Philadelphia Top Injury Lawyer Blog

Barely a week ago, Philadelphia Flyers playoff hero Danny Briere and his 9-year-old son fortunately escaped serious personal injuries when they were involved in a car-truck accident in New York just north of the Pennsylvania border. Just after midnight, a tired Briere drifted into the truck's lane. His car smashed into the guardrail; the tractor-trailer jackknifed and overturned. Briere sustained injuries to his arm and hand which are not expected to affect his future with the Flyers. His son and the truck driver suffered minor injuries.

The prognosis is considerably less rosy for Giants' rookie safety Chad Jones. A severe personal injury car accident early Friday morning may have cut short his promising NFL career. Jones suffered severe personal injuries when he lost control of his SUV and crashed into a utility pole while in New Orleans for the Giant's training camp. Jones recently signed a 4-year, $2.615 million contract with the Giants.

After being cut out of his car, Jones was transported to Louisiana State University Trauma Center where he remains in "guarded condition" following several hours of surgery to repair his shattered leg. Jones' father told reporters that while the surgery was successful, Jones faces a long and painful rehabilitation. Jones is expected to remain in the hospital for some time due to the severity of his injuries and risk of infection. Jones hopes to regain the use of his leg, but his NFL career is in serious jeopardy. Two passengers in Jones' car suffered minor personal injuries. Police are investigating.

Injuries to sports stars grab the headlines, but serious Philadelphia personal injury car accidents often exact the same high costs -- months of hospitalization and rehabilitation, loss of income and possible life-altering permanent disability. When serious car accidents occur, Philadelphia personal injury lawyers can protect your rights and pursue damage claims to which you may be entitled, allowing accident victims and their families to concentrate on recovery.

Just 10 days from his destination, John Anczarski's cross-country charity bike marathon ended in tragedy this week. While cycling through New Mexico, an SUV ran the 19-year-old Pennsylvania native off the road near Laguna, New Mexico, about 50 miles west of Albuquerque. Anczarski suffered severe head trauma and other serious personal injuries in the car-bicycle accident. He was transported to the University of New Mexico hospital where he was pronounced dead Tuesday.

An engineering student at the University of Colorado, Anczarski and three friends left Ringtown, Pennsylvania, Anczarski's hometown, on May 23 headed for California. The group was riding in support of Anczarski's ambitious charity project, "The Pink Pedal: Riding Hard to Fight Breast Cancer." Garnering community support along their route, the young men had raised several thousand dollars before the fatal car accident took Anczarski's life.

Anczarski's fellow riders reported that an older man was driving the SUV when the car struck Anczarski. They said the driver did not immediately stop but did return to the crash site. Because the accident occurred on tribal lands owned by the Pueblo Indians, the car accident Investigation has been turned over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

A bicycle is no match for a car. Car-bicycle accidents are all too common when such mismatched vehicles share the road. According to the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, an estimated 36,000 Philadelphia commuters bicycle to work at least once a month. Bike traffic is particularly heavy in Philadelphia's Center City and on bridges crossing the Schuylkill. The number of bicycle riders cruising Philadelphia streets has more than tripled over the last decade. With more bikers on the roads during the summer, both cyclists and car drivers need to drive defensively and follow the rules of the road to avoid accidents.

If you are involved in a bicycle-car accident, an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer can ensure that your rights are protected.

Two Pennsylvania natural gas workers suffered serious personal injures and were flown to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre for treatment following a construction accident at a drilling site in northern Pennsylvania. One worker suffered broken ribs and the other suffered lacerations to his skull caused by a flying piece of metal when a pipe coupling blew apart at a Tioga County natural gas well operated by Ultra Resources. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

This serious Pennsylvania construction accident comes on the heels of a natural gas well blowout in central Pennsylvania earlier this month. While, fortunately, no one was injured in that construction accident, explosive natural gas and toxic wastewater spewed into the air, polluting nearby land for 16 hours before EOG Resources workers could bring the blowout under control. Safety concerns sparked by the blowout caused Pennsylvania regulators to halt work at 70 other natural gas wells under construction by EOG Resources.

Natural gas drilling is an admittedly hazardous profession which makes adherence to safety standards and practices all that much more vitally important to protect the health and safety of construction workers. As recent incidents illustrate, construction workers face the risk of serious personal injury every time they step on the job site. Companies that fail to protect their workers' safety can be held liable for workers' injuries. Just a few of the many negligent activities that can contribute to Philadelphia construction accidents include:

• Inadequate or incompetent supervision
• Defective or poorly maintained equipment
• Negligent drilling, blasting or tunneling procedures
• Unprotected openings
• Improper scaffolding procedures
• Improper handling of gases or chemicals
• Failure to maintain access areas
• Insufficient bracing or support of structures

The complexity of Philadelphia construction accident claims requires expert investigation by knowledgeable Philadelphia personal injury lawyers experienced in pursuing construction accident claims.

In a personal injury product liability verdict that product safety advocates hope will spark government restrictions on defective Chinese drywall, a Florida jury awarded a Miami couple $2.4 million in damages last week. It was the first of what promises to be many product liability suits in Philadelphia and across the nation targeting defective drywall produced in China and sold in the United States. U.S. drywall distributor Banner Supply Co. which supplied the drywall purchased and installed by the Florida couple has been named in thousands of similar product liability lawsuits involving defective Chinese drywall.

According to reports, the Florida couple installed Chinese-manufactured drywall supplied by Banner Supply Co. in their Miami home. Shortly thereafter, the couple was forced to vacate their dream home because of the foul odor and noxious fumes emitted by the drywall. Chinese-manufactured drywall has come under investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Testing at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California revealed that some Chinese drywall brands emit as much as 100 times more hydrogen sulfide than U.S.-produced drywall. CPSC investigations of more than 3,300 complaints about Chinese drywall have attributed hydrogen sulfide emissions to corrosion of appliances, air conditioning coils and other metals. The drywall with the highest level of hydrogen sulfide emissions was produced in China four to five years ago.

Thousands of homeowners in Philadelphia and across the country may be affected by the defective drywall. In typical experience, homeowner claims to insurance companies have been denied. Many builders and rehabbers have refused to respond to consumer complaints. Only one Chinese company, Knauf Plasterboard Tinanjin, has even acknowledged U.S. complaints. Frustrated homeowners are turning to Philadelphia personal injury lawyers to assert their product liability claims, recoup their losses and force replacement of this noxious, defective product in their homes.

If you believe you are the victim of defective Chinese drywall, contact a Philadelphia defective product attorney today about your rights.

In a tragic bus accident Wednesday afternoon, a 6-year-old greater Philadelphia area boy was struck and run over by the school bus that had just dropped him off outside his home. The boy was struck just moments after stepping off the bus. Only a few days of school remained for the first grader at Pickering Valley Elementary School in Upper Uwchlan, Pennsylvania, located slightly northwest of Philadelphia. The young boy suffered severe, life-threatening personal injuries in the bus accident and was flown by helicopter to A.I. DuPont Children's Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Following surgery for his injuries, the 6-year-old remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Details of the bus accident are still under investigation, but Upper Uwchlan police Chief John DeMarco told Chester County Daily Local News that he does not expect the bus driver to face criminal charges in the accident. Police said the bus driver was driving at or below the posted 25 mph speed limit. Downingtown Area School District spokeswoman Patricia McGlone characterized the accident as "unavoidable" and told reporters, "We don't believe that the driver was at fault." However, no details concerning the accident or explaining exactly how the young boy was struck and run over have been released to the public.

The distraught bus driver, an employee of Wolfington Bus Co., has been unable to return to her job. The bus involved in the accident has been removed from service pending investigation. The bus company has assigned a veteran relief driver to drive the route until school ends next week and has placed a safety coordinator on board.

A tragedy for all concerned, it is in highly emotional accidents like this one that the highly honed investigative skills of an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney can be particularly beneficial in protecting the rights of accident victims and obtaining the largest possible settlement in the fastest possible time.

Last night's Presidential message brought home the extreme danger and devastation possible when man drills into the Earth to tap its vast store of natural resources. Eleven BP workers lost their lives in the horrific Deepwater Horizon drill rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Recent news reports make it clear that those lives were put at risk by faulty and negligent safety practices at BP and abysmal oversight by federal regulators. While repercussions from the Gulf Coast tragedy will eventually reverberate here in Philadelphia, distance makes the suffering experienced on those distant shores feel remote. However, the threat of disaster exists closer to home than many Philadelphians would expect.

Tragedy in Philadelphia's own backyard was narrowly averted last week when a blowout occured at a natural gas drilling site in rural western Pennsylvania. The construction accident 100 miles from Pittsburgh had the potential to create a massive explosion. While the drill site did not catch fire, the construction accident sent 35,000 of gallons of explosive natural gas and toxic drilling fluid shooting 75 feet into the air. It took EOG, a Huston-based drilling company, nearly 16 hours to repair the blowout and halt the flow.

A similar construction accident at a West Virginia natural gas drill site resulted in a fireball that injured seven workers last week; and an natural gas blowout at a Texas site killed one worker and hospitalized two workers with serious burns.

The recent natural gas blowout is not the first time EOG operations have resulted in Pennsylvania construction accidents. Last September two spills on EOG sites were caused by faulty piping connections, and a third spill was attributed to a ruptured hose.

Philadelphia construction companies are responsible for their workers' safety and for maintaining construction equipment in good repair. If you are involved in a construction accident, a Philadelphia personal injury attorney can investigate and make certain that your rights are protected.

Four motorists suffered serious personal injuries in a horrific Philadelphia car accident that occurred over the weekend. The multi-vehicle accident shut down the southbound lanes of I-95 Friday night between Grand Avenue and Allegheny and backed up Philadelphia traffic for miles.

While the accident is still under investigation, Philadelphia police investigators said a southbound Subaru struck the rear of a Nissan Altima, setting off a chain reaction accident that also involved a Chrysler 300 and Dodge Intrepid. The force of the accident caused the Dodge Intrepid to overturn, severely injuring the driver who was not wearing a seatbelt. He was transported to Hahnemann University Hospital. The driver and two passengers in the Altima also incurred serious personal injuries and were taken to Philadelphia hospitals.

It can take months to unravel the details of serious personal injury car accidents, particularly when multiple vehicles are involved. For example, an exhaustive 6-month police investigation of a fatal December Philadelphia car accident just concluded last week, resulting in the arraignment of a 19-year-old Philadelphia man on charges of murder, vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter. The tragic December Philadelphia car accident took the lives of driver Zachary McGehrin's two teenaged passengers. Police investigators allege that McGehrin had marijuana in his system last December when he speed his car into a garbage truck without braking.

When serious Philadelphia personal injury car accidents occur, accident victims and their families need to focus their energy and resources on medical treatment, rehabilitation and, when a death occurs, grieving. Serious car accidents can result in months of difficult recovery and rehabilitation and sometimes life-altering disabilities. Accident victims and their families can find comfort in seeking the help of Philadelphia personal injury lawyers experienced in investigating and litigating serious car accidents. Assured that their rights will be fully protected, Philadelphia accident victims and their families can focus their energies on recovering from their injuries.

Toyota, now facing more than 327 defective product and personal injury lawsuits in the U.S., is not the only automobile manufacturer placing Philadelphia drivers are risk. Chrysler has just recalled in excess of 600,000 vehicles in Philadelphia and across the country, including all Jeep Wranglers manufactured from 2008 to 2010. Three different safety recalls that have the potential to cause car accidents resulting in serious personal injury target defective brakes, defective doors and defective accelerator pedals in various Chrysler models.

• A brake defect on Chrysler's Jeep Wranglers causes excessive wear on brake tubes that can cause brakes to leak and lose power.
• A defective wire harness in the sliding doors of Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans can wear through and catch fire.
• Echoing Toyota's problems, sticky accelerator pedals on Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass crossovers can cause unexpected acceleration.

Toyota's dismal response to auto safety issues and the legal fallout precipitated by the company's failure to act responsibly about defective products appears to be driving a surge in proactive auto recalls, although heightened government oversight certainly plays a role. In issuing the recent recalls, Chrysler noted that it had received no reports of accidents or personal injuries related to the product defects,

Chrysler is not alone in increasing product liability oversight. GM last week recalled 1.5 million vehicles in Philadelphia and worldwide to fix a defective heated windshield-wiper fluid system that could catch fire. Five fires have been reported in GM vehicles that include the defective wiper system. Toyota also continues to experience problems, recently recalling 3,600 Lexus LS sedans sold in Philadelphia and other U.S. cities because of a defective steering system.

If you own an automobile involved in a recall, see your Philadelphia auto dealers promptly for recall repairs. If you are involved in a Philadelphia car accident, talk to a Philadelphia personal injury attorney about your rights. Defective auto parts often cause or contribute to vehicle accidents.

A Philadelphia area jury has awarded more than half a million dollars in damages to a Monroe County couple for injuries suffered in a serious 2004 personal injury car accident. On June 4, 2010, the Monroe County, Pennsylvania jury awarded Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Schotter $547,000 in compensation for severe back injuries Mr. Schotter suffered during a November 2004 Philadelphia area car accident.

The personal injury accident occurred in Monroe County on SR 715, just south of the closed Roadway Express terminal. Schotter was a passenger in a co-worker's pickup truck when they were hit head-on by a driver traveling in the wrong lane. Both men were on their way to work at Roadway Express where Schotter had worked for 13 years as a forklift operator and dock worker.

Schotter suffered severe personal injuries in the car accident that made it impossible for him to work for the next 7 months. The accident fractured Schotter's sternum and caused three herniated disks. When Schotter was able to return to work, he was plagued with severe low back pain. After a 3-day trial last week, the jury deliberated for only 2 hours before returning a verdict in favor of the Schotters.

Experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorneys note that it is not unusual for a personal injury case to take a number of years to come to trial. Extensive investigation may be required to ascertain the facts surrounding the accident. It can be months, sometimes years, before medical teams can assess the full extent of injuries and long-term disability. The length of time required to process a personal injury case is one of the reasons that Philadelphia personal injury lawyers charge a fee only at recovery. Personal injury clients are not burdened with legal fees as they seek recovery for damages suffered.

Hamburger giant McDonald's is recalling millions of Shrek-themed drinking glasses sold at its fast-food restaurants in Philadelphia and across the U.S. Philadelphia parents are warned that the toxic metal cadmium has been discovered in the painted designs on the glasses. McDonald's recall of 12 million of the collectible glasses expands concern about the use of cadmium in consumer products. High cadmium levels in metal costume jewelry marketed to children have been the source of several defective product recalls issued since the first of the year. Unlike recalled cadmium-tainted jewelry manufactured in China, the McDonald's glasses were made in Millville, New Jersey. Cadmium can be added to paint pigments to create red and yellow.

In announcing the voluntary recall early this morning, the Consumer Product Safety Commission warned consumers to stop using the Shrek glasses immediately. There is concern that the cadmium in the painted designs could contaminate Philadelphia children and adults who handle the glasses. The 16-ounce glasses were being sold at McDonald's for $2 each to promote the hit movie Shrek Forever After. McDonald's said refund instructions would be posted on its website next week.

Highly toxic, the metal cadmium is a known carcinogen. Prolonged exposure can cause irreparable damage to kidneys and bones and can adversely impact brain development. Because their bodies and brains are still developing, young children are particularly at risk, warn Philadelphia personal injury lawyers. Repeated handling of painted glasses containing cadmium could allow the toxic metal to adhere to a child's hand and be ingested when the child touches his mouth. Over time, paint flakes from repeated washings could also cling to the inside of glasses, contaminating beverages placed inside.

Manufacturers and distributors have a responsibility to provide Philadelphia consumers with safe products. If you believe you or a member of your family has suffered personal injury related to use of a product, contact a Philadelphia personal injury attorney.

In the wake of Johnson & Johnson's recall of popular children's pain and allergy medicines, Blacksmith Brands, Inc. has just recalled four defective children's medicines sold in Philadelphia and across the nation. Philadelphia parents are warned to immediately stop using PediaCare Multi-Symptom Cold, PediaCare Long Acting Cough, PediaCare Decongestant and PediaCare Allergy and Cold medicines. The recalled PediaCare medicines were manufactured at the same facility implicated in the earlier Johnson & Johnson recall of 40 children's medicines, the largest recall of over-the-counter medications in history.

Food and Drug Administration investigators have uncovered a lengthy list of violations at the Fort Washington, Pennsylvania pharmaceutical plant where the recalled medicines were manufactured. Numerous manufacturing defects and quality control problems have been discovered, including higher concentrations of active ingredient than specified, inactive ingredients that do not meet testing requirements, and contaminants, most notably metal particles.

Philadelphia pediatricians warn that personal injury reactions to the contaminated medicines may include rash, diarrhea or vomiting. Philadelphia parents are cautioned to seek immediate medical attention if their child develops adverse symptoms after taking one of the recalled drugs. Parents should stop using the recalled drugs immediately.

In a Congressional hearing into the children's Tylenol recall last week, Food and Drug Administration officials strongly criticized Johnson & Johnson officials for failing to act quickly when problems were discovered with its over-the-counter drug operation. While drug companies are required to notify the FDA of consumer complaints within three days, Johnson & Johnson waited nearly a year to do so. The FDA began pressuring Johnson & Johnson to act in February when it was apprised of quality issues with over-the-counter children's medicines, yet the company did not recall defective products until April 30, and then only under extreme FDA pressure.

Adverse drug reactions can cause serious personal injury to infants and children. If your child becomes ill after taking a defective medicine, seek the advice of a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer.

A Philadelphia woman waived her preliminary hearing this week in the fatal hit-and-run car accident that took the life of a high school senior from Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania. Nineteen-year-old Stephanie Phillips is charged with an accident involving death or personal injury, a felony, and driving with a suspended or revoked driver's license. By waiving her hearing, Phillips admitted there is evidence to try the case in court. Phillips is free on bail awaiting a July arraignment in Montgomery County Court. If convicted, she could be sentenced to 3 1/2 to 7 years in prison.

According to police, while traveling east on Germantown Pike near Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, Phillips' car struck 17-year-old Denise Cotteta but did not stop when the girl stepped into the dark roadway on March 28. Phillips told police investigators she "panicked" after hitting the high schooler who died at the hospital. When police stopped Phillips' car not far from the accident site, she admitted her part in the personal injury accident. Philadelphia personal injury attorneys note that had Phillips stopped and stayed at the accident scene, she would not have been charged with a felony as investigators have determined that Cotteta walked into the car's path. However, leaving the scene of a personal injury car accident is a felony.

Eyewitnesses said Cotteta was among a group of Plymouth Whitemarsh High School students who had been partying to celebrate the school basketball team's state championship win. While some of the students had been drinking, investigators said Cotteta's blood alcohol level was well below the legal limit.

Philadelphia car accidents are never black and white. As this case shows, investigation by law enforcement authorities and Philadelphia personal injury lawyers is often required to discover all the facts of a personal injury car accident. This accident shattered two young lives. Philadelphia personal injury lawyers work to help put the pieces back together.

Up until 10 years ago security guards patrolled Philadelphia's SEPTA rail yards 24 hours a day to protect SEPTA property and keep wayward pedestrians from danger. Had SEPTA kept those security guards on patrol at its Wayne Junction rail yards in Germantown, an 11-year-old Philadelphia boy would probably still be alive, said a former SEPTA security officer.

Jewels Angelo was electrocuted and killed Saturday when he entered SEPTA's unguarded Germantown rail yard and touched an electrified mechanism on top of a train car. Former security guard David Waters, who patrolled the rail yard in the 1990s, said that had security guards still been in place, they would have kept the boy from entering the dangerous Philadelphia rail yard and most likely would have been able to save his life.

According to Waters, 250 to 300 security guards provided overnight security at Philadelphia-area SEPTA transit stations in the 1990s. A decade later, financial problems shut down the security operation. Currently, the transit company has a team of roving guards that patrol SEPTA stations. A SEPTA spokesman said the transit company has no plans to reinstate guards at Philadelphia rail yards, despite the presence of hazardous equipment capable of inflicting severe personal injuries.

Utilities, transit authorities, manufacturers, business firms, commercial establishments, retail stores, even homeowners have a public safety responsibility to protect Philadelphia residents from coming to harm on their property. When a person suffers serious personal injury or is the victim of a wrongful death as a result of negligence, the victim's family can file to recover damages. If you believe someone in your family has been the victim of a wrongful death, contact an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

A tragic multiple truck accident not far from Philadelphia shut down a 26-mile stretch of the New Jersey turnpike for nearly 8 hours this week. The 3-truck accident, which occurred near Chesterfield, NJ, south of Trenton, involved a box truck, a dump truck and a tanker trailer loaded with 8,000 gallons of volatile kerosene. Accident investigators believe the box truck rear-ended the tanker, pushing the vehicles into the path of the dump truck. The box truck driver was killed and the tanker driver remains hospitalized with serious personal injuries.

Commercial trucks are responsible for more than 12% of Philadelphia vehicle collisions. This week's crash on the New Jersey turnpike was unusual in that it involved three trucks, perhaps because it occurred at 1:00 a.m. when truck traffic is heavy and automobile traffic is light. In the majority of Philadelphia truck accidents, a truck collides with one or more cars. A car is no match for a truck and fatalities and severe personal injuries are frequent in such collisions. When trucks and cars collide, Philadelphia personal injury attorneys investigate log books, GPS data, black box data and engine computers to identify actions taken by the truck driver prior to and during the crash. Frequently, truck driver exhaustion, failure to track cars that wander into the truck's blind spot and truck maintenance issues are found to be contributing factors in truck/car accidents.

When truck accidents occur, a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer with expertise in investigating and litigating truck accidents is aware of the many demands trucking companies may put on their drivers. Pressure to meet delivery deadlines can cause truck drivers to disobey federal safety rules and drive more hours than allowed, resulting in driving errors, aggressive driving or lack of concentration. If you or a loved one suffers personal injury in a truck accident, consult an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

During rush hour this morning, the Philadelphia driver of a minivan lost control of his vehicle and plowed into a parked car on Ben Franklin Parkway. The force of the Philadelphia car accident triggered a chain reaction that damaged two additional vehicles. No serious personal injuries were reported, and the accident is under investigation. It is not yet known what caused the driver to lose control.

Driver error is sometimes found to be the cause when a car veers out of control and causes property damage or a personal injury accident. Other times, the problem is mechanical failure as was the case recently with Toyota's accelerator problems. Many Toyota vehicles as well as other manufacturers' cars and trucks are equipped with a black box attached to the engine that records vehicle performance data during a crash. Used by automakers to solve problems, Philadelphia personal injury lawyers now regularly request that black box accident data be shared. While many automakers comply, Toyota typically had not.

In the wake of the recent Toyota recall, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee has released a draft bill of legislation that would increase vehicle safety for Philadelphia citizens. The proposed legislation would require all new cars and trucks to be equipped with black boxes to aid car and Philadelphia truck accident investigators. The legislation would also eliminate the cap on civil penalties that limits automaker liability. If made into law, the measure would also beef up National Highway Traffic Safety Administration authority, enabling it to order immediate vehicle recalls if it believed a vehicle posed an "imminent hazard of death or serious injury."

Philadelphia personal injury attorneys support any measure that allows the victims of personal injury car accidents to obtain facts about car crashes. Black box findings could be a real help to Philadelphia personal injury investigators working to reconstruct car accidents.