Altering the information in a truck driver’s log is more common than people think. It is also a crime.

“Truck drivers are required to keep a log of their travel to prove they complied with state and federal laws. There are a fair number of cases in which trucker’s or their employers have altered the driving log for trips. In some cases, there are two sets of books;  the one for inspectors to see, and the one that reflects the true number of hours a trucker logged,” commented Brooks Schuelke, an Austin personal injury lawyer with Perlmutter & Schuelke, L.L.P.

Consider the case that happened in North Carolina where a truck company owner chose to waive indictment and plead guilty on behalf of his company and individually to one count of violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1011. This meant he pled guilty to one count of making false statements.

The facts of the case show that the trucking company and its president doctored truck drivers’ duty status logs to hide the true number of hours their employees had driven. These numbers are required by Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations, and they state there is a limit to the number of hours a trucker may drive to avoid accidents caused by driver fatigue.

Truckers are mandated to track their hours in a log book to make sure they do not go over the maximum number of hours allowed. They are also required to get proper rest breaks before hitting the road again. According to the charges in the North Carolina case, the owner of the trucking company falsified those logs because his truckers were driving more than the allowable number of hours by law. The owner and the company were also trying to avoid detection by law enforcement.

The man individually faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in jail, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The company he owned may face probation for one to five years and a fine of up to $500,000.

“It makes you want to ask if faking the books was worth it. From the point of view of the law, it was not worth it. From the point of view of a potential victim involved in a wreck with a big rig, it was not worth it. From the point of view of honesty and ethics, this man and his company failed the grade,” said Schuelke. The good news is that chasing down and charging offenders for altering log books is becoming more common.

Someone needs to take action to put a stop to dishonest individuals and companies trying to circumvent the law. Trucker’s driving logs exist for a good reason to save lives, to follow the law and to keep others on the road and the trucker safe. It is time money took a back seat to being safe, alert and honest while driving an 18-wheeler.

Contact Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP at http://www.civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

Head trauma without signs of a concussion is deceptive and may be just as deadly as trauma that clearly indicates the presence of a concussion.

While it is a good thing that the National Football League (NFL) appears to be taking the issue of concussions seriously, one has to wonder, since they did know about the risks, why they did not take it seriously before now. The answer may involve the drive to win at any cost, risking player safety to achieve that goal. Money would also play a large part in the decision to keep fielding players who had their bells rung on a regular basis, which has something to do with the tough guy image.

Parents and adults who play sports need to be wary of the myth that concussions are what cause brain damage, and that if they avoid getting a concussion, they are ok. That is not the case. Head injuries, whether they result in concussions or not, should be feared for their consequences in the short and long-term, and it is up to parents, coaches, players and school sports administrators to do something about it. Kids and young adults need to be protected.

Witness the case of Owen Thomas, who was the captain of the University of Pennsylvania football team. He took his own life at the age of 21. What did his brain show when it was autopsied? It revealed extensive evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This is the kind of damage that was typically a precursor to death by suicide in hockey and football players as the brain impairment affected their behavior and caused early on-set dementia, among other things. What shocked the researchers was that Thomas had never been diagnosed as having had a concussion.

Then how did he come to have traumatic brain injury? Over the years, he sustained multiple and repetitive sub-concussive head injuries. He started playing football when he was an adolescent and continued into this late teens and early adult years until his suicide. What is the solution to repeated concussive head injuries? One suggestion is that kids younger than 14 should not play sports noted for head trauma issues, but that is not likely to happen any time soon.

Other suggestions are to use better equipment, hold less hard-hitting practices, impose limits on hitting, or institute penalties for helmet tackling or launching players into one another. Unfortunately, the recent history of hockey, football and soccer is filled with acceptable violence in the pursuit of a win and a good time for the crowds. The fact that the players are jeopardizing their health in a serious manner doesn’t seem to register with coaches, fans, parents or even the players themselves.

If you or your child has been involved in a situation involving head trauma, don’t second guess the outcome or the liability of the situation. Make a call to a qualified Austin personal injury lawyer and find out where you stand. The law relating to sports and injuries does involve negligence, and this is an issue an Austin personal injury lawyer can explain to you.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

I was recently reading the book Out Of My Mind to my son.  It’s the story of a young girl who is brilliant, but who can’t communicate with others because she was born with cerebral palsy.  One of the most difficult “scenes” in the book is when  (SPOILER ALERT HERE), the young girl sees her little sister walk behind their car, but the girl can’t communicate this to her mother, who backs into the sister.

This is a scenario that scares me daily as I’m walking through parking lots with my kids.  Though I preach to them to be aware,  my kids don’t understand that the rear windows of most trucks, SUVs, and minivans are too high for their drivers to see any kids walking by.

This is a real problem throughout the country.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 228 people die and 17,000 are injured each year in backover accidents.  Well over half of those fatalities are in children, and seventy percent of those are backed over by a parent or close relative, with one-year-olds being the most hit. 

Fortunately, backup cameras can greatly help reduce the risk of backover accidents.  These cameras, which are now available in almost half of the 2012 new cars, allow drivers to see children and other objects that are behind them. These mirrors may also become more popular due to federal government regulations.  In  2008, then President Bush signed legislation that would require manufacturers to include that the cameras be required in new vehicles.  That requirement is expected to be issued by the end of the year.

In the meantime, keep an eye on your kids and an eye out for other kids to help decrease the risks of these tragedies.

 If you or a loved one has been involved in a backover accident, please feel free to call us.  Victims of backover accidents may make recoveries against the other driver, but may also have claims against uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance policies.

The more you look, the more the world of sports is becoming a dangerous place to play. Head trauma is a serious issue.

Just when you thought you had heard all there was about traumatic brain injury in football and hockey, you then find out this type of injury is prevalent in soccer. Players perform a move referred to as heading, which refers to using their head (sans protection), to redirect or stop a soccer ball. Soccer balls travel at very high speeds, and the force of impact on the skull tosses the brain around. The result? Concussion, also called traumatic brain injury.

While the cognitive impairment may be mild in the case of athletes heading the ball, if a string of these incidents were sustained over a period of time, the cumulative effect could be detrimental. Given the number of soccer players worldwide, this is an issue that bears investigation. Like football, the long-term effects of continually heading may not be known until later in a player’s career or if they donate their brains to science for study. For instance, renowned British footballer Jeffrey Astle, noted for his slamming headers, died of degenerative brain disease in 2002. His damaged brain showed the trademark signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

In a smart move to be proactive, rather than reactive, researchers have published an article about heading in the January 2012 issue of Neurosurgery, indicating caution is the better part of valor. Since many young children play this sport, it would make sense to urge them to refrain from heading the ball until they develop the correct neck strength and proper body control to head a ball properly. Despite knowing the right technique, this is not to say accidents will not happen, because they do.

In anticipation of the debate growing even more strident, many soccer clubs are considering headgear of some sort to absorb the shock of the ball aS it connects with the skull. Soccer balls today are not made of leather, which may lighten their impact as leather is noted to absorb water that creates a deadlier head hit.

Even though those who play sports are playing with the knowledge that they may be injured, there is a line that should not be crossed. That line is the teams fully informing all players of the potential risks of playing the game, including the chance they may suffer cognitive impairment and death from cumulative head hits. You may recall that 21 former National Football League players filed a class action lawsuit against the league for not telling them that they knew about the risks of repeated traumatic brain injuries.

Generally speaking, if negligence is involved in a sport, such as not informing players of all the risks, there may be a good case for filing a lawsuit with the assistance of an Austin personal injury lawyer. Not all cases are the same, and each one has its own set of facts that will determine how a lawsuit may proceed. It is the Austin personal injury lawyer’s job to advise you if you have a case, if it stands a chance of winning and how you may expect your case to develop as it heads toward a settlement or a jury verdict.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

Generally, property damage claims are resolved fairly quickly and easily. But every now and then, you’ll get an issue where the you aren’t satisfied with the way the other driver’s insurance is handling your property damage claim. For example, you may not trust their repair estimate or you may not agree with their decision to total (or not total) your vehicle.

If you have property damage coverage on your car, the best way to deal with this is to go through your insurance company. At a minimum, you can have your insurance company send an adjuster out, and you can see if your company’s adjuster agrees with the other driver’s insurance company.

If they agree, then maybe you feel confident enough to proceed using the other driver’s insurance. But if they don’t agree (or you don’t have confidence in the other company), then you can make a claim on your own policy. Yes, you’ll be out your deductible. But when your insurance company tries to recover its payment from the other insurance company, your insurance company will also recover your deductible for you.

Traumatic brain injury can be deadly. It certainly alters a person’s life.

This on-the-job injury case involved a railroad worker. John Doe (whose name has been changed to protect the victim) had worked for the Kansas City Southern Railway Company for a number of years when he was involved in an accident.
The fateful event happened in 2009 when Doe, a section foreman, and his crew were removing broken rail of a section of track. Suddenly, the boom of the crane struck the ball of the rail still loaded in the rack of a railway section truck. The impact rolled it over the forks on the rack and the rail dropped like a stone to the ground. On its way down, Doe was hit and sustained severe back, neck and head injuries.

From that day forward, Doe suffered unbelievable physical pain and suffering, lost wages, mental anguish, loss of current and future earnings, diminished earning capacity and enormous medical bills that he was unable to pay. Doe hopes that his case will be successful, and that he will be able to recover enough money to take care of himself for the future.
Cases like this are tricky and may also involve worker’s compensation. In some states, a worker is not able to sue his employer because he is being paid workers’ compensation. Since this varies state by state, it is something that needs to be checked with an Austin personal injury lawyer if an accident like this takes place in Texas.

Workers’ compensation is always an issue when workers are injured on the job, but each case is different, so never assume you do not have a case or that you cannot get compensation. The details of the case need to be discussed in depth with an experienced Austin personal injury lawyer. As things currently stand, Texas private employers may choose whether or not they will offer workers’ compensation insurance to their employees. Typically, the employer is mandated to tell the worker if they have coverage or not.

Workers’ compensation pays the medical bills and covers a portion of a worker’s lost wages if they are injured on the job or are affected by a work-related illness and the employer has coverage under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act, Title 5, Subtitle A, Labor Code. It can also cover for vocational rehabilitation and retraining when an injury prevents a worker from going back to their normal job, and they need to learn a new position to be able to work with a longer-term injury or disability.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

A dozen former National Football League players have filed a personal injury suit against the NFL and others for allegedly overusing the painkiller Toradol.  The lawsuit alleges that teams and trainers were regularly dispensing the medication, which made it difficult to know when players had sustained serious injuries, including concussions.  The emphasis is on concussions and the long-term effects of concussions on the league’s players.  The specific allegations are that the players have residual concussion symptoms, including anxiety, depression, memory loss, severe headaches, sleeplessness, and dizziness.

This story serves as a reminder for several lessons.  First, it is again a reminder that in sports there are many injuries that aren’t just accidents.  While some injuries are unavoidable, teams owe duties to players to take reasonable precautions to make sure the players are safe.  That means not overly medicating them, not forcing them to practice in unreasonably hot or dangerous conditions, etc.

Additionally, the story is a reminder about the danger of concussions.  I feel like I’m on a one-man crusade on this blog, but car wreck and other injury victims need to be on the lookout for symptoms of concussions.  They are sometimes difficult to diagnose, but they can have long-term health consequences.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a sports-related incident or have suffered a concussion in an accident caused by the negligence of others, please give us a call, and we’ll do our best to help you out.

In 2009, USC running back Stafon Johnson was working out at USC facilities trying to get ready for the upcoming NFL draft, when a bar carrying 275 pounds fell on his neck, almost killing him.  Johnson subsequently filed suit against USC and the USC strength and conditioning coach.  And the personal injury suit settled this week.

Johnson’s lawsuit was one in an increasing number of suits filed as a result of sports injuries where schools, coaches, trainers and others expose athletes to unnecessary risks, in some cases almost guaranteeing serious injury.

 As I’ve discussed on this blog, a number of former NFL players have filed suit against the NFL and others for failing to warn of the dangers or to protect them from head injuries. 

In Texas, those suits take another predictable form — heat stroke.  While many schools do a good job of protecting their athletes, some coaches insist on pressing the limits and schedule summer or pre-season football workouts in the heat of the day.  Predictably, that kind of conduct can cause serious heat stroke illnesses or even death.  These types of injuries don’t have to happen.  University of North Carolina professor Frederick Mueller, who studies these types of injuries, is quick to point out that all of these heat stroke deaths are preventable with proper precautions, and thus, any death is inexcusable.

These types of injuries aren’t limited to football.  They can occur in any sport where proper precautions or oversite aren’t offered. 

Just remember that the next time you see a sports-related injury, it might be more than an “accident” — it might be a predictable injury caused by someone failing to do their job.

A study released today found that the number of US pedestrians killed or badly injured while wearing headphones has almost tripled in the last six years.  Not surprisingly, most of the victims are teens or young adults.

More than half of the deaths involved pedestrians being run down by trains, and many involved incidents where the train or vehicle driver were sounding a horn trying to warn the pedestrian of the potential problem.

A constant issue I hear from personal injury clients is that doctors often do a poor job communicating with patients about the patients’ injuries and their course of care.

But with the internet, there are a number of ways for clients to learn about their injuries and treatment themselves.  It is the internet, so some of the information is horrible, but much of it is quite good.

One source that I have found helpful is Up To Date (www.uptodate.com). 

Up To Date is an online medical encyclopedia.  It is written and edited by doctors, updated frequently, and footnoted very well so you can follow up on studies.  It is designed to be used by medical professionals — hospitals, clinics, doctors, etc.  It is set up so that it provides basic information about conditions and then answers many of the most popular clinical questions about conditions.  When you look at the website, you’ll see that it receives good reviews from doctors and medical facilities from all over the world. 

But it also markets to patients.  Up To Date currently has a subscription option where you can have unlimited access to the website for 7 days for $19.95 or 30 days of unlimited access for $44.95.

If you have a condition that you want to learn more about, you might consider paying these fees so that you really understand your condition and your future.