Handling Accident

To provide a more in depth analysis of Nevada law, starting in 2017, the blog will move to a monthly format.  I hope you enjoy today’s blog and the new format as we move forward in discussing the exciting developments in the ever changing landscape of Nevada law.   Today’s blog addresses alternative theories of causation in a personal injury cases. An interesting case that came out of the Nevada Supreme Court on alternative theories of causation is Leavitt v. Siems , 130 Nev.Ad.Op. 54 (July 10, 2014). In Leavitt , Kami Leavitt underwent Lasik eye surgery with Dr. Siems. Unfortunately, after surgery, Kami ended up losing most of her vision in both eyes.  The case went to trial and the jury felt Dr. Siems did nothing wrong. At trial, Siem’s lawyers argued that Kami’s eyes did not heal properly after the surgery because of her own actions. They argued that Kami abused numbing eye drops after the surgery, making her eye problems worse. To support the “eye-drop-abuse” arg...

For those who ride with the wind, especially the warm winds of Florida weather, sometimes you need to feel the breeze in your hair. And if you meet certain conditions, under Florida law, you can, since motorcycle helmets are not always required. Florida Motorcycle Equipment Law Florida Law 1 permits a person over the age of 21 to operate or ride a motorcycle without a helmet if he or she carries at least $10,000 in personal injury insurance to cover injuries that may occur as the result of a crash. In fact, the majority of states grant riders over a certain age the same choice, but according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) , 2 in those states with mandatory helmet laws, nearly 100 percent of riders comply with the law, but in states without mandatory helmet laws, only 50 percent of riders chose to wear a helmet. [1] This begs the question, if you suffer a severe head injury that could have been prevented or mitigated had you been wearing a helmet, how ...

Let’s assume that you are injured in your workplace—a lighting fixture falls and hits you on the head, you burn yourself on a hot stove, or you fall down a flight of stairs. Who is liable for the injuries you sustained? The short answer is no one. The longer answer is that, today, we use a “no fault” system of liability for workplace injuries. These types of issues are handled almost exclusively by the Florida worker’s compensation system , 1 and, in many cases, worker’s compensation is the exclusive remedy for workplace injuries. The worker’s compensation system removes these issues from the court system and places them into the hands of an administrative agency. This system was established as a bargain between employers and employees—the employee gives up his or her right to sue an employer in civil court for work-related injuries and, in exchange, the worker can receive compensation for injuries without regard to fault. Thus, even if the worker is at fault for the...

In early November of 2016, consumer electronics giant Samsung announced that it would be recalling 34 models of its top-load washing machines sold between March 2011 and 2016 . 1 The issue, it claimed, was that the drums in the top-load washers lost balance at high speeds, causing vibrations so strong that the tops of the washing machines could detach. Samsung received 733 reports of excessive vibration or the top detaching from the unit, as well as 9 reports of injuries, including broken jaws and injured shoulders. Consumers who purchased the affected washing machines were offered either a free repair or a rebate to purchase a new machine. This recall comes at a sensitive time for Samsung, given that the company also recently recalled its entire line of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones due to reports that their lithium-ion batteries were exploding. The Samsung washers incident raises a larger question: What should you do if you have purchased a defective, dangerous product? The law governin...

The NHTSA defines a pedestrian as any person on foot, walking, running, jogging, hiking, sitting or lying down.   According to a recently published study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), approximately 4,800 pedestrians were killed and approximately 65,000 were injured in traffic crashes in the U.S. On average, a pedestrian is killed every 2 hours and injured every 8 minutes in traffic crashes in the U.S.   The vast majority of pedestrian accidents occur in urban areas at traffic intersections. Pedestrian Rights and Responsibilities . Pedestrians generally have the right-of-way in the following areas: ·        Crosswalks ·        Public roads and highways ·        Public and private sidewalks Although pedestrians are required to follow traffic signals such as “walk or do not walk” signals, some do not.   When in doubt, you should always give a ped...

Sometimes after an accident, you don’t have the money to rent a replacement car while your car is getting repaired. Also, if your car is “total loss” and you are waiting weeks for the insurance company to pay for the loss of your car, you might have the funds to pay for a rental. In both scenarios, if you did not receive a rental car, you can ask for “loss of use” damages, for not being able to use your car. If your car was fixed, but sustained extensive damages, you can also ask for “diminished value” damages to your car.  The Nevada Supreme Court has said that a party is entitled to have the jury consider her “loss of use damages.” See Dugan v. Gotsopoulos, 117 Nev. 285, 289, 22 P.3d 205, 208 (2001).  In Dugan, our high court held, that the lower court’s refusal to permit a party to testify as to rental car costs and its refusal to permit the jury to consider loss of use damages, was reversible error. Id. Moreover, courts have permitted the party to testify about rental car ...