Losing a loved one can be one of the most emotionally difficult times in a person’s life. Unfortunately, the financial future of a family can also be put at risk when a provider loses their life in a workplace accident. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), approximately 5,250 American workers died on the job throughout 2018. In other words, an average of 100 workers dies per week, throughout the United States. If your loved one has been fatally injured while working, it is time to seek out legal guidance.

Fatal Injuries in the Workplace

Today, the most dangerous private sector industry in terms of worker fatalities is the construction industry. According to statistics compiled by OSHA, more than 20% of all private sector fatalities occur in construction. The vast majority of construction fatalities are caused by falls, electrocutions, or an employee being struck by an object (such as a piece of equipment). While accidents are sometimes unavoidable, the truth is that employer negligence is routinely the cause of construction site fatalities. In many cases of burns or electrocutions, the injured employee was not equipped with proper safety equipment. In other instances, a fall in the workplace could have been avoided if the employer had set up proper fall protection.

While the construction industry is the most fatal private sector industry in the United States, other industries such as commercial trucking rely heavily on compliance with safety procedures. If your loved one was fatally injured in a commercial trucking accident, it may be due to faulty brakes, an overloaded truck, or their company pressuring them into driving over the legally mandated hours limit. Regardless of the industry, a workplace fatality should never go uninvestigated. If your loved one has lost their life while working, speak with an experienced lawyer to discuss your options.

Here in the United States, thousands of Americans are fatally injured in motor vehicle collisions, each and every year. While some car accidents are simply unavoidable, many are caused by the negligence of a driver. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), approximately 90% of all car accidents throughout the United States are caused by driver error. One of the most common forms of negligent driving is distracted driving. Below we will discuss the impact of distracted driving on our nation’s roadways, and how you can seek compensation if you have been injured in a motor vehicle collision caused by distracted driving.

Why is Distracted Driving so Dangerous?

Distracted driving is simply defined as an act that serves as a visual, manual, or cognitive distraction while driving. In other words, any action that takes your eyes off the road, or hands off the wheel. While cell-phone use has sparked an increased discussion on distracted driving, other forms of distracted driving such as eating while driving, adjusting the radio dial, or conversing with other passengers have been causing accidents for decades. Today though, the most notorious form of distracted driving is cell-phone use. According to a study conducted by the National Safety Council (NSC), cell phone use while driving has increased by 1,500% since 2005. The main concern for safety officials with cell phone usage is texting while driving. It should come as no surprise that over 275,000 Americans suffered injuries in collisions caused by distracted driving, throughout 2018 alone. Of those injured, approximately 2,628 ultimately died due to their injuries.

Seeking Compensation After a Distracted Driving Accident

In the aftermath of a car accident, it is entirely common to feel flustered and overwhelmed, but after every injured passenger has received the necessary medical attention, it is time to speak with a legal professional. An experienced lawyer will help you navigate conversations with the other party’s insurance provider, and ensure that you do not accept an unfair settlement offer from the insurance company. In a distracted driving accident, an attorney will work diligently to compile witness testimony and surveillance video to confirm that the other driver was distracted while driving, thus operating their vehicle in a negligent manner.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), rear-end collisions make up approximately 28% of all annual car accidents throughout the United States. Rear-end collisions often result in serious injuries due to the fact that the passengers in the vehicle that is rear-ended rarely have time to brace for the collision. In many cases, rear-end collisions are strictly the result of negligent driving. If you or a family member are injured in a car accident caused by negligence, you are entitled to significant injury compensation.

Rear-End Collision Injuries

In the United States, roughly 2.5 million rear-end collisions occur each year, making rear-end collisions the most common car accident nationwide. Approximately 950,000 Americans suffer injuries in rear-end collisions, each and every year. Many of the injuries suffered in rear-end collisions, such as broken wrists, ribs, and knee injuries are common in all car accidents, but other injuries are more likely to occur in rear-end collisions. Injuries to the spine and back are increasingly common in rear-end collisions.

Serious injuries to the spine can cause significant nerve damage, loss of motor function, and even paralysis. Some spinal injuries such as whiplash can come with life-changing ramifications, but are notorious for delayed symptoms. Even if you have minor back or neck pain after a rear-end collision, it is wise to seek out medical attention and speak with a legal professional. Traumatic brain injuries are also increasingly common in rear-end collisions due to a passenger’s inability to brace for the collision.

Placing a loved one into the custody of a nursing home facility can be one of the most difficult decisions a family can make. In most instances, the family can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their family member’s needs are being met by trained professionals. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. According to statistics compiled by the National Council on Aging (NCOA), approximately 10% of all Americans over the age of 60 have experienced elder abuse. If you believe that your loved one may be facing nursing home abuse, it is time to seek out legal guidance.

Types of Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home abuse can come in various forms including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Emotional abuse occurs when a nursing home staff member verbally berates, threatens, or harasses a resident. Physical abuse is the act of physically harming a resident, and sexual abuse occurs when an employee engages in any sexual behavior with a resident that cannot or does not consent to the act. It should be noted that patients with cognitive impairments such as dementia or Alzheimer's disease are common victims of nursing home abuse and negligence.

How You Can Help

When you place your loved one into the care of a nursing home facility, it is critically important to be on the lookout for signs of abuse. Recognizing physical abuse can be somewhat straightforward due to the fact that the symptoms often come in the form of bruises or abrasions to the skin. Signs of emotional or sexual abuse can be more difficult to recognize, especially if visits to your loved one are infrequent or irregular. The first step you can take to recognize signs of abuse is spending as much time as possible with your loved one, giving you an opportunity to recognize their behavior patterns within the facility. If you notice that they are beginning to withdraw from social activities, experience changes in mood, or acting tense around their caregiver, they may be facing some form of abuse.

When a large commercial vehicle is involved in an accident with a standard automobile, the results can be catastrophic. In the vast majority of these instances, the injuries suffered to the passengers of the standard motor vehicle can be long-term life-changing injuries or fatal ones. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), over 4,700 large trucks and busses were involved in fatal crashes throughout 2017. In many cases an accident involving a commercial truck only occurs due to the negligence of the operator or the trucking company itself.

Types of Negligence Leading to Commercial Trucking Accidents

With thousands of fatal commercial trucking accidents occurring throughout the United States each year, it is important to understand the leading factors of these collisions. First off, many of these collisions could be avoided if not for driver error. Driver error is one of the leading causes of commercial trucking accidents and can range from driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, driving at reckless speeds, or texting while driving. In other cases, a driver may be looking to make some extra money and will drive over their legal hour limit causing them to be dangerously tired or attempt to drive up hazardous terrain without chains in order to save time on their load.

While driver error is common in commercial trucking accidents, employer oversight or negligence can oftentimes be the leading cause of a collision. Commercial trucking companies will oftentimes pressure their drivers into falsifying their logs to drive over the legal hours mark and overload a vehicle’s cargo weight making it more difficult to operate and stop. These types of employer pressures are dangerous to employees and other drivers on the road. If you have been involved in a collision with a commercial truck, it is time to seek out the help of a qualified legal professional.