold in commerce, and that it lacked proper warnings and directions as to the dangers associated with its use.” Now, a jury at the Superior Court of California in San Francisco has decided in favor of a plaintiff who alleged that Roundup caused his cancer. The jury awarded Dewayne Johnson $289 million in damages, $250 million of which is intended to punish Monsanto, the company that makes the herbicide. This verdict sets a precedent for thousands of other cases that similarly claim that Roundup causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, an aggressive cancer that starts in the body’s immune system. After the trial, Monsanto issued a statement saying that it stands by the studies that suggest Roundup does not cause cancer. The company intends to appeal this decision and continue to defend the product. In spite of Monsanto's denials, product…
October 16th, 2018 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents, Personal Injury
When you take your car on the road, there is always a chance that you could be involved in a crash, no matter what the time of day or year. According to a 2015 report by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), there were more than 127,000 auto accidents in 2014 which caused the deaths of 1,200 people, while another 80,004 were injured. Those who survive a crash can wind up with serious injuries such as whiplash, neck injuries, and paralysis that can maim, disfigure, and cause pain and suffering that may last a lifetime. Still, there are times when it is more dangerous to drive than others and when motorists should take extra safety precautions. IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE WAS INJURED OR SOMEONE HAS DIED IN A VEHICLE CRASH IN PENNSYLVANIA, YOU SHOULD CONSULT AN EXPERIENCED PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER SUCH AS CLIFF RIEDERS OF RIEDERS, TRAVIS, HUMPHREY, WATERS & DOHRMANN, REGARDING YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS. If another party’s negligence or responsibility was involved in the accident, you may be entitled to receive financial compensation to cover your medical, hospital and therapy expenses, lost wages, property loss, disfigurement, and loss…
October 11th, 2018 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents, Personal Injury
Texting while driving is a major cause of crashes; and teens, already inclined to take risks, are among the worst offenders. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania teens are worse than those in most other states for risky texting behavior. According to a study from the Journal of Adolescent Health that looked at teen texting while driving in the United States, our state ranked No. 29 out of the 35 states surveyed. The study found that 38 percent of the 200,000 teens surveyed reported texting while driving on at least one day; 22 percent reported texting while driving one to nine days; and 16 percent said they texted 10 to 30 days. The incidence of texting and driving rose sharply when kids legally drove unsupervised. It also is highest in states with a learner's permit age of 15 or younger. More than one in five students aged 14 or 15 reported driving before they were eligible for a learner’s permit, and one in six of these drivers had texted while driving. The rate doubled between ages 15 and 16 and continued to rise through age 17 and beyond, and white teens were more likely to…
August 13th, 2018 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents, Negligence, Personal Injury
Emerging technologies are cool and useful, but they can also take drivers down a path of distraction that leads to increased crashes. Driving while distracted is illegal in 47 states, including Pennsylvania; but people are addicted to their gadgets and technology, and new cars have more of these than ever. As a result, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has been studying how to minimize the driving distractions they say kill 3,500 people and injure 390,000 in U.S. crashes every year. According to the Washington Post the study showed that new vehicle technology involving buttons, touch screens, gesture controls, heads-up displays, and voice commands are often not safe when used while the vehicle is in motion. For example, distractions from Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto shaved crucial seconds from the time that drivers could get their eyes back on the road. The AAA survey found that almost half of drivers said they make calls and 35 percent sent a text or email while driving. In the less than 4.5 seconds it takes to send a text, a vehicle going 55 mph covers more than the length of a football…
July 30th, 2018 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents, Personal Injury
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) considers school buses to be the safest way to transport schoolchildren, but tragic school bus accidents do happen. Thousands of children are injured each year in preventable school bus collisions that can result in serious and debilitating injuries and death. School bus drivers may not be trained professionals. They may or may not have the requisite experience. School bus drivers can be negligent like anyone else. Crashes may be caused by other drivers, defective buses, poor weather, or by parents and children who do not follow safety rules. If you, your child, or a loved one has been injured in a crash involving a school bus, you may be entitled to a settlement to cover medical, hospital and rehabilitative expenses past, present and future, current and future lost wages and loss of wage horizon, loss of life’s pleasures until the time of death, disfigurement and emotional distress. Property loss may be covered. All negligent parties, including the school bus driver and the school district, may be liable. Cases against school districts is difficult because of Pennsylvania’s sovereign immunity laws. Parents may sue on behalf of…
July 17th, 2018 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents, Personal Injury
Does the idea of self-driving cars on the road send shivers down your spine? You are not alone. According to three different surveys, while most Americans are resigned to the fact that autonomous cars will be common within 15 years, 74 percent do not expect to have one, and two-thirds say they wouldn’t want to walk or ride a bicycle near one. The surveys show the misgivings people have about the expected increase in self-driving vehicles and the challenges that automakers face in marketing them. The results also point to a need for safety reassurances from federal regulators. Recent crashes involving the new technology have made the public even more skittish. One highly-publicized example occurred when a self-driving Uber SUV struck and killed a woman walking her bicycle across a street in Tempe, Arizona. A test driver from Uber was behind the wheel of the car at the time, but the car was driving automatically. Also, in Arizona a Waymo test vehicle with a human at the wheel crashed when another motorist swerved into it last month. If you or a loved one has suffered harm from a crash that involved…
June 28th, 2018 by Rieders Travis in Miscellaneous, Personal Injury
Setting off fireworks can be fun and exciting, but it can also be dangerous, and a new Pennsylvania law that went into effect October 30, 2017, makes it even more so. The law broadened the legal use of fireworks and slapped a new 12 percent tax on those purchases. The tax will help plug the budget deficit and provide grants to emergency medical services and volunteer fire departments. However, expanding fireworks use also increases the chance of causing injuries and damage. Under the new law, Pennsylvania residents, previously restricted to using items like sparklers, now are allowed to purchase consumer-grade fireworks like Roman candles and bottle rockets that fly into the air. Previously, these items were available only to out-of-state shoppers. While residents can now enjoy the freedom to create beautiful fireworks displays, this comes at a price. Once lit, these items are difficult to control and can cause injuries and fires. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) fireworks report, in 2013 alone U.S. emergency rooms treated 11,400 people for fireworks-related injuries. An estimated 55% involved injury to arms, hands and legs, while 38% were to the head.…
June 18th, 2018 by Rieders Travis in Car Accidents, Negligence, Personal Injury
Pennsylvania is cracking down on anyone caught driving while distracted, and the number of distracted driving citations is climbing. Ticketed drivers pay a $50 fine plus $90 for court costs. According to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, citations increased by 52 percent statewide in 2017 and 172 percent since 2013. The heightened emphasis on distracted driving is for good reason: The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) reports 1,188 total deaths on Pennsylvania roads in 2016, with distracted driving a contributing factor in 61 of them. If you or a loved one was injured or if someone has died in a crash involving distracted driving, you may have a claim for compensation for your losses. This includes medical, hospital and rehabilitation bills that are not covered by first party personal injury protection, lost wages and future wage horizon and other economic expenses. You may also have a claim for noneconomic damages such as loss of life’s pleasures, pain and suffering, and disfigurement. Pennsylvania auto laws are complex. Pennsylvania is governed by the Financial Responsibility Law. Cliff Rieders has a great deal of experience in this field of the law and…
March 26th, 2018 by Rieders Travis in Negligence, Personal Injury
Self-driving cars are claimed to be safer than the average human driver as they eliminate human error, but they can and do crash. Recently, a self-driving Uber SUV struck and killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg who was walking her bicycle across a street in Tempe, Arizona. A test driver from Uber was behind the wheel of the car at the time, but the car was driving automatically. Uber has stopped testing the vehicles after the fatal crash, but companies such as GM's (GM) Cruise and Intel (INTC) are also testing. Tesla’s Model S has allegedly already caused two fatalities. While self-driving cars are revolutionizing driving, when an accident occurs, the concept raises numerous legal issues. If a driverless car causes a crash, who is liable for personal injury claims? There is no driver controlling the vehicle, so even if someone is sitting behind the wheel, that person is, in essence, a passenger. The car itself is the driver; but can you hold a car liable for an accident? If you or a loved one has suffered harm from a crash that involved a self-driving vehicle (or any vehicle), you may be entitled to compensation for your medical…
