Recent Blog Posts in January 2010

An El Mirage man was killed after a being struck by a motor vehicle while riding his motorcycle.

Russell Rhoads was just shy of turning 77 years old when his motorcycle was hit at the intersection of Dysert Road and Acoma Drive.

According to El Mirage Police, Rhoads was not wearing a helmet when the accident took place. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration strongly advocates the use of helmets, and has estimated that helmets save close to 2,000 lives a year.  The NHTSA also estimates that 823 more lives could have been saved if all motorcyclists wore a helmet.

Rhoads was taken to the hospital in extremely critical condition and was later pronounced dead.

Police are not recommending filing charges against the driver, 25-year-old Ashley Marie Harris.  Harris told police that she was getting ready to turn left onto Dysart Road when a large SUV obstructed her view. As she was making the left turn she saw Rhoads but it was too late.

For police to recommend charges against Harris they would need to prove negligence.

Seven people were injured last week when a Chevrolet truck rear-ended a small school bus carrying 10 students from Desert Hills High School.

The driver of the pick-up truck was taken to Scottsdale Memorial Hospital with non life-threatening injuries to his lower body. The school bus driver and three students also reported minor injuries and were taken to the hospital for treatment.  The other two injured students were released to their parents and school officials.

The Mesa Police Department is still investigating the accident. At this time, no citations have been issued, but police suspect the driver may have been operating at a high rate of speed.  He crashed into the bus while it was stopped to pick up children.

When a person suffers an injury or death due to a defective product, they have the right to sue the product manufacturer, distributor, and/or retailer for damages in a product liability lawsuit. 

There are three main types of product liability lawsuits that can filed, depending on the type of defect:

• Design Defect:  This refers to an inherent defect in the design of the product. 

• Manufacturing Defect:  When there isn’t a defect with the design, but rather a product becomes defective during the manufacturing process, it is referred to as a manufacturing defect.  

• Marketing Defect:  Failing to include warning labels or failing to provide instructions on how to properly use the product are two examples of a marketing defect. 

It is unanimously agreed that driving a motorcycle is much more dangerous than driving a car, truck or SUV.  Motorcycles simply do not provide the same level of protection that other vehicles provide. Where as a car, truck or SUV has a full metal frame, seat belts, airbags, etc., motorcycles leave their riders completely exposed.  The only form of protection motorcyclists have is their helmet and their riding gear, which as you can imagine is no match against hard asphalt or the impact of getting struck by a motor vehicle.

If you ride a motorcycle, whether as your everyday form of transportation or just for fun, it is important to exercise extreme caution at all times. The following are just some of the most recent motorcycle injury and accident statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

• 5,290 motorcyclists were killed nationwide
• 96,000 motorcyclists were injured nationwide
• 133 motorcyclist were killed in Arizona alone
• The NHTSA estimates that wearing a helmet saved 1,829 motorcyclists’ lives
• The NHTSA estimates that if all motorcyclists wore a helmet, 823 lives could have been saved
• Helmets are estimated to be 37% effective in preventing fatal injuries to motorcycle riders, and 41% effective for motorcycle passengers
• Per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists were approximately 37 times more likely to die in a traffic accident than a passenger in a car, and 9 times more likely to be injured
• Motorcyclists accounted for 14% of total traffic fatalities, 17% of all occupant fatalities, and 4% of all occupants injured
• Motorcycles are more likely to be involved in a fatal collision with a fixed object than any other type of vehicle
• 43% of motorcyclists who died in an accident had a BAC level of .08 percent or more

If you have suffered an injury while at work or as the result of your job, you should consult an experienced Phoenix personal injury attorney at Knowles Law Firm about your rights to workers’ compensation benefits. Through the workers’ compensation system, injured workers can obtain both financial and medical benefits to offset the wages they have lost from being unable to work, and to cover any medical bills incurred as a result of the injury.

To recover compensation in a personal injury lawsuit, the victim must prove their accident or injury was caused by another person’s negligence or recklessness.  It is not necessary to establish fault in order to recover workers’ compensation benefits. Workers’ compensation benefits are available to anyone who suffers an injury while on the job, regardless of who is at fault for the accident or injury.  As long as the injury occurred while on the job or as the result of required job duties, a worker will qualify for workers’ comp benefits.