Month: January 2009

Allstate Runs Ad Touting a New Years Resolution That Can Keep You From Losing Your Teenager

A print advertisement placed by Allstate in newspapers takes information from The Allstate Foundation Report on Teen Driving, 2005, and puts it in a form called “Parent-Teen Driving Contract”. The contract lists several topics with corresponding statistics from the Report. For each topic, there is a blank space for “Agreement” to be filled in, and another blank space for “Consequences” to be filled in. At the bottom of the contract is a space for the Teen Driver’s signature, and another for the Parent/Guardian signature. An interactive contract can be downloaded from the Internet.

The topics and their corresponding statistics include … Read the rest

Boxer Knocks Out State’s “Special Relationship” Defense In His Negligence Claim Against New York State Athletic Commission

“In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade” – Paul Simon, 1968. In Gamache v. State Of New York, 106968, decided 11/26/08, Joey Gamache, a professional boxer, alleged that the State Athletic Commission (“Athletic Commission”) improperly conducted the weigh-in for a professional boxing match which permitted his opponent to be 19 pounds more than the agreed upon maximum, and then allowed the match to occur while his opponent wore 8 ounce boxing gloves instead of the proper 10 ounce gloves, resulting in permanent injury.

In what the decision states is a case of first … Read the rest

First Amendment Protects Attorney Who in Good Faith Advises Client Even If The Advice Is Later Determined To Be Incorrect: A Most Eloquent and Impassioned Defense of The Constitutional Right to Advice of Counsel

It may be hard to find a more eloquent and impassioned defense of the constitutional right of an attorney to give, and a client to receive, advice of counsel than in the decision in Vinluan v. Doyle, 60 A.D.3d 237, 873 N.Y.S.2d 72 (Appellate Division, 2nd Department, January 13, 2009). The matter granted a petition for Article 78 review brought on by a group of ten nurses and their attorney to prohibit the Suffolk County district attorney from prosecuting, and Supreme Court justice from presiding over, a criminal case against the nurses, who were indicted for the misdemeanor offenses of … Read the rest

Recall of 31,392 Britax Frontier Child Restraints Highlights Importance of Signing-up for Automatic Updates

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is alerting consumers of a recall involving 31,392 Britax Frontier™ child restraints that could fail to properly secure young passengers in the event of a vehicle crash. Britax is recalling these child seats because the harness straps may detach from the metal yoke on the back of the child restraint if repeatedly loosened one strap at a time. This clearly appears to have potentially fatal consequences.

Motor vehicle crashes are the #1 cause of death for children and adults, age groups 1 to 34. But NHTSA officials note that it is harder for … Read the rest

Special Efforts Undertaken to Reduce Combat Veterans’ Motor Vehicle Crashes

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of deaths among combat veterans during the first years after their return home.  Several studies have reported an increase in post-deployment deaths among military personnel who served in a combat zone compared to their non-deployed counterparts, who are in the military but not deployed to a war, after both the Vietnam War and the 1991 Gulf War.  Preliminary evidence also indicates this is the case with veterans from the Global War on Terror.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Defense (DOD) are working together … Read the rest

Court Finds Child Neglect Where Parents Refuse to Consent to Life-Saving Surgery “because it stops the heart.”

Matter of Eli H. v. Barbara H., nn-01297-08, decided on November 28, 2008 by Judge Barbara R. Potter of St. Lawrence County Family Court, required the court  to balance the religious beliefs of “loving, caring parents” of an infant born on April 1, 2007 with life-threatening congenital heart defects with the court’s duty as “parens patriae” to ensure the infant’s health and safety.

The heart defects were initially treated by the surgical insertion of a shunt between his aorta and his pulmonary artery to increase the blood flow to his lungs. Due to the infant’s growing body, the shunt … Read the rest

Indictments in Fatal New York City Crane Collapse and Deutsche Bank Fire

On January 5, 2009, the master rigger involved in the 200-ft-high tower crane that collapsed at a Midtown high-rise site March 15, 2008, killing six workers and a civilian, was indicted on multiple charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault and reckless endangerment.

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau also said rigger William Rapetti and his firm Rapetti Rigging Services Inc., Massapequa Park, N.Y., failed to file tax returns for 2006 and 2007. The following day, another contractor official at the troubled Deutsche Bank asbestos-abatement and demolition site near Ground Zero was indicted in connection with a 2007 fire at … Read the rest

Consumers Can Sign Up for Free Electronic Recall Alerts From NHTSA

Vehicle owners across the nation can be instantly informed of a safety recall under a new automated alert system announced today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters. The recall alerts can be received via e-mail or RSS-feeds on personal computers, cell phones or PDA devices-automatically and free-of-charge. This ability by the consumer to be directly contacted in the case of a recall is similar to the systems set-up for recalls of car tires and child safety seats.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are about 600 vehicle recalls each year. Historically, one in four motorists … Read the rest

Nassau County Police Release Recommendations to Avoid Repeating Wal-Mart Black Friday Stampede

On the Friday following Thanksgiving last year a pre-dawn mob of approximately 2,000 shoppers broke down the doors to a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York, and rushed past and trampled to death Jdimytai Damour, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound Wal-Mart worker who was stationed near the entrance to assist with crowd control. At least four other people were hurt. This past Wednesday, Nassau County police released recommendations for better crowd control in such circumstances, two weeks after meeting with 75 Long Island retailers about how to stage major sales events safely.

Among the report’s recommendations:
* Begin planning months before … Read the rest