Historically, a concept known as sovereign immunity prevented anyone from suing the king or the government. The Federal Tort Claims Act, however, permits Americans to sue federal employees who act negligently while in the scope of their employment. There are a lot more hoops to jump through, though, in pursuing a claim against the...
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UPS Delivery Truck Crashes Into Smithsonian Museum
From delivering pizza to overnight, sensitive packages, delivery drivers are often in a rush and face a variety of distractions. They come across children and dogs running around, other drivers, and distractions they themselves cause by using cell phones or GPS navigation systems. If the negligent driving of a delivery driver has injured...
Read MoreGeorge Washington University Fire Forces Evacuation of Sorority House
College dorms and fraternity and sorority houses are particularly vulnerable to fires. Usually multiple students live together and fill their cramped living space with electrical equipment, food, and books. The National Fire Protection Agency reported that college dorm fires have increased a great deal lately. While authorities recorded only 1,800 college fires in 1998, by 2005, that...
Read MoreTrial Ongoing for Virginia Doctor Accused of Prescribing Dangerous Drug Combination
In a recent study, the Institute of Medicine determined that medication errors sicken, injure, or kill over 1.5 million Americans a year. In hospitals, a patient will experience a medication error each day he or she is in a hospital bed. The added cost from treating drug errors amounts to at least $3.5 billion, the...
Read MoreSpeeding D.C. Driver Kills One, Injures Six, Causes Fuel Spill
Speeding plays a factor in a large number of car accidents. Officials estimate that as much as a third of accidents are due to speeding. In the United States, 10-14,000 deaths each year are attributable to speeding. If you have been involved in a car accident due to negligent driving, a Washington, D.C....
Read MoreTractor Trailer Driver Charged With Negligence For Role in Accident
As commercial trucking continues to grow, this translates into more dangers for passenger vehicles sharing the road with large, tractor trailer trucks. About 5,000 fatal accidents occur each year involving such trucks, and, unfortunately, almost 100% of the fatalities are the people in passenger vehicles. Truck drivers are rarely injured given the tremendous size...
Read MoreVirginia Department of Transportation Urges Drivers to Put Down Phones
Despite efforts across the country to increase awareness of work zone dangers, workers in these zones continue to face risks due to negligent driving. Last year, seven people died in Virginia work zones. Throughout the country, there were 720 deaths and 40,000 injuries in work...
Read MoreFive Injured in School Bus Crash in Northwest D.C.
Almost twice as many children ride school buses year each year in the United States than all of the people taking trips on public buses. There are about a half a million school buses transporting 25 million of our nation’s children. With tens of millions of children making so many trips, accidents are bound...
Read MoreMotorcycle Deaths Inexplicably Decline in 2009
Despite rising over the prior twelve years, motorcycle deaths actually dropped in 2009. While this, of course, is good news, motorcycle use remains extremely dangerous. As motorcycle use has increased in popularity, so have associated injuries and deaths increased. From 1997 to 2007, motorcycle deaths jumped from 2,116 to 5,154 and injuries almost...
Read MoreTruck Driver Killed in Maryland While Unloading Granite at Warehouse
Many people face dangers every day that they report to work. In 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available, just over 5,000 died in workplace accidents. That number was nearly 5,700 in 2007. Employers could have prevented many of these accidents had they used basic safety tactics such as maintaining clean...
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