2011 April Archive

Many freight train companies currently move locomotives around switching yards using remote controls, which allow workers to move several trains without requiring an engineer in each one. Soon, however, railroad companies may start using remote-controlled cargo trains to move freight across the country, according to a recent news report from KDFW.

Fort Worth is one of the few cities that currently has cargo trains moving across intersections without a driver in the locomotive itself, since the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line uses remote controls to move some trains, including those going through the Industrial Boulevard crossing in the downtown Fort Worth area. But several railroad companies, including the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, may be sending trains on longer trips without a driver as a means to cut costs.

The full scope of the safety issues involved with taking locomotive engineers out of cargo trains is not yet clear, however. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) estimates that freight trains run by remote control are involved in 25 percent more accidents than trains that have a human engineer. Some veteran engineers state that a person operating a train by remote control cannot deal with every possible issue the train might encounter, which could easily increase the rate of accidents.

Accidents which involve a freight train and a passenger vehicle or a pedestrian often cause severe injuries and deaths, since neither cars nor human bodies stand much chance against something as large as a locomotive. Railroad safety, therefore, should be a top priority for everyone who operates or travels on or near railroads. Texas citizens who are injured in a railroad accident should strongly consider consulting an experienced Texas railroad accident attorney, who can help them understand their rights and options under Texas law.

Summer is upon us, and for many Texans that means opening the backyard pool. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns that pools can be dangerous for children. There are a few basic safety tips you can follow to keep your pool as safe as possible to prevent injuries from occurring this summer.

First, the AAP warns that if at all possible, you should not put a swimming pool in your yard until your kids are older than 5-years-old. If that’s not possible, with children younger than five, practice touch supervision, which means keeping the adult within an arm’s length of the child at all times.

Make sure to have a fence between your house and the pool that is at least four feet high around all sides of the pool. The pool should also be separated from any play areas of the ward. Make sure the gates on the fence close and latch automatically, and that the latches are higher than children can reach. Most children who drown in pools walk out of the house and fall into the pool. You may consider using an approved safety cover, but don’t use it in place of a fence. Have both, if possible.

Do not leave children alone in or near the pool, not even for a moment, regardless of whether your child knows how to swim. Keep rescue equipment by the pool. After the children are done swimming, remove all toys – sometimes children are tempted to reach for the toys and accidentally fall into a pool.

Backyard pools can be great in the summer as long as basic safety rules are followed. Unfortunately, Dallas premises liability attorneys know that some pool owners do not take even the most basic of precautions. If you or a family member has been injured in a pool accident, you may have a cause of action against the pool’s owner for your injuries.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently began offering a multi-pronged program to attempt to reduce the number of teens who die in car accidents each year. As part of the program, the NHTSA collects statistics on teen driving safety issues, including teen driver accidents and fatalities.

Car accidents are the number-one killer of teenagers in the U. S. Every year, approximately 5,000 teens lose their lives in car accidents. On average, about every hour during weekends and every two hours during weekdays, an American teen between the ages of 16 and 20 dies in a car accident, according to the NHTSA. Sadly, these numbers don’t even begin to consider the teens that are injured in car accidents but survive.

The NHTSA notes that the rate of death among teen drivers is high for two reasons: alcohol use and the failure to wear seat belts. About 25 percent of teenagers from ages 16 to 20 had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent – the legal limit for adults – or higher when they were involved in a fatal car accident. Additionally, 58 percent of teens ages 16 to 20 who lost their lives in car crashes were not wearing seat belts at the time. The risk of death from not wearing a seat belt is highest among teenage males and those who live in rural areas, two groups that are among the least likely to buckle up.

Educating your teens about safe driving can help protect them while they’re on the road. Unfortunately, no one can force all drivers on the road to drive smart and safely. When an accident occurs, a Texas car accident lawyer can provide detailed advice on your legal rights and options.

Texas’s Parent Taught Driver Education Program, or PTDE Program, allows student drivers to learn driving skills from their parents, instead of from a general program offered by driver training schools or by the public schools. An evaluation of the PTDE by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, however, found that parent-taught drivers are statistically more likely to commit traffic violations and to suffer more serious crashes than drivers who take a school course.

The NHTSA study reported a few benefits that come from the PTDE program. Parents and students who use the PTDE instead of a school program report several benefits, including lower cost and more personalized attention to the student driver. Also, according to the NHTSA study, PTDE students have fewer traffic violations or accidents while they are driving with a parent in the car to supervise them.

However, once the parents were no longer in the car with the students, the NHTSA study found that the numbers changed. Parent-taught drivers were far more likely to commit traffic violations than their conventionally-schooled counterparts were. Parent-taught drivers were also more likely to be involved in Texas car accidents, and the accidents they had were generally more serious, than the accidents their conventionally-schooled counterparts had. Although the NHTSA study itself did not express an opinion as to why parent-taught drivers had more tickets and accidents, the professional driver education teachers NHTSA interviewed as part of their study opinioned that parent-taught drivers fared worse because few parents have the training and experience to teach a comprehensive driver education course.

Safe driving helps reduce accidents, especially in traffic-heavy Texas cities. Unfortunately, many drivers find themselves in car accidents no matter how carefully they drive. When an accident occurs, an experienced Dallas car accident attorney can help you understand your legal options and protect your legal rights.

Lead poisoning occurs when the human body contains too much lead and it is especially harmful for children, whose developing brains can be permanently damaged by too much lead. Although lead poisoning has decreased n the U.S. in the last twenty years, instances of lead poisoning still occur. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer the following tips for keeping lead away from your family.

The most common source of lead poisoning is lead paint. Lead was banned in U.S. paints in 1978, but older houses may still have lead pain on their walls. This paint comes off over the years as dust, which may coat every surface in the house. If you suspect there may be lead paint in your house, have a professional test for lead and remove the paint if necessary.

If you can’t afford testing or paint removal, make sure there is no peeling paint or painted surfaces that your child can pull or chew on. If you’re pregnant or have young children, avoid entering buildings that are being renovated, since the renovation process can release lead paint dust into the air. Use a wet mop regularly to remove dust from your home’s floors, and use a wet cloth or sponge to wipe down walls and surfaces to remove dust. Wash children’s toys regularly, and teach children to wash their hands after playing with toys. Also, check the Consumer Product Safety Commission website http://www.cpsc.gov/ for recall notices, and do not let kids play with toys that have been recalled due to their lead content.

Many U.S.-made products must be lead-free, but that does not mean that you won’t find any products with lead. If you or a loved one is suffering from lead poisoning, and you suspect a household item is to blame, don’t hesitate to discuss the problem with an experienced Texas lead poisoning attorney. An attorney can help you figure out what happened and give you the information you need to understand and protect your family’s legal rights.