May, 2018 - WNW Legal

Responsibility by Negligent Entrustment or Vicarious Liability

May 27, 2018/in Personal Injury /by damg

A Mississippi resident can be held financially liable for damages caused by their vehicle even if they were not driving when the damage occurred. If someone lends their vehicle to a family member, friend or employee, or the vehicle has a manufacturing defect, the owner of the vehicle can be held responsible in the event of an accident.

If a vehicle owner has prior knowledge that someone is an unsafe driver, they should not lend their vehicle to that individual. If they do lend their vehicle to the unsafe driver, the owner can be held liable for any accidents that occur. Several states permit both the driver of the vehicle and the owner to be named as defendants in lawsuits that are filed under the vicarious liability theory. Even in jurisdictions in which there is no owner’s liability law, the negligent entrustment theory can be used to hold the vehicle’s owner liable for injuries that were incurred by the unsafe driver that was allowed to use the vehicle.

Parents should also be wary when lending a vehicle to their minor children. The Family Car Doctrine can be used to hold parents responsible for damages that are the result of a vehicle being driven by a minor. This doctrine can be applied even if the minor is not included in the automobile insurance policy.

Employers can also be held liable under the "respondeat superior" and vicarious liability negligence theories if their employees are responsible for accidents while behind the wheel of the company vehicle. However, this applies only to accidents that take place while the employee is performing work duties.

A personal injury attorney may work to protect the rights of a client who has been injured in a car accident. Financial damages may be pursued for medical expenses and pain and suffering.

Bedsores Are Not Normal in Nursing Homes

May 25, 2018/in Personal Injury /by damg

Bedsores only take about a week or two to form. They often develop when a person places unrelieved pressure onto one area of the body, and they are one of the most common signs of nursing home abuse.

You need to take immediate action if you suspect a loved one has experienced abuse in a residential facility. It can be easy to write off certain symptoms, especially since bedsores appear as superficial wounds. However, you need to bring any concerns you have to the attention of the nursing home staff. If left untreated, bedsores can lead to cancer, sepsis and joint infections, so do not look the other way when it comes to nursing home negligence.

The nursing home staff should have training to prevent bedsores

Bedsores are one of the most common conditions to develop in nursing homes, even though they are preventable. Many of the residents will have limited mobility due to an injury or illness. However, even if a resident needs to stay in bed all day, the staff members should still take active steps to prevent bedsores from developing.

If a resident needs to remain in bed for long periods of time, then the staff should check in once every two hours to alter the position. Laying at a 30-degree angle can help alleviate pressure on the hips. The nursing home’s staff should also inspect patients’ skin at least once a day to ensure no bedsores have begun to develop.

Another way a nursing home’s staff will actively try to prevent bedsores is to ensure residents receive adequate nutrition. Regardless of how mobile a resident is, the facility should offer nutritious meals at regular intervals to make sure residents receive all essential vitamins and minerals. Ensuring proper health should also involve regular exercise, but the facility may need to customize exercise regimens depending on a resident’s capabilities. With all these steps to prevent bedsores, you should never see them on a loved one.

Seat Belts Helpful in Preventing Severe Liver Injury

May 14, 2018/in Personal Injury /by damg

Every year throughout Mississippi and the rest of the U.S., 2 million car accident patients are sent to emergency rooms. Many of them suffer from internal abdominal trauma, usually incurring injury to the liver and spleen. In mild or moderate injuries, the symptoms are limited to blood clots and shallow lacerations. However, severe cases may require immediate surgery.

It is important to note that the risk for severe liver injury can be reduced by 21 percent if drivers wear their seat belts. This is according to a new study from NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn. Researchers studied the 2010 – 2015 crash data from the National Trauma Data Bank, ranking a total of 51,202 cases as involving either mild, moderate or severe injuries. Of the patients who suffered severe liver injury, 15 percent died. In mild and moderate cases, 8 percent of patients died.

Patients who wore seat belts and had working airbags were 26 percent less likely to develop severe liver injuries. While seat belts alone do not prevent liver injuries, their positive effect on the injury severity is clear. Those who neglect to buckle up because they think their airbags are enough to protect them are making a mistake. According to the study, airbags on their own do nothing to reduce injury severity.

Victims of auto accidents who survive liver injuries and other after-effects can consult with a lawyer about filing a claim. That way, they could potentially be reimbursed for medical bills, vehicle damage and other losses. A lawyer may help with the filing and negotiation process.

Road Safety Coalition AIMS to Eliminate Accident Deaths

May 7, 2018/in Personal Injury /by damg

The number of road users killed in the U.S. has risen alarmingly in recent years, and a coalition of federal agencies and road safety advocacy groups has been organized by the National Safety Council to combat the problem. The Road to Zero Coalition has set itself the lofty goal of completely eliminating motor vehicle accident by 2050, and some experts feel that the advent of autonomous vehicle technology in Mississippi and around the country could help the coalition to achieve this goal.

The Road to Zero Coalition, which is supported by the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, provided a blueprint for reducing road deaths in a report released on April 22. The coalition advocates for tougher seat belt laws and lower speed limits, and it has urged the nation’s law enforcement agencies to enforce these laws vigorously. The group also supports public awareness campaigns that promote road safety.

However, few road safety advocates believe that car crash fatalities in the United States can be reduced to zero in the foreseeable future unless autonomous vehicles become ubiquitous. Most technology experts expect this to happen as semi-autonomous safety systems are already available and manufacturers including General Motors, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla have vowed to bring a fully autonomous car to the market within five years.

Automotive technology that is designed to save lives on the road also records data that may be used by attorneys to establish liability in car accident lawsuits. The defendants in these cases often claim that they were obeying all traffic laws and did everything that they could to avoid crashing, but this testimony may be belied by electronic data recovered from black box-type devices in their vehicles.