Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

Plaintiffs personal injury lawyers across the nation are resisting the urge to say "I told you so" after the recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) confirms what we have been saying all along: if SUV manufacturers would simply make the roofs of SUV's stronger, it would save lives. The study concludes that more than 200 deaths could have been prevented in rollovers in 2006 if just a few more SUVs had roofs as strong as the best one it tested, and, of course, it follows that thousands of serious personal injuries, likewise, could have been prevented.

The IIHS study is extremely important because it proves what plaintiffs' lawyers have been saying all along; that inadequate roof strength can be the cause of death of an occupant in an SUV during a rollover. That an SUV will, in fact, experience a rollover is a given, and manufacturers are supposed to design and plan for that occurrence. The study is also important because it exposes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for what it is, a co-conspirator with automobile manufacturers to require only the most minimal of "standards," (if they can even be called that) so that automobile manufacturers can continue to make hundred of millions of dollars on the backs of American citizens without reasonable attention to safety. Automobile manufacturers for years have defended against such cases by claiming to have complied with the NHTSA "standards," but this study shows such compliance is mere window dressing, and really meaningless when it comes to actual occupant safety. Much research has been done that shows for less than $100.00 per car a manufacturer could double the strength of the roof regarding strength to weight ratio. It is unfortunate that American car companies care more about their bottom line than their customers' safety.

Posted by Robin Frazer Clark | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Products Safety

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Justice is Served...for the third time, no less. The Supreme Court of Oregon has reaffirmed a $79.5M jury verdict in a tobacco products safety case against Philip Morris. The award was for the family of Jesse Williams, a former Portland janitor who started smoking during a 1950s Army hitch and died in 1997 six months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. A jury in Portland made the award in 1999.

The Oregon Supreme Court said in Thursday's ruling that Philip Morris and the tobacco industry worked during the 1950s on a "program of disinformation" to create doubt about the dangers of smoking. Williams "learned from watching television that smoking did not cause lung cancer," but, once he came down with it, said the "cigarette people" had lied to him.

What's particularly satisfying about the Oregon Supreme Court's decision is that it reaffirms, for the third time, that the jury in the American Civil Justice System knows best. Despite the repeated attempts by the United States Supreme Court to take away the plaintiff's verdict in this case, the Oregon jury's decision has finally prevailed, proving again the jury knows best and the jury system works. It seems that only when Big Corporate America loses a trial does it rail against what they term "activist"judges. What is surprising is, if there is any "activist" judges in this case, it is the United States Supreme Court justices. They tried and tried to take away the jury's verdict and impose their own judgment on a trial that involved Oregon citizens and was decided by Oregon citizens. But, fortunately, the Justices' attempts have failed and, hopefully, the jury's verdict will now stand in this case.

By the way, when did it become wrong in America to be held accountable for your wrongdoing, including a corporations? The American Civil Justice System and trial by jury, is the only way to ensure justice is served, fairly, equally, impartially, without being a respector persons. There are those in our country who would tear down our revered jury trial system and eliminate accountability in our nation's courts for a myriad of wrongdoers. As a Georgia trial lawyer in the trenches, I will do everything in my power to fight the "dismantlers" of the American and Georgia Civil Justice System. The Oregon decision gives us renewed hope that justice will prevail for the little guy.

Posted by Robin Frazer Clark | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Products Safety

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Warning to all Georgia parents: another child seat has been recalled. This time it is the Bumbo baby seat, made by Bumbo International, a Texas company.

You can find out more at bumbosafety.com, but after looking at that site, it seems the corporation, like many in its shoes, is attempting to blame the parents for the lack of safety of the very product it manufactured. So many corporations, when they are caught red-handed manufacturing a dangerous product, point a finger at their own customers, rather than accepting responsibility for placing a defective, dangerous product on the market. This is the face of the fact that the Consumer Product Safety Commission says it has received 28 reports of children falling out of the seats, which prompted the recall.

Georgia parents can retrieve newly written instructions for use of the seat at bumbosafety.com. When you read them, it will probably make you mad that the corporation is blaming you, the parent. If you have such a seat at home, you might reconsider using it any further based upon the CPSC recall. Perhaps a better source for learning more about this product recall and others, is cpsc.gove, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's own website. I think it is a good idea to check that site periodically for safety information on all sorts of products.

Posted by Robin Frazer Clark | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Products Safety

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