by diazlaw | Jun 30, 2020 | Blog, Personal Injury
You might think that traffic accidents have decreased in Mississippi because of the restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Generally, that’s probably true right across the U.S., but as states like Mississippi open up, it’s possible that the accident rate will go up again and it might even go higher. That’s because there are genuine fears about traveling using public transport because there is more risk of contracting Covid-19 from fellow passengers in the more confined spaces in these large vehicles. That means buses around Jackson and other Mississippi cities are likely to have less use. Long distance travel by bus (Greyhound), train and air is also likely to be down. That translates into more people attempting to use their own vehicles rather than risk using public transport. One of the least reported causes of traffic accidents on U.S. highways is fatigue. Drowsy driving is close to alcohol and drugs as a cause of accidents. It’s easy to see drowsy driving increasing across the U.S. as people opt for driving in their own vehicles rather than risk potentially risky air, bus or train travel. Fatigue the main cause of up to 10% of traffic accidents Drowsy driving is a danger whenever drivers attempt to drive too far in one hit without proper amounts of rest. It has always been a problem in the U.S. where distances can be huge. It has been estimated that around10% of all traffic accidents are caused by drowsy or fatigued drivers. That translates into around 7,500 fatalities a year in a normal year, caused by fatigue. In a disturbing study undertook by the...
by diazlaw | May 24, 2020 | Personal Injury
There are some types of accidents that can happen anywhere, even in your own home. In fact, accidents can be Justas common or more common in your own home than anywhere else. Part of that reasoning is that you simply spend a lot of time in your own home, so it stands to reason that you could slip and fall, trip over, suffer a burn or scald in the kitchen, get bitten by your own pet or get electrocuted by an electrical fault. There are even car accidents, typically when a vehicle is reversed out of a garage or down a driveway. Of course, you can hardly blame anyone else if you are injured at home. One of the few exceptions would be if you have been hurt by a defective appliance. But what happens if you visit a neighbor, friend or relative and suffer an injury while on their property? Is the property owner liable for compensation? Homeowners are unlikely to have premises liability insurance Commercial enterprises like restaurants, bars, hotels, stores and supermarkets, as well as government buildings where the public frequently visits, will almost invariably have premises liability insurance. This protects them if someone is injured while on their property. For example, if you go to a fast food outlet and are scalded when an employee drops hot coffee down your front, you may have grounds to file a personal injury claim against the company. If you trip over when leaving an escalator in a department store and break your arm, you may be able to claim compensation from the store. If you can prove that...
by diazlaw | Apr 28, 2020 | Blog, Personal Injury
With well over six hundred thousand cases of COVID-19, 26,000 deaths and no sign of an end to the crisis, it is inevitable that people across the nation will be wondering just how we got into this mess and if any of those deaths could have been prevented. Of course, no-one can blame the virus. It is just taking advantage of a golden opportunity to spread. However, a quick look around the planet reveals glaring differences between the way the U.S. and many other countries have handled the spread of the virus. Although it’s not easy comparing different countries, there is evidence that those nations where action was taken earlier and where government officials listened to health experts, have managed to contain the disease better and with far fewer fatalities. Clear, early, fact based information available to the public may also have made considerable difference elsewhere. It’s inevitable that there are going to be many people here in the U.S. who will be wondering just how many of their loved ones have died needlessly. Already, there has been a number of wrongful death lawsuits filed against cruise ship companies. Cruise ships have been a particular casualty around the world, including those based on the U.S. east coast, with many of them having become floating incubators of disease. Lawsuits filed by family members of deceased cruise passengers have alleged that cruise companies may have deliberately covered up incidences of passengers with flu like symptoms onboard, resulting in far more illness and deaths because of the speed and ease of transmission in these crowded environments. Lawsuit against Fox News alleges misinformation...
by diazlaw | Mar 15, 2020 | Personal Injury
U.S. firefighters, like many of their counterparts all around the world, have used a type of firefighting foam which has been a huge success in fighting fires, especially those caused by petrochemical compounds. Only recently, it has been discovered that the foam’s chemical makeup has been responsible for causing cancers in the very people who have been exposed to the foam while fighting fires. The culprit is the group of chemicals called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS). These substances are very effective in what they do. They are an extremely stable group of compounds that remain unaffected when in contact with the sorts of materials that could be on fire. Unfortunately, this very stability appears to be part of the reason why these compounds are a serious health risk. When absorbed into the human body, usually breathed in by firefighters when using an aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), they do not break down chemically. In fact, they accumulate and are now known to be sufficiently toxic to cause a range of cancers. Like many cancers, the longer a firefighter has been exposed to PFAS chemicals from the foam they have used in firefighting the higher the chance they will develop cancer. AFFF type foam material has been used for firefighting for decades. This means that there could be potentially thousands of firefighters or retired firefighters who have developed or will develop cancer as a result of exposure to PFAS chemicals. It now seems likely that foam manufacturers may have known about the potential carcinogenic nature of PFAS chemicals since they were introduced into their foam products. Some of their materials...
by diazlaw | Mar 12, 2020 | Personal Injury
While there is still no state wide ban on dangerous breeds of dogs in Mississippi, dog attacks still take place on a regular basis. Most dog attacks tend to be on young children who don’t always have the common sense or experience to keep away from a strange dog or one that is behaving aggressively. However, even adults can be badly attacked, leaving nasty wounds and scars. It took two trials and four years to convict Eric ‘Pinky” Hodges of manslaughter after his pit bull terriers maimed and killed two men in Benton County. The dogs were loose at the time of the attack. Pit bull terriers are arguably the worst of the breeds of dogs for dog bites, but there are plenty of dog owners and animal rights groups that oppose outright bans on certain breeds. In Mississippi, 29 cities have laws that ban dangerous breeds of dogs, including pit bulls, or have bans on pit bulls specifically. In Jackson, attempts to ban the breed have failed in the recent past, a ban opposed by dog control officers in the city as well as dog owners. You can’t really blame a dog if it bites or viciously attacks someone it doesn’t know. Despite domestication, dogs are still naturally territorial predators and are loyal to those it considers their “pack.” Attacks on owners or the children of owners do occur occasionally, but are not common. Most attacks occur when a dog is unleashed or unrestrained and attacks someone passing by. It is the dog owner’s responsibility to restrain the dog, especially if he or she knows that their dog...
by diazlaw | Feb 28, 2020 | Personal Injury
Thousands of people in Mississippi, possibly tens of thousands, have used glyphosate based weedkillers in their jobs or around their homes over the last few decades. These weedkillers, when first introduced on to the market in1974 by agrochemical giant Monsanto, were hailed as revolutionary. They are a very effective herbicide and are touted as helping to increase the yield of many agro crops and forestry products the world over. Roundup may be carcinogenic Monsanto has recently been bought by an even bigger giant, German based Bayer AG. Its main glyphosate containing brand, Roundup, has long since passed the end of any patent protection. This means that not all glyphosate based products (GBHs) on the market around the world are made by Monsanto, even though the brand name “Roundup” is still the most easily recognized herbicide. More seriously, GBHs have been implicated in an increased risk of some cancers, specifically non Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). Considering the huge profits made by Monsanto and now Bayer from selling Roundup, it is probably not surprising that the manufacturers of the product are not very keen on admitting that their product might be carcinogenic. Bayer may be ready to settle Moving on to February2020 and there are now probably 9,000 lawsuits outstanding against Monsanto / Bayer alleging that prolonged use of Roundup has caused NHL. Three lawsuits have already been successful, with Bayer paying out millions of dollars in settlement. The fourth lawsuit, Wade vs. Bayer, to be heard in St. Louis, Missouri, has just been suspended. It’s not the only case that has been put on hold. At least half a dozen lawsuits...
