Category: Personal Injury

The American Liver Foundation is promoting Liver Cancer Awareness Month in Nevada this October by educating the public on the functions of the liver in the body and risk factors for liver disease. There are approximately 30 million individuals in America who have some type of liver disease, including hepatitis A, B and C, but many are undiagnosed or improperly diagnosed. Three out of four people in the United States who have hepatitis do not know they are infected, and it is the most common cause of liver cancer.

Truck drivers may spend up to 11 hours on the road each day. When this much time is devoted to the task of driving, using a handheld device for phone calls, texts, or entertainment may be difficult to resist. However, these activities are considered distracted driving, and a federal law enacted by the U.S. Department of Transportation makes them illegal for commercial drivers due to the alarming number of injuries and fatalities that occur each year as a direct result. According to the Nevada Department of Transportation, there were nearly 1500 accidents involving tractor trailers in 2010. More than 340 resulted in serious injuries, and 16 of the accidents were fatal.

The driver who is at fault in a motor vehicle accident is liable for the damages caused, according to Nevada law. Automobile insurance is mandatory in the state, so the expenses relating to the accident should be covered. In most cases, victims may file a claim with the drivers’ insurance company to be compensated for the costs of the vehicle damage, medical bills and other expenses.

Every year, Nevada ranks among the ten states with the worst rates of pedestrian fatalities, according to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. Data from the DMV and the Nevada Department of Transportation shows that 234 pedestrians lost their lives between 2008 and 2012. Over the same time period, 784 people sustained injuries in pedestrian accidents.

In a Johns Hopkins malpractice study, researchers estimated that surgeons leave foreign objects such as surgical sponges and towels inside patients after surgery more than 2,000 times each year. This type of medical mistake is called a “never event” because it is both preventable and potentially life threatening in many cases. Retained surgical sponges are the most common type of surgical mistake.

Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute states that when a manufacturer creates a product that deviates from its intended design, it is considered defective. This may be due to the use of sub-standard materials or carelessness in its creation. Consumers in Las Vegas who purchase defective products are at risk for personal harm.

While street racing has become highly popularized in the media and typically draws a younger crowd of auto enthusiasts in Nevada, it can be extremely deadly. Not only does high-speed racing put people in danger of injury or death from a tragic accident, but a Las Vegas car accident lawyer may find that the sport of street racing is often connected to other violent crimes, such as theft and assault.

Bus stops designed to offer a safe place to wait can instead be death traps for pedestrians. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, 30 people since 2007 have been killed or severely injured in southern Nevada by runaway vehicles that careened off the road and into bus shelters. The article states that bus shelters are hit several times a month, but most incidents occur when no one is sitting in them, so there is no one to witness the crash. However, in the past year, a driver later charged with DUI and fleeing the scene killed a grandmother and a young child. Another woman suffered critical injury when an SUV crashed into a bus stop a couple of months earlier.

Foot traffic in Las Vegas has exceeded capacity at 17 of the city’s busiest intersections, according to data collected by the city in 2012. During that year, there were 46 pedestrian fatalities in Las Vegas, which was nearly double the fatalities in 2011. The number rose to 60 in 2013, and in the first four months of 2014, there were already 20 fatalities. Broken bones in the legs, blunt trauma and lacerations are the most common type of injuries. The alarming rise in fatalities has prompted County Commissioners to begin developing strategies to increase safety measures and create an awareness plan to prevent crashes that harm pedestrians.