Truck Drivers Continue to Fight Drowsy Driving Accident Prevention
In an effort to reduce the number of serious truck accidents that occur each year due to fatigued driving, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) enacted new Hours-of-Service rules for truck drivers in July 2013. The new rule reduced the number of hours a trucker may spend on the road in a single week from 82 hours to 70, with a mandatory 34 hours of rest before beginning a new workweek.
Driving while drowsy is a great risk for any driver, but when an individual is operating a semi-truck that can easily weigh 80,000 pounds, the potential for causing catastrophic or fatal damage is all the more real. According to National Transportation Safety Board, nearly half of all fatal truck accidents are the result of a fatigued truck driver.
Unfortunately, in an industry in which truckers earn more money the quicker a delivery is completed, forcing drivers to spend less time on the road, especially between the low-traffic hours of 1am and 5am, is not a welcomed change.
Five Ways to Find the Perfect Graduation Gift
Students all over New York are graduating this spring and summer. Graduation is a huge milestone in a teen’s or young adult’s life, and many family members and friends mark the occasion with a gift. Here are five ways to offer a gift the new graduate will love now and in the future:
Name That Major
For high school students who have already chosen a college major or for recent college graduates, a gift relating to their field of study is always helpful. For students entering a field of study, you can help them purchase what they’ll need: tools for auto mechanics students, lab equipment for science majors, or books for any student. Some schools offer gift cards; contact the school’s bookstore to find out.
What Does Dad Really Want for Father’s Day?
Nix the necktie and skip the socks! What dads really want for Father’s Day can’t be bought in any department store. Instead, recent polls show that what most dads really want for Father’s Day is to spend quality time with their families. They want to feel like they matter as much on Father’s Day as Mom matters on Mother’s Day – and polls show that most dads have family members who agree with them.
How can you make Dad feel like a million bucks on Father’s Day without wasting your cash? Try these Father’s Day celebrations:
Go out to Dinner with the Family
Gather the family and take Dad out to dinner. Make him feel like the guest of honor by taking care of all the details beforehand, from making the reservations to appointing a driver to packing along the credit card. For an extra touch, ask the restaurant if you can have your father’s favorite drink or appetizer waiting at the table when he arrives – or if you can drop off a small gift beforehand for the wait staff to surprise him with.
Help Kids Stay Safe This Summer: Take the Pool Safely Pledge
Swimming safety helps address the number-one cause of death and unintentional injury among children under age 5: drownings and near-drownings in swimming pools and hot tubs. Three in every four of these accidents occur in backyard swimming pools and hot tubs, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
How can you help protect the kids you love from injury this summer? Start by raising their awareness and your own by taking the “Pool Safely” pledge with them. The CPSC offers a sample pledge for both children and adults. The children’s pledge asks kids to promise to keep the following safety rules in mind:
- Never swim alone,
- Ask parents or caregivers to sign them up for swimming lessons,
4 Best Photography Locations in NYC
Summer is one of the best times to capture the many sights of New York City, whether using your smart phone, or, if you’re an old-fashioned kind of person, a Nokia 35mm. The Big Apple is abundant with pictorial photo shoot spots, what with all the historical sites, tall buildings, neon lights, and other eye-catching objects. Pick any direction, start walking, and you’re bound to come across some good photo opportunities. However, if you really want your photos to impress go to these select locations below and get that perfect picture you’ve been seeking.
Twilight at Times Square
Times Square seems like an obvious location, but it’s not the where that matters in this case, but the when. Lots of bad photos are taken in Times Square due to suboptimal lighting conditions; at the wrong times, it’s easy to get either dim or hazy photos. If you want postcard quality photos of Times Square, start shooting right after the sun has set. The sky won’t be too bright as to wash out the city lights, but it also won’t be too dark to cause the camera’s light meter to falter due to harsh contrast. Make sure you scout out some good spots and angles before the time comes.
Help Children Avoid Dog Bite Injuries This Summer
May 19-25 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week. Children are the most common victims of dog bites nationwide, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), and among children, young children – ages 0-4 years – are the most likely to be injured by a dog bite.
You can help protect children you care for this summer by teaching them how to behave around dogs they meet. By teaching children “good dog manners,” you can help them reduce the risk of suffering a dog bite injury.
Prevent dog bites by following these rules:
- Never leave a baby or small child alone with a dog. Supervise both the child and the dog, and separate them if the dog starts showing signs of anxiety, stress, or aggression.
New York Super Lawyers Recognizes WRSH Attorneys, 2 Listed as “Rising Stars”
The personal injury and medical malpractice law firm Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP is proud to have eight of our attorneys selected for inclusion in the 2014 New York Super Lawyers Magazine.
Super Lawyers is an exclusive listing that identifies attorneys who have achieved the highest degree of peer recognition and professional achievement in more than 70 legal practices every year. Only five percent of qualifying attorneys are chosen for inclusion every year in each state after a thorough vetting process that involves extensive peer reviews, nominations, and independent research.
May is National Bike Safety Month
May is National Bike Safety Month, an important month for New York bicyclists. Although rates of car and truck crashes have gone down over the past decade, the rate of bicycle injuries on New York roadways has actually increased, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
You can help keep yourself and those you care about safer on bicycles this summer by knowing the top causes of bicycle accident injury and how to avoid them. As always, never hesitate to speak to an experienced New York City bicycle injury lawyer if you are hurt in a crash this summer.
According to the National Survey on Bicyclist and Pedestrian Attitudes and Behaviors, the top three causes of bicyclist injuries include:
- Being hit by a car. This one event accounts for one in every three bicycle accidents. Bicyclists can wear helmets and reflective clothing to help protect themselves, and motorists should always look carefully for bicycles while driving.
The World’s Strangest Easter Traditions
It’s almost Easter. And once again, families across the nation are looking forward to the many traditions that take place during the spring holiday. Egg painting, chocolate, bunnies, and egg hunting will be happening in homes everywhere. But Easter is a worldwide holiday, and not everyone celebrates in the same fashion as the U.S.
At Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, we’ve decided to spotlight some of these funny, strange, and sometimes awesome Easter traditions from around the world.
Don’t You Mean Halloween? – In Finland, Easter takes on a decidedly Halloween theme. Children dress up as witches and go trick-or-treating during a festival, with bonfires lit to scare off witches, who are seen as becoming very powerful during that time.
It’s the Easter Bilby, Charlie Brown – In Australia, there is no Easter Bunny. Rather, it is the Easter Bilby who brings treats. The bilby is a small desert-dwelling marsupial that is endangered. Most see its recognition during Easter as bringing awareness to the endangered creature. Plus, bunnies are seen as pests on the continent.
National Safety Council’s “Injury Facts” Shed Light on Accident, Injury Risks
The National Safety Council (NSC) recently released its 2014 edition of Injury Facts, a report that tracks and explains safety statistics and trends throughout the United States. For over 90 years, the organization has published this annual safety report, which provides valuable information to both experienced New York injury lawyers and to the general public on how to reduce the risk of common types of injuries.
Information that appears in the 2014 edition, according to the National Safety Council, includes the following facts:
- The price tag for accidental injuries is steep: about $790 billion annually is lost on medical bills, lost productivity, and other costs.