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As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the nation’s way of life. One example of this can be seen in the amount of traffic on the nation’s roadways. When people are commuting as normal, there are certain times with elevated levels of traffic. However, now that many people are suffering a lack of work and work schedules and routines have been changed to adapt to necessary coronavirus precautionary procedures, the amount of traffic on the road has decreased. Researchers have been looking into whether these altered traffic routines have resulted in any changes to traffic accidents. While it’s clear that the number of cars on the nation’s roads has dropped considerably as a result of the coronavirus and related shutdowns, research has suggested that the number of serious accidents, injuries, and fatalities has largely remained level.

In the fall of 2020, researchers from the University of Missouri investigated traffic patterns as they changed during the lockdown period in several states. They were looking into whether the reduced amount of vehicles on the road reduced the number of car crashes and their seriousness. They performed an analysis using data from the Statewide Traffic Accident Records System. This system logged nearly 2,300 traffic accidents on Missouri roads from January through May. To determine whether or not the shutdowns affected the number of car accidents, the researchers categorized the period from March 23 to May 3 as the shutdown period. According to their findings, the number of daily accidents on the road was reduced, falling from 17.9 to 14.4 incidents per day. They also found that there was a significant drop in the rate of collisions resulting in minor or no injuries, dropping from 14.5 to 10.8 incidents per day. Unfortunately, despite these reductions in crashes, the rate of serious and fatal accidents increased from 3.4 per day to 3.7 per day during the lockdown. The researchers hypothesized that there could be a number of reasons for these conflicting results. One possible factor is that the more clear highways allowed dangerous drivers to speed more easily, leading to an elevation in crashes at high speed. These high-speed crashes are naturally more likely to lead to serious injuries and deaths. Other possible factors are reduced policing and an increase in the speed of commercial vehicles. There have been previous studies that analyzed the effects of COVID-19 on traffic and the results supported the theory that open roads resulted in a change in driving behavior, with the drivers increasing the vehicle’s speed. INRIX, an analytics company that focused on driving behavior, also released a study that showed that the speed of the average driver increased by 75% on highways when traffic dropped from the lockdowns. They also concluded that these higher driving speeds could lead to more serious crashes.

Further supporting the conclusion that increased speeds are the cause of the increase in serious crashes, transportation officials in New York City reported a 60% increase in the number of speeding tickets from speed cameras in March when compared to the previous year. In Washington D.C., there was a 20% increase in the number of speeding tickets issued, with officials reporting that the number of drivers found going over the limit by more than 20 miles per hour also increased by almost 40%. What we can see from these studies and their conclusions is that speed plays a major factor in the number of serious accidents. Even if the roads look clear, you should be defensive when driving.

Slip-and-fall accidents are some of the most common accidents to occur. This is because there are many things that can cause it to happen, including uneven pavement, icy roads, unseen puddles, and upturned rugs. For some, a slip-and-fall accident may result in no injury or non-life threatening injuries, but for others, it may be mean wrongful death. If your loved one recently passed away after they sustained a slip-and-fall injury, you may be wondering if you can pursue a wrongful death lawsuit. Like any lawsuit, there are certain pieces of evidence that you must provide to a court and certain factors that must be present for your case to be successful. What Should You Prove In This Lawsuit? There are similar components you must prove for both the slip-and-fall injury and for bringing forth the wrongful death lawsuit. Just like you would for a personal injury claim after your loved one suffered a slip-and-fall accident, you must show that they were not at fault. For example, if your loved one was walking through a grocery store, tripped over their own feet, fell, and hit their head, they were likely the cause of their injury. If this case, you would not have had substantial evidence to bring forth a personal injury claim had your loved one survived. Thus, you likely would not have enough evidence for a wrongful death lawsuit either. On the other hand, if your loved one slipped on a wet puddle in the middle of the grocery store that had no warning signs, hit their head and later died because of these injuries, you likely have what you need for a lawsuit. Components Of the Wrongful Death Lawsuit You must present certain elements to have a successful wrongful death lawsuit. These are:

• Your loved one died.
• Their death was not their own fault but someone else’s negligence caused it.
• The negligence directly caused your loved one’s death.
• You or surviving family members are suffering in some way (typically financially) because of their death.

With the above example, the components would be that your loved one slipped and sustained injuries due to the negligence of the store manager or staff, died because of these injuries, and you and other family members are suffering for various reasons because of their death.

What Kind Of Damages Can Someone Claim?

When your loved one was the victim of wrongful death after a slip-and-fall, there are certain damages you can claim. Some of these are:

• Burial and funeral expenses
• Medical bills prior to your loved one’s death
• The loss of the victim’s income
• The loss of the victim’s benefits
• The loss of consortium or love
• The pain and suffering your loved one went through before dying
• A loss of companionship

Why Slip-And-Fall Accidents Are So Dangerous

Many people walk away from slip-and-fall accidents without a scrape. Others may have mild injuries. Slip-and-fall accidents are particularly dangerous because brain injuries (like concussions or hemorrhages) may not have any signs until it is too late. If your loved one died after a slip-and-fall accident, don’t hesitate any longer in seeking help from a compassionate attorney, like a personal injury lawyer in Melbourne, FL Thanks to our friends and contributors from The Law Offices of Arcadier, Biggie, & Woods for their insight into personal injury and wrongful death.

National data on cases of abuse in America’s 15,600-plus nursing homes and other elder-care programs is hard to come by. But several recent studies by government investigators, advocacy groups and the news media have chilling implications.

According to the National Ombudsman Reporting System (NORS), 14,258 (7.6 percent) of approximately 188,599 complaints reported to state ombudsman programs in 2014 involved abuse, gross neglect or exploitation. Another study of nursing home staff throughout the country found that 36 percent had witnessed at least one incident of physical abuse of an elderly patient in the previous year, 10 percent committed at least one act of physical abuse and 40 percent admitted to committing psychological abuse. It gets worse: A CNN special investigation in February 2017 found that the federal government cited more than 1,000 nursing homes for mishandling or failing to prevent alleged cases of sexual assault and abuse from 2013 to 2016.

Given that 1.4 million aging adults already live in nursing homes and that the number of Americans 65-plus will double between 2010 to 2050, this issue will only become more pressing.

Keep a Watchful Eye

Abuse can encompass a wide range of behaviors, including physical, mental, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse and neglect. Beyond the physical scars left by abuse, neglect and mistreatment have dangerous effects on the quality of life left to an aging person. Elders who have been abused have a higher risk of early death compared to those who have not been mistreated. If your loved ones are in a nursing home or other elder care program, watch for these warning signs:

• Broken bones or fractures
• Bruising, cuts or welts
• Bedsores
• Frequent infections
• Signs of dehydration
• Mood swings and emotional outbursts or unusual depression
• Reclusiveness or refusal to speak
• Refusal to eat or take medications
• Unexplained weight loss
• Poor physical appearance or lack of cleanliness
• Caregivers that do not want the patient to be left alone with others
• Sudden changes in financial situation or missing personal items

Protect Your Most Vulnerable Loved Ones

For a family member or caregiver choosing a care facility, the risk of abuse can be overwhelming and traumatic. The best way to prevent elder abuse is to choose the right care facility, which is not always easy given location or financial constraints. Nevertheless, here are factors to consider:

• Talk to residents or other patients. Observe their physical well-being and behavior. Also visit with residents’ families if possible, and learn whether they have experienced problems with the facility.
• Avoid facilities that have restricted access.
• Meet with key personnel (nurses, aides, social workers, administrators and doctors).
• Read contracts carefully before signing and look for a forced arbitration clause. The rights of your loved one may be denied even if they are abused. Ask that the forced arbitration clause be removed or consider another facility.
• Visit frequently. Vary your visits to different times of the day and evening to assess the care provided during the day, night, weekends and holidays.
• Trust your gut. Pay attention to whether residents appear clean, well fed and free of bruises or other wounds. Also note if the environment is peaceful and feels safe.
• Document in writing the details about any problems or concerns.
• Compare facilities. Look up state survey reports here.

Neglect and inadequate medical care can risk the health and safety of your loved ones. From the failure to treat serious staph infections or pressure ulcers to the failure to respond to calls for help, negligence at a residential care or skilled nursing facility can end in tragedy for families of elder abuse victims. If you or a family member have suffered from abuse at a short or long term care facility, contact our team of personal injury lawyers at McEldrew Purtell today by calling (215) 545-8800.

Losing a loved one due to someone else’s negligence can really take a toll on the family. Often, they are not only left with grief, but serious financial troubles. After a tragedy such as this, the family has two legal options they can pursue: wrongful death claims and survival actions. Both of these options offer a way to recover damages from the person liable for the victim’s death. It’s important to understand the difference between these options when pursuing action against those responsible.

What is a Wrongful Death Claim?

A wrongful death claim centers around the family of the deceased person and allows close family members to file a civil lawsuit for damages. These damages can include the grief and suffering the family has endured, the current and future income they have lost because of their loved one’s death, funeral expenses, and outstanding medical bills associated with the victim’s injuries.

What is a Survival Action?

A survival action centers around the suffering of the deceased person rather than the grief and financial losses of the family. The survival laws allow the estate to be awarded damages that the deceased incurred from the moment of the injury until the time of death. Survival damages include the deceased’s pain and suffering and lost earnings until his/her death, however, if the deceased died immediately as a result of the accident, then the estate would be entitled to pain and suffering (if pain and suffering can be proven) but would not be entitled damages for the deceased’s lost earnings. The compensation is then dispersed through the deceased person’s estate rather than distributed directly to surviving family members.

Who can file a Wrongful Death Claim or Survival Action?

In a wrongful death claim, the personal representative of the estate will file the lawsuit, which is usually the deceased victim’s closest surviving relative (spouse, child, or parent). Typically, the deceased’s family will agree on who should be the personal representative, however, if the deceased left no will or if the family members don’t get along, the surviving family members may not agree over who will be the personal representative. In this case, the dispute can only be resolved by the courts.

Typically, a survival action is brought forth by the executor of the decedent’s estate. In some cases, the grandparents or siblings of the deceased person may be eligible to pursue either type of legal action.

Who can be held responsible?

In a wrongful death case or survival action, the plaintiffs must prove that the death was caused by careless, negligent, or reckless action by someone who had a duty of care to the person who died. Duty of care is a legal concept that means an individual has an obligation to exercise reasonable care while performing actions that could cause harm to someone else. For example, all nursing home staff have a fundamental duty to care for residents of the facility, so a death caused by a neglectful or abusive nursing staff could be considered a wrongful death and could provide grounds for a wrongful death claim or survival action.

Other examples of people who could be held liable for a wrongful death include:

• Negligent commercial truckers and trucking companies
• Manufacturers of faulty auto parts that cause crashes or make a crash worse than it should have been
• Physicians who commit malpractice
• Careless or reckless driver

Determining who is liable for someone’s death and filing a wrongful death claim or survival action can be very complex. It’s important to contact one of our lawyers immediately if someone you love has died due to another person’s negligent actions.

Over the past five years in Pennsylvania, if a vehicle owned and operated by a municipal entity in the Commonwealth (such as SEPTA or the local water authority) was involved in a collision while the vehicle wasn’t in motion, the Commonwealth or entity was not liable for paying any damages.

This means if a car owned by a municipal entity was parked illegally on the road or positioned vulnerably in the roadway, and you hit it, you would not be able to bring a suit against that person or authority even if the primary reason for the crash was the way the vehicle was parked.

These suits were banned by Pennsylvania’s Sovereign Immunity Act. The Act only allows the Commonwealth itself to be sued for damages in specific limited cases and only for a limited amount of damages. In a vehicle accident involving a Commonwealth vehicle, prior court rulings determined that if a vehicle owned by a state entity was not moving (parked or stopped) then the state or its entity is immune from suit.

Huge Win for Injured Vehicle Crash Victims

The law has finally changed due to a decision made by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on August 21st. The PA Supreme Court ruled that a public vehicle does not have to be in motion for a government entity to be liable if someone is hurt or killed by it. The new PA Supreme Court ruling reverses prior decisions that ignored the health and safety of individuals in favor of government, insurance companies, and big business.

Why was the Prior Ruling Changed?

The case that led to the reversal was BALENTINE v. CHESTER WATER AUTHORITY. Edwin Omar Medina-Flores was a subcontractor for a water line project for the Chester Water Authority (CWA). On August 15, 2012, Medina-Flores was working in a ditch for the CWA when a CWA project inspector arrived in a CWA truck, parked next to the ditch, and left the vehicle’s engine running and four-way flashers operating. While the inspector was out of the truck reviewing construction plans with his work crew, another vehicle rear-ended the CWA truck, which then struck and killed Medina-Flores.

Witnesses said the CWA truck was illegally parked almost completely within the traffic lane near the ditch where Medina-Flores was working.

The victim’s widow filed a lawsuit against the CWA, the CWA inspector, and both the driver and owner of the vehicle that crashed into the truck. The lower courts ruled that because the CWA truck was “parked” with its four-way flashers on, the state was immune from suit under the Pennsylvania Sovereign Immunity Act.

The issue before the Supreme Court was “whether the Commonwealth Court erred in holding that the involuntary movement of a vehicle does not constitute operation of a motor vehicle for purposes of the vehicle liability exception to governmental immunity under 42 Pa. C.S. § 8542(b)(1).” The court ruled that, “because we determine that movement of a vehicle, whether voluntary or involuntary, is not required by the statutory language of the vehicle liability exception, we reverse the order of the Commonwealth Court thereby allowing this matter to proceed in the trial court.”

McEldrew Purtell regularly litigates cases like this every day. Our team is ready to assist you if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in any kind of vehicle incident anywhere in the United States. Contact our team of lawyers at McEldrew Purtell today by calling 215-367-5151.

As parents, we like to think sending our children to school on the bus is safe. In reality, school bus accidents occur every year, often resulting in catastrophic injuries and wrongful death. In these moments it is difficult to think about involving a lawyer, however the sooner you engage a qualified lawyer, the sooner your child and family’s legal interests are protected and you can focus solely on your child and families well-being.

If your child is injured or if you have lost a family member in a school bus accident, there are steps you should take to help ensure your family’s legal rights are protected and in the event your child is injured, that they receive the best medical treatment available.

1. Engage the best medical specialists possible, including those specializing in the grieving process. Attorneys who are qualified to handle these types of case have spent decades assisting families through this process. At McEldrew Purtell, we consider this level of assistance to be one of our prime responsibilities and will not stop until you and your loved ones have the best care that they require.
2. Preserve any information you have about the accident. As a parent of a child involved in a bus accident, you will most likely receive information from the school (facts about the accident and what steps to take). Keep a file of this information in a safe place for future reference.
3. Talk to other parents whose children were involved in the accident. From a legal perspective, these cases often come down to “accident recreation” in order to identify all of the responsible parties. Start by identifying anyone who witnessed the accident and engage other parents in discussion – every detail matters. Eyewitnesses often have relevant information that no one else has, and it is best to document as much as possible while it is still fresh in the witnesses mind.
4. Monitor and document your child’s healing process. Document any specific ways the bus accident has affected your child; both physically and mentally. Some common things to watch out for are: insomnia, nightmares, feelings of depression and/or anxiety. Document the issues you notice and take pictures of your child’s injuries during the healing process.
5. Contact a qualified catastrophic injury and wrongful death lawyer. McEldrew Purtell specializes in representing families who have been effected by tragic events such as the East Brook Middle School bus crash. We do not handle a large volume of claims, we do however have decades of experience handling serious medical injuries and wrongful death. We treat every client as if they were our only client, and our knowledge, experience and expertise will make a difference for you and your family. If you would like us to provide a free consultation regarding your potential legal case, please contact us at (215) 545-8800.