Tingey & Tingey Law Blog

Big Rigs, Big Risk

Heavy trucks, or big rigs as we often refer to them, are under tremendous pressure to meet deadlines for deliveries and keep a clean safety record, all at the same time. We can't be too sure if a driver is sleep deprived or trying to keep up with a busy schedule. Personal injury attorneys who are skilled in truck driver accidents work hard to make sure drivers are held accountable when they are responsible for accidents.

Here are some surprising statistics:

• When a heavy truck collides with a passenger car there is a 98% chance that someone in the passenger car will be injured or killed.
• The average big rig weighs in at around 15 tons and the average passenger car weighs around 4 tons.
• Every 16 minutes someone is killed or injured in an accident involving an oversized truck.

Read the full article here.

Poison Control

There are over 10,000 chemical substances found in cosmetic products alone, just imagine what is in your cleaning products or chemical agents! So how can you keep your children safe from toxic poisoning? Well, here are a couple great tips from the Environmental Protection Agency:

10 Tips to Protect Children from Pesticide and Lead Poison

1. Store pesticides and other household chemicals out of children's reach
2. Read Directions --don't use too much or too little
3. Remove children and their toys before applying chemicals
4. Properly seal the container when you're done
5. Never transfer chemicals to containers children may mistake for food (soda bottles, for example)
6. Keep insect repellents away from a child's eyes, mouth, hands and direct face
7. Wash children's hands, bottles, pacifies, and toys often
8. Get your child tested if you suspect he/she has been exposed to lead
9. Learn more about lead hazards.  Don't rent or buy until you know more
10. If you find lead paint, contact 1-800-424-LEAD for help

You can't be too cautious when dealing with your Children's safety! Read more here.

Curb Your Anger

What is it about driving in a car that turns people into frustrated, rage-filled versions of themselves? Road rage, including verbal insults, rude gestures, and unsafe and aggressive driving, can lead to anger fueled accidents- and worse, injury or death. In the US, there are approximately 300 vehicle deaths per year caused by road rage.

What can we do when we feel that anger rising when someone cuts you off? Here are some characteristics of good drivers that we can all learn from:

• Good drivers are conscientiousness - with this attitude there'll be no reason for a person to be the cause of other people's harm.
• Good drivers are dependable- a person who is reliable enough would not in any way fail another person on the road.
• Good drivers are agreeable - there is a be lesser tendency for a person to resort to aggression.
• Good drivers are open-minded - these people will be flexible and value the suggestions of others.

Read the full article here.

Now What?

Accidents can leave people bruised and shaken up both physically and emotionally. Here is a great checklist of what to do immediately following an accident.

• Safely exit your vehicle.
• Get medical attention if you are injured.
• Follow your medical provider's treatment plan.
• Call the police at the scene of the accident.
• Get names/ addresses of all witnesses.
• Take pictures.
• Don't make statements to other witnesses.
• Call an attorney.
• Notify your insurance company.

Following these steps can help protect you and your loved ones, if the unfortunate accident occurred.

Trust Beyond Jargon

Trust is at the heart of all our relationships. Trust means to believe.  No relationship can survive without trust.

This is especially true when you enter into a legal contract with someone. In doing so you trust the person. Both parties expect the contract to be mutually beneficial.

In legal jargon this is called "fiduciary" duty. Basically, fiduciary means that both parties entering into a contract (written or unwritten) are  doing so based on trust and confidence.

Though the concept of trust seems like a no-brain-er, it is often left to the courts to decide whether or not trust was breached.

Cases can be as clear-cut as a parent's fiduciary obligation to their child or as complex as the obligations corporations have to their shareholders.

Isn't it amazing that something as ethereal as trust is at the heart of our legal system?

Did you know that the word fiduciary comes from the Latin word fiducia meaning, in-trusted or held in trust

A Boy Named “Sue!”

If there’s on thing everybody needs, it’s a scapegoat. Lawyers and clients are both getting pretty creative  – you name it, they can sue it.

Thus begin the oddest court cases in the history of the (truly odd) world, as illustrated by the Times Online. Think you’ve got a bone to pick with NASA? Well, get in line. Marina Bai, a Russian astrologer, sued the organization in 2005 for disrupting the balance of the universe.

And sometimes it takes the judicial system to make the really tough decisions – like whether a radio station has to actually give you the car promised during a giveaway- not a toy car. Or who has the legal right to sell your soul. Or what rights of frequenters of  Las Vegas strip clubs should really have (let’s hope the jury wasn’t made up of their clients).

Can’t think of anyone/anything to sue? Open your imagination. And visit the full site to get the juices flowing.

Training Your Wheels

While you might not give it give it a second thought, bicycle safety should be forefront in your mind – even if you’re not the one on the bike. After all, when a bike and car collide, it’s generally not the cyclist that comes away the victor. Or the motorist for that matter.

Bachus & Schanker’s blog give some great tips on avoiding motorist-bicycle accidents by simply understanding the rules of the road and practicing safer habits. Since bikes are considered vehicles, drivers should remember that they’re entitled to the same traffic rights and courtesies you are, even if they take up a fraction of the space of your SUV.

Taking small safety precautions, like knowing your right-of-way, checking your blind spot, and making sure a cyclist isn’t behind you when you open a car door can prevent the disastrous.

After all, bikes and cars can coexist – even on the same road.

Read more here.

Can Laws Maintain the Balance of the Universe?

We have all heard of laws that protect the natural enviorment. Laws can help protect wildlife and regulate pollution but, have you ever heard of laws that protect the universe?

In 2005 a Russian astrologer, Marina Bai, sued Nasa for "disrupting the balance of the universe." Bai claimed that NASA's  Deep Impact probe that was due to collide with the Temple 1 comet late 2005 was a "terrorist act."

Bai was asking $300 million which she claimed she had the right of  compensation for her "moral suffering" because the collision would affect the comet's natural course, which she was studying at the time.

The goal of the probe was to  collect material from the explosion that could be studied and scientist concluded that the collision had no effect on Earth and would only change the comet's orbit about 10 cm.

Bai also claimed that the comet had a personal significance to her family as it was the comet that her grandfather pointed out to her grandmother during their courtship.

The case was eventually rejected by the Russian courts and the universe lives on in spite of the probe.

‘Justice Index’?

A basic question: Does our court system work and do you understand how? 

Some out there might give a definitive yes, others a definitive no. Still others might give a more tempered answer.

But how do we back up our answer? After all, there’s currently no established way to measure the effectiveness of our court system.

Writing in the New York Times on Wednesday, author Amy Bach sets up the problem like this:

"In communities across the country, people use statistics on hospitals, schools and other public services to decide where to live or how to vote. But while millions of Americans deal with their local criminal courts as defendants and victims each year, there is no comparable way to assess a judicial system and determine how well it provides basic legal services."

This lack of data has a corrosive effect: without public awareness of a court system’s strengths and weaknesses, inefficiencies and civil liberties violations are never remedied. Thus, more data is needed. What do you think about this?

Click here to read the full article.