Maine Injury Lawyer Blog

September 12, 2018

New Car-Seat Regulations Reduce Toddler Injury Risks

News Center Maine is reporting that new federal car-seat guidelines are aimed at saving lives. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ updated guidelines now urge parents to leave their children in rear-facing car seats for as long as possible.

AAP reports using the correct car seat or booster seat can decrease risk of death or serious injury by 70 percent in the event of a collision. Previous guidelines recommended keeping children in a rear-facing seat until the age of 2. But newer, stronger car seats and continuing data on their effectiveness at reducing child mortality, prompted safety advocates to abolish the age limit.

September 4, 2018

Maine Town Faces Injury Lawsuit after Bus Crash

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Two families are suing a Maine town after their children were injured in a van crash on Interstate 95.

Both families are seeking financial damages for payment of medical bills, the Bangor Daily News reported. The crash happened as 11 summer campers were on their way to a waterpark on August 10. The van crashed into a tree after the 21-year-old driver had what authorities described as a “medical emergency.”

An attorney for the town of Kittery said injury lawyers on behalf of the victims filed a notice of right to sue and inquired about the town’s liability insurance policy. The Portland Press Herald reported the driver had a history of epilepsy and may have experienced a grand mal seizure. An internal review showed the town failed to check his driving record before he was hired.

August 30, 2018

Maine Car Accident Watch: Self-Driving Tech Coming to Portland

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Self-driving technology is coming to Portland, Maine’s largest city. With it, residents may see an uptick in Maine auto accidents.

A Washington State company called Inrix announced it plans to test its self-driving automotive technology on the streets of Portland. Inrix is a global company that develops and deploys Internet services and mobile applications for road-traffic and driving uses. The software platform, called AV Road Rules, is intended to function as a guide for self-driving cars, by allowing vehicles to “see” road conditions such as one-way streets, crosswalks and school zones. Portland will focus initial mapping on Commercial Street and Franklin Street, heavily used transportation corridors into the Old Port and downtown Portland.

The complexities of today’s modern vehicles — from airbags to anti-lock brakes to early-warning systems and backup cameras, are already making an impact in the courtroom when it comes to personal injury and wrongful death litigation. A recent column in the Press Herald highlighted just a few of the questions being raised by such emerging technologies.

August 23, 2018

Back-to-School Safety Tips as Kids Head Back to Class in Bangor, Portland

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Students are heading back to class, which means it’s time for adults to brush up on their education when it comes to safe driving. Maine bicycle accidents can be unfortunately common, which can lead to serious injuries, particularly if the rider collides with a car.

Bangor School Department has announced schools will open Tuesday Sept. 4. School officials urge parents to start kids on their school sleep schedule now, so they will be properly adjusted for the first day of class. This can also help keep them safe while traveling to and from school. Portland Public Schools will also return to class Sept. 4.

The Bangor School Department also announced a partnership with the Bangor Police Department to put liaison officers in schools to work to ensure proper security and student safety. While parents may worry about bullying, school violence, or the rigors and risks of today’s school athletics, our experienced personal injury lawyers know the commute to and from school is most likely to be dangerous.

August 16, 2018

Maine UTV Accident Illustrates Risks of All-Terrain Vehicle Injuries

by Peter Thompson & Associates

The recent injury of a Sanford girl in a UTV accident highlights the risk of these and other all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) as we head into autumn. Legal News Gavel

About 500 people a year are killed in ATV accidents, according to federal statistics, and more than 100,000 are injured seriously enough to seek treatment in hospital emergency rooms. About 25 percent of victims are under 16 years of age. In all, nearly 15,000 riders have been fatally injured since ATVs became popular in the 1980s.

CBS13 reports hundreds participated in a Sanford fundraiser for the 8-year-old girl, who broke her neck and jaw and suffered numerous skull fractures after falling from her UTV. The local Maine ATV Club sponsored the event.

August 9, 2018

Maine School Injury Case Results in Partial Summary Judgment

by Peter Thompson & Associates

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court recently granted partial summary judgment in a case against a Portland High School after a mother alleged her teenage son fell and struck his head while apparently tussling with an older boy at a school sporting event. Legal News Gavel

The court dismissed the claims against the older boy’s parents. The case against the defendant teen and the school district will proceed separately from this ruling.

The mother claimed the incident occurred at Cheverus High School in Portland, where a number of youths had been attending a sporting event. She filed an injury lawsuit against the school district, as well as the older boy and his parents, bringing counts for negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The defendant parents requested summary judgment for both negligent infliction of emotional distress and causes of action under state negligence laws.

July 23, 2018

Design Often at Issue in Storefront Crashes, Parking Lot Injuries

by Peter Thompson & Associates

A Massachusetts Appeals Court has affirmed a multi-million dollar wrongful death judgment awarded to the estate of a woman killed after a vehicle ran into a Chicopee convenience store.

We have seen an increasing number of parking lot injuries and storefront crashes throughout New England in recent years. The Storefront Safety Council reports nearly half of these collisions involve a driver over the age of 60 and about half are attributed to operator or pedal error. The group estimate more than 500 people are killed and 3,600 injured in accidents caused by motorists driving into storefronts each year.

This case resulted in a $32 million verdict against a convenience store company after a woman was struck and killed by a speeding sport utility vehicle (SUV) that crashed through a Chicopee storefront, when the 81-year-old driver lost control. The victim’s husband, as executor of her estate, had argued the company was negligent for not installing bollards or taking other safety measures after hundreds of car strikes at its convenience store locations. The company argued it had no duty of care; that the event was completely random and unforeseeable; and that wrongful death was caused by the negligent actions of the at-fault driver.

July 16, 2018

Bangor Road Construction Highlights Accident Risks

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Construction at a busy downtown Bangor intersection has proven stressful to motorists and has authorities preaching caution through the remainder of summer road-construction season.

The downtown work to replace Civl War era drainage and sewer lines began in April and is expected to last through the remainder of the year. The project has narrowed Exchange, State, Harlow and Hammond streets to one lane, and temporarily reconfigured Park Street to one-way travel.

Summer is prime time for road construction throughout Maine, as crews work to improve infrastructure and repair winter road damage. As of mid-July, the Maine Department of Transportation lists 360 road construction projects in progress throughout the state.

July 9, 2018

Court: Maine Employers Can ‘Just Say No’ to Injured Workers’ Medical Pot

by Peter Thompson & Associates

The Maine supreme court has that ruled employers aren’t required to cover medical marijuana through the state workers’ compensation system. The 5-2 decision disappointed many worker advocates who had been following the case closely. Justices ruled that in a conflict between federal law considering marijuana a dangerous and addictive substance and Maine’s state medical marijuana law, the federal law takes precedence.

This means that people injured on-the-job in Maine are going to need to either accept an alternative medication for their treatment or else pay for their medical marijuana out-of-pocket. Injured workers should be mindful, though, because the federal precedent also allows employers to take employment action against workers who use marijuana, even with a prescription. While this is troubling in itself, employees accepting workers’ compensation may need to be especially cautious, given that as a whole, they are more likely to be targeted for retaliation from employers for reporting work injuries, seeking treatment for on-the-job accidents or reporting job site safety violations. Continue reading

July 2, 2018

Maine Hit-and-Run Accidents a Growing Concern

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Hit-and-run accidents in Maine (and nationwide) are a rapidly rising concern, highlighted by an alarming new report indicating hit-and-run deaths have a record-high nationally.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed that in a single recent year, there were 737,000 total hit-and-run crashes tallied with 2,049 deaths. Both of these figures are the most ever recorded since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began recording in 1975. Hit-and-run crashes account for 12 percent of the total crashes in the U.S., 7 percent of all injuries and 5.5 percent of all car accident deaths.

In Maine, there were a total of seven hit-and-run crashes resulted in death recorded that year. On one hand, that’s one of the lowest figures of fatal hit-and-runs in the country. However, the data is presented in raw numbers, failing to factor in population. Beyond that, those seven crashes amounted to a 75 percent year-over-year increase and the highest reported in the last decade. We had four straight years in that time with zero hit-and-run crash deaths, and the year before that, there one deadly hit-and-run crash. Continue reading