Arizona Accident Information Law Blog : Arizona Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Solomon & Relihan Law Firm : Auto Accidents & Car Wrecks : AZ Accident Information Law Blog

Investigations showed the company did not have proper safety measures in place to prevent such an accident from occurring in the first place. As a result, the company had to pay $30,000 in compensation for the employee’s injury and an additional fine of $30,000 for failing to maintain proper safety measures for its employees.

Every company should have specific safety measures in place to ensure the safety of its employees to avoid accidents such as this one. In a situation such as this one, however, it may not be very easy to implement since they are working outdoors cutting down logs. The potential for an accident in those conditions is much higher than in other jobs. Still, the company should have taken steps to train its employees in using the machinery and in how to avoid accidents like this one. There are several ways this employee accident could have been avoided and the victim would not have to go through the pain and suffering that he did. Regardless of the nature of employment, every company should ensure that their training regiments are adequate enough to highlight potential dangers for employees and to protect their safety on the job.
 

Sherriff’s officers argue that the chase never exceeded speeds that would constitute high-speed. According to police, the driver of the vehicle being chased sped off in an attempt to flee from police officers after he sped by them. Officers attempted to flag the vehicle down when the driver began accelerating to get away from the police. Sherriff’s police argued they did not engage with the offending vehicle but instead called for back up. The parents of the 16-year-old victim are questioning police statements that they were not speeding, which is the reason for the wrongful-death lawsuit.

It is very easy for somebody to deny responsibility for any incident that occurs. According to the report of this incident, there is reportedly evidence that shows the police officers were not speeding at the time of the accident. If evidence does turn up showing that the officers were not speeding, it would be very difficult for the parents of the 16-year-old victim to win this wrongful death lawsuit. However, this should not stop anybody from trying to get justice and compensation should they find themselves in the same situation.
 

Ahjzanae was collecting rocks Sunday afternoon with her 4-year-old brother and another child in the enclosed parking lot in front of Museum Place Apartments. The gate was activated at 3:30pm trapping the girl. Authorities have stated that she became trapped between the mechanical gate and its control box. The victim died of compressive asphyxia because she was wedged into such a small space. Toledo firefighters pronounced her dead at 3:34pm on Sunday. The death is not being investigated as homicide; investigators have concluded that it was in fact accidental. It is still unclear how she managed to become trapped in such a severe way, but detectives have guessed that she was standing on the gate when the gate began to move. The death is the first accident with the gate or with the Wallick-Hendy’s properties. The gate manufacturers Linear Osco of Casnovia, Michigan declined to comment on the incident. Family members stated on Monday that they were devastated, and that Ahjzanae was irreplaceable in their family. 

This tragic accident cost the life of a young girl because of an incident that could have been prevented. In a case like this, it is difficult to know who to blame and what course of action to take. This type of accident could have been prevented if a simple sign was placed on the gate or even if there was a warning sound every time the gate was going to be closed. It is little things like this that could have had an enormous impact. The gate manufacturer or even property owner could possibly be held responsible if either of these was supposed to occur and did not. If your child suffered an injury from a mechanical gate, contacting an Arizona personal injury lawyer is your best option for compensation. 

The report states that former police detective Stephanie Lazarus was implicated in the murder of Sherri Rasmussen following a dispute involving another LAPD officer – John Ruetten. The report states that Ruetten and Lazarus had been dating for several years before Ruetten and Rasmussen got married. When an investigation into Rasmussen’s death began, authorities never considered Lazarus a suspect despite evidence that Lazarus threatened Rasmussen before the murder occurred. LAPD officers disregarded Rasmussen’s father’s claims that Lazarus should be considered a suspect in the crime and instead they treated the crime as a botched burglary. It was only after DNA evidence linked Lazarus to the crime that she was arrested and charged with capital murder. The family’s lawsuit claims the LAPD attempted to cover up the murder and as a result, did not charge Lazarus with any crime until evidence to the contrary surfaced. In their defense, the LAPD claims the oversight was due to incompetence on their part.

It is always the family’s right to get justice for any crimes committed against them or against their loved ones. In this incident, the Rasmussen family deserves to have justice and closure in the investigation of their daughter’s murder. A law enforcement agency should never attempt to cover up a crime committed by one of their officers as this case seems to indicate. If the LAPD in fact deliberately overlooked evidence pointing to the detective being responsible for this crime, it is their responsibility to act in due diligence and give justice to the family of Stephanie Rasmussen.

The report states Pruett was driving a vehicle owned by the company where he is currently employed, A-1 Fire and Safety Equipment Company. Robles and her passenger, 47-year-old Joe Luis Ramon were both killed in the accident. According to the report, Pruett has a history of drug and alcohol offences, one of which Pruett was convicted for possession of marijuana 12 years ago. Pruett faces two counts of intoxication and manslaughter following Robles’ and Ramon’s death.

According to the report, the accident occurred when Robles came to a stop at an intersection and was attempting to make a turn onto an eastbound roadway. Pruett’s vehicle was heading in the opposite direction and subsequently crashed head on with Robles’ vehicle. Frontal impact auto accidents account for a majority of deaths related to auto accidents. A frontal impact collision can lead to extensive, very serious injuries, especially if the collision was not at an angle but square head-to-head as this incident demonstrates.

Williams was playing outside his home when a tree limb fell on top of him and killed him. The family argues that the Housing Authority failed to warn them of any potentially dangerous conditions in the area. According to a previous report on the website, the tree branch fell from a 75-foot tree and caused critical injuries. Reports stated that the tree was supposed to be removed on Sunday.

The housing authority may be liable because they are responsible for maintaining safe conditions. The fact that crews were waiting until the end of the week to remove the tree could potentially be viewed as a factor that caused the accident. However, this incident could also be looked at as a complete accident that nobody is at fault for simply because nobody directly caused the break in the tree branch causing it to fall. There is no way to control a situation like this except if the housing authority was well aware of the condition of the tree. If they were aware that the tree branch could have fallen, the housing authority could have been held at fault for the accident.

For more information on premises liability issues, visit Solomon & Relihan.

According to the Houston Chronicle, 24-year-old Michael Patrick Jacobs died on April 18, 2009 after being Tasered for 54 seconds.  Jacobs had a history of mental illness and his family called the police when he began acting aggressively.  The police used the Taser to subdue him, even though he was unarmed. 

The city did not admit wrongdoing in offering the settlement, but Brian Eberstein, the family's attorney, said, "This is the city's recognition that there are serious and significant issues with respect to the policies and training of the department that need to be fixed and that the use of this weapon as a tool for compliance, which is basically how the city of Fort Worth uses it, is something that they need to carefully look at."

Tasers have been a controversial police tool since they began being used by police departments.  This study by Amnesty International documents Tasers' lethal capability and abuse by police and other authorities.

If someone is wrongfully injured or killed by a Taser or other such device used by police, both the police department and the product manufacturer may be found liable.  For more information on this, visit Solomon & Relihan's Product Liability information page.

According to the San Angelo Standard-Times, Sarah Goodner died three years ago in a car accident while in the passenger seat of her sister's 2005 Hyundai Tucson.    Goodner was wearing a seat belt but was thrown from the vehicle because her seat was reclined too far back.  Experts at the trial argued that reclining a car seat more that 45 degrees can be dangerous.  However, the Hyundai Tucson, like most of the 237 million cars in the US, allows front passenger seats to recline more than this.

It has long been known that car seats are only effective if worn correctly and reclining a seat too far can cause the seat belt to not be positioned correctly. According to an article on the subject in Slate magazine, car manufacturers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have known about the danger of overly-reclined seats since the 1980s.  Most car manufacturers only include a brief warning of the dangers of over-reclining your seat in the owner's manual.

This case highlights and important factor for all car passengers.  Many people think that if a car manufacturer includes a feature, such as reclining seats, and the government allows it, it must be safe. However, that is not always the case.  In addition, the causes of injuries or death in a car accident are not always obvious, so after any accident you should contact an experienced Arizona auto accident attorney to investigate your case.