MINNSOTA ROLLOVER ATTORNEYS DISCUSS FATAL OAKDALE ROLLOVER ACCIDENT

A rollover accident took the life of a 19-year-old man from Blaine Monday night. According to the State Patrol the rollover crash happened around 11:30 p.m. Monday night on Interstate 694 at Tenth Street in Oakdale.

The cause of the rollover crash isn't clear, but is being investigated. As a rollover lawyer who used to represent automobile manufacturers, I've seen all kinds of causes for rollover crashes like this one. Some vehicles, like SUVs, tend to roll over more easily because they are too tall and narrow. Others may rollover when they shouldn't because they either don't have electronic stability control (ESC) or poorly designed ESC systems.

And manufacturers know their vehicles will be in rollover crashes. So they have a legal duty to protect occupants in rollover crashes by making roofs strong enough so they don't crush occupants and seatbelts that keep occupants inside the vehicle. Investigators believe the young man who was killed was ejected from the vehicle. There should also be an investigation into whether there was a seatbelt defect that caused it to unlatch during the rollover accident. The vehicle involved in this rollover accident should be preserved so a full investigation can be conducted.

If you have questions about rollover accidents, contact a Minnesota rollover attorney like Nate Bjerke of Champion Law LLC who knows the industry secrets. Give us a call at 651.766.5886 or log onto our web-site. We'll be happy to answer your questions, free of charge.

For more information on this Oakdale rollover accident, see the Kare 11 report.

MINNESOTA SEATBELT ATTORNEYS HELP YOU SPOT SEATBELT DEFECTS

According to the NHTSA, seat belts save more than 10,000 lives in the United States every year. As I've discussed before on this product liability blog, wearing a seatbelt is the most effective way to prevent injury or death in car accidents. During the accident, a properly designed seat belt will prevent passengers from being thrown about or ejected from the vehicle and will distribute the forces of impact to the strongest areas of the body – the hips, shoulders and chest. But if a vehicle’s seat belts are poorly designed or manufactured, serious injury or death can result. So how do you know if a seatbelt defect created enhanced injuries in a car crash?

Here are some classic signs of seatbelt defects:

• Both serious and non-serious injuries to belted occupants. For example, one seatbelted occupant walks away while another seatbelted occupant is paralyzed or suffers a serious head injury;



• An injured occupant is found wearing a loose-fitting seatbelt. This could indicate excess slack caused by improper retractor performance;



• An occupant is found unbelted but witnesses swear the occupant was seatbelted before the crash. Better yet, the occupant has seat belt marks on her body, but was unbelted after the crash. All of these could indicate unlatching or false-latching of the seatbelt buckle;



• Serious injuries in only moderately severe crashes. When restraint systems work properly, occupants typically are not seriously injured in moderate speed crashes; or



• The seatbelt webbing is torn or ripped or the seatbelt is pulled loose from one or more of its anchors.

If you have questions about whether there is a seatbelt defect in your vehicle, contact Minnesota seatbelt attorney, Nate Bjerke, of Champion Law. I will answer any questions you have and provide a free evaluation as to whether you may have a product liability claim against the manufacturer. You can reach me at 651.766.5886 or by visiting our web-site.

MINNESOTA BURN INJURY LAWYERS DISCUSS WACONIA PROPANE FIRE

As reported in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and several other media outlets, a teenager was killed and another was injured when a propane tank exploded Wednesday at Waconia Farm Supply store in Waconia, Minnesota.

All of us at Champion Law send out our deepest condolences. I'm sure the family of these young men is wondering why this happened. Right now, nobody knows. There are, however, a few ways that propane fires typically happen.

Some propane fires are caused by negligent handling of propane. In this case, a routine safety inspection of Waconia Farm Supply on Feb. 17 found two violations related to the handling and storage of compressed gases, according to reports on the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration website. One violation was described as having the potential to result in death or serious harm. Waconia Farm Supply was initially fined $600 for the serious violation and $150 for the secondary offense. The case was closed on April 7 after the firm paid a total of $525 and reportedly fixed the problems.

Another possiblity relates to a defective product that lead to the explosion. Many propane explosions result from leaks in the propane tank or distribution system caused by negligent propane gas providers and tank manufacturers. If there are problems with the distribution system or the tank, there may be a product liability claim for the resulting burn injuries.

To get to the bottom of this and help assure fair compensation for these horrific losses, I would recommend the families of these two young men contact an experienced Minnesota burn injury attorney immediately. It is critical that a burn injury lawyer get to work right away to arrange for an investigation before critical evidence is destroyed when the company rebuilds the site.

At Champion Law, we are always willing to answer questions about burn injuries, product liability, or any other kind of personal injury, free of charge. If you have questions, visit our web-site or call us at 651.766.5886.

MINNESOTA SEAT BELT LAWYERS COMMEND LAW REQUIRING EVERYONE IN THE VEHICLE TO BUCKLE UP

As a Minnesota seatbelt lawyer, I am incredibly pleased that Minnesota law now requires that every person in every position of every vehicle on Minnesota roads is required by law to wear their seatbelt. Starting today, drivers can be pulled over if they or their passengers are not buckled in. Under the old law, officers had to have another reason for stopping a vehicle, then could issue tickets for unbelted occupants. The new Minnesota seatbelt law, which includes a $25 fine, was passed in the recent legislative session and signed last month by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Most seatbelts are properly designed and manufactured and do a wonderful job of protecting people in crashes. In fact, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration estimates seatbelts save 10,000 American lives every year. Further, The Minnesota Seat Belt Coalition has estimated that the new law will prevent as many as 30 deaths and 400 life-changing injuries a year and save millions of dollars in medical expenses. So buckle up and make sure that everyone else in your vehicle has done the same.

Unfortunately, not all seatbelts are properly designed and manfuctured. Seatbelt defects can lead to tearing of the belt's webbing or the buckle unlatching during a crash, leaving you and your loved ones unprotected. If you have questions about the safety of the seatbelts in your vehicle, contact Minnesota seatbelt attorney, Nate Bjerke of Champion Law by visiting our web-site or calling 651.766.5886.

For more information on Minnesota's new seatbelt law, follow these links:

• http://www.startribune.com/local/47265472.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:D
• http://www.mnsafetycouncil.org/sbcoalition/

MINNESOTA PRODUCT LIABILITY 101

After I blogged for a few weeks on specfic product liability issues, a friend suggested that I back up and discuss some basics about Minnesot product liability cases. So here is a brief description of how product liability cases work in Minnesota.

When any of us uses a product, we assume that the manufacturer has looked out for our well-being and safety in designing, testing and making the product. Tragically, this isn’t always the case. Some manufacturers are more concerned with the bottom line than with the impact an unsafe product can have on its user. As a former product liability defense lawyer, I know this all too well. The end result is dangerous and unsafe products that lead to personal injuries.

Minnesota's Product liability laws exist to hold manufacturers and sellers of unsafe and dangerous products responsible by compensating injury victims. But proving a manufacturer was negligent – or did or didn’t do something they should have – can be difficult. So most states, including Minnesota, have adopted ”strict liability” laws to help level the playing field. Under strict liability, the focus is on the product rather than the manufacturer’s conduct. In other words, no matter how much care a manufacturer took in making a product, if the product is “unreasonably dangerous”, the injured person does not have to prove the manufacturer acted negligently.

In Minnesota, for example, to collect on a product liability claim, an injured person only has to prove that:

1) The product was defective and in an unreasonably dangerous condition;
2) That the defect existed when the product left the manufacturer or seller’s control; and
3) That the defect in the product was the proximate or substantial cause of the injury.

If you have been injured by a dangerous or defective product, contact an experienced product liability attorney Nate Bjerke at Champion Law. Our lawyers have handled product liability cases in the Twin Cities, greater Minnesota and across the country. Call us in St. Paul at 651-766-5886 or Minneapolis at 612-743-4918.

MINNESOTA PRODUCT LIABILITY RECALL ALERT: TRIPLE PLAY SIT-N-STROLL CHILD CAR SEAT

Attention parents: Triple Play is recalling some of its 4002 Sit-n-stroll child car seats due to a dangerous defect. At Champion Law, we're not only product liability lawers, we're dads and moms so child safety is especially important to us - especially when it comes to child seat safety and child seat cases.

When we strap our kids into a child car seat, we expect they will be protected. This Triple Play recall, however, addresses a serious safety defect in the webbing used to secure the child in the seat. Specifically, the webbing used int he center adjuster for the harness fails to comply with initial break strength requireements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213, "Child Restraint Systems." Because of this child seat defect, the child may not be properly restrained in a crash, resulting in possibly injuries or even death to the child.

If you have one of these seats for your infant or toddler, stop using the seat immediately. Triple Play should be contacting you, but if you have questions in the meantime, contact Nate Bjerke or one of the other Minnesota child seat product liability lawyers at Champion Law to discuss your options. You can call us anytime for free at 651.766.5886.

FORD PINTO FIRE BURNS MAN IN ST. CLOUD MINNESOTA

Last weekend, a defect in a 1979 Ford Pinto caused a fire that severely burned an 18 year old man. The St. Cloud Times reported that Jeffrey Paul Hinkemeyer was westbound on County Road 51 when he was rear-ended by a 1991 Ford Taurus as he slowed to make a left turn. His car, a 1979 Ford Pinto, caught fire at the time of impact, according to a Stearns County sheriff’s report.

The Ford Pinto is one of the most notorious examples of corporate greed and puttingt profits over safety. The photograph above shows another Pinto that was burned after a crash. Ford knew the Pinto's fuel tank was in a dangerous postion - behind the rear axle - that left the tank virtually unprotected if the Pinto was involved in foreseeable rear-end accidents. In fact, Ford wrote a "cost-benefit" memo that discussed the cost of fixing the problem versus the cost of paying off claims and lawsuits brought by people who were hurt or killed by this deadly defect. This is the epitome of corporate greed and a case that certainly gives rise to an automotive product liability suit against Ford for its reckless choices.

My advice to Mr. Hinkemeyer and his family would be to make sure the vehicle is preserved and stored in a safe place and to immediately contact an experienced automotive product liability attorney to take the steps needed to investigate the accident and allow him to focus on his recovery.

If you or anyone you know has questions about automotive defects, crashworthiness or other product liability claims, I would be happy to answer your questions. Just call me at 651.766.5886 or visit our firm's web-site.

GM TRYING TO AVOID PRODUCT LIABILITY SUITS

Last week, I blogged about how Chrysler is attempting to duck product liability suits, essentially shutting the doors to the courthouse for people who were injured by defective Chrysler automobiles. It now looks like GM is following Chrysler's lead by attempting to wash its hands of bad choices and mistakes that injured or killed hundreds - if not thousands - of people.

Like the two victims of Chrysler airbag non-deployments I blogged about last week, consumers injured by defective General Motors vehicles for things like rollover crashes, airbag defects, or seatbelt defects will be left without recourse if GM has its way.

Consumer groups like The Center For Justice and Democracy and the Center for Auto Safety are fighting side by side with product liability lawyers to prevent this from happening.

For more information, follow these links or contact the automobile product liability attorneys at Champion Law.

Bloomburg: Consumers Seek Relief as Chrysler Bankruptcy Derails Lawsuits

MSNBC: Hardet hit bankruptcy victims

Click on Detroit: Death of a Mother and Wife may go uncompensated (video)

Product Liability and Worker's Compensation: two sources of recovery for work injuries

People often ask product liability lawyers like me whether they are limited to worker's compensation benefits if they are injured by dangerous or defective products at work. The answer is usually "no." The law in most states, including Minnesota, does allow both avenues of recovery. My firm does not handle worker's compensation cases, but we partner with smart, tough worker's compensation lawyers who do.

For example, I am handling the product liability portion of the case involving the product shown above. A young man working for a tree service was injured at work when the flywheel on a stump grinder pictured above expoloded. The pieces of the flywheel flew into his hand, causing permanent injuries and loss of function.

So what can a product liability lawyer do for people who also have a right to worker's compensation benefits? Worker's compensation typically pays for medical expenses and a percentage of an injured person's wage loss. But people who have been injured at work often go through a great deal of pain and suffering. And these injury victims often simply can't do the things they did before the accident. A product liability suit is generally directed towards recovering non-economic damages for things like pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, etc.

If you have been injured by a defective product at work, you need attorneys who will protect your rights in both the worker's compensation and product liability claims. Call the product liability attorneys at Champion Law for a free consultation at 651.766.5886 or visit us on the web.