February 1, 2013—Tracy, California—A construction worker was killed when an 1,800 pound piece of concrete fell on him, pinning him beneath its weight and crushing him, according to KCRA News
. The worker was engaged in cleaning out a concrete truck at the time of the incident.
The 47-year-old victim from Whittier was working on contract for Express Chipping at the time of the tragedy which happened on Linne Road. He was removing concrete buildup inside a truck owned by A&A Concrete supply when he was pinned inside the truck by falling concrete. He was pronounced dead at the scene by rescue workers.
Cal-OSHA is conducting an investigation into the incident.
Construction Accidents Prove Fatal for Many Each Year
Construction is still one of the most dangerous occupations according to information compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2011, 759 people were killed in construction accidents in the United States, or more than two per day. Most construction accidents involve falls, objects falling onto workers, or vehicle-related crashes.
Owners of construction firms and the owners of the sites at which they work both have an obligation to create a safe work environment for employees and visitors to the site. If they fail to do so, they can be subject to government sanctions as well as liability for personal injury.
Who Is Responsible For This Man’s Injuries?
This case may be complicated from a legal perspective because the man was apparently working for one company on another company’s equipment. That means that the liability may stem from negligence on the part of the employer in allowing the man to work in dangerous conditions, from the owner of the truck for creating the dangerous conditions or both.
A personal injury lawyer must examine the facts of the case to make a determination as to who holds liability for the man’s death in this case. Once that is established, the family may be able to file a wrongful death suit against the person or company that is deemed responsible for the worker’s death. Wrongful death suits usually include damages for lost future earnings as well as loss of love and companionship.
What Should I Do If I am Involved in a Construction Accident?
If you are hurt in a construction accident, your first responsibility is to seek medical attention. You must be sure that your health is not in danger before considering any other possibilities. However, once you have ensured that your health is being taken care of, you should consider your rights to file a personal injury suit against the employer, the work site owner, or both.
A personal injury attorney can help you recover damages for your injuries including medical bills, sums for your mental anguish, pain and suffering, and lost wages while you recover. You may also be entitled to other types of compensation so that you can pay for increased living expenses or other costs. Talk to a personal injury attorney today to protect your rights.
Television programs showcase high-powered and highly paid attorneys litigating dramatic cases with significant outcomes. The reality of the legal field is much different. Beginning and maintaining a career in law also has more than a few unwritten rules. Some requirements are universal to all lawyers while some are of greater benefit to litigators or transactional attorneys. Being an attorney is not for everyone.
Self-Awareness
Above all else, prospective lawyers must have a great deal of self-awareness. Any attorney that performs work incorrectly will endanger another person’s freedom or produce work that leads to costly litigation. Successfully training to become an attorney requires hard work and dedication to the field. Any distractions, doubts, or other life concerns will greatly inhibit one’s educational and professional career. Prospective lawyers must have the ability to look at their own lives and make an unbiased and calculated assessment of their own flaws and work to correct those flaws.
Work Ethic and Motivation
Attorneys must have a high work ethic. Simply being authorized to practice law normally requires a law degree, which requires three years of law school. At school, students are exposed to the Socratic Method, a method of challenging the student’s beliefs in front of the class. This potential for social embarrassment is both a great motivator to do well and a great source of discouragement for someone on the fence about law school. Additionally, obtaining a job right out of law school frequently requires a professional connection to a firm in some capacity. The most common source of this connection is an internship acquired during the summer.
Attorneys who receive a high salary from a firm will be expected to meet a high number of billable hours in a particular year. Billable hours can be misleading; most attorneys find that of all the time spent servicing a particular client’s needs, they may only bill every third hour or so. Attorneys will spend countless hours doing research and performing many necessary tasks that cannot be attributed to any particular client. Attorneys must still meet these billable hours requirements or be dismissed from the firm.
Attorneys who accept cases on a contingency basis, such as many personal injury attorneys, normally will not receive compensation for their time without any recovery for the client. If the client cannot afford to pay discovery costs or filing fees, the attorney may be willing to float those costs in the hopes of receiving a settlement or even a judgment. In other words, an attorney may have his or her own money tied up in a client’s case. If the amount is great or if the firm is small, this can be a source of stress for an attorney.
Focus
All attorneys must also have analytical personalities, an eye for detail, and an excellent memory. Law heavily relies upon precedent and attorneys who can remember details about binding or at least persuasive cases in that particular jurisdiction will have a substantial advantage over those that cannot. Specific offenses and tortious acts have specific elements that vary in specific jurisdictions, each with their own qualifiers created by hundreds of years of case law. Even the trial and appellate courts are not always named consistently; unlike most states, New York calls its trial courts the “Supreme Court,” which can throw off some attorneys not experienced in New York law. This is one reason why practicing attorneys such as hometown lawyers specialize in one or a few areas of law; mastering every field is just not as efficient for them or their clients.
Quality Interpersonal Skills
Attorneys that litigate cases will benefit greatly from an outgoing personality, but all attorneys will need quality interpersonal skills. Depending upon an attorney’s particular area of practice, they will meet with defendants, prosecutors, plaintiffs, defendants, opposing counsel, co-counsel, witnesses, investigators, judges, and various other parties. Meeting with all of these people will require patience, eloquence, and an understanding of both parties’ respective positions so as to leverage the situation to the client’s best interests.
Transactional attorneys will also require interpersonal skills. Often, clients are uncertain or vague about their specific goals and require an in-depth conversation to clarify matters. Some signatories to a contract can be apprehensive about the inclusion of certain clauses and require an attorney to explain why said clauses are included in the contract. Transactional attorneys may also have to persuade unwilling clients to engage or not engage in certain conduct.
Determining in advance whether a career in law is right for you is difficult. Law is a prestigious profession that requires a high degree of training and proficiency. Lawyers must understand the law, speak with clients to understand their needs, and interpret the law and apply to the client’s situation. This requires an array of learned skills that must be applied perfectly. For those select few who consider law to be a calling rather than a career, becoming a lawyer can be the start of an intellectually, spiritually, and financially rewarding career.
Author Anthony Joseph contributes this article for those considering a life in the legal field. At Hometown Lawyers, New York, there are highly skilled lawyers featured in single categories of law, including: divorce, dwi, personal injury, bankruptcy and criminal law. Additionally the directory qualifies its attorneys by knowledge, communication skills, confidence style, experience in judgment, ethics and ability to respond quickly.
January 28, 2013—Los Angeles, California—A motorcyclist died in a crash that was caused by a semi truck being driven illegally on the Arroyo Seco Parkway, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The Highland Park Patchreports that the motorcycle rider was ejected from his bike when the motorcycle collided with a big rig that cut him off. He was transported to an area hospital where he died.
The California Highway Patrol investigated the incident and stated that a 59-year-old male was riding his Harley Davidson in the number three lane at an undetermined rate of speed. The truck cut him off, causing him to crash into the off-ramp. It is illegal for semi trucks to use the Arroyo Seco given the size of the lanes. Authorities emphasized the importance of calling 911 if witnesses observe a big rig truck getting on the 110.
Restrictions on Highway Use May Lead to Liability
When a driver is performing an illegal action, negligence per se may apply if the driver causes injury to another person. In other words, when you are breaking the law, you may automatically be considered negligent even if you might have escaped liability under other circumstances.
This is important information for those who are injured in collisions caused by drivers who are breaking the law. If a driver is considered negligent, he or she may be liable for damages for your injuries, including medical bills, pain and suffering, and other costs.
In this case, the fact that the truck driver was using prohibited lanes could mean that the truck driver was behaving negligently. Of course, the driver also allegedly cut off the motorcyclist which would also constitute negligent behavior.
Big Trucks Involved in Crashes at Higher Rates than Other Vehicles
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, there are approximately 4,300 fatal crashes involving large trucks per year and another 77,000 injury crashes. This represents 11 percent of all fatal crashes and four percent of all injury collisions. However, large trucks represent only three percent of all vehicles on the road at any given time. That means that big trucks are involved far more often, statistically, than cars in fatal and injury crashes.
The problem is actually more severe than even these numbers suggest. One reason that the percentage of injury victims in truck accidents is so much smaller than fatalities is because victims are far more likely to die in one of these crashes than to be injured. Furthermore, the victims most likely to be killed in such a crash are those in a passenger car or on a motorcycle rather than the driver of a large truck.
Victims who have been injured in a semi-tractor-trailer crash should contact a personal injury attorney immediately. There are laws in place that may allow you to collect damages such as costs of medical treatment, payment for your pain, suffering and emotional trauma, and even lost wages and increased living expenses as a result of your injuries.
Speeding seems harmless when you’re flying down the interstate and almost necessary when you’re almost late for work. However, speeding, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), is the third most common contributor to auto accidents and takes approximately 13,000 American lives every year. These speed-related accidents cost $40 billion annually. That statistic means that for every minute that Americans save by speeding, U.S. society pays $76,000.
Police departments have dramatically reduced fatalities caused by driver impairment and by not wearing seatbelts. Speeding, unfortunately, remains an unsolved challenge. According to the National Safety Council, police, road engineers and private sector companies can work together to eliminate speeding. These four methods are commonly used in jurisdictions around the country.
Method One: Automated Speed Enforcement
The light has just turned yellow. You push your gas pedal so that you can speed through the intersection. As the light changes to red over your windshield, you notice a camera perched near the traffic signal. A few days later, you receive a letter with an unmistakable photo of your car. The letter details the speed at which you went through the intersection.
Cameras provide ongoing speeding enforcement while having minimal negative effects on the flow of traffic. Police can skip observation, chase and citation, which keeps them out of potentially unsafe situations. According to research from the National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running, cameras cut crashes at intersections by between 25 and 30 percent. As long as the public knows that police are using cameras and the police department mounts an effective media campaign, automated enforcement with cameras can be an excellent deterrent for speeders.
Method Two: High-Visibility Anti-Speeding Campaigns
Combining a blitz of speed limit enforcement with an aggressive media campaign against speeding and other aggressive driving behaviors can significantly reduce driver speeds in a community or even across an entire state. This strategy has been employed successfully in the past to curb impaired driving as well as refusal to wear seat-belts The NHTSA publishes information on preparing one of these anti-speeding campaigns in its “Guidelines for Developing a Municipal Speed Enforcement Program.”
Method Three: Strategic Road Engineering
When roads are planned, engineers should employ measures to control speeding by adding in physical deterrents. According to the Institute of Transportation Engineers, some good examples include vertical deflections, such as speed bumps, speed tables and raised intersections; horizontal shifts such as neighborhood traffic circles; methods to narrow roadways like adding center islands; and closures like diagonal diverters that essentially force drivers to take other routes.
In addition to strategic road building, police can calm traffic by adding speed detectors on particularly troublesome roads. For instance, if police notice frequent speeding and speeding-related crashes on a certain highway, then they can erect speed signs letting drivers know how fast their vehicles are moving. These speed signs are also effective in construction zones.
Method Four: Driver Monitoring
Commercial vehicle operators or companies who provide their employees with vehicles can take measures to make sure their drivers avoid speeding. Fleet management devices like speed monitors, speed logs or speed regulators can discourage commercial and company car drivers from barreling down the highway.
Driving without going over the speed limit cuts auto insurance costs for everyone. When drivers avoid speeding, they also save lives. So make a special effort to slow down or to leave for work on time. The life that you save may be your own.
Despite these measures, reckless speeding can still occur. A wrongful deathattorney can help if you or a loved one is the victim of a reckless driver.
My involvement in a taxi cab accident taught me a lot of tough lessons. After driving around the same block in Chicago for 45 minutes to find a parking spot, I finally saw my opportunity. A car ahead of me pulled out of a parking lot onto the street, and he’d left a spot open right at the front of the lot! I turned left to enter the parking lot when a taxi cab behind me smashed into my driver’s side door so hard that it set off my airbags. The cabbie later claimed that he was trying to go around me from behind. Because I wear glasses, the impact of the airbags bruised and cut my face. Luckily, my wife had no injuries and she was able to get the cab driver’s plate number and company information. She also exchanged insurance information with him. We’d never been in an accident before, and we were both so shaken up that we couldn’t remember what we had to do. The cab driver seemed genuinely sorry and assured us that we didn’t have to worry because his insurance would pay for everything, so there was no need to call the police. Our first mistake was believing him as we drove off to a hospital.
My left eye swelled up badly; I felt worried because of the bleeding and the fact that I couldn’t see out of it for 24 hours, but there was no damage serious enough to warrant an operation. The ER visit was expensive because they ran extra tests on me since I had slight whiplash from the impact. My wife first called our car insurance company and explained to them what had happened. They asked her if she had taken any photographs of the damage, and we had not; that was our second mistake. There was a big dent on our car, but the cab didn’t have much more than a broken headlight from what we could remember. When she described the accident to our insurance representative, he deduced that the cab driver was at fault, which was just as we’d suspected, since he made an illegal move by crossing the center median while trying to go around us. My wife immediately called the cabbie’s insurance company to begin to file our claim with them. Unfortunately, what we didn’t know was that the cab driver’s insurance had expired more than six months ago. We had to argue with our own insurance company to try to help pay for the medical bills since our plan did not cover accidents with uninsured motorists.
The police couldn’t help us, even though we had his license plate number because they weren’t there after the accident to confirm our story, so we were left in a case of our word against the driver’s. The cabbie also gave us phony contact details, so we filed suit in small claims court against his taxi company for our damages. The company was able to trace the driver using the plate number and they forced him to settle with us in mediation to avoid going to trial and creating a bad name for their company. After this nightmare to recover more than $2,500 in total expenses, we’ve learned to always call the cops, take photos before moving our vehicles in an accident, and check the driver’s insurance information carefully! I hope others reading this story never have to go through a similar experience.
Byline: Ryan Devereux found a lawyer that specialized in taxi accidents when he was struck with his bad cab experience.
It doesn’t matter if you’re attending college online or on campus, your safety is paramount. You may be walking from your dorm to class, or from your car to the library; staying aware of your surroundings and following proven safety tips will help keep you from becoming a victim. If you’re a college student, here’s how to stay safe:
1.Don’t Walk Alone
According to Thomas Kane, president of The College Safety Zone, it’s important that you never walk alone, especially at night. It’s a well known fact that there is safety in numbers. Criminals will target people walking by themselves long before they go after a group. If you have to walk anywhere, make sure that you take along a buddy. If you must walk by yourself across a parking lot, make sure that you park under a light and as close to the entrance as possible.
2.Hands-Free
Keeping your hands-free doesn’t only apply to driving. No matter where you are going, be sure that your hands are empty. This means that if you have a ton of books to carry, put them in a messenger bag or a backpack, and sling the bag over your shoulder. You’re less likely to become a victim if your hands are swinging by your sides instead of carrying ten pounds of books and supplies.
3.ATMs
If you don’t have the option to use a drive-up ATM, make sure that you are taking your money out during the day. Use ATMs in well-lit areas and always look around the machine before you approach it. If you see anyone hanging around the area, skip that particular ATM and find another. After you’ve gotten your money, resist the urge to count it. Instead, stick it in your pocket and walk away. You can count your money and organize yourself once you are somewhere more secure.
4.Personal Defense Items
Whether you carry a taser, a bottle of mace or an ear-piercing whistle, you should have something with you to draw attention to and protect yourself. If you do choose to carry one of these items, make sure that it’s easily accessible and that you know how to use it. A can of mace will do you no good if it’s at the bottom of your bag and you have no idea how to use it properly. A self-defense expert can teach you how to use your tools safely and correctly.
5.Share Your Schedule
One of the best ways to ensure your safety is to make sure that at least one person always knows where you are. If you go to work, class or even to the library on a regular basis, let someone have your schedule. Get into the habit of at least texting that person when you get home. If you are assaulted or in an accident, you’ll stand a better chance of making it through your ordeal if a loved one is always aware of your whereabouts.
Your safety should be your primary concern. If you follow the five tips above, you’ll be sure to stay safe no matter if you attend a traditional college or are a distance learner. If you need more safety tips, talk to your college’s security office or your local police department; either of these agencies will be happy to offer you advice.
Chantel Leck is an avid blogger. If you’re interested in ensuring the safety of others, consider the various careers possible with a criminal justice degree. Several schools offer online criminal justice degrees, including University of Cincinnati and Boston University.
According to statistics from the Internal Revenue Service, a total of 148,390,000 tax returns were received last year. Visits to the IRS website have increased by over two percent, too. Despite the popularity of do-it-yourself programs such as Turbo Tax and Tax ACT, many Americans will ultimately decide that they need professional help, and many seek it for the first time while filing their return.
This is great news if you work in the accounting field. However, before you start taking on new clients as tax season approaches, it’s crucial to learn that you have the right to set expectations, and let clients go if things aren’t working out. Read on for two suggestions that can help you manage clients when you work as an accountant, but can easily apply to any service industry.
Be Careful About Promising Too Much
It’s natural to want a client to see you as motivated and willing to finish a job. However, as a service provider, it’s also up to you to set expectations that are in accordance with your rates and ability levels.
In many cases, it’s not as much about about having the necessary skills as setting aside enough time in the day. For example, if a client wants rush preparation for a tax return, it might seem like an easy way to apply your knowledge carefully and efficiently.
However, tax returns, and any other type of complex paperwork can become increasingly intricate depending on a person’s specific situation. To keep your nerves intact during a client project, emphasize accuracy over speed. This will give you the time you need to do things thoroughly, without feeling that you’re crunched for time.
Similarly, be careful about making promises. In the tax industry, a client might become overly hopeful about getting a sizable return because they’re basing their expectations on past experience.
Whether you’re filling out tax forms, acting as a business advisor, or providing another particular service, remind your clients that you’ll use knowledge to the best of your abilities, but some things will simply remain out of your control.
Go With Your Instinct
Whenever you provide a service, it’s common for clients to want you to treat them as if you’re they’re your only concern in the world. They do deserve attention, but within reason. Set expectations at the beginning of your working relationship, and give details about any specific skills that you have.
If your customers are made aware of what you can offer from the beginning, they’ll be less likely to expect something that you can’t necessarily deliver to their expectations. Know your abilities, and promote them, but don’t become overly ambitious.
Finally, pay attention to your gut feeling. Often, it’ll be the first indicator that it’s time to end your relationship with clients who expect too much from you, or want you to bend over backwards to meet their needs. Ending a relationship is rarely easy, but if you feel strongly that it’s no longer a good fit, have a serious talk with your client.
No matter which industry you’re a part of, always keep things in perspective. It’s great to have a full roster of clients, but not if it puts you at risk for getting burned out. You have the right to be choosy. Good luck!
Tara Daines writes for finance blogs. If you’re interested in pursuing a degree in accounting but you don’t want to quit your day job, check out Online MS in Accounting options.
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ebc
“The law already requires licensed gun dealers to run background checks, and over the last 14 years that’s kept 1.5 million of the wrong people from getting their hands on a gun.”
— President Obama, remarks on gun violence, Jan. 16, 2013
Gun-control advocates frequently cite the claim that the Brady Law has kept 1.5 million of the “wrong people” from getting a firearm, but the number has come under attack from gun-industry supporters as a bogus figure.
We've spent several days trying to unravel this question, because it is complicated and the data are sometimes murky. There are certainly gaps in the information — and a surprising lack of prosecutorial follow-up, which has further muddied the picture.
Let’s examine what is happening here.
The Facts
The Brady law — named after Ronald Reagan’s press secretary James Brady, who was gravely wounded in an assassination attempt on the president — requires federally licensed firearms sellers to check whether a purchaser is prohibited from owning a gun because of a criminal history. Generally, this is done through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) through either the FBI or state agencies.
To keep things simple, we will focus on the FBI, using a report on the 2010 data by Ronald J. Frandsen of the Regional Justice Information Service.
About 99 percent of people who apply to buy a firearm are quickly cleared. But about 1 to 2 percent are denied, mainly because the records show that he or she has a felony indictment or conviction. The data also show that about 5 percent successfully appeal their denials.
Applications: 6,037,394
FBI denials: 72,659 (1.2 percent)
Appeals 16,513 (22.7 percent)
Successful appeals 3,491 (4.77 percent of denials)
The main reason listed for a denial is a felony conviction or indictment. Here are some of the key reasons:
Felony: 34,459 (47.4 percent)
Fugitive: 13,862 (19.1 percent)
State law prohibition: 7,666 (10.6 percent)
Drug use/addiction: 6,971 (9.6 percent)
But here is where it gets complicated. After a review by an arm of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), only a tiny percentage of the cases are actually referred to ATF field divisions for possible referral to prosecutors. Here are the data for 2010 concerning FBI denials.
FBI denials referred to ATF: 76,142
Referred to field: 4,732 (6.2 percent)
Not referred to field: 68,209 (89.6 percent)
Overturned: 3,163 (4.2 percent)
At first glance, these numbers seemed astonishing. In other words, another 4 percent of initial denials were found to be wrong — and 9 out of ten were not deemed worthy of further investigation.
Then, virtually all of these cases were declined by ATF field offices. Here are some of the key reasons, with essentially one-quarter being a case of mistaken denial — even after weeks of investigation.
No proprietorial merit: 1,661
Federal/state guidelines not met: 1,092
Not a prohibited person: 480
Closed by supervisor: 457
No potential or unfounded: 396
In the end, 62 cases were referred for prosecution, but most were declined by prosecutors or dismissed by the court. Out of the original 73,000 denials, there emerges just 13 guilty pleas.
Now, let’s back up a moment. As far as we can determine, the very low rate of referrals does not mean most of the denials were “false positives” or unwarranted. But it does mean that such cases are a low priority for government prosecutors.
“Cases are referred to ATF field divisions in accordance with guidelines established by the field offices and U.S. Attorneys who work within each division’s territory. The guidelines basically cover the types of cases that are considered to be high priority,” said Frandsen. “Because the strength of a particular case will be determined by further investigation, it is more accurate to say that a case is not referred to a field division because it is not considered to be a high priority within that division.”
The current guidelines are not public and Frandsen said that ATF has not provided him with updated guidelines since at least 2006. He noted that his reports have routinely noted that “cases involving restraining orders, domestic violence misdemeanors, non-immigrant aliens, violent felonies, warrants, and indictments are most often included in referral criteria,” and ATF has never asked for an edit of this sentence.
A Justice Department official says that many fugitive cases are handled at that moment by local authorities, who simply send police to the gun shop to pick up the violator, which is why few of those cases are referred. But the official acknowledged that many other cases are difficult to prosecute, because they are essentially about having to prove that someone knowingly lied on a form. The official said priority instead is placed on potentially violent criminals.
In 2000, the Government Accountability Office issued a report that examined the referral process. It said most referrals were based on criminal history records involving violent felonies, serious drug trafficking or domestic violence misdemeanors. The report cited a lack of clear guidelines from U.S. attorneys about cases they would accept, even after ATF agents had spent as long as six months preparing the case for referral.
A 2004 report by the Justice Department Inspector General did not find much improvement, with many U.S. attorneys still not providing guidelines. Moreover, it said such cases are hard to make:
We believe that the number of referrals and prosecutions is low because of the difficulty in obtaining convictions in NICS cases. These cases lack “jury appeal” for various reasons. The factors prohibiting someone from possessing a firearm may have been nonviolent or committed many years ago. The basis for the prohibition may have been noncriminal (e.g., a dishonorable discharge from the U.S. military). It is also difficult to prove that the prohibited person was aware of the prohibition and intentionally lied to the FFL [federally licensed dealer]. We were also told that in parts of the United States where hunting historically has been part of the regional culture, juries are reluctant to convict a person who attempted to purchase a hunting rifle.
Even so, the review found that the ATF still forwarded too many cases that lacked prosecutorial merit. It also found a significant number of denials (21 percent) to applicants who should not have been prohibited from purchasing a firearm.
“The special agents we spoke with generally commented that they do not consider the vast majority of NICS referral subjects a danger to the public because the prohibiting factors are often minor or based on incidents that occurred many years in the past,” the report added. The report cited, as examples of people prohibited from buying gun, someone who had stolen four hubcaps and a person convicted in 1941 of stealing a pig. Of the cases reviewed by the IG, 48 percent of the crimes had occurred more than five years earlier — and 13 percent at least 20 years previously.
This report is 10 years old, but, if anything, the trend in referrals has decreased over the past 10 years.
We could find no study that looked at the rate of “false positives,” though a 2003 NICS Operations report said the rate had increased by 2 percent when an updated system was implemented and it was working to reduce that. The report did not specify an actual false-positive rate.
The Pinocchio Test
So where does this leave us? Even accounting for all of the appeals and overturned referrals, it seems as if 1.5 million people over the last 14 years have been denied a firearm. Whether one believes these were all the “wrong people” is more a matter of opinion, but the president is free to make that assertion. Clearly, that many people were denied a firearm — and we have no way of knowing whether how many ever obtained one in the future.
Still, we are troubled by the lack of detailed data and recent reports that might clarify why so few cases end up being referred for prosecution — especially in light of the 2004 report that said ATF agents did not find many of these people dangerous. We also are troubled by the lack of data on false positives.
But, for the moment, that is not enough to rule this is an inaccurate fact. So, lieu of more evidence, this figure rates a rare Geppetto Checkmark.
Real Facts
Keeping this avoidable danger in mind, here are some of the facts that have been discovered by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute as sobering statistics about texting and driving:
-If you text while you drive, you are increasing your chances of having an accident by over 23%.
-If you text while you drive, results show that you will have a longer response times than even drunken driving. A normal driver can respond quickly to changes in traffic and begin braking within half a second, a legally drunk driver needs four additional feet to begin braking—and a driver who’s texting needs 70 feet.
-If you are 18 to 27 years old, (or have a child in this age range) you are much more likely to be texting than people even a few years older than you. Studies report that 37% of people 18 to 27 admit to texting while driving, 14% of people 28 to 44 admit texting while driving, and 2% of people age 45 to 60 admit to texting. One could easily see the problem with the drivers with the least amount of experience being the most distracted by texting while driving.
Safer Driving
When it comes to how to stay safe on the road, it is as simple as turning your phone off when you are in the car, or at the very least resisting the urge to read or write a text while you are driving. More and more states have passed laws prohibiting texting and driving, but some say it is difficult for police to enforce. In your homes, you can stress to your children and family that no text is worth being injured themselves or hurting someone else.
This guest blog was written by Michael R. Casper, P.C. Attorney at Law, apersonal injury attorney in Gainesville, GA. Michael R.Casper has been serving Georgia for more than 30 years. He is also a dedicated workers compensation attorney in Gainesville, Georgia.
PHILADELPHIA — Federal prosecutors yesterday combined racketeering, murder and what they said were unprecedented hate-crime charges in a vast indictment against the woman accused of imprisoning mentally disabled adults in a basement so she could steal their benefit checks.
Linda Ann Weston, 52, charged along with four others, became the first person to be charged under a 2009 law that enhanced punishments for criminals who target the mentally disabled.
The 196-count indictment accuses Weston of racketeering, with murder among the underlying charges, for alleged crimes between 2001 and 2011. Weston is accused of neglect so severe that it killed two people, one in Virginia and another in Pennsylvania.
“ Shocking does not begin to describe the criminal allegations in this case,” U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger said.
Weston’s October 2011 arrest brought to light what authorities said was one of the most inhumane crimes in Philadelphia’s history.
For years, they say, she held hostage four mentally disabled adults and her own niece to collect their Social Security benefit checks. She allegedly shuffled them from state to state and kept them in a locked, dungeon-like basement with little food.
A new international adoption law in Guatemala is delaying the adoption of 5,000 children by U.S. families.
The change was designed to make adoptions more transparent and eliminate the small percentage of illegal adoptions.
"Families who are in the process right now are very worried. Rightfully so," said Gail Stern, executive director of Mandala Adoption Services, in Hillsborough. "Having a central authority, although on paper it sounds great, in practice in a Third World country where the resources don't exist, it stops adoption."
Heather and Randy Chambers are among the families snagged in the legal tangle. The Durham couple had
Aren’t Workers Protected?
While it’s true that workers are supposed to be protected by compensation programs, the reality is that these programs are not perfect, and as a result, some injured workers are not able to benefit from them. Most workers compensation programs are underwritten by insurance companies, and this means that the insurance company ultimately decides the injured worker’s fate. Even if an injured worker’s supervisor and coworkers all back him or her in his or her injury claims, the insurance company can deny the claim, leaving the injured worker with little recourse. Liberty Mutual workers compensation is one of the larger insurance companies, and some injured workers have difficulty going through the claims process themselves, so it would be wise to get help with the process.
Why Claims Get Denied
The sad truth is, insurance companies are in business to make money, and as such, they often look for technical reasons to deny claims. For example, if an insurance policy states that injured workers will only be compensated for injuries that occur in the workplace, but an employee is injured while driving a company vehicle outside the workplace while on business, the insurance company may deny the injured worker’s claims. Using this tactic, insurance companies are often able to save money, but sadly, at the expense of injured people.
Delayed Claims
In addition, the insurance companies may also try to delay claims in order to keep from paying out. In some cases, worker’s compensation insurance companies have been known to delay claims for up to two years, all the while injured workers suffer. This practice is unethical, but as long as the insurance company can prove that it is still investigating a worker’s claim, then it is not illegal. Delayed claims by any insurer can be just as harsh as denied claims, as some delays can go on and on.
The Consequences of Denials and Delays
For injured workers, a claim denial or delay can be devastating, especially for injured workers who are no longer able to work. Without a job or a source of income, and while facing medical bills and household expenses, the pressures felt by injured workers who have been denied or had a claim delayed can seem insurmountable. In addition to the physical pain they might be in, injured workers in these situations may also experience a variety of mental and emotional complications, including depression, anxiety, insomnia and more. All of this can then lead to larger health problems, including high blood pressure and heart disease.
If you’ve been injured on the job and you’ve been denied compensation, or if you feel that your claim is being intentionally delayed by an insurance company or your employer, it’s important for you to partner with a worker’s compensation attorney for help. These attorneys will be able to investigate your claim and ensure that you are being treated properly and fairly. In many cases, just by partnering with an attorney, the insurance company that is handling your case will suddenly have a change of heart, and your claim will be processed, allowing you to get the compensation you need and deserve.
Kelly Kovacic keeps up to date with the latest information on workers compensation cases, and contributes articles for the legal community. Some people have suffered from issues related to denied or delayed Liberty Mutual workers compensation claims. The attorneys at Doyle Raizner in Houston are experts and have secured satisfactory settlements for many injured workers. The law forbids insurers from acting in bad faith toward their insured individual. But sometimes insurers do it anyway, therefore it is important to get the help you need to turn your situation around.
The fierce Hurricane Sandy has left thousands of people in heavily damaged homes, without power, heat or hot water. Many of Sandy's victims are still suffering, and living conditions are harsh for tens of thousands of people who have still been unable to return to their homes.
Hurricane Sandy destroyed the east coast and left New Jersey coastal towns, New York City and plenty of other locations with billions of dollars worth of damages. Teams are working night and day — ordering home inspections, helping people get meals, water and gas for generators.
With cases of flooding, structural damage, power outages and more, the clean-up process for Sandy is certain to be extended and costly. In a situation like this, many homeowners' insurance policies are pretty clever and do not cover the cost caused from flooding. In order for flood claims to be paid, a consumer must have already purchased a flood policy prior to the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.
Many victims may have to sue their insurance companies to get full coverage for weather related damages. In context of the present bad economy, most Americans probably cannot afford the services of an experienced lawyer.
In a situation like this, it is best for victims to get free legal advice and take advantage from pro bono legal services available online. These services have a staff of renowned lawyers and paralegals that will assist you in getting your required claim for damage caused as a result of Sandy.
Let’s hope the US law can get all damages caused as a result of the ferocious Sandy rightly claimed for ones who deserve the most…
Each year, nearly 800,000 Americans are the victims of a dog bite, which is serious enough to require medical attention. The “one free bite rule” is a name for a legal doctrine that determines if the dog owner can legally be held responsible for injuries caused by their pet. The premise under this rule allows the dog owner not to be held liable the first time their dog bites or inflicts injury to someone. However, this type of dog attack law only protects the owner if they followed all of the local laws pertaining to dogs. If the dog owner was in violation of local leash laws when the attack occurred, they can be held legally responsible. The one-bite rule would also be waived if the owner was aware or should have been aware of their dog’s propensity to be dangerous. This can be established by the following:
• The dog has a history of barking at strangers
• The dog often growls and snaps at anyone who comes near it
• The dog has a habit of jumping on others when visitors are present
• The owner often puts a muzzle on the dog
• The dog has been trained to fight other dogs
Whether the state follows the one bite rule, the dog owner can be held liable if they were negligent in the handling or confinement of a dog.
Determining Liability in Dog Bite Cases
Most states throughout the nation hold the owner of the dog strictly liable, even if the owner was not at fault. A majority of compensation claims are paid under the homeowner’s insurance policy, which includes coverage for damages and liability caused by domestic animals. The dog attack laws vary in each state, which can be broken down by these three types of liability:
• Negligence Laws—The owner is liable for the injury because the owner was careless or negligent in controlling the dog.
• Strict Liability—The owner is automatically liable for any injury or property damage the dog causes without provocation.
• One Bite Rule—The owner of the dog is not liable for damages caused the first time the dog bites a victim unless the owner knew or should have known that the dog had a propensity for violence.
Some states have moved away from the one free bite rule and the owner can be held responsible for any and all injuries caused by their dog, whether the animal has previously demonstrated vicious or aggressive tendencies. A victim may use the legal doctrine of premises liability when the person is harmed on the property of the dog owner. This is a specific form of negligence that applies to landowners and landlords. If a landlord knows that a vicious dog currently lives with one of their tenants and fails to do anything to control the dog, the landlord can be held liable. Determining liability will depend on where you live and which dog attack law applies in that state.
How a Dog Bite Lawyer Can Help
A dog owner may not be held liable if any of the following occurred during the incident:
• The victim was trespassing onto private property
• The victim was a professional that works with animals, such as a veterinarian or kennel owner
• The victim was committing a felony at the time
• The victim provoked the dog and was over the age of 5 years old at the time
• The dog was assisting the police or the military at the time
Dog bite cases can be extremely serious and cause undue consequences on the pet’s owner. Therefore, it is important to hire a personal injury attorney specializing in dog bites who will make sure that your rights are protected at all times.
Credit Scores
The first negative effect of a foreclosure is the effect that such action has on the credit scores of homeowner. No matter what the ultimate result of the foreclosure might be, whether the property is sold at short sale, or the property is voluntarily returned to the bank, the credit agencies will still treat the situation identically by noting that the homeowner paid less on a settled account. The practical effect is that the homeowner’s credit score will be downgraded, which will result in the homeowner having to pay higher rates on his credit card, auto loans, and other consumer debt.
Effect on Employment
A little known effect of a foreclosure is that it may make it more difficult for the one to obtain employment. Many employers not only make routine credit investigations as part of their hiring practice, but there are some employers that use a foreclosure as a basis for termination. Both of these situations may appear to be unfair, but employers are within their rights to take such action, and homeowners facing a potential foreclosure should be aware of these possibilities.
Deficiency Judgments
Many homeowners may be under the mistaken belief that once their property has been foreclosed on, they are free and clear of any further financial obligations for said property. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Depending on the circumstances, even after the foreclosure there may be remaining debt, and the mortgage holder may elect to pursue that. The options available to the mortgage company include taking a deficiency judgment against the homeowner and using such judgment to pursue a wage garnishment. This can be a consequence of the foreclosure that might follow the homeowner for some time and that could also jeopardize one’s employment, as some employers are not sympathetic and may use garnishment as a reason for termination.
Stress
In addition to the clear and direct consequences of foreclosure, there are also a number of more subtle consequences that homeowners should be aware of. The circumstances leading up to and continuing throughout the foreclosure process are the source of considerable stress. The pressure of trying to make payments, dealing with the mortgage company, and facing the likelihood of losing one’s home are all stress creating events. Living with day-to-day stress can cause a homeowner to act in ways that are inconsistent with his or her normal behavior, which may serve to cause them additional difficulties.
Conclusion
Foreclosures are not pleasant for anyone. The mortgage holder incurs expenses that they would like to avoid, and are burdened with disposing of the foreclosed property. Mortgage companies are not in the real estate business, and would prefer not to have this additional responsibility. The problems for the homeowner, as described above, certainly are not pleasant. The bottom line is that homeowners should make every effort to avoid foreclosure. The effects can be devastating, and it may take the homeowner years to escape them.
About the author
This article was composed by Ty Whitworth for the team atwww.manhattandallasapartments.com/.
