Waco Personal Injury Lawyer

Victoria Tour Bus Crash Kills One, Critically Injures Many Passengers

Craig Cherry — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 08:52:44 GMT

At approximately 4:10 am this morning, a motor coach tour bus operated by Capricorn Bus Lines, Inc overturned and flipped on its side while traveling on U.S. Highway 59 near Victoria, Texas. At the time of the accident, it is believed approximately 46 people were on the bus traveling to Houston, Texas from Monterrey, Mexico.

One bus passenger died at the accident scene from injuries. At least twenty-five people were taken to area hospitals, nine of them were in critical condition. At least two bus passengers were airlifted to hospitals in San Antonio given the severity of their injuries. Many of the injuries to bus passengers have included broken backs and additional orthopedic injuries.

Police investigators are still trying to determine why the bus overturned onto its side, however investigators believe the driver may have gone off the road and then overcorrected before the bus overturned. It is unclear at this time whether or not the tour bus was equipped with passenger seat belts.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Mass Transit Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Survey of Texas State Court Judges Confirms "Tort Reform" Unnecessary

Craig Cherry — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 21:26:50 GMT

A new law review article recently published by the Baylor Law Review (Vol 59, Summer 2007) provides emperical data suggesting "tort reform" is unnecessary.

In "Straight From the Horse's Mouth: Judicial Observations of Jury Behavior and The Need for Tort Reform", the authors surveyed state court judges in Texas and found very interesting results, some of which are summarized below.

Regarding actual and exemplary damages, the survey found:

Over 83% of the Texas district court judges had observed not a single instance of a
"runaway jury" verdict on either actual or exemplary damages during the preceding
48 months before the survey.

Over 85% of judges had not at all or in only one instance granted relief during the
past four years due to an excessive award of actual damages. No judge in the entire
sampling had granted such relief during the prior four years in more than three cases.

Over 83% of Texas judges had not witnessed a single jury award too high
(compensatory damages).

15% of Texas trial judges observed juries refuse to make any award of punitive
damages when the judge believed such an award was warranted by the evidence.

Regarding "frivilous lawsuits", the survey found:

44% of the judges had not personally observed a single frivolous lawsuit in their
courtroom during the prior four years.

99% had observed no more than between 1-25% of the cases filed before them as being
frivolous.

85% of the responding judges had at most sanctioned a lawyer
only one time or less during the prior four years.

Over 86% of the responding judges believed that there was no need for further legislation
addressing frivolous lawsuits.

Out of 389 state court judges in Texas, 303 returned the survey to the authors.

The survey results confirm that most Texas trial judges do not see significant numbers of
frivolous filings by people who have no business suing, and plaintiffs with legitimate
suits are much more likely to be under compensated than to receive any windfall. Two
primary goals for tort jurisprudence are for the victim to receive full compensation and to
deter the tortfeasor, and when victims are not fully compensated and tortfeasors are not
deterred, neither goal is met.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Chinese Toy Company Boss Kills Himself

Courtney Mills — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:06:26 GMT

The head of a Chinese toy company, responsible for overseeing millions of dollars worth of lead-painted toys, hanged himself in his factory this weekend, just after the Chinese government banned exports from the company. Zhang Shuhong, who ran the Lee Der Industrial Co., Ltd., killed himself in a warehouse of the company. In China, hanging oneself is often seen as a sign of shame.

Lee Der was the factory responsible for the causing the recall of nearly a million toys by Mattel, under the Fisher-Price brand name among others.

The recalled toys were all painted with lead. Lead is a heavy metal and neurotoxin that accumulates in the brain, and is particularly dangerous to children.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Courtney Mills

Kentucky Bus Crash Victim Sues School Bus Manufacturer

Craig Cherry — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 05:54:56 GMT

The family of 12-year old Cody Shively sued the manufacturers of a school bus he was riding in back in January of this year when it was involved in a crash. Cody suffered severe brain and eye injuries as a result of not being properly restrained during the crash event.

A video camera inside the bus captured Cody and other school children being tossed around the bus during the crash, amidst flying metal beams, shards of glass, and other debris.

The family has sued Navistar International Corporation, Navistar International Transportation Corporation, International Truck and Engine Corporation and IC Corporation alleging the school bus was unsafe because it did not provide seat betls for passengers and lacked sufficient structural integrity.

School bus manufacturers have historically relied upon a theory known as "passive restraint" and "compartmentalization" as attempts to protect school bus passengers. Reliance upon compartmentalization alone is absurd, particularly in a tipover or rollover crash. If a child is not restrained to his seat during a tipover/rollover crash event, the force of gravity is necessarily going to throw the bus passengers out of their seats, thereby creating the potential for a partial or full ejection from the bus. No parent would put a child in a car without a seat belt and no parent should not be forced to put their child in a school bus without seat belts.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Airlines, Cruises, Buses, and Other Mass Transit Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Brave Log Splitters Recalled After Injury Reports

Craig Cherry — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:58:34 GMT

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, in conjunction with Brave Products, Inc., has recalled approximately 8,000 log splitters after the company received addtional reports of injury from users.

The log splitters hydraulic cylinders may have a defective rod retention which can lead to seals leaking and rods to detach. If the rod detaches, it can lead to serious injury to the operator of the log splitter because the rod can rapidly and unexpectedly extend the splitting wedge.

Brave Products, Inc. has received an additional 59 reports of injury as a result of this defect. These additional injury reports come after a prior recall in February 2005 of the log splitters. One consumer reported a hand amputation that may have been caused by the cylinder defect.

The log splitters being recalled were sold between January, 2002 and October, 2004, and then from May, 2006 through April, 2007.

Consumers are advised to discontinue use of the log splitters immediately and contact Brave Products, Inc. to receive a free replacement cylinder.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Easy-Bake Ovens Recalled After Children Injury Reports

Craig Cherry — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:08:51 GMT

Hasbro, Inc. has recalled approximately 1 million Easy-Bake Ovens after receiving numerous reports of injuries to children. According to the notice issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Hasbro, Inc. has received reports of approximately 249 injuries to children as a result of kids getting their hands or fingers caught in the oven's opening.

Out of the 249 reports, 77 including burn injuries, 16 of which were reported as second or third-degree burns. One serious burn injury required the partial amputation of a 5-year old girl's finger.

Ovens sold before May, 2006 are not included in the recall. The Consumer Product Safety Commission advises that caregivers should immediately take this toy away from children and call Hasbro, Inc. for information on how to return the Easy-Bake Ovens and receive a voucher towards the purchase of another Hasbro, Inc. product.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Black & Decker Recalls Grasshog Trimmer/Edgers

Craig Cherry — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 14:55:56 GMT

On July 20, 2007, Black & Decker recalled approximately 202,000 GH1000 Grasshog XP String Trimmer/Edgers. According to a notice by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the trimmer/edgers spool, spool cap and other parts can come loose during use and become airborne projectiles.

The airborne projectiles pose an obvious laceration hazard to users of the product, as well as, bystanders. The trimmer/edgers can also overheat, posing a burn hazard to users.

Black & Decker has received approximately 707 incident reports from consumers regarding these products, including 58 reports of injuries. Both serious and minor injuries, as well as, property damage resulted from use of the defective products according to incident reports received by the company.

Trimmer/edgers with date codes 200546 through 200645 (representing manufacture dates of November 14, 2005 through November 6, 2006) are included in this recall.

Consumers are advised to discontinue use of the product and contact Black & Decker for a free repair kit.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

CPSC Discusses Changing Policies

Jenny Albano — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 09:46:52 GMT

Nancy Nord, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's acting chairman, thinks the agencies policies need to be updated, the law is 35 years old and needs to be changed. Earlier this week, her staff had a meeting with a group representing manufacturers and a meeting with several consumer groups to discuss her ideas and proposals.

Nord wants to make it illegal to sell a product that has been recalled after the date of public notice. As of now this practice is still legal. The CPSC also wants to make manufacturers and importers certify that their products meet mandatory and voluntary standards that the commission relies on as effective safety standards. Since there is already a requirement for certification now, this new provision will make the certification more public.

The CPSC wants to make companies that violate relied upon voluntary standards pay a fine. Also, they want to be able to seize goods from companies that don't follow voluntary standards. As of now, products found that do not meet these standards cannot be removed.

Currently, companies have 30 days to respond to commission inquiries before the agency can begin working on a unilateral public recall or safety announcement. To speed up the process, the commission wants to trim that to 10 days.

The commission is also reviewing the cap on civil penalties for companies who do not report safety defects to the CPSC in a timely manner. Today, the cap is $1.825 million, which Congress thinks is much too low; the House proposed a penalty of $20 million. The commission stated they think that fine is unreasonable, and any increase should be slowly phased in.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

School Bus Seat Belt Legislation Becomes Law In Texas

Craig Cherry — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 06:37:07 GMT

On Friday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed into law legislation passed by Congress that requires all Texas school buses purchased on or after September 1, 2010 to be equipped with three-point lap and shoulder seat belts for passengers.

Additionally, all charter (motorcoach) buses used by Texas schools to transport school children on or after September 1, 2014 must also be equipped with three-point lap and shoulder belts for passengers.

The new law is a result of the tragic school bus accident that occurred on March 29, 2006, near Devers, Texas, and took the life of two West Brook High School students and critically injured several others.

The law will be contingent on lawmakers finding the money to cover the school districts' expenses for the seat belts. Sen. Eddie Lucio, a sponsor of the bill that Gov. Perry signed into law, does not believe finding the money will be an issue considering the vast resources in Texas.

Some school districts, including Beaumont and Galveston, have already begun installing three-point lap and shoulder belts on new school buses. Other school districts in Texas are also considering taking action before 2010.

New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, California and Florida have also all passed legislation requiring seat belts on school buses.

The passing of this law means our school children will be safer when traveling to/from school and school related events. Too many of our children have been virtually unprotected when involved in an accident where the school bus tipped or rolled over. In order to adequately protect bus occupants from sustaining serious injury or death in tip over and rollover crashes, you must keep them restrained to their seats. This law will implement a common sense approach motor vehicle safety that has been available in passenger cars for decades.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry

Texas House Passes Bus Seat Belt Legislation

Craig Cherry — Thu, 17 May 2007 06:04:01 GMT

The Texas House of Representatives passed HB 323 which requires Texas schools to purchase buses with three-point lap-shoulder belts for passengers after 2010. The legislation also requires Texas schools to use only chartered motorcoach buses with three-point lap-shoulder belts after 2014.

After being passed in the House, HB 323 was then sent to the Senate for consideration. The bill has been voted favorably out of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee without any opposition and is expected to receive a vote on the floor of the Senate in the coming days before the end of this legislation session.

HB 323 is a great piece of legislation that will help protect our children in the future as they travel on our roads to/from school and to other events. I urge everyone to contact their State Senator in support of this legislation, also known as "Ashley and Alicia's Bill".

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Craig Cherry