Impaired driving not only puts the driver at risk but puts others lives in danger as well. California Law states that a blood alcohol content of 0.08% or higher is considered intoxicated and no person should operate a vehicle at this level. For minors under the age of 21, it is illegal to drive with any measurable amount of alcohol in their system. This is known as the “zero tolerance” law.
Today we will examine whether installing a dash cam (dashboard camera) in your vehicle is a worthwhile endeavor. These days you cannot escape cameras. Everyone seems to have a smartphone, and no long
er do cell phone cameras produce grainy, obscure images – these phone cameras are advanced, with clear, focused pictures and even excellent video capabilities. We already know that most businesses have digital cameras pointed at us. Some of us have had the luck of being captured on a “red light camera” as we push the yellow light a little too far. Many motorcyclists wear helmets with a portable digital camera, and now, more and more people are having dash cams installed in their vehicles.
Why?
Many employees drive company vehicles either to and from work or for specific company related tasks. Wrongful death claims can be brought against a driver’s employer if the negligent act of the employee occurred in the scope of employment. For this reason, it is vital in every wrongful death case to have only a wrongful death attorney investigate whether the negligent driver was in the scope of employment.
Employer Liability for Employee Actions
Although the dangers of exposure to asbestos fibers has now been well-known for many years, the several different diseases that may result may not be. In addition to malignant mesothelioma — a cancer that appears in the mesothelial tissues lining the lungs, peritoneum, pericardium, and chest cavity — other cancers of the lungs, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract have also been connected to asbestos. Asbestos fiber inhalation is also the direct cause of asbestosis, a condition in which the lung tissues become increasingly scarred, seriously reducing lung function.
Malignant mesothelioma is a very devastating diagnosis — most people diagnosed with this cancer die within 12 months of receiving their diagnosis. This is not to say victims of this disease should be without hope. For example, famous scientist Stephen Jay Gould lived for more than 20 years after his mesothelioma diagnosis, eventually succumbing to an unrelated condition. While certainly grim, malignant mesothelioma diagnoses are still relatively rare.
Anyone who watched an older building being torn down or remodeled in recent years will have become familiar with the sight of workers performing asbestos testing and remediation. Buildings constructed in the middle part of the 20th century very commonly used asbestos in a variety of building materials because of its fireproofing performance. It was also used as fireproofing material in a number of other industries, such as shipbuilding, beginning early in the 20th Century, but becoming increasingly prevalent from the 1940s forward.
Malignant mesothelioma is a relatively rare form of cancer that appears most commonly in the pleural lining between the lungs and the chest wall. Only in recent decades has the strong connection between most pleural mesotheliomas and workplace exposure to asbestos become well-established and recognized. Although cancer in the pleural lining had occasionally been observed and described by doctors for hundreds of years, it wasn’t until the early 1900s that doctors began to recognize these as “primary” cancers — that is, cancers originating actually in the lungs, rather than spreading as “secondary” tumors from cancers beginning in other locations.
Motorcycle accidents occur every day in California, with many resulting in serious injury and even death. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported the number of motorcycle crash-related fatalities has doubled in the past decade. There are a number of different types of motorcycle accidents, but some are more common than others. Whether you drive a vehicle or you are a motorcycle rider, it is important for everyone on the road to be familiar with the most common types of motorcycle accidents so that you can avoid them while driving.
Head on Collision
When you meet with a personal injury attorney for a consultation about your injury claim, it is important to bring as much information as you can so that the attorney can evaluate your case.
The following is a list of documents that are important to keep and bring to your personal injury consultation.
DO NOT … select an attorney who is does not have specific experience with personal injury cases. An attorney who does wills, trusts, bankruptcy or real estate will in all likelihood have no experience with personal injury cases. Personal injury law is complicated and involves many rules and practices unique to the subject. You are risking the value of your claim if you choose an attorney without experience and specialization in personal injury law.
DO NOT select an attorney who does not go to trials, arbitrations, or mediations. Most attorneys who advertise that they handle personal injury cases have never seen the inside of a courtroom. Having the ability to see a case to trial is important because insurance companies are aggressively trying to save money and their goal is to force a settlement. If the insurance company is aware that your attorney never goes to trial, they will take advantage of this and make very low offers to settle your case. An attorney without trial experience is known to be bluffing, which allows the insurance companies to see his bluff. The attorney without trial experience will pressure you to accept less once she determines the insurance company is not going to increase its low offer. If your attorney is unable or unwilling to push the case to trial, and the insurance company is aware of this, it will harm the value of your case.
Crash! You are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and through no fault of your own find yourself on the side of the road, injured, with a damaged vehicle, because some other driver was negligent. The experience is frightening, and you may be in pain and confused. Luckily, you find out that the negligent driver has insurance, and you are properly insured, so you figure the process of getting your car fixed and your medical bills taken care of will be fairly simple. I mean, that is what you pay the insurance company for, right? Unfortunately, today may be just the beginning of months, even years, of inconvenience and frustration.
Dealing with the Insurance Company
A new law aimed at reducing motor vehicle – bicyclist crashes went into effect in Sacramento on Tuesday, September 16, 2014. The new law requires motorists to keep a distance of at least three feet from a bicyclists when passing them from behind. This law imposes fines against a motorist that doesn’t give enough room.
The law prohibits the driver of a motor vehicle proceeding in the same direction on a highway from passing at a distance less than 3 feet of the motor vehicle and the bicyclist. According to the new law, if conditions prevent motorists from giving cyclists the three feet of space, drivers must “slow to a speed that is reasonable and prudent” and may only pass when there is no danger to the cyclist, (AB1371, Bradford).
Sacramento Injury Attorneys Blog