Articles Posted in General

Jeffrey Tillman was a powerboat racer known for his successful handling of catamarans in the Fort Lauderdale area. He was killed in 2011, along with one other racers when his catamaran did a reverse flip and crashed inside the Key West Harbor. Thousands of fans watched the death, shocked by the sudden turn of events at the race.

Now, Tillman’s uncle is seeking wrongful death damages due to the incident. The lawsuit names Super Boat International Products Inc. and the president of the company as defendants. There are also four other race officials listed on the lawsuit. During the same dangerous series, another racer also passed away, Joey Gratton of Sarasota.

His family has also started a lawsuit against the same list of defendants. The lawsuit filed recently by William Tillman seeks more than $15,000 in damages. The plaintiff argues that the emergency team at the races was improperly equipped and poorly coordinated the rescue. He claims that it took much too long to pull Jeffrey Tillman from the overturned catamaran, and this resulted in his drowning. The uncle believes that if the emergency crew had been prepared that the racer could still be alive today.

Halloween is this Thursday! This day, many children will be out in the neighborhoods knocking on doors and trick-or-treating for goodies. Halloween can be a very enjoyable holiday, but it can also be a very dangerous time if individuals are not careful. It is important for parents to remember that their children’s costumes should be bright or should have reflective tape on them in order to avoid a pedestrian accident. In dimly lit streets, cars may hit a child that is crossing the street to get to another house in a dark outfit.

According to State Farm insurance, Halloween is the deadliest day for child pedestrian fatalities in the year. Kids have a much higher possibility of being injured by a car on Halloween than on any other day of the year, including the Fourth of July or New Year’s Day. Data analyzed between 1990 and 2010 shows that 115 children died on Halloween over 21 years of analysis as a result of pedestrian accidents. This is an average of 5.5. fatalities each October 31st. On any other given day, there are about 2.6 pedestrian accident fatalities.

Children most at-risk on Halloween are those that are between the ages of 12 and 15. 32% of all child pedestrian fatalities happen to children of this age. Also, drivers between the ages of 16 and 25 pose the greatest risk on this night. Nearly one-third of all of the child pedestrian accidents during Halloween happen when a driver of this age is behind the wheel. Thankfully, the number of child pedestrian fatalities each year is declining, but children are still at risk.

The month of October is considered fire safety and prevention month all throughout the United States. During this month, safety advocates work hard to recommend that individuals install smoke alarms and take pains to avoid the possibility of a house fire. Oftentimes this means staying on the lookout for defective products and making sure to that they are removed from your home in order to prevent a fire.

Also, fire prevention involves being careful with flames and matches and only lighting candles when in the home and putting them out before bed or before leaving. According to the Insurance Commissioner, as the weather gets colder more and more families are prone to light candles or make a fire in their fireplace to celebrate the chilly weather. This also causes the higher probability of an accident.

The Insurance Commissioner also believes that stovetop fires can cause serious house fires. That is why it is always essential to set a timer while cooking, so that individuals don’t forget to turn off the burners. Safety advocates also suggest that individuals cover their pans with lids immediately and turn off the burner if a fire erupts. Pouring water on a grease fire may even make it worse, so it is better to just cover the flames.

Last week, a woman visiting a Buckhead bar was paralyzed permanently when a man she didn’t know picked her up and then dropped her accidentally. According to reports on My Fox Atlanta, the woman was at Wet Willie’s when a man that she had never met approached her. He attempted to pick her up, and she repeatedly told him to stop.

Regardless of her protests, the man lifted her up off of the ground and then dropped her. The man then fell on top of her in the bar. The woman fell in such a way that she could no longer move her arms and legs. Personnel at the bar called emergency services and she was rushed to the hospital. The 38-year-old woman is being treated at the Atlanta Medical Center for serious injuries and paralysis. The authorities are not sure who other man was, but say that he may be charged with assault and battery.

Chances are that the individual was intoxicated at the time of the incident, and was not aware of the danger that he was putting this woman in. She certainly has the right to sue the individual for his complete negligence. Also, she may be able to seek compensation from the bar because personnel failed to step in when the exchange was taking place.

In Atlanta, celebrity singer Usher recently experienced a scare when his son almost drowned in a swimming pool. The child was at Usher’s home when the accident occurred. The five-year-old boy, Usher Raymond V, fell to the bottom of the large swimming pool and was stuck in the drain on Monday afternoon. The child may have died at the bottom of the pool if it wasn’t for the help of a housekeeper and a contractor. A maid at the home tried to pry the child from the drain, and then called a contractor doing remodeling at the home to help. This man was able to pull the boy from the pool and performed immediate CPR.

The child is recovering, but his mother, Usher’s ex-wife, believes that the incident is evidence that Usher should not have custody of the child. The mother has filed an emergency custody hearing. In addition to lawsuits, ex-spouses have the ability to file for emergency custody when their child is endangered at the other parent’s home. If your child has suffered a poolside accident, and you believe that a caretaker is responsible, then you need to talk to a lawyer right away for more information.

A pool mishap can result in serious injury, brain damage, or even death. Usher’s son was completely unsupervised when he fell in the pool. Adults are required to supervise young children whenever they are near pools and other water sources. Many children drown in pool accidents every single year. In fact, Pool Safely says that drain entrapments are relatively common and can cause serious injuries.

In Lawrenceville, Georgia, authorities were called to help out a fellow firefighter after a terrible explosion took place at his home. Crews extinguished the flames from the explosion quickly, but three family cats did not survive the blaze. The firefighter suffered burns and was taken to the Grady Memorial Hospital. The man allegedly suffered burns to his hands, forearms, and torso in the explosion.

At the time of the accident, he was the only one home. His wife claims that he was repairing an air conditioning unit in the basement when the accident happened. His wife says that she got a frantic phone call from her husband after the incident. He informed her that the house exploded and that he was waiting for 911. He asked her to come home. The firefighter’s son says that his dad’s firefighting experience may have helped to save his life.

He understood how to read the fire and knew that it was from an explosion and how to move away from it in time and avoid death. The explosion blew out the windows of the home and damaged some of the siding. Investigators believe that the explosion has something to do with the air conditioning unit, but they are not certain of this fact.

A group of teenagers on a golf cart caused a horrific accident earlier this month after the driver lost control of a small pink golf cart and the vehicle swerved off the road and into some trees. One of the victims of the crash, a teenager girl with the initials J.D. was found unconscious in the bushes, and is now in the hospital with bleeding in the brain. She doesn’t remember the accident occurring, and was unconscious for four days. She is now awake, but cannot walk. This teen who should be enjoying her summer break faces a long recovery.

The teen fractured her skull and required a monitor inside her brain which could maintain the pressure in the brain. The teen has been complaining of headaches, but her mom says that she will eventually recover. According to Fox Atlanta, the golf cart was going way too fast as it sped down a narrow pathway on a hill. The police say that the driver of the golf cart, another teenager, may be charged for serious injury by vehicle, but crews are still investigating the accident site.

The Peachtree Police Department says that if anything, the driver will be charged with under-aged driving, as the local laws maintain that you must be 16 to drive a golf cart without an adult. The driver in the accident was only 15. The police say that golf carts are a common mode of transportation in Peachtree City, but they are not toys. It is not yet certain whether the family will file suit against the driver of the golf cart and her family.

At the Boston Marathon yesterday, tragedy struck when two homemade bombs went off near the finish line. According to the most recently research posted on CBS News, the police and federal agents believe that the bombs were homemade and were placed on metal pressure cookers and packed with nails and ball bearings. There may have been timers on the bombs, and authorities believe that each one of the devices was placed in a black backpack or duffel bag and then may have been hidden in a trashcan near the finish line.

The bombs were “low explosive” and most of the wounds from the accident involved patients coming to the hospital with shrapnel wounds. Many people had BBs, ball bearings, and nails embedded in their skin after the bombs went off. The explosions related to the bombs were fairly large, but this does not change the fact that they were considered “low explosive.” Three lives were taken, a tragic loss but much less damage was done than if a high-explosive bomb had gone off at the scene.

Bomb experts don’t believe that plastics were involved in the explosion. Federal investigators say that no one has claimed responsibility for the bombings. Some suspect that the attempt may have been a terrorist attack because it took place on Patriot’s Day in the city, but others believe that the bombs are the homemade attempt to wreak havoc by some hoodlums. Currently, the government is regarding the bombing as an “act of terror” until another option can be proven.

Vacationers were looking forward to a luxurious Royal Caribbean cruise this past week, but the ship has pulled back into its Port Everglades, Florida harbor with more than 100 sickened passengers that have a severe stomach illness. ABC News reports that the illness has been diagnosed as norovirus. The Royal Caribbean vessel took an 11-night cruise and during that time 105 passengers and three crew members came down with the violent malady. The cruise says that there were 1,991 guests aboard the ship and 772 crew members. The ship returned when scheduled and the ill passengers took over-the-counter medications while aboard the ship. The Centers for Disease Control says that they do not yet have a record of the incident.

The cruise line says that they have high standards for health and safety on the ship and that during sailing they conducted multiple deep cleanings and santizings to minimize the amount of germs and prevent spreading the illness, As well, when the ship arrived back at its port, the crew conducted an extensive sanitization process and worked hard to make sure that the ship was perfectly clean and ready for new passengers that would board. The Vision of the Seas ship had gone to six destinations in the Caribbean on the cruise. Norovirus is an uncomfortable illness but not a deadly one.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, nor virus is extremely contagious, and can be spread through contaminated food or water as well as through contact with a person who has the illness. In addition, those that touch surfaces that have been contaminated with nor virus germs. Typically, nor virus has the same symptoms as the stomach flue. Those who are ill with the virus have stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Illnesses naturally spread quickly on ships where people are crammed in close quarters. If you have been injured on a cruise ship or if you came down with an illness that resulted in hospitalization or another serious issue, then you may be able to see compensation depending on the circumstances. Talk to an Atlanta injury lawyer at today if you believe that you have a case and want a professional to assist you.