Accidents involving big rigs can cause bigger damages because of the vehicle’s weight and size. In addition, it can also inflict graver injuries to the occupants of a smaller vehicle in the occurrence of accidents.
True enough, a big rig accident recently caused Interstate 5 in Burbank to be closed for five hours, also resulting to jammed rush-hour traffic. In addition, the incident also caused harm to one person.
According to authorities, the big rig smashed through a center divider and caught fire. Five other vehicles were also involved in the accident, and several crashed under the truck.
One person was shortly trapped in the ruins. Police said one person sustained injuries that were described as minor to moderate.
Employers are required to carefully choose the people who will operate a big rig if a work requires it because they may also be liable if the driver’s negligence causes an accident. Implementing stricter screening processes will ensure that every person operating this vehicle has the right skills to do it.
Labor advocates are pushing for a local ordinance that will make wage-theft a criminal charge.
In most states and cities, penalties for wage-theft are usually given through civil unpaid wage claim procedures.
If the bill passes into law, Los Angeles will join the handful of cities that criminally prosecutes employers who do not follow wage laws for misdemeanor charges.
City councilman Richard Alarcon plans to introduce a motion that would direct the city attorney’s office to write an ordinance that would criminalize wage non-payment.
Alarcon said that he was alarmed by a recent study that a lot of workers from New York Chicago and Los Angeles do not receive minimum wage or overtime pay.
The study showed that 26% are paid below the minimum wage and 76% are not paid the correct overtime rate.
The numbers are taken from the answers of 4,300 respondents
Alarcon said that if criminal penalties are what is needed then there is no reason not to try that.
Most workers would agree, given the high number of cases of unpaid minimum wages and overtime.
It would seem that civil penalties do not discourage the practice and are still rampant to this day.
Hopefully, the ordinance will give the law more teeth and significantly reduce the number of wage theft.
However, there is some opposition to the law, especially from the business community.
The president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce said that there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the law. He questions what would be the trigger for an arrest and if it would cause additional backlogs in the courts.
Their concern is understandable, as they would like to protect their interests as well.
As the ordinance want to protect employees from unscrupulous employers, the employers in turn want to be assured that they will not be receiving unscrupulous claims as well.
It is a two-way street and the law should also consider the rights of the employer, or it may discourage companies from creating jobs for fear of being sued in the future.
Hopefully both sides can reach an understanding that would benefit each side.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating why Northwest flight 188 overshot the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles without radio contact before it turned around.
According to the National Transportation Board (NTSB), the jet carried 144 passengers and 5 crews.
None was injured because of the incident.
According to NTSB reports, the jet, an Airbus A320, lost radio contact at about 7:00 pm CDT while flying from San Diego to Minneapolis.
The jet flew over the airport before 8:00 pm and reestablished communication at 8:14 pm. They’ve overshot the airport by that time.
According to the FAA, the crew claimed that they became distracted over a heated discussion over airline policy and lost track of where they were.
However, the NTSB is also looking at other possible factors that may have caused the incident.
One of those is fatigue.
Authorities are looking into the possibility that the crew may have fallen asleep during the flight.
They will be examining the cockpit voice recorder and will be interviewing the pilots.
The two pilots have been suspended from flying while the airline performs its own investigation.
It does not sound too serious, but signs that pilots fall asleep at a crucial time while operating a giant vehicle 30,000 feet in the air with 144 passengers can be pretty disturbing.
Air traffic is very different from road traffic as it needs constant coordination with ground control.
When ground control cannot establish communication with a plane they may assume that there is trouble.
And now the pilots claim that they overshot the airport because they were in a heated discussion.
That must have been a pretty interesting discussion.
It is difficult to understand how a discussion over airline policy could prevent the pilots from establishing radio contact for more than an hour when both Denver and Minneapolis controllers are trying to communicate with them the entire time.
Hopefully the suspicion that they were asleep is not true.
Driver fatigue can cause major damages in a truck collision; it will be catastrophic in a plane accident.
Plum Organics of California have recently announced their food recalls on some of their baby foods in portable pouch as they suspect of botulism contamination in their products.
Botulism is an illness caused by toxins which is normally found in a person’s digestive tract. It usually results to facial paralysis that may spread to the limbs. The illness is life threatening and so those who ingested the product must immediately have themselves checked for toxins.
The company’s action team announced that the recalls on all 4.22-ounce pouches with the expiry date of May 21 2010 were because the product did not meet the FDA standards regarding the acidity level.
There were no reported incidents of botulism yet but the company urged the public not to feed their babies with these products as they present serious health risks.
In cases of product recalls, the public must be aware so as not to use products which present threat to one’s safety.
For victims of these defective products, they are urged to contact personal injury lawyers who will efficiently handle their claims and make sure that compensatory damages will be paid.
Brook Boynton from San Clemente died after his Nissan SUV was rear-ended, spun out of control, and rolled over near Laguna Canyon Road.
Boynton was a Chemical Engineer and a regular contestant in Ironman competitions. He was 52-year-old when his life was taken away, a promising life wasted away because of the negligence of a motorist who was intoxicated while driving.
Reports indicate that 37-year-old Richard Ernest Caselli was going more than 100 kph when the accident happened. He was arrested and booked on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Caselli is likely to compensate for the wrongful death of Boynton and pay his family compensatory damages for the damages and grief he caused them.
Accidents involving big rigs often cause disastrous results due to the vehicle’s weight and size. Even people who were not directly involved in the accident were affected due to the road blockade.
Two big rig accidents that happened recently blocked San Diego County’s freeway lanes.
One incident happened along south state Route 15. A big rig reportedly jackknifed said authorities. Two lanes were blocked when a 40-foot container box fell off the vehicle.
The other incident happened along north Interstate 15. A big rig and seven other vehicles were involved in a collision. According to witnesses, a woman’s vehicle ended up in the highway’s center divider. They said the woman was unconscious.
Although it appears that no one was severely hurt in the two incidents, the vehicles involved may have been damaged or destroyed. In addition, these incidents greatly affected other road users through the inconvenience created by clogged traffic.
In California, most employees are entitled by law to receive the minimum wage of $8 per hour. The only exceptions to the minimum wage law are:
- Outside salespersons
- The parent, spouse, or child of the employer
- Apprentices regularly indentured under the State Division of Apprenticeship Standards
- Learners
- Employees who are mentally or physically disabled, or both
- Nonprofit organizations such as sheltered workshops or rehabilitation facilities that employ disabled workers
However, even with the minimum wage law, there are still employees, like Vilma Serralta, a live-in housekeeper, who are deprived of their due salary.
Serralta, a naturalized citizen from El Salvador, recently settled her lawsuit for an undisclosed amount against her employer of four years after she was paid $1,000 to $1,300 a month despite working 14 hours a day. She cleaned their six-bathroom home, prepared their food and took care of the couple’s 3-year old daughter.
All employers in California are required to pay the minimum wage unless their employees fall among the above-mentioned exceptions.
The payment of the minimum wage is part of an employee’s rights and it cannot even be waived by any agreement, even collective bargaining agreements.
Employees, no matter how menial the tasks they perform may be, if they are covered by the minimum wage law, are entitled to receive their due wages. They can file a wage claim against their employer with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (the Labor Commissioner's Office). They may also file a lawsuit in court against the employer to recover the lost wages.
With the growing popularity of energy-efficient and environment-friendly vehicles, many car manufacturers today are tapping this lucrative market of green cars or hybrid cars.
Toyota, one of the world’s biggest car manufacturers, has been successful in the hybrid car industry. According to reports, the company’s Prius is the best-selling car in Japan over the past several months.
In the US and in some parts of Europe, Prius is also the top choice of consumers, especially those who are worried about the high prices of gas.
However, the success of Toyota’s energy-efficient car is embroiled in a controversy.
In 2005, a federal court ordered the car manufacturer to pay Paice, a Florida-based company, with $4.8 million damages for violating the latter’s technology.
The infringed technology involves an engine that transfers force to the electric motor and internal combustion system.
In April, Paice won again in a civil lawsuit against Toyota and was awarded with royalties for all the sales of Prius manufactured from 2004 to 2009, RX 400h, and Highlander hybrids.
Meanwhile, Paice officials claim that Toyota is continuously infringing their patented technology which is still used in Prius 2010, RX450h SUV, and Lexus HS250.
The US International Trade Commission will conduct a hearing between two companies to determine if Toyota has committed another infringement.
If Toyota losses in this new case, it may face court injunction that will prevent it from selling its hybrid cars—bad news for consumers who are looking for affordable environment-friendly vehicles.
Recall is one way for car manufacturers to minimize damage due to manufacturing defect. A recall or withdrawal of product is triggered by complaints from customers, retailers, health officials or authorities.
If the object of recall is a vehicle, the recall process is usually brought about by complaints from the buyers. Usually, the car manufacturer itself will initiate the recall.
In case of Ford, it recalled a total of 14.3 million vehicles after adding 4.5 million recalled vehicles in its list. The recall was due to the defective cruise-control switch that could cause a fire. To date, the recall included 1.1 million Ford Windstar minivans and 3.4 million other Ford vehicles.
Wes Sherwood, spokesperson for Ford, said that they have already identified a small risk of fire even if the ignition was not turned on. He added that although the vehicle was okay to operate, it should be parked away from a building to prevent further damage in case of fire.
As part of the recall process, customers who own vehicles subject of the recall would be receiving letters from Ford showing instructions for replacement. In the meantime, owners are instructed to go to the nearest dealership for a free repair.
Ford recall was triggered by numerous complaints from its customers. Customers were advised to communicate with their dealers if the recall pertained to their car. But for those owners who had been injured by the car’s defect, a product liability lawyer may be consulted for any personal injuries or property damages that the customer may have incurred.
Vehicles approaching school areas should slow down to avoid hitting the students and other pedestrians. On the other hand, students are also required to walk along a safe, designated areas such as crosswalks or pedestrian lanes, away from moving vehicles.
Police arrived at the scene of the accident where a 12-year old student was allegedly struck by a vehicle Toyota Corolla. The accident happened at 1500 W. Ball Road while the students were arriving at Ball Junior High School.
Initial reports showed that the girl sustained moderate trauma. Anaheim Fire paramedics treated her and she was then brought to a hospital.
It is the responsibility of both students and drivers to be careful. Vehicle accidents may happen if both drivers and students are negligent with their actions.
One of the primary responsibilities of drivers is to drive cautiously. If they accidentally hit someone, especially if this person was fatally wounded, they should stop their vehicle and call for medical help.
However, many drivers seem to forget or ignore this obligation. In fact, another hit-and-run accident that happened recently ended the life of an 84-year-old woman.
The driver of the white Chevrolet Silverado pickup that struck the woman is being searched by the police.
The elderly woman was out walking her dog along a suburb of Montebello in Los Angeles when the accident happened.
According to Police Lt. Brian Bart, the woman was announced dead at the accident scene. The truck’s driver did not stop after the accident.
The pickup’s chrome front bumper was obviously damaged due to the incident and was last spotted dragging along the street.
Responsible driving is the main solution to hit-and-run and all other kinds of road accidents. In the occurrence of an accident, drivers should not turn their back on the person who was hurt because it will only worsen their offense.
Traffic law prohibits drivers to drive under the influence of alcohol. When drivers are drunk, they are more likely to be involved or cause an accident because they are momentarily impaired by the substance.
When an accident does happen and someone was injured, the proper thing that should be done is to stop the vehicle, report the accident to the police, and follow all legal procedures.
This did not happen in the case of a man who was struck by a passing vehicle while he was working on his car.
Francisco Guzman, 25, from Merced, was just standing by the left front fender of his car along 200 block of East 11th Street when a vehicle traveling eastbound sideswiped his car, said Merced police.
He was brought to an area hospital in Modesto for treatment, said police.
The 29-year-old driver who hit Guzman was arrested by police on suspicion of DUI, driving without a license, and hit-and-run.
Drunk driving is a negligent action that can be easily avoided by drivers but many choose not to do so. They do not realize that what they are doing is putting other road users at risk of being injured.
Imposing stricter rules and serious punishments by the state against DUI and hit-and-run accidents can be a way of reminding drivers their responsibilities while on the roads.
