Mississippi Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

January 30, 2017

Recent Accident Highlights Dangers of Tractor-Trailers

Mississippi roadways have had more than their fair share of accidents involving tractor-trailers in recent weeks. One of the recent accidents was especially dramatic, demonstrating just how much destructive power semi-trucks possess. The size, weight and speed of the giant machines means that when things go wrong, they often go very wrong, and those unfortunate enough to be on the other side suffer the consequences.

One chain reaction crash involving tractor-trailers occurred mid-December in Itawamba County, Mississippi. In that crash, a series of 18-wheelers collided on a stretch of I-22 near Fawn Grove. According to police, the crash began in the early evening when a tractor-trailer heading west crossed the median. The truck was carrying a full load of bricks, meaning it would’ve been incredibly heavy at the time. This was proven true by the damage done to the guardrail system, which was no match for the fast-moving truck. Authorities say the first 18-wheeler barreled through the cable guardrail and entered the eastbound lanes, dragging the metal cables along with it.

After venturing into the eastbound lanes, the truck then kept going and crashed into the woods before coming to a stop. The problem, of course, was that the metal guardrail cables remained in the highway. Shortly thereafter, a second 18-wheeler, heading east and hauling a gooseneck trailer, passed by. The second semi got caught in the cables and sent it crashing back through the median.

January 23, 2017

Wrong Way Crash Leaves One Person Dead

by Kilpatrick & Philley

It’s a tragedy that is becoming more and more common. Drivers heading the wrong way, often on the interstate, crash into unsuspecting motorists. These accidents are often deadly and entirely preventable, something that can make it even harder to accept when a loved one is involved. The force of the collision when two vehicles heading the opposite direction come into contact with one another almost always results in catastrophic injuries. Such a crash just occurred in Mississippi, only a few days before Christmas. To learn more about the incident, keep reading.

The accident occurred in Madison, Mississippi and involved the driver of a 2016 Nissan Maxima who was hit and killed by the driver of a 2013 Passat. Police say the driver of the Passat was heading the wrong way down I-55 the night of December 22nd. Police got a call from a concerned driver saying that a vehicle was heading south in north bound lanes around 10 p.m. that evening. A second call came in a few minutes later; sadly it was to report a multiple car accident just inside the Madison city limits.

Police responded to the accident scene and were able to get additional information about what had occurred from witnesses to the crash. Several people reported that the Passat had been traveling southbound for several miles. Vehicles heading north (meaning they were going in the right direction) had been taking evasive action to avoid the oncoming car. Sadly, as the Passat got closer to Madison, it collided directly with the Nissan, which was unable to swerve in time.

January 19, 2017

Worker Fired After Trying To Help Colleague With Severed Finger

by Kilpatrick & Philley

Recent studies by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that the number of American workers injured or killed on the job has increased. In fact, the latest report shows that numbers of fatally injured workers is at an eight-year high. A variety of factors are responsible for the rise in workplace injury, including the improved economy and increased activity in the manufacturing sector, but another factor behind the increase is the failure by employers to do all that they can to ensure that workers are safe and secure on the job.

A recent lawsuit brought y the U.S. Department of Labor touches on this last factor. The DoL filed a claim against Lone Star Western Beef, a company that makes beef jerky, after one of the workers was fired for trying to help an injured co-worker. In that case, an employee attempted to call 911 after a co-worker cut off part of his thumb in a workplace accident with a meat-slicing machine.

The incident occurred back in 2014 at a plant located in West Virginia. The food processor says she was working that morning when she heard her co-worker had cut his finger and noticed that he had blood running down his hand and arm. It turns out her co-worker had severed part of his thumb while using a band saw to cut the dried beef. The food processor believed the man had sustained a serious injury and took steps to help. She put the man’s hand under cold water and wrapped a towel around it to apply pressure. Another employee ran to get the owner.

January 16, 2017

Nothing like a drone to the face to spoil a perfectly good wedding

by Kilpatrick & Philley

A couple in New Hampshire has learned a lesson that many others have come to understand: drones, though cool, aren’t always fun and games. As the popularity of drones have increased dramatically in recent years, so much so that the FAA now requires those with large versions of the machines to register them with the government, so have accidents and injuries associated with their use. What starts as an attempt to buy a fancy new toy or a way of capturing cool videos can end with a trip to the emergency room if the person operating the drone isn’t careful.

The incident in New Hampshire started innocently enough. A couple was getting married at a castle and decided to employ a drone to capture some special footage of their special day. Something went wrong while the drone was being operated and the device came crashing down on the heads of several guests. In fact, news reports indicate that the drone slammed into the faces of two women on its way down to the ground.

The women are now filing suit against the groom and a man that runs events at the castle where the wedding was held. They claim that they suffered concussions after the drone hit them in the head. They also claim that they experienced permanent physical and emotional injury and deserve financial compensation as a result.

November 18, 2016

Samsung in a world of hurt thanks to its exploding machines

by Kilpatrick & Philley

If you follow the news at all, you’ve likely heard about Samsung’s troubles. First, it was the cellphones; consumers reported experienced alarming trouble with their smartphones, some overheating, smoking, catching fire and even exploding. Things got so bad that the phones were banned entirely from commercial airplanes. It now looks like things are only going to get worse for the Korean technology company after it announced this week that it will recall nearly 3 million washing machines. What’s the trouble? Concerns about exploding washers.

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Samsung’s troubles began months ago when reports started trickling in that the new Galaxy Note 7 was overheating. Since the first reports of problems, dozens of people have come forward saying the lithium-ion batteries in their phones can overheat, leading to fires and explosions. The crisis is bad enough that Samsung recalled millions of the phones and, after several scary incidents, airlines banned passengers from bringing them onboard.

The issue with the washing machines impacts a wide range of products across 34 models of top-loading washers. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the concern is that the top of the washing machine can unexpectedly detach from the base, posing a risk to consumers of injury from impact.

November 15, 2016

Do women and minorities get less in personal injury cases?

by Kilpatrick & Philley

When you think of personal injury cases and the factors that contribute to higher verdicts, you likely focus on things like the severity of the injuries suffered, whether there is permanent damage and whether the defendant was especially reckless or grossly negligent. Though these are important factors, a recent article in Business Insider mentions another few considerations many people overlook: race and gender.

Though we might instinctively believe that things like race or gender shouldn’t have anything to do personal injury damages, studies indicate that they absolutely do. In fact, experts say that if a young black girl and a young white boy both suffered the exact same injuries, perhaps due to lead poisoning, it’s quite possible that the white boy would walk away with millions more dollars in personal injury damages than the black girl.

Your first question will likely be, why is this true? Are the courts simply discriminating? Well, the answer is a bit complicated. To understand why the results are so different based on race and gender, we have to discuss one important component of personal injury damage awards: lost future earnings. If a person has been seriously injured, it is almost always the case that their lawyer will ask for compensation for the money the person would’ve earned in his or her life. This can represent a sizable chunk of the damages awarded.

November 12, 2016

Halloween turns deadly for one Mississippi family

by Kilpatrick & Philley

Though serious car accidents happen every day and each one is a tragedy, an especially horrifying example occurred in Mississippi this Halloween. According to authorities, what was supposed to be a fun and festive hayride ended in three fatalities and seven injuries after a pickup truck smashed into the back of a trailer full of people.

News reports indicate the Halloween hayride included 10 people, several of whom were from the Shaver family. Kristina Shaver was on the ride with her three daughters and her sister, Melissa Cook, and her children. According to police, Kristina Shaver and two of her daughters died due to injuries sustained in the crash. Even more tragic, Shaver’s husband was killed in a car accident earlier this summer, leaving Kristina Shaver’s middle daughter as the only surviving member of her immediate family. Officials say that the young girl is in critical condition at the University of Mississippi Medical center.

Those living nearby recounted the accident, saying that earlier in the evening they remember the group from the hayride stopping by and trick-or-treating. The trailer would unload and the kids would go door-to-door, piling back in the trailer to move to a new location. One couple remembers seeing the Shaver family and then worrying a little while later when they heard the emergency response vehicles in the distance. Soon after the sirens went by the couple saw three helicopters landing in a nearby baseball field, all signs of a very serious accident.

November 10, 2016

What are the most dangerous jobs?

by Kilpatrick & Philley

When you think of dangerous jobs, the first thing that likely comes to your mind is something like police officer or a firefighter, something daring and dangerous. You likely wouldn’t think of nursing home aide or fish farming, neither seeming to be especially death defying. Though they may not sound like particularly terrifying professions, the latest survey by the U.S. Labor Department indicates they are among the most dangerous jobs for workers in terms of the number of on-the-job injuries. To learn more, keep reading.

According to the Labor Department survey, there were about 2.9 million nonfatal workplace accidents and injuries last year in the private sector. Public sector jobs accounted for an additional 750,000. These numbers mean that three of every 100 full-time employees suffered some form of injury or illness due to their work.

It’s important to remember that these rates are averages, and that the rates for individual professions can vary widely. For instance, those working in the aquaculture industry, meaning those responsible for fish farming, have the highest rate of non-deadly injury, coming in at a whopping 13.6 injuries per 100 full-time workers, several times more than average.

September 2, 2016

Experts Say Pokémon Go Lawsuits Likely

by Kilpatrick & Philley

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Pokémon Go has swept the country and the world in the past month, with millions of users downloading the app. The game has gotten particular attention because it’s the first widely successful use of a technology known as augmented reality. This allows users to be inside a game while viewing the real outside world. Though visually interesting, some have raised questions about whether the app might be to blame for causing injuries to users. Given recent reports of harm to players, legal experts say it’s all but inevitable that personal injury claims will result. To learn more about such potential claims, keep reading.

First, there have been reports in recent weeks of a multitude of injuries occurring to players of Pokémon Go. News reports indicate that serious accidents occurred in California, New York and Pennsylvania to name a few. People have been injured walking into traffic, walking off cliffs and entering buildings or places they shouldn’t have been in. These injuries are precisely what could cause users to sue Niantic Inc., the developer and publisher of Pokémon Go.

So what has Niantic done to reduce its potential liability? For starters, anyone who has ever played the game knows that it begins with a big warning screen. Users must click “OK” before they are even allowed to play the game. The opening screen warns players to be alert and aware of their surroundings at all times. Niantic has since begun periodically pushing pop-up messages with similar warnings. These kinds of warning messages are important when a company is afraid of lawsuits related to injuries that were reasonably foreseeable. In this case, it’s arguably reasonably foreseeable that a person could get hurt playing an augmented reality game that requires them to stare at their phone while walking around outside.

August 30, 2016

Mississippi Chain Reaction Crash Leaves One Dead

by Kilpatrick & Philley

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One person died and several others suffered serious injuries after a chain reaction crash in Mississippi involving three tractor-trailers. The accident demonstrates not only the potential for serious harm posed by semi trucks, but also the danger that exists when one wreck occurs, increasingly the likelihood that other vehicles are drawn into the collision.

According to officials from Mississippi Highway Patrol, the accident happened in the eastbound lanes of I-20 and resulted in the death of Billy Robinson, a 48-year-old UPS driver from Alabama. The man was a 29-year employee of UPS and thus had nearly three decades of experiencing operating large tractor-trailers under his belt.

All his years of experience were sadly not enough to avoid the terrible accident that occurred early that morning, a little after 4, in Newton County, MS. Law enforcement authorities say the crash involved three 18-wheelers and happened near the 99 mile marker. All three of the semis were heading east when one of the trucks crashed into another from behind. That accident then caused a chain reaction and the UPS truck driven by Robinson ran into the back of the second truck. Police say there was likely not enough time to react quickly and avoid the first collision. The cause of that first accident remains unknown, though police investigators are working on the case.