New Jersey Accident and Injury Law Blog : New Jersey Injury Lawyer & Attorney : The Grossman Law Firm : Serving Monmouth County, Bergen County

Preliminary data released by the Department of Transportation indicate that there has been a record-breaking dip in the number of highway fatalities that occurred on American roads last year. In 2009, according to the data, there were 33,960 deaths on our highways, a drop of 9% from the previous year.

As a New Jersey injury lawyer, I have been blogging about the declining accident fatality rates across the country, including in our state. This year's numbers, while not low enough by any standards, are still extremely encouraging to those of us who would like to see fewer people killed and fewer lives shattered in preventable traffic accidents. According to the Department of Translation, fewer incidences of alcohol-related car accidents, greater use of seatbelts and safer cars have contributed to these decreasing fatalities.

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As the numbers of digitized billboards on our highways has increased, the calls for limiting the use of these billboards because of the distraction risks have also become louder.

Travelers have become used to these billboards that flash advertising messages, news headlines, and sports scores. But exactly how distracting are these billboards? 

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A serious dog bite incident in Georgia this week critically injured an eight-year-old girl. The attack has also led to louder calls for breed specific legislation  in the state.

Earlier this week, eight-year-old Erin Ingraham was playing in the yard at her Atlanta home when she was attacked by two Staffordshire Terrier dogs. Animal control officers were able to get the dogs off the little girl. One of the dogs was shot and killed in the scuffle, while another has been caught, and is likely to be euthanized. 

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The University of Alabama in Birmingham is conducting a study to determine the effectiveness of a software training program in teaching children about safe interaction with dogs.

The study will involve giving the children a software program called the Blue Dog, developed by the Blue Dog Trust in the United Kingdom. The program features a series of instructions for little children to be safe around dogs and avoid possibly antagonizing behaviors around these animals. The children will then be tested with a live dog to study how much they have absorbed the instructions given in the program. If it is found that the children have learned a lot about safe interactions around dogs from the Blue Dog program, then it could help in preventing at least some of the thousands of dog attacks involving children every year. 

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Normally, an attack involving an orca would not find a place on this blog, but as a dog bite lawyer in New Jersey who frequently comes across serious and even fatal attacks involving man's best friend, I have to express my surprise that anyone thought an attack like this was completely impossible.

Tilikum, the 12,000 pound, 22-foot killer whale is just about everywhere on the news. This week, the orca pulled its trainer Dawn Brancheau into its tank, and thrashed her violently from side to side. The trainer died of traumatic injuries. This wasn't the orca’s first brush with death. He has been named in at least two previous fatalities. In the first one, he was among a group of three whales which attacked a trainer who fell into the pool at a park in British Columbia. In the second incident, Tilikum was linked to the death of a 27-year-old man who is believed to have sneaked into the orca tank. The man was found dead on the whale’s back the next day.

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A family in Illinois is finding out just how hard an insurer will try to avoid having to pay out in a dog bite incident. The insurer, Illinois Farmers Insurance has filed suit this week to avoid paying compensation to the victim of a dog bite attack.

The dog bite here occurred in July last year. The victim Chloe Pluger was bitten by a dog belonging to Gary and Sharon Lindstrom. Chloe's father Matthew Pluger filed a lawsuit against the Lindstroms. The lawsuit sought to recover compensation for injuries that Chloe suffered in the dog bite attack. However, Farmer’s Insurance refused to cover the injuries. 

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An intoxicated motorist who caused an accident that seriously injured three of his passengers, has been charged with DUI and leaving the scene of the crash. The driver Luis Barrera was driving on the Garden State Parkway in Eaglewood Township, when his car veered off the road, and crashed into a few trees. After the crash, Barrera got out of the vehicle, and pretended to be a witness. He then tried to flee the scene of the crash. He has been arrested and jailed. 

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Medical malpractice attorneys in New Jersey and around the country will be concerned at an increasing trend among hospitals to recycle single-use medical products. The trend is part of efforts to reduce the amount of waste that hospitals produce, and make the healthcare industry more eco-friendly. However, it also raises concerns about how such efforts to green hospitals can impact patient safety, and increase the risk of infections.

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The National Transportation Safety Board has released its 2010 Federal Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements. The agency as it does every year, has outlined the recommendations that it has made to enhance highway, aviation, rail and maritime safety.

As expected, due to the high number of plane safety incidents that we have seen in recent years, aviation safety finds special mention on the list. The NTSB list also includes a number of recommendations for trucking safety, many of which have been given a red designation.

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