August 28, 2010

Bicycles vs Cars : The Battle Wages

Oil and water, cats and dogs, phone bills and teenagers.  Some things just don't go together.  But does the same have to be true for New Mexico bicyclists and motorists? Well, if New Mexico's neighbor to the west is any indication, there is a long way to go. Transportational tensions are flaring in Tuscon as bicyclists and drivers continue their war of words.  Even to local news has become caught in the middle.

Here in Albuquerque, bicycle accidents are all too common. Any drive on a weekend morning will reveal that the issue will not be going away anytime soon.  While drivers tend to feel that they are entitled to the road and bicyclists must yield the way, the law is not so one-sided.  More often than not, New Mexico bicycle accidents occur when a driver fails to respect their fellow two-wheeled roadster.  

While it may take some time for New Mexico bicyclists and drivers to coexist in harmony, there is certainly no need to tolerate hostility and injury while we wait.

April 22, 2010

Espanola Motorcycle Accident & Punitive Damages

New Mexico accidents are common. New Mexico motorcycle accidents unfortunately are also prevalent. Often with New Mexico motorcycle accident cases, it is important to overcome prejudices and show that the motorcycle driver is not at fault. Sometimes this can be difficult, while other times it is exceedingly easy.

Bizarre facts are surfacing of a recent New Mexico motorcycle accident that occurred near Espanola. The Espanola motorcycle accident occurred moments after a police officer clocked a driver racing over 100 mph. As the officer was preparing to pull over the driver, he ran a red light and struck a motorcyclist.

Other than making liability an easier task to prove, the facts leading up to this New Mexico motorcycle accident provide an example of when outrageous conduct can lead to punitive damages following a car accident.

April 12, 2010

Toyota Prius Cases: From New Mexico to California

Attorneys on both sides of new Toyota litigation arising from the injuries and deaths allegedly caused by defects in the design of the Toyota Prius have petitioned a single California district court to assume jurisdiction over hundreds of lawsuits pending across the nation. The system under which this consolidation would occur for cases such as Toyota Prius Litigation, called "Multidistrict Litigation" or MDL, helps conserve the resources of the judiciary and the parties involved in the lawsuit, by unifying the process by which all sides conduct trial preparation. After this trial preparation, or discovery, is completed, the case returns to the original jurisdiction for trial, if necessary. Thus, a person who was injured in a Prius in New Mexico would file his or her case in the District of New Mexico; it would then be transferred to whatever federal district was assigned the MDL and returned to New Mexico for trial. Because of the large number of plaintiffs who are affected, MDL most often occurs in product liability cases and environmental and toxic torts.

January 15, 2010

Preventing Bicycle Traumatic Brain Injury

It is hard to find good that comes out of New Mexico drunk driving accidents. Similarly, there is little positive that can emerge from a New Mexico traumatic brain injury. However, a Carlsbad New Mexico man, George Methola, is doing just that. According to a recent newspaper article, Methola, after suffering his own traumatic brain injury has found an impressive way to turn his misfortune into a positive impact.

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Working with the Brain Injury Association of New Mexico, and the Carlsbad Brain Injury Support Group, he is working to minimize traumatic brain injury for New Mexico bicyclists by raising money to supply helmets.

Although one of New Mexico’s main recreational activities, bicycling can also result in serious and catastrophic injuries when things go wrong. Despite the Child Helmet Safety Act, many young New Mexico bicyclists do not wear helmets and are thus exposed to a substantial risk of injury. Methola is doing his part, learning from a traumatic brain injury, and working to increase the number of New Mexico bicyclists using helmets.

January 13, 2010

Inappropriate Teacher Conduct

Recent news outlets are reporting an incident that violates every parents' sense of safety. According the the news story, a 34 year old APS teacher has been arrested for inappropriate sexual conduct with a student. Depending on when the relationship began, this could also be known as statutory rape. In the event the allegations are true and the Albuquerque teacher faces criminal punishment, there is still no way to reverse the damage done to the child and family involved.

The situation poses a unique question under New Mexico injury law. Specifically, "When can the school be held accountable for the conduct of a teacher or employee." As is often the situation, the answer is complex and depends on a constellation of factors. These factors include, but are not limited to: where the relationship occurred, when it occurred, and whether there are sufficient connections to the man's role as a teacher. Depending on the answers to these questions, New Mexico law may allow for a financial recovery against the school or APS for what may amount to statutory rape.

September 18, 2009

Fatal Albuquerque Motorcycle Accidents & How to Handle The Motorcycle Bias

A westside Albuquerque motorcycle accident recently turned fatal. The motorcycle crash occurred in Albuquerque at Sevilla and Montano at approximately noon on Friday. When many people, including juries, hear about a motorcycle accidents, they immediately assume that the motorcycle is at fault. In this particular motorcycle accident this false assumption could not be further from the truth.

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In fact, authorities are reporting that the Albuquerque motorcycle accident occurred when the motorcyclist was stopped at a red light at Sevilla and was struck from behind by a van. Remarkably, early news accounts of the fatal Albuquerque motorcycle accident on Montano felt the need to bring up the fact that the motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet. This outrageously insignificant and legally irrelevant fact highlights the strong bias that people have in motorcycle accident cases. Certainly the presence of a helmet would not have prevented this Albuquerque wrongful death accident but it shows the eagerness people have to blame the motorcycle rider.

A New Mexico motorcycle accident lawyer should be prepared to address these biases and preconceptions in order to achieve the highest possible recovery for the client.

September 17, 2009

Roswell Motorcycle Accident - Cases Against Friends and Family

Sadly the number of fatalities is increasing in a Roswell motorcycle accident. The accident initially resulted in two wrongful deaths, however, New Mexico media is reporting that a third accident victim recently lost his life. This particular Roswell motorcycle accident, involving three separate motorcycles has to be one of the worst New Mexico motorcycle accidents in recent history.

While early reports suggest that speed and alcohol may have played a role in the crash, this particular motorcycle accident brings up a question that our motorcycle accident lawyers hear regularly. Accident victims often want to know if anything can be done if a New Mexico wrongful death or injury is caused by a friend or family. Typically, people are hesitant to pursue legal action in these situations for fear that they will be hurting another member of the family. However, the truth is that not pursing such cases rarely results in any benefit.

While our New Mexico accident lawyers are the first to admit that no case is worth breaking apart healthy family bonds, we also remind our accident and injury clients that not all cases require a formal lawsuit to resolve. Typically, if the family member or friend has insurance, a case can be settled without the need to even file a lawsuit. Another way of looking at is is, if the insurance premiums have all been paid, the insurance company essentially has a pile of money somewhere to cover the accident victim's injury or death. The choice is whether to give that money back to the insurance company or use it to compensate the New Mexico accident victims and their families.

All cases that the New Mexico accident attorneys at the Fine Law Firm handle are controlled by the client. That means that if a client says they want to settle a case without litigation, then they are in control.

September 16, 2009

Parking to Blame for Fatal Grants Accident

A weekend accident in Grants, New Mexico cost one man his life and seriously injured another. The four vehicle Grants car accident occurred when a truck occupied by two men attempted to make and left hand turn in a crowded and congested area of Grants. Specifically, the accident occurred in Grants on Santa Fe Ave between Corley Ford and Indian Trails Trading Post. The area sees heavy traffic on weekends when people come out for the Grants flea market.

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More than most New Mexico accidents, location is playing a big role in this fatal crash. Officials have pointed out that Grants officials had placed "No Parking" signs in the area to relieve some of the congestion but they were ignored. Local business seem to be suggesting that the signs were never enforced and people continued to park in the crowded area making things worse.

New Mexico personal injury lawyers are aware that accidents such as these bring up an important aspect of New Mexico law. Considering that New Mexico is a comparative fault state, there could be possible claims against the negligent drivers involved in the accident as well as those that broke the law parking in illegal areas, the business that may have allowed them to do so, and perhaps the law enforcement officials for not enforcing the no-parking zones despite knowing that a dangerous condition existed. Secondly, under New Mexico law, if there is a claim against law enforcement officials, it is know as a New Mexico Tort Claim and requires action within ninety days.

September 4, 2009

Albuquerque's New Drunk Driving Accident Crystal Ball

There really is no such thing as a crystal ball. However, the Albuquerque Police Department believes they may have found something pretty close when it comes to DWI’s. It is called an Operational Deployment Resource Allocator, and it is claimed to be able to determine the locations were there is the highest risk of someone driving drunk.

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Use of this DWI technology in Albuquerque is supposed to be able to take into consideration date, time, holidays, and traffic patterns to output the highest risk of drunk driving incidents. If accurate, the tool will give authorities the upper hand on where to focus their efforts to stop DWI, as well as assist drivers in Albuquerque, or throughout New Mexico in avoiding intersections where there may be a car accident.

Given the nature of New Mexico drunk driving accidents, any technology, however futuristic, certainly can’t hurt.

When asked to compute the highest risk intersections in Albuquerque during the upcoming Labor Day weekend, the machine produced the following list of the intersections with the highest likelihood of a New Mexico drunk driving accident:

1 Wyoming Blvd NE & Constitution Ave NE
2 San Mateo Blvd NE & Pan American East Highway NE
3 Griegos Rd NW & 2nd St. NW
4 Pan American East Highway NE & Montgomery Blvd NE
5 Pennsylvania St NE & Montgomery Blvd NE
6 Irving Blvd NW & Coors Blvd NW
7 San Mateo Blvd NE & Montgomery Blvd NE
8 Louisiana Blvd NE & Central Ave E
9 Wyoming Blvd NE & Menaul Blvd NE 578 10 Osuna Rd NE & Jefferson St NE

Although cannot say that I’m fully convinced with the abilities of this technology, I have to admit I find myself at Wyoming and Constitution during the Labor Day weekend I will proceed with a heightened sense of caution to say the least.

September 3, 2009

Fatal New Mexico Semi Truck Accident Involving FedEx

New Mexico semi truck accidents can cause devastating injuries. On such semi truck accident recently occurred in New Mexico on I-40 at the line between Guadalupe County and Torrance County near Clines Corners.

The semi truck accident occurred when a tandem semi truck operated by Fed-Ex hit a family moving from California to Texas. Most devastating, the semi crash resulted in the death of two people, a woman and her eight month old grandson.

The semi truck accident brings to light a common question that people ask a New Mexico truck accident lawyer, “Is there any more that can be recovered from a semi truck driver than a driver of a passenger vehicle.” The answer, many times, is “yes”.

First, New Mexico insurance law requires that any commercial vehicle, including semi trucks, must carry a higher minimum level of insurance. While a passenger vehicle must be insured for $25,000, a commercial vehicle, such as a FedEx semitruck, must have $1 million in insurance. In addition, there are a couple questions that come to mind regarding this particular accident. Considering it occurred at 11:30 PM, it raises the question of whether driver fatigue contributed to the semi accident. New Mexico semi truck regulations place strict guidelines on how many hours a semi truck can be driven and how many hours the operator must sleep. Often times these truck regulations are ignored and drivers operate under heavy medication or narcotics to stay awake at the wheel, albeit at an altered state.

Another fact that this tragic semi truck accident brings to light is that it is neccessary for the accident victims to take immediate action to preserve the case. Crucial pieces of information such as recording devices and logs must be preserved so that the evidence can be carefully analyzed. Failure to act quickly to preserve these items may result in their destruction.

In the event that any New Mexico semi-truck regulations were ignored, or the driver caused the accident beyond mere negligence, there could be exposure to substantial punitive damages for which it is likely FedEx has viable assets. Although no amount is enough to reverse such an accident, it is nonetheless important to make sure rights are protected.

August 31, 2009

New Mexico Drunk Driving's New Poster Boy

New Mexico drunk driving accidents are problems. Heck, New Mexico DWI itself is a problem. When somebody is charged and convicted with DWI, we get bothered and hope that it wont happen again. When somebody gets a second DWI there is more anger that it happened again. When a New Mexico drunk driver picks up his or her third, fourth, or fifth DWI it becomes clear that he or she is basically beyond rehabilitation and the frustration focuses on the system that allows the ongoing problems.

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Well, its hard to describe what to think when a New Mexico driver picks up his 22 DWI arrests. That is exactly what happened to Delano Vigil. During his last escapade he was arrested and subsequently blew .39 blood alcohol level. Thats right, .39. It seems that Delano is trying to set two New Mexico records: the most drunk driving arrests, and the highest blood alcohol level.

Prior to his last arrest Delano had been charged 5 times in New Mexico and another 16 elsewhere. However, it appears that he wont be going anywhere for a while. Delano must now answer to warrants in San Miguel County, Bernalillo County, and Sandoval County. All warrants seem to stem from drunk driving related offenses.

As of right now, Delano is a poster buy for change in New Mexico drunk driving laws. Honestly though, as a lawyer who sues New Mexico drunk drivers, I’m not convinced that any law will keep prevent a 23rd, 24th, or 25th arrest so long has he has any access to a car. Hopefully I’m wrong.

August 29, 2009

Albuquerque Bike Accident Memorials

Albuquerque bicyclists occasionally make news for unfortunate reasons. However, Albuquerque news is reporting on some mysterious bikes that have been appearing in the city. They are called "Ghost Bikes" and are generally painted white and placed in areas around the city where bicyclists have been hit and killed in New Mexico bicycle accidents.

Similarly to roadside memorials that commemorate motorists killed in fatal accidents, Ghost Bikes serve as memorials for bicyclists. In addition to honoring bicyclists who lost their lives, it is hoped that these memorials also serve as somber reminders to drivers and encourages them to take extra care to prevent future Albuquerque bike accidents resulting in wrongful death.