Blog – Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers
Vehicle collisions: Distracted driving deadlier than impaired driving
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You would think that talking or texting on your phone while driving would be less dangerous than driving while impaired, but unfortunately that is no longer the case.
For many years, distracted drivers in Ontario have overtaken drunken driving as one of the main causes of a motor vehicle accident. This is a phenomenon that is also taking place in other provinces.
In Ontario, there were 50 motor vehicle fatalities caused by distracted driving this year compared to 30 motor vehicle fatalities caused by impaired driving, an Insurance Bureau of Canada spokesperson told the Toronto Star.
The provincial government is taking note with a private member’s bill currently in the works at Queen’s Park. The bill, which was named after a Scarborough resident who was unfortunately killed by a distracted driver, calls for tougher penalties, including demerit points and increased fines for drivers that are caught talking or texting on their phones while driving. It’s gained support from both Liberal and Conservative MPPs.
In the past three years, there have been 235,000 charges laid, according to Transportation Minister Glen Murray.
An Ottawa man also launched a petition to hand out steeper penalties for distracted driving after he witnessed an accident in August. He told the Ottawa Citizen that he saw a driver travel at a high speed with her head down, which led to her hitting another vehicle that stopped at a red light.
Ontario’s ban on driving while using a cellphone was introduced in 2009. Police can issue tickets and drivers will be fined $155, but there are no demerit points taken off and handheld devices will not be confiscated either. Drivers who endanger the lives of others as a result of distracted driving can also be charged with careless driving, which results in an automatic penalty of six demerit points, fines of up to $2,000 and a possible jail term of six months. Your licence may even be suspended for two years or you could be charged with the criminal offence of dangerous driving.
Murray is hopeful that stiffer penalties and education campaigns will lower the rates of distracted driving. A documentary, From One Second to the Next, produced by Oscar-nominated director Werner Herzog explores this unfortunate issue. Also, the state of New Jersey is looking at a bill that could make activites such as eating, putting on make up or smoking illegal while driving. Drivers could be fined $200 to $400 for the first offense, $400 to $600 for the second offense and $600 to $800 for the third and other offenses afterwards.
Motor vehicle accidents happen and accident benefits are available to anyone involved in a motor vehicle accident regardless of who caused the accident. The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been dealing with all accident related issues throughout Ontario for over 45 years. We know how to get you the compensation that you deserve and get your life back in order after being in a car accident. Call us at 416-920-4242, set up a free consultation, and come speak with us.
Bicycle sharing is growing in popularity
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Bicycle sharing has grown exponentially since its introduction back in the 1960’s. To date, bike-share programs are available in more than 500 cities in 50 countries, according to the Economist.
Most of the programs have similar principles. An individual visits a docking station and rents a bike, either with a subscription or as a casual user. The cost of renting a bicycle typically involves a security deposit, along with usage fees for the amount of time a bicycle is rented.
While bicycle-sharing programs have been available in Europe for years, they only recently arrived in Canada with the first Bixi program in Montreal on May of 2009. There were also additional programs launched in London, Ont. on July of 2010, in Toronto on May of 2011 and in Ottawa on May of 2011. Vancouver’s city council also recently gave a program the green light and it’s expected to launch by early 2014. The trend is also catching on in the United States with urban cities such as San Francisco, Chicago and New York launching programs this year.
Cycling is growing quickly as a mode of transportation with the number of cyclists in Canada increasing over the past few years. In Ontario, more than 600,000 people cycle on their bicycles each day, according to Share the Road Coalition, a non-profit cycling coalition.
Unfortunately, tragic accidents can occur when cycling. A study conducted in Europe found that cyclists are eight times more likely to face a fatal injury per kilometre travelled compared to passengers in a motor vehicle. In Ontario, there were 129 cycling accidents between 2006 to 2010, according to a review released by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario. In 2009, there were over 26,000 visits to Ontario emergency rooms from injuries related to cycling. While dooring incidents aren’t tracked by police, they are one of the reasons behind injured cyclists.
If you’re involved in a bicycle accident with a motor vehicle, “reverse onus” applies, which means that the driver needs to prove that they were not wrong in their actions.
As governments continue their efforts to make cycling safer for riders, whether it’s through designated bicycle lanes or mandatory side guards on trucks, it’s important to ride safely.
Unfortunately, bicycle accidents happen and can result in devastating consequences. Personal injury law firm Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers has over 40 years of experience in handling various injuries. We understand the impacts injuries can have on your life and we know how to help you. Call us at 416-920-4242. Set up a free consultation and come talk with us.
Slip and fall claims don’t just apply to icy walkways
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Accidents as simple as trips, slips or stumbles sound harmless and little more than a daily or weekly routine for the clumsy ones among us. In actuality though, these accidents often result in damaging injuries that significantly impact day-to-day life while recovering.
Falls are often caused by icy or wet surfaces, loose carpets, cluttered walkways, uneven stairs, or poor lighting. The responsibility to inspect, maintain, and repair premises lies not just on the owner of the property, but sometimes on a tenant or person hosting activities there. Carelessness to ensure that the area is safe is negligence and can easily result in a lawsuit. To eliminate safety hazards, occupiers should establish systems of inspections and maintenance that are carried out regularly. This should include sending out warnings or using appropriate signs if there is a potential danger. (E.g.’ wet floor’ or ‘do not run’ signs)
When thinking of slip and fall cases, many probably think about falling on icy walkways. While this is a common accident cause, another one that is often overlooked is slippery floors in the kitchens of restaurants. About three million foodservice workers injure themselves each year thanks to poorly kept kitchens conditions. Managers of restaurants are responsible for creating a safe environment and protecting against floors that get slippery with grease, oil, or wet weather.
Since incidents of slipping on slick sidewalks in the winter are common sources of injury during the cold months, provincial law actually requires municipalities to maintain all sidewalks. If they do not, the city can be held accountable for negligence. Cities like Toronto can pass bylaws though requiring homeowners to clear snow and ice. Many people might think that the city is responsible for cleaning up only well-travelled sidewalks, however they are required to clear all walkways. This includes paths and alleys.
The Toronto Star reported in 2009 that a woman, Vier Guy, successfully sued the city of Toronto for neglecting the pathway where she took a nasty fall that shattered her wrist. She was awarded $34,000 (including $4,000 for lost tuition as she was unable to complete courses) and the city was accused of being grossly negligent for ignoring the conditions of the pathway which several students and delivery people used regularly throughout the winter.
You also have responsibilities if you are trying to file (and win) a slip and fall claim. You must be able to accurately identify the reason for the fall and show that it is someone else’s fault. To do this, you either need an eye witness story, photos of the scene, or another form of documentation to prove your story. It should also be noted that in Canada, spouses and family members can file slip and fall claims for loss of companionship or guidance.
The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been handling accident injuries for over 40 years, and we know how to help you get compensation after a slip and fall accident. Call us at 416-920-4242 to set up a free consultation.
Medical malpractice: Emergency room errors do happen
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Doctors and nurses are known to save lives; they handle traumatic cases on a daily basis however like another human being they can make mistakes, however their errors can have devastating consequences that can last a life time.
Unfortunately, errors in the emergency room are fairly common with patients exposed to the chance of four or five procedural issues when they’re recovering from surgery, according to a UK study conducted in a busy, urban teaching hospital. Half of those issues can even impede your recuperation.
One frequent error is when surgeons leave a foreign object in a patient after operating. It’s also common for surgeons to operate on the wrong body part.
Recent studies show that adverse events in hospitals happen around ten to 14 per cent of the time. There’s also a “weekend effect” in Toronto hospitals where patients admitted on Friday to Sunday face a higher chance of death.
While hospitals use surgical safety checklists to ensure that proper steps are followed by doctors and nurses after surgeries, unfortunately 40 to 50 per cent of harmful hospital-related complications are related to being operated on. Checklists that were introduced in 2008 have reduced the number of surgery-related complications and deaths by a third, but improvements continue to be made.
Hospital malpractice suits need to prove that the doctor was negligent when they cared for you. Many malpractice claims came from missed or delayed diagnoses of serious health issues, according to a recent study done by an Ireland Medical School in Dublin that looked at malpractice claims from Canada, the United States, Australia and France. Death was a frequent consequence from these claims.
The most common diagnostic errors were cancer, which were typically breast, colon, melanoma, lung and female genital tract, circulatory system problems, such as a heart attack, appendicitis, ectopic pregnancy and fractures. For children, malpractice claims were typically for cancer or meningitis.
Malpractice claims for drug errors were the second most common reason.
Hospitals are hectic places and while doctors and nurses are only human and bound to make mistakes, you have the right to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit if the harm done against you is legitimate. The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been handling all types of injuries for over 40 years including injuries from negligent medical workers. We understand the impacts injuries can have on your life and we know how to help you. Call us at 416-920-4242. Set up a free consultation and come talk with us.
Countdown crosswalk signals could lead to more accidents
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More and more cities across Canada are installing crosswalks that show how many more seconds a person has left to cross the street. You would think this might increase safety since this way pedestrians aren’t bolting across the road when the crosswalk light shows a flashing hand, but a recent Toronto study disputes this thinking.
Crosswalk signals at about 2,000 intersections in Toronto led to a 26 per cent increase in the rate of collisions, according to an analysis by the Hospital of Sick Children looking at previously released data. And it gets worse. Of these incidents, there were 50 per cent more fatal pedestrian-automobile collisions.
It’s likely that these countdown signals rush pedestrians to cross the road and rush drivers to get out of the intersection, say the researchers. Pedestrians are recommended not to cross the road when they see a countdown, but this doesn’t always happen.
Dr. Andrew Howard, a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon at SickKids, suggests that having crosswalk times end earlier could decrease the number of accidents. The report analyzed data between January of 2000 and December of 2009 and it studied 1,965 intersections and 9,262 incidents of accidents between pedestrians and cars.
This disputes a previously completed study which concluded that pedestrians were safer with timed crosswalks, but they led to more vehicle collisions. The signals drove down collisions between a vehicle and a pedestrian by five less each month, but there were 22 more vehicle collisions in intersections with timed crossings compared to intersections without them.
One of the researchers told CTV that he thinks this is the case because drivers speed up to get out of the intersection, but they don’t time it right, which results in a collision. The two researchers analyzed data between 2004 and 2008 at Toronto’s intersections.
Timed signals were brought to Toronto in November of 2006 and since then have expanded to many intersections in the city. Cities across North American have installed them on roads as well.
When pedestrians cross the road using a crosswalk, it’s important to look both ways and ensure that a vehicle is coming to a stop. While pedestrians have the right of the way, it’s important to make eye contact with the driver to make sure they have seen you. Also, be aware of your surroundings and don’t wear headphones and earmuffs when crossing since they may affect your hearing and vision.
For drivers, it’s important that you’re aware at all times. With the recent change in daylight savings time, there’s a greater chance of pedestrian-vehicle accidents. Don’t rush when you’re driving and stay alert when driving through intersections.
Motor vehicle accidents happen and accident benefits are available to anyone involved in a motor vehicle accident regardless of who caused the accident. The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been dealing with all accident related issues throughout Ontario for over 45 years. We know how to get you the compensation that you deserve and get your life back in order after being in a car accident. Call us at 416-920-4242, set up a free consultation, and come speak with us.
Accidents can happen to transit workers
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In the early morning of September 14, 2012, two Toronto transit workers shifted their work from the southbound tunnel site near Yorkdale subway station, to the northbound site. Neither of them alerted the TTC control office as they were supposed to.
While 49-year-old Peter Pavlovski and a co-worker continued to work on the northbound site, they were unaware that a worker car was headed southbound. The driver of that car was also unaware that the two men were working on his travelled track. Pavlovski didn’t hear the car and was hit. His co-worker was injured, but survived.
If you don’t consider the circumstances it appears to be solely the victims fault, however it was 4:45 a.m. and if they hoped to finish their necessary work before Torontonians clustered along subway lines, they wouldn’t waste time on the phone with the control office. Tight time constraints is common for most night shift workers. Since subways weren’t running during the hours that they worked, it seemed unnecessary to let anyone know which part of the track they were working on. Often, the phones that they used weren’t reliable either. It was part of the reason why workers communicated their whereabouts less diligently.
This happened just over a year ago but as recently reported by the Toronto Star, the TTC has admitted that its night crew often disregarded basic safety measurements as a way to save time.
Some changes have been made since the incident. All TTC workers participate in additional safety training. Fifteen new safety experts have been hired to work on every area of the TTC. The use of a safety precaution used by workers during subway operating hours where they set up a blue light at the end of the tunnel as a signal of their presence, known as the blue-light system, might be extended to when the subway isn’t running. Also under consideration is the installation of a new track warning system.
Toronto’s subway system has 74 stations between its four lines — Yonge-University-Spadina, Bloor-Danforth, Scarborough and Sheppard. Yearly, the subway carries around 460 million Torontonians, but on a typical weekday, the system shuffles about 1.6 million people across the city.
Unfortunately, Pavlovski isn’t the only worker who has died while maintaining the TTC. In 2007, Antonio Almeida, 38, died in a work train accident. While driving a train through the subway tunnel, equipment made contact with the wall, snapped back, struck and killed him. Two other co-workers were injured in the accident.
Transportation accidents, accidental death and the personal damages they leave behind is a part of personal injury law. At Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers, we have over 40 years of experience in handling all types of accidents. We know the impacts they have on your life and the life of your family members and we know how to help you. Call us at 416-920-4242. Set up a free consultation and come talk with us.
Train derailments can have devastating consequences
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There was an unfortunate train accident in the town of Gainford, Alta., about 80 kilometres west of Edmonton, that forced about 100 people to evacuate their homes in mid-October.
A Canadian National Railway Co. train travelling with petroleum gas caught fire and caused two massive explosions after 13 of the train’s cars went off the tracks. The fire was severe enough that firefighters had to back off to let it burn out by itself. Luckily, nobody was injured. This is the third serious Canadian derailment case involving hazardous materials this fall.
An unfortunately, well known train accident is the Lac Megantic disaster on July 8. A Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway train carrying 8.1 million litres of crude oil derailed and crashed. The tragedy killed 47 people and left the Quebec town reeling.
The town is still cleaning up five million litres of oil after the disaster and it isn’t expected to be complete until February 2014. Oil trickled into the town’s water and soil and seeped into the city’s building frameworks. A good portion of downtown was destroyed and buildings are being examined for structural integrity. While the total repair costs aren’t known yet, they are estimated to be $14.5 million.
Since the disaster, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said that the Canadian federal government has invested $100 million in rail safety, as well as introduced tougher fines for companies who violate safety regulations.
Freight trains undergo inspections for: cars leaning to one side or positioned improperly on tracks, objects dragging below the car body, insecurely attached doors, broken or missing safety appliances, overheated or broken wheels, hand brakes failing to release and other safety hazards.
In Ontario alone, there are nearly 19,000 kilometres of railway track weaving throughout the province’s cities and small towns. The recent derailments have left some devastating marks on those who live near the crash sites.
Train derailments and the personal damages they leave is a part of personal injury law. At Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers, we have over 40 years of experience in handling all types of accidents. We know the impacts injuries have on your life and your family’s and we know how to help you. Call us at 416-920-4242. Set up a free consultation and come talk with us.
Elder abuse in nursing homes are not isolated cases, say experts
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When your elderly parents move to a nursing home, you hope they’re being treated well during their last years. Unfortunately, sometimes that isn’t the case.
Canada’s population is aging rapidly with the country’s senior population at 4,945,000 people and 7.9 per cent (390,655) of these people live in collective dwellings, which includes nursing homes and hospitals, according to the recent 2011 National Household Survey.
Sadly, in 2011, about 8,500 seniors were the victim of a violent crime, according to Statistics Canada. More than one quarter (27 per cent) of the victimized seniors were maltreated by a stranger.
More than 10,000 elders have suffered from elder abuse, according to an investigation by CTV’s W5. A 2011 investigation done by the Toronto Star says that more than 10 nursing home residents in Ontario are physically and emotionally abused each month. Media reports also suggest that elder abuse in institutions aren’t isolated cases.
Also, there are five murders a year, on average, in care facilities, according to an investigation by CTV’s W5.
In Windsor, a family filed a lawsuit against the Rose Garden Villa long-term care home after an elder with dementia left the home and threw herself into the Detroit River. The claims need to be proven in court, but the family is suing for negligence on the home’s behalf.
This past spring, there was a hidden camera video brought to the media by the son of a resident in a Peterborough long-term care facility showing his mother, an elderly woman with dementia, being mistreated by the facility’s staff. The workers were suspended and later fired, but the police were unable to lay charges. Both the nursing home and the province launched an investigation. The son told CTV that he filed complaints with the home and approached Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term care before giving the video to media.
Just this year, a class action lawsuit detailing cases of elder abuse against the St-Charles Borromée hospital, a long-term care facility, in Montreal was settled. A few hundred victims and families were offered $8.5 million. The lawsuit was launched in 1999 and it was with the help of hidden videos documenting the abuse that pushed the case forward in 2003.
If you suspect a loved one is the victim of elder abuse in a nursing home, we can assist with a negligence claim. The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been handling all types of injuries for over 40 years including injuries from negligent medical workers. We understand the impacts injuries can have on your life and we know how to help you. Call us at 416-920-4242. Set up a free consultation and come talk with us.
Pediatricians call for legislation to make bicycle helmets mandatory for Ontario adults
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Wearing a bicycle helmet is known to help prevent serious head injuries, which is especially important if you’re sharing the road with motor vehicles.
In Ontario, only minors are required to wear helmets, but the Canadian Pediatric Society hopes legislation will extend to adults as well. They propose that bike helmet requirements should be extended in all provinces and territories.
Bike helmet legislation across Canada differs province to province. In British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, helmets are required to be worn by all ages. While in Alberta and Manitoba, along with Ontario, they’re required to be worn by only minors. Saskatchewan, Quebec, Newfound and Labrador, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have no bike helmet legislation.
Unfortunately, head injuries account for 20 to 40 per cent of bicycle-related injuries that appear in emergency rooms, according to the Canadian Pediatric Society. Helmets can reduce the chances of head injuries during a bicycle ride by 74 to 85 per cent, along with reducing the chances of nose and upper face injuries by about 65 per cent.
Though some critics are afraid that mandatory legislation could deter people from riding.
With bicycle riding gaining popularity as a form of commute in North America and bicycle-sharing programs gaining ground as well, it’s also important to stay safe while riding on the roads. More than 600,000 people ride their bicycles each day in Ontario, according to Share the Road Coalition, a non-profit cycling coalition.
While injuries are usually related with high speeds, according to a study done by the University of Washington School of Medicine, the most serious injuries and fatalities are usually a result of a collision with a motor vehicle. Head injuries are the most common reason for long-term disabilities or a cyclist’s death.
Most injuries related to bicycles are on the upper and lower parts of the body, which can be a result of dooring. Some common less harmful cycling injuries include road rash, cuts, scrapes, strains, fractures or dislocations. They might experience some overuse injuries, such as neck aches and back aches that come about when the rider rides regularly or when the bicycle isn’t adjusted appropriately.
If you were involved in an accident between a bicycle and a motor vehicle, “reverse onus” applies on Ontario. This means that it’s the driver’s responsibility to prove that they were not negligent in their driving.
The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been handling personal injury claims for clients throughout Ontario for more than 45 years. We know how to get you the compensation you need. Call us at 416-920-4242 to set up a free consultation. Come chat with us!
Defective and undersized tires can cause car accidents
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The tires on your vehicle could be considered one of the most important parts of your car. They’re the part of the car that’s touching the road and whether they function properly affects your vehicle’s handling, how smooth your ride is and how your brakes work.
Your tires could make a major difference in an emergency situation and if your car tires are defective or the wrong size, this could lead to some dangerous driving situations.
Media outlets regularly report on product recall such as tires, which can be recalled for various reasons.
Michelin recently recalled some of its tires because if they’re handled incorrectly, it could cause a pinhole in the tire’s sidewall that could cause the tire to lose pressure, overheat and fail.
Hercules announced a recall over some of its tire models since the treads on some of their tires could separate, which could lead to losing control over the vehicle.
An infamous tire defect case was brought to light in 2007. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered a massive recall of about half a million, China-made tires in America after a wrongful death lawsuit was filed in New Jersey against a Chinese company Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. The accident allegedly killed two passengers when the tire’s treads peeled away and caused the van to lose control.
Back in 2000, there was also controversy between Ford Motor Co. and Firestone where Firestone tires on Ford Explorer vehicles were responsible for at least 174 deaths and more than 700 injuries in 2000, according to Time magazine. There were hundreds of lawsuits filed against Ford and there was a large recall for both companies.
Meanwhile, if your car’s tires are undersized, it can cause the vehicle to overheat or overload the tire, while if your car’s tires are oversized, it can cause the vehicle to rub against parts of the vehicle. To figure out the appropriate size of tires for your vehicle, you should start by checking the vehicle’s owner manual or contacting the dealership, a tire dealer or the vehicle manufacturer. There’s also information on your tires’ sidewall that can give you information about the current ones you’re using.
Drivers should ensure that they are regularly inspecting their tires since tire- or wheel-related issues are more common in hot weather, according to the OPP.
Manufacturers, distributors, designers and retailers are responsible for ensuring that defective and dangerous products are not sold. The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been handling product liability claims for clients throughout Ontario for over 45 years. We understand the impacts injuries can have on your life and know how to help you. Call us at 416-920-4242. Set up a free consultation and come talk with us.
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