Philadelphia Top Injury Lawyer Blog

Philadelphia personal injury lawyers and Philly consumers were appalled to learn that Toyota has for years been collecting car crash data but failed to reveal or share it to protect consumers. According to an Associated Press investigation published this week, Toyota has consistently stone-walled authorities by denying access to vital information about vehicle accidents collected in the event data recorders installed in every Toyota car and truck. As part of their continuing quality control efforts, most auto manufacturers use event data recorders, also called EDRs, to record engine, computer and other operating system data about their vehicles. Working much like the "black box" devices used in commercial airplanes, these electronic recorders provide the manufacturer with vital data about the vehicle's performance -- and failure -- if it is involved in a car accident.

Most automakers allow open access to EDR data. This data can be invaluable to police and insurance investigators as well as Philadelphia personal injury lawyers trying to determine the cause of an auto accident or truck accident. The Associated Press investigation found that Toyota frequently refused to share critical information with crash victims and accident survivors. When forced by personal injury attorneys during court proceedings to provide EDR data, Toyota frequently provided blank or incomplete data sheets or initiated out-of-court settlements. Unlike other auto manufacturers, Toyota EDRs use proprietary software that effectively restricts access to EDR information by auto accident investigators. According to the Associated Press, last week only one computer in the entire U.S. was equipped with the software necessary to read Toyota EDR data.

Toyota's recall of 8 million vehicles plagued by runaway accelerator and faulty brake problems has affected thousands of concerned Philadelphia car owners. If you own a Toyota car or truck and have been involved in an accident, contact a Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

Eighty-five inches of snow! A normal winter in Minnesota or North Dakota where brutal winters are the norm; but in usually temperate Philadelphia it's a record that has closed airports, halted trains, downed power lines, sent school children home, caused cars to careen into each other and sent Philly residents sliding across sidewalks. Mother Nature's most recent wallop has contributed to numerous Philadelphia personal injury accidents and several deaths. Philadelphia car and truck accidents, slip and fall accidents and personal injury accidents caused by snow blower malfunctions have increased in the wake of the latest Nor'easter to blow through Philadelphia.

Yesterday, Pennsylvania highway officials cut the maximum speed on I-476 and later banned tractor-trailers because of dangerous whiteout conditions. Accident reports on I-95 exceeded troopers' ability to respond and non-injury accident victims were instructed to exchange information and struggle home. A woman and her son died and her husband and two other children were rushed to the emergency room yesterday when their car slid off icy I-80 in the Poconos. Amtrak suspended service for several hours along its heavily trafficked Boston to Washington corridor when a high-speed train struck and killed two Philadelphia pedestrians just south of the city yesterday morning.

The snow dumped on Philadelphia is so wet and heavy that it's clogging snow blowers, increasing personal injury risk to fingers and hands as people struggle with malfunctioning snow blowers, attempting to unclog snow-packed chutes. Mixed with rain, the wet snow is causing an icy slip and fall hazard for Philadelphia pedestrians skidding along sidewalks and attempting to traverse ice-slicked parking lots.

When weather plays a role in personal injury accidents, it takes exacting investigation by a highly experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer to determine legal fault. If you have suffered a personal injury accident during this latest round of storms, contact an expert Philadelphia personal injury attorney to assess your claim and explain your legal rights.

The number of deaths blamed on Toyota accelerator defects rose to 34 this week as more personal injury lawsuits were filed against the beleaguered auto maker by consumers in Philadelphia and across the nation. An additional 1000 complaints concerning the brake system on Toyota's popular Prius hybrid were also filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this past week. The sharp uptick in public attention was spurred in part by publicity about personal injury investigations into injuries and deaths allegedly caused by Toyota's possibly defective auto design or manufacture. As often happens when personal injury lawsuits start flooding the courts, people who have suffered similar accidents begin to make the association between their own experience and that of others and decide to come forward.

In the past few months, problems with gas pedals, brakes and floor mats have resulted in the recall of 8.5 million Toyota vehicles worldwide. In early February, the government had received just 124 complaints about Toyota vehicles. Publicity and personal injury lawsuits quickly raised public consciousness to the point that barely one week later the government had received 1120 complaints. Consumer concern has already sparked three Congressional hearings with the government now looking into possible problems with the design of Toyota's electromagnetic system.

As often happens, it is not until people are injured or killed that manufacturers or distributors take responsibility, admit to product defects and take corrective action. It can take expert investigation by a Philadelphia personal injury attorney to uncover actionable evidence of manufacturer liability. In order to be considered defective under the law, a product must be deemed unreasonably dangerous. Issues used to prove defective product liability include:

• Design defects prior to product manufacture
• Defects in the manufacturing processes
• Incomplete or fraudulent product marketing

By Toyota's own admission, the company has violated at least two of the above issues. Toyota owners who have experienced a vehicle problem should consult an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney to see if they are eligible for compensation for their loss.

When a Philadelphia car accident occurs that results in personal injuries, investigators first consider human error and roadway conditions, the two most common causes of car crashes. Vehicle failure is a less obvious cause of car and truck accidents and is often considered an anomaly until the same incident begins to show up repeatedly in police or insurance records. Often, it is careful investigation and legal prosecution by an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney that first reveals a connection between a design or manufacturing defect and a rising accident rate.

Defective designs have recently forced Toyota to issue three recalls that have affected many Philadelphia Toyota owners (see our previous post). At least 29 personal injury law suits centered on car accident, defective product, negligence or product liability claims have already been filed against the auto maker in the U.S. and Canada. Some U.S. personal injury attorneys have filed class action suits. Class action lawsuits are filed on behalf of a group of people who share the same grievance, allowing the group to bring the claim to court collectively.

Philadelphia residents who agree to participate in a class action suit against Toyota should realize that in doing so they give up their individual rights to pursue litigation in the matter. In class action law suits, judgment of a single case determines the claims, rights and remuneration for the enter group. Personal injury attorneys recoup their fees and expenses from any settlement which is then split between all parties to the suit. The greater the number of people involved in the suit, the smaller the individual payout. Should the judgment go against the defendants, some individuals who may have suffered greater loss than the majority also lose their right to sue.

Before deciding whether or not to join a class action lawsuit, Philadelphia Toyota owners should contact an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

Toyota is certainly having its problems. Today the once peerless auto manufacturer announced its third major recall in as many weeks, this time on the brake system of its best-selling Prius hybrid. As one safety issue after another has been discovered, the Japanese car manufacturer has been scrambling to protect its image with Philadelphia consumers. A public apology by the company president was followed by a blanket of print and television ads meant to reassure nervous consumers. Sticky accelerators and delayed brakes have sparked the most recent recalls, but media and Congressional reviews of Toyota safety records indicate they're just the tip of a very large iceberg.

Among the other safety issues reported in various Toyota models over the past ten years are:

• Headlights that shut off without warning.


• Engine stalls that occur without warning, sometimes while the car is in motion.


• Battery fires that have incinerated vehicles.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received more than 100 complaints about safety issues in Toyota vehicles. At last count, 29 lawsuits had been filed against the auto-maker on behalf of U.S. and Canadian customers.

What seems to stun many is not only Toyota's abysmal safety record but the company's obdurate and defensive response toward product liability. Some industry watchers have postulated that a 1990 change in Toyota's corporate emphasis from product quality to market share may be at the root of its current problems, which are worldwide. A 1996 incident involving a steering mechanism design flaw in Toyota's 4Runner seems instructive. Despite knowledge of the flaw and the risk it posed, it was eight years before Toyota issued a recall to fix the problem and then only after a serious personal injury accident prompted a police investigation. Toyota's current problems with faulty accelerators and non-responsive brakes have been known since 2007 and 2008, yet the company is only now addressing these issues, again after personal injury car accidents have forever changed lives.

Next time: What Philly Toyota owners need to know about their legal rights

Beset by massive recalls, Toyota, once considered among America's premier auto brands, has seen its image plummet with Philadelphia consumers. Government officials and safety agencies have criticized the Japanese auto maker for failing to respond promptly to personal injury accidents caused by faulty auto design. Two different problems involving the accelerator have prompted recalls of several Toyota models that are highly popular with Philadelphia residents. A Congressional hearing is scheduled for this week.

Five people have died in two different personal injury car accidents caused when the accelerator pedal got caught in the floor mat. That design flaw led Toyota to recall 3.8 million vehicles last fall. Last week, Toyota recalled an additional 2.3 million vehicles because of a potentially dangerous sticky accelerator. While the National Highway Transportation Safety Board has reported no confirmed deaths resulting from Toyota's sticking accelerators that doesn't mean none have occurred. It can take months to accurately determine the cause of fatal and personal injury car accidents.

When fatal or serious injuries occur in a Philadelphia car accident, Philadelphia personal injury lawyers investigate to determine the cause. When a defect in the design or manufacture of a vehicle is found to be at fault, it is often the ensuing Philadelphia personal injury lawsuit that shines a national spotlight on the problem and warns the public of the danger.

In Toyota's case, it has been largely reported in the press that while North American Toyota officials quickly expressed concern about these car defects, the company's Japanese headquarters had to be prodded to issue recalls and address design flaws. Consternation over the wide scope of Toyota's accelerator problem caused the auto maker to take the unheard of measure of stopping production at its U.S. manufacturing plants while developing a solution.

Philadelphia residents who have been injured a car accident that may have been caused by a flaw in Toyota's accelerator should contact a Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

Between 20% and 30% of all car accidents and truck accidents are caused by distracted drivers, according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Proliferate cell phone use has made talking and texting on the phone the primary cause of driver distraction and a significant contributing factor in Philadelphia personal injury car accidents. According to a NHTSA study, Philadelphia drivers are 1.3 times more likely to be involved in a collision while talking on a phone. The risk more than doubles when drivers are dialing a cell phone and increases even further when Philadelphia drivers text while on the road.

Concern over the impact of cell phone use on Philadelphia personal injury car accidents caused the city to enact a cell phone law last November banning talking, dialing and texting on a handheld device while driving a motor vehicle. The severity of the problem prompted the Pennsylvania House to approve a statewide bill that, if passed by the Senate as expected, will strictly ban talking and texting on handheld cell phones while driving (see our January 27 post). National accidents attributed to cell phone use led the U.S. Department of Transportation to recently ban texting by commercial truck and bus drivers.

In a Philadelphia cell phone-related car accident late last year, a van driver ran a red light while talking on his cell phone, crashing into the front of a SEPTA bus. The crash caused the bus to lose control and ram into an El support column. Eighteen people were injured. A passenger in a SUV driven by a Pennsylvania resident suffered catastrophic injuries when the driver collided with another vehicle while texting. A truck driver talking on his cell phone on I-70 rammed a car in bad weather, killing a mother and two children.

If you are involved in a Philadelphia car or truck accident, whether or not cell phone use played a possible role, contact a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer about your rights.

Yesterday, Philadelphia representatives voted for a tough new bill strictly banning handheld cell phone use while driving. Overwhelmingly approved by the Pennsylvania House, the bill now goes to the Senate. If passed, Pennsylvania will become the fifth state to ban both talking and texting while driving.

Driving a car is such a normal everyday part of American life that most people take it for granted. Drivers regularly apply makeup or shave on the way to work, munch their lunches while driving between errands, check through their CDs and pop in some new tunes while on the highway, plug new destinations into their GPS units, and more. In pursuit of our fast-paced multi-tasking lifestyle, Americans seem driven to pack as much activity into every single second as they can. Multi-tasking among teens and young adults who regularly spend in excess of 8 to 10 hours plugged into electronics -- listening to music on their iPods while surfing the Internet, talking on cell phones and texting simultaneously -- has sparked recent media concern. Put these kids behind a wheel and traffic safety officials say you have a recipe for disaster.

In fact, Philadelphia drivers of any age who combine driving with other activities decrease concentration and increase the risk of personal injury car accidents. Studies have found that people don't actually multi-task as well as they think they do. The brain focuses on one thing at a time. Talking on the phone while driving impairs response time as much as driving drunk. If you talk on the phone while driving, you brain focuses on your conversation, causing reaction time to lag when a car accident situation occurs. Decreased response time is the same whether you're using a handheld phone or hands-free headset. It's the conversation that is distracting. The result of distracting driving in Philadelphia has been deadly, prompting Pennsylvania to join other states in considering distracted driver laws that focus on cell phone use, particularly texting.

More next time

Once again brutish winter weather led Philadelphia headlines as an Alberta Clipper blanketed states from the Great Plains to the Atlantic Coast with ice, snow and freezing temperatures. Philadelphia residents endured a slow, slushy commute this morning peppered with car accidents on the slippery roads. Many Philadelphia schools and businesses opened late this morning to give buses and employees a little longer to navigate Philadelphia's treacherous highways.

One inch of snow was recorded in Philadelphia last night but western Pennsylvania and parts of Central Ohio received up to 6 inches of snow. Snow-related treacherous highway conditions on I-70 near Columbus, Ohio are believed to have played a role in yesterday's tragic truck accident. As reported on national newscasts, the driver of an empty tanker truck lost control of the vehicle which careened across the median and crashed head-on into a mini-bus carrying disabled adults home from a training session. The bus driver and three of the adults were killed in the truck accident.

Philadelphia was fortunate to be spared a highway fatality, although numerous car accidents and truck accidents were reported throughout the area this morning, adding to computing headaches. Things didn't get any easier once people parked their cars and headed across slippery parking lots for the office door. Melting snow and freezing temperatures turned Philadelphia parking lots and sidewalks in skating rinks. Dangerous slip and fall accidents were a serious concern this morning. With sunny skies expected today followed by overnight temperatures in the chilly mid-teens, the melt-and-freeze cycle should continue to make Philadelphia sidewalks and parking lots a dangerous slip and fall personal injury hazard all weekend.

When bad weather results in car and truck accidents or causes slip and fall accidents, investigation by a Philadelphia personal injury attorney can discover possible fault or negligence on the part of drivers or property owners and help you collect the settlement you deserve.

In the wake of a tragic New Year's Eve car accident that killed two in Philadelphia comes a report from the Institute for Transportation Engineers that an estimated 120 people die every day on U.S. highways in "vehicle-related crashes." Car accidents, truck accidents and motorcycle accidents are the leading cause of death among Americans aged 1 to 34 according to statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Interestingly, people who seriously fear being victimized by robbery, rape or assault crimes fail to associate similar danger with driving.

In an interview with Scripps Howard News Service, Russ Rader of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety had this explanation for the phenomenon:

"People don't generally think of driving as a risky task. They think that crashes happen to other people, not themselves. There is a researcher who calls it the illusory zone of immunity. When we do things day after day that are routine, we don't think of them as being particularly dangerous. But of course, the statistics show that getting behind the wheel of a car is probably the riskiest thing any of us do on any given day."

Over the past decade, more than 41,000 people have died in car accidents nationally and thousands more sustain serious personal injuries, many in the Philadelphia area. The AAA Foundation (American Automobile Association) calls car accident and truck accident deaths a "public health crisis" on its website. Highway safety experts lament that it is a crisis that seems to be flying under most people's radar. Safety experts point out and Philadelphia personal injury lawyers agree that daily car accidents kill far more than the occasional train wreck or airline disaster but rarely garner major headlines.

The new year had barely started when two people were killed and at least six more people were injured in a horrific three-car accident in Philadelphia. The 3 a.m. car accident on I-95 near the Bridge Street exit shut down north-bound freeway lanes until 9 a.m. this morning as police investigated and cars and debris were cleared from the roadway. Rainy weather may have contributed to the accident. Police are still investigating.

The car accident on I-95 early this morning was just one of several fatal Philadelphia car accidents this week. In a violent car crash in Southwest Philadelphia early Tuesday morning, a 21-year-old Philadelphia area man was killed and two more people were injured. The accident occurred when the 19-year-old driver lost control of the car which jumped the curb and ran into a tree. The man who was killed, a passenger in the car, was ejected from the vehicle during the crash. In another Philadelphia car accident early Tuesday, a passenger was killed and the driver critically injured when their speeding car crashed into a utility pole on G Street.

When car accidents occur, particularly when multiple vehicles are involved as in the I-95 crash earlier today, careful and lengthy investigation may be required to unravel the facts and determine fault. Police reports are an important starting point for Philadelphia personal injury lawyers investigating car accidents that have resulted in serious injuries or fatalities. Police reports may be incomplete or inaccurate, placing the burden of accurate investigation on Philadelphia car accident personal injury attorneys. In addition, the police officer's conclusion regarding fault is not generally admissible as evidence in court, placing even greater weight on the investigation conducted by the victim's Philadelphia personal injury lawyer.

Philadelphia residents are still digging their way out of the record-breaking snowfall that blanketed the Eastern Seaboard from the Carolina's into New England this past weekend. Meteorologists report that 23.2 inches of snow fell on Philadelphia. With meteorologists predicting a Christmas Day rainstorm, already treacherous Philadelphia roadway conditions are expected to become even more hazardous. Worsening road conditions could expose Philadelphia residents to an even greater risk of personal injury related car accidents and truck accidents.

The 30-hour winter storm caused whiteout conditions on many roadways as winds gusted up to 60 mph. Motorists were sent skidding across roadways and car accidents were numerous in the Philadelphia area, Motorists in Virginia were stranded for hours on snow-choked highways before emergency crews arrived to dig them out. Seven people in three states died as a result of the storm, including a snowmobiler who crashed head-first into a horse-drawn buggy in Pennsylvania's Amish country west of Philadelphia.

As the Philadelphia region digs out today, slippery road conditions and black ice from melting snow will make driving conditions extremely dangerous. Many Philadelphia streets were still unplowed this morning. Philadelphia motorists are being urged to exercise extreme caution and expect traffic delays.

When severe weather is a factor in serious Philadelphia car accidents and truck accidents, the facts of the accident can be obscured by slow response times by overworked emergency crews coupled with the physical difficulty of reaching snowed-in accident scenes. A thorough investigation may have to be conducted by a skilled Philadelphia personal injury lawyer to uncover the facts and determine an event timeline for the car or truck accident. Serious personal injuries like bone fractures, spinal injuries and head trauma can have life-changing consequences. A Philadelphia personal injury attorney has the legal knowledge and professional expertise to pursue your claim and obtain the largest settlement possible

If you're the victim of a Philadelphia accident or injury, your first priority is dealing with your medical condition and the changes and issues it is creating in your life. Victims of serious Philadelphia accidents -- whether caused by a car accident, slip and fall in a store parking lot or the result of a work-related construction accident -- must focus first on the critical or debilitating personal health issues they face. As they recover in a hospital Philadelphia accident victims worry about their families: How will we pay the bills? Can we still make the mortgage payment? Who is taking care of the children? When will I be able to go back to work? Will I still be able to do my job? How will I pay my medical bills?

As a Philadelphia accident victim moves through recovery and often lengthy rehabilitation, he is consumed with regaining his strength and mobility, retraining his body, reassuring his family, finding a way to pay medical and household bills, and keeping his job. In the first critical days of an injury when it is vital to investigate the cause of the accident and gather important information and witness testimony while it is fresh, the accident victim has neither time nor energy to cope with the important legal affairs that can potentially impact both his physical and financial recovery.

Philadelphia personal injury lawyers are dedicated to helping accident victims. An experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney will conduct the necessary investigations and witness interviews to ascertain the details surrounding your accident. A skilled Philadelphia personal injury lawyer will prepare to take your claim to trial to ensure that you receive the largest settlement possible, assuring your family's financial security after your accident. Philadelphia personal injury lawyers are reimbursed through a contingency fee if recovery is made. You pay no out-of-pocket fees which allows you to concentrate your resources on your recovery.

It should be a pleasantly balmy, if breezy, 54 degrees in Philadelphia today. Enjoy it now because tonight the full force of winter will blow into Philadelphia as the fierce winter storm that has hammered the nation blankets the city. Daytime Philadelphia temperatures are expected to drop nearly 20 degrees by tomorrow morning with overnight temps below freezing for the next week. Rain mixed with snow and sleet could make driving conditions around Philadelphia extremely dangerous. Powerful wind gusts over 40 mph could make walking on rain and ice-slicked pavements extremely treacherous and lead to numerous slip and fall accidents.

The storm that's about to descend on Philadelphia has wrought havoc and hundreds of personal injury accidents across the country. Torrential rains caused mud slides in California. Winds over 100 mph ripped roofs off buildings in New Mexico. Fifteen-foot snow drifts immobilized Iowa and Illinois. Southern states are bracing for flooding and tornadoes. Downed power lines, subzero wind chills, power outages, flight delays, falling tree limbs, jackknifed trucks and hundreds of car accidents litter the storm's aftermath. At least four deaths have been attributed to the storm.

When winter storms bring freezing rain, ice and snow to Philadelphia, personal injury accidents and car accidents rise. Unshoveled walks and iced over parking lot puddles create dangerous slip and fall hazards for Philadelphia pedestrians. Black ice on snowy roadways can cause trucks to jackknife and cars to lose control increasing car accidents and truck accidents. When temperatures drop, defective heating products can cause fires in Philadelphia homes. A Philadelphia personal injury lawyer can assist you if you slip and fall. Philadelphia accident lawyers can protect your rights in a car accident. A Philadelphia personal injury attorney experienced in fire and defective product claims can assist you if heating equipment fails. If you become a victim of the coming storm, seek the advice of an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney immediately.

What happens when a serious car accident tears apart your family's life as it did for the Philadelphia families of the young teens critically injured on their way home from school last week (see our December 2 post)? While you wait in the emergency room while doctors work to save your child's life, while you sit miserably by your child's bedside praying that he'll recover, while you worry about the mounting hospital bills, your job and your other children waiting at home, who picks up the pieces and makes sure your rights and your injured child's rights are protected? That is the job of Philadelphia personal injury lawyers and experienced Philadelphia accident attorneys.

Even when Philadelphia car accidents receive a lot of press attention and the liability seems clear as it does in last week's horrific Philadelphia car accident, proving legal fault in a personal injury claim can be problematic. Inaccurate or incomplete police reports and conflicting witness statements can complicate car accident cases. A skilled Philadelphia personal injury attorney will hire investigators to take photographs of the car accident site and damage, interview and obtain statements from witnesses and may even retain engineering experts to reconstruct the accident.

Whether you purchased full tort or limited tort auto insurance and uninsured or under insured motorists can further complicate the Philadelphia personal injury claims process. While you are worrying about your child's survival and the difficulties of recovery and rehabilitation, insurance companies' demands for proof of fault or other issues may prevent the payout of funds you are counting on to pay medical bills and help your child through recovery. An experienced Philadelphia accident lawyer can attend to these issues for you so that you can focus on what's most important -- your child.

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