A tour bus making its way through California crashed into a semi truck on Jan. 14, injuring 17 passengers. While the bus driver blamed the truck driver for the collision, it may be some time before investigators know for sure what happened. Given the size of the vehicles involved, it is highly fortunate that nobody was seriously hurt.

The bus was carrying 35 passengers from Los Angeles up to Washington state. It was on Highway 99 in Tulare early in the morning, and several passengers were asleep. For help on a similar situation, contact the best personal injury lawyers Fort Lauderdale.

Vehicle accidents caused by drivers talking or texting on their cell phones have become a larger and larger problem over the last decade. In Clark County, 1,158 collisions that involved drivers distracted by a cell phone were reported from 2005 to 2009. These days people, especially teenagers, frequently drive while talking on the phone, or even with their eyes glued to their cell phone as they write text messages.

Some Nevada lawmakers say that state and county laws have not kept pace with the new reality of the road. They are planning to introduce bills at the state and county levels that would, in one way or another, make it a crime to use a cell phone while driving.

The idea has momentum nationwide. According to an interesting recent article in the Las Vegas Sun, 28 states have banned text messaging while driving and seven have laws against any cell phone use by drivers. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, has threatened to withhold federal highway grants from states without a texting ban.

The proposed bills differ in what they would ban, and who would be affected. Mark Manendo, a Democrat from Las Vegas who is moving from the Assembly to the state Senate, said his bill would prohibit calling and texting for teenagers only. He argued that an all-ages bill would be too difficult to pass, and that teens do most of the texting and driving anyway. AAA Nevada supported a similar teen-only bill.

Another bill would not address calls, but would ban texting for all drivers. Sponsors said that an age limit would not work because police often have trouble figuring out a driver’s age.

While all cell phone use raises the risk of a car accident, talking on the phone behind the wheel has become too much of a part of life to ban, sponsors of the text-only ban said.

If you are looking for representation, search for a car accident attorney near me.

In our last post, we told you about the 40-car pileup near Vero Beach that left two men dead. Twenty-five people were taken to area hospitals and another 37 received treatment at the scene after drivers said they were plunged into total darkness last Thursday. Now, it seems there is at least a little more information on what caused the freak accident .

First, the mysterious smog that caused the truck, van and car accident seems to have come from a marsh fire that has been smoldering for more than a year. Sometimes, decomposing vegetable matter that is below ground catches fire and continues to burn for a very long time. Naturally, such a low-oxygen would produce very heavy, thick smoke.That could explain the frightening lack of visibility people described.

Motorists who travel the stretch of Interstate 10 regularly have also come forward to say that streetlights on that stretch of roadway are regularly not working. One driver said the area is dark almost every night he travels through it. He compared it to “a forgotten area” because it seems to him that state safety officials have ignored the dangerous conditions.

Sadly, a stretch of the same road where the 40-car pileup happened was closed earlier this week after the smoke returned, causing traffic officials to become concerned for motorists’ safety.

It is still going to be some time before it is determine who, if anyone, is responsible for that awful accident. But once a culprit has been more clearly identified, it is likely at least some people will choose to file personal injury claims so they can seek recompense for their medical expenses and pain and suffering. Lawyers in Vero Beach

FL understand how dangerous these types of cases are and how to handle them.

The number of fatal car accidents that occurred in the Bronx last year has dropped in comparison to previous years. According to preliminary numbers from the New York Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles 2,430 people died from car accidents in the Bronx in 2010. The statistic is the lowest number in over 20 years and comes at a time when New York’s population is 50 percent larger than it was two decades ago. Counties across New York are also reporting lower numbers of fatal car accidents for 2010 as well.

. According to the Florida Highway Patrol a combination of factors has contributed to the decrease in traffic fatalities. Technological advances in vehicles, education and law enforcement have all played roles in bringing down the number of fatal car accidents on New York’s roads. The New York Highway Patrol says that technological innovations have had the biggest impact on safety improvement.

The New York Highway Patrol cites advanced braking systems, hands-free devices and warnings that alert drivers. The New York Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles believes the downward trend of car accident fatalities will continue because of a continuation in improved vehicle engineering and a safer fleet of vehicles that will continue to come online. The New York Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles also credits state and local law enforcement and believes that the downward trend will continue for another five years. Bronx car accident lawyers are more than ready to handle these types of accidents.

A Dakota County, Minnesota, man who is charged with child abandonment after he allegedly moved to California in July, leaving his 11-year-old son behind, was sent to jail on $6,000 bail by a district court judge on Sep. 12. The judge also barred the defendant, 60, from having visitation with his son unless social services workers approve. Who will take custody of the boy is still undetermined following his mother’s recent reemergence.

We have been closely following this case in this blog, most recently posting about it on Sep. 2. On July 18, the son awoke in his Lakeville to find his father gone and a pair of letters telling him that he should go to live with a neighbor family. The letters also asked the neighbors to take custody of the child, though he had not discussed it with them beforehand. Child services placed him in the custody of an aunt following a July 27 child-protection hearing.

Authorities said the father left due to financial problems, including the impending loss of his house to foreclosure. He was found working in a deli in California and arrested on Aug. 29. He waived extradition and was taken back to Minnesota.

In his first court appearance on Sep. 12, the Dakota County District Court judge handling the case set bail at $6,000, but said the father could post bond based on $5,000 bail if he pledges not to leave the state again and not try to contact his son until social services approve the meeting. His next court appearance has been scheduled for Oct. 19.

Shortly after the defendant’s arrest, his former wife called county officials and indicated she might fight for custody of her son, whom she had not seen since 2002, when her visitation rights were terminated. The father reportedly told the boy that his mother had died, though he revealed the truth in one of the letters with oversight from a commercial litigation attorney.

Major League Baseball player Elijah Dukes was in court this week to explain why he has not paid his Florida child support, but his explanations did not make the reasons any clearer. Dukes was once a Tampa Bay Rays outfielder, but now he’s wearing a different uniform: a county jail standard issue orange jumpsuit.

Appearing before Judge Liz Rice in Hillsborough County, Dukes was asked about his finances and why he has failed to pay child support and alimony. The delinquency is over $40,000.

Rice was not satisfied with Duke’s explanations for his failure to pay. She said, “Mr. Dukes, we’re not holding you in jail because we like to see you in an orange jumpsuit. All we want you to do is honor your commitment to this court and to your family.”

In May, Dukes told the court that he had spent all but $1,500 of his professional baseball retirement account. He was ordered to use the remaining $1,500 to pay his child support.

Dukes failed to pay, and failed to appear at his next hearing. He was arrested Monday on charges of contempt of court and failure to appear.

The reason Dukes gave to Rice for not using the $1,500 to pay child support was that he loaned the money to a friend who was also struggling to pay child support. He says the man – whom he only knew as “Fred” from Atlanta – assured him that he would pay him back the money within a few days, but never did.

Rice set on a new hearing for November 22nd, and ordered Dukes to be released from jail. At that time, he has been ordered to produce evidence of his finances and detail any transactions in which he has given anyone any money.

Dukes says he has been homeless since he was released by the Washington Nationals in March.

In court, Dukes was asked about the diamond earrings he is wearing in his driver’s license photo, and a Cadillac Escalade he owns. He replied that the car was repossessed and that he sold the earrings. If you were arrested for DUI in Palm Beach Gardens, don’t forget to contact us!

In the midst of the current obesity epidemic in America, more and more people are turning to weight loss drugs as a way to shed unwanted pounds. Medications such as Alli and Xenical are advertised as miracle drugs that can help people slim down. Unfortunately, these particular medications are considered dangerous drugs that have been linked to serious health conditions.

Research done by disability lawyers in Milwaukee, WI has discovered that the over-the-counter weight-loss drug Alli and its prescription form Xenical have been associated with liver failure, acute pancreatitis, kidney stones and even death.

Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen recently petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to pull these medications from the market. It noted that the drugs were linked to 47 cases of acute pancreatitis and 73 cases of kidney stones. Public Citizen found that at least three people taking these drugs developed acute kidney failure and at least one needed dialysis and ultimately died.

Both Alli, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, and Xenical, made by Hoffman-LaRoche, contain orlistat, which is used to help overweight people lose weight. Orlistat essentially works by blocking the enzymes that break down fat.

Despite much media hype, both of these drugs have shown minimal benefits to overweight and obese users. Research indicates that people taking Xenical while dieting and exercising for one year lost only five and a half additional pounds than those who only dieted and exercised. Many feel this meager weight loss benefit is not worth potential damage to multiple critical organs.

The current petition to the FDA marks the second time Public Citizen has sought to have Xenical removed from the market. In 2006, it requested the medication be banned after research revealed that orlistat caused pre-cancerous lesions in the colon.

While the FDA failed to pull Xenical from the shelves, it did issue a warning of rare “severe liver injury” caused by orlistat in 2010. The FDA identified 12 foreign reports of severe liver toxicity linked to Xenical and one domestic case linked to Alli. Of these users, two died of liver failure and three needed liver transplants.

Alli and Xenical have clearly been linked to various health problems. Anyone suffering from health conditions after taking these dangerous drugs should consider speaking to an attorney about their rights and options.

Life Sciences

Illinois debt settlement law firms understand exactly what needs to be done to help settle debt.

Our qualified’s Life Sciences and Technologies lawyers are experienced in the complex issues related to biotechnology, genomics, and proteomics, and are well equipped to meet our clients needs in this rapidly expanding technological environment.

Many of these lawyers have extensive experience as general counsel for established Life Sciences companies and high-technology start-ups.

We understand the issues that Life Sciences companies face at the ever-evolving intersection of advanced technology, public policy and business development. We counsel and advise our clients on matters such as disclosure requirements, protecting intellectual property and assets, licensing technology, resolving disputes and managing corporate reputation. Because of our broad-based technology expertise, we can counsel clients addressing sophisticated issues in bio-informatics and related technology merging software and hardware concepts.

We are adept at forming alliances and multi-disciplinary practice groups with entities outside the practice of law, to better arrive at the breadth of services required by companies in this complex area.

Corporate and Securities

Our Corporate attorneys advise clients on the formation, acquisition, financing and development of businesses in the Life Sciences industries. We have represented these companies in both the private and public markets.

We advise Boards of Directors regarding acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships with an eye to protecting company assets with a proactive intellectual property approach, leading to more integrated acquisitions and development strategies. Our qualified lawyers assist our clients with forming alliances, joint ventures, and outsourcing arrangements in the operations of their businesses. We are familiar with the issues in determining rights to gene sequences and the impact on company decision making in acquisitions and other related alliance formation.

We are especially familiar with Regulation FD and have assisted our clients with a number of disclosure issues that have arisen since the regulation became effective. We also have worked with Life Sciences clients and their independent auditors with respect to the SEC’s interpretations of revenue recognition for collaborations and licenses and the impact of those interpretations on company reporting.

We advise our clients on the many aspects of running genomics and biotech businesses, both in the U.S. and in cross-border circumstances.

Last week, we blogged about a tragic and fatal car accident that was caused by texting and driving. A teenage driver was driving and texting at night. The teenage driver spotted a pedestrian crossing the road but recognized the pedestrian too late. The driver’s attempt to swerve failed and killed the pedestrian. Had the driver not been texting, the car accident may not have happened. This week we have another story that illustrates the dangers of texting and driving. Two guys from Car and Driver magazine tested the thesis of whether texting while driving was more dangerous than drinking and driving. According to Car and Driver, which was more dangerous?

Car and Driver found that texting and driving was more dangerous than drinking and driving. The creators of the experiment used GPS and a data logger to record the speed of the test vehicle, brake-pedal position, and steering angle. A faux brake light was installed on the windshield of the car to imitate a breaking car. Every time the fake brake light turned on, the driver was supposed to apply the brakes. Car and Driver tested two drivers; one young and one old. Both drivers ran test routes that measured their reaction times without interference and then routes that measured their reaction times texting and driving and drinking and driving. The drivers’ texting and driving results were compared to their own original results.

The performance of the young driver showed he was a more dangerous driving while texting. His reaction time traveling at 35 miles per hour without interference was 0.45 seconds. His reaction while reading a text was 0.57, and his reaction time while writing a text was 0.52. His reaction time while impaired was 0.46 seconds. The pattern of the older driver was similar. His base reaction time was 0.57 seconds. His reaction time while reading a text was 1.44 seconds, and his reaction time while texting was 1.36 seconds. When impaired, the older driver’s reaction time was 0.64 seconds.

The reaction numbers can also be calculated to demonstrate how much further the driver’s traveled before stopping. According to Car and Driver, it would take both drivers longer to stop while texting. The lesson? To prevent car accidents, drivers should be clear of distractions while behind the wheel, and should obviously not drink and drive.

Car accidents in Flint, Michigan can occur at any time and it’s important to receive help with them.