Personal Injury Law Update

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

June 15, 2013 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. 

What is elder abuse?

 Elder abuse refers to any intentional or negligent act by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or a serious risk of harm to a vulnerable adult.

Laws vary considerably from state to state, but these are the U.S. Department on Health and Human Services uses the following definitions of abuse:

• Physical Abuse:  inflicting physical pain or injury on a senior, e.g. slapping, bruising, or restraining by physical or chemical means.
• Sexual Abuse:  non-consensual sexual contact of any kind.
• Neglect: the failure by those responsible to provide food, shelter, health care, or protection for a vulnerable elder.
• Exploitation:  the illegal taking, misuse, or concealment of funds, property, or assets of a senior for someone else's benefit.
• Emotional Abuse: inflicting mental pain, anguish, or distress on an elder person through verbal or nonverbal acts, e.g. humiliating, intimidating, or threatening.
• Abandonment: desertion of a vulnerable elder by anyone who has assumed the responsibility for care or custody of that person.
• Self-neglect: characterized as the failure of a person to perform essential, self-care tasks and that such failure threatens his/her own health or safety.

Millions of elderly people are patients in nursing homes and long-term care facilities – and they deserve to be safe. 

If you suspect elder abuse or neglect, contact the Adult Protective Services agency in your state

Full listings available from the National Center on Elder Abuse 

Oregon: 1-800-232-3020

Washington: 1-866-363-4276  

California: 1-800-231-4024

 

Do you drive with your dog in your lap?

The two best reasons to keep your dog in the backseat

Minimizing Distractions

A driver in Beaverton, Oregon is fighting a $160 citation issued by a police officer who spotted her driving with her dog on her lap. There is no specific Oregon law regarding operating a motor vehicle with a pet on your lap.In this case, the officer issued a ticket for “Operating vehicle that is loaded or equipped to obstruct driver”, § 815.270.

An animal in your lap is an inherent distraction. But for pet lovers, there may be a more convincing argument against driving a car with a dog in your lap.

Airbags                                            

As an injury lawyer, I have seen many photos of bad car accidents. Hopefully, you have never seen what happens when an airbag deploys.  

Airbags are designed to protect you from brain, head, and face injuries. They deploy very quickly and with a great deal of force.

Imagine what happens when an airbag deploys to protect a driver during a crash – and in between the driver and the steering wheel sits a small dog.

If you travel with your pets in the car, please keep them in back, preferably restrained. Do it because you want to be a safe, fully engaged driver – and because you want to protect your pet.

A big factor in young driver’s crash risk: sleep

Young drivers who do not sleep enough are at significant risk of having a car crash.

Australian researchers examined the association between sleep and motor vehicle crashes in 20,000 new drivers between 17 - 24 years old.

“Sleeping six hours a night is enough to put young drivers at significant risk of having a car crash.” -    Researcher Associate Professor Alexandra Martiniuk

The crash risk is even higher on weekends: young people who got less than six hours of sleep were 55% more likely to be involved in a car accident than those who slept more.

The NHTSA says drowsy driving is a factor in 100,000 crashes each year, causing injuries to 40,000, and killing more than 1,500 Americans annually.

The solution to the problem of drowsy driving may be in the vehicles themselves. Car companies have been studying sleep-deprived drivers, and emerging technology is aimed at waking sleepy drivers. A number of new vehicles from Volvo, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz are designed to identify signs that the driver is falling asleep, and issue a series of warnings.

 

 

Should drivers who hit pedestrians face tougher penalties?

A new report from the Center for Investigative Reporting finds that most drivers responsible for striking and killing pedestrians are not jailed – or even ticketed.

The San Francisco Bay Area, pedestrians comprise 25% of the traffic-related deaths – much higher than the national average. A third of them were hit while crossing the street in a crosswalk.

California’s vehicular manslaughter law has a misdemeanor option, but most drivers did not face charges. Most kept their driver’s license.

When they were charged with a crime, punishments were usually light, and included no jail time.

“ Walkers are perhaps the most unprotected users of the transportation system. The human body is no match for 3,000 pounds of speeding steel. Autopsy reports routinely describe blood-soaked clothing, fractured skulls, cracked ribs and broken limbs.” - Center for Investigative Reporting

When the main cause of a pedestrian-car collision is a violation like speeding, not stopping at a signal, or not yielding to the pedestrian, why are prosecutors unwilling to bring even misdemeanor charges against negligent motorists who injure and kill people?

Watching for riders

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, a national project to encourage vehicles and motorcyclists to “share the road” with each other.

 

 

 

 

Motorcycle fatalities represent 14% of total highway deaths annually, despite motorcycle registrations representing only about 3% of all vehicles in the United States. Improving cooperation between all road users and motorcyclists will help to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries on our nation’s highways.

The Oregon Department of Transportation reminds drivers of cars, trucks and buses to look out for motorcycle riders, and offers these safety tips for drivers:

• Allow a motorcyclist the full lane width—never try to share a lane.
• Always make a visual check for motorcycles by checking mirrors and blind spots before entering or leaving a lane of traffic and at intersections. (This goes for bicycles, too).
• Signal before changing lanes or merging with traffic.
• Allow more following distance, three or four seconds, when following a motorcycle.

About 50% of Oregon motorcycle fatalities are single-vehicle, so motorcyclists have responsibilities, too. Obeying the same traffic laws as other motor vehicles, never riding while impaired, and always wearing a helmet can go a long way towards a safe ride.

“It doesn't matter if you’re on four wheels or two; we all have to do our part to share the road safely,” said Michele O’Leary, Motorcycle Safety Program manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation. 

Read more at the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s Safety page. 

Police and pedestrians

In Oregon, every intersection is a crosswalk. Many have no signal. Some are unmarked. And drivers complain that it can be difficult to see pedestrians on corners, and to gauge their intent to cross.

The Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) crosswalk warning systems have been very effective at reducing crashes– but these are still relatively scarce.

Police enforcement of the existing laws is necessary to driver’s pedestrian awareness – especially “sting operations”. Officers sitting at crosswalks and pulling over drivers who failed to yield improved safety at those intersections for up to a year after the police sting.

 

 

Watch a minute of this video by a Southeast Portland resident who was concerned about the dangerous crossing after a fatal pedestrian accident on his street.

This Saturday: Safe Kids Day at the Oregon Zoo

The Oregon Zoo will host the 15^th Annual Safe Kids Day on Saturday, May 4, from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Safe Kids Day is a fun and interactive safety event about preventing common childhood injuries – and it is free with zoo admission!

Child safety and injury prevention are very important: accidents are the leading cause of death for kids in the U.S.

Safety stations around the zoo make up a “Safety Safari”; kids can win prizes for completing the safari while learning about topics like pedestrian safety, head injury prevention, and pool safety.

In addition to the safety exhibits, next Saturday the Oregon Zoo is showing off new animals include a baby De Brazza monkey, a baby elephant, baby otters and penguin chicks.

Safe Kids and its regional coalitions keep track of safety resources for kids in Oregon, Washington and all over the country.

D’Amore Law Group is a proud sponsor of Safe Kids Oregon, and of this special day at the Oregon Zoo.

Most distracted driving deaths don’t involve cell phone use, study says

“Lost in thought” was the main cause of fatal distracted driving accidents, according to a new study.

Erie Insurance looked at 2 years of U.S. police reports for more than 65,000 fatal car accidents: 10% named distracted driving as the primary cause of the crash.

Out of those 6,500 fatal car crashes attributed to distracted driving, 62% of the at-fault drivers claimed to be simply “lost in thought”, or just generally distracted.

Is it likely that distracted driving causes only 10% of motor vehicle accidents that result in a death?

Consider the following:  

• In over half of fatal traffic crashes, the driver is the casualty. Assuming they did not survive long enough for a police interview, that’s a huge gap in data.

• Look at non-fatal injury accidents for the same time period: nearly twice as many of those accidents are considered “distraction-affected crashes”. Why would the number of fatal accidents be so much lower than the number of injury accidents?

• Even when it’s not the driver who is killed – for example, a pedestrian collision – is it likely that the driver would both remember exactly, and also admit, what they were doing at the exact moment of the collision?

Regardless, the Erie Insurance study on distracted driving is important because it reminds us to try to be as manually, visually, and cognitively focused on driving as possible.

Saving lives and saving money: the real worth of injury and violence prevention

National Public Health Week – April 1-7, 2013 Every year, 180,000 people die from serious injuries and violence. Not only are these events tragic and primarily preventable, they cost more than $400 billion a year in medical bills, lost productivity and other costs.

“Motor vehicle crashes, falls, homicides, and other types of injury events kill more people in the first half of life than any other cause — including cancer, HIV, or the flu … The ROI in investment in public health is enormous.” – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

D’Amore Law Group is proud to invest in health and safety resources dedicated to actively preventing senseless tragedy. Kids health and safety:  Safe Kids and its regional coalitions keep track of safety resources for kids in Oregon, Washington and all over the country. Learn baby safety basics, take your car in for a free child safety seat check, or read about the most common injury risks for children at safekids.org. Driving and road safety:  Traffic fatalities are on the rise, and every day, more than 1000 people are seriously injured in a car crash caused by a distracted driver. The mission of EndDD.org is to educate students and the public on the real dangers and costs of distracted driving – and start a national conversation on how to prevent it. Public health:  Food safety, health and nutrition are a big part of national health and safety. See what the Oregon Food Bank is doing to fill the food gap for families in the Pacific Northwest. U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin talks about the goals of National Public Health Week in this short video.

Poison Control: One Thing You Should Know

Car accidents used to be the number one cause of accidental death in the U.S.; now that dubious distinction goes to unintentional poisoning.*

Poisonings are a common occurrence – about 10 million occur in the U.S. every year. Children and older adults are more likely to have poison accident, and more likely to be seriously physically injured from it.

National Poison Prevention Week reminds us that poisoning injury shouldn't be taken lightly. Every day, we are exposed to chemicals, medicines and other products that can cause adverse reactions, injury or even death if ingested or taken improperly.

If you think someone has been poisoned, call 1-800-222-1222.

Save this number. It connects you to your local poison center, any time of the day, and any day of the year. The safety experts can help you identify the next steps to take for the poisoned victim, and guide you to a doctor or hospital if necessary. The Oregon Poison Center, hosted by OHSU, takes more than 55,000 calls annually.         

____________________________________________________________________________________ *"Unintentional Motor Vehicle Traffic Accidents” are still the leading causes of death for teenagers and adults under 25 years old; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.