Florida has a strict liability policy on dogbites. FL Statute 767.04. Dog owners are responsible for ensuring that their pets do not cause harm to others.
When a dog attacks a person, the injuries can sometimes be severe, requiring emergency and ongoing medical treatment. Scars and disfigurement can occur in serious cases, and in the worst scenarios, victims may be killed.
In most cases, the dog owner’s homeowner’s insurance handles injury claims. If an attack happens while the victim is legally on private property (as an invited guest, to deliver mail, etc.) or while the victim is on public property, the owner is typically liable as long as the victim was not intentionally and persistently antagonizing the animal.
Most dog bites occur to children. In Florida, financial recovery on behalf of a child in a dog bite injury claim is placed in a protective account until the child is 18 in most circumstances. Ensuring that the recovery for your child is maximized and properly structured to provide full benefit to your child’s future is an extraordinarily important reason to seek legal counsel.
The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 207 which was enacted almost 40 years ago is the minimum seatback strength requirement mandated by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The standard merely requires that the seatback portion of a seat withstand 20 times the weight of an empty seat and remain upright when 373 newton meters of strength is applied to the back in a rearward direction. If this sounds like alot, you should knowthat a lawnchair tested by Dateline in 1995 exceeded these requirements.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is well aware of the problem and in 1996 actually admitted that the current standard was inadequate…this didn’t lead to any changes, only further recognition of the problem in 1997 and 1998. One of the reasons they are dragging their heels is over the concern that stiffer seatbacks will lead to more incidents of whiplash.
Compare a whiplash injury with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that leads to permanent disability or death – which one would you chose?
For now, research into the car you own or are looking to buy is the best offensive you can take to keep you and your passengers safe. One Website with some information, though not nearly enough regarding seat failures, is http://www.Safecar.gov. Until we see higher seatback safety standards, we will continue to hear of tragic stories such as Alyssa’s. We need to write to NHTSA, to our local government and to our automobile manufacturers. These issues need to be resolved for the safety of all vehicle occupants.
Parents are being urged to inspect their child’s crib and tighten up the hardware.
In May 2007 an 8-month-old girl from Bryan, Texas, died because the safety pegs on her crib were not installed. The crib’s side detached, leaving a gap where she got stuck and
More than a year later, in July 2008, an 8-month-old boy in Tallahassee, Fla., suffocated after a spring-loaded safety peg failed and allowed the side of his crib to detach.
Together with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Division Delta Cribs have announced two voluntary actions produced between 1995 and 2007 that use our drop side trigger lock designs.
If these pegs are not installed, or if they fail to engage, the drop-side can detach and create a dangerous gap where babies can get stuck.
These cribs were manufactured in Taiwan and Indonesia and sold by major retailers including Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target.com, between January 1995 and September 2007
One of the most common questions an attorney hears from people is “what should I do if I’m in a car accident?” A better way of looking at this question would be to remember what not to do. The most common mistakes that accident victims make can turn an easy case into a much more difficult one. Here is a list of mistakes most commonly faced:
1) Client failed to report the accident to their insurance company and Police.
2) Client failed to document injuries to Rescue, Police, and Insurance.
3) Client failed to go to a doctor to document injuries.
4) Client made a signed or recorded statement to his or her own insurance company without first seeking legal advice.
5) Client made a signed or recorded statement to the party at faults insurance company without first seeking legal advice.
Although these might seem like easy things to remember and avoid, it is often the stress of the accident that causes people to make mistakes. If you remember to document all information and seek legal advice, it will help in resolving the case as quickly as possible.
A 2 year old child was recently injured by an exploding corona bottle, his parents say, leaving him partially blind. The incident occurred on the July 4th this year, when a Corona bottle exploded near the child, blinding him with fragments of glass.
Groupo Modelo, the company that owns Corona, failed to protect consumers and the general public from defective products such as the bottle involved, say witnesses.
Most manufacturers make sure that their products are free of any potential hazards and take product liability very seriously. But in this case, the beer glass, which is bottled in Mexico and designed for thermal changes, was not of uniform thickness. Now suing for $15 million, the family says the beer was never put through any extreme changes in temperature.
This week, after the finding of melamine-contaminated candy in California, four Connecticut stores selling White Rabbit candy tested positive for the industrial chemical . The California Department of Public Health specifically identified White Rabbit candies imported and distributed by Queensway Foods Co. of Burlingame, Calif. Queensway is voluntarily recalling the chewy sweets after state testing detected melamine in some pieces.
Melamine, which has very high levels of nitrogen, is used in the manufacturing of fertilizers and plastics. It has been blamed for the deaths of 4 children, the hospitalization of 13,000 children and has caused kidney ailments in 54,000 people.
