Philadelphia Injury Lawyer Blog

It is not surprising that injuries and accidents happen throughout Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia area every day. When injuries that could have been prevented are sustained, however, it is always time to give policies and practices a second look. This week in Philadelphia makes it clear that city and state officials are giving and have given that second look to some of the things that are going on in the area.

In the wake of a report that a woman broke both her skull and collarbone while attending a concert in the area, some area lawmakers are looking at the dangerous practice of stage diving at concerts. Philadelphia is a city filled with great culture, music, and concerts, but is important for such activities to be safe for visitors and residents. Unfortunately, while attending a concert by the band Fishbone, victim Kimberly Myers sustained the above mentioned severe injuries after the band’s lead singer Angelo “Dr. Madd Vibe” Moore, jumped off of the stage and into the crowd.

Myers is suing Moore, as well as the band’s manager and the World Café Live concert venue and will see her day in court October 24th. According to reports, this is not the first time the band’s stage diving practices have injured an audience member and it certainly is not the first time stage diving has caused injuries to Philadelphia concert goers.

Lawmakers have also looked at another age old, yet dangerous practice this week – reckless teen driving. According to Amy Worden of the Philadelphia Inquirer, “When it comes to carloads of passengers and unbuckled seat belts, Pennsylvania is finally enacting laws that most states already have for new teenage drivers. Soon, teen drivers from Pennsylvania will face limits on the numbers of passengers they can carry at a time and be ticketed for not wearing seatbelts. Unfortunately, nothing in the state law yet bars teens from texting while driving.

It was almost one year ago that a terrifying school bus accident left one young Pennsylvania boy injured. On October 27th, 2010, police were called to the scene in Nazareth, Pennsylvania after a 16-year-old student was struck by a school bus in the quiet eastern Pennsylvania town.

Officers from the Colonial Regional police department identified the victim as Bradley Smith and say that the boy was thrown about 30 feet when he was hit by a school bus around 7:45 a.m. on that October morning. The accident occurred right out front of Smith’s home in Lower Nazareth Township in Northampton County.

Although Smith was conscious when emergency workers arrived, he sustained injuries so serious that he was rushed by ambulance to a hospital for treatment, Deputy Chief DePalma told The Express-Times of Easton.

School officials, other students, and town residents immediately began asking questions about how such an accident occurred, saddened at the boy’s injury and alarmed that something similar could happen to one of their loved ones or school aged children.

Police officers began to reconstruct the bus crash in order to learn more about what may have caused it. No charges were pressed immediately. Nazareth schools superintendent Victor Lesky simply offered a statement that Smith was hit by a bus that was carrying students at the time. The students were loaded on to another bus and continued to school.

According to reports, the bus was headed to the Sacred Heart School, but it was unclear whether Smith attended the school or was heading out to board the bus. Sadly, bus accidents occur many times per year throughout the country. Cases are often complex and victims will need the assistance of an expert Philadelphia injury lawyer to ensure their fair share of coverage and compensation to aid in their recovery.

Sexual assault charges were filed against a Philadelphia area high school basketball coach just this past Tuesday. Coach Louis Spadiccini, who worked at the Neumann-Goretti High School in Philadelphia, was taken into police custody on Tuesday afternoon at around 9:45 according to a source with the District Attorney’s office.

Spadiccini, 37, is facing serious assault charges including involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, endangering the welfare of a child, simple assault, reap, indecent assault, furnishing alcohol to a minor and other related offenses. These charges all surround three separate incidents involving a teenage boy who was a student at the school at which Spadiccini was employed.

He is facing additional assault charges on an alleged assault victim. Authorities say that the high school coach supplied liquor and Xanax to the other minor of just 14-years-of age. According to Fox 29 Philadelphia reports, a third teen may also come forward with accusations. Original accusations against Spadiccini were not of sexual nature, but all of the allegations are currently under investigation.

The District Attorney’s office is urging any teens or victims that feel they were sexually harassed, assaulted, or who have suffered emotional or physical injury due to the actions of former Coach Louis Spadiccini to come forward. Those with concerns or more information are asked to call the Philadelphia police department at 215-685-3251.

If you or a loved one are the victim of sexual harassment or assault either in the workplace, at a school, or at any other institution you need to be sure to stand up for your rights. Speak with an experienced sexual harassment attorney as soon as possible as there are time limits for reporting violations.

Construction in crowded cities and urban outskirts is never with risks. Scaffolding accidents are one of the most common types of construction accidents that occur around Philadelphia and across the country. These types of accidents have injured hundreds of people and can even be deadly.

Just a few days ago a large scaffolding collapse closed one of the busiest border crossing areas in the country. The accident was so large scale that it caused 24 vehicle lanes that served as roadways for U.S. bound traffic for hours. The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol recently reopened 13 of the closed lanes but did not say when the remaining 11 lanes would reopen.

The scaffolding collapsed occurred at California’s San Ysidro port of entry around 11 a.m. last Thursday September 15th. Authorities immediately reported that the dangerous construction accident injured 11 people. Officials were then forced to shut down all northbound lanes at the busy border immediately.

Complete details surrounding the accident have not yet been released, but officials say that a covered area of the port was undergoing demolition as a part of an expansion. Scaffolding was built as a part of the project and all was expected to go safely and according to plan. Unfortunately, when the scaffolding collapsed unexpectedly, heavy debris intended to fall on the scaffolding instead of the cars and motorists below, began to directly fall onto victims. Debris from the scaffolding collapse itself covered one car that was near the exit of the scaffolding canopy that was designed to protect cars and border inspection booths.

The cause of last week’s construction accident is under investigation. If you or a loved one has been injured in a construction accident in Philadelphia Pennsylvania or New Jersey, contact an expert Philadelphia injury lawyer right away.

Around the holidays or any time of year, parents and caretakers should always bear in mind that not all children’s toys are created equal, or safe for that matter. In fact, some toys can be extremely dangerous for children. Throughout the years several toys have been allowed for sale and were later proven to cause injury or harm to children. The following is just a small sample of such toys.

Hasbro’s Easy Bake Oven

Although Hasbro has recently changed the make-up of their latest Easy Bake Oven Model, the company received several reports of burnt and injured hands and fingers as a result of the toy between 2005 and 2006. The model with the dangerous hot light bulb is no longer sold.

The Kite Tube

This toy was actually a ten foot round water tube that was indented to be dragged behind a boat allowing light riders to become airborne during a fast boat ride. This dangerous toy also easily jerked around and smashed victim’s face first into the water. After 29 reports of injury surrounding this toy, it has been recalled.

Aquadots

It’s hard to believe this dangerous was sold just a few years ago in 2007. It was recalled after the date rape drug GHB was found inside the product. Doctors of children who put small parts from this toy inside their mouth reported slow breathing, heart rate, and injury.

If you have any of these dangerous recalled toys in your home, it is important for you to discard them immediately to prevent future injury. If your child has become injured by a defective or dangerous toy, or has become the victim of an accident in Philadelphia or anywhere in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, you should consult with an experienced injury attorney as soon as possible.

Just a few years ago, five members of the Philadelphia area and Indian-American community were killed in a car crash in Erie County Pennsylvania. The friends were headed north to visit Niagara Falls in New York when a tragic car crash occurred.

A minivan riding along the same roadway spun out of control in West Springfield, Ohio, just above the Pennsylvania-Ohio border on the Saturday morning of the crash. According to reports, the minivan collided into the car of the victims after flipping over and crashing into another car coming from the opposite direction.

The driver of the minivan, Kaushik Deb, 26, a resident of Troy, Michigan, was killed immediately on impact. Five of the six passengers who were en route to Niagara Falls from the Philadelphia area were also killed immediately in the car crash.

Police identified the young Philadelphia area victims as Manoj Jharia, 35; Mili Jharia, 28; Nitin Agarwal, 29; Swati Agarwal, 25 and Shubham Choudory, 24. The lone survivor of the crash, Nitin Gupta, 28, was miraculously uninjured in the wreck other than minor cuts and scrapes. The driver and on passenger from the third car involved in the crash, Gupta and Melanie Cesnick, both 25, were transported to a Northeast Pennsylvania area hospital and released.

Sadly, all of those injured and killed in the tragic crash were traveling alongside each other in what was supposed to be a joyous occasion. A friend of the victims later told reporters that a group of 13 was caravanning on a trip to the popular tourist destination to see the falls. Members of the Indian community as well as Philadelphia area neighbors of the young people killed were stunned and saddened, demanding an investigation into accident.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, it is important to investigate and to contact a Philadelphia injury lawyer find out whether you may be entitled to compensation.

Last week, during the last weeks in August 2011, hurricane Irene pummeled the east coast with high wind speeds and heavy rain. The city of Philadelphia saw street, residential, and business flooding like they had not seen in several years. Although some flood water related deaths occurred along the east coast last week, fortunately Philadelphia residents seemed to be mostly spared, left with only the inconvenience and financial woes of clean up.

This week, Tropical Storm Lee took Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York residents by surprise, continuing to drench the region in rain. Just as the flood waters caused by the aftermath of hurricane Irene began to subside, heavy rains from Tropical Storm Lee are beginning to re-flood several areas.

Several Philadelphia and Pennsylvania residents are being closely monitored to ensure evacuations are made when necessary, but an evacuation has obviously come too late for one Philadelphia area resident. An elderly man from central Pennsylvania has died after becoming trapped in a building collapse.

Derry Township Police Chief Patrick O’Rourke told reporters that a man in his 70s died Wednesday afternoon when the walls of his basement collapsed while he was trying to bail water from his flooding home. The wall collapse is presumed to have occurred due to the pressures of flood waters at this time.

The man’s death is sadly not the only that has been caused by dangerous flood waters in the last several hours near Philadelphia. Evacuees from a flooded Pennsylvania trailer park who were leaving by boat were overturned and forced to cling to trees while a second boat arrived. The extent of injuries to the evacuees is unknown at this time.

As flood waters continue to rise near Philadelphia, the Schuylkill Expressway and several other main arteries are now closed. A declaration of disaster has been called in Towanda, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia area residents are asked to use their best judgment and to evacuate when necessary to avoid further injury and disaster.

With the holiday gift buying season soon approaching, it is important for Philadelphia residents and parents across the country to remember to practice safe and informed gift giving. Remember that toys with small ingestible parts should never be given when the child’s ability to play with the toy properly is in question.

Reading the labels on packaging can help, but since all children develop at their own rates, it is important to use personal judgment when buying toys as gifts. Sadly, some toy companies even fail to label or market a toy responsibly.

A few years ago several parents became all too familiar with the dangers of defective or unsafe toys. One Seattle mom told her story in an interview with Komonews.com. She bought a Magnetix toy for her son Marcell, then four-years-old, and wound up agonizing in the emergency operating room for 90 minutes.

Marcell had ingested small, almost candy shaped, magnets that were part of the toy. Although Marcell knew it was wrong to eat magnets, according to his mother, the magnets included in the toy looked and felt so much like candy that Marcell could not resist. After ingesting the magnets he become violently ill, had excruciating stomach pain, and vomited repeatedly. His mom, Angela, prayed the symptoms were simply from stomach flu but was forced to rush Marcell to the emergency room where doctors discovered three magnets has punctured eight tiny holes into Marcell’s intestines.

Fortunately Marcell survived the incident due to his emergency care, but another young child whose parents purchased the defective toy was not so fortunate. A 19-month-old died just a few months later after ingesting the same small magnetic toy parts.

If you suspect you’re child or loved one has been injured by an unsafe toy, contact a Philadelphia injury lawyer as soon as possible. Please remember to use caution when buying gifts for children, friends, and family this holiday season.

A Philadelphia area construction worker was injured last month in an accident involving scaffolding. According to police the worker suffered serious injuries after falling at least 15 feet.

The construction injury victim has been identified as a 30 year old Moorestown resident but his name has not yet been released to the public. The victim was working on new construction near Paul Robeson Place near Palmer Square in Princeton, New Jersey when he fell at around 2:15 p.m. on Monday July 11th. He suffered serious injuries to his torso, head, and neck, but is expected to survive the fall.

Police told reporters the worker was on scaffolding 15 to 16 feet above the ground when, according to a witness, he slipped and fell. Fortunately, the worker was alive and conscious when police arrived at the scene of the accident. The victim was taken to Capital health Regional Medical Center trauma unit for treatment for his injuries.

Scaffolding injuries are one of the most common causes of construction accident law suits. Other common construction site accidents include defective machinery, defective or unsafe tools, exposed power or electrical lines, faulty power or electrical lines, supervision errors, and busy, unsafe sites that are unsupervised or poorly coordinated.

If you or a loved one has also been a victim of a construction accident of any kind, including accidents involving scaffolding, it is advised that you contact a Philadelphia injury lawyer who has years of experience dealing with such cases. Construction injury cases are not at all easy to navigate alone. Construction accident cases are made complex by the wide variety of party types and insurance policy details involved.

Edith A. Pearce, Esq. spent over ten years working as a lawyer for an insurance company and defense firm before deciding to represent injured people. She knows all the “tricks of the trade” from the other side of the fence and knows exactly how to navigate the complexities of construction accident lawsuits. Contact Edith a. Pearce, Esq. if you want to get full and fair compensation for your injuries.