Maine Injury Lawyer Blog

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released new preliminary data calculating the total number of work injuries in Maine and elsewhere in 2010. The Bureau estimates that nearly 4,550 employees were the victim of a fatal work accident in 2010. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) reported that there was a final count of 4,551 on-the-job fatalities recorded in 2009.

The number of fatal work-related injuries in the United States totaled about 3.5 deaths for every 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers. This is the exact same rate that 2009 produced. Final data for the 2010 year will be released in the Spring of 2012.

Our Portland injury attorneys understand that there are many unseen factors that go into the risks of a work accident, including the total number of hours worked and the status of the economy/unemployment rate. The number of hours worked was up in 2010 in comparison to both 2008 and 2009. Industries that are typically high-risk however, were fortunate enough to experience a decline in the number of fatal accidents. These industries also experienced a slow increase in the number of worked hours.

The primarily findings from the 2010 Bureau's Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries:

-Self-employed workers: Experienced a decline in the number of fatal work injuries by about 6 percent. Less than 1,000 workers died in this industry during the year.

-Private mining industry: Increased of almost 75 percent in the number of fatal work accidents from 2009 to 2010. Nearly 175 workers died in this industry throughout the year giving it a death rate of 19.9 per 100,000 FTEs.

-Private construction industry: Experienced a decrease of roughly 10 percent in 2010. The number of fatal construction-related work accidents has declined by 40 percent since 2006.

-Fatal Injuries caused by fires: These incidents have more than doubled from since the previous year. More than 100 fatal work injuries were caused by fires in 2010, which is the highest number recorded since 2003.

-Homicides: Decreased by nearly 10 percent 2010. This is the lowest number that the Bureau has ever recorded. In this category, homicide involving women increased by nearly 13 percent, however.

-Race: African-American and non-Hispanic workers experienced a 9 percent decline in 2010 in the number of fatal work injuries. Fatal work-related injuries experienced by white workers increase by about 2 percent. Hispanic or Latino workers experienced a decrease of about 4 percent.

-Police officers: Experienced an increase of about 40 percent, more than 130 law enforcement officers died in 2010.

Employers have a responsibility to keep workers safe. Federal regulations are in place to ensure than these individuals are taking all of the proper precautions to help keep employees safe. Failure to comply with federal recommendations can result in legal consequences, fines, violations, lawsuit or potential shut down.

Continue reading "Preliminary Results Reveal Dangers of Fatal Work Accidents in Maine, Nation" »

Amtrak has filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts company that owned the truck hit by the Downeaster passenger train last month in North Berwick, Maine. That truck is owned by Triumvirate Environmental Inc. of Somerville, Massachusetts.

The driver of the 18-wheeler truck was killed in the Maine car accident that happened on July 11th, according to boston.com.

The truck was carrying more than 50,000 pounds of trash to a local incinerator. Police are conducting an ongoing investigation into the accident.

The Amtrak driver is accusing the big rig driver of ignoring the railroad crossing controls and warnings while he was crossing the railroad tracks. Four passengers aboard the Amtrak train suffered injuries in the collision. Amtrak isn't seeking specific damages, but they are reportedly seeking compensation for subsequent service disruption costs of $3 million. The suit was recently filed in federal court in Massachusetts.

Our Portland personal injury attorneys understand that the court filings for this case state that the crossing warnings were activated as the truck proceeded through the crossing. They also state that the truck driver "failed to heed the warnings" and drove his tractor-trailer around the lowered crossing gates and caused the accident. This case is important to bring up because accidents near railroad crossings can be oftentimes produce deadly results if the proper safety measures are not taken and if warning signals are ignored.

"Once we get it all done, we'll release what our finding was," says Police Chief Stephen Peasley, estimating it could be another couple of weeks.

The suit was filed on August 8th at the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts by John Bonistalli, the attorney representing National Railroad Passenger Corporation.

It is estimated that a person or a vehicle is hit by a train every 115 minutes. It is also estimated that about half of these railroad accidents occur at railroad crossings when automatic warning devices, like flashing lights and gates, are present and are properly activated and working.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there are approximately 5,800 vehicle-train accidents each year in the United States. A majority of these accidents occur at railroad crossings. These accidents result in an average of 600 fatalities each year. These accidents also injure about 2,300 people yearly.

Common injuries of a train and car accident can include brain trauma, spinal cord injuries, concussions, other head injuries, sprains, fractures, abrasions, burn injuries and internal and various soft tissue injuries. Many of these injures can be life threatening.

Railroad accidents most oftentimes include these scenarios:

-Derailment of a train.

-Train-train collisions.

-Train-car collisions.

-Train-person collisions.

-Damage to property.

Accidents that involve a train can be very complex and difficult for the victims, especially when fighting for deserved compensation. That is why it is critical for you to contact an attorney immediately following a train wreck or railroad accident.

Continue reading "Amtrak Sues Trucking Company for Maine Truck-Train Accident" »

A teenager from Carrabassett Valley Academy has died in a Maine skiing accident at Sugarloaf ski resort, the Boston Globe reported.

As our Portland accident attorneys reported recently on our Maine Injury Lawyer Blog, the resort was the site of a chairlift malfunction that injured numerous guests late last month.

In this case, Channel 8 News reports the school was quick to announce the high-school junior was skiing on his own time and was not participating in a school activity at the time of the crash. Police say he died after skiing into an object on Black Diamond Trail.

The National Ski Areas Association reports an average of 38 people are killed each year in skiing and snowboarding accidents. Countless others are injured. It is incumbent upon business owners to provide a safe and secure environment for customers and invited guests. Faulty equipment, poor maintenance, hazardous conditions or lack of safety or emergency personnel could all result in liability on the part of a resort.

Schools also have an obligation to provide for the safety of students, whether on school property or at a school sanctioned field trip or event. Examples of school-related accidents that can lead to a personal injury or wrongful death claim include premise liability claims, school bus accidents, sporting accidents, negligent security and assault or abuse.

Continue reading "Skiing Accidents, School Injuries, can lead to Portland Premise Liability Claim" »

As reported in the Portland Press Herald on December 28, 2010

CARRABASSETT VALLEY -- A chair lift derailed in high winds at Maine's tallest ski mountain Tuesday, sending screaming skiers plummeting as far as 30 feet to the slope below and injuring several of them.

The Sugarloaf resort in Carrabassett Valley, about 120 miles north of Portland, said about six people were injured when five chairs fell an estimated 25 to 30 feet. The resort's ski patrol evacuated the lift, which had passed an inspection.

None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening, the resort said. The injured were treated and taken to hospitals. About 220 people were on the lift at the time, and inspectors were headed to the scene.

Rebecca London, one of the skiers who tumbled to the snow, told The Associated Press that she had a soft landing because the mountain had not groomed the new-fallen snow underneath the lift. Her face hit the retaining bar, but her goggles spared her from serious injury, she said.

Most of the skiers who fell appeared to be stunned but OK, she said, and the ski patrol was on the scene within minutes to begin treating the injured. London said she wasn't hurt badly enough to go to a hospital.

Jay Marshall, hunkered down in a cold wind while on a lift next to the broken one, said that his lift was moving but that the broken one was not.

There was a "loud snapping noise" after the lift restarted, he said, then screams.

"The next thing I know, it was bouncing up and down like a yo-yo," he said. Some skiers tumbled from their chairs.

Gideon Hacker, a skier from Princeton, N.J., said he saw at least one person taken off the mountain in a gurney pulled by a snowmobile. He said Sugarloaf workers used a pulley device to lower skiers to safety.

Jill Gray, a spokeswoman for Franklin Memorial Hospital about in Farmington, about 45 miles from the mountain, said that one person was taken there and flown to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Another person was being treated in Franklin's emergency room, she said, and the hospital expected to receive five more patients. She did not give details on the injuries.

At the time of the accident, high winds were buffeting Maine a day after a blizzard swept across the region.

The National Weather Service has no wind sensors near Sugarloaf, but a weather balloon launched in Gray, in southern Maine, showed winds of 40 mph at 1,000 feet Tuesday, a weather service meteorologist.

It's unclear whether the accident was wind-related or mechanical. The spillway chair lift was properly licensed and inspected, said Doug Dunbar of Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation.

Ski resort chair lifts fall under the jurisdiction of the department's Board of Elevator and Tramway Safety, and two inspectors were being sent to Sugarloaf, Dunbar said. The Maine Emergency Management Agency was sending a representative, as well, a spokeswoman said.

At 4,237 feet, Sugarloaf is Maine's second-highest mountain after Mount Katahdin.

Based on this report it appears that people were injured by a faulty chair lift, or a lift that was being operated in unsafe conditions. It is important that an investigation take place as soon as possible before potentially critical evidence is destroyed by time. For example, statements should be taken from all of the witnesses to the lift's collapse. An analysis will also be necessary of who was responsible for the maintenance and safety of the lift. The personal injury specialists at Peter Thompson & Associates have handled thousands of similar claims and recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our clients. We specialize in providing excellent customer service and quick results. For more information, contact Peter Thompson & Associates at 1-800-917-1784 or read more on our website www.Peter-Thompson-Associates.com on our personal injury practice page.

In Maine, there is a potential intersection of the workers' compensation and personal injury systems when the injury is caused by a third party.

Generally, if you are injured at work, regardless of the cause, you are compensated for that injury entirely through the workers' compensation system. However, did you know that if a party other than your employer is responsible for the injury, you may also have a separate claim against that party?

For example, if you were driving a vehicle as part of your job and were injured in an accident caused by another driver, you have both a workers' compensation claim and a claim against the other driver.

Typically, the payments made by workers' compensation are conditional and may need to be reimbursed from your injury claim.

The interplay between these two systems can become extremely complicated. The auto accident specialists at Peter Thompson & Associates have handled hundreds of similar cases, partnering with experts in workers' compensation when necessary. Our team assures the best results for those navigating these two systems. We specialize in providing excellent customer service and quick results. For more information, contact Peter Thompson & Associates at 1-800-917-1784 or read more on our website www.Peter-Thompson-Associates.com on our car accident practice page.

INSURANCE ADJUSTERS HAVE THE INTERNET TOO!

Most people at one time or another have heard the advice "Do not put anything in an email or online that you would not want on the front page of the newspaper". This is never truer than when you are bringing a personal injury claim. The insurance company WILL search for your online profiles. More than once, we have received a call from an adjuster directing us to a client's online profile.

"So what?" you might be thinking, "I have nothing to hide. Besides, nothing I put on my Facebook or MySpace account has anything to do with my accident." This is almost never true. For example, if you are claiming an injury, and you are writing about all of the things you did over the weekend, that is relevant. If you are posting pictures of your participation in a charity walk, that is relevant. As your attorneys, we know the truth is accident victims have good days and bad days while recovering. It is our job to make that argument on your behalf. However, the insurance adjuster will use this to show that your injuries are not very serious.

Additionally, a big part of any case is how you would present to a jury, should that be necessary. Therefore, any indication online that puts you in an unflattering light can affect your case, even before it gets that far. For example, foul language and references to illegal activity or excessive drinking do not help your case. Particularly if there is an issue regarding who was at fault for the accident, because you need to appear as serious and credible as possible.

What can you do? First, if you have any profiles or accounts on any of the social media networks, set everything possible to the highest privacy setting.

Second, be careful about allowing a connection from anyone you do not personally know.

Third, again, think about what you are putting online. Although the privacy settings are a good first level of protection, there has recently been a case in New York where a judge allowed the Defendant's lawyer to access the Plaintiff's Facebook account. Romano v. Steelcase Inc., 2006-2233 (N.Y. Super. Sept. 21, 2010.). In that case, the Defendant argued that since the Plaintiff was claiming a loss of enjoyment of life and permanent injuries, her postings were relevant to see if this was true. The judge agreed, and said that because the point of these websites is the share information, it is discoverable, even if the person has their settings set to private.

If you have been injured in an accident and you have questions about what information insurance companies can use to evaluate your claim, please contact us at 1-800-917-1784 or read more on our website, www.Peter-Thompson-Associates.com, on our car accident practice page.

November 14, 2009: Forest Dale, Sr., 46, of Steuben was killed Saturday morning when he was crushed between the cab and the dump body of his delivery truck.

Dale was delivering a load of firewood to a home in Cherryfield about 11 a.m. when the accident occurred, according to Sgt. Timothy Tabbutt of the Washington County Sheriff's Department.

In the process of attempting to raise the dump body on his 1-ton flatbed, Dale's truck broke through an abandoned underground tank, Tabbutt said. The truck fell through all the way to its frame.

Dale, who had climbed under his truck to release the piston to dump the load of firewood, was caught between the cab and dump body when the truck fell and he was crushed.

The personal representative of Mr. Dale's estate should be able to collect compensation from the property owner's homeowner insurance. At Peter Thompson & Associates, we specialize in obtaining insurance coverage in complex cases such as this. We have successfully represented many victims of serious injuries caused by dangerous conditions on property. It will be necessary, as in the vast majority of the other cases we have handled, to investigate the exact circumstances that resulted in Mr. Dale's death. In order to preserve necessary evidence, it is highly recommended that this investigation occur as soon as possible and not be left to the property owner's insurance company.

Jack Vincent, a 12-year-old Scarborough boy who was hit by a pickup truck last week is reportedly improving, although it is still unknown what permanent limitations he will have from his injuries.

York County Sheriff Maurice Ouellette acknowledged that the bridge is too narrow to accommodate cars and pedestrians at the same time. The driver is claiming that he didn't have enough time to react before hitting Vincent.

In our opinion, an investigation into this matter should carefully consider the truck driver's speed and knowledge of the children's use of the bridge, and should analyze whether law enforcement officials should have done more to prevent this accident from occurring. In our opinion, there should also be additional investigation whether the State failed to do enough to accommodate the use of the bridge by pedestrians and children.

A 12-year-old boy was hospitalized in serious condition when a pickup truck hit him on the Salmon Falls Bridge. The boy, according to news accounts, was getting ready to jump off the bridge. The bridge is very well known in the area as a place where children come in the summer for the excitement of leaping from a height of over 20 feet into the water. The town has issued citations, but has not created any type of obstruction to prevent children from jumping from the bridge.

An investigation into this matter will likely occur to determine whether the driver of the truck was exercising adequate caution. One issue that will need to be addressed is whether the driver knew the area was frequented by children and, if so, whether he was exercising extra caution. Maine law requires that if a driver is aware that children are playing in an area near a road he exercise reasonable caution by, among other things, reducing his speed and/or keeping a vigilant lookout for children. This situation is similar to drivers seeing children riding bicycles along a road. Under these circumstances, reasonable care would require the driver to proceed at reduced speeds that would permit the driver to avoid a collision if the child were to accidentally swerve out into the road.

Another issue that will likely be investigated is whether the State did enough to prevent children from being injured by what was clearly known to be a potentially dangerous attraction. Maine law requires owners of property to exercise reasonable care to prevent harm to children by having something on the property that would attract the children and cause potentially serious injuries. Although this particular bridge was used for generations as a popular place to jump, it would need to be determined whether modifications to the bridge design could have enabled this past-time to occur while, at the same time, reducing the possibility of children being hit by oncoming vehicles.

The bridge has signs posted on it indicating that jumping is prohibited. However, officers have stopped issuing summonses because the York County District Attorney's Office decided not to prosecute the young jumpers for criminal trespassing, according to news accounts. As a result, children have congregated on the bridge in increasingly frequent numbers, something that is well-known to drivers in the area.

A 2006 article in the Portland Press Herald indicated that local and county authorities were aware that there had been an increase in the number of children congregating on the bridge and were often running across the bridge in order to jump out further. The article referred to this as a "dangerous mix". Here again, any investigation into the matter will likely seek to determine whether more should have been done to prevent this dangerous mix from causing injury to children and whether the driver of the truck that hit the 12-year-old had knowledge of what was occurring when he entered the bridge that day. It is interesting to note that the Press Herald article from 2006 specifically quoted one official as having stated, "One of these days, somebody is going to get hurt really badly."

A few years ago, officials from the towns and the Maine Department of Transportation met to discuss possible ways to prevent unnecessary injuries to the children. The options discussed included installing a pedestrian path on the side of the bridge and erecting a fence high enough to discourage jumping. However, nothing was done. Unfortunately, it may take an incident like this to finally get something done to prevent future injuries to children.