South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) awarded thirty-four 2008 model vehicles the Top Safety Pick rating, more than double the number of vehicles that earned the rating in 2007. Eligible vehicles traditionally included all cars, minivans and small or midsize SUVs, while this year, small and large pickups were also eligible to earn the IIHS’s top rating.

To pick the winners, the IIHS evaluates the each vehicle’s combined performance of three individual crash tests. For 2008, Ford Motor Company stands out as the manufacturer with the most vehicles on the list with eight winners, helped by the performance of its Volvo models. Honda, including vehicles from its luxury division Acura, produced seven top picks.

To best understand the severe nature of the IIHS tests, here’s a quick summary of what vehicles are put through. Frontal crash tests ram the vehicle into an offset barrier at 40 mph. The impact simulates two vehicles hitting head-on, similar to what might happen on a two-lane road. Experts evaluate the results based on “injuries” sustained by the crash dummies sitting inside the vehicle. Reviewing slow motion film of the crash allows them to further assess the performance of the restraint system.

Side impact tests involve a stationary vehicle that is hit by a moving barrier traveling at 31 mph. This test simulates the damage similar to being rammed by a large SUV or pickup truck. Results are once again evaluated based on injury to the dummies along with effectiveness of the side airbags and the movement of the B-pillar, the vertical column right behind the front seat, into the passenger compartment.

The rear crash test is the most recent addition to the program. Vehicles are first categorized based on quality of head protection based on seat and restraint design. If a satisfactory rating is received in this first review, a rear impact test is performed. This test specifies that a stationary vehicle is hit from behind with a barrier moving at 20 mph. Then head and neck strain on the dummy are measured to determine the results of the test.

While the three crash tests give researchers insight into the performance of a vehicle during a crash, the recent widespread availability of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems helps prevent many accidents from happening in the first place. “Vehicles should be designed to provide good occupant protection when crashes occur, but now with ESC, we have the possibility of preventing many crashes altogether,” says Adrian Lund, IIHS president.

Automakers have many different names for their ESC systems, but the systems take the concept of anti-lock brakes to the next level with overall vehicle stability enhancement. These complex systems are able to help a driver maintain control with precision application of the brakes and sophisticated traction control electronics. ESC systems can sense a spin or skid happening, and can intervene to prevent this potentially dangerous happening.

For a vehicle to qualify as a Top Pick, the IIHS requires that the vehicle must be available with ESC.

Vehicles Are Getting Safer
It used to be that only the most expensive vehicles had advanced safety equipment. Perception might also cause one to think that larger vehicles are safer. This is clearly not the case in 2008. The IIHS list names winners from affordable mainstream brands, with vehicles as compact as the Audi A3 and Saab 9-3.

Seeing the progress from year to year is encouraging. Looking at historical IIHS data, front crash ratings show the highest performance results. It is generally the side and rear tests that cause models to suffer. Recently, however, due to the improving design of side-curtain airbags, side crash ratings have significantly improved.

The rear impact tests uncover an area with room for improvement, and this 2004 addition to the testing program is inspiring changes for the better in many vehicles. For example, redesigned seat/head restraints in the Honda Accord, Element and Odyssey along with the BMW X3 and X5 have now earned a “good” rating, which is a huge jump from the previous “poor” or “marginal” ratings. The importance of such changes is amplified with the awareness that an additional 23 vehicles would have earned an award in 2008 had it been for a modification in their seat/head restraints.

The IIHS tests make it easy to evaluate the relative safety performance of various models. 

What impressed us most about these results is the fact that high-performance safety is no longer something offered only by expensive European names. Ford’s affordable Taurus and Sable, along with their new crossovers (Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX) are top picks. High-volume models from Subaru, Saturn, and Kia also made the list. With today’s technology, safety can be something any new car buyer can afford.

Two airliners were one minute from colliding when at least one of the planes turned away from the other over the Caribbean this week, federal authorities said Friday.

A Long Island company recalled a popular rubber chew toy this week, too late for an unlucky Manhattan dog named Chai who lost his tongue to the plaything.

The bouncy 10 year old lab mix had emergency surgery eight weeks ago after his tongue was sucked into a hole in the red Four Paws Pimple Ball.

At the Animal Medical Center on the upper East Side, veterinarians cut a hole in the ball to dislodge Chai’s swollen tongue.

Massive swelling ensued, and Chai’s tongue was amputated a week later.

“It’s been devastating,” said the dog’s owner, Daniel Rechelbacher, 39, a hair stylist who runs Salon2b in lower Manhattan.

“He was depressed, he was in pain and he couldn’t chew his food,” said Rechelbacher, who said he plans to sue Four Paws Inc.

Videos posted on Rechelbacher’s blog, thechaistory.blogspot.com,  showed the pooch whimpering, being hand-fed and drinking through a giant syringe.

The heart wrenching footage wound up on blogs and Web sites around the globe, prompting outraged animal lovers to demand a recall of the defective product.

Four Paws, based in Hauppauge, L.I., posted a recall and warning on its Web site on Tuesday.

The company said it has stopped shipping the toys to distributors and asked retailers to yank them off shelves. Consumers were asked to return the item.

Four Paws executive Barry Askin said a defect in the product’s mold sealed one of the ball’s two holes, creating a vacuum effect that could trap a tongue.

Chai wasn’t the only casualty of the Pimple Ball.

In 2005, Zoa Kile had her 5 year old lab mix, Cole, euthanized after his tongue got caught in the toy, swelled and would not heal.

Kile said Four Paws promised to change the design of the ball after she complained, but the company never followed through.

Chai is slowly recovering from his ordeal, learning how to eat and drink without a tongue, still unable to cool himself through panting.

He’s restricted to short walks early or late in the day, but his owner hopes he’ll soon be more active.

“Chai lives to retrieve balls,” Rechelbacher said.

Julie Roberts is allowed to visit her four Siberian huskies 15 minutes a day. Broward Animal Care and Regulation took her dogs into custody and under a new Broward County ordinance, the dogs could be put to death.

“We sympathize with the family and we never meant for any of this to happen, but please help me bring my dogs home,” Roberts told Local 10′s Jeff Weinsier.

On Monday, Chloe, Ivy, Dimerland and Champion got out of their Miramar house and allegedly attacked and killed a terrier named Tinkerbell.

“These dogs are not running around the neighborhood like a pack of wild animals. This was an accident and that will come out if and when a hearing occurs,” said Roberts’ attorney, Jason Wandner

A Broward County ordinance says if a dog kills or seriously harms another, it can be put down after that first incident.

On Friday, members of the South Florida Husky Rescue, an organization that helps find homes for abused, neglected and abandoned purebred Siberian huskies, protested outside Broward Animal Care and Regulation saying the ordinance is unjust.

“State law gives a dog a second chance. If a dog is deemed dangerous and then bites someone, it can be destroyed, but Broward has taken that away,” said Jan Michael Morris, the attorney for South Florida Siberian Husky Rescue. “Is this a situation where this family and these dogs lost their right to live because of this horrible accident? That’s what this law suggests.”

“They are not vicious animals. They are not dangerous. Everyone in my neighborhood knows my dogs. They come to visit my dogs and interact with my dogs,” Roberts said.

“It’s sad for all parties concerned, for the owners of Tinkerbell, as well as for the owners of these dogs, Said Lisa Mendheim of Broward Animal Care and Regulation. But that’s for a hearing to determine what the outcome should be.

General Motors Corp. said Friday it was recalling 944,000 vehicles because of a problem with a windshield wiper fluid system that could lead to a fire.

More than 850,000 sport utility vehicles, trucks and passenger cars in the United States and nearly 100,000 vehicles in Canada, Mexico and the Middle East are involved in the recall, the company said.

GM said it includes the 2008 Buick Enclave, 2006-2008 Buick Lucerne, 2006-2008 Cadillac DTS, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade ESV, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade EXT, 2007-2008 Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban, 2007-2008 GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL, 2006-2008 Hummer H2 and 2007-2008 Saturn Outlook.

The recall involves vehicles with a heated washer fluid system. A short circuit in the system could cause electrical features to malfunction, which could lead to an odor, smoke or potentially a fire.

GM spokeswoman Carolyn Markey said there have been nine reports of fires and three of them have been linked to the system. There have been no accidents or injuries connected to the defect, she said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation last February into 2007 Yukon and Tahoe vehicles over potential engine compartment fires. In June, the highway safety agency upgraded its investigation into about 2.7 million 2007-2008 GM trucks and SUVs and reported allegations of 41 engine fires.

Dealers will install a wire harness with an in-line fuse to fix the problem free of charge, GM said.

For more information, owners may contact Buick at (866) 608-8080, Cadillac at (800) 982-2339, Chevrolet at (800) 630-2438, Saturn at (800) 972-8876, GMC at (866) 996-9436 or Hummer at (800) 732-5493.

Morris Choo’s losing lottery ticket may have been the luckiest of his life.

A trial study of the drug reportedly showed that those who used it had an increased risk for a variety of cancers. Not only that, but the study reported that Vytorin failed in its mission of reducing cardiovascular problems caused by cholesterol, a substance which can narrow or block arteries, thus leading to heart attacks and strokes.

FDA needs more Vytorin data

The FDA expects to receive more information from the trial study in several months and then will spend six months evaluating it. So far, the FDA is not recommending that doctors stop prescribing the drug, but it is urging them to monitor patients for side effects and to alert the FDA if they arise.

Vytorin is designed to lower levels of LDL cholesterol, which is considered harmful cholesterol, unlike HDL cholesterol, which is beneficial.

Dr. Daniel Steinberg, a University of California professor emeritus of medicine, sees an association between low LDL levels and cancer, though he doesn’t necessarily attribute that to Vytorin.

But the five-year trial study of Vytorin by Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis (SEAS) showed that “a larger percentage of patients treated with Vytorin were diagnosed with and died from all types of cancer combined, when compared to treatment with a placebo.”

Merck battled over Vioxx, too

Merck is the same pharmaceutical giant which produced the painkiller Vioxx, which was found in many court cases to be responsible for heart problems, including fatal heart attacks. Between 1999 and 2004, more than 25 million Americans took Vioxx.

When heart problems surfaced, at least 4,600 persons or their survivors sued the company, claiming Vioxx had caused heart attacks and strokes. It’s estimated that between 88,000 and 139,000 persons suffered adverse effects from Vioxx after taking the drug daily for 18 months.

Merck recalled the drug and has fought the lawsuits, for which some juries have made awards of more than $200 million dollars, including punitive damages. The company reportedly lost $38 billion in market value after its enormous Vioxx recall.

Vytorin is a combination drug, blending Merck’s Zocor, a statin, and Schering-Plough’s Zetia, an ezetimibe.

Vytorin could increase heart trouble

Unlike Vytorin and Zetia, the statin drug Lipitor has been shown not only to reduce LDL cholesterol levels but to raise good cholersterol (HDL) levels and to fight artery inflammation and other cardiovascular problems.

The SEAS research found that even though Vytorin reduced bad cholesterol (LDL) levels, it did not slow artery blockage enough to make it an alternative to statin drugs such as Lipitor.

Working on an oil rig or at an oil refinery can be a dangerous job, but that doesn’t mean fatalities have to occur. Safety measures always should be a chief concern of oil producing companies and should be factored into the bottom line. When safety isn’t paramount, tragedies can ensue.

Four men won a race discrimination lawsuit against a Toyota dealership in Gladstone, Oregon. The verdict for $19 million was handed down by a federal jury this week.

In 2006, Kent Paul, Marcus Arnold, Carlos Barfield and Jahaeel Hardy filed a lawsuit against Asbury Automotive Group, which owned Thomason Toyota during their employment. The suit claimed that they lost car deals because they were black.

Witnesses who testified on behalf of the four former salesmen stated that various employees:

• Used racial epithets
• Steered customers to white salespeople
• Described themselves as “rednecks”
• Talked about family members who “don’t like blacks” and “used to burn crosses”

Dealership management was accused of failing to stop the racist comments.

The jury ruled that the men were victims of racism and awarded them monetary damages. This is not the first verdict against Thomason Auto Group. In 2001, 11 former employees won more than $2 million for various forms of harassment

Fort Lauderdale police said they have new evidence, which may indicate that the South Florida woman, whose body was discovered up north, drowned accidentally.

Police said a cleaning woman found a bag belonging to Josephine Frenna. The bag contained house keys, sandals and a cover up. Frenna’s condo sits behind a beach, leading some to believe that she went for a swim and drowned.

But Frenna’s distraught family, wearing black as they mourn her death, said they believed Frenna was killed.

“She may have owned a bathing suit, but she would never go in the water,” family friend Steve Stabile said. “She didn’t like the sand. She wouldn’t go on the beach and she surely wouldn’t venture onto the beach during a rainstorm. As everybody knows, there was Tropical Storm Fay that day and it was windy and it was raining. When she was seen in the morning, she was wearing a jacket.”

Frenna, 51, was reported missing after her 14-year-old son returned to their home in the 4000 block of Galt Ocean Drive after school and realized his mother was not home.

Police headed north on Monday after Saint Lucie County police responded to a report that the body of a woman in a bathing suit was found near Sebastian Inlet. Police were later able to confirm that it was Frenna.

Family members said Frenna was killed, and said her estranged husband Gerardo DiMarco may be involved.

“There is no doubt for me,” Frenna’s cousin Giuseppe Vizzi said.

Stabile said Frenna’s death was a homicide.

“We believe a crime has been committed and there are no perfect crimes,” Stabile said. “So eventually somewhere, somehow, someday the truth will come out.”

But police said they can’t find any evidence to support her family’s claims.

Frenna had an active domestic violence order against her husband and was scheduled for a restraining order hearing Friday. DiMarco filed for divorce recently, police said.

In the order, Frenna wrote, “He is a threat to me and my son. My son does not want to go with him. We are afraid of our life.”

In the report, Frenna said DiMarco threatened to throw her off the balcony. She also said he physically grabbed her, screamed and cursed at her and called her names. Frenna also presented in the report a photo of a broken door, which she said was broken by her husband holding an axe.

Detectives have spoken to Frenna’s husband, and he is cooperating.

“We understand that they have questions or beliefs on what may have happened,” Sgt. Frank Sousa, of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, said. “But from a law enforcement standpoint, there is no physical evidence that can be presented to the state attorney’s office to indicate that this was a homicide.”

The medical examiner ruled that Frenna died from drowning, but that doesn’t prove that foul play was not involved, police said. Police are still waiting for toxicology results.

Police said they are investigating.