Minicars are rising in popularity, but they may not offer much protection in a traffic accident. Among 11 subcompacts tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, not a single one received the highest rating of “good.” [Read more…]
Construction Worker Deaths Often Preventable
Accidents on construction sites are common. Of 3,945 workers killed in private industry in 2012, 775, or almost 20%, were in construction. Preventing such deaths is often a matter of training, proper equipment and oversight by employers who truly care about the safety of their workers. [Read more…]
Substantial Gainful Activity
By Robert J. Osborne, Esq.
The law defines disability as the inability to do any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months. If you can engage in substantial gainful activity, the Social Security Administration will find that you are not disabled. The work that you have done, legal or illegal, during any period in which you believe you are disabled may show that you are able to work at the substantial gainful activity level. Even if the work you have done was not substantial gainful activity, it may show that you are able to do more work than you actually did. If you apply for Social Security Disability Benefits or Supplemental Security Income, the Social Security Administration will consider all of the medical and vocational evidence in your file to decide whether or not you have the ability to engage in substantial gainful activity. [Read more…]
Are There Any Limitations on Your Right to Sue When Involved in an Automobile Accident?
You unfortunately get involved in a motor vehicle accident as a passenger or a driver. You initially seek treatment at a local hospital. You receive treatment and then are released. In the next few days, you start treatment with your doctor. At some point, you decide to seek advice from a lawyer. An appointment is made. The lawyer is advised how the accident happened and what injuries you sustained. The lawyer requests a copy of the insurance declaration page for your insurance policy, the car that you were driving or the car that you were a passenger in. (Depending on your own insurance policy; if you have one or required to have, will decide which policy you need to review). You may wonder why the lawyer needs to review this document if the other driver is at fault for the accident. The insurance declaration page is just as important as the police report at this point. The insurance declaration page contains quite a bit of information that needs to be reviewed by the lawyer. One piece of information that it contains concerns any limitation on your right to sue. [Read more…]
Are ‘Connected Cars’ the Future of Distracted Driving?
When we talk about distracted driving, the discussion often centers on the use of phones while behind the wheel. But what if carmakers and phone companies come together to make cars that do everything your smartphone does and more — making them “smartphones on four wheels.” Would the number of distracted driving accidents rise or fall? [Read more…]
Maintaining Workplace Safety Through OSHA
OSHA, or the Occupational Health and Safety Act, was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 29, 1970. Its main goal is to ensure that employers provide employees with an environment free from recognized hazards, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, excessive noise levels, mechanical dangers, heat or cold stress, or unsanitary conditions. Since its implementation, OSHA has been pivotal in maintaining worker safety at construction sites all over the country. [Read more…]
NJ Lawmaker Seeks Sweeping Law on Distracted Driving
Approximately 421,000 people were injured and 3,328 died in distracted driving accidents in 2012. As policymakers nationwide look at new laws to curb distracted driving, one proposal in New Jersey is getting heat for what some say is a vague and far too broad definition of “distraction.” If passed, the law could put a big dent in the things New Jersey drivers are allowed to do while driving. [Read more…]
Residual Functional Capacity
By Robert J. Osborne, Esq.
The Social Security Regulations provide that, “residual functional capacity is the most you can still do despite your limitations.” The Social Security Regulations require the Social Security Administration to “consider all of your medically determinable impairments of which [the Social Security Administration is] aware, including medically determinable impairments that are not ‘severe’ . . . .” You may recall from an earlier blog that a medically determinable impairment “is not severe if it does not significantly limit your physical or mental ability to do basic work activities.” So, in reviewing a person’s eligibility for Social Security Disability, the Social Security Administration will look at all of an individual’s impairments of which it is aware, even those that do not have an affect on your ability to do basic work activities. [Read more…]
New Jersey Automobile Insurance, Bodily Injury Coverage; How Much Coverage is Enough?
We purchase insurance to protect ourselves against a particular risk. When it deals with automobile coverage, one of the reasons is to protect ourselves from our own negligence and/or the negligence of others with respect to the operation of a motor vehicle. When we purchase Bodily Injury coverage from an insurance company, this is the amount that your insurance policy will pay when you or an insured person becomes liable for a bodily injury or death caused by your automobile. How do we decide how much coverage to purchase? [Read more…]
Protecting Older Drivers
Balancing safety with dignity is difficult, as many elderly people are fiercely protective of their ability to drive.
Telling someone they are an unsafe driver is difficult and may end in defensiveness and hurt feelings. But the truth is, some drivers are more at risk of being involved in a car crash than others. And while the statistics might not apply to each crash, they do speak volumes. [Read more…]
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