Saint Louis Legal Blog | The Floyd Law Firm, P.C.

4 medical conditions that may interfere with safe driving

On behalf of The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. on Monday, March 23, 2020.

Even though you may never have been in a car accident, you probably know they are relatively common on roadways throughout Missouri. If your vehicle collides with another one, you may sustain a variety of injuries. Unfortunately, if you cannot recover completely, your life may never be the same again.

While car accidents happen for many different reasons, a driver’s medical condition may increase his or her chances of causing a crash. Here are four medical conditions that may interfere with a motorist's ability to operate a motor vehicle safely:

Collection of evidence is crucial following a vehicle crash

On behalf of The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. on Sunday, March 8, 2020.

Following a vehicle crash resulting in injuries, discovering how the crash occurred and who or what was at fault is of primary concern.

The collection of evidence is essential. It comes from various sources, including anything of note that remains at the scene of the crash.

Concussions are not confined to hits on the playing field

On behalf of The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. on Saturday, February 22, 2020.

A concussion can occur during almost any athletic activity, but we often associate this kind of head injury with football.

In 2017, the National Football League reported 281 concussion injuries, including those suffered in practice and preseason games. However, a car crash is more often the cause of this mild form of traumatic brain injury.

The link between road construction and car wrecks

On behalf of The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. on Thursday, December 5, 2019.

These days, road construction is virtually unavoidable, but that does not make encountering it any less annoying or dangerous. As long as communities continue to grow and the number of cars on their roadways grow alongside them, the need for new infrastructure to accommodate them will remain. However, an increased presence of road construction means enhanced crash risks for motorists.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, work zones are full of hazards that have the potential to affect a motorist’s driving ability. Furthermore, while all road deaths across the nation decreased by about 1.5% between 2016 and 2017, the number of deaths occurring in construction zones actually increased by 3% during that same period.

Workers' comp for repetitive stress injuries

On behalf of The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. on Thursday, September 12, 2019.

While many workplace injuries are due to accidents, certain injuries occur over time. Repetitive stress injuries fall within the latter category.

Just like other injuries that occur on the job, it is possible to seek compensation for the work injury. To seek workers' comp successfully in those situations, it is important to understand a few key elements of this injury type.

Lifting patients a common cause of injury in health care

On behalf of The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. on Friday, June 7, 2019.

When you make your living in health care, you face numerous on-the-job hazards that have the potential to threaten your overall health. While some of the risks you face are illness-related, others involve specific injuries, and some of the most substantial injury risks you face working in health care involve lifting heavy patients.

According to Healthcare Business & Technology, health care workers, nurses, specifically, face heightened risks of suffering back, shoulder and other musculoskeletal injuries because of their job duties and work environments. Nurses are so at risk of suffering these types of injuries, in fact, that they report about 35,000 of them every year. Take note, though, that this figure refers to the number of back and musculoskeletal injuries reported by nurses, suggesting that the true number of injuries, including those not reported, may be significantly higher.

Prolonged full body vibration may cause injury

On behalf of The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. posted in Workers' Compensation on Monday, March 25, 2019.

Missouri residents may be interested in knowing what a study found about the effect of farm machinery on the health of the workers who use them. The study showed that within two hours of operation, 30 percent of the tested equipment reached what the European Union refers to as "action level," signifying a risk to the operator's health.

These tests were done on 112 pieces of farm machinery. This included things like combines, all-terrain vehicles, tractors, forklifts and skid loaders. Sensors were attached to the floors and to the seats of these vehicles. The sensors on the floors made it possible for researchers to determine how good of a job the seats did at minimizing vibration levels. The study also looked at the posture of the individuals who participated in the study while on the machines.

Construction workers at high risk for elevator accidents

On behalf of The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. on Wednesday, March 13, 2019.

If you work construction in Missouri, you likely work at many job sites where the elevator has yet to be fully installed and working. If the building in which you are working contains multiple stories, this leaves you at high risk for sustaining an elevator-related injury or even dying in an elevator accident.

Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, America sees over 17,000 elevator accidents per year, and 31 people die in them, approximately half of whom are construction workers. In fact, elevator accidents account for a full one-third of all construction fatalities.

Tesla cited by OSHA more than all of its competitors combined

On behalf of The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. posted in Workers' Compensation on Monday, March 11, 2019.

New vehicle buyers in Missouri and around the country who purchase Tesla vehicles might rave about the carmaker, but the 15,000 people who work at the company's huge Freemont manufacturing plant may not be as complimentary. This is because Tesla racked up more Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations between 2014 and 2018 than its 10 largest competitors combined.

Figures gathered by the business magazine and website Forbes reveal that Tesla has been cited 54 times and fined $236,730 by OSHA during the last four years. Regarding the high number of violations, the company's CEO Elon Musk referred to California OSHA as the nation's strictest government safety organization. According to the Forbes analysis, Ford's Missouri assembly plant was the second most cited automobile manufacturing facility with 29 violations that led to fines totaling $29,918.

Recording the details after a car crash

On behalf of The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. posted in Car Accidents on Tuesday, February 26, 2019.

After getting hit by a vehicle, it can be difficult to keep in mind all of the best practices to document the incident. Still, staying calm and taking stock of the situation can be important not only for immediate needs but also for dealing with insurance companies and Missouri authorities. Car accidents can cause serious property damage as well as major injuries that can keep people out of work or require hospitalization. By keeping some key tips in mind, a crash victim can help to support their recollection of the incident.

A victim will need to tell their story to insurance adjusters, police and potentially lawyers. That's why it's important to carefully take in information at a crash scene. Of course, dealing with medical emergencies is the most important issue. Calling 911 can summon emergency aid to the scene, including police and emergency medical personnel. In general, it is best to leave the car accident scene as it is, but in some places it can be dangerous to do so. When safety is an issue, it's wise to move the involved vehicles to the side of the road and wait for the police to arrive.

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