Honolulu Personal Injury Lawyer - ticket

Seat Belts and Summer Driving: Protect Your Loved Ones, Buckle Up!

Wayne Parsons — Sat, 23 May 2009 14:11:36 GMT

An article in the Bennington Banner about seat belts and automobile accidents made me think about what we can do to encourage safety in driving at this time of year. What time of year is it? From Bangor to Lahaina it is Pron season.

That took me to another article I had recently read by Des Moines, Iowa safety advocate and attorney Steve Lombardi. Mr. Lombardi has become one of my favorite reads here on the internet. He writes with clarity, hard facts, logic and a great sense of humor. Scratch beneath the surface though and you find one of our most valuable and prolific safety voices. Mr. Lombard is a personal injury attorney who wants to eliminate his cases, not by tort reform by the insurance industry shouting false claims about lawsuit abuse, but by getting people to take measures to avoid ever being injured and needing to hire an attorney to fight with insurance company to get their medical bills paid. I highly recommend that you read:

The prettiest thing you can wear to prom is a seat belt by Steve Lombardi.

The Bennington Banner article, published on Friday, May 22 by Deborah Gallant starts with the fact that gas prices aside, people will spend a lot of time in cars this summer and she wants us to all buckle up.

One of the best things you can do for your safety and the safety of your passengers is to insist that everyone "buckle up." The truth is, it could save a life.

What do we know?

More people die from automobile-related injuries every year than from any other type of injury.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that three out of 10 Americans don't wear their seat belts in an automobile.
Of the 32,092 occupants of passenger vehicles killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2006, more than 15,000 were not wearing a seat belt or secured in a car seat or booster seat.

Most important is to protect the most vulnerable: children. The proper restraint system is more important to them that to any other occupant of the automobile. As Ms. Gallant reports:

Child safety seats reduce the risk of death in car crashes by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers ages one to four.
For children ages four to seven, booster seats reduce injury risk by 59 percent compared to safety belts alone.

Night is the worst time:

The number and percentage of unrestrained fatalities is much higher at night.
The worst time of night is from midnight to 3 a.m.

Youth is definitely a focus for buckle up and click it or ticket campaigns. According to Bennington Banner article, "[F]or younger drivers and passengers aged 16 to 34, the percent of those killed in a crash who were not wearing a seat belt was 68 percent or more."

What is it about people in pick-up trucks? More than 75% of pick-up truck occupants who were fatally injured in a crash were not wearing seat belts.

How do states compare in seat belt use? I am proud to say that Hawaii ranks #1 (we have a law) at 97.6%. Hawaii is a great place to live they always say and the use of seat belts adds meaning to the "to live" part of that phrase.

Seat belt use nationwide in 2007 was 82 percent. Seat belt use by state ranged from 63.8 percent in New Hampshire (the only state without a seat belt law) to 97.6 percent in Hawaii. Vermont usage of seat belts has fluctuated over the past few years. In 2007, the use rate in Vermont was 87.1 percent, the state's highest in five years.

Ms. Gallant offers some tips about kid safety in cars:

By law, children under 4 years old must be belted into specially designed car seats. They should not be permitted to stand up and move around while a vehicle is moving. Infants should never be held in an adult's lap. The force of impact during an accident increases the infant's weight 12 times, making it impossible for an adult to hold onto the child.

Who is Deborah Gallant? Nope, not a journalist writing a story and meeting a deadline. Deborah Gallant is an EMT-I at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. She contributed this piece as part of the Bennington Banner "Health Matters" series, a weekly column meant to educate readers about their personal health, public health matters, and public policy as it affects health care.

We appreciate this helpful and factual reminder about seat belts and automobile safety from someone who knows, an emergency medical staffer at the Vermont Medical Center. Thanks Deborah. Your voice reached all the way to Honolulu. A perfect summer of car safety is not possible but seat belts can save many families from the unfathomable tragedy of a car crash injury.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

Best Inauguration Party in D.C.? Tickets Still Available - And Reasonable At A True Hawaiian Luau At Hotel Monaco

Wayne Parsons — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:27:06 GMT

Here is a front page story from the Honolulu Advertiser about the best party in Washington DC on Inauguration night:

No room at the inaugural ball? Head for the Hawaii luau in D.C. Group's bash brings Hawaii to D.C. with local grinds, music

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

They had their airline seats and hotel reservations but no tickets to any of the presidential balls, so a group of friends from Hawai'i decided to throw their own inaugural party in Washington, D.C., based on an old-fashioned Hawaiian lu'au.

"Everything was all sold out," said Stacey Hayashi, an Internet retailer from Waikele. "We decided we should just hold our own party. But we wanted to bring Hawai'i to D.C. because Barack is from here."

The group of about 10 people from across the Islands know each other through film festivals, food and their work honoring the 100th Infantry Battalion, which is famous for its Japanese-American soldiers who served during World War II.

None of the friends had professional event-planning experience, so they turned to what they do know: Island food, Hawaiian music and making connections through friends.

The result is the Inaugural Luau, which represents a touch of the Islands for Hawai'i residents who will be in Washington with no tickets to a ball.

Hayashi was startled to get space on Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 at the Hotel Monaco, two blocks from Obama's swearing-in ceremony and the Capitol Mall.

At a Los Angeles fundraiser for the "Go For Broke" National Education Center, Hayashi also met up with her friend, Myles Nomura, who manages the Hoku Award-winning group Maunalua.

"The stars started to align," Hayashi said. "As folks from Hawai'i, it was inevitable that we all went out for late-night karaoke afterwards."

During the night, the band accepted Hayashi's invitation to perform at the lu'au.

"The continuity between our style of grassroots, 'ohana-first mentality and our president-elect's mindset lend well to our celebration for him," said lead singer Bobby Moderow Jr.

Les Tomita, chef and owner of Da Kitchen on Maui — whose Kahului restaurant and express restaurant in Kihei have been featured on national food programs — was then recruited to prepare the menu.

"It'll be all Hawaiian food: laulau, kalua pork, lomi salmon, long rice, poi," Tomita said. "We're flying in moi, fresh 'ahi for sashimi and poke — all of that good local stuff."

Tomita briefly considered serving steaks and other traditional American cuisine, "but we wanted to bring a bit of Hawai'i to Washington, D.C.," he said.

He believes that traditional, local food will be welcomed by both Island residents and Mainlanders who attend the lu'au.

"When you eat Chinese food, you don't feel you're in China," Tomita said. "With Island cuisine, you actually feel transported to a tropical island. While outside it's 32-degree weather in Washington, D.C., they'll feel the warmth of our Islands."

The dress code for the lu'au also will be representative of Island attire.

While other Hawai'i themed balls are drawing buzz for their "Island elegant" dress code, the Inaugural Luau calls for "aloha formal," with plenty of room for local interpretation.

"If they want to wear a tux, they should wear a tux," Hayashi said. "If they want to wear an aloha shirt, they should wear an aloha shirt. Whatever they feel comfortable in. I don't think there'll be any slippers. It'll be too cold."

Hayashi still isn't sure what she'll wear, but it'll probably be a strapless dress with a haku lei.

But Tomita will get off easier than any other man. He plans on wearing a T-shirt and jeans underneath his work uniform of a chef coat.

"Easy for me," he said. "I'll be working."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Be there or be square. Hopefully those who can't get tickets to other events will realize that none will match this true Hawaiian party - at an affordable price.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons

"They Told Me That I Waived My Rights When I signed the Contract" .... Can They Do That?

Wayne Parsons — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:41:43 GMT

Did you realize that almost every ticket you buy and every contract you sign has some form of "waiver" of rights in it? Waiver of Rights is a new tool that corporations use to avoid the law. The law is what the legislatures pass as bills and what the constitution says. But corporations try to circumvent the law by having their customers sign fine print documents that say that they agree to completely different standards. Are these kind of agreements legal?

The bad news is that the courts across the country have ruled in favor of the corporations and against consumers in many situations. Appointment of conservative judges over the past 25 years has been a trend and these judges favor corporations over people in the cases before them, a trend that has dramatically changed this area of the law over my career.

Let's examine some particular situations.

Cruise lines almost always have a clause in the fine print that says any claim you bring must be filed in Miami, Florida. That's right, Miami. Why? There are two reasons. First, most of the cruise lines - and their cadre of attorneys - are based in Miami. Second, they know that most passengers won't be able to go to Miami to pursue a claim. These clauses are called "forum selection clauses" and most courts allow them to be enforced. So be aware that you can easily find a Florida attorney to bring a claim on your behalf even if you live in Des Moines of Kalispell and, for many injury claims, the attorney will work on a contingency fee. Ask an attorney in your town to refer you to an attorney in Miami and they can find someone for you or use The Injury Board search feature to locate and contact a Florida attorney who does cruise ship injuries.

Be careful with cruise lines to note if they also require that you bring a claim within a certain period of time. In Hawaii an injured person has 2 years to file a claim. But cruise line contracts or tickets often state that you must bring a claim within 6 months or 1 year. Can they do that? Can they change the law? The answer is "maybe" as courts look at all facts before deciding if the time rquired will be enforced. Since your rights are at stake, act quickly, read your ticket or contract and get some legal advice by an attorney who has handled cruise line cases.

Dinner sunset sails and other local day boat trips in vacation areas also have waivers in the papers you sign before taking the short trip. These waivers also are seen in most crusie line contracts. They state that you "assume the risk" of injury from any cause. They usally go on to state that you relieve them of all liability for everything. Can they do that?

The more dangerous the activity the more often courts enforce these waivers. Scuba diving and paragliding are more hazardous activities than a sunset dinner sail. But a faulty scuba dive regulator or a dinner sail that negligently ventures into known rough seas may get the claim past the waivers in the ticket or contract. Most of my clients in these cases tell me that signed no waivers and got no ticket on these type of excursions. When I get the file from the company it almost always includes a document waiving rights signed by the client.

Even attorneys who regularly handle these cases, have a hard time predicting at the outset what a court will do when the company tries to knock out a claim with a waiver. The facts of each case are important in determining whether the waiver is effective against the passenger. In Hawaii our courts have abolished the "assumption of risk" doctrine except in "ultrahazardous" activities. But that doesn't mean that a waiver won't be enforced.

The law has a policy of not enforcing contracts that would essentially result in waiving the right to bring a claim against someone who negligently - or intentionally - injures another person. But as the courts have become much more conservative in the past 25 years we are seeing the corporations winning many of these legal battles.

Do not make any assumptions about your situation until an attorney who handles these cases has evaluated the facts of your injury. Most of the time the claim is allowed despite the waivers of liability.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Wayne Parsons