Category: Personal Injury

When we go to an amusement park with our families, we trust that our children will be safe while enjoying the various rides and attractions on the premises. It’s easy to assume that most rides look safe and that the operators know what they’re doing. We’re also often told that amusement park rides are thoroughly checked and tested every morning. But are daily tests enough?

In August 2016, a Kansas water park made headlines when it was revealed that a 10-year-old boy was decapitated and killed on a water slide. This accident was one of four serious amusement park accidents that occurred over a period of 5 days throughout the United States. Another tragic accident during that period happened when a boy fell from a moving roller coaster in Pennsylvania.

Some accidents are close to home. Back in 2007, Louisville’s Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom was the site of another horrific amusement park accident. A 13-year-old girl lost both her feet when they were severed after a ride cable split. These types of accidents are bound to happen on an occasional basis, but there comes a time when we question what’s being done to bring the number of possible accidents down to an absolute minimum.

According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drugs and alcohol continue to be a major cause of Kentucky car accidents. The data shows that, nationally, drugs and alcohol were involved in fatal accidents, claiming 267,598 lives from 1995 and 2013, according to drugtreatment.com. Drugs or alcohol involvement accounted for 26 percent of all fatal car accidents over that time period.

South Dakota had the most fatal car accidents involving a legally drunk driver, 22.44 per every 100,000 residents. The next nine states in order were; Wyoming (19.02), Arkansas (18.68), Nebraska (18.54), Montana (16.85), Mississippi (16.42), Maine (15.12), Kentucky (14.98), Louisiana (14.63, and West Virginia (14.05).

North Dakota had the most fatal car accidents where the driver was under the influence of drugs, 8.03 for every 100,000 residents. The next nine states in order were: Wyoming (7.53), Montana (7.33), West Virginia (6.09), Kentucky (5.89), Arkansas (5.23), Vermont (4.56), South Dakota (4.20), South Carolina (4.07), and Alabama (4.05).

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has settled a class-action lawsuit brought by former college athletes claiming to have been injured by concussions during college play. In the proposed settlement in the US District Court in Chicago, the NCAA, the governing body for college sports, will set aside $70 million for the treatment of injured players, and adopt a policy guiding coaches and players as to when current athletes can return to play if they’ve suffered a concussion.

The payout of this settlement is structured differently than the proposed NFL concussion settlement, where the funds will go directly to injured players. The NCAA agreement and $70 million will not go directly to players, but will require individual players to sue separately to make a case for their need for compensation.

If you watched videos the morning of Groundhog Day, you saw that the groundhog saw his shadow – which tradition says means we have six more weeks of winter to look forward to. Actually, it turns out that the groundhog test is only reliable 40% of the time over history, but if weather around the country is any indication, he’s right this time.

It’s not too late to shore up your home against more cold weather and rain. The American Automobile Association (AAA) has these ideas for keeping your home safe and dry for the last weeks of winter:

Take advantage of a nice fall day to think about how to winterize your home. Now is the time to spot problems, before the first storm comes in. Roof repair specialists say the first winter storms bring a deluge of calls, and in most cases the homeowner knew there was a problem and was putting off repairs.

A good start is to walk around the outside of your house. Take a look at your gutters – clean them out now, and check for sturdiness. If you’re up to it, you can climb on the roof and check if any shingles are torn away. If you see moss growing on the roof, spray wash it with a 50% mixture of water and bleach.