RENTAL ARREST?

THE LAW IS NOT ALWAYS THE ANSWER

There are some things that the justice system might do well, but we call agree it does not do everything well.  Such is the case one Kayla Michelle Finley.  

She was arrested recently, and spent the night in jail in South Carolina. 

Her crime? Robbery? Murder?  Not even close.

She just forgot to return a movie.  It gets better. 

The video rental place is no longer in business. Really. It gets better.

It was not even a DVD.  It was a VHS tape. (Kids, your parents can explain these. That is why we still say, “tape it” when we digitally record a show.)

It was rented in 2005. That was nine (9) years ago! It gets better.

It was "Monster-In-Law," with Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda, and was a forgettable movie according to critics.

While certified letters had apparently been sent to her old addresses, she claimed to know nothing about them, as she had moved away.

While law enforcement has to respond and carry out valid warrants, the law is just not a great solution to such a trivial issue.  What is next? Do you have old library books that are overdue? 

And, if they find the tape and she forgot to rewind the tape, who knows what she may face.  South Carolina may give her the chair!

Seriously, the law does not have a button to push to fix everything.

LAWYER'S TIPS FOR WINTER DRIVING

TIPS FOR WINTER DRIVING

We all know it is best simply not to drive at all during the deadly combination of precipitation and freezing cold temperatures.  But sometimes, there is little choice.  Medical emergencies still occur. Babies still need to be born. Schools sometimes dismiss in the middle of the day. Or, perish the thought, you might be out of that winter-time-necessity: milk and bread.

Here are a few tips that might make your next winter excursion a bit better, and maybe even safer:

Try to park under a garage or carport in winter.  This allows your windshield, side and rear glass to all to be ice-free, allowing you to see well.  If you do not have a covered area, you can try this: Turn off your car with your wipers pointed up.  Then tuck a large trash bag or pizza boxes underneath your wipers.  When you need to leave, the glass underneath should be clear. This allows you to see well without as much scraping.

Speaking of scraping, a can of spray-on de-icer is often handy.  Anything with alcohol with melt ice.  Warm up your car with the defrost set on high. Do not forget the rear defrost, if so equipped. If you must scrape, wear gloves. In an emergency, a credit card will clear the glass. Clear your headlights of snow, too.

If you must drive in the snow, there is usually one lane that is clearer.  Stay in it. Many winter accidents occur with a lane change.  Leave twice the distance you think you need to stop.  Do not follow closely.  There is no reason to do so.  And keep your speed down. Slippery ice and snow is not the surface you wish to lose control on.

Also, consider pre-packing a winter automotive emergency bag might contain: A first-aid kit, duct tape, jumper cables, de-icer, an ice scraper, gloves, blankets, a spare coat, hat, kitty litter (for traction if stuck), flashlight and batteries, pen and paper, knife, spare charger for your cell phone, a way to make a fire or flares, bottled water and snacks.  If you are more adventurous, extra gas, a shovel and a chainsaw are very handy.

If you wreck or get stuck, you have to make the decision whether to stay with your car or to walk. If you are on a well-traveled road, just stay in the car and use the heater occasionally. If you are backed up with your tailpipe in the snow, you must dig it out or you risk death by carbon monoxide poisoning! If you do choose to walk, leave a note with your phone number, plans, time you left and direction of travel.

Be careful out there.

FIFTY YEARS

FIFTY YEARS OF CHANGE

This year, 2014, is a particularly odd mix of anniversaries that might cause you to think fifty years is not all that long, after all. 1964 was 50 years ago and several events of that year still affect us today.

In that year, the first Ford Mustang drove into American car lore from that Dearborn, Michigan plant. Currently, only about 65% of the parts even come from North America.

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson announced his “war on Poverty.” At that time, the poverty rate was 15%. In November 2012, more than 16% of the population now live in poverty in the United States, including almost 20% of American children.

“Beatlemania” washed up on our shores in 1964, and two surviving Beatles recently were guests at the Grammys.

Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in South Africa in 1964 and served time until his release in 1990. His recent funeral looked like a royal tribute.

Remember the friendly witch with the wiggling nose on Bewitched? It premiered on prime time in 1964 and ran until 1972.  Today’s “sitcoms” are far from those in ’64.

The furthest reaching developments of that year would have to be the “The Civil Rights Act of 1964.” This essentially desegregated schools and workplaces. To this day, it is probably responsible for more social change than just about any Act passed since suffrage (women’s right to vote) in 1920.  In 1964, Barack Obama could not have even legally eaten at many lunch counters in the South, but, today he is President. Maybe we will, one day, get to the point where we each can disagree with someone of a different ethnicity than us, without being called a “racist.”

Finally, the resolution called the “The Gulf of Tonkin” was passed in 1964. That led us into the full-fledged Vietnam Conflict involving the United States armed forces. In 1963, only 122 U.S. servicemen died in Vietnam. But in just 1968, 16,899 died! The statistics are still staggering: 58,286 KIA or non-combat deaths (including the missing & deaths in captivity); 153,303 wounded; 1,643 MIA (originally 2,646);725-837 POW (660-721 freed/escaped; 65-116 died in captivity). Thank you Veterans.
Fifty years hence, in 2064, history might well be writing about what we did today in 2014.

Crash Test Results Predict Injuries

CRASH RESULTS

Cars are getting smaller, and as an injury attorney, this worries me. While safety systems are much improved, you just cannot beat basic physics. Small cars are cheaper to own and operate, as they get better mileage, and they are quite easy to get around parking lots.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crashes millions of dollars of perfectly good new cars to gauge how well they might protect their occupants. They once simply crashed head on into barriers like most government tests still do. This spread the forces over a maximal area.

However, to their credit, they have recently made some frontal impact crash tests slightly off center. These focus force on one front corner, at 40 m.p.h. I think this better indicates the real world case of a drunk crossing the centerline slightly. It has also revealed what I had predicted: small cars are generally more dangerous.

The front end of a car usually has a “crush zone.” Often, small notches are cut into the frame that allow it to crumple. This dissipates the force more slowly, which is better for the occupants. However, the newer corner impact tests seem to mostly bypass this crumple zone, and this puts the passenger compartment at risk.

I am not even familiar with many of the newest smaller models, all under 2,500 lbs. I still lope around in my immense, gas-guzzling 5,000 lb.+ Suburban. But out of almost a dozen cars, only one known as the “Chevy Spark” was even acceptable.  None were ranked “good.” The subcompacts that did not even make the “acceptable” cut included subcompact cars from Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Fiat and Honda. Safety ratings can be deceptive. A large SUV and a small sedan might share identical safety ratings, but they are rating cars within the same size class.

In general, occupants heavy cars and trucks come out better in a crash. Large, heavy vehicles, like my behemoth SUV, long, wide crumple zones, and often shove the lighter car backward at impact. Thus, the rates of driver deaths are higher for the lighter vehicles. Midsize and large SUVs are safest, as SUVs are also not prone to under-ride another vehicle in a crash, while risk of roll over is still significant.

Drive safely. 

No amount of safety equipment can truly protect any of us from a distracted driver.

NEW LAWS OF 2014 ARE ODD

ODD NEW LAWS

As an accident and injury lawyer, I keep up with new laws that relate to my personal injury and death cases. However, some new laws get noticed for their sheer oddity. Here are some of the new 2014 laws, out of over 40,000, that someone, somewhere felt were very important to pass.

Rocky mountain high?: Apparently, people are too responsible in Colorado, so now those slackers and losers 21 or older can purchase an ounce of marijuana from stores legally.  Snack food sales are also expected to skyrocket.

Bad news for pasty white young ladies in Chicago: Indoor tanning sessions are now illegal in Illinois for anyone under 18.

Boy? Girl? Other?: In (where else?) California, public school students can now participate in school sports programs and use school bathrooms "consistent with their gender identity.” I am unsure if that can change within each day, week or month?

They had to have a rule?: New mothers in Oregon, can finally take their placentas home from the hospital. Believe it not, there are supposedly reported health benefits from consuming them? Yuck.

Jaws is finally safe: Sale, possession or distribution of shark fins prohibited in Delaware.

Electric cars are supposed to save money?: Colorado has a new $50 fee for those new-fangled plug-in electric cars.  It is annual. I imagine it will rise.

Gun control hysteria: The horrible Newtown school shooting took place in a gun-free zone. School shootings elsewhere have been successfully stopped by armed adults.  Thus, good guys with guns stop bad guys with guns. So, Connecticut will now mandate registration of all the good guys’ assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines, which will have absolutely no affect whatever on crime or shootings. Bad guys tend not to register them and also are okay with breaking the law, or they would not murder innocent people.  See, that’s already illegal pretty much everywhere.

LEND CAR: GET SUED?

LENDING CAR EQUALS TROUBLE

Is someone borrowing your car?

At some point, everyone has let another person drive his car.

However, did you know that you could be liable for injuries caused by the person driving the car. It is important to understand when you are liable for injuries that are caused by someone else driving your car.

In Tennessee, a car owner can be liable for letting another person driving his car if he is doing so with his permission.

In other words, you cannot normally be held liable if your car is stolen and it causes a wreck.

In negligent entrustment, the car owner knows that the person borrowing the car is an unfit or reckless driver. In this case, the car owner can again be liable for injuries and damage to another person and his car. However, in order for the car owner to be liable, it must be shown that the car owner either knew or should have known that the driver was not competent or was reckless at the time he gave the borrower permission to take the car.

A car owner can also be liable for letting an intoxicated driver borrow the car. And, a car owner can be liable for letting someone with a medical condition, which affects the person’s ability to drive, borrow the car.

Ultimately, you are responsible, (with your assets) to pay for accidents caused by a permissive driver of your car. If you lent it to a reckless or intoxicated person, you might be liable for punitive damages as well.

Be careful about lending.

You might be getting trouble back in return.

LAWSUIT: WHO IS A PERSON?

LAWSUIT CLAIMS MONKEYS ARE PERSONS

It was bound to happen. Chimps are similar enough to people that many so-called “scientists” actually think that humans evolved from common ape-like ancestors.

So, maybe it should not shock us that entire groups are now suing on their behalf, to cause them to recognized as “persons” under the law.

“Personhood” is a term also extended in the law to corporations (Wal-Mart, Exxon, etc.) even though they are not human beings.  Wal-Mart is not the late Sam Walton, nor is Apple the late Steve Jobs. Corporations can own property, sue, be sued and issue stock, for example.

As persons under the law, the chimps would be eligible for some legal protection, such as not being used in medical experiments or kept in cages. The medical experiments often benefit human beings, ironically, because of their physical similarities to humans.

Steven Wise, an author and animal rights activist has filed several lawsuits on behalf of chimpanzees. He runs a group called the “Nonhuman Rights Project,” advocating legal personhood for chimps and other animals. In one case, he calls chimpanzees autonomous, self-determined, self-aware, intelligent, and emotionally complex beings, that cognitively resemble human beings.

As such, this movement tries to ban their use in circuses, their captivity in zoos, and also their use in medical testing for diseases.  In what might be a sign of things to come, New Zealand and Spain extended personhood protections to the great apes. Other countries have banned research on great apes.

Wise argues, "The act of denying equality in order to enslave, based on a single trait, jeopardizes the equality of everyone."

What about fetuses? Why can’t we protect humans? The one trait that differs is simply viability outside the womb.

Those of us who know that chimps and humans were both specially created by God on day 6 can both acknowledge that humans have dominion over all the animals, but we can also be compassionate in our care of chimps and others.

I, personally, would like to see at least the same compassion extended to the unborn by the abolition of abortion.