NHTSA Again Promotes "Over the limit. Under arrest." Campaign

Posted by Salvatore J. Zambri, founding member and senior partner

Once again, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is promoting its annual national drunk driving enforcement during the final weeks of summer vacation in an effort to crack down on impaired driving and reduce highway fatalities.

                                

         2010 Impaired Driving National Enforcement Crackdown
                            August 20 - September 6, 2010

Continue Reading...

2nd National Distracted Driving Summit On 9/21

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding member and senior partner

                                                                                                                    

As you know from reading my blogs, I have been giving presentations for years to students throughout the Metro area about the dangers associated with driving while being distracted (through cell phone use, texting, drinking, loud music, rubber-necking, etc.).  The Department of Transportation has announced that it will hold its second National Distracted Driving Summit on September 21.  I applaud this effort.

The DOT stated on its website:

"From the powerful momentum of last year's distracted driving summit, we've seen some important efforts emerge in the fight against this deadly epidemic. But we're not about to rest now.

That's why we're hosting a second National Distracted Driving Summit on September 21 here in Washington, DC. By getting the best minds together, we think we can figure out effective ways to get people to put down their phones and pay attention to the road."

Distracted driving is an epidemic indeed.  We need stronger regulation, greater education, and cooperation by parents and communities to resolve the problem.  If we don't act fast, millions of people will be severely injured or killed.

Here are a few of my previous blogs about distracted driving that you may find interesting:

 

Please drive safely.

 

Do you have any questions about this post?

About the author:

Mr. Zambri is a board-certified civil trial attorney by the National Board of Trial Advocates and a Past-President of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. He has been rated by Washingtonian magazine as a "Big Gun" and among the "top 1%" of all lawyers in the Washington metropolitan area. The magazine also describes him as "one of Washington's best--most honest and effective lawyers" who specializes in personal injury matters, including automobile accident claims, premises liability, product liability, medical malpractice, and work-accident claims. He has successfully litigated multiple cases against truck and bus companies, the Washington Metropolitan Area transit Authority, and other automobile owners.  His law firm, in fact, has obtained the largest settlement ever in a personal injury case involving WMATA.  Mr. Zambri has also been acknowledged as one of "The Best Lawyers in America" by Best Lawyers (2011 edition) and has been repeatedly named a "Super Lawyer" by Super Lawyer magazine (March/April 2010)-- national publications that honor the top lawyers in America.

If you have any questions about your legal rights, please email Mr. Zambri at szambri@reganfirm.com or call him at 202-822-1899.

Recalled Rental Car Debate Continues

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

                                                                                                                    

As I posted earlier this summer, recalled rental cars are routinely rented out. The deadly crash that brought this issue to light has now settled, but Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety and the Center for Auto Safety have taken up the battle to request that the Federal Trade Commission require rental agencies to repair recalled vehicles before renting them. 

Enterprise-Rent-A-Car admitted negligence in the suit, but the company indicated that it "might not immediately carry out recalls it did not consider major safety problems," according to a recent story in the New York Times.  Even though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cannot force rental-car companies to carry out recalls, a spokesman said “we expect the rental car companies to provide safe cars to their customers by submitting the recalled vehicles to the appropriate manufacturers for the appropriate safety repairs in a timely fashion.”

Unfortunately, putting profits above the safety of consumers seems to have become an acceptable part of the business plan for some corporations.  Let's hope this trend reverses as enough people speak out about the dangers of overlooking or minimizing safety.

Continue Reading...

Aging Drivers and Safety

Posted by Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

A recent article in the Washington Post addresses the concerns of many families regarding how to determine when an aging driver is no longer safe behind the wheel and how best to deal with taking away that independence.  Although older drivers frequently retain the cognitive functions necessary to drive, other progressive diseases that come with aging complicate matters. Being able to drive represents maintaining independence and confidence for older drivers.  However, "a 2007 report by the Government Accountability Office found that drivers 75 and older were more likely than drivers in all other age groups, including adolescents, to be involved in a fatal crash."

Even though some states are requiring more stringent renewal requirements to include vision exams or a doctor's approval, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "there is no single test or screening tool that will reliably weed out unsafe older drivers."  Proactive involvement by families and physicians will likely be the best way to prevent older drivers on the highways as they become more dangerous.

Protect your family and the memories of your grandparents. Don't allow them to drive beyond the time it is safe for them to do so. 

Continue Reading...

Whistleblower Incentives In Financial Reform Bill

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

                                                                                                                    

I blogged recently about legislation  introduced to protect whistleblowers.  The Financial Times (8/9, Eaglesham, Masters) reports that the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill includes new whistleblowing incentives that could mean multimillion dollar rewards for informants and could lead to an increase in allegations against US companies and banks.  The purpose behind the bill is to encourage workers to come forward to stop companies from engaging in unethical, dangerous behavior that threatens consumer and patient safety, which, in teh end, also adversely impact our economy and communities.

I applaud the legislation, and I encourage workers to have the courage to come forward and speak out against corporate misdeeds.

My firm accepts whistleblower cases.  We work to ensure that justice is obtained for  the whistleblower and for all consumers.

Do you have any questions about this post?

About the author:

Mr. Zambri is a board-certified civil trial attorney by the National Board of Trial Advocates and a Past-President of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. He has been rated by Washingtonian magazine as a "Big Gun" and among the "top 1%" of all lawyers in the Washington metropolitan area. The magazine also describes him as "one of Washington's best--most honest and effective lawyers" who specializes in personal injury matters, including whistleblower actions, automobile accident claims, premises liability, product liability, medical malpractice, and work-accident claims.  Mr. Zambri has also been acknowledged as one of "The Best Lawyers in America" by Best Lawyers (2011 edition), and has been repeatedly named a "Super Lawyer" by Super Lawyer magazine (March/April 2010)--a national publication that honors the top lawyers in America.

If you have any questions about your legal rights, please email Mr. Zambri at szambri@reganfirm.com or call him at 202-822-1899.

Congress To Investigate Kellogg Cereal Recall

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

                                                                                                                    

I recently blogged about the Kellogg's cereal recall.  Last week, CQ Today (8/4, Ferguson) reports "the House Energy and Commerce Committee is looking into the June recall of millions of boxes of Kellogg's Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Froot Loops and Apple Jacks cereals after the company found that a substance in the package liner could produce a bad taste and smell." Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak (D-MI) "wrote on Aug. 2 to the company's chief executive, A.D. David Mackay," asking "about Kellogg's use of a packaging chemical that one study has linked to lung cancer in adults." They asked Kellogg "to document its investigation into the recall;" any "assessments of the potential health risks posed by the chemical, 2-methylnaphthalene;" and "the procedures it uses to ensure that products are not exposed to dangerous chemicals."

Let's hope Congress can get to the bottom of this issue so that it doesn't happen again.

Do you have any questions about this post?

About the author:

Mr. Zambri is a board-certified civil trial attorney by the National Board of Trial Advocates and a Past-President of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. He has been rated by Washingtonian magazine as a "Big Gun" and among the "top 1%" of all lawyers in the Washington metropolitan area. The magazine also describes him as "one of Washington's best--most honest and effective lawyers" who specializes in personal injury matters, including automobile accident claims, premises liability, product liability, medical malpractice, and work-accident claims.  Mr. Zambri has been named one of the "Best Lawyers in America" by Best Lawyers (2011 edition), as well as a "Super Lawyer" by Super Lawyer magazine (March/April 2010)-- national publications that honor the top lawyers in America.

If you have any questions about your legal rights, please email Mr. Zambri at szambri@reganfirm.com or call him at 202-822-1899.

 


 

Appliance Recall Check Service Now Available

Posted by Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

According to a recent story in Trading Markets.com, "Appliance Recall Check is a new service that helps consumers identify recalled appliances in their homes. Most of the 195 million recalled appliances in American homes are not identified until there is a fire or other tragedy. Many other appliances with functionality recalls are replaced at the consumer's expense even though a manufacturer is responsible.

The first time a homeowner may be aware of an appliance recall is when a fire marshal tells them about the recall after a house fire. The story is not the 1.7 million dishwashers in the recent Maytag recall, but the more than 195 million other recalled appliances now in American homes.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (http://www.cpsc.gov) website home page assures consumers that "You can find information on over 4,500 product recalls and recall alerts using the various searches on this page". That is true. The problem with the manufacturer and CPSC sites is that a consumer must wade through each of the individual recalls to find out if their dishwasher or other appliance is a potential hazard. This type of search is like searching the list of phone numbers in a phone book to find a specific name instead of looking up the name of the person.

There is a solution that allows consumers to search for recalls on each of their household appliances including heating, cooling, hot water, laundry and built in kitchen appliances in one, easy location. Think of this database as your "phone book" for recalls.

www.ApplianceRecallCheck.com allows for entering the brand, model and serial number of all of the household appliances in a residential home. Within two business days, the service will return a report containing information about recalls. If there is a defect, the report will include:

  • Nature of the Recall
  • Where the product was sold
  • How to remedy the defect
  • How to get the item repaired/replaced (usually free)
  • The report also includes the manufacturer's contact details, the business hours of the manufacturer and what to do if the manufacturer fails to respond to a claim.

Appliance Recall Check is a service providing database search of existing Consumer Product Safety Commission appliance recalls based upon model and serial numbers. This service allows a single entry of Make, Model and Serial numbers in list form as opposed to consumers searching multitudes of individual recalls for each category of individual appliances."

Don't wait until your home is destroyed by fire to learn of a recalled appliance. Take advantage of this new service to determine whether any of the appliances in your home or those you plan to purchase are included in a recall notice. 

Continue Reading...

NTSB to Hold Hearing to Examine Hazmat Truck Rollover

Posted by Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

Following a fireball accident involving a propane truck rollover and explosion accident in Indiana last October, the National Transportation Safety Board is examining whether enough is being done to prevent tanker trucks hauling hazardous loads from rolling over. "Tankers, more than other trucks, are susceptible to rollovers because the weight distribution of the liquid they carry can shift suddenly if vehicle changes direction too quickly. A two-day hearing on the fiery crash begins Tuesday."

The hearing will focus on a wide range of truck safety issues:

  • "Vehicle design changes,
  • Capability and limitations of electronic stability control systems,
  • Role of driver training and testing,
  • Roadway factors that could contribute toward vehicle instability,
  • Initiatives to protect highway bridge piers from vehicle impacts, and
  • Crashworthiness standards for cargo tanks transporting high-risk hazardous materials."

On average, there are 1,265 cargo tanker rollovers each year.  As a result, safety on our nation's highways is becoming more challenging each year.  Since trucks represent a disproportionate share of highway rollovers, investigations such as the one proposed by NTSB may help institute new requirements aimed at keeping unsafe tankers off the highways.

Continue Reading...

Hidden Dangers of Swimming Pools Highlighted Again in Recent Child's Death

Posted by Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

As recently reported by the Associated Press, another child's death has been caused by the powerful suction of a swimming pool.  Parents claim that pool industry officials are trying to weaken pool safety standards, "It's not something we'll ever get over, but we're hoping to make a difference so other families don't have to suffer the same fate. The laws are trying to be rolled back by the pool industry and we really want to make sure that we're there to protect the children." Pool officials deny those claims and advocate for the best approach for the prevention of  such tragedies. 

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an annual average of 385 pool - or spa-related deaths occurred from 2005-2007.  Another 4,200 children are treated in emergency rooms each year for pool-associated injuries.  Laws have been enacted and debated in some jurisdictions regarding the necessity of anti-entrapment devices or covers for pools. 

Scott Wolfson, director of public affairs for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said the agency is committed to working with the families on education campaigns and other efforts to ensure pool safety.

"We certainly understand their position," Wolfson said. "We want this law to save lives. We care deeply about what happened to the families."

Until laws are powerful and consistent enough to prevent such pool tragedies for children, raising awareness of pool safety is the goal of advocates, similar to earlier efforts regarding bicycle helmet requirements.  Compared to the cost of a life, entrapment hazard drain covers are inexpensive.

Continue Reading...

Hewlett-Packard Whistleblower Suit Settles

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

                                                                                                                    

Bloomberg News (8/3, Ricadela, Voreacos) reports, "Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's largest maker of personal computers and printers, agreed in principle to settle a US probe of false billings, a deal that will trim earnings by 2 cents a share in the third quarter. The agreement would resolve a Justice Department investigation of whether the company overcharged taxpayers through a General Services Administration contract, HP said today in a statement. The accord also would settle claims in a False Claims Act lawsuit, first filed by a whistleblower and later joined by the US, that the company paid kickbacks."

False billings, overcharging taxpayers, paying kick-backs.  These are bad things that companies should never do, not just because they are illegal, but because they are unethical.  It took the courage of a "whistleblower"--an employee of the company--to come forward and put an end to the offensive conduct.

My firm accepts whistleblower cases.  We work to ensure that justice is obtained for  the whistleblower and for all consumers.

Do you have any questions about this post?

About the author:

Mr. Zambri is a board-certified civil trial attorney by the National Board of Trial Advocates and a Past-President of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. He has been rated by Washingtonian magazine as a "Big Gun" and among the "top 1%" of all lawyers in the Washington metropolitan area. The magazine also describes him as "one of Washington's best--most honest and effective lawyers" who specializes in personal injury matters, including whistleblower actions, automobile accident claims, premises liability, product liability, medical malpractice, and work-accident claims.  Mr. Zambri has also been named one of the "Best Lawyers in America" by Best Lawyers (2011 edition), as well as a "Super Lawyer" by Super Lawyer magazine (March/April 2010)--national publications that honor the top lawyers in America.

If you have any questions about your legal rights, please email Mr. Zambri at szambri@reganfirm.com or call him at 202-822-1899.