Toyota, the world's leading auto manufacturer, has agreed to a record fine of $17.4 million for not disclosing a known and potentially dangerous vehicle design defect as quickly as it should have. It's the second time in two years that Toyota has been fined for delaying the reporting of known auto defects.
The fine is the maximum the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator (NHTSA) can assess, indicating the serious nature of this incident and auto design defects as a whole. "Every moment ...
On November 26, Illinois State Police Trooper Kyle Deatherage was tragically struck and killed by a tractor trailer while he was standing along Interstate 55 after making a traffic stop. This occurred near Litchfield, Ill., about 60 miles north of St. Louis. The trooper left behind a wife and two young children.
In an article by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, some troubling questions about possible driver negligence and company negligence have surfaced.
The newspaper reports that, following the ...
Recent news reports have raised some concerns about popular energy drinks. According to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) records, the highly caffeinated energy shot 5-Hour Energy has been listed as a possible cause of 13 deaths and more than 30 serious injuries. This news comes less than a month after reports that highly caffeinated energy drinks sold under the brand name Monster Energy were listed as a possible cause of 5 deaths. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently ...
Spinal cord injuries are devastating, not only for the quality-of-life challenges they present but also because of the costs of ongoing medical care. Such care is costly.
According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC), the average annual first-year costs of spinal cord injury treatments range from $322,000 to $985,000, depending on the severity of the injury. Annual medical care costs following that first year range from $40,000 to $170,000, again depending on the ...
A recent tragedy in West Texas serves as a real-life reminder of the deadly dangers posed by railroad crossings.
On November 15 in Midland, Texas, during an annual parade to honor wounded war veterans, a freight train slammed into one of the parade floats. Two veterans riding on the float died at the scene. Two others later died at a hospital. At least 17 other passengers on the float were injured, some of them critically.
The accident currently is under investigation by the National ...
The holiday season is just around the corner. For many, this means braving crowds of people at the mall or local shopping center to purchase toys to give to the children in their lives. Most of the toys for sale in the United States today are relatively safe, as certain toys and other children's products are subject to regulations established by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
However, according to a CPSC report (available at http://www.cpsc.gov/library/toymemo10.pdf), in ...
Class action lawsuits allow a large number of people harmed by the same negligent or fraudulent actions of a company to obtain compensation that they typically couldn't if they pursued lawsuits on their own. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court recently heard two cases that, depending on how the Court rules, may limit this important legal remedy.
The cases, heard November 5, 2012, involve class action lawsuits against two companies and two different issues:
- Comcast, a leading cable provider, is ...
While hunting seasons vary for different game, fall is a good time to review hunting and firearms safety, as more hunters take the field during fall firearms deer season than any other time of year.
Firearms Safety and Hunter Education
Firearms safety is an important aspect of hunter safety education. While the actual number of firearms injuries each year has fluctuated, in general such incidents have declined significantly in the past several years. A greater emphasis on firearms safety and hunter ...
According to the English writer Rex Stout, "There two kinds of statistics: the kind you look up and the kind you make up." Last month, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released a report containing the most recent statistics for accidents involving large trucks and commercial buses in the United States. Unfortunately, the statistics are not made up; only cause for concern.
Results of National Report on Large Truck Accidents in U.S.
The "Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2010" is the ...
Each year, over 500 people lose their lives in railroad collisions. Many accidents occur at highway grade crossings, some of which are not well protected.
Protection at grade crossings can consist of as little as wooden "crossbucks," the familiar "X" design, to automatic gates and lights. Some crossings with a history of accidents can even be closed permanently.
The dangers to motorists at railroad crossings are numerous, and vary from region to region. Where a crossing has only crossbucks ...
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