Phoenix Premises Liability Law Blog

Teen Driving 101: What You Should Know Before Tires Touch the Pavement

Safety, Insurance, Affordability Top Priority List

The lawyers and staff at Bohm & Jones, P.C. hope you will join us in observing National Teen Driver Safety Week. Its goal of reducing the number of collisions involving teenage drivers is something where everyone  - parents, teen drivers, and their family - can work together.

National Teen Driver Safety Week - October 16-22, 2011 is dedicated to raising awareness and seeking solutions to unnecessary teen deaths on the road. Established by Congress in 2007 and held annually on the third week of each October, its goal is to focus the country's attention on this serious issue. This year's theme is supporting parents in teaching their teens to drive. This includes helping you navigate the practice driving phase, as well as driving on your own. Research shows that teens who say their parents set rules and monitor their driving in a helpful, supportive way are half as likely to crash and twice as likely to buckle up as teens with less involved parents. The evidence also reveals that the majority of teens (87 percent) have a parent involved in the learning-to-drive process.

Motor vehicle crashes are the top killer of teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Visit the CDC Teen Drivers Home.

When it comes to driving, teens are tops in all the wrong categories: highest crash rates, highest number of passengers killed in crashes, most crashes per million miles traveled. The good news, if you can call it that, is that research shows exactly which behaviors contribute to teen crashes. Inexperience and immaturity combined with speed, drinking and driving, not wearing seat belts, distracted driving (cell phone use, loud music, other teen passengers, etc.), drowsy driving, nighttime driving, and other drug use aggravate this problem. Key strategies to reduce teen crashes include graduated driver licensing; wearing seatbelts; preventing alcohol use; and, most important, you - the parent!

Teen Driver Education - center for the National Highway Traffic Administration teen driver program, including the Parental Toolkit for National Teen Driver Safety Week, Oct. 16-22

Teen Driving Parents - home for training materials from the National Safety Council, including the parent/teen driving agreement (download)

- teens are the frequent victims and unfortunately causes of collisions caused by red light running. For more information go to the website.

Safe - and Affordable - Cars

What not to buy: Large pickups and SUVs tend to have a high center of gravity and are more prone to rollovers, plus they are bulky and simply more difficult to handle. Any kind of sports car or luxury auto with power should also be avoided, for obvious reasons. Instead, look for cars with advanced safety features like side-curtain airbags, electronic stability control and good crash-test ratings. Fuel efficiency and a reasonable price tag don't hurt, either.

Cars for Teen Drivers - comprehensive review of what to look for in choosing a safe car for teen and college-age drivers from Consumer Reports, including top picks (also see video above)

Top Cars for Teens - expert review of the features and best-pick cars for young drivers by the Wall Street Journal

Cost-Cutting Tips on Car Insurance

It's not surprising given the crash-prone track record for teenage drivers that auto insurance premiums for this group are sky-high. However, there are ways you can control costs while not compromising on important protections. Safer cars, as referenced above, cost less to insure. Many insurance companies provide discounts for good grades (a "B" average or better) or teens who take approved defensive-driving courses. Protect yourself as well: don't skimp on liability, as an injured party could come after your home, savings or other assets if damages in an accident caused by your teen driver exceed the liability limits in your insurance policy.

Eight Tips to Cut Car Insurance for Teens, MSN Money

Car Insurance for Teenage Drivers, Edmunds.com

Tips for Buying Auto Insurance, Teendriving.com

Please join or all of us at Bohm & Jones, P.C. in our efforts to decrease injuries and deaths caused by collisions involving teen drivers.

Tripping, slipping, and falling can often lead to very severe and permanent injuries. However, these types of premises liability claims are often difficult to prove. Although the general belief is that a property owner is automatically responsible for harm occurring on their property, that is not the case. These types of claims involve a variety of complex legal issues. In fact, these claims are among the most difficult of all injury cases to pursue and win.

Bohm & Jones, P.C., Phoenix, Arizona, fall injury accident lawyers, are experienced in representing clients who have been injured in trip or slip and fall accidents. We have successfully recovered damages and compensation for clients from many large national chain stores, convenience stores, from apartment and condominium complexes, from commercial office buildings and from shopping malls.

If you were injured in a trip and fall, slip and fall, or other premises liability accident and suspect that the business or property owner may be liable, contact our office as soon as possible. We offer free consultations and you owe us know fees until we successfully resolve your case.

The Burden of Proof in Premises Liability and Slip and Fall Accidents

Simply being injured while on another person's property does not make that person or property owner liable for your injuries. You must prove negligence, meaning that the owner failed provide or maintain a safe premises, created hazardous conditions on the property, and failed to eliminate hazards. Owner liability and negligence may be based on failure to repair a walkway problem, to keep stairs in good repair, to provide adequate lighting, to clean up a spill in a timely manner or to fail to adequately warn a guest or customer about a dangerous condition. Contact us for help in figuring out your options according to the law if you were injured in a slip and fall accident on another person's property.

Why Is Contacting a Lawyer So Important?

Since premises liability and slip and fall claims involve complicated laws and legal issues, the first and most important step is to contact an experienced premises liability attorney, like the lawyers at Bohm & Jones, P.C. A thorough and quick investigation must be conducted and eyewitnesses must be contacted prior to any alteration or modification of the dangerous area. You should contact a lawyer as soon as is reasonably possible. The lawyers at Bohm & Jones, P.C. are available to help you.

There are deadlines and statutes of limitations that may significantly affect your slip and fall case. You should not wait until the statute of limitations period is running out because your attorney will need enough time to complete his or her investigation. The attorneys at Bohm & Jones, P.C. Are experienced in dealing with complex slip and fall legal issues and helping people get compensation for their injuries.

Slip and Fall Legal Issues Under Arizona Law

Frequently, a property owner in premises liability claims will claim that the injured victim should have seen the hazardous condition that caused the slip and fall. This claim can be weak, considering that retailers often distract customers from watching their steps. Business or property owners use eye-catching advertising and packaging to encourage customers to focus on the products rather than on the floor.

Another important slip and fall legal issue involves the "status" of the visitor or customer on the property. Owner liability will depend on what type of visitor the injured person was when injured: invitee, licensee, or trespasser.

Invitee. If a property owner invites a person to enter the property, he or she may be liable for failure to have "reasonable care" in keeping the premises safe. Examples include supermarket and retail store customers and, in Arizona, guests of an apartment tenant or motel guest.

Licensee. A licensee is not a customer, employee or trespasser; does not have a contract with the property owner; and is allowed by the owner on the property. A social guest at a home is considered a licensee. The property owner is liable for injury to a licensee for "willful or wanton" injury, for hidden dangers, and if the guest is not adequately warned about dangers.

Trespasser. A trespasser enters someone else's property without permission, like a burglar or other unwanted guest. A business or property owner is least liable compared with the other categories of visitors.

A trespasser is clearly defined, but figuring out whether the injured person was an invitee or licensee according to Arizona law can be difficult. Contact the lawyers at Bohm & Jones, P.C. For help with these complex trip or slip and fall legal issues and for help in building a strong slip and fall injury claim.

Preventable injuries rank among the top 10 causes of death. Every year, thousands of people will die or sustain serious injuries from injuries where, had reasonable steps been taken, there would have been no injury. The lawyers at Bohm & Jones P.C. see the consequences of people's carelessness every day.

Examples of such preventable injuries include those sustained from trips, slips and falls, burns, drowning, accidental poisonings, not wearing a seat belt, head injuries received by not wearing a bike helmet, etc. It only takes a moment for an injury to happen - a trip on a sidewalk or walkway, a fall on a stair, a child left alone by a swimming pool, a quick glance away from the road, a biking or sports-related injury, a medication mix-up. But it also takes just a moment to protect against injuries and make us all safer.

"Safety is No Accident." The focus is on how we can live injury-free at work, home, play, in the community, and anywhere people are on the move. The National Public Health Association points out that it only takes a moment for an injury to occur, but there are things we can all do to reduce the risk of the most common injuries. Taking actions such as wearing a seatbelt, properly installing and using child safety seats, wearing a helmet, ensure smoke detectors are working properly, inspecting sidewalks and walkways to prevent falls, and storing cleaning supplies in locked cabinets are important ways to proactively promote safety and prevent injuries.

Some common sense tips for preventing injuries are:

At home:

•· Inspect your home for poor lighting or uneven surfaces to prevent falls.

•· Make sure handrails are properly placed and attached in stairways.

•· Install and maintain smoke alarms or carbon monoxide detectors.

•· Make sure all electrical outlets are inaccessible to children.

•· Supervise young children whenever they are near cooking surfaces and never leave food unattended on stove.

•· Program emergency number (including poison control) into your phone.

•· Store medicines and cleaning supplies in locked cabinets out of the reach of children.

On the move:

•· Wear a seat belt on every trip, no matter how small.

•· Never text, eat, put on make-up or using the phone while driving.

•· Walk facing traffic, and make yourself visible by wearing reflective colthing if walking at night.

•· Be mindful of the environment and be careful when crossing the road. Use crosswalks and do not jay walk.

Safety is no accident. Together, we can help prevent injuries in all areas of life. By doing at least one thing - no matter how small - you can take a step towards creating a safer home, workplace or community for you and your loved ones. For additional safety tips contact the attorneys at Bohm & Jones, P.C.