Memories of crashes
I was just reading about a crash that killed a pedestrian around Fort Worth today, and it made me so sad. I always get so upset thinking about such things. How can people be so reckless? You know?
Stories like that, they always bring back thoughts of friends I’ve lost through tragedies, particularly cars. I’ve had more than my share of loss due to other people driving without regard for others. My sister, Sarah, when she was just twelve, she was hit by a car. Thank God, she survived, but she still has lasting problems due to that. Her early onset arthritis I’m convinced came about because of that accident.
Then, my friend Nick in college died crossing the street. It was a big party weekend, and someone, of course, was driving drunk. He went to jail for it, and I bet that ruined his life, so that’s really two lives that were ended by that accident.
I just don’t know what to do about such things. On some level, I want some vengeance for the victim. I want their family to sue whoever did this, to take them for everything. I have a good mind to call up that family and recommend a lawyer (another friend had some success with these lawyers, so I have a number handy).
But then, I think about that poor boy who hit Nick. I remember seeing him afterward, during the whole process when they were charging him and gathering evidence. He was broken, believe me. I don’t know how you cope with making a mistake like that, and then prison on top of it. And as far as I know, Nick’s family may have sued him too, or his family at least. Was that fair? I just don’t know. I can’t help but feel angry for a victim like Nick, but I hurt for the boys like the one who hit him too.
Was the person who hit that pedestrian in Fort Worth as easy to sympathize with? I don’t know. I couldn’t finish the article, so I didn’t see if the driver was drunk or speeding. I don’t know if they were simply not paying attention or if the pedestrian stepped out in front of them. Maybe I don’t want to know. I don’t want to put that burden on myself, to decide, even if just it’s a decision just for myself.
What I want is to let such stories go and not think about them. I don’t want to make the associations I always make with my own life, and I don’t want to imagine every victim as Nick or Sarah. I want to just let it out and let it go.
That’s why I’m going to start writing here. Hopefully, putting everything down here whenever I start remembering and getting upset, will help me do more of that letting go. I want to put it on this page and then forget it. I hope it works.
Read MoreMedical Malpractice: Surgical Errors
You go to the doctors to help treat your medical condition, but sadly, there are instances where the doctors do you more harm than good, like on the instances of medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice happens when a medical professional who has the duty of care to a patient has violated that duty of care, either through action or action, and this violation has resulted into the harm of the patient. According to the website of Russo, Russo & Slania, P.C., negligent medical professionals can be held accountable and forced to provide much-needed compensation to the victims through a medical malpractice lawsuit.
There are different negligent acts, such as misdiagnosis, medication error, and lack of informed consent. But whatever negligent act you have experienced, it doesn’t change the fact that it has health and monetary consequences. One of the most devastating, both in terms of health and monetary consequence, is surgical error.
A surgical error happens when a medical professional has made a mistake before, during, and after a surgical procedure. This is an extremely dangerous mistake because it can lead to the rise of new complications and worsening of existing ones, and the worst thing about it is the fact that the patient doesn’t deserve it. It has only happened because of the negligence of a medical professional.
Below are some of the most common surgical errors:
Anesthesia Error – Too much or too little anesthesia can have devastating effects, including brain damage and extreme pain during surgery.
Foreign Object Error – Surgical tools that are left in the body can be dangerous. Aside from the obvious pain, leaving foreign objects inside the body can lead to organ punctures and infections.
Nerve Damage Error – Speaking of organ punctures, foreign objects are not just the culprits of such, as even the wrong or incompetent use of surgical tools during surgery can also cause such injuries. The most common culprit is the scalpel.
Site Operation Error – This may sound ridiculous because of how incompetent it is, but operating on the wrong body part does happen, resulting into the extraction of the wrong kidney, amputation of the wrong limb, and many other scenarios.
Read MoreIt is a Sad Thing that Preventable Injuries due to Harmful Products are inflicted onto Minors all too Often
As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls, drowning, burns, poisoning and motor vehicle accidents (which is at the top the list) are the leading causes of unintentional injuries and deaths among children in the U.S. Every year, more than 12,000 children (aged between 0 and 19) die and at least 9.2 million more are injured due to these causes.
As dangerous as those mentioned above are the many different products that people stuff in their homes and, it cannot be denied, so many of what Americans purchase are often causes of severe injuries or even death. The thousands of injuries and deaths caused by these products can be verified through the records of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). These products include home furniture and décor, tools, children’s outdoor activity equipment, sports equipment, inflatable amusements, nursery products and children’s toys.
Between 2007 and 2010, millions of children’s toys were recalled by the CPSC due to the dangers that these presented, such as sharp edges that could cause lacerations, small parts that were considered as choking hazards, toxic substances and chemical contents that exceeded federal limits. The CPSC is charged with enforcing toy safety standards laws, laws that set guidelines on toys, like: the required sizes of children’s toys; the inaccessibility of the toys’ batteries and magnets to small children; noise and toxicity limits; and, the display of labels containing the possible risks of choking hazards.
One major issue with toys is that their labels often do not include their content or material. Since there are no laws regarding this, many local and foreign manufacturers, therefore, do not put on toys’ labels information regarding any possible harmful elements. This leaves consumers without any clue about the actual safety of the products that they buy (everyone can only assume that all products made available in stores are totally safe).
As explained by the law firm Mazin & Associates, PC, “Instances of child injury can be very frightening for all parties involved. It is a parent’s deepest wish that his/her child has the opportunity to grow up happy and healthy. Sadly, preventable injuries are inflicted onto minors all too often.”
The family of a child, who has been injured in an accident or due to the use of a toy or any other product that is proven harmful, has the legal right to file a lawsuit against the responsible party. In so many cases accidents occur and defective products continue to be manufactured and sold due to the grave negligence of some individuals. It would be wise to seek the help of a seasoned personal injury lawyer who will see to it that all the documents required in the lawsuit and that the child’s and his/her family’s rights and interests are strongly defended.
Read MoreSlip and Fall Accidents
A slip and fall accident refers to when someone falls, trips, or slips and is injured due to a dangerous condition on someone else’s property. Slip and fall injuries occur for a variety of reasons and can be very painful. Some common causes of slip and fall injuries include poor lighting, uneven flooring, narrow staircases, and wet flooring. Slip and fall accidents also include those injured due to a fall caused by snow, ice, an uneven sidewalk, or hidden pothole.
Slip and fall accidents can occur almost anywhere, but there some locations where these accidents are much more common. Some of the most common locations include grocery or big box stores, public parks, private homes, sidewalks, and workplaces. The biggest issue in regards to slip and fall accidents is that of responsibility. Determining whether or not someone is legally responsible for a slip and fall injury is particularly tricky. Each slip and fall case is different and legal responsibility depends on if the property owner acted carefully to ensure that slipping or tripping would not be likely to occur. The property owner may also be held responsible if they created the unsafe condition, for example making floor extremely slippery after waxing. The other determining factor of legal responsibility is whether the person who fell and injured themselves was careless in not avoiding the hazardous condition that caused the fall. For example, a customer who trips over a large display in a grocery store aisle will typically not be compensated for their injury since the displays are clearly visible and very commonplace in stores.
The best way to prevent slip and fall accidents is to simply exercise caution when walking in areas that may have dangerous conditions.
Read MoreMaking Drivers Realize Just How Dangerous Texting and Driving Really Is
Due to driving distractions, 424,000 individuals were injured and 3,154 lost their lives in 2013 ( in 2012, those who got injured due to distracted driving numbered only to 387,000). In 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said there were 3,179 deaths and 431,000 injuries that resulted from 297,000 distraction-affected car crashes. Unlike drunk-driving, driving recklessly and overspeeding, which many drivers would not risk committing, distracted driving can happen to anyone – even to the most careful of drivers who are always concerned about road safety.
While there have been accidents which were due to factors that are beyond the control of drivers, such as defective car or car parts or defective or poorly maintained roads, highways and bridges, both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) of the NHTSA hold that 90% of all road crashes can be blamed on drivers.
Since 2012, texting and using a phone (whether hands free or hand held) while driving have always been the worst form of driving distraction in the United States and around the world. In the continues effort to show drivers, most especially young drivers whose age fall between 16 and 24, a non-profit organization in Belgium, called Responsible Young Drivers, for example, thought of a way to give new drivers a first-hand lesson on how dangerous texting and driving really is. By taking new drivers a driving instructor tells them that a new law required that Belgian drivers must first prove they can text messages (all in correct spelling and punctuation marks) while driving before they can obtain a license. What resulted in the actual texting and driving tests were lots of braking, swerving, swearing and crying for fear of not being able to obtain a license, and plenty of mangled orange cones along the driving course.
Hopefully the student drivers have seen and learned the effects of using a cell phone while behind the wheel and that it was enough to make them realize that, like drinking and driving, texting and driving is equally dangerous and can, indeed, result to road injuries and deaths.
Unfortunately, many other young drivers saw another thing from the posted videos (in Youtube) of the need to text and drive test in Belgium. Instead of realizing the dangers of distracted driving, one driver criticized those who took the tests instead, saying that they were texting the wrong way. They should hold up the phone above the steering wheel (like he always does) so they can keep their eyes on the road at the same time.
As explained by the law firm Evans Moore, LLC, one thing that can make car accidents so scary and so potentially dangerous is their unpredictability; you can be driving with the utmost attention and care, and still be unable to react to a distracted driver quickly enough to avoid an accident.
Car accidents can change your life in the blink of an eye and, wiith no way to prepare for such an event, families are often left without a way to address the considerable resulting financial damages, especially in the wake of the physical and emotional trauma you’ve sustained. Fortunately, you can pursue a legal action for compensation for the losses you’ve been forced to incur so that you can get back on your feet.
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