Maine Injury Lawyer Blog

March 12, 2014

Reducing Portland Traffic Injuries Goal of Funding Push

It was shortly after 5:30 p.m. when a 74-year-old Bangor man was struck by a tractor-trailer as he crossed the street, headed to an early evening Sunday service in Brewer.

The man suffered critical injuries as a result of the impact, which rendered him unconscious, though he continued to breathe and maintained a heartbeat in the immediate aftermath. Large gashes to his head, knees and elbows were visible to first-responders.

It’s accidents like this that Portland officials are looking to combat with a bid for some $10 million in transportation funding for projects to revamp city streets, intersections and pedestrian pathways. These projects would ideally incorporate smart road designs that would make them safer for everyone who travels in the area.

March 5, 2014

Estate of Boulier v. Presque Isle Nursing Home – Maine Nursing Home Falls

by Peter Thompson & Associates

The elderly are more susceptible to injury-causing falls, which is why nursing homes and other assisted care facilities have a duty to ensure that preventative measures are in place and that proper treatment is offered should one occur.

However, our Bangor wrongful death lawyers recognize that it is not enough in a civil trial to prove liability simply by showing that an injurious fall occurred while a patient was in the defendant nursing home’s care.
In these cases, what must be proven under the Maine Health Security Act is professional negligence. The recent case of Estate of Boulier v. Presque Isle Nursing Home, reviewed on appeal by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, reveals how this threshold of proof can be difficult to meet – underscoring why you must trust your case to an experienced attorney.

February 22, 2014

Maine Snowmobile Accidents Spur State Warden’s Warning

by Peter Thompson & Associates

A spate of Maine snowmobile injuries – and two crashes resulting in deaths – have prompted the state warden service to issue a formal warning urging caution, adherence to safety practices and a plea to slow down.

According to the Bangor Daily News, at least eight serious snowmobile crashes occurred in a single weekend, resulting in numerous injuries – including those sustained by an 8-year-old boy.

Primarily, authorities say, these crashes involved either inexperienced drivers or drivers who were traveling at excessive speeds. The crash involving the 8-year-old boy occurred while his grandfather was driving the vehicle. In Athens, a 15-year-old boy suffered a head injury when he was thrown from a snowmobile driven by a friend. Several others suffered broken legs or other fractures.

February 1, 2014

Bangor Area Driver Killed in Head-On Collision

by Peter Thompson & Associates

A 47-year-old woman was killed in a recent head-on accident on Route 9, according to the Bangor Daily News. Unfortunately, she was pronounced dead at the scene, reports the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office.

The driver was heading westbound just before 6:00 a.m. when her vehicle collided with a pickup heading eastbound. It happened just west of Rooks Road. Officials are still investigating the cause of the collision. The eastbound driver was seriously injured and remains in Eastern Maine Medical Center.

Our Bangor car accident attorneys know head-on collisions are too often fatal. Preventive measures include traffic signs and road surface markings to help guide drivers through curves, as well as separating opposing lanes of traffic with wide central reservation (or median) and median barriers to prevent crossover incidents. But sometimes even those measures don’t save lives.

January 25, 2014

Bangor Uninsured Motorist Claims Follow Hit-and-Run Crashes

by Peter Thompson & Associates

State authorities and police in Bangor are searching for the driver of a Jeep Liberty involved in a midday crash on I-95 with a 15-passenger van, causing two serious injuries. The driver of the Jeep fled the scene before emergency officials arrived.

We anticipate more crashes in the midst of Maine’s snowy season and, unfortunately, we see a spike in hit-and-run incidents as well, primarily because drivers are either drunk, driving illegally or don’t have insurance. Sometimes, it’s a combination of all three.

Thankfully, there are some avenues of recourse for victims. By making an uninsured motorist claim in Bangor, victims can secure compensation for injuries, vehicle damages, medical bills and lost wages through their own insurance carrier.

January 20, 2014

Bangor Injury Claims: Establishing Causation Per the Daubert Standard

by Peter Thompson & Associates

In Bangor personal injury lawsuits, solid, reliable expert testimony is a critical part of success. It’s the necessary link to proving that you suffered damage directly as a result of the other party’s negligence.

If the defense can establish doubt for the jury by insinuating your injuries were caused in some other way, your case could be in jeopardy.

In order to ensure that the testimony provided by your expert witness is admissible in court, the judge will apply the Daubert standard. This much-used criteria was first established in the case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals in 1993, which allows for the standard of flexible reliability.

January 7, 2014

Bangor Workers’ Compensation Claims May Stem from Cold Weather Injuries

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Maine is no stranger to brutal cold. As one of the northernmost states in the country, our municipalities and other infrastructures are well steeled for frigidity.The polar vortex, however, has resulted in record-breaking winter weather, with wind chills in some areas causing temperatures to plummet as far as 60 to 70 degrees below zero. In this kind of environment, frostbite can attack exposed skin in a matter of minutes. A person who travels outside without the proper dress would be at grave risk for hypothermia, and even death.

Employers have a responsibility to take every necessary precaution to protect workers toiling under these conditions. Employees who suffer severe cold stress injuries as a result should file a Bangor workers’ compensation claim.

December 30, 2013

Exculpatory Agreements for Children Have Varied Enforcement in Maine

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Agreements that extract a party from liability for negligence are handled with a heightened degree of judicial scrutiny in Maine courts.This is especially true when these exculpatory agreements involve release of negligence for harm to children.

The recent case of BJ’s Wholesale Club v. Rosen, reviewed by the Maryland Court of Appeals, illustrates how courts tend to wrestle with these matters.

December 22, 2013

Maine Ice Slip and FallsAccidents Commonplace as Winter Begins

by Peter Thompson & Associates

For the majority of the winter season here in Maine, workers and residents must contend with a potentially hazardous mix of ice and snow.While some might consider a slip on the ice or a fall in the snow just one of those inevitable cold-weather nuisances – perhaps even a comical one – there is also a high potential for such an incident to result in a serious injury. The result is sometimes that victims are forced to take leave of their job and suffer serious medical complications, including broken bones and joints, as well as back and head injuries. Filing aspremises liability claim may best protect your rights in the wake of serious injury.

A recent report by the Maine Department of Labor Standards took pains in detailing just how widespread the problem is, and how much it costs us all each year.

December 14, 2013

Maine’s Emergency Medical Responders & Overexertion Injuries

by Peter Thompson & Associates

Our emergency medical responders are the people we count on when seconds matter and fast, proper care can mean the difference between life and death.But according to a new report by the Maine Department of Labor’s Labor Standards division, these workers, who include EMTs, paramedics and firefighters, are especially vulnerable to injuries. On the job, these employees are at high risk for overexertion injuries resulting from lifting, transporting or otherwise assisting ill or injured persons.

Those type of injuries accounted for more than third of all injuries suffered by emergency medical crews, with strain injuries accounting for some 94 percent of all overexertion injuries. Most often, it was the employees’ back that was affected, accounting for about 45 percent of all cases.