Maine Injury Lawyer Blog

March 20, 2015

Bangor Health Safety Officials Say 6,000 Apartments Need Routine Inspection

City health and safety regulators in Bangor are only authorized to initiate an inspection of private property when there is a complaint from either residents or landlords.

That could soon change, as a proposal before city council would launch a new program providing for routine inspections of some 6,000 local apartment units. Officials would be scanning the property for dangerous conditions amounting to health and safety code violations.

The goal, according to Bangor’s community and economic development director, would be the assurance that renters are granted the healthy, safe living quarters to which they are entitled.

March 15, 2015

Maine Seat Belt Law Faces Repeal, Raising Safety Concerns

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Just a handful of days after one of the biggest chain-reaction car accidents in Maine’s history, state lawmakers are deciding whether to repeal the current seat belt law.

Title 29-A, 2081 of Maine Revised Statutes require all passengers in every vehicle to buckle up, so long as there is a seat belt available. Children must be strapped in to proper carriers, car seats or booster seats. Violators face a $50 fine for a first offense. The only exceptions are drivers or passengers with a disability or medical condition that makes it unsafe or impossible to wear a seat belt. Mail carriers are also exempt.

The new bill, LD 112, is entitled the “Act to Eliminate the Requirement That Adults Wear Safety Belts.” The sponsor is Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, a freshman senator who asserts only children should be required by law to buckle up.

March 4, 2015

Dozens Injured in Maine in 75-Car Pileup on Interstate

by Peter Thompson & Associates

On a snowy stretch of I-95 west, 75 cars, trucks and semis kept “crashing and crashing,” leaving a mangled mass of metal and debris. In total, 17 injuries have been reported, though authorities have expressed shock no one was killed.

The chain-reaction pileup was the worst officials said they’d seen in decades.

“If Hollywood wanted to create a scene, I don’t think they could have created the amount of carnage that was out here today,” said one Maine State Police lieutenant. Some 50 vehicles were towed, many reduced to nothing more than crumpled piles.

January 31, 2015

Report: Maine Nursing Homes Improve Medication Track Record, Still Lag

by Peter Thompson & Associates

A new report by the Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program indicates the state is the No. 1 most-improved when it comes to slashing the number of potentially fatal antipsychotic medications doled out to elderly in nursing homes.

That’s certainly good news. But there’s more to it.

The state still ranks 26th in the U.S. in terms of the total number of nursing home residents prescribed these dangerous drugs.

January 22, 2015

Semian v. Ledgemere Transp., Inc. – Maine Supreme Court Weighs Bike Injury

by Peter Thompson & Associates

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court recently affirmed a judgment favoring a bicyclist struck and run over by a bus driver, dismissing defendant’s argument that the cyclist’s own actions prevented her from obtaining compensation.

At issue in Semian v. Ledgemere Transportation, Inc. was 29 – A M.R.S. § 2070 (6). This statute allows that a bicyclist may pass a vehicle on the right in certain situations, but does so “at their own risk.”

Because of this provision, defendant bus company argued it could not be held liable for injuries sustained to a bicyclist who was attempting to pass on the right.

January 7, 2015

Icy Roads Cause Many Maine Truck Accidents

by Peter Thompson & Associates

The new year began in Maine with a series of tractor-trailer accidents along icy roads throughout the state.

According to state troopers, crashes on Route 9 and on Interstate 95 shut down traffic for many hours – and in one case, until the next day – while crews worked to clear the wreckage. Amazingly, no serious injuries were reported, though one driver had minor cuts and bruises and 20 other passenger vehicles sustained damage. Additionally, a 30-foot section of guardrail attached to a bridge on Bond Brook overpass was decimated.

While icy, snow conditions are nothing new for Maine drivers, tractor-trailers are known to be less maneuverable. They start more slowly, they take more time to stop and they are especially susceptible to adverse road conditions. Considering the average 18-wheeler commercial truck weighs about 25 times that of a regular car (in some cases, up to 40 times more), the risk of serious injuries and death in tractor-trailer collisions is high. In fact, crashes involving large trucks account for one-eighth of all traffic fatalities.

December 27, 2014

Maine Nursing Home Death Investigated by State Safety Officials

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Falls in nursing homes are not all that uncommon, but they are generally preventable – particularly when they involve a patient falling out of a window.

According to The Bangor Daily News, state health officials in Frenchville launched an investigation into a nursing home in late November, following the death of an elderly female resident who apparently suffered a fall from second-story window of the facility Nov. 14. She died at a nearby hospital.

In following up with the center just five and six days later, state investigators witnessed a series of deficiencies in care that rose to the level of serious, meaning patients at the site were deemed to be in immediate danger.

December 16, 2014

Distracted Driving and Holiday Traffic: A Deadly Combination

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Five people were hospitalized and a sixth injured following Maine car accident recently when the driver of a truck, apparently distracted, rear-ended the truck ahead of it, causing it to be pushed into oncoming traffic, where it was struck by a sport utility vehicle head-on. The driver of the second truck was trapped inside and had to be extracted by firefighters.

None of the injuries are classified as life-threatening, though it’s not yet clear whether the injuries sustained will be debilitating.

Authorities haven’t given great detail about the at-fault drivers actions in the moments before the wreck, but they have said he was “momentarily distracted” just before impact.

December 8, 2014

“Violent” Teen Crash in Maine Attributed to Alcohol, Speed

by Peter Thompson & Associates

The front half of the vehicle could barely be recognized as such, following a recent single-car collision into a utility pole, by a 16-year-old driver police believe was both drunk and speeding.

Phrases like, “lucky to be alive” were exchanged by investigators at the scene, who also described the wreck as “violent.” The impact into a utility pole caused the pole to break and tore the engine from the frame of the car, which overturned multiple times before landing on its wheels.

Amazingly, the teen suffered only minor injuries and was not even treated at the hospital following the Gardiner crash. He reportedly had just dropped off a friend minutes earlier, and no one else was inside the vehicle at the time.

November 22, 2014

Maine’s First Winter Storm Packs Wallop for Drivers

by Peter Thompson & Associates

An early blast of winter dumped more than a foot of snow across Maine recently, effectively ushering out autumn with bitter cold, strong winds and widespread flurries.

News reports indicated winds reached speeds of up to 50-miles-per-hour, while more than 135,000 households were without power. The Portland Press Herald reported numerous roads were impassable, which slowed recovery efforts in some areas. In some instances, Canadian crews were even called upon to come help as Gov. Paul LePage declared a limited emergency. This allowed utility crews to work overtime.

Throughout the state, roads were slick and treacherous. Reports were numerous vehicles careened off the road in Freeport and Brunswick. Trees fell on thoroughfares in Scarborough. There were also several crashes with injuries, including a collision between a sport-utility vehicle and a minivan in Falmouth that led to seven people hospitalized. Authorities would later say the SUV driver was traveling the speed limit, but it was too fast for road conditions.