Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a study showing that people who are passengers are even reluctant to speak out about distracted driving. Their poll surveyed more than 6,000 drivers and what they found was that drivers aged 18 to 24 were the least likely to say something to the driver of the car they are in should they be using a cell phone while operating the vehicle. The study revealed that while 90 percent of all who were surveyed said they felt using a cell phone while driving was dangerous, only one-third of those 18 to 24 would say something. As for older drivers, 65 years or older, the survey showed 50 percent would speak up.

In New Jersey, we are no strangers to the damage these negligent actions can cause as in 2010 nearly 23 percent of all fatal traffic accidents (including car, pedestrian, bicycle, bus, and truck accidents) had driver inattention listed as a contributing circumstance. This information, compiled by the New Jersey State Police, highlights just how out of hand this epidemic is getting. It has come to the point where the laws banning distracted driving are not deterrents enough to stop it. Passengers need to become more proactive with speaking out to someone they are driving with about their careless behavior.

Drivers seem to forget sometimes how quickly an accident can happen, and how much your life can change as a result. It takes only seconds for a crash to occur and that can translate into years of suffering and hardship. Drivers who make the choice to operate their vehicle in a negligent manner should be held responsible for any damage they cause. Speak with experienced New Jersey car accident lawyers today and hold these drivers accountable for the harm they have caused you.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released a warning last week highlighting the potential risks of using a portable or inflatable pool this summer. They explained that each year the agency receives an average of 35 reports of deaths with children under the age of five in these types of pools. They wanted to remind the public that a portable pool is just as dangerous as a permanent pool and that parents should give the same attention to children no matter how deep it is.

These deaths are preventable and 11 percent of pool drowning deaths in children under the age of five occur in an inflatable/portable pool. Just as with any sort of permanent pool structure, the portable pools also need safety barriers in place around them. This will prevent children from entering the pool when not supervised by an adult or parent.
By taking added caution and care we can all work to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of these types of drowning.

Safety Steps for Your Portable Pool

1. When not in use: when you are not enjoying the pool you should empty and store the smaller, inflatable pools and put protective covers over the larger ones to prevent children from entering unattended.
2. Fences: Make sure that there is some sort of fenced structure around your pool, no matter the type. Many incidents of drowning occur when an unsupervised child is able to enter a pool that has not been properly fenced off. Also, encourage your friends and neighbors to take the same precautions with their pools. If you are unable to fence in your portable pool, opt for the smaller ones so that they can be emptied and flipped over or stored when not in use.
3. Never leave children unattended: Your child should never be allowed in a pool without adult supervision even for a short period of time. Drowning is known as a silent killer, and can happen faster than you think. Many of the reports of children drowning involved a parent or supervisor noting that they just turned their back for a minute.
4. Remove ladders: When your above ground pool is not in use, remove the ladders and store them away so a child cannot accidently wander into the pool.
5. Do not lose diligence because of swim lessons: Just because your child has taken swim lessons does not mean they are now able to swim without supervision. Of course you should teach your child how to swim as well as how to float and use safety devices, but this is not a hard and fast way to prevent drowning. Supervision is always the best method of prevention.

As parents, our greatest concern is always the wellbeing of our children. Sometimes tragedy strikes as the result of someone else’s careless actions and when that happens you may be entitled to compensation. Speak with skilled New Jersey swimming pool accident lawyers today to learn your legal rights and options.

Currently the Democrats in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are pushing bills that would overturn the Supreme Court ruling and hold the generic companies to the same standards as name brand manufacturers.

It seems like it would be a given that a manufacturer be held accountable for their dangerous product, and it was not unanimously agreed upon in the Supreme Court. The final ruling was a 5-4 split between the justices.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was dissenting and she explained that, “As the majority itself admits, a drug consumer’s right to compensation for inadequate warnings now turns on the happenstance of whether her pharmacist filled her prescription with a brand-name drug or a generic. The majority offers no reason to think—apart from its new articulation of the impossibility standard—that Congress would have intended such an arbitrary distinction.”

A Philadelphia Story

In recent years, there has been an influx of lawsuits over the injury caused by the medication Avandia. Avandia is a medication made by the company GlaxoSmithKline, the largest drug maker in the U.K. It has been found that this medication, meant to treat type 2 diabetes, has an increased risk of heart attacks. It has been reported that more than 13,000 lawsuits have been filed against the company for this drug, and according to Bloomberg News, at least 2,500 of these cases were tried in the superior court in Philadelphia.

Under the current Supreme Court ruling, an individual who took a generic version of Avandia would not be able to be a part of these lawsuits because currently the manufacturer of the generic medications does not assume liability for any injury resulting from their product. Whereas if these bills pass in Congress the generic drug makers would no longer be able to divert blame to the larger companies who make the brand-name version, instead it would add responsibility on their part to further ensure that only safe products make their way to consumers.

Personal Injury Attorneys in Philadelphia Who Care

We take medications expecting them to benefit our health or to aid us in overcoming an illness, we do not expect to suffer injury as a result. If you or someone you love has suffered injury as the result of taking a dangerous medication, speak with experienced Pennsylvania pharmaceutical injury attorneys today to find out your rights and options.

Car accidents are a sad reality of our society, and when we are injured in an accident that was the result of someone else’s negligence there are Paterson car accident lawyers there to help. A skilled attorney will be able to not only help you navigate the sometimes difficult avenues of the civil justice system but will also help you to get your life back on track following an accident.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that in 2009, 16 percent of all traffic fatalities were people aged 65 or older—5,288 elderly drivers were killed. It was also reported that another 187,000 elderly drivers were injured during the same year. The NHTSA does not suggest that older drivers have their privileges taken away, just that they plan for, along with their family, when that time comes.

There are several factors that should be taken into consideration with regards to ending your driving days including:

• Eye sight
• Hearing abilities
• Medical conditions
• Cognitive abilities
• Reaction time
• Reflexes
• Physical fitness
• Familial concerns

Age alone is not distinguishing factor of your ability to drive, but older motorists need to take responsibility and know when it is time. Often times the best thing to do is to listen to your family members when they express concern about your ability to operate a vehicle safely.

Unfortunately, most times people wait to make this decision until there is an accident or until a serious health even occurs, but it is best to prepare for this ahead of time. You should have a plan in place as to how you will get around when it is no longer safe for you to drive. This could mean finding out more information about public transportation options or making arrangements with relatives.

While some states do have regulations with regards to elderly drivers, New Jersey does not. That makes it even more important for older motorists in Paterson and other New Jersey cities to have a plan in place and be willing to stop driving when the time comes.

As you age the physical impacts on your body can significantly impair your ability to drive safely. As hearing and vision abilities decline, the likelihood of an accident increases. It is a difficult time in one’s life, and further losing you freedom can be difficult to cope with but the most important thing to focus on is your safety and that of the people on the roads around you.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motor coaches carry 750 million passengers annually. NHTSA officials determined that wearing lap-shoulder belts on motor coaches could reduce the risk for passengers of being killed in a rollover crash by 77 percent. NHTSA is expected to issue a final rule on this matter this year.

The laws are different when it comes to school buses. Federal regulations passed in 2008 require school buses under 10,000 pounds to have three-point lap-shoulder belts. However, larger school buses, which are probably more common, are not required under federal law to have any type of seatbelt. Instead, it is up to the state and local officials to decide whether to make any type of seat restraints mandatory on school buses.

Bus accidents, regardless of the type of bus involved, have the potential to cause injuries that could range from minor to major or catastrophic. Last month, a SEPTA bus accident in Philadelphia injured five people after the bus and an SUV collided at a street intersection. Thankfully, in that incident, there were no life-threatening injuries.

However, a number of recent rollover bus crashes have resulted in catastrophic injuries and fatalities. When there is no seat restraint system, bus passengers are likely to get ejected from the vehicle or get thrown around inside the bus, both of which could cause traumatic injuries. Some of the common injuries suffered in bus accidents include brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, broken bones and internal injuries. Injured bus accident victims or families of deceased bus crash victims would be well advised to contact an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer to obtain more information about pursuing their legal rights.