Does Heavy Traffic Congestion in Urban Areas Mean Safe Roads?

When traveling throughout Mississippi many people choose low traffic back roads rather than busy traffic congested streets in urban areas.  This preference often is based on the fact that traveling on roadways with less traffic is safer.  The assumption regarding safer back roads is not supported by actual accident data.  Crash data suggests that drivers are actually at greater risk of being involved in a car accident and suffering more serious injuries when involved in a collision in rural areas than urban areas with heavier traffic.

A leading factor in the increased risk of driving in rural areas is the difference in average rates of speed.  While most drivers lament traffic gridlock that slows one’s commute to work, high traffic density results in slowing drivers down.  Drivers traveling at slower rates of speed have more response time to brake or evade a potential road hazard.  Slower speeds because of heavy traffic congestion also means that the force of impact is generally less when a collision does occur.  Many drivers in rural areas travel at a high rate of speed because they have a false sense of security connected to minimal traffic flow.

A recent study quantifies the fact that the risk of being involved in a serious traffic collision is higher in rural areas.  While rural areas account for less than 30 percent of the nation’s population, these areas are the location of 55 percent of all car accidents related injuries and fatalities.  The relationship between high rates of speed and high accident risk in rural areas is substantiated by the fact that almost 35 percent of accidents in rural areas involve drivers exceeding the speed limit.  The study also revealed that accident rates are falling in urban areas but rising at an even faster rate in rural areas.

The other factor that seems to pay a substantial role in the disparity between urban and rural accident rates is the influence of alcohol in rural accidents.  Drunk drivers were more likely to be involved in a car crash in rural areas by a factor of 12 percent.  Drunken driving and speeding are directly correlated to higher fatality rates generally so this also explains why rural accidents tend to be more likely to result in a fatality. The experienced auto accident attorneys at Barrett Law have been providing tenacious representation to victims of motor vehicle accidents for over 75 years.  We provide diligent legal representation and impassioned advocacy so we invite you to call us today at 662-834-2376 to learn how we can help.

 

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Injuries Caused by Mississippi Childcare Providers May Justify Personal Injury Lawsuit

Everyday throughout Mississippi working parents drop their children off at a childcare center and presume that their children will be properly supervised and kept safe.  Parents are increasingly more dependent on childcare because many families cannot make ends meet without two incomes.  Some studies reveal that sixty percent of young children not yet in school participate in childcare.  As parents, our Mississippi personal injury attorneys understand the fear that can accompany entrusting the safety of your children to others.

The nightly news and daily newspapers are full of accounts of the abuse and neglect of children.  While many parents meticulously investigate a Mississippi childcare center before placing their child in the care of its childcare providers, sometimes institutions that provide supervision and activities for children fly under the radar for years before evidence of misconduct and abuse becomes public.  If your child is injured, abused or neglected at a Mississippi childcare center, you may be able to seek financial compensation to obtain compensation for emotional or physical injuries.

Childcare centers in Mississippi may be liable for a variety of conduct that causes injury to children including negligence, which is effectively a lack of reasonable care to provide for children’s safety.  Much more troubling are intentional acts of misconduct like physical assault or battery and sexual battery.  Children are particularly vulnerable because they may have difficulty articulating mistreatment, neglect and abuse, or they may be afraid of reprisals for reporting the mistreatment.  Childcare centers have a legal obligation to provide reasonable care for the safety and health of children entrusted to their childcare facility.

Many childcare centers fail to abide by federal and state regulations or their own safety practices and procedures, which may serve as a basis for imposing liability for injuries to the children in their care.  Our Mississippi childcare injury attorneys handle the full spectrum of accidental and intentional injuries to children in Mississippi childcare centers based on many types of inappropriate conduct including:

  • Failure to abide by health and safety laws
  • Inadequate playground safety
  • Sexual abuse or molestation
  • Lack of proper supervision
  • Defective toys or toys that are not age appropriate (i.e. choking hazards)
  • Motor vehicle accidents involving buses and vans
  • Childcare worker negligence
  • Insufficient screening or supervision of childcare workers

Although childcare facilities are subject to licensing and safety standards, some childcare centers cut corners and fail to comply with licensing requirements or health and safety regulations.  When childcare centers fail to conduct adequate background checks before hiring childcare workers or fail to exercise diligence in monitoring facilities for potential hazards, children are put at unnecessary risk of injury.  If you child has suffered serious injury while in the care of a childcare center, the experienced Mississippi childcare injury lawyers at Barrett Law can evaluate your case and advise you of your rights and options. The experienced Mississippi daycare injury attorneys at Barrett Law have been providing tenacious representation to childcare injury victims for over 75 years.  We provide diligent legal representation and impassioned advocacy so we invite you to call us today at 662-834-2376 to learn how we can help.

 

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NTSB Recommends Ban on All Use of Cell Phones or Portable Electronic Devices While Driving

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has wrapped up its investigation of a fatal Missouri collision last year that was caused by a 19 year old teen driver who was frantically texting in the minutes before the chain reaction collision.  The accident, which involved the teen driver in a pickup truck, a tractor-trailer and two school buses, resulted in two fatalities and injury to 38 vehicle occupants.  The investigation revealed that the teen driver had sent or received 11 texts in the minutes leading up to the fatal crash.  Based on this fatal chain reaction collision, the NTSB may now recommend that all states adopt bans on texting while driving by all drivers.

The NTSB has previously recommended a ban on text messaging by bus drivers, commercial drivers and inexperienced teen drivers.  The NTSB may make recommendations and has significant influence on federal legislators but does not itself have the power to enact binding regulations.  The NTSB has noted that while 35 states now have laws banning texting while driving, many of these bans do not apply to all drivers.  Further, the limited scope of these restrictions appears to have been ineffective because the frequency of this unsafe driving behavior has doubled during the last year despite the growing number of state laws restricting texting and driving.

The recently concluded accident investigation follows similar investigations including a California commuter rail crash a few years prior that involved a conductor who was texting when the train crashed causing the death of 25 train passengers.  A fatal marine tugboat accident in Philadelphia was caused when the captain was texting.  These incidents and the large number of motor vehicle accident victims injured and killed by text messaging while driving has led the NTSB to recommend a complete ban on texting or talking on a cell phone when operating any form of motor vehicle.

One major concern that the NTSB made about the Missouri texting ban by teen drivers is that it was not aggressively enforced.  The NTSB is recommending banning all use of cell phones or portable electronic devices by all drivers when operating a motor vehicle except in emergencies.  This proposal would apply to both hands free and handheld use of cell phones and goes far beyond any current state laws that restricts cell phone use when driving.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that twenty percent of all drivers admit to texting while driving while half of all drivers between the ages of 21-24 make the same admission.

This recommendation will make enforcing cell phone bans much easier.  There are so many uses of smart phones including web surfing, posting on social networks and watching videos which are not expressly prohibited that it can make enforcement of cell phones bans on texting or talking while driving difficult for law enforcement.  A complete ban on all uses of portable electronic devices and cell phones will make enforcing anti-cell phone bans much more workable for law enforcement.  The current limited bans that only apply to certain drivers and specific uses of cell phones have not been effective so this broader proposal is designed to prevent the mounting death toll associated with use of portable electronic devices when driving.  The experienced distracted driving accident attorneys at Barrett Law have been providing tenacious representation to victims of motor vehicle accidents for over 75 years.  We provide diligent legal representation and impassioned advocacy so we invite you to call us today at 662-834-2376 to learn how we can help.

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Understanding the Danger of Mississippi 15-Passenger Van Rollovers

Most children have been transported in a 15-passenger van to church youth group outings, youth club events, sporting events and other activities.  Parents who send their children on outings in these vehicles often are blissfully unaware of the enormous danger.  A 15-passenger van is particularly vulnerable to rollover accidents.  These vehicles were originally designed to transport cargo.  The design of the vehicles was not appropriately modified to safely transport large numbers of vehicle occupants.  15-passenger vans combine a high center of gravity with unsafe weight distribution when loaded with passengers to make them especially likely to rollover in a motor vehicle collision.

These vehicles are similar to other vans except that they are longer so that more occupants can be transported.  These 15-passenger vans are designed with a high center of gravity and narrow wheelbase.  While most people presume that these vehicles are designed to carry a large number of passengers, the reality is that 15-passenger vans are much more prone to rollover when carrying more vehicle occupants.  The vehicles typically sit 4 passengers behind the rear axle when fully loaded, but this creates more weight behind the rear axle.  This makes the vehicle not only top heavy but also back end heavy so that when a van must swerve to suddenly avoid an obstacle the back end of the vehicle will swing around toward the front of the vehicle.  15-passenger vans are so prone to rollover accidents that 85 percent of the time they rollover in accidents when loaded with 10 or more passengers.

These motor vehicles also may lack seatbelts, which makes rollover accidents especially dangerous.  If a vehicle occupant is involved in a rollover accident without a seatbelt, there is a high risk of suffering serious injury when being slammed against the interior of the vehicle or suffering vehicle ejection.  If you child is traveling in a 15-passenger van, you should warn your child that seatbelt use is absolutely required.   It is important to be aware that less than 15 percent of fatal accidents with one of these vehicles involved occupants wearing seatbelts.

While manufacturing defects may contribute to collisions involving 15-passenger vans, there are other factors that also contribute to the danger associated with these vehicles.  The weight distribution in such a vehicle means that it reacts differently than an ordinary passenger vehicle so only professional drivers should operate 15-passenger vans.  Many times youth organizations permit these vehicles to be driven by coaches, counselors, parents or other inexperienced drivers.  Tire pressure or worn out tires are also dangerous so the tires on a 15-passenger van should be checked prior to a trip.

If you are injured in a 15-passenger van in Mississippi, you may have a right to seek financial compensation against any responsible parties.  This may include the vehicle manufacturer, vehicle owner, inexperienced driver, organization arranging the transportation or other vehicle drivers.  If you or your loved one suffer serious injury or wrongful death, we invite you to call contact us to learn how we can assist you in seeking compensation for your loss and injuries.  The experienced Mississippi 15-passenger van accident attorneys at Barrett Law have been providing tenacious representation to victims of motor vehicle accidents for over 75 years.  We provide diligent legal representation and impassioned advocacy so we invite you to call us today at 662-834-2376 to learn how we can help.

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Seeking Compensation for Violent Crimes Committed at a Business

When you patronize a business establishment in Mississippi, such as a bank, restaurant or store, you justifiably presume that the store has taken adequate security precautions so that you will not be the victim of a violent crime.  Unfortunately, this reasonable presumption is often mistaken as many patrons of Mississippi businesses find themselves victims of crimes because the business failed to take reasonable security precautions despite knowledge that criminal activity in the area might put customers at risk of suffering a violent attack.  At Barrett Law, our experienced and committed team of Mississippi negligent security attorneys provides effective litigation strategies and persuasive advocacy to victims of negligent security by Mississippi businesses.

Mississippi premise liability law governs the issue of whether a business owner owns a duty of care and the scope of that duty toward patrons who are victims of violent crimes.  Negligent security lawsuits are complicated because businesses do not have an absolute duty to make patrons safe from the intentional misconduct of third parties.  Criminal activity committed by third parties on the business premises of a property may not be foreseeable or preventable, and business owners are not expected to function as virtual insurers of the safety of their customers.  By the same token, the fact that a customer’s injuries are inflicted by the violent criminal attack of a third party does not necessarily relieve a business owner of liability to victims of violent crimes that occur on their property.

The key issue is foreseeability based on past criminal activity in the vicinity of the business.  For example, a business located in an upscale area that has a virtually non-existent crime rate may only need to take minimal precautions or may even avoid liability for providing no security.  However, the greater the crime rate and seriousness of the crimes committed in the vicinity of the business the greater the probability that a business will have an obligation to provide reasonable security measures.  The reasonableness of these precautions must be evaluated in the context of the frequency and seriousness of criminal activity in the vicinity.  If an area is a high crime rate area with a history of violent criminal assaults, a business may be expected to provide armed security.  The extent of the precautions required is a question for the jury so it is imperative that you are represented by a Mississippi law firm that has substantial experience handling negligent security lawsuits in Mississippi.

Our Mississippi negligent security lawyers at Barrett Law understand the challenges associated with Mississippi negligent security lawsuits.  We often engage experts to conduct an investigation regarding criminal patterns in the neighborhood.  We use security experts to analyze these crime patterns and evaluate the appropriateness of security measures given the pattern of crime.  Our experienced Mississippi negligent security attorneys can handle negligent security cases based on a variety of violent crimes including:

  • Rapes and sexual assaults
  • Physical assault and battery
  • Robbery
  • Stabbings
  • Gunshot injuries

If you or your loved one is injured by a violent crime committed by a third party on business premises, our experienced Mississippi negligent security lawyers may be able to help you seek compensation for your injuries.  When you suffer injuries caused by a violent crime, the perpetrator may lack the financial ability to pay a Mississippi personal injury judgment so it is critical to establish third party liability.  The experienced Mississippi negligent security attorneys at Barrett Law have been providing tenacious representation to victims of violent assaults for over 75 years.  We provide diligent legal representation and impassioned advocacy so we invite you to call us today at 662-834-2376 to learn how we can help.

 

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Children and Swimming Pools: Understanding the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine

Swimming pools pose a substantial risk to children and constitute the second leading cause of death for children under 14.  Swimming pools are both a fun source of recreation for many children and a place of great danger including submersion and drowning accidents, diving board injuries and slip and fall accidents on wet pavement as well as injuries caused by poolside apparatus.  Property owners that have a swimming pool are held to a very high standard to protect children from drowning accidents and other hazards presented by swimming pools.  Approximately a thousand children per year drown in swimming pool accidents and another five thousand children are hospitalized.

Residential property owners are expected to take precautions to prevent swimming pool accidents.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends multiple layers of precautions including vigilance in the supervision of children, installation of a fence that is both self-closing and self-latching as well as having emergency equipment available, such as keeping rescue equipment by the pool along with a phone so that 911 can be called in an emergency.

Swimming pools pose such a unique danger to children that homeowners may be liable for injury to children who trespass and use a homeowner’s pool without the consent of the property owner.  The Attractive Nuisance Doctrine provides that a property owner may be liable to a trespassing child who is injured by an artificial condition on property that would tend to be attractive to a child who may not have the maturity to appreciate the risk.  The Attractive Nuisance Doctrine is based on the following conditions:

  • A property owner knows or has reason to know children are likely to trespass on one’s property.
  • The property owner understands  the risk that a swimming pool poses to children
  • The child lacks the maturity to understand the danger associated with a swimming pool.
  • The costs and difficulty to eliminate the risk is slight in relation to the risk.
  • The property owner fails to take reasonable care to eliminate the danger.

A swimming pool accident can result in serious injuries like fatal drowning, brain damage and other catastrophic and life-altering injuries.  It is important to be extremely diligent when your child is swimming or playing in the vicinity of a swimming pool.  If your child is injured in a swimming pool accident, our experienced  accident injury attorneys may be able to help you seek the compensation you need to compensate you for your injuries.  We invite you to contact Barrett Law so that we can evaluate your Mississippi pool or spa accident claim and advise you of your rights and options.  Call us at 662-834-2376.

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Hazardous Roads May Cause Serious Mississippi Auto Accidents

While most motor vehicle accidents are caused by negligent drivers, some accidents are caused at least in part by unsafe roads.  Roadways can be poorly designed or inadequately maintained resulting in a high risk of collision that may cause catastrophic injuries or wrongful death.  Personal injury lawsuits involving dangerous streets, highways and interstates pose special litigation challenges because the defendant in most dangerous road cases is a public entity.  Governmental entities may protected by sovereign immunity that protects them from litigation for personal injury.  However, most jurisdictions have passed tort claims acts that waives this sovereign immunity at least in part provided claimants comply with special procedures and timing requirements.  The Mississippi Tort Claims Act is a set of statutes, codified collectively, that explains when, how and whether someone can bring a lawsuit against a governmental entity or political subdivision.

The Mississippi Tort Claims Act imposes the following limitations or conditions when pursuing a claim against a government entity or subdivision including:

  • All damages when aggregated are capped at $500,000
  • Bar on punitive damages
  • The Statute of Limitations is only one year from the date of  incident resulting in injury
  • Trial must be by judge not jury

These limitations combined with the virtually unlimited resources that public entities have to defend personal injury lawsuits makes it essential to retain a law firm with extensive experience handling lawsuits against public entities if you are involved in a Mississippi car accident caused by a hazardous roadway.  There are many types of road hazards that can contribute to a serious motor vehicle accident including:

Construction Zones: Construction zones are dangerous and confusing for motorists.  There may be misplaced barriers, heavy equipment obstructing travel and debris in the roadway.  Many construction projects involve detours that can be confusing particularly because there are so many visual distractions in most work zones.

Edge of the Road Drop-Offs: Many roads have dangerous unsafe drop-offs and lack barriers like guardrails to keep vehicles from dropping off the edge of the roadway.  Deterioration of the edge of roadway can cause the pavement to collapse under the tire of a motor vehicle.

Faulty Intersection Geometry: This essentially refers to design defects that may impair visibility or negotiation of turns at an intersection, such as extremely narrow roads or sharp turns.

Unsafe Slopes and Dips: Slopes and dips in the road can impair visibility and sometimes cause a loss of control causing serious collisions.

Visual Obstruction of Intersection: Many times the design or maintenance of a vehicle can result in impaired visibility at an intersection, such as overgrown foliage.

Water Pooling from Poor Road Design: Sometimes road design does not permit proper drainage of rain from the roadway so that water pooling may occur and cause a vehicle to hydroplane.  Hydroplaning occurs when a vehicle loses traction with the roadway and floats across the pooled water.

This is a representative list of the types of dangerous road conditions that may cause a motor vehicle accident in Mississippi, but there are many other types of road hazards that may cause serious Mississippi car accidents.  If you or a close family member is injured in a Mississippi auto accident, it is important to conduct an investigation and determine the following:

  • How long has the unsafe road condition been present?
  • Have there been prior accidents caused by the road hazard?
  • Were complaints made by other motorists about the hazard?

At Barrett Law, we carefully investigate our client’s accidents so that we can develop the best possible litigation strategy.  We invite you to contact Barrett Law so that we can evaluate your Mississippi pool or spa accident claim and advise you of your rights and options.  Call us at 662-834-2376.

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Many Mississippi Car Accidents Are Caused by Violation of Mississippi Rules of the Road

Careless or inconsiderate drivers that violate the Mississippi Rules of the Road cause the lion share of serious car accidents in Mississippi.  These traffic safety laws are designed for the orderly coordination and interaction of motor vehicles, which is designed to prevent serious car accidents in Mississippi.  When a driver runs a red light, fails to obey the speed limit or tailgates another vehicle, the result can be serious injuries resulting in life-altering injuries like spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries and other serious injuries that cause permanent disability from employment and daily life experiences.

The issue of proving fault in a Mississippi car accident can be complex because insurance carriers often will try to shift fault to the accident victim to avoid paying a claim or to minimize the amount paid on an insurance claim in a motor vehicle accident.  One key theory in proving liability is the theory of negligence per se.  This theory of liability permits imposition of liability when someone violates a public safety law resulting in injury to those who the law was designed to protect.  The Mississippi Rules of the Road are public safety statutes designed to protect motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.

If you are involved in a Mississippi car accident, there is a wide array of violations of Mississippi Rules of the Road that may constitute negligence per se including:

  • Obeying traffic signals
  • Vehicles failing to maintain their lane
  • Failure to abide by right of way rules
  • Speeding
  • Illegal left turns
  • Failure to comply with a stop sign

The value of the negligence per se theory of liability is that it removes the obligation to prove negligence other than to show the violation of a public safety statute caused injury to another.  If you or a family member is injured in a car accident involving the violation of the rules of the road, our experienced Mississippi car accident lawyers may be able to employ the doctrine of negligence per se.  The experienced Mississippi auto accident lawyers at Barrett Law are committed to providing tenacious legal representation for our clients.  The attorneys of Barrett Law have been representing Mississippi car accident victims for over 75 years.  Our law firm offers a free initial case evaluation so call us today at (662) 834-2376.

 

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Dangerous & Defective Products Can Pose Serious Danger to Children

Mississippi parents frequently shop excitedly for strollers, playpens, cribs and other necessities for their baby or children.  There are few experiences more emotionally devastating than the heartache experienced when one of these products is defective and causes serious injury to one’s baby.  Manufacturers of baby products must comply with safety standards established by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Child Safety Protection Act.  Despite the safety standards established by these federal agencies, there are hundreds of defective baby products recalled annually including toys, car seats, cribs, playpens and other defective children’s products.

Although many defective products that pose a risk of injury to children are recalled, many units of a defective children’s product may sell before they are recalled, and some recalls are not implemented promptly enough to prevent tragedy.  One of the greatest dangers posed to extremely young children is from products that pose choking or suffocation risks.  It is important to pay careful attention to age recommendations for such products.  Attentive parents should also look for parts that may detach from a toy or other baby product such as buttons for eyes on a child’s toy.  Parents know that small children tend to put small objects in their mouths.  Another important step for parents is to be careful about babies having access to toys of older children with small parts.   It is imperative to keep toys and other products with small parts away from small children because they can result in serious child choking accidents that may result in catastrophic injuries, such as brain damage from lack of oxygen to the brain or even wrongful death.

Defective or unsafe toys cause approximately 200,000 visits to emergency rooms annually.  Many injuries caused to children are actually caused by child safety products like cribs, car seats, strollers and carriages.  The CPSC reports that child safety products result in as many as 35,000 injuries to children per year.  Although these types of products are intended to protect babies and children, they are often designed or manufactured improperly so they cause serious injury to infants and babies.

There are many types of baby and children’s products subject to recall including:

  • Child safety restraints
  • Bassinets
  • Baby medications
  • Baby clothes
  • Playground equipment
  • Play Pens
  • Formula
  • Toys
  • Cribs

If your child is injured by a defective product, there are many good reasons to pursue a product liability lawsuit.  Admittedly, you cannot undo injury or wrongful death to your child.  However, you can use the proceeds from a personal injury lawsuit to obtain the best medical care and highest quality of life for your child.  A personal injury lawsuit can also protect other children from injuries caused by similar defects.  Safety standards that affect many children can be impacted by product liability judgments.

If your child has suffered injury or your child has suffered wrongful death, our experienced defective children’s products attorneys at Barrett Law have a long history of fighting for those injured by defective or dangerous products.  We invite you to contact Barrett Law so that we can evaluate your Mississippi defective children’s product claim and advise you of your rights and options.  Call us at 662-834-2376.

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