January, 2018 - WNW Legal

Nursing Homes May See Relief from Fines

January 30, 2018/in Personal Injury /by damg

Health care facilities in Mississippi and throughout America may benefit from a new Trump administration policy. He is rolling back fines that were levied against nursing homes that had been cited for abuse or neglect in the past. During the Obama administration, two-thirds of nursing homes that were cited for severe violations received fines. Under the new policy, homes will either not be fined or will receive smaller ones.

According to a New York Times report, one nursing home that was fined $282,954 during Obama’s time in the White House would be fined less than $21,000 under President Trump. Some believe that this new policy may discourage nursing homes from adopting methods to keep patients safe. A Los Angeles Times report found that 75 percent of nursing homes were cited for poor infection control over a period of four years.

Sexual abuse may also be a problem in nursing homes. This is partially because it is hard to spot or prove as most crimes take place at night with no one to witness it. Patients themselves may not have the mental ability to remember what they experienced or to understand that they had been abused. While some are against this decision, the American Health Care Association has been advocating for it since 2016.

If a nursing home fails to provide a reasonable standard of care to patients, it may be engaging in negligent behavior. If such negligence results in a patient’s condition worsening, there may be grounds for a lawsuit. The victim’s family could file a lawsuit on behalf of the patient in some cases. If successful, appropriate compensation could be awarded. People who are in this position might want to discuss their situations with an attorney.

How to Talk to a Loved One About Nursing Home Abuse

January 23, 2018/in Personal Injury /by damg

There are numerous signs of nursing home abuse to watch out for when you have a loved one in an assisted care facility. Some of the more obvious signs include poor hygiene, bruising or open wounds, but it is also critical to look out for changes in behavior and emotional withdrawal.

These signs can indicate nursing home neglect or abuse, but the only way you can really be certain is if the person outright says staff members at the residence are abusive. This can be a difficult conversation to have. You do not want to put a loved one in an uncomfortable position, so here are some ways to approach the subject gently.

Bring up the subject cautiously

Do not dive right into the subject of abuse. Instead, ask something such as, "Do you like it here at this nursing home?" If your loved one has a physical symptom, such as a bruise, then you can ask about that, too. Once you have broached the subject, you can get into more direct questions.

Listen instead of reacting

In the event your loved one begins speaking directly about neglect or abuse, the most important thing you can do is to listen. Do not interrupt or else your family member may feel as though you do not really care. You also want to avoid getting too emotional. The last thing you want is your loved one assuming he or she did something wrong.

Contact an attorney

Your loved one may be incapable of seeking damages independently. Therefore, it may be up to you to get in touch with a lawyer to handle the case. An attorney will know how to go about these cases cautiously. An attorney will also be better capable of ensuring the staff members causing the abuse do not do any additional harm while the investigation is underway. Act quickly so you can give your loved one better care

Side Protection May Soon Become Requirement for Trucks

January 22, 2018/in Personal Injury /by damg

A bipartisan proposal for a bill called the Stop Underrides Act of 2017 is making its way through Congress. If passed, it will mandate that all commercial trucks install side underride guards. Drivers in Mississippi may be aware that underrides are a frequent outcome of truck accidents. In 2016, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 295 car occupants were killed in side underride crashes, and 238 died in rear underride crashes.

The bill also calls for an updating of rear underride guard regulations, which were established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration back in 1998. The NHTSA, for its part, published a regulatory proposal to upgrade these same regulations in 2015. The goal was to align U.S. standards with Canadian standards, which are stricter. The agency is waiting for research results from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute before it prepares a report.

In the proposed bill, side and rear guards will be required to withstand a collision from a car traveling 35 mph. The IIHS has been conducting crash tests and has recognized truck manufacturers that are taking steps to strengthen its guards.

However, there are concerns that side guards, which weigh approximately 800 pounds each, will reduce gas mileage and the amount of freight that trucks can haul. Replacement and inspection costs also aggravate the problem.

When a side underride crash occurs because the trucker was negligent, the victim, or the family of the victim if he or she was killed or seriously disabled, may be able to file a truck accident claim with the help of a lawyer. The settlement might be high, and the trucking companies may have their own lawyers who will be aggressive in denying payment. A lawyer may hire accident reconstruction experts and other third parties to establish proof of negligence in an effort to secure a favorable outcome for the victim.

NTSB Says Speeding Is Killing Americans

January 16, 2018/in Personal Injury /by damg

Fatalities caused by car accidents have been on the rise across the United States. Mississippi residents may be interested in the reason for this, though that is something that experts don’t agree on. Some blame the higher numbers of deaths on the fact that there are simply more people driving, while others blame distractions. But the National Transportation Safety Board says that there is a definite single cause of the increase in traffic deaths: speeding.

The NTSB studied U.S. traffic deaths from 2005 to 2014 and found that speeding killed nearly as many people as drunk driving. The finding prompted NTSB to recommend that penalties for speeding be increased.

The acting NTSB chairman says that part of the problem is that in addition to having lighter penalties, speeding is not condemned socially the way that drunk driving is. At an NTSB board meeting in July 2017, the chairman mentioned that unlike drunk driving, there are few social consequences associated with speeding, and there is no national awareness campaign aimed at stopping it.

Another problem is the way speed limits were designed. They are based on the average speed that cars on roads travel; not necessarily speeds that are safe. This is an old method called the 85th percentile rule because it bases speed limits on the speed that about 85 percent of cars are traveling. NTSB says there’s a need to reevaluate the effectiveness of using the 85th percentile rule to set speed limits.

Speeding drivers can cause car accidents that harm other people. When someone is injured in a car accident, they might receive a settlement offer from the at-fault driver’s insurance company. While this could seem like a relief to an injured person, many times such offers are actually less than the injured person might be entitled to. An injured person has a right to refuse an offer from an insurance company and seek a higher amount.

How to Handle an Accident Involving a Rideshare Driver

January 9, 2018/in Personal Injury /by damg

If an Uber or Lyft driver causes an accident in Mississippi, injured victims may have recourse. However, they will generally take action against the driver who caused the accident as opposed to the rideshare company. This is because rideshare drivers are generally classified as independent contractors rather than employees. Passengers who are hurt in an accident involving an Uber or Lyft driver are urged to call 911 and document as much about the crash as possible.

In many cases, this will include getting the name of the driver as well as a receipt showing the time and date when the ride took place. If a driver causes the accident while on duty, passenger victims are covered by a $1 million insurance policy. Both Uber and Lyft offer the same type of protection to those who are hurt by their drivers.

It is important to point out that an injured victim would likely sue the driver and then make a claim under the policies offered by Uber and Lyft. However, if a driver is using a vehicle for personal reasons, the policy generally does not cover damages incurred by a victim. The same may be true if a driver is active but does not have a passenger in the vehicle. In Washington and California, policies are active whenever a driver is active on a rideshare app.

Those who are in a car accident caused by a negligent driver may make a claim for medical expenses and other damages. This is generally true whether the driver is using the vehicle for professional or personal reasons. However, if a driver is using a vehicle for work, however, an employer or other parties may be liable for damages as well.

Safe Driving Means Understanding Right-Of-Way Laws

January 2, 2018/in Personal Injury /by damg

Mississippi residents can keep themselves and others on the road safe by understanding who has the right of way in a given situation. For instance, at a four-way stop, drivers exit the intersection in the same way that they entered. If two vehicles enter an intersection at the same time, the one on the right side generally gets to go first. When approaching a roundabout, it is a good idea to wait until there is sufficient space to enter.

In some cases, making a mistake in a roundabout may be treated the same as a failure to yield. When a driver sees a pedestrian in a crosswalk, that driver should allow the pedestrian to finish crossing the street. If a pedestrian starts to cross a street when a traffic light or other signal changes, he or she is allowed to finish crossing.

There are two situations in which drivers are required to stop at all times. Drivers must stop when they see a red light. Failure to do so could result in injuries or death to drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. There were 709 people killed in 2014 by drivers that ran red lights, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. When a driver sees an emergency vehicle or a school bus that is stopped, he or she must also stop or pull over.

Those who are involved in a collision with a negligent driver may be able to receive compensation for their injuries as well as for other costs, such as lost wages or to replace damaged property. An attorney may use cell phone records, physical evidence at the scene or a police report to establish that negligence played a role in an accident. Cases may be resolved either through a trial or with an informal settlement.