Missouri Injury Lawyers Blog

Moberly attorney, Sidney Eckman Wheelan of the firm Tatlow, Gump, Faiella & Wheelan, LLC, was recently awarded the distinction of Advocate by the American Association for Justice (AAJ). The goal of AAJ's Achievement Recognition Program is to build and develop professional knowledge through a continuing commitment to improving members' trial skills and understanding of substantive law. Active participation in this program provides recognition for dedication, commitment, and enthusiasm to continue to pursue legal education.

Ms. Wheelan and the other attorneys at Tatlow, Gump, Faiella and Wheelan, LLC continue to represent clients in a broad range of litigation primarily focused on serious personal injury and its tragic consequences including wrongful death, bad faith insurance denials, and defective products.

John Deere is recalling 36,500 lawn mowers due to fan failures.
The cooling fan is located in front of the steering wheel under the hood. The engine can overheat causing any surrounding plastic to melt or possibly create a fire when the fan stops working.
The company has received 163 incident reports altogether according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's recall notice. John Deere recalled the 36,500 lawn mowers after 83 reports of engine fires and melting engines, including one minor burn injury were reported.
To determine whether or not your John Deere lawn mower is involved in the recall please visit this website.

Summer may be unofficially over because of the passing Labor Day holiday and because the kids are back in school, but unfortunately there are still other places your children can drown besides the backyard pool. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has highlights from 2005- 2006 of nearly 600 reports with children under five years old involved in "submersion incidents." The majority of those incidents involved bath and bath related materials with children under two. Out of 431 reported fatalities, 92 percent of those occurred in homes.

Below are a few tips on keeping your children safe in the bathtub:

• Don't leave a baby or young child in a bathtub under the care of another young child.
• Always keep a young child within arm's reach in a bathtub.
• If you must leave, take the child with you.
• Never leave young children alone near any water or tub or basin with fluid. Young children can drown in even small amounts of water.

Other safety precautions:
• Consider placing locks on toilet seat covers in case a young child wanders into the bathroom.
• Learn CPR. It can be a lifesaver when seconds count.
• Never leave a bucket containing even a small amount of liquid unattended. Toddlers are top heavy and they can fall headfirst into buckets and drown. After using a bucket, always empty and store it where young children cannot reach it. Don't leave buckets outside where they can collect rainwater.

Texting and driving is one of the most dangerous types of distracted driving because it involves the three types of distraction: visual, manual and cognitive. It is especially dangerous for teenage drivers who have little experience on the road. Parents should encourage their children to limit driving after dark and the number of passengers their teens have, but most importantly, there should be a rule that cell phones are never in use while the teen driving. This insures there is little to no distraction in the car and that the teenager can operate the vehicle as safely as possible.

In order to really understand the dangers of texting and driving and get a front row seat to the reality of its dangers, please visit the following link: http://heathersstory.org/ . This site shares the painful story of 19 year old Heather Lerch who was killed in a texting and driving accident as she was on her way home from work one night. Her parents have been working extremely hard to spread the message about texting and driving. This site provides you with pictures of Heather's car before and after the accident, videos of the parents urging others, "Don't let an LOL become an OMG," and the full story about Heather's accident. The site was created by Heather's parents and will let you comment and ask any questions you may have about Heather or just texting and driving in general.

What is ESC and why is it important? ESC stands for Electronic Stability Control, a safety feature in vehicles that can actually detect and prevent/ recover from skidding in a vehicle. Before a driver has time to panic or lose control when skidding, ESC has already recovered from the skid and has the vehicle under control again. ESC uses sensors that determine the direction of the car and compares that to the direction the car is actually going. If and when the system senses a skid or if the car is already skidding the system begins to apply the brakes on individual wheels to bring the car back on track.

Because of the effectiveness of ESC the US Government has mandated that all vehicles must have ESC by the 2012 model year. Manufacturers may use different names for their ESC, but it still does the same thing.

Crash Test Results
The internet is really the first place a person would need to look for results on crash testing. Websites that are maintained by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) would be the best places to begin looking. Both sites have begun posting the results of "roof" testing. It is now a requirement with the IIHS for all vehicles to get a "good" rating on the roof test before the vehicle can be passed.