Negligence Contributing Factor in Football Player Death
I’m Ed Smith, a Stockton personal injury attorney. Contact sports, especially football, have been in the public eye, due to the serious risks of injury and even death. After the death of their son during practice at a California university, one couple filed a lawsuit against the school.
Boating accidents are numerically much less common than car crashes, but the “typical” boating accident can result in much more significant injuries than the “typical” car crash. Obviously, most people involved in car crashes will be using seat belts and/or shoulder harness, and in most cars will have the benefit of air bags and other modern safety equipment. In a boating accident, about the most that can be hoped for in terms of safety equipment is that victims will be wearing life jackets that may save them from drowning if they’re ejected from the boat.
A recent example was a boating accident on the Sacramento River near Red Bluff that resulted in injuries to seven people, three of whom had to be taken to a hospital, one of those with significant head injuries who was transported first by ambulance and then by helicopter to a trauma center. Other injuries included a broken arm and hip for the man who was driving the boat. The accident apparently happened when the boat crossed the large wake of another boat, causing the driver to lose control and crash into a bridge piling where Interstate-5 crosses the river.
Are You Using A Tree Harness?
Snap-hook and V-rings are parts used in tree harnesses commonly purchased by hunters to obtain optimal hunting shots from way up high in a tree. Product liability issues may arise when these parts are defective and dangerous. Some falls may be minor, moderate or may even result in a wrongful death.
Many people are familiar with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) as a condition caused by repetitive stress injuries such as working with vibrating tools, heavy manual labor, and even less impactful but repeated movements such as typing. Within these categories, carpal tunnel syndrome is often a workplace injury. What is less well known, however, is traumatic carpal tunnel syndrome that can be triggered by a single injury to the hand or wrist from an event such as a motor vehicle collision, a sports injury, or a slip-and-fall injury.
Complex regional pain syndrome, or CRPS, is a relatively recent name for related conditions that have been known by other names in the past, such as “reflex sympathetic dystrophy” (RSD) and “causalgia.” What was often referred to as RSD in the past is now more commonly known as “CRPS-I,” and what was called causalgia is now more typically referred to as “CRPS-II.” Other names have included reflex neurovascular dystrophy, algoneurodystrohpy, sympathetically maintained pain, and Sudek’s syndrome. As might be guessed from the many names for these associated conditions, they are complicated and often not well-understood. They generally involve trauma to the peripheral nerves and have symptoms involving the sympathetic nervous system.
Both versions of complex regional pain syndrome can result from trauma such as from motor vehicle collisions, sports injuries, and workplace injuries.
By the late 1980s, states in the U.S. began adopting a variety of bicycle helmet laws to improve safety and reduce serious injuries. Studies have found that helmets can reduce reduce the occurrence of head injuries by about half and the frequency of neck or facial injuries by about one third. These studies are not without controversy, however, as other studies and anecdotal data indicate there may be much less protection from helmets. Currently, more than 20 states have some form of a statewide bicycle helmet law and hundreds of cities have individually adopted similar requirements. Only about a dozen states have neither statewide nor local bicycle helmet laws.
Since 1999, standards for helmets in the United States have been mandated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The primary protection offered by this type of helmet is a reduction in impact acceleration to the head from an inner liner of polystyrene that absorbs energy as it crushes, similar to how a car’s structure is designed to absorb energy by crushing so as to protect its occupants. In order to offer this crush protection, however, it is crucial that bicycle helmets be in good condition (no prior impacts) and properly fitted to each individual rider’s head. Unfortunately, this often doesn’t happen — one study published in 2003 found that although nearly three-quarters of the studied children reported wearing helmets when bicycling, more than 90% of children had helmets with either condition and/or fit problems. When the fit of the helmet had been selected by the parent alone without any expert input, none were found by the study to fit properly. Expert assistance is key.
A bright blue sky, a beautiful mountain or body of water – as Spring Break 2015 descends upon us, thoughts turn to an outdoor fun – such as zip lining – which is a fun outdoor activity that while mostly safe, has inherent dangers as well.
Many of us engage in recreational activities and sports that expose us to the slight but not inconsequential risk of getting hurt while involved in the activity. We may join an adult softball league or enroll our kids in school sports. The adrenaline junkies among us may choose skydiving or mountain climbing. And every year, a certain number of people get injured — sometimes seriously — as a result. When this happens, is someone legally liable for those injuries?
Answering this question will often involve a legal concept called “assumption of risk,” which can be broken down into two categories: primary assumption of risk and secondary assumption of risk. The question in primary assumption of the risk is whether there was any duty at all owed to the injured person to protect that person from risks inherent in the activity. If there was a duty owed, then secondary assumption of the risk addresses whether the injured person voluntarily chose to ignore the additional risk posed to them by a breach of this duty.
Backyard trampolines are very common here in Sacramento due to our year-round mild weather; and bouncing has been a great way for kids to burn off their excess energy for generations, however trampolines can be quite dangerous. Dangers include falling from the trampoline, or landing incorrectly within it, which can result in significant head, neck or back injuries. Every year, almost 100,000 emergency room visits are attributed to injuries sustained while using trampolines. Most of those injuries – upwards of 80% – occur in children under 15 years of age.
The risk of backyard trampolines has been deemed great enough that the American Academy of Pediatrics has advised that trampolines should be used only within supervised programs with trained personnel – for example, within a gymnastics class – and not in private homes or unsupervised play areas. Despite the warning, sales of backyard trampolines have risen to approximately million sold per year.
Sacramento Injury Attorneys Blog