Español (Spanish)
English
CALL TODAY FOR A FREE CASE EVALUATION
In 2014, more than three thousand traffic fatalities were reported in the state of California, with 519 of these resulting from motorbike accidents. This infographic illustrates the statistics surrounding motorbike casualties in California while we provide tips on how to prevent these accidents in the future. If you are in a motorcycle accident, speak with an experienced motorcycle injury attorney to discuss your options and protect your rights.
Concussion, a film released on Christmas Day 2015 by Columbia Pictures, stars Will Smith in the true-life story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the Nigerian-born forensic pathologist who fought the National Football League’s effort to suppress his findings on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease frequently suffered by professional football players.
The story really begins with Mike Webster, the Pittsburgh Steelers center during that team’s string of Super Bowl wins in the 1970s. As a forensic pathologist in Pennsylvania with the Allegheny County coroner’s office, Dr. Omalu handled Webster’s autopsy in 2002.
Webster died suddenly and unexpectedly, following years of struggling with cognitive impairment, mood disorders, clinical depression, substance abuse, and failed suicide attempts.
Dr. Omalu suspected that Mike Webster had suffered from dementia pugilistica, a form of dementia induced by repeated blows to the head – and common to professional boxers.
Dr. Omalu found large accumulations of tau protein in Webster’s brain that would have negatively impacted Webster’s mood, emotional stability, and motor control. The doctor spent the next few years researching incidences of CTE among retired NFL players, and he initially believed that the NFL would be pleased with his research. Instead, the NFL downplayed the severity of the CTE problem, even though concerns regarding brain injuries to NFL players had been growing for years.
After the suicide – at age 45 – of former Steelers offensive lineman Terry Long in 2005, Dr. Omalu found tau protein concentrations in Long’s brain tissues were more consistent with “a 90-year-old brain with advanced Alzheimer’s.”
The NFL finally acknowledged the link between concussions sustained by football players and CTE incidences in December 2009.
In 2011, attorneys in Philadelphia filed lawsuits against the NFL on behalf of seven retired NFL players, including two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Jim McMahon. Subsequently, thousands of former NFL players filed legal claims against the League after sustaining concussions repeatedly throughout their careers.
In April 2012, former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling, one of the seven co-plaintiffs in the case with Jim McMahon, committed suicide with a gun in his home. The autopsy report found tau protein concentrations consistent with CTE in Easterling’s brain tissue. Only a month later, the popular former San Diego Charger, Junior Seau, also died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and Seau’s autopsy also indicated CTE.
By August 2012, more than three thousand football players were involved in lawsuits against the NFL, and by April 2013, that number had surpassed 4,500.
At a federal hearing that month in Philadelphia, the NFL moved to have all of those lawsuits dismissed at once. Instead, the judge ordered representatives for both sides to attempt to negotiate a settlement. Under the agreement they reached, the NFL will spend $765 million to provide medical treatment to more than 18,000 former players.
Retired NFL players who suffer from brain injuries and brain injury-related diseases will also qualify for medical help. Another $10 million will subsidize brain injury and neurology research as well as safety and education programs.
While the agreement between the NFL and its retired players means that many who desperately need medical treatment will now be able to receive it, the settlement also raises some disturbing questions for the rest of us, and the release of the film with Will Smith has once again placed those questions squarely the public eye.
If the most advanced helmets available can’t protect some of the world’s greatest athletes from concussions and CTE, what are the real dangers facing bicyclists and motorcyclists wearing their own helmets? And if the brain can be injured without any damage to a helmet, could automobile drivers and passengers conceivably also be injured without damage to their vehicles?
More and more, we’re learning about the brain injuries – and the other kinds of injuries – that are suffered in low-speed, low-impact traffic accidents, and what we’re learning is somewhat disturbing.
In low-speed, low-impact collisions, there’s usually little or no visible property damage to the vehicles, but the injuries suffered in these accidents may nevertheless be serious injuries. In low-speed collisions, more of the force of the impact is directly transferred to the vehicle’s occupants, because vehicles absorb very little of the force of impacts under twenty miles per hour. Protect yourself, and understand that low-speed, low impact traffic crashes can cause whiplash, soft tissue injuries, spinal damage, and serious brain injuries.
If you are involved in what seems to be a minor traffic accident with no apparent injuries or property damage, take the cautious approach and have a medical examination anyway.
The injuries most frequently sustained in low-speed, low-impact accidents are precisely the kinds of injuries that are invisible at first or easy to ignore and later become serious medical issues.
An unexpected head jolt can force delicate brain tissue to collide against rigid skull bones, with subsequent swelling or even bleeding that may not be noticeable immediately. Other conditions such as whiplash and back injuries may take days – or weeks – before they’re even detectable.
If you are injured in a traffic collision but your vehicle sustained little or no damage, the insurance company may use that lack of damage as an excuse for denying your claim or for offering you a settlement that’s far below the actual value of your claim.
The problem is that while cars, buses, trucks, and SUVs are designed precisely to withstand low-speed collisions, you and your passengers are not. Whether or not you think you are injured, get medical attention at once after any traffic accident, and if you subsequently experience any of the symptoms listed here, get checked again. Recognizing the early symptoms of a brain injury after a low-speed, low-impact accident is imperative. The typical signs of a brain injury include:
If an injury does develop slowly over several days or weeks – and it happens this way frequently – you must be in a position to prove that you’ve been injured and to protect yourself legally. Seek medical attention immediately after any traffic crash and subsequently if any symptoms develop. If a healthcare provider confirms that you’ve been injured, speak as quickly as possible with a good personal injury lawyer, and in southern California, contact an experienced Pasadena personal injury attorney at once.
Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, recently published research proving that even a mild concussion leaves brain damage that remains visible on brain scans months later.
Even the mildest brain injuries mean more long-term damage than neurologists once believed. Researchers at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine studied fifty subjects who had sustained mild concussions. Four months after their injuries, the concussion victims still showed slight irregularities in the frontal cortex area of both sides of the brain.
Pain and other brain injury symptoms can disappear long before full healing has been completed. If you have previously sustained a concussion, you must be exceedingly cautious to avoid any blow, jolt, or impact to the head.
If you are injured because of another driver’s negligence in California or any other state, personal injury law entitles you to full reimbursement for all of your medical care, lost income, and your other injury-related expenses.
In some states and in some cases, injury victims may also qualify to receive pain and suffering damages as well punitive damages. A good personal injury lawyer can examine the details of your own case and explain your legal rights and options – including a possible personal injury lawsuit.
Proving negligence is always the key to prevailing in a personal injury claim. A plaintiff must be able to present evidence that his or her injury or injuries happened because of the defendant’s negligent action or lack of action.
The victim must prove – with adequate medical documentation and/or testimony – that the injury actually happened and must also prove – with an attorney’s help – that the defendant’s negligence was the direct cause of that injury or injuries. Finally, the plaintiff must prove the extent and the “dollar value” of his or her injury or injuries.
Obviously, long-term and disabling injuries will require the maximum possible compensation – as well as a team of experienced personal injury lawyers who know what it takes to win that compensation on your behalf.
If you believe that you have a personal injury claim and that you are entitled to compensation after a traffic collision – even if your vehicle sustained little or no damage – do not speak with, listen to, or accept a settlement offer from any insurance company.
Let your personal injury lawyer conduct all of the negotiations and discussions with the insurance company. Your lawyer is a trained and experienced negotiator who will fight aggressively for the compensation you need and for the justice you deserve. In many cases, you will not have to go to court and your attorney may be able to negotiate an acceptable out-of-court settlement.
If you are injured in traffic in southern California, as soon as you’ve obtained medical attention, put your case in the hands of an experienced Pasadena personal injury attorney – without delay.
In recent years, as natural gas prices have dropped in the United States and the natural gas supply has increased, compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles are becoming the focus of renewed attention. Compressed natural gas is methane gas that is stored at high pressure. Compressed natural gas can be used as a fuel in place of gasoline, diesel, or propane. CNG combustion produces less air pollution than gasoline, and compressed natural gas is also safer than other fuels in the event of a spill, because natural gas is lighter than air and disperses quickly when released. Compressed natural gas may be found above oil deposits, or it may be collected from landfills or from wastewater treatment plants where it is known as “biogas.”
CNG is made by compressing natural methane gas to less than one percent of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. CNG is stored and distributed in canisters or tanks, usually in cylindrical or spherical shapes, for installation on motor vehicles. Compressed natural gas is also increasingly being used as a “green” energy source for air travel and for trains as well as for buses, trucks, and automobiles. The benefits of compressed natural gas are many, and those benefits are quite impressive, but the truth is that compressed natural gas can also be quite dangerous.
Many businesses and public transportation agencies in California and across the country, in response to rising gasoline costs and environmental worries, have converted or are converting their fleet vehicles into compressed natural gas vehicles. In fact, California leads the nation in the use of CNG-powered vehicles, which are required to meet the same federal safety standards as gasoline-powered vehicles. Still, in many cases, CNG canisters and tanks eventually become hazardous for a variety of reasons. If you or someone you love is injured in a CNG tank explosion, the results can be devastating – people have been permanently injured, disabled, and worse in CNG tank explosions. If you become the victim of a compressed natural gas explosion, contact a good personal injury lawyer at once about a possible personal injury lawsuit, and in southern California, speak immediately to an experienced Pasadena personal injury attorney.
Compressed natural gas usually costs substantially less than gasoline for the same mileage, and there are many other advantages as well. Compressed natural gas does not contain any lead, and maintenance costs for CNG-powered vehicles are lower than for other hydrocarbon-fuel-powered vehicles. CNG emits significantly fewer pollutants – carbon dioxide, unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter – than gasoline. Being a gaseous fuel, CNG mixes easily and evenly in air.
Compressed natural gas powers about 150,000 vehicles in the United States and roughly 15.2 million vehicles worldwide. Any gasoline-powered vehicle can be converted to a dual-fuel (gasoline/CNG) vehicle. Authorized shops can install a compressed natural gas cylinder, a CNG injection system, and the accompanying electronics. The cost of converting a vehicle to compressed natural gas can be as much as $8,000 on passenger cars and light trucks, so most conversions are done for commercial and government-owned vehicles that are constantly on the road. Whenever a CNG cylinder is installed, that installation must be done so that the cylinder is protected from road hazards and from direct sunlight.
CNG tanks have been available for use in motor vehicles since the 1940s. However, since the 1970s, motivated by this nation’s need to protect the environment and to reduce our dependence on foreign oil imports, manufacturers have aggressively been marketing compressed natural gas cylinders and vehicles. Today in California and a number of other states, compressed natural gas is widely used in city and county fleet vehicles, city buses, and school buses. A number of manufacturers now offer factory-built, CNG-fueled trucks, vans, transit buses, and school buses, and in southern California alone, there are about one hundred CNG fueling stations. The tanks that hold compressed natural gas are usually fitted underneath a vehicle, so those tanks are not easy to inspect for possible defects, although an inspection is recommended every three years or every 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. Under normal conditions, new compressed natural gas tanks are good for about fifteen years, but the inspections and expiration dates can be easy to forget about or overlook when you’re a busy fleet manager running a hectic day-to-day operation involving dozens of drivers and vehicles.
Older CNG tanks on older vehicles should be replaced as quickly as possible. Compressed natural gas tanks on vehicles that already ride low to the ground – or on vehicles with worn shock absorbers – are extremely dangerous. Anyone who owns a CNG-powered vehicle or who manages a fleet of such vehicles must inspect the tanks on schedule and have them replaced on schedule. Negligence regarding outdated or defective CNG tanks can lead to powerful explosions, serious injuries, and in the worst-case scenario, avoidable fatalities. That kind of negligence can also lead to personal injury lawsuits when the victims of compressed natural gas explosions seek compensation for their injuries.
When an aging or defective CNG tank scrapes the pavement – or anything else – at a high speed, the result can be a disastrous explosion that hurts everyone in the vicinity. For example, in January 2015, a bus explosion in Pakistan killed 62 people when the CNG tanks under the bus exploded. Surviving family members are now seeking to be compensated through Pakistan’s civil court system. Also in January 2015, compressed natural gas cylinders on a garbage truck in Indianapolis exploded, sending fragments of the CNG tanks as far as a quarter-mile from the explosion site. Several nearby buildings sustained significant damage in that explosion.
Compressed natural gas tank explosions are almost always unexpected and disastrous. When a CNG cylinder explodes, it is imperative to have the evidence analyzed thoroughly and to determine the precise chain of events that led to the explosion. A good personal injury attorney can work with fire and insurance investigators and other experts to determine exactly why an explosion happened and to determine who should be held accountable. There are four basic kinds of CNG tanks: all steel, mostly steel, plastic and steel, and all plastic. When you combine aged or defective CNG tanks with vehicles that ride low to the ground or have worn shock absorbers, tank failure is almost inevitable, and the typical failure mode for a CNG tank isn’t a leak; it’s an explosion.
A compressed natural gas explosion severely injured a California man named Israel Solorio when the two all-plastic CNG tanks under his delivery van exploded in 2009. Mr. Solorio’s right leg had to be amputated. The case brought national attention to the issue of compressed natural gas regulations and safety – and an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and NASA’s White Sands Testing Facility. The results of that investigation were published in a document titled “Hydrogen and CNG Fuel System Safety Research,” released by the NHTSA on January 26, 2012. The catastrophic ruptures to the two tanks, occurring long before their scheduled expiration date, called into question the safety standards and the design, production, and testing procedures for all-plastic CNG tanks.
In the interest of public safety, several California personal injury attorneys, including attorney Gregory R. Vanni of the Pasadena law firm Thon Beck Vanni Callahan & Powell, funded the investigation at a cost of nearly $2 million. The case eventually settled for a confidential amount and created a comprehensive CNG database for the NHTSA and NASA that can be used to save lives in the future. For his work on that case, Mr. Vanni received a 2014 California Consumer Attorney of the Year Award from the Consumer Attorneys of California.
In more recent CNG-related developments, chemists at the University of California at Berkeley announced in October 2015 that a new and innovative way to store methane could speed the development of natural gas-powered cars that don’t require the high pressures or cold temperatures of today’s compressed or liquefied natural gas vehicles. The chemists have developed a porous and flexible material – a so-called metal-organic framework – for storing methane that addresses these problems. Without the high pressure required for todays’ CNG cylinders, cylinder explosions might still happen, but they would cause far less damage.
If you or someone you love is injured in a compressed natural gas accident or explosion, you have the legal right to be reimbursed for your medical treatment, lost income, and related expenses, but you’ll have to fight for that reimbursement with the help of a good personal injury lawyer. In California, contact a Pasadena personal injury attorney who has experience representing the victims of CNG tank explosions. A good personal injury lawyer will investigate the details of your CNG accident and injury, examine the evidence, interrogate the witnesses, work alongside experts, and fight aggressively for the compensation you deserve. Protect yourself. In every state, you have only a limited amount of time to take legal action after you’ve been injured, so if you or someone you love is injured by a compressed natural gas tank explosion, do not wait to make the call to an experienced personal injury lawyer.
When someone else is negligent – another driver, a property owner, a healthcare provider, or the manufacturer of a consumer product – and that negligence causes an accident that injures you – do you really need to retain legal counsel? Obviously, not always. Plenty of the minor “injuries” that we suffer – paper cuts and stubbed toes, for instance – are self-inflicted and trivial. We shrug them off. Other injuries – more serious – can happen because of weather or natural disasters, and in those cases, typically no one is “at fault.” However, if you have been injured or if you are injured in the future, and you don’t really know if another party is or is not legally responsible for injuring you, arrange immediately to discuss the accident and your injury with an experienced Pasadena personal injury attorney.
A Pasadena personal injury attorney will offer you frank, impartial advice based on years of personal injury experience. You might end up receiving advice that you didn’t expect. An attorney may explain to you that you don’t really need to take legal action. Alternately, if you have been injured by someone else’s negligence but you have no way to prove it, an attorney will explain why a filing a lawsuit can’t benefit you. When you have a legitimate injury claim and you can prove it, whether or not to move forward with the claim is still your choice. You’ll have to compare the pros and cons of filing a lawsuit. Let an experienced Pasadena personal injury attorney outline those pros and cons to you, help you to understand how the law affects your case, and fight for justice on your behalf.
If you are injured because of someone else’s negligence in southern California, before you accept a settlement, be sure to consult with a personal injury attorney. Otherwise, you will very likely be offered an amount that is substantially below the actual value of your case. Simply retaining legal counsel often is enough to make an insurance company treat you fairly and meet its responsibility. However, after any injury, until you consult with an experienced Pasadena personal injury attorney, you may not know if you have a case, or if you do, what it is worth. If you’re injured by negligence now or in the future in southern California, seek medical attention first, then contact our experienced Pasadena personal injury attorneys immediately.
As product liability lawyers in Pasadena, we know that millions of vehicles in this nation – literally dozens of makes and models – have air bags made by the Takata Corporation. Most of those vehicles are currently being recalled. The list of recalled makes and models is quite lengthy – it includes Japanese, European, and U.S. automobile manufacturers. Recall notifications don’t always reach vehicle owners, so if you have not been informed that your own vehicle is being recalled, look it up on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website or contact your local auto dealership. If your vehicle is on the recall list because of the air bag or for any other reason, take it to a dealership immediately for a replacement or a repair.
In November, after scores of serious injuries and several fatalities, the NHTSA imposed the largest fine ever in the agency’s history on the Takata Corporation. Takata will be fined $200 million for a number of violations related to the defective air bags. If you or someone in your family has been injured by an exploding air bag – or by any other faulty auto part – speak immediately about filing a product liability claim with an experienced Pasadena personal injury attorney. If you are injured using any defective product, you are entitled to full reimbursement from the manufacturer for your ongoing and future medical costs, lost income, and all other injury-related expenses. However, you’ll need help to obtain that compensation. You’ll need the advice and services of an experienced Pasadena product liability lawyer.
The injuries suffered by victims of exploding air bags can be serious – or worse. When a woman was killed by shrapnel from an air bag explosion last year near Orlando, police actually launched a murder investigation – until a recall notice arrived in her mail several days later. If your vehicle is on the recall list, take it seriously, and take action. If you are injured by an exploding air bag or by any other defective auto part in the Pasadena area, Los Angeles County, or anywhere in southern California, arrange at once to discuss a possible product liability lawsuit with an experienced Pasadena product liability lawyer.
In Pasadena and Los Angeles County, if you are injured because another person was negligent in a traffic crash, a slip-and-fall incident, or any other accident, one issue that could complicate a personal injury case is any pre-existing medical condition or wound that you acquired or sustained before the accident. If you’ve been injured by someone else’s negligence in southern California, arrange at once to meet with a car accident lawyer to discuss the accident, your injuries, your rights, and your legal recourse.
When you are suddenly and unexpectedly injured by the negligence of another, if you have a pre-existing damage or medical condition, it will certainly make a personal injury claim somewhat more difficult. That’s because the defendant’s attorney(s) and insurance company likely will insist that you were already injured and the defendant should not be held accountable. However, having a pre-existing damage should not prevent you from taking legal action. Let an experienced inury lawyer help. In almost every case where a pre-existing wound is an issue, medical evidence and experts can demonstrate that what happened in the accident was distinct and apart from any pre-existing condition or wound. Injuries caused by negligence can include brain and spinal cord damage; back, neck, shoulder, and knee injuries; amputations and broken bones; burn injuries; and disfigurement.
If you or someone you love has sustained one or more of these injuries because of another person’s negligence, you’ll need legal advice and aggressive representation from a personal injury lawyer who routinely helps accident victims win the compensation they deserve. Your personal injury attorney will investigate the accident, gather evidence, interview the witnesses, and negotiate aggressively on your behalf. If a negotiated settlement isn’t available, a personal injury lawyer can take your case to trial and ask a jury of your peers for justice. After any wound caused by someone else’s negligence in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, or elsewhere in southern California, discuss your rights and options immediately with an experienced Pasadena personal injury lawyer.
Call Us Now
Email Us Now