In part because of their lack of protective enclosures and the high speeds at which they can travel, motorcycles are arguably inherently dangerous. But a defective motorcycle can greatly magnify the safety risks to its riders. Such risks can result in serious injuries or death.
Motorcycle manufacturers are responsible for ensuring a certain level of safety in the vehicles they sell to the public. There are several governmental agencies that issue and enforce motor vehicle safety standards.
If a manufacturer suspects a vehicle defect, or a defect in one of the vehicle's components, it can voluntarily conduct a product safety recall. But one governmental agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), can also order a recall if it discovers a defective motorcycle or motorcycle component it deems to be hazardous to its riders or to the public.
When a recall is initiated, the manufacturer is required to file a public report that describes the defect or safety standard noncompliance, the vehicles or equipment involved, the key events that led to the recall determination, the remedy being offered, and the recall schedule. The manufacturer should also attempt to notify the owners of the vehicles being recalled and, under Federal law, the remedy offered them must be free of cost. To report a motorcycle safety defect or to obtain up-to-the-minute safety recall information, visit http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/recallsearch.cfm.
But regardless of whether a motorcycle has or has not been recalled, properly maintained, or safely ridden, a defect in its design or manufacture can still cause it to crash. If you or a loved one has been injured in a motorcycle accident, to succeed in a claim against the manufacturer, you will need to prove that:
* The motorcycle was defective
* The defect existed prior to its purchase
* Your damages and/or injuries are a direct result of the defect
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Defective Kerosene Heaters Attorneys
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 19 percent of the 150 non-fire, carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning deaths in 2003 and 2004 related to heating systems were attributable to incidents involving kerosene, wood, coal or oil heating or a heating system where the fuel type was not specified. And, according to the National Fuel Funds Network (NFFN), a 501(c)(3) non profit organization "promoting and advocating for home energy assistance resources," “portable kerosene heaters have the highest fire death rate relative to the number of households that use them.”
In fact, because of the potential hazards of using kerosene heaters, many jurisdictions outlaw or restrict their use. New Jersey, for instance, only allow kerosene heaters to be used in one and two family homes. In West Milford, New Jersey, kerosene heaters are outlawed outright.
Following are some of the potential hazards kerosene heaters present:
* Fire - common causes are operating the heater too close to draperies, furniture, or other combustibles, filling the tank while the heater is lit or still hot, and accidentally knocking over a lit heater.
* Burns - can result through direct contact with the heater or if clothes catch on fire. Children and pets should be kept at a safe distance from an operating heater.
* Explosion - use of fuel other than water-clear 1 K grade kerosene or operating the heater in the presence of combustible fumes can result in an explosion.
* Indoor air pollution - if the heater's production of CO accumulates, this invisible, odorless gas can cause death without warning. Its production of other gases such as carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur dioxides can be particularly harmful to those with cardiovascular disease, pregnant women, asthmatics, children, and the elderly.
* Asphyxiation - as the heater operates in a small room or inadequately ventilated area, its consumption of oxygen can reduce it to dangerously low levels.
In fact, because of the potential hazards of using kerosene heaters, many jurisdictions outlaw or restrict their use. New Jersey, for instance, only allow kerosene heaters to be used in one and two family homes. In West Milford, New Jersey, kerosene heaters are outlawed outright.
Following are some of the potential hazards kerosene heaters present:
* Fire - common causes are operating the heater too close to draperies, furniture, or other combustibles, filling the tank while the heater is lit or still hot, and accidentally knocking over a lit heater.
* Burns - can result through direct contact with the heater or if clothes catch on fire. Children and pets should be kept at a safe distance from an operating heater.
* Explosion - use of fuel other than water-clear 1 K grade kerosene or operating the heater in the presence of combustible fumes can result in an explosion.
* Indoor air pollution - if the heater's production of CO accumulates, this invisible, odorless gas can cause death without warning. Its production of other gases such as carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur dioxides can be particularly harmful to those with cardiovascular disease, pregnant women, asthmatics, children, and the elderly.
* Asphyxiation - as the heater operates in a small room or inadequately ventilated area, its consumption of oxygen can reduce it to dangerously low levels.
Firearms Accidents
Although unintentional firearm-related fatalities have dropped sharply in the last decade, hundreds of people die and thousands are injured due to firearm accidents in the U.S. each year.
Depending upon the circumstances surrounding a firearm-related accident, a claim for damages may be filed based on product liability or negligence theories of recovery. If you or a loved one has been injured in a firearm accident, it is important that you consult with an attorney who is knowledgeable and experienced in at least both these areas of the law specific to the jurisdiction where the accident happened. It may also be in your interest to do so sooner than later since statutes of limitations, or deadlines by which a claim can be filed, may apply.
If the weapon involved in the accident was defective, you may be able to recover damages under product liability law. The firearm may have been marketed with inadequate instructions or warnings. Or perhaps the flaw was due to a manufacturing defect. If the firearm can be shown to have been defective and that the defect caused the harm, the manufacturer, the distributor and the seller of the firearm are all potentially liable.
It is usually not enough to argue that there is a design defect because a firearm is inherently dangerous. But because firearms are inherently dangerous, some courts have found manufacturers liable because an alternative design available at the time the firearm was made could have reduced the foreseeable risk of the harm that was caused, especially if the cost to the manufacturer of implementing the alternative design is deemed to have been reasonably “affordable”.
If the firearm was not defective, to succeed in a negligence claim, the court will often look at some of the following factors:
* Were federal, state or local laws imposing a duty on the owner, seller, or distributor of the firearm broken? Was the firearm sold to a felon, a minor, or an incompetent person?
* Did the defendant give a firearm or allow it to be used by someone the defendant had reason to know was inexperienced, incompetent, or reckless?
* Did the defendant know the firearm may have been used even without the defendant’s permission or was the firearm stored in such a way that it was likely to be misused (by children, for example)?
* Was the harm to the injured foreseeable and to what degree of certainty?
* Was the breach of duty the actual cause of the injury? How close was the connection between the defendant’s conduct and the plaintiff’s injury?
* If a burden of duty or care is imposed on the defendant, what are the consequences to the community and will insurance be available and affordable?
Depending upon the circumstances surrounding a firearm-related accident, a claim for damages may be filed based on product liability or negligence theories of recovery. If you or a loved one has been injured in a firearm accident, it is important that you consult with an attorney who is knowledgeable and experienced in at least both these areas of the law specific to the jurisdiction where the accident happened. It may also be in your interest to do so sooner than later since statutes of limitations, or deadlines by which a claim can be filed, may apply.
If the weapon involved in the accident was defective, you may be able to recover damages under product liability law. The firearm may have been marketed with inadequate instructions or warnings. Or perhaps the flaw was due to a manufacturing defect. If the firearm can be shown to have been defective and that the defect caused the harm, the manufacturer, the distributor and the seller of the firearm are all potentially liable.
It is usually not enough to argue that there is a design defect because a firearm is inherently dangerous. But because firearms are inherently dangerous, some courts have found manufacturers liable because an alternative design available at the time the firearm was made could have reduced the foreseeable risk of the harm that was caused, especially if the cost to the manufacturer of implementing the alternative design is deemed to have been reasonably “affordable”.
If the firearm was not defective, to succeed in a negligence claim, the court will often look at some of the following factors:
* Were federal, state or local laws imposing a duty on the owner, seller, or distributor of the firearm broken? Was the firearm sold to a felon, a minor, or an incompetent person?
* Did the defendant give a firearm or allow it to be used by someone the defendant had reason to know was inexperienced, incompetent, or reckless?
* Did the defendant know the firearm may have been used even without the defendant’s permission or was the firearm stored in such a way that it was likely to be misused (by children, for example)?
* Was the harm to the injured foreseeable and to what degree of certainty?
* Was the breach of duty the actual cause of the injury? How close was the connection between the defendant’s conduct and the plaintiff’s injury?
* If a burden of duty or care is imposed on the defendant, what are the consequences to the community and will insurance be available and affordable?
Elevator Accident Attorneys
Elevators are a relatively safe means of transportation. Elevator accidents tend to occur more frequently in larger cities where vertical travel is more common. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, elevators and escalators injure about 17,000 and kill about 30 people each year.
We’ll help you find an experienced elevator accident lawyer in your area.
Elevator service personnel and those working near or in elevator shafts account for nearly half of the fatalities each year. The most common cause for this is getting caught in between the car and the shaft wall or falling down the shaft.
Most elevator injuries occur when people get on or off elevators. Misleveling, which is when the elevator and floor did not line up properly when the elevator stopped, was the most common cause of elevator accident injury. Other causes of elevator accident injuries include overloading and crash or rapid descent.
Elevator accident lawsuits can involve different areas of the law. For example, if the elevator malfunctions due to defect of manufacture, liability for a resulting accident would be determined under product liability law. If an accident was caused by an elevator malfunction resulting from improper operation or maintenance, responsibility would be determined under premises liability law.
We’ll help you find an experienced elevator accident lawyer in your area.
Elevator service personnel and those working near or in elevator shafts account for nearly half of the fatalities each year. The most common cause for this is getting caught in between the car and the shaft wall or falling down the shaft.
Most elevator injuries occur when people get on or off elevators. Misleveling, which is when the elevator and floor did not line up properly when the elevator stopped, was the most common cause of elevator accident injury. Other causes of elevator accident injuries include overloading and crash or rapid descent.
Elevator accident lawsuits can involve different areas of the law. For example, if the elevator malfunctions due to defect of manufacture, liability for a resulting accident would be determined under product liability law. If an accident was caused by an elevator malfunction resulting from improper operation or maintenance, responsibility would be determined under premises liability law.
Defective Weed Trimmers Attorneys
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) May 2003 Hazard Screening Report, Yard and Garden Equipment, there were 14,580 emergency room visits and 37,000 medically treated injuries in 2001, and two deaths in 2000 as the result of powered pruning and trimming products. And, although there are products not strictly referred to as "weed trimmers" within this category of products, other sources corroborate that several thousands of people are seriously injured as the result of weed trimmer accidents each year.
The vast majority of weed trimmer- and lawn edger-related injuries are due to sticks, stones, and other objects being hurled into the air by the devices. The CPSC has therefore recommended that yards be cleared of sticks, stones and other debris before weed trimmers and lawn edgers are used, and that their operators and anyone present nearby wear goggles or safety glasses. Approximately one third of injuries related to weed trimmers are to the eyes.
Although accidents can still occur after taking precautions, injuries resulting from defective weed trimmers are nearly entirely preventable. In the last few years, several weed trimmers have been recalled due to faulty design or workmanship. Included among the more publicized recalls in recent years are Black & Decker GH1000 Grasshog XP String Trimmer/Edgers, some Troy-Built 4-Cycle Gasoline String Trimmers, and certain trimmers made by Tecumseh Power Co., Stihl, Inc. and Weed Wizard Acquisition Corp.
Troy-Bilt trimmers models TB425CS and TB525CS were recalled in 2006 because their trimming blades can detach from the shield that covers the trimmer head and be thrown out toward its operator or a bystander, potentially causing a laceration. An example of another kind of hazard defective weed trimmers can present prompted the recall of Stihl trimmers model numbers FS 120 and FS 200. It was found that an unsealed seam in their fuel tanks could pose a potential fire hazard as the result of leaking fuel.
In a recent relatively high profile case, Sufix, U.S.A. v. Cook, a man brought suit against Sufix, U.S.A. for allegedly having defectively designed a weed trimmer that disintegrated, launching several parts that struck his leg. Despite reconstructive surgery, the man never regained normal use of his foot and calf.
The jury awarded the man three million dollars in punitive damages and nearly as much in compensatory damages. Sufix appealed the decision on grounds that the plaintiff had failed to prove gross negligence or reckless indifference, which is required for an instruction for punitive damages.
The vast majority of weed trimmer- and lawn edger-related injuries are due to sticks, stones, and other objects being hurled into the air by the devices. The CPSC has therefore recommended that yards be cleared of sticks, stones and other debris before weed trimmers and lawn edgers are used, and that their operators and anyone present nearby wear goggles or safety glasses. Approximately one third of injuries related to weed trimmers are to the eyes.
Although accidents can still occur after taking precautions, injuries resulting from defective weed trimmers are nearly entirely preventable. In the last few years, several weed trimmers have been recalled due to faulty design or workmanship. Included among the more publicized recalls in recent years are Black & Decker GH1000 Grasshog XP String Trimmer/Edgers, some Troy-Built 4-Cycle Gasoline String Trimmers, and certain trimmers made by Tecumseh Power Co., Stihl, Inc. and Weed Wizard Acquisition Corp.
Troy-Bilt trimmers models TB425CS and TB525CS were recalled in 2006 because their trimming blades can detach from the shield that covers the trimmer head and be thrown out toward its operator or a bystander, potentially causing a laceration. An example of another kind of hazard defective weed trimmers can present prompted the recall of Stihl trimmers model numbers FS 120 and FS 200. It was found that an unsealed seam in their fuel tanks could pose a potential fire hazard as the result of leaking fuel.
In a recent relatively high profile case, Sufix, U.S.A. v. Cook, a man brought suit against Sufix, U.S.A. for allegedly having defectively designed a weed trimmer that disintegrated, launching several parts that struck his leg. Despite reconstructive surgery, the man never regained normal use of his foot and calf.
The jury awarded the man three million dollars in punitive damages and nearly as much in compensatory damages. Sufix appealed the decision on grounds that the plaintiff had failed to prove gross negligence or reckless indifference, which is required for an instruction for punitive damages.
Defective Water Heater Attorneys
Hot water heaters pose two dangers that are responsible for numerous burn injuries every year – fires and hot water scalding. In the United States, 316 injuries and 17 deaths per year are attributable to fires involving gas water heaters and nearly two thirds of burn-related hospitalizations of children under the age of four is due to scalding.
Gas water heaters are often located in a utility room or in the garage. If gasoline or other combustible material is spilled near the water heater, the likelihood of a fire is extremely high. The potential for fire exists even without such a spill, and can be greater in the event of a spill if the water heater is defective.
If you suspect you own a defective water heater, you should contact the manufacturer and the store where you bought the water heater. If they do not address your concerns in a satisfactory manner, you should contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). And even if you do not suspect a problem, it may be prudent to review product recalls on the web.
With regard to hot water scalding, it is of interest to note that of all hot liquid burns, hot water burns cause the most deaths and hospitalizations. Tap water burns are primarily responsible. Elderly people and children who fall and are unable to shut off the hot water are particularly vulnerable to scald burns in bathtubs and showers.
The severity of a tap water burn depends on the water temperature, the length of exposure, and the age of the person injured. A one second exposure to 160° F water can result in third degree burns. The same is true of a half-minute exposure at 130° F. That is why the CPSC recommends setting your water heater’s maximum temperature to 120° F.
Gas water heaters are often located in a utility room or in the garage. If gasoline or other combustible material is spilled near the water heater, the likelihood of a fire is extremely high. The potential for fire exists even without such a spill, and can be greater in the event of a spill if the water heater is defective.
If you suspect you own a defective water heater, you should contact the manufacturer and the store where you bought the water heater. If they do not address your concerns in a satisfactory manner, you should contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). And even if you do not suspect a problem, it may be prudent to review product recalls on the web.
With regard to hot water scalding, it is of interest to note that of all hot liquid burns, hot water burns cause the most deaths and hospitalizations. Tap water burns are primarily responsible. Elderly people and children who fall and are unable to shut off the hot water are particularly vulnerable to scald burns in bathtubs and showers.
The severity of a tap water burn depends on the water temperature, the length of exposure, and the age of the person injured. A one second exposure to 160° F water can result in third degree burns. The same is true of a half-minute exposure at 130° F. That is why the CPSC recommends setting your water heater’s maximum temperature to 120° F.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)