New York City Personal Injury Law Blog

As the incident of the Chattanooga school bus crash still lingers in the minds of concerned parents, New York's school bus laws have come under close scrutiny. While most buses are inherently safer than, for instance, smaller vehicles, many residents worry over the regulations of specific school zones. Below are a few facts to know about New York's school bus laws.

It is a question that most parents ask, and is one that can come with a complex answer: do bus drivers require children to wear seatbelts onboard? As the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee shares, all school buses manufactured after July 1, 1987 must be equipped with seat belts. However, the law does not stop there; the state does not currently require the use of seat belts. Instead, this decision is up to the individual school district. The committee encourages parents who are concerned about seat belt rules to contact their local school board for more information. 

Any accident can be frightening, but a brain injury is an entirely different story. Even a small concussion can have hidden dangers that can expose themselves over time. While most New York residents know that a brain injury of any kind can be crucial, few know the various types of injuries and the short- and long-term effects they can have on an individual's life.

First, many might wonder, how does a traumatic brain injury directly affect the brain? BrainLine first explains that there are two main areas where brain trauma occur, known as focal injuries and diffuse injuries. There can be both primary injuries, which occur immediately, and secondary, which become apparent over time. Essentially, a primary brain injury can cause the brain to bleed, swell or suffer from torn nerve fibers.  

For some New Yorkers, simply making an appointment with a doctor is enough to bring on a world of stress. When that doctor makes a mistake, however, everything can change. Depending on the type of medical condition, a person's overall health could be thrown into jeopardy. The following delves into the most common medical errors and what some advocates are doing to address this nationwide problem.

According to an article shared from MD magazine last month, nearly half of all patients admitted to intensive care units experience a medication error at the hands of a professional. While most errors did not inflict significant harm, some medications require close monitoring and dosages. More specificallly, MD shares that 6 percent of these mistakes caused notable harm to the patient; high volumes of medication orders contributed to these slip-ups. Closing the article, MD states that proactive steps to reduce the number of errors included making regular ICU patient care rounds and maintaining clear communication. 

If you or one of your family members is employed in the construction industry in New York, you have good reason to want to stay aware of the type of risks faced on job sites everyday. You should be able to trust that employers will do all they can and should to keep people safe but unfortunately this does not always happen. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration all too often must issue citations to companies that fail to follow safety standards.

The Claims Journal reported that the list of top ten violations issued by OSHA in 2017 included nine things in which falls, a commonly acknowledged serious risk on construction sites, may be included. In fact, the violation in the top spot with more than 6,000 citations in the year was fall protection - general requirements. Coming in at number nine is what is referred to as fall protection - training requirements. This violation received more than 1,500 citations last year.