Blog Posts in February, 2017

Police Step Up DWI Patrols After Fatal Accidents

In the aftermath of two fatalities in the St. Joseph area, the Missouri State Highway Patrol announced that they’ll step up their drunk driving patrols. By increasing their use of checkpoints and saturation patrols, the police hope to decrease the number of car accidents caused by inebriated drivers. Two Fatalities Spark Increase in DWI Enforcement 2016 was a year in which St. Joseph saw only one ...

Special Rules for Pit Bulls in St. Joseph

Every dog owner knows that their pet is unique. With its own distinctive character and attitude, there’s a reason why so many people consider their dog to be a part of their own, human, family. However, some dogs are bred to have traits that make them more or less friendly, or act more aggressively. These traits can have a huge impact on how often a dog bite could occur. To prevent a serious ...

Car Accident Hurts 2 When Car Crosses Center Line

A serious car accident between St. Joseph and Kansas City sent two people to the hospital. Initial reports indicate that one of the drivers crossed the center line which, if true, could constitute negligence per se. Car Accident North of Kansas City The crash happened on the morning of Thursday, February 23, 2017, on the Kansas side of the Missouri River, 35 miles southwest of St. Joseph and 40 ...

Uber Facing Sexual Harassment Claims

Contrary to popular belief, not all workplace injuries are physical. Harassment, discrimination, and even retaliation are also workplace injuries that could lead to workers’ compensation claims. However, because they are non-physical injuries that don’t show up on an X-ray, these issues are often more difficult to prove, making them tricky to handle. That doesn’t make them any less serious, ...

Why Takata’s Airbag Recall is Going So Slowly

Defective airbags made by Takata have made car accidents in St. Joseph and throughout the country far more dangerous than they should be. However, despite the nationwide recall, the situation is still not resolved. This is because the recall is “ the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history ,” and has encountered numerous difficulties that have slowed it down. Here are the problems ...

Smartphones Causing Car Insurance Rates to Rise

Distracted driving has become such a huge problem on the roads of America that car insurance companies have been increasing their rates. At the heart of the situation is a spike in smartphone usage behind the wheel, which has resulted in more serious car accidents across the country. Car Accidents on the Rise in the U.S. As we detailed in a recent blog post, there were more than 40,000 motor ...

Dog Bites and Trespassing in Missouri

Dog bites are an especially serious injury. Most of the victims are young children who are often left traumatized by the attack. This can have lasting repercussions, as they are unable to overcome their fear of dogs and develop a relationship with other, friendly pets. To help prevent dog bite injuries, the state of Missouri has its own set of laws that deal with dog bites. These laws are some of ...

Car Accident Deaths in U.S. Rise Again in 2016

With 2016 now in the past, car safety experts have been able to compile all the data on car accidents for the entire year. As they had predicted from the results of the first six months of the 2016, last year saw a scary increase in the number of fatal car crashes. Coupled with another significant increase in road fatalities in 2015, many safety experts are getting worried. Road Fatalities ...

Workers’ Compensation Laws and the Dept. of Labor

Workers’ compensation laws exist to make sure your boss covers the cost of an injury you suffer while on the job. However, like all laws, workers’ compensation laws are not unchangeable. Politicians can alter laws as they see fit, with only a few limitations. In fact, workers’ compensation laws are a constant target of the business community: Business people want to weaken or repeal these ...

How Defective Takata Airbags Can Hurt You

All cars come with safety features meant to protect drivers and passengers from harm in a car accident . However, when those safety features fail, they can’t prevent serious injuries in the crash, and can even cause harm on their own. This is exactly what has been happening with airbags made by the company Takata. As we detailed in our recent blog post, Takata airbags have serious defects . These ...

Car Accident Suspends Ambulance on Overpass

A car accident in St. Joseph between a car and an ambulance left the ambulance suspended on an overpass. Multiple people suffered personal injuries in the crash. While it is unclear yet whether the ambulance was responding to a call at the time of the accident, even if it was, that does not necessarily mean that the car driver was at fault. Car Accident Involving Ambulance in St. Joseph The crash ...

The Defect in Takata’s Airbags, Explained

Car accidents claim the lives of thousands of people every year in the United States. However, not all of these fatalities come from the crash, itself. Defective auto parts, particularly when the defect is in a safety feature, can make a crash far worse than it should have been. Nowhere is this more apparent than the Takata airbag recall, which has now entered its third year. Because of the ...

Missouri Motorcycle Helmet Law Debates Continue

A pair of bills going through the Missouri Legislature could change whether motorcyclists in the state have to wear helmets. The issue is contentious, because helmets protect bikers in car accidents and motorcycle accidents, but many riders prefer to take the risk. Missouri Legislature Reviews Motorcycle Helmet Laws Right now, the state of Missouri is one of the 19 in the U.S. to have a universal ...

Missouri Passes a Right-to-Work Law

On Monday, February 6, 2017, Missouri became the 28 th state in the U.S. to sign a “right-to-work” bill into law. Governor Eric Greitens signed the bill into law , and it’s scheduled to take effect in August of this year. However, hours after the governor signed the bill, state union leaders filed a referendum petition. If enough people sign the petition, the law would be frozen and it would ...

Driver Ejected in Rollover Car Accident

Two men from Kansas City were seriously hurt in a car accident in St. Joseph. Their vehicle went off the road and into oncoming traffic on I-29. There, a truck collided with their vehicle, causing it to spin and flip into the median. The driver of the car was ejected in the truck accident . Horrendous Truck Accident Hurts Two The incident happened in the afternoon of Monday, February 6, 2017. A ...

Car Accidents Rise Sharply After Super Bowl

It might not surprise some, but studies have confirmed that car accidents increase sharply immediately after the Super Bowl. In fact, the areas facing the sharpest spike in car crashes are those immediately surrounding the losing team’s city. Unfortunately, this means that many people face serious personal injuries , even if they were not watching the game. Car Accidents Rise After the Super Bowl ...

New Research Investigates Cause of Whiplash

Whiplash is probably the most common personal injury that you can suffer in a car accident . This is in large part due to the fact that, unlike most other types of injuries, you can get whiplash in even low-speed car crashes. However, despite its prevalence, there is not very much known about whiplash. Doctors and researchers disagree on many aspects of whiplash, including some very basic facts ...

Advertisers Show Interest in Head-Up Displays

In one of our recent blog posts, we talked about a new safety feature that was gaining popularity in upscale cars: Head-up displays . While experts are split as to how head-up displays will impact car accidents , advertisers see them as an opportunity to reach new customers. If they get their way, head-up displays will likely become far more distracting than they should be. Head-Up Displays A ...

Triumph Foods’ Workers’ Compensation Problems

Companies and other corporations have always existed to make a profit. However, in recent decades it has become more and more obvious that businesses are willing to go to ever greater lengths to increase their income or decrease their expenses. One way that businesses across the country have been doing this is by refusing to pay workers who suffer a personal injury while on the job. This practice ...

Brake Failure Causes St. Joseph Truck Accident

A truck accident in St. Joseph sent one person to the hospital with minor injuries. Initial reports say that the accident happened after the brakes failed on one of the vehicles involved. Truck Accident in St. Joseph Injures One The incident happened in the afternoon of January 31, 2017, at the intersection of Highway 36 and I-229 in St. Joseph. A Nissan Titan pickup truck was driving eastbound on ...