Seattle Injury Lawyer Blog

Study: Sleepy Drivers as Dangerous as Drunk Drivers

July 2, 2012 | Kraft Davies Olsson PLLC

For years, studies have confirmed the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol. But, now, a new study reveals that there is a state of driving nearly as dangerous as drunk driving: sleepy driving.

The study, which, according to Reuters Health, was conducted by Dr. Nicholas Moore at the Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire de Bordeaux in France and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, reveals that drivers who are impaired by alcohol or sleepy are at least twice as likely to cause a motor-vehicle accident when compared to drivers who are neither drunk nor tired.

The study reviewed the circumstances of 679 drivers who remained in the hospital for at least 24 hours following motor-vehicle accidents from 2007 to 2009. According to the results of the study, factors such as being a “young driver” (18 to 29 years old), driving under the influence of alcohol and being sleepy are indicators of an increased risk of being involved in a car accident.

Law Talk: Are Pre-Injury Liability Releases Valid in Washington State?

June 28, 2012 | Kraft Davies Olsson PLLC

As a parent, it seems like every activity that children engage in these days now requires a parent to sign a pre-injury release to waive liability for any injuries to our children during the activity. But, are these releases valid in Washington State? Despite their widespread use, the simple answer is no. A pre-injury release signed by a parent does not release the right of the child to bring a cause of action for negligence if the child is injured during the activity. Such releases may prevent a parent from bring a lawsuit for injury to the parent-child relationship caused by the negligence of another, but the release does not prevent a child’s own personal injury action. Simply stated, a parent does not have the right to release a child’s personal injury action in a pre-injury release. See, e.g., Scott v. Pacific West Mountain Resort, 119 Wn. 2d 484 (1992) (holding pre-injury release did not bar child’s action).

So, if you are the parent of an injured child who signed a pre-injury release, you should recognize that the release does not bar your child from asserting a claim for injuries. On the other hand, if you are a sponsor of such activities for children, do not rely on a pre-injury release signed by a parent to protect your organization. The only way to protect your organization is to buy adequate insurance to cover any injuries to children during the activity.

Outside of the context of children, Washington courts have consistently upheld pre-injury liability releases for adults in the context of high-risk sporting activities, including automobile demolition derbies, scuba diving, and ski jumping. Blide v. Rainier Mountaineering, Inc., 30 Wn. App. 571, 636 P.2d 492 (1981) (mountain climbing); Boyce v. West, 71 Wn. App. 657, 862 P.2d 592 (1993) (scuba diving); Conradt v. Four Star Promotions, Inc., 45 Wn. App. 847, 728 P.2d 617 (1986) (automobile demolition derby); Hewitt v. Miller, 11 Wn. App. 72, 521 P.2d 244 (scuba diving), review denied, 84 Wn.2d 1007 (1974); Garretson v. United States, 456 F.2d 1017 (9th Cir. 1972) (ski jumping applying Washington law); Scott, 119 Wn.2d at 493 119 Wn.2d at 493 (adhering to prior law that an adult sports participant can waive liability for another’s negligence.

Drunk Driving Suspected in I-5 Crash

June 28, 2012 | Kraft Davies Olsson PLLC

Five people were injured late Monday, June 18, 2012, in a crash on Interstate 5 in South Seattle that closed most of the freeway for nearly five hours.

Four vehicles were involved, including a Mitsubishi Eclipse that ended up crushed beneath a semi-truck.

One person was subsequently arrested for investigation of DUI following the crash.

Shift Work: How does the resetting of the body clock affect our health?

June 27, 2012 | Kraft Davies Olsson PLLC

While you won’t hear it ticking, your body clock naturally follows a 24-hour cycle of wakefulness and sleepiness which in turn is naturally linked to nature’s patterns of light and darkness. When this cycle is disrupted by shift work, it is not easily rebalanced or reset.

Shift workers may find that it takes up to one full week to adjust fully to changes in their sleep schedule. When the natural sleep pattern is disturbed due to a fluctuating work schedule it disrupts the body’s natural circadian rhythm or one’s body clock. This disturbance often leads to under sleeping, oversleeping or restless sleep because the body is not fully committed to shutting down at the anticipated time as well as not having a sense for when it should be waking up.

The body’s natural rhythm operates at its best with 7 – 8 hours of continuous sleep. Studies have shown that if the sleep pattern is disrupted or too often altered, the body no longer has the necessary time to restore energy supplies and for the human brain to function optimally.

Seven mariners rescued in Pacific after abandoning ship

June 15, 2012 | Kraft Davies Olsson PLLC

In a joint effort between the Coast Guard and the crew of the 750-foot motor vessel, Forestal Diamante, seven mariners have been rescued after they were forced to abandon ship at approximately 11 p.m. Wednesday due to a shipboard fire 316 miles northeast of Johnston Island, an unincorporated territory of the United States in the Pacific.

The Coast Guard received distress alerts from two Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons and initiated a search Thursday morning. Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu initially received an unknown Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon with an unspecific location to the distress. Two hours later watchstanders received another alert that belonged to a NOAA observer, who was based out of Honolulu. After gathering his information, JRCC watchstanders learned he was aboard the 72-foot fishing vessel, Golden Eagle II, which is also home ported in Honolulu.

An HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point was launched at 8 a.m. The Hercules arrived on scene at approximately 10:30 a.m. to find the Golden Eagle II listing and a life raft floating nearby. Coast Guard watchstanders contacted the crew of the 750-foot motor vessel, Forestal Diamante, which was 60 miles from the Golden Eagle II under the Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue Program. Forestal Diamante arrived on scene at approximately 11:15 a.m. and rescued all seven crew form the Golden Eagle II.

The Jones Act Can Cover Seaman for Injuries That Occur While Coming to or Leaving the Vessel Before or After Work Begins.

June 13, 2012 | Kraft Davies Olsson PLLC

Courts have long recognized the right of seamen to recover for injuries suffered during ingress/egress, commuting, and shore leave. The Supreme Court of the United States extended Jones Act recovery to land-based injuries in 1943, and since then recovery has become progressively more expansive. O’Donnell v. Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, 318 U.S. 36 (1943). Today, “a seaman is as much in the service of his ship when boarding it on first reporting for duty, quitting it on being discharged, or going to and from the ship while on shore leave, as he is while on board at high sea.” Braen, 361 U.S. at 132, citing, Aguilar, 318 U.S. at 736-37.

Whether a seaman is “in the course of employment” is a function of “1) the degree of control the employer-vessel owner had over the seaman at the time of injury; and 2) whether the seaman, at the time of injury, was on personal business or on a mission for the benefit of his employer or attending to the business of the employer.” Lee v. Mississippi River Grain Elevator, Inc., 591 So.2d 1371, 1373 (La. App. 1991).

Courts have consistently held that a seaman need not be onboard the vessel in order to be in the “course of employment.” Aguilar, 318 U.S. 724; Braen, 361 U.S. 129; Williamson v. Western Pacific Dredging Corp., 441 F.2d 65, 66 (9^th Cir. 1971). “When the seaman’s duties carry him ashore, the shipowner’s obligation is neither terminated nor narrowed,” and responsibility of the shipowner “should not be narrowed to exclude from its scope characteristic and essential elements of that work.” Aguilar, supra at 732, 735. In holding vessel owners liable for on-shore injuries, the Aguilar court cautioned against “cast[ing] upon the seaman hazards encountered only by reason of the voyage.” Id. at 733.

Coast Guard conducts medevac in Bering Sea

June 11, 2012 | Kraft Davies Olsson PLLC

The Coast Guard reported via news release that a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced a fisherman who reportedly received an electric shock and was suffering from cardiac complications 172 miles northwest of Dillingham Friday.

The Jayhawk crew arrived on scene with the fishing vessel Cape Horn at 1:25 p.m., safely hoisted the 43-year-old crewmember and delivered him to emergency medical services in Dillingham at 3:10 p.m.

The crewmember reportedly received a shock of 480 volts while working on the electrical switchboard aboard the vessel. The Cape Horn is a 145-foot fishing vessel based in Seattle.

Failure to Use Turn Signal a Common but Underrated Driving Error

June 11, 2012 | Kraft Davies Olsson PLLC

A recent study by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) highlights startling conclusions for those of us who have been listening to warnings about distracted driving. It is true that distraction causes accidents, about 950,000 annually. The SAE found, however, that one simple driving behavior could be linked to more than twice that many motor vehicle accidents per year, around 2 million. That behavior is failure to use turn signals properly when turning or changing lanes.

When a driver doesn’t signal his or her intention to shift to another highway lane, other drivers nearby don’t have the opportunity to modify their own behavior to enhance safety. For example, a car may be speeding up when a vehicle suddenly cuts in front of it from another lane, and it may be too late for the initial driver to avoid rear-end collision. A simple signal of the lane change, though, could have warned the driver not to speed up just then, or to change lanes to avoid the other car.

Drivers are required to signal when turning or changing lanes. Signaling is a fundamental rule of the road, and it’s the law, just like stopping for a red light. The SAE has determined, however, that almost half of drivers either don’t signal when changing lanes, or don’t turn the signal off again after turning it on for a lane change. About a fourth of drivers make this mistake when turning. Engineers estimate that this error happens 2 billion times a day on America’s roads.

An epidemic of misfeasance by DSHS and adult-family homes in Washington

June 8, 2012 | Kraft Davies Olsson PLLC

The Seattle Times reported this morning that a $900,000 settlement was reached in a case against DSHS and Houghton Lakeview, a Kirkland adult-family home related to the death of an 87 year old woman from untreated pressure sores.

The woman, who had lived in the home for several years, suffered from pressure sores, also known as bed sores, on her back and elsewhere that had burrowed to the bone. No one called her family. No one alerted a doctor. Caregivers failed to report or properly treat the festering wounds for 22 days, DSHS later concluded. Hobbled by Alzheimer’s disease, the woman had difficulty communicating or moving. At night, she would scream in pain, medical records show. Eventually, a caregiver called the woman’s son, not 911, with a vague description of an emergency. He raced to the home, then rushed his mother to the hospital, but infection had already spread to vital organs. She died in June 2008 at her son’s Bellevue home under hospice care. Bedsores are a common ailment in long-term-care facilities and are easily treatable.

Haughton Lakeview, the home responsible for the woman’s care, had been cited 33 times by DSHS for inadequate care and substandard conditions. Two caregivers were convicted felons, barred from such work. Two others had forged nursing credentials. The public was never warned – nor were the residents in the home. In May 2007, a DSHS investigator tried to revoke the license of Houghton Lakeview after uncovering 11 flagrant violations, including caregivers with forged nursing credentials or felony convictions, and failure by staff to provide medications or report alleged abuse. Nonetheless, DSHS supervisors overruled the recommendation and closed the case with a $200 fine.

Bloody syringe in hotel bed pierces young girl

June 6, 2012 | Kraft Davies Olsson PLLC

The Seattle PI reports a family is demanding answers after their little girl got pierced by a used syringe that had been left in a hotel bed.

The syringe, which was caked with dried blood, pierced through the mattress cover and poked the girl’s right heel as she crawled into her bunk bed at Guest House Inn and Suites in Aberdeen.

“There were syringes, plastic bag, bloody bandage all underneath the mattress cover. We were really shocked and freaking out,” said the girl’s mother. “It scared us to death.”